The #2 Gopher Hockey team held their weekly press conference at Mariucci Arena this afternoon. Head Coach Don Lucia met with the media, as did Brady Skjei and Justin Holl. The team takes on the #10/11 Michigan Wolverines this Friday and Saturday at Mariucci Arena. Game time is 8:00 PM on Friday (B1G Network), and 7:00 PM on Saturday (FSN).
Head Coach Don Lucia:
Regarding Michigan and that rivalry building… “I think it’s going to become a really good rivalry. Obviously we have one going with Wisconsin. But I think if you look at all the rest of the teams in Big Ten hockey, probably as much because of Michigan’s tradition over the years, former member of the WCHA back in the seventies. We’ve had some big games with them. They’ve had great teams year in and year out. So I think this is probably the next rival that will really ramp up in the Big Ten for us. They like to get up and play. I’m familiar with three of the kids that were here for the World Juniors in (Tyler) Motte, (JT) Compher and (Andrew) Copp. Compher and Copp are two very good centers. They skate, they want to play attacking hockey, and they want to play aggressive. They play very confidently, they want to make plays, and I think when we’ve played them over the years, the games are very entertaining because they’re really up and down games”
Regarding Wisconsin series… “We didn’t score. It’s as simple as that. I mean, we certainly had chances on Thursday night. We hit a couple of pipes, and Kyle (Rau) went in on a breakaway. Their goaltender played very well. We said going in that they played very well at the Kohl Center, and have only lost two games all season long there. Defensively we did a good job. If you’d have told me going in that we were going to give up two goals each night, I would have taken it in a heartbeat. We’ve gotta get back to scoring some goals. We’ve had four games now in the second half that we’ve only been able to score one goal. Fortunately we’ve been able to win a couple of them. That can be the hard part. It’s not easy to score goals, it gets harder as the second half wears on. It’s not easy to get scoring opportunities when they’ve got three guys back all night long. So you’re going to have to play with a little bit more patience, and not turn pucks over. And I think for the most part we did that. On the game winning goal on Friday we turned one over on the wall, and they made a good play to Kerdiles, and their best player made the play to win the game. So, a lot of things we did really well over the course of the Thursday-Friday series, and you know, hopefully we’ll continue to do those. And hopefully, getting back home, we’ll be able to score a few goals. As a coach, you have to coach how you’re playing, the effort that they’re giving. I think that was an A+ as far as how hard we played, how well we played in so many area’s of the games last week, but unfortunately we didn’t score. And that’s something we’re going to have to do. Our theme has been, if we can get to three, we have a really good chance to win games. And Adam (Wilcox) has done his job, giving up two both games, especially on the road. Now, against Michigan, we’re going to again have to score goals. They’ve got some talented players, much like us. Maybe not a dominant offensive player, but three lines that can score, a mobile defense, and a goaltender that’s played very well”
Regarding coaching against Red Berenson… “You go across college hockey, and there’s a lot of outstanding coaches. Red’s certainly an icon. And to be doing it as long as he’s done it, and at one school, Michigan. I don’t know if he got his 800th win last weekend or what. That’s the beauty of what we do. And the Big Ten conference I think has all good coaches. The games are getting very competitive like we thought. Penn State got their first win. We knew that was going to happen during the course of the year, we’re just glad it wasn’t us. Now it’s a big series. Technically, we’re tied for first place with Michigan, because they have two games in hand”
Regarding dropping a spot in the rankings… “That’s irrelevant”
Regarding their injury situation… “Better. Tommy (Serratore) is practicing right now. We’ll see how he progress during the course of the week. If he gets through the week and feels good, he’ll be able to play on Friday night. (Michael) Brodzinski is just getting to where he is exercising. Actually, he was on the ice a little bit last night. I don’t think that there’s any question that, barring some type of unforeseen setback, that he’ll be available when we play Penn State in two weeks”
