The #1 ranked Gopher Hockey team held their weekly press conference today at Mariucci Arena. Head Coach Don Lucia met with the media, as did Captain Zach Budish and Center Nate Condon. The team takes on North Dakota this weekend at home following a sweep of Alaska-Anchorage here last weekend.
Don Lucia:
Regarding this weekends series against North Dakota… "It'll be a fun weekend. I think when you step on the ice and there's a buzz in the crowd I think that gets the players a little more excited than maybe a normal game. It's important regarding standings. We're both tied a point out of first place. It's a critical weekend as far as WCHA standings are concerned. Wouldn't be too surprised if we saw each other again down the line this year. I look at the importance of the weekend. I think it shows the intensity and emotion of this series. I look forward to these games, and both teams are playing well. They finish their checks and play hard. We practice at a real high tempo this week, because we think the tempo of the games will be very strong. Maybe we won't playing them for sure the next couple of years other than in a playoff scenario. I made the comment to someone that, here it is, the middle of January and we haven't played, since the last few years we've met up a lot. But I get the sneaking suspicion that this won't be the last time we play them this year"
Regarding the North Dakota team… "I like their Goaltender, I think he's better than what they had a year ago. I think up front they're deeper. They had a lot of injuries last year, so their depth up front is a lot better. They were able to keep a couple of their seniors in (Corban) Knight and (Danny) Kristo who are having great years for them. The defensive corp might be a little more of puck movers more than brawn, which is what they've had the last couple of years. Typical North Dakota team. They're going to come after us, they're going to play aggressive, they're going to play to win as are we, and that's what makes for an entertaining game"
Regarding Corban Knight & Danny Kristo… "They're both outstanding players. To their credit, they came back for their senior year, and they're both having really good senior years. If we're going to have success this weekend, we're going to have to minimize what they do. They're good in different ways. (Corban) Knight's very good, obviously scoring a lot this year. They've got a good team. They're a lot deeper than they were a year ago"
Regarding the non-conference schedule for the next 3 years and UND… "Our institution has a policy that we cannot play anyone with a nickname. If you're in the same conference you can play. We didn't know if or when North Dakota was going to change their nickname. So, what we decided to do with the demise of the WCHA is first make sure we kept our commitment to our in state schools. And I think if you ask all of our in state schools, that was really important to them. So with our twenty Big Ten games, and our eight in state games, that gives us twenty eight. We're going to continue to play our tournament (Mariucci Classic) so that's thirty. We don't have our trip to Alaska anymore, so we only have our four games to work with. Two will be at home, and two will be on the road. We already had our deal with Notre Dame and Boston College came to us and wanted to do a four year deal so we committed to that because we didn't know what was going to happen with North Dakota's schedule at the time, with their nickname anyway, so once the nickname got settled this summer after all the court cases and everything else that the first available time we'll have them back on our schedule, but who knows what's going to happen three or four years down the line. I mean, is the Big Ten going to add teams? And we don't know what will happen with the in state schools. Will the WCHA expand again? Or the NCHC could expand, and everybody doesn't have the same amount of games. There's going to be change. We want to continue to play, obviously, some of the teams we've played in the past. If Notre Dame drops off, North Dakota can come on. If BC (Boston College) comes off, we can have somebody else come on. But who knows what's going to happen six to eight years down the line. We want to play some new and different teams. We think we have a really good schedule. We think we have a good balanced home schedule with our Big Ten games and our in state games, and in the future with North Dakota, Boston College and Northeastern. So I think it will be a real good schedule for our fans. We're dictated, so we're going to have so many home games. That's the higher ups who dictate that for financial reasons. I think we have a pretty good situation right now. There's change. And with change, some of it's good and some of it's bad. It was kind of a frenzy with everybody trying to get games, with the realignment. We made sure that we locked in to our schedule. We're going to take care of our program first, and do what's necessary to have a good schedule. So we don't have any room on our schedule for the next three or four years because of that. I think rivalries when you're in the same conference mean more. You're playing for points, and you're playing for spots in the standings, so I think that always takes a little bit of precedence. But it's like anything else, with new conferences you're going to play new opponents. I'm sure rivalries that we've had in the past, whether it's Michigan or Michigan State or whoever will start to ramp up more when you see them four times a year. When you play somebody every couple of years, or just two games here, it's just not the same as when you play them six times in a given year"
