| "When you're in the middle of the game, you just don't feel it as much because you're going, going and the muscles are all warmed up. I really didn't have any groin problems until last year, and then I had hernia surgery at the end of last season. I've felt great since then, but I just felt it pop a little Friday." - Tabby on his injury during the Caps/Flames game. | "Don't include me with the injured guys. I don't want to be here." - A frustrated Tabaracci on his injury status. |
| "I'm between a rock and a hard place on that one. If I let the coach score on me, he won't play me in Calgary [as scheduled]. If I let the general manager score on me, I'm getting sent to the minors." - Tabby on being in net during a practice drill with both Coach Ron Wilson and GM George McPhee. | "Let's just say that coming back isn't as special for me after what happened last year. A couple of things happened last year that I wasn't too happy about, and it's unfortunate that things go that way." - Tabby on returning to Calgary and his conflicts with Flames coach Brian Sutter. |
| "Tabaracci is a top goalie in the league. He dug his heels in and we stuck with him." Caps coach Ron Wilson on Tabby. | "It's been a frustrating start to the season because of our injuries. Let's hope they come now and not at the end of the year. We were missing an awful lot of bodies, so certainly we were happy with three points this weekend." - Tabby on the injury situation *before* he got injured himself. |
| "I've never seen a mercy ending to that game before," - Tabaracci during a two-on-two relay game at the end of practice. Each pair of skaters was supposed to return to its line after scoring, but as teammates hooted at Berube and Bulis, Wilson sent them back to their line without a goal. | "All they were interested in before was making a profit and putting the cheapest team on the ice they could. The people in charge never even made it to a hockey game, so what does that tell you? Now they seem to have an ownership that's more hands-on." - Tabby commenting on the Tampa Bay Lightning's previous owners. |
| "I'm cheating better," - Tabby, explaining why his anticipation and movement has been better recently, on 66 CFR after the Dec 12 win over the Colorado Avalanche. | "Earlier, I'd classify us as a fragile team. Now, we believe we can score that big goal. Look at the way we came back tonight, after they'd tied the game. Now, everyone's digging deep. I remember a 2-on-1 late, a dangerous rush, and somehow Andrew Cassels came diving back into the middle, out of nowhere, to break up the pass to Sakic. That would've been a goal from where he was standing. But that's what I mean about team defence. Something we've been talking about for a long time." - Tabaracci in the Sun Dec 12, about the Flames improved play. |
| "I think we have a lot of people who believe in one another here. It has been a lot of adjustments, new faces, new coaches and it's a learning experience and we've just come out on the short end in some games. No one in the dressing room has their head down." - Rick Tabaracci on the disappointing start to the season. | "It's frustrating to lose, especially when you come out of camp with everyone having high expectations, regardless of who we played in the first two games.... but there is no such thing as a weaker team in the league. We're a team that's not going to have easy nights and there's no mistaking that." - Tabaracci after the Flames lost to Detroit and Colorado in their first two games. (Oct 6, 1997) |
| "I didn't ask. Brian came up to me and said `Go get 'em.' A class act. I didn't want to wait until tomorrow. Or Wednesday. Nobody was giving up, least of all me. He knew I'd want to prove something...He came in here and read the riot act. He said it wasn't good enough. And I knew that began with me. I didn't help the team at the start." - Tabby in the Sun Oct. 18 about being pulled after letting in three goals on three shots. Tabby started the second period, and aided in the Flames overtime win with a great breakaway save on Lemieux. For more on Tabby's views on that game, check out Tabby earns his stripes |
"Phil (Esposito) didn't just send me anywhere. He knew I enjoyed Calgary, and he took the initiative to pick up the phone and talk to (Flames GM) Al Coates. I filled the role I think they wanted filled, and they gave me an opportunity to play a lot of hockey. I like the situation I'm going to, but I like the time I spent in Tampa, too. Obviously, it was one of the most productive years in my career." - Rick Tabaracci on returning to Calgary - June 26 For more on Tabby on the trade, check out the Calgary Herald article,"Kidd not alright..." And there's also a great column in the Calgary Sun,The Cat came back |