Regarding Brady Skjei… “I think the confidence in Brady this year versus last year is really night and day. The best part about Brady is, he understands what he is. He’s good sized, and mobile, a good defender, and a defensive defenseman. That’s what he can hang his hat on. He’s going to bring some offense. He can shoot a puck, he can get the puck out of our zone on the breakout. But Brady’s value is defending the rush, playing against other peoples best players. I think that you look at where he was last year, sometimes he was in and out from a confidence standpoint. But this year, he’s much more of a confident kid, and played far more consistently than he did last year”
Brady Skjei:
Regarding last weekends losses… “We’re trying to learn from it, and get over it as fast as we can. It’s in the past, so now we focus on Michigan”
Regarding what they need to improve on… “We need to score more goals, for sure. We only have like one five on five goals in the last nine games. So we need to work on that. Need to get pucks to the net and make good plays. I think other teams defense always gets better towards the end of the year. Scoring goals is harder and harder week by week, so hopefully we get some good bounces and score some goals”
Regarding Wisconsin series… “Goalie played well, and sometimes it just doesn’t go your way. It’s weird how the puck bounces sometimes. Plenty of opportunities, we’ve gotta bear down and score”
Regarding Michigan and that rivalry building… “Every team in the Big Ten is a good solid team. You’ve gotta bring your A game every game to win. Michigan will be a great test, and it will be fun to play another Big Ten team. It’s definitely a big name school, so it should be a lot of fun. The past with Michigan before we got here, has been really big. Michigan definitely is a big school, and can be a big rivalry for us some day, and is right now for sure. We know that they’re going to be a great team. There’s a lot of skill. I’ve actually played them once in Ann Arbor, so I’m used to playing them. They’ve got a lot of skill. They’re kind of like us, so we match up pretty well”
Regarding playing in Ann Arbor with Development Program… “Great town. It’s a college town, so it’s fun. The high school is right across from the Big House, so saw that every day, which is pretty cool. No complaints, Ann Arbor is a great spot”
Regarding having Saturday & Sunday off… “It was good to get a little rest, and get the legs underneath us after a long weekend, so… And the Skate With The Gophers was obviously a great thing to do with the kids. It was a lot of fun”
Regarding having Jake Parenteau back… “In the games he’s a great player, and a good shut down guy for us. It also helps a lot in practice, getting another D back there. Because when you’re going five defense in practice, it’s kind of tiring. So it saves our legs. He’s a big component to us on the back end in games. I think he (Parenteau) knew right away it was going to big injury, the way he got off the ice. We were a little worried, but he actually came back a little earlier than we thought, so it was a big help”
Justin Holl:
Regarding Michigan and that rivalry building… “They’re a big, strong, fast team. They kind of play like we do. So I think there’s an opportunity for it to be a big rivalry. Obviously there’s a lot of history here at Minnesota, and Michigan has it’s fair share of history. I think they have seven national titles? It’s been a big rivalry for a while, but we haven’t played them in three years. It’ll be fun to get back to playing them, and I’m sure it’s going to be a big matchup. It’s going to be a big transition game. We’ve got to limit our turnovers and limit their opportunities with the puck. I think we just need to make sure that we play our game well, and mitigate our mistakes. It’s going to be a tough weekend, and I think we’d rather have it that way than playing a softer team. I think it’s good that we play a tough team and test ourselves right away, and I think we’ll be ready to go”
Regarding Wisconsin series… “Obviously we weren’t happy at all with last weekend. But at the same time, if someone had told us at the beginning of the year that we’d be 18-4-5, I think we’d be pretty happy with that. We’re sitting pretty well right now. We’re in first place in the Big Ten, and we control our own destiny. We’re happy with that, and we’re just trying to move forward. Hopefully we can get six points this weekend. Coach talked to us after the game and said this isn’t necessarily the worst thing ever if we get better from it. And I think we feel that way too. Could be a good wakeup call. I think we can definitely get better from it, and use it as a learning experience”