Regarding he North Dakota fan base in the Twin Cities… "Why would they want to come here?? They want to move to the Twin Cities, do they? They like it down here (smiling & laughing). No, I'm sure they'll have plenty of people in the building, and that makes for a great atmosphere and a lot of fun"
Regarding Erik Haula… "We don't know. He practiced yesterday, we'll let him practice this week and get a gauge day by day of where he's at. I know what he wants to do, but we're going to do what's in his best interest. He looked better yesterday than I anticipated. He'll get some contact today and we'll see where he's at"
Regarding the rest of the team's health… "We've got some colds going through our team right now, so we've had to monitor and gauge practice because of that. We just want to keep our guys as fresh as we can for Friday and Saturday"
Zach Budish:
Regarding last Weekends series vs. UAA… "They're definitely an interesting unit. We didn't necessarily play our best hockey in the first period Friday night, but we found a way to win, which I think is the sign of a good team. That was the message after the game. We didn't play the way we wanted to for a full sixty minutes, but we found a way to grind out a win. We got a break with the five minute power play with just a couple of minutes left, but our power play capitalized, which was big"
Regarding this weekends series against North Dakota… "I think there's always a little more extra emotion when you're playing North Dakota, just because of the rivalry. I mean, most of the guys on our team grew up watching the Gophers and North Dakota playing every year. It's been a lot of back and forth, and it's been pretty even. I think in my years here we're five hundred against them. I think we've played them fifteen times or so over the last three seasons. It will definitely be intense and hard fought games. It's a big weekend. It's not just any old series. It's a huge weekend obviously. With this being the last regular season meeting we have with them for a while, and both teams playing pretty well right now and ranked pretty high, and in the standings we're neck & neck with them. It's a huge four points in the WCHA, so that's the way we'll treat it. It's going to be tough out there. There's not a lot of easy ice when you're playing North Dakota. They're a fast team, and very physical. They've got a pretty old group over there. Guys who have been around the block, and been around this rivalry for two or three years now. It's going to be tough, and we've got to expect a one goal game that's probably going to come down to the third period both nights. Obviously our fans have a lot of pride and passion with this series, so we've got to treat it that way as well. We expect them to come out flying on Friday night, and we will as well"
Nate Condon:
Regarding his switch to Center… "I really like Center. I grew up playing Center. Until I came here, I had never really played wing. I was real nice to use my speed up the middle a lot, and taking draws didn't seem to be too much of a problem, so it was a lot of fun for me playing back up the middle"
Regarding Corban Knight & Danny Kristo… "You gotta play good defensively. We shut down a couple of big guys in (T.J.) Tynan & Anders Lee (from Notre Dame) a couple of days ago, and a bunch of guys on BC (Boston College). You just gotta play good defensively. You know, I hope our D like blocking shots this weekend (smiling)"
Regarding this weekends series against North Dakota… "it's always intense. It's always screaming fans, always people that are heckling you. It was fun for us going up there last year and it's great having our fans here cheering for us. I played in Fargo for two years and actually lived with a family who had season tickets to North Dakota. I got it every year. I don't know what it is. Probably the proximity. But even up in Fargo, there was Gopher fans there too, and it seemed to be heated every time. There's no polite conversation about it, and I think it's just a fun rivalry. I committed (to Minnesota) before I went there (to live with North Dakota fans in Fargo). They were still nice about it, but they had a "Sioux Room" in their basement. It was a little bit awkward at times. I didn't go in that room. When I first got to Fargo was when I first found out how heated the rivalry was, and it's gotten more and more ever since I came here"
Regarding last Weekends series vs. UAA… "We seemed to have that problem last year too, where Friday was always a slow start for us, and Saturday's were always big wins. I don't know what it is, but Saturday's always been our big nights. It was pretty wild for us last weekend, and luckily we pulled that one out on Friday and carried that into Saturday. I could do without doing that on Friday from here on out, but if those Saturday's keep coming I'm not complaining"
