Jean-Sebastien Giguere issued the challenge, and did more than his share to answer it as well.
A day after the Mighty Ducks goalie called on his team to play with more emotion, and to believe it could win, the Ducks did just that, following their goaltender to a 3-2 overtime win over the New Jersey Devils, a victory that renews the possibility that this could, indeed, still be the series.
And in the aftermath, in the crowded locker room celebrating a victory instead of mourning an opportunity almost gone, Giguere knew he had seen a different team in front of him.
"I could tell guys had a lot of energy tonight, " Giguere said after running his overtime shutout sequence to the longest in NHL history at 167 minutes, 48 seconds. "Right off the bat, it seemed we were working really hard, getting in behind their (defense), making their D work, which we haven't done in the first two games."
But more than that, Giguere showed that Friday's impassioned comments - in which he suggested his team did not believe it could play with New Jersey, and in which he emphatically denied the Ducks' success was a fluke - were more than the actions of a man overcome by frustration or boiling with disappointment.
No, they were the words of a player who knew exactly what he was doing, who had a method in mind when he spoke to the media, rather than keeping his thoughts within the confines of the dressing room.
"I wanted everybody to be aware," he said. "We should all be aware of what's going on. I wanted the fans to be aware what was going on, and I wanted the fans to be loud and cheer us out, and I wanted the guys to be excited about the game.
"Sometimes you need to go public with those things."
Without question, it was a move that worked.
The Pond was energized from the moment the Ducks skated onto the ice for the opening faceoff, and roared during the sequences when Anaheim carried the play to the Devils - moments which defined this game, and showed what had been missing in the first two games.
"We haven't lacked emotion in any game in this series," contended coach Mike Babcock. "We just haven't done good (with it). Most of the emotion's been negative: Why aren't we playing good:? Why don't I have any legs? Why can't I make a pass? ... So we controlled our emotions better tonight."
And fed off the energy provided by the crowd.
"The fans were awesome," said Giguere. "I had shivers when I came out. It was unbelievable."
And so, in its way, was Giguere's ability to once again turn the momentum in a series. The difference is that this time, he did it as much with his actions off the ice as with his play on it.
"The thing I like about it is he challenged people," Babcock said beforehand. "It's about answering the bell, getting challenged and responding. No one wants to be the way we have been."
And Adam Oates - whose faceoff win in overtime led to Ruslan Salei's winning goal - saw it as a sign that Giguere has become more than just the goaltending standout.
"Just because a lot of people have left the bandwagon, he was feeling that he had to stand up for us," Oates said, "which shows how he's grown into a leader."
And so he led, and the Ducks followed. Again.
And when they followed him into overtime, again, they had a feeling that everything was going to be OK, at least in this game. After all, the Ducks were 5-0 in overtime - or overtimes, considering they've gone two, three and five extra periods to win.
"Obviously, we've been pretty lucky so far," said Oates, "and we're glad we are."
Of course, as Babcock has said during these playoffs, you earn your luck. And no one seems to be earning more than Giguere, who has now gone more than eight overtime periods without allowing a goal.
"We all feel good going into overtime," said Giguere, "just because it's exciting. It gets the best out of you, and any athlete feeds off that kind of situation."
Giguere has fed on it enough to surpass his childhood idol, Patrick Roy, who had an overtime shutout string of 162:56 stretched over two seasons.
"This is not important," he said. "What was important tonight was the win. Whatever happened on the side of that ... we'll take that as a team, because this is a team thing."
Most assuredly, it is just that. The Ducks won because they had phenomenal effort from a brace of players - Oates, Salei, Sandis Ozolinsh, Steve Thomas, Rob Niedermayer, the list goes on.
But that the effort came after Giguere called for it in so dramatic and emphatic a fashion suggests that sometimes, actions can't speak any louder than the words that precede them.
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/hockey/article/0,1406,KNS_323_2004229,00.html
A day after the Mighty Ducks goalie called on his team to play with more emotion, and to believe it could win, the Ducks did just that, following their goaltender to a 3-2 overtime win over the New Jersey Devils, a victory that renews the possibility that this could, indeed, still be the series.
And in the aftermath, in the crowded locker room celebrating a victory instead of mourning an opportunity almost gone, Giguere knew he had seen a different team in front of him.
"I could tell guys had a lot of energy tonight, " Giguere said after running his overtime shutout sequence to the longest in NHL history at 167 minutes, 48 seconds. "Right off the bat, it seemed we were working really hard, getting in behind their (defense), making their D work, which we haven't done in the first two games."
But more than that, Giguere showed that Friday's impassioned comments - in which he suggested his team did not believe it could play with New Jersey, and in which he emphatically denied the Ducks' success was a fluke - were more than the actions of a man overcome by frustration or boiling with disappointment.
No, they were the words of a player who knew exactly what he was doing, who had a method in mind when he spoke to the media, rather than keeping his thoughts within the confines of the dressing room.
"I wanted everybody to be aware," he said. "We should all be aware of what's going on. I wanted the fans to be aware what was going on, and I wanted the fans to be loud and cheer us out, and I wanted the guys to be excited about the game.
"Sometimes you need to go public with those things."
Without question, it was a move that worked.
The Pond was energized from the moment the Ducks skated onto the ice for the opening faceoff, and roared during the sequences when Anaheim carried the play to the Devils - moments which defined this game, and showed what had been missing in the first two games.
"We haven't lacked emotion in any game in this series," contended coach Mike Babcock. "We just haven't done good (with it). Most of the emotion's been negative: Why aren't we playing good:? Why don't I have any legs? Why can't I make a pass? ... So we controlled our emotions better tonight."
And fed off the energy provided by the crowd.
"The fans were awesome," said Giguere. "I had shivers when I came out. It was unbelievable."
And so, in its way, was Giguere's ability to once again turn the momentum in a series. The difference is that this time, he did it as much with his actions off the ice as with his play on it.
"The thing I like about it is he challenged people," Babcock said beforehand. "It's about answering the bell, getting challenged and responding. No one wants to be the way we have been."
And Adam Oates - whose faceoff win in overtime led to Ruslan Salei's winning goal - saw it as a sign that Giguere has become more than just the goaltending standout.
"Just because a lot of people have left the bandwagon, he was feeling that he had to stand up for us," Oates said, "which shows how he's grown into a leader."
And so he led, and the Ducks followed. Again.
And when they followed him into overtime, again, they had a feeling that everything was going to be OK, at least in this game. After all, the Ducks were 5-0 in overtime - or overtimes, considering they've gone two, three and five extra periods to win.
"Obviously, we've been pretty lucky so far," said Oates, "and we're glad we are."
Of course, as Babcock has said during these playoffs, you earn your luck. And no one seems to be earning more than Giguere, who has now gone more than eight overtime periods without allowing a goal.
"We all feel good going into overtime," said Giguere, "just because it's exciting. It gets the best out of you, and any athlete feeds off that kind of situation."
Giguere has fed on it enough to surpass his childhood idol, Patrick Roy, who had an overtime shutout string of 162:56 stretched over two seasons.
"This is not important," he said. "What was important tonight was the win. Whatever happened on the side of that ... we'll take that as a team, because this is a team thing."
Most assuredly, it is just that. The Ducks won because they had phenomenal effort from a brace of players - Oates, Salei, Sandis Ozolinsh, Steve Thomas, Rob Niedermayer, the list goes on.
But that the effort came after Giguere called for it in so dramatic and emphatic a fashion suggests that sometimes, actions can't speak any louder than the words that precede them.
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/hockey/article/0,1406,KNS_323_2004229,00.html
