Nov. 12, 2010
Recap | Final Stats
Post-Game Quotes
11/12/10
Head Coach Mike Eaves
On the team’s difficulties during the power play:
“They didn’t surprise us by what they did, we just didn’t take what was given. At times we did, and we got the looks we wanted to, but more times than not we tried to force plays and as a result the power play was probably a negative for us in terms of the energy. We had one power play late in the game that I thought gave us energy; we had some chances. But overall, your power play can do three things: it can give you energy by creating chances, it can score goals, or it can take energy away by not functioning the way you would like to see, and that was the case tonight.”
On if the team’s youth was exposed tonight:
“Without question. I think that when things didn’t go the way that we wanted originally—we didn’t get energy off of the power play, we started to press, we started to go outside the box in terms of how we wanted to play as a team, and as a result you end up getting individualistic and you’re not going to find the answers there. And that’s not to be unexpected with a young team. Those are lessons that an older team has under its belt, and it’s one we hope we can apply.”
On the play of the defense:
“Scott was our best player, and I think our defense, to be quite honest, I thought we struggled with the puck. I didn’t mind our play when we didn’t have the puck—we were taking time and space. I think the chances we gave up weren’t a whole bunch. I think we squeezed our sticks when things weren’t going well again, we were trying to do too much. But Scott was our best player; he gave us a chance. After two periods, the score was 0-0. We didn’t play the way we know that we’re capable of, but we had a chance because of Scott.”
On the team’s rebound chances and chances in front of the net:
“They were few and far between. I would think it was a combination of them and us. I was disappointed with our ability to get to pucks, win races, be strong on your stick, and win battles. I think we know we could be better in those areas.”
On not pulling the goalie at the start of the power play at the end of the game:
“Basically, because of the way things had gone, we hadn’t had good control, we had to get control. And as it turned out, if we had pulled the goalie it probably would’ve been an empty-netter. If your team is playing well and you know they’re going to have a better chance of having control because of the way they’ve played, then you pull the young guy. But until we got that control in the offensive zone, I didn’t think it was a good risk.”
Craig Smith
On if the degree the team’s youth was exposed tonight:
“I just think that we got off track a little. The last two weekends we’ve been playing well—chipping the pucks in, playing simple. But tonight we just got off track a little bit and came out slow.”
On what was wrong with the power play tonight:
“We weren’t being simple. I think that everybody was on their own; everyone was on a different page and we just weren’t connecting like we can. I think they were a little more composed than we were on the power play, and it doesn’t help when you don’t get a shot off on a five-minute power play, that’s pretty frustrating. So we’ll just come back tomorrow and flip the page.“
Sean Dolan
On if the team felt the power play became a source of negative energy:
“I don’t know if everyone felt it, but you could definitely see that the guys were getting frustrated out there and trying to do things on their own. But we just need to get back to the basics and be ready to go for tomorrow.”
Scott Gudmandson
On his play tonight:
“I thought I played well, but obviously I want that last goal back—that guy made a nice shot. But other than that I thought I played pretty well."