Don Lucia:
Regarding this weekends series against North Dakota… "It'll be a fun weekend. I think when you step on the ice and there's a buzz in the crowd I think that gets the players a little more excited than maybe a normal game. It's important regarding standings. We're both tied a point out of first place. It's a critical weekend as far as WCHA standings are concerned. Wouldn't be too surprised if we saw each other again down the line this year. I look at the importance of the weekend. I think it shows the intensity and emotion of this series. I look forward to these games, and both teams are playing well. They finish their checks and play hard. We practice at a real high tempo this week, because we think the tempo of the games will be very strong. Maybe we won't playing them for sure the next couple of years other than in a playoff scenario. I made the comment to someone that, here it is, the middle of January and we haven't played, since the last few years we've met up a lot. But I get the sneaking suspicion that this won't be the last time we play them this year"
Regarding the North Dakota team… "I like their Goaltender, I think he's better than what they had a year ago. I think up front they're deeper. They had a lot of injuries last year, so their depth up front is a lot better. They were able to keep a couple of their seniors in (Corban) Knight and (Danny) Kristo who are having great years for them. The defensive corp might be a little more of puck movers more than brawn, which is what they've had the last couple of years. Typical North Dakota team. They're going to come after us, they're going to play aggressive, they're going to play to win as are we, and that's what makes for an entertaining game"
Regarding Corban Knight & Danny Kristo… "They're both outstanding players. To their credit, they came back for their senior year, and they're both having really good senior years. If we're going to have success this weekend, we're going to have to minimize what they do. They're good in different ways. (Corban) Knight's very good, obviously scoring a lot this year. They've got a good team. They're a lot deeper than they were a year ago"
Regarding the non-conference schedule for the next 3 years and UND… "Our institution has a policy that we cannot play anyone with a nickname. If you're in the same conference you can play. We didn't know if or when North Dakota was going to change their nickname. So, what we decided to do with the demise of the WCHA is first make sure we kept our commitment to our in state schools. And I think if you ask all of our in state schools, that was really important to them. So with our twenty Big Ten games, and our eight in state games, that gives us twenty eight. We're going to continue to play our tournament (Mariucci Classic) so that's thirty. We don't have our trip to Alaska anymore, so we only have our four games to work with. Two will be at home, and two will be on the road. We already had our deal with Notre Dame and Boston College came to us and wanted to do a four year deal so we committed to that because we didn't know what was going to happen with North Dakota's schedule at the time, with their nickname anyway, so once the nickname got settled this summer after all the court cases and everything else that the first available time we'll have them back on our schedule, but who knows what's going to happen three or four years down the line. I mean, is the Big Ten going to add teams? And we don't know what will happen with the in state schools. Will the WCHA expand again? Or the NCHC could expand, and everybody doesn't have the same amount of games. There's going to be change. We want to continue to play, obviously, some of the teams we've played in the past. If Notre Dame drops off, North Dakota can come on. If BC (Boston College) comes off, we can have somebody else come on. But who knows what's going to happen six to eight years down the line. We want to play some new and different teams. We think we have a really good schedule. We think we have a good balanced home schedule with our Big Ten games and our in state games, and in the future with North Dakota, Boston College and Northeastern. So I think it will be a real good schedule for our fans. We're dictated, so we're going to have so many home games. That's the higher ups who dictate that for financial reasons. I think we have a pretty good situation right now. There's change. And with change, some of it's good and some of it's bad. It was kind of a frenzy with everybody trying to get games, with the realignment. We made sure that we locked in to our schedule. We're going to take care of our program first, and do what's necessary to have a good schedule. So we don't have any room on our schedule for the next three or four years because of that. I think rivalries when you're in the same conference mean more. You're playing for points, and you're playing for spots in the standings, so I think that always takes a little bit of precedence. But it's like anything else, with new conferences you're going to play new opponents. I'm sure rivalries that we've had in the past, whether it's Michigan or Michigan State or whoever will start to ramp up more when you see them four times a year. When you play somebody every couple of years, or just two games here, it's just not the same as when you play them six times in a given year"
