The #2 ranked Gopher Hockey team held their weekly press conference at Mariucci Arena. Head Coach Don Lucia met with the media, as did Senior Defenseman Seth Helgeson, and fellow Defenseman Nate Schmidt. The team takes on the University of Denver this weekend at Mariucci Arena. Gophers are coming off of a win and a tie last weekend with UMD, winning Friday night before losing a couple of one goal leads before settling for the tie on Saturday night.
Head Coach Don Lucia:
Regarding the Gopher Basketball upset of #1 Indiana… "It was great. I was able to watch the game last night. Big win, obviously for basketball. They put themselves in a great position in the NCAA even before that, but when you play a tough schedule, you're going to get some losses. It was a good win, it was good for their program, and certainly good for the school. Like the commentator said, when you have seven year old's rushing the court, it's a great thing. I haven't talked to our guys, but I think a couple of them were at the game last night. That's all part of begin a student-athlete here. Cheering on the some of the other sports as well. I know our guys know the Women's Hockey players well, and a lot of the other athletes. You're always happy when you have a big win like that on campus. It's good for everybody"
Regarding the ups and downs of the season… "I think you've heard me say it before, I don't think you're ever as bad or as good as you think you are. As a coach, you just have to hunker down sometimes and ride it out. One week you're the toast of the town, and the next week they're shoveling dirt on you. Just kinda the way it works"
Regarding the teams play of late… "I think some of it is who we've played, and where we've played. When you look at Mankato, or St. Cloud, or North Dakota, or some of these teams, they're all high level teams. I think what I like right now, for the most part we've played pretty well. Even the Saturday game against UMD, we did a lot of great things. I thought we played better on Saturday than what we did on Friday. We had more energy, we had more scoring chances, and probably fewer chances than we did on Friday. We gave up two, which is fine, but we just didn't score enough on Saturday"
Regarding the league standings… "There's four game left, and we're one game out. We haven't talked about that much right now. We're worried about Denver. We've certainly had our struggles with Denver over the years. They've always played us very well. So let's see where we're at at the end of the weekend. As long as you mathematically still have a chance, then you do. Look at Hockey East right now. Four teams are tied for first with four games to go, and two other teams are two points back. Same thing with us. What is it, four points separating first and seventh? I've never seen our league this close. It's just the nature of college hockey today. Fortunately, we've put ourselves in a great position from a national picture. The goal this weekend is to solidify home ice, and then we'll worry about the rest later"
Regarding Denver… "They always seem to have a great goalie. For whatever reason, it seems like we get thirty or forty shots when we play them, and score one goal or two goals. Obviously they've had very good teams over the years. We've had our issues scoring goals. They're always good defensively, so we have to make sure that we do a better job of trying to get second shot opportunities, and do a better job of getting traffic in front of the goaltender to give ourselves a better chance"
Regarding Seth Helgeson… "Our Senior Night is going to be quick! (smiling). We only have one senior. Seth's done a good job. He's great with community service, and he does well in school. He's just a guy that's an anchor back there. He does his job quietly. He's not the type of player that's going to get a lot of notoriety, because of the way he plays. He's a guy that's going to block a shot, or defend, or be out there in the last minute of the game when we're ahead by a goal to protect it. For Seth, when you don't notice him, that's when he's at his best. He's the guy that's really grown into his role. I remember his Sophomore year, he had to do a little more than maybe he was ready for. But I think that year really helped him the next two, to play the kind of hockey that he has. What we do from here on out largely falls on the shoulders of our Juniors and Seniors. It's there time. It's there turn to lead. That's just the way it's supposed to work at the collegiate level. The Freshman and Sophomores are supposed to follow the Juniors and Seniors. We only have one Senior this year, that's why I include the Juniors. If those guys have a strong month of March, then we're going to have a good month of March"
Regarding the success of the Power Play… "The key has been good players. We have a good compliment of guys who can make the play. Guys who see the ice, can shoot a puck, can go retrieve a puck when it's loose. We have done a nice job on the power play all season long. Our specialty teams have been a big part of our success, and that has to continue from here on out"