Regarding Olympic Hockey… “I know we play tomorrow at 7:30 AM Eastern? I’ll probably be in bed at that point. But hopefully I’ll be able to watch a couple of games”
Head Coach Don Lucia:
Regarding Michigan and that rivalry building… “I think it’s going to become a really good rivalry. Obviously we have one going with Wisconsin. But I think if you look at all the rest of the teams in Big Ten hockey, probably as much because of Michigan’s tradition over the years, former member of the WCHA back in the seventies. We’ve had some big games with them. They’ve had great teams year in and year out. So I think this is probably the next rival that will really ramp up in the Big Ten for us. They like to get up and play. I’m familiar with three of the kids that were here for the World Juniors in (Tyler) Motte, (JT) Compher and (Andrew) Copp. Compher and Copp are two very good centers. They skate, they want to play attacking hockey, and they want to play aggressive. They play very confidently, they want to make plays, and I think when we’ve played them over the years, the games are very entertaining because they’re really up and down games”
Regarding Wisconsin series… “We didn’t score. It’s as simple as that. I mean, we certainly had chances on Thursday night. We hit a couple of pipes, and Kyle (Rau) went in on a breakaway. Their goaltender played very well. We said going in that they played very well at the Kohl Center, and have only lost two games all season long there. Defensively we did a good job. If you’d have told me going in that we were going to give up two goals each night, I would have taken it in a heartbeat. We’ve gotta get back to scoring some goals. We’ve had four games now in the second half that we’ve only been able to score one goal. Fortunately we’ve been able to win a couple of them. That can be the hard part. It’s not easy to score goals, it gets harder as the second half wears on. It’s not easy to get scoring opportunities when they’ve got three guys back all night long. So you’re going to have to play with a little bit more patience, and not turn pucks over. And I think for the most part we did that. On the game winning goal on Friday we turned one over on the wall, and they made a good play to Kerdiles, and their best player made the play to win the game. So, a lot of things we did really well over the course of the Thursday-Friday series, and you know, hopefully we’ll continue to do those. And hopefully, getting back home, we’ll be able to score a few goals. As a coach, you have to coach how you’re playing, the effort that they’re giving. I think that was an A+ as far as how hard we played, how well we played in so many area’s of the games last week, but unfortunately we didn’t score. And that’s something we’re going to have to do. Our theme has been, if we can get to three, we have a really good chance to win games. And Adam (Wilcox) has done his job, giving up two both games, especially on the road. Now, against Michigan, we’re going to again have to score goals. They’ve got some talented players, much like us. Maybe not a dominant offensive player, but three lines that can score, a mobile defense, and a goaltender that’s played very well”
Regarding coaching against Red Berenson… “You go across college hockey, and there’s a lot of outstanding coaches. Red’s certainly an icon. And to be doing it as long as he’s done it, and at one school, Michigan. I don’t know if he got his 800th win last weekend or what. That’s the beauty of what we do. And the Big Ten conference I think has all good coaches. The games are getting very competitive like we thought. Penn State got their first win. We knew that was going to happen during the course of the year, we’re just glad it wasn’t us. Now it’s a big series. Technically, we’re tied for first place with Michigan, because they have two games in hand”
Regarding dropping a spot in the rankings… “That’s irrelevant”
Regarding their injury situation… “Better. Tommy (Serratore) is practicing right now. We’ll see how he progress during the course of the week. If he gets through the week and feels good, he’ll be able to play on Friday night. (Michael) Brodzinski is just getting to where he is exercising. Actually, he was on the ice a little bit last night. I don’t think that there’s any question that, barring some type of unforeseen setback, that he’ll be available when we play Penn State in two weeks”
