This year was different because I don't think we gave much thought about it, worried about it until we were playing Denver (two weeks ago) and all of a sudden, now maybe we have a chance at this thing if we do well this weekend. Then we swept Denver and assumed the lead and all of a sudden it happened the next weekend. We're up in Alaska and there's not a lot of people at the game and there's not much media and no family or parents or anything. |
We didn't play poorly. In fact, we competed real hard but Holy Cross was pretty good. They have a good goalie, good special teams and their top two lines are very skilled. |
We don't know much about them. They've got a pretty senior-laden team, and they're going to be excited to play. |
We got off to that big start, creating traffic and going to the net, and that's what you have to do against a great goaltender. |
We've played very well in Grand Forks . I think there's a comfort level there. We know the facility. We're not going to a facility we've never been to. We don't have a long travel distance. That part of it doesn't matter. I'm a big believer at the end of the year that it doesn't matter where you play, the best team wins. |
When he has the puck, he doesn't slow down. It's like in football, when they talk about 40 (yard) speed and game speed. Some great running backs seem quicker when they have the ball, and that's Phil with the puck on his stick. |
Whoever plays the best will advance, regardless of where the game is played. |
With the year that Ryan had, I can fully understand that he feels ready for the next level. He has elevated his play in each year that he has been at the University of Minnesota. |
You could see the difference in him yesterday in practice. He was focused. I thought it was the best, most focused practice he's had in a month. |