Regarding Penn State's surprising success this year… "It's not like they were starting a new program. They had a good nucleus of players on campus, they were able to get some transfers in which helps when you're building your program. When you look at college hockey now, it's not like every team has four years worth of players. I think they're going to walk in in a good spot. They had a good year this year. Obviously it was a big win for them on Monday night. They have everything in place. Hockey's really getting bigger and better in the state of Pennsylvania. With their proximity to Canada, the East Coast, and the midwest, they're in a good spot geographically, and they're going to have a brand new facility to play in next fall. I never thought it would take very long for them to get up and running, and that's certainly the case this year. They're going to walk in running next year in the Big Ten Conference"
Regarding the Big Ten Hockey Conference… "Leagues have come and gone. I think it was almost inevitable at some point that there was going to be a Big Ten Hockey Conference. And when Penn State added, that was the impetus that created it and made it happen"
Regarding the health of the team… "(Seth Ambrosz) is practicing this week. So at least right now, we anticipate that he will be playing. For this time of year, we're relatively healthy. We want to practice hard, but not quite as long. We want to make sure we're as fresh as we can be for Friday and Saturday"
Seth Helgeson:
Regarding being the only Senior on Senior Night… "Probably the fastest Senior Night in history! It is kinda odd. My Freshman year there was only four of us, and now there's one. It's going to be a lot. But, the flower budget is going to be down, and it's probably only going to take about thirty seconds, so it's not going to be such a distraction to the guys. So that'll be kinda nice (smiling). I'm trying to tell everyone to make Zach Budish come out there with me (on Senior Night), and get his parents out there as well to get it a little more comfy for my parents"
Regarding his career at the U coming to an end… "It's tough. It's… it's tough. I've been with a lot of great guys. Having it go by so fast, I think that's the toughest. But it's been awesome. I hope that the season goes as long as it can. It's definitely getting down to it, and it's becoming reality. You really don't think about it. You're a Freshman, and you're thinking, four years, that's a long ways away. And now it's the last year. It's probably going to be a little emotional towards the end, but it's going to be great"
Regarding staying for four years… "I love it here so much, I could stay here for another four years. It's nice being here for all four years. We've had a great group of guys the past four years too. I can't say I'd take anything back, it's just been awesome"
Regarding his parents being the only family out there on Senior Night… "I've talked to them. It's kinda funny. They're going to be the only two out there. I tell them it's probably going to be weird for them. Knowing my Mom, it's going to be a little emotional for her. But they're looking forward to it, and we have a lot of family coming in for that Saturday game, so it's going to be fun playing in front of those guys too"
Regarding the teams turnaround during his time here… "I think it's the way we come in each and every day, and work hard. I think if you came to our practices, and were in the locker room, you'd see that we have a lot of fun with it. And I think that's the key to our success. We have a lot of fun, but at the same time, we're working hard each and every day. It's been great. The first two years were a lot of ups and downs, and it was hard at times. I think the past two years have been a great reward. We work hard on and off the ice, and I think the biggest reward we've had is to make it to the Frozen Four. We just want to do our best this year, try to make a nice little run, make it to the Frozen Four, and win a national championship once again"
Regarding how he handles the team as the only Senior leader… "We've had a great Junior and Sophomore class. A lot of mature guys. Everyone's matured over a couple of years. Even the Freshman class. They're doing alright, they're learning the ropes, and they're providing as much as they can. It's been nice in the locker room"
Regarding his role on the team… "Just out there playing physical, and being that defensively sound guy. Obviously I'm not going to be out there putting up numbers like Nate Schmidt or anything (smiling). I've accepted that role the four years I've been here. It's not going to be my role to go out and score goals. I just keep the game simple, be defensively sound, play physical, be that back end, and provide leadership. Because, being the only Senior, I've gotta do something back there (smiling). Last year we had all Freshman and Sophomores. It was me the Junior, and no Seniors. I think my leadership role expanded last year. Coach Guenzel really put that on me, and I think over the last two years it's grown"
