That's probably the only reason we're here in the Frozen Four, because we had such good special teams. So it's a bit ironic that that cost us in this game. |
The bottom line is that we know they are a real strong team, a real talented team and they are playing very well down the stretch. I think it is going to be just a great hockey game. |
The population of (Maine) is such that there are not a whole lot of kids out there to begin with. Timing is the key thing. We're fortunate that we have some real elite ones here now. Both Greg and Derek have had fabulous careers. |
Their top four is as good as anybody's in the country. |
There are a lot of similarities there. Of course in the regular season our numbers are better and in the playoffs their numbers are better. Sometimes in the national tournament you can throw those numbers away . |
There was a real determination from that group of seniors that was left behind, so to speak, to do something special. |
They are playing great hockey, as well as anybody in the country. We'll have our hands full. We'll certainly be aware of some of their tendencies, but the bottom line is, we'll be focused on ourselves and our execution. |
They didn't want to have just a decent season, they wanted to do something special. |
They outworked us. They had better jump. They won loose pucks. Conditioning was definitely a factor. They played Denver [two weekends ago], so we needed to play smarter than we did. We tried to get too cute with the puck. We also missed the net a lot. |
They remind me a lot of our team last year quite honestly. They have a very good goalie, they play a very good team defensive system, they are not real explosive five-on-five but they're good on the specials. They're a real good team. Goals will be tough to come by. |
They weren't going to let the season slip away. They kept chipping away, they built some momentum, and before you know it, we were on a real good run down the stretch. |
This was a frustrating result tonight. It is hard to believe we had fifty shot on net with only one power play. We played well, but just didn't score. We have to keep our heads up and find a way to win because we have another big game on Saturday night with a lot at stake. |
This was a long season for the type of game we had to play. I thought we looked a bit tired for stretches of that game. We came up against a team that works as well. Unfortunately we weren't able to build a lead. |
Those two in particular are elite players and have the NHL written all over them. Those are guys who can really do some damage to you if you're not checking them tightly. Fortunately in our league we have some elite players so we're used to playing against that. |
To advance past Michigan State was special. We had our hands full. |