Gophers Weekly Press Conference Notes

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The Gopher Hockey team met the media this afternoon at Mariucci Arena, and there were definitely some common themes in listening to the Players and Coaches. They agree that they are happy with their record, but they see room for improvement in overall team play. "Consistency" was the buzz word of the day as the team prepares for their trip to Anchorage this weekend for a two game series with the Seawolves at Sullivan Arena.

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Don Lucia:

Regarding the game at Mankato: "The disappointing thing for me was how we played in the first period on Saturday night. We were playing catch up on the scoreboard, and you make mistakes because you're playing catch up. We turned the puck over fourteen times and iced it three times in the first ten minutes of the game. You're not going to give yourself a chance to win when you do that"

General comments regarding the team: "I've been doing this a long time, and you're never as good as you think you are, and never as bad. It's all about playing good consistent hockey from the start. We had a good intense week of practice from the get go on Monday. We need to do a better job of getting to the net, protecting our own net, and working on playing hard as a unit of five. We didn't do a good job of boxing out, and have been sloppy with the puck. We've done a lot of back-checking drills this week. I think our power play is improving, that's a good sign. And some of our veterans who have underachieved this season are playing better, even in practice, and I think that's also a good sign"

Regarding playing in Anchorage this weekend: "I always enjoy the trip, it's a good place to play this time of year. It'll be our last trip up there for a while, but I think we'll be going back up there to play in their pre-season tournament. They (Alaska-Anchorage) are playing a lot more pressure hockey than I've seen in the past. They've been at home for a couple of weeks, so we'll see a rested team and we'll see an aggressive team. We had Ben (Marshall) up front last week, and we're moving him back this week. I think he brings more to our team on the back line than he does up front. So that'll give Tom Serratore an opportunity to play on that line this weekend, since we won't have Sam (Warning) back. It'll give a couple of guys a chance to show what they can do. We'll be going up with twenty two (players). We'll have eight defenseman and twelve forwards. There's a good chance we'll play seven (Defenseman) and eleven (Forwards) on Friday night"

Regarding injuries: "(Sam) Warning is out. He skated yesterday but couldn't make it through the entire practice, so he's obviously out this weekend. We'll see where he's at next week, and might end up shutting him down for a couple of weeks after that"

Regarding the Goalie situation: I think Adam did a good job last weekend. I think he could have tracked the first goal on Saturday night a little better, but I thought he did his job. Will he play two games in Anchorage this weekend? I don't know to be honest"


Nate Schmidt:

Regarding the game at Mankato: "It was good and bad. We found some stuff out about our team on Saturday night. Spotting them two goals and battling back all game isn't a recipe for success"

General comments regarding the team: "Our record may not always reflect how we've been playing. We've been sporadic. We've gotta find that consistency. You can only ask your goalies to make so many saves a night. Lately we've been asking our goalies to make too many of those saves. Hopefully their work load will decline going forward"

Regarding playing in Anchorage this weekend: "I like this trip. I think it's great. You get to go up and see some beautiful country, a beautiful state. I think this will be a good bonding trip for us. A nice time to get away and just be around the guys for a while. We need to create bonds, and create the chemistry we had last year with this team. They're (Alaska-Anchorage) a different team. They've got some better guys up front that can make some offensive plays. It's going to be an exciting weekend"


Travis Boyd:

Regarding the game at Mankato: "I don't think the coaches were too happy with the way we played on Saturday, so we had a tougher practice on Monday"

General comments regarding the team: "We're happy with where we're at, but we also know we need to get a lot better. We're working hard, but we've still got a long way to go, and a lot of things to work out. We're only seven games in. Our big problem right now is lacking consistency. We play good one period, and we struggle the next. We've been working hard this week on bringing our A game every day when we come to the rink"

Regarding playing in Anchorage this weekend: "I really like this trip. Anchorage is a really beautiful place. I think it's a fun time"

Regarding the Gophers last year in the WCHA: "I think it's kind of a weird vibe. It's going to definitely be different next year and going forward. It's going to be strange not playing some of our biggest rivals, which we've had for the last ten or twenty years in the WCHA. It's going to be weird possibly not playing North Dakota. That's probably the number one series you look forward to playing every year"
 




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