Regarding what needs to change in order to win the conference… "We've gotta have the complete weekend. Both games. The past couple of weekends we've come out hot on Friday, playing our game, and sticking to the game plan. Then Saturday comes around, and… That wasn't what it was last year. Last year we'd come out on Fridays, and who knows whats going to happen on Friday. And then Saturday we'd come back. I think it's just having a complete two game weekend. We're playing well. I think through practice, preparation and just executing our game plan, there's a lot of things we need to tidy up a little bit. But I think we're on the right track. We've got a lot of great guys in the locker room, and our Coaches do an outstanding job of getting us prepared. I think it's on us to go out there and execute what the coaches have prepared for us"
Nate Schmidt:
Regarding the UMD series… "We didn't execute as well as we should have. We had a couple of chances to bury them in the second period, had a couple of power play chances to capitalize on, and we didn't. Made for a tough second and third period. You let a team like that hang around long enough, they're going to come out of it with some points"
Regarding what needs to change in order to win the conference… "We need to make sure we get a full effort from everybody. We've had some sporadic efforts from some guys. Hopefully we can iron it out before the end of March here. I think that if we get a good effort from everybody, and make sure that we work harder here down the stretch. We may have had a little bit of a February funk, where we hit a little bit of a rut there. But it's something you need to fight through. I think we've embraced. We know we haven't playing as well as we should, or the way we did in January. It's a nice challenge for us going into the playoffs. How mentally tough are we to be disciplined to get into the playoffs and play the best hockey we possibly can. There's four games left to play, anything can happen. There's more than a couple of teams that are right there in the fight. You could be anywhere from first to seventh in a weekend. It's really important for us to come out here and get some points this weekend, because Denver's playing pretty well. They had a good series last weekend"
Regarding Seth Helgeson… "He's a staple on our team. When it comes to off the ice, away from the rink, he's a great guy, great teammate. Definitely a guy with a lot of character. When he gets to the rink, he's all business. One of those guys who can flip a switch, and he's totally dialed in, which is really helpful for our young guys, especially our young defenseman. He's a gritty player. He plays tough in those hard nosed areas. He creates time and space for guys like me to do our thing. He does a lot of those things that people don't want to do, block shots, and get into those tough areas. And he does it really well. It helps our other defenseman to do what they do best. Seth has got our backs at all times. Team oriented player, team oriented captain"
Head Coach Don Lucia:
Regarding the Gopher Basketball upset of #1 Indiana… "It was great. I was able to watch the game last night. Big win, obviously for basketball. They put themselves in a great position in the NCAA even before that, but when you play a tough schedule, you're going to get some losses. It was a good win, it was good for their program, and certainly good for the school. Like the commentator said, when you have seven year old's rushing the court, it's a great thing. I haven't talked to our guys, but I think a couple of them were at the game last night. That's all part of begin a student-athlete here. Cheering on the some of the other sports as well. I know our guys know the Women's Hockey players well, and a lot of the other athletes. You're always happy when you have a big win like that on campus. It's good for everybody"
Regarding the ups and downs of the season… "I think you've heard me say it before, I don't think you're ever as bad or as good as you think you are. As a coach, you just have to hunker down sometimes and ride it out. One week you're the toast of the town, and the next week they're shoveling dirt on you. Just kinda the way it works"
Regarding the teams play of late… "I think some of it is who we've played, and where we've played. When you look at Mankato, or St. Cloud, or North Dakota, or some of these teams, they're all high level teams. I think what I like right now, for the most part we've played pretty well. Even the Saturday game against UMD, we did a lot of great things. I thought we played better on Saturday than what we did on Friday. We had more energy, we had more scoring chances, and probably fewer chances than we did on Friday. We gave up two, which is fine, but we just didn't score enough on Saturday"
Regarding the league standings… "There's four game left, and we're one game out. We haven't talked about that much right now. We're worried about Denver. We've certainly had our struggles with Denver over the years. They've always played us very well. So let's see where we're at at the end of the weekend. As long as you mathematically still have a chance, then you do. Look at Hockey East right now. Four teams are tied for first with four games to go, and two other teams are two points back. Same thing with us. What is it, four points separating first and seventh? I've never seen our league this close. It's just the nature of college hockey today. Fortunately, we've put ourselves in a great position from a national picture. The goal this weekend is to solidify home ice, and then we'll worry about the rest later"