Regarding he North Dakota fan base in the Twin Cities… "Why would they want to come here?? They want to move to the Twin Cities, do they? They like it down here (smiling & laughing). No, I'm sure they'll have plenty of people in the building, and that makes for a great atmosphere and a lot of fun"
Regarding Erik Haula… "We don't know. He practiced yesterday, we'll let him practice this week and get a gauge day by day of where he's at. I know what he wants to do, but we're going to do what's in his best interest. He looked better yesterday than I anticipated. He'll get some contact today and we'll see where he's at"
Regarding the rest of the team's health… "We've got some colds going through our team right now, so we've had to monitor and gauge practice because of that. We just want to keep our guys as fresh as we can for Friday and Saturday"
Zach Budish:
Regarding last Weekends series vs. UAA… "They're definitely an interesting unit. We didn't necessarily play our best hockey in the first period Friday night, but we found a way to win, which I think is the sign of a good team. That was the message after the game. We didn't play the way we wanted to for a full sixty minutes, but we found a way to grind out a win. We got a break with the five minute power play with just a couple of minutes left, but our power play capitalized, which was big"
Regarding this weekends series against North Dakota… "I think there's always a little more extra emotion when you're playing North Dakota, just because of the rivalry. I mean, most of the guys on our team grew up watching the Gophers and North Dakota playing every year. It's been a lot of back and forth, and it's been pretty even. I think in my years here we're five hundred against them. I think we've played them fifteen times or so over the last three seasons. It will definitely be intense and hard fought games. It's a big weekend. It's not just any old series. It's a huge weekend obviously. With this being the last regular season meeting we have with them for a while, and both teams playing pretty well right now and ranked pretty high, and in the standings we're neck & neck with them. It's a huge four points in the WCHA, so that's the way we'll treat it. It's going to be tough out there. There's not a lot of easy ice when you're playing North Dakota. They're a fast team, and very physical. They've got a pretty old group over there. Guys who have been around the block, and been around this rivalry for two or three years now. It's going to be tough, and we've got to expect a one goal game that's probably going to come down to the third period both nights. Obviously our fans have a lot of pride and passion with this series, so we've got to treat it that way as well. We expect them to come out flying on Friday night, and we will as well"
Nate Condon:
Regarding his switch to Center… "I really like Center. I grew up playing Center. Until I came here, I had never really played wing. I was real nice to use my speed up the middle a lot, and taking draws didn't seem to be too much of a problem, so it was a lot of fun for me playing back up the middle"
Regarding Corban Knight & Danny Kristo… "You gotta play good defensively. We shut down a couple of big guys in (T.J.) Tynan & Anders Lee (from Notre Dame) a couple of days ago, and a bunch of guys on BC (Boston College). You just gotta play good defensively. You know, I hope our D like blocking shots this weekend (smiling)"
Regarding this weekends series against North Dakota… "it's always intense. It's always screaming fans, always people that are heckling you. It was fun for us going up there last year and it's great having our fans here cheering for us. I played in Fargo for two years and actually lived with a family who had season tickets to North Dakota. I got it every year. I don't know what it is. Probably the proximity. But even up in Fargo, there was Gopher fans there too, and it seemed to be heated every time. There's no polite conversation about it, and I think it's just a fun rivalry. I committed (to Minnesota) before I went there (to live with North Dakota fans in Fargo). They were still nice about it, but they had a "Sioux Room" in their basement. It was a little bit awkward at times. I didn't go in that room. When I first got to Fargo was when I first found out how heated the rivalry was, and it's gotten more and more ever since I came here"
Regarding last Weekends series vs. UAA… "We seemed to have that problem last year too, where Friday was always a slow start for us, and Saturday's were always big wins. I don't know what it is, but Saturday's always been our big nights. It was pretty wild for us last weekend, and luckily we pulled that one out on Friday and carried that into Saturday. I could do without doing that on Friday from here on out, but if those Saturday's keep coming I'm not complaining"