Regarding Brady Skjei… “I think the confidence in Brady this year versus last year is really night and day. The best part about Brady is, he understands what he is. He’s good sized, and mobile, a good defender, and a defensive defenseman. That’s what he can hang his hat on. He’s going to bring some offense. He can shoot a puck, he can get the puck out of our zone on the breakout. But Brady’s value is defending the rush, playing against other peoples best players. I think that you look at where he was last year, sometimes he was in and out from a confidence standpoint. But this year, he’s much more of a confident kid, and played far more consistently than he did last year”
Brady Skjei:
Regarding last weekends losses… “We’re trying to learn from it, and get over it as fast as we can. It’s in the past, so now we focus on Michigan”
Regarding what they need to improve on… “We need to score more goals, for sure. We only have like one five on five goals in the last nine games. So we need to work on that. Need to get pucks to the net and make good plays. I think other teams defense always gets better towards the end of the year. Scoring goals is harder and harder week by week, so hopefully we get some good bounces and score some goals”
Regarding Wisconsin series… “Goalie played well, and sometimes it just doesn’t go your way. It’s weird how the puck bounces sometimes. Plenty of opportunities, we’ve gotta bear down and score”
Regarding Michigan and that rivalry building… “Every team in the Big Ten is a good solid team. You’ve gotta bring your A game every game to win. Michigan will be a great test, and it will be fun to play another Big Ten team. It’s definitely a big name school, so it should be a lot of fun. The past with Michigan before we got here, has been really big. Michigan definitely is a big school, and can be a big rivalry for us some day, and is right now for sure. We know that they’re going to be a great team. There’s a lot of skill. I’ve actually played them once in Ann Arbor, so I’m used to playing them. They’ve got a lot of skill. They’re kind of like us, so we match up pretty well”
Regarding playing in Ann Arbor with Development Program… “Great town. It’s a college town, so it’s fun. The high school is right across from the Big House, so saw that every day, which is pretty cool. No complaints, Ann Arbor is a great spot”
Regarding having Saturday & Sunday off… “It was good to get a little rest, and get the legs underneath us after a long weekend, so… And the Skate With The Gophers was obviously a great thing to do with the kids. It was a lot of fun”
Regarding having Jake Parenteau back… “In the games he’s a great player, and a good shut down guy for us. It also helps a lot in practice, getting another D back there. Because when you’re going five defense in practice, it’s kind of tiring. So it saves our legs. He’s a big component to us on the back end in games. I think he (Parenteau) knew right away it was going to big injury, the way he got off the ice. We were a little worried, but he actually came back a little earlier than we thought, so it was a big help”
Justin Holl:
Regarding Michigan and that rivalry building… “They’re a big, strong, fast team. They kind of play like we do. So I think there’s an opportunity for it to be a big rivalry. Obviously there’s a lot of history here at Minnesota, and Michigan has it’s fair share of history. I think they have seven national titles? It’s been a big rivalry for a while, but we haven’t played them in three years. It’ll be fun to get back to playing them, and I’m sure it’s going to be a big matchup. It’s going to be a big transition game. We’ve got to limit our turnovers and limit their opportunities with the puck. I think we just need to make sure that we play our game well, and mitigate our mistakes. It’s going to be a tough weekend, and I think we’d rather have it that way than playing a softer team. I think it’s good that we play a tough team and test ourselves right away, and I think we’ll be ready to go”
Regarding Wisconsin series… “Obviously we weren’t happy at all with last weekend. But at the same time, if someone had told us at the beginning of the year that we’d be 18-4-5, I think we’d be pretty happy with that. We’re sitting pretty well right now. We’re in first place in the Big Ten, and we control our own destiny. We’re happy with that, and we’re just trying to move forward. Hopefully we can get six points this weekend. Coach talked to us after the game and said this isn’t necessarily the worst thing ever if we get better from it. And I think we feel that way too. Could be a good wakeup call. I think we can definitely get better from it, and use it as a learning experience”
Regarding Olympic Hockey… “I know we play tomorrow at 7:30 AM Eastern? I’ll probably be in bed at that point. But hopefully I’ll be able to watch a couple of games”