Regarding Denver… "They always seem to have a great goalie. For whatever reason, it seems like we get thirty or forty shots when we play them, and score one goal or two goals. Obviously they've had very good teams over the years. We've had our issues scoring goals. They're always good defensively, so we have to make sure that we do a better job of trying to get second shot opportunities, and do a better job of getting traffic in front of the goaltender to give ourselves a better chance"
Regarding Seth Helgeson… "Our Senior Night is going to be quick! (smiling). We only have one senior. Seth's done a good job. He's great with community service, and he does well in school. He's just a guy that's an anchor back there. He does his job quietly. He's not the type of player that's going to get a lot of notoriety, because of the way he plays. He's a guy that's going to block a shot, or defend, or be out there in the last minute of the game when we're ahead by a goal to protect it. For Seth, when you don't notice him, that's when he's at his best. He's the guy that's really grown into his role. I remember his Sophomore year, he had to do a little more than maybe he was ready for. But I think that year really helped him the next two, to play the kind of hockey that he has. What we do from here on out largely falls on the shoulders of our Juniors and Seniors. It's there time. It's there turn to lead. That's just the way it's supposed to work at the collegiate level. The Freshman and Sophomores are supposed to follow the Juniors and Seniors. We only have one Senior this year, that's why I include the Juniors. If those guys have a strong month of March, then we're going to have a good month of March"
Regarding the success of the Power Play… "The key has been good players. We have a good compliment of guys who can make the play. Guys who see the ice, can shoot a puck, can go retrieve a puck when it's loose. We have done a nice job on the power play all season long. Our specialty teams have been a big part of our success, and that has to continue from here on out"
Regarding Penn State's surprising success this year… "It's not like they were starting a new program. They had a good nucleus of players on campus, they were able to get some transfers in which helps when you're building your program. When you look at college hockey now, it's not like every team has four years worth of players. I think they're going to walk in in a good spot. They had a good year this year. Obviously it was a big win for them on Monday night. They have everything in place. Hockey's really getting bigger and better in the state of Pennsylvania. With their proximity to Canada, the East Coast, and the midwest, they're in a good spot geographically, and they're going to have a brand new facility to play in next fall. I never thought it would take very long for them to get up and running, and that's certainly the case this year. They're going to walk in running next year in the Big Ten Conference"
Regarding the Big Ten Hockey Conference… "Leagues have come and gone. I think it was almost inevitable at some point that there was going to be a Big Ten Hockey Conference. And when Penn State added, that was the impetus that created it and made it happen"
Regarding the health of the team… "(Seth Ambrosz) is practicing this week. So at least right now, we anticipate that he will be playing. For this time of year, we're relatively healthy. We want to practice hard, but not quite as long. We want to make sure we're as fresh as we can be for Friday and Saturday"
Seth Helgeson:
Regarding being the only Senior on Senior Night… "Probably the fastest Senior Night in history! It is kinda odd. My Freshman year there was only four of us, and now there's one. It's going to be a lot. But, the flower budget is going to be down, and it's probably only going to take about thirty seconds, so it's not going to be such a distraction to the guys. So that'll be kinda nice (smiling). I'm trying to tell everyone to make Zach Budish come out there with me (on Senior Night), and get his parents out there as well to get it a little more comfy for my parents"
Regarding his career at the U coming to an end… "It's tough. It's… it's tough. I've been with a lot of great guys. Having it go by so fast, I think that's the toughest. But it's been awesome. I hope that the season goes as long as it can. It's definitely getting down to it, and it's becoming reality. You really don't think about it. You're a Freshman, and you're thinking, four years, that's a long ways away. And now it's the last year. It's probably going to be a little emotional towards the end, but it's going to be great"
Regarding staying for four years… "I love it here so much, I could stay here for another four years. It's nice being here for all four years. We've had a great group of guys the past four years too. I can't say I'd take anything back, it's just been awesome"
Regarding his parents being the only family out there on Senior Night… "I've talked to them. It's kinda funny. They're going to be the only two out there. I tell them it's probably going to be weird for them. Knowing my Mom, it's going to be a little emotional for her. But they're looking forward to it, and we have a lot of family coming in for that Saturday game, so it's going to be fun playing in front of those guys too"
Regarding the teams turnaround during his time here… "I think it's the way we come in each and every day, and work hard. I think if you came to our practices, and were in the locker room, you'd see that we have a lot of fun with it. And I think that's the key to our success. We have a lot of fun, but at the same time, we're working hard each and every day. It's been great. The first two years were a lot of ups and downs, and it was hard at times. I think the past two years have been a great reward. We work hard on and off the ice, and I think the biggest reward we've had is to make it to the Frozen Four. We just want to do our best this year, try to make a nice little run, make it to the Frozen Four, and win a national championship once again"
Regarding how he handles the team as the only Senior leader… "We've had a great Junior and Sophomore class. A lot of mature guys. Everyone's matured over a couple of years. Even the Freshman class. They're doing alright, they're learning the ropes, and they're providing as much as they can. It's been nice in the locker room"
Regarding his role on the team… "Just out there playing physical, and being that defensively sound guy. Obviously I'm not going to be out there putting up numbers like Nate Schmidt or anything (smiling). I've accepted that role the four years I've been here. It's not going to be my role to go out and score goals. I just keep the game simple, be defensively sound, play physical, be that back end, and provide leadership. Because, being the only Senior, I've gotta do something back there (smiling). Last year we had all Freshman and Sophomores. It was me the Junior, and no Seniors. I think my leadership role expanded last year. Coach Guenzel really put that on me, and I think over the last two years it's grown"
Regarding what needs to change in order to win the conference… "We've gotta have the complete weekend. Both games. The past couple of weekends we've come out hot on Friday, playing our game, and sticking to the game plan. Then Saturday comes around, and… That wasn't what it was last year. Last year we'd come out on Fridays, and who knows whats going to happen on Friday. And then Saturday we'd come back. I think it's just having a complete two game weekend. We're playing well. I think through practice, preparation and just executing our game plan, there's a lot of things we need to tidy up a little bit. But I think we're on the right track. We've got a lot of great guys in the locker room, and our Coaches do an outstanding job of getting us prepared. I think it's on us to go out there and execute what the coaches have prepared for us"
Nate Schmidt:
Regarding the UMD series… "We didn't execute as well as we should have. We had a couple of chances to bury them in the second period, had a couple of power play chances to capitalize on, and we didn't. Made for a tough second and third period. You let a team like that hang around long enough, they're going to come out of it with some points"
Regarding what needs to change in order to win the conference… "We need to make sure we get a full effort from everybody. We've had some sporadic efforts from some guys. Hopefully we can iron it out before the end of March here. I think that if we get a good effort from everybody, and make sure that we work harder here down the stretch. We may have had a little bit of a February funk, where we hit a little bit of a rut there. But it's something you need to fight through. I think we've embraced. We know we haven't playing as well as we should, or the way we did in January. It's a nice challenge for us going into the playoffs. How mentally tough are we to be disciplined to get into the playoffs and play the best hockey we possibly can. There's four games left to play, anything can happen. There's more than a couple of teams that are right there in the fight. You could be anywhere from first to seventh in a weekend. It's really important for us to come out here and get some points this weekend, because Denver's playing pretty well. They had a good series last weekend"
Regarding Seth Helgeson… "He's a staple on our team. When it comes to off the ice, away from the rink, he's a great guy, great teammate. Definitely a guy with a lot of character. When he gets to the rink, he's all business. One of those guys who can flip a switch, and he's totally dialed in, which is really helpful for our young guys, especially our young defenseman. He's a gritty player. He plays tough in those hard nosed areas. He creates time and space for guys like me to do our thing. He does a lot of those things that people don't want to do, block shots, and get into those tough areas. And he does it really well. It helps our other defenseman to do what they do best. Seth has got our backs at all times. Team oriented player, team oriented captain"