Nov. 13, 2010
Recap | Final Stats
Post-Game Quotes
11/13/10
Wisconsin vs. North Dakota
Head Coach Mike Eaves
On the penalty killing and positive energy:
“No doubt, no doubt, that was a positive early in the game. We talked about (after the first period) that things that were good. Our face-offs were better, our penalty killing was good, Goody (Scott Gudmanson) was good again for us, so there were some positive things and one of them was definitely the penalty kill.”
On how being on the penalty kill for the majority of the first half helped offensively:
“Well I don’t think it hit us in the second period, I’d say it hit us in the first (period) because we had to shorten our bench. That was part of the conversation after the first; let’s stay out of the (penalty) box. We needed to use more people in the second period, because it was back to back nights and we did a little better of a job with that.”
On the growing pains this weekend:
“We talked to the kids after the game. Our record is 3-3-2 in the league, 6-4-2 overall. If somebody said that that would be our record now, we would have said ‘we’d take that with this young group.’ I think some eyebrows have been raised and were raised by our pretty good start. This is more of what I thought we would see early: our goal-tending having to play well, letting us hang around and try to find a way to win the game. We’re going through some growing pains right now, so this is what I thought we would see even earlier, so I’m not truly surprised by this.”
On the mood of the players after the series:
“There’s no doubt. They’re looking around and once we talk from a more experienced perspective, I can see them going ‘Yeah, coach, you might be right.’ But at the same time, we are moving forward, and people are going to have to grow here, or they’re not going to play as much.”
On North Dakota’s experience:
“They got to time and space better than we did. That was one of the things we were coaching on the bench. We spent too much time gliding rather than striding and getting there. Their back pressure was really good, and great teams do that nowadays. I look at their tea, and in many ways, that was us last year. An older, veteran, experienced team that had repetitions of the type of things that are going to help them be successful.”
On Jordy Murray:
“I’m hoping that he will be all set by Monday. He just wasn’t right to play today.”
On being surprised by lack of shots throughout the game:
“Yeah, I thought we could create more going into the weekend, but seeing the way North Dakota back pressured, where they didn’t give us anything from the rush, and how well they fronted the puck in their own zone. They blocked a lot of shots. It reminded me of the championship game against BC (Boston College).”
On improvements as a team from Friday’s game:
“Our power-plays: we only had two chances, and we went 1 for 2. Our breakouts were sharper, our face-offs were sharper, we just settled down. I wish we had more opportunity tonight like last night, then maybe we would have gotten a couple more goals.”
On effort:
“Because of the way we lost last night, we lost some confidence. It seemed to me that we were on our heels rather than on our toes. We couldn’t determine what was going to happen during the game, but let’s make sure we’re on our toes and playing forward. That’s the kind of message we gave our boys.”
On confidence of the team:
“With a young group, I’m not that concerned. I think they can bounce back, because they’re almost naïve. Sometimes with young teams, that naivety is a good thing.”
Players Quotes
Jake Gardiner
On what this weekend’s series taught him:
“It was more of a reality check than a jolt. We played an older team in North Dakota this weekend, and they got the better of us. We didn’t play our game; we didn’t play Wisconsin Hockey this weekend.”
On the effort of the team:
“For the most part, it was there. It’s not so much the effort, it’s the heart I think. Coach Eaves always thrives on that, and we didn’t give it. We didn’t do the little things right in the first two periods, and that caused the loss to hurt I think. Little details in the third-not so smart penalties-we can’t do that.”
Michael Mersch
On comparing this weekend to previous weekends:
“North Dakota’s a big strong team. But pinch down the walls, and I think their physicality got the better of us. And we need to learn from it and move on.”
Justin Schultz
On possible growing pains:
“Obviously, yeah, there would be growing pains. It’s a big-time reality check for such a young team. We haven’t really gone through this yet this year. But I’m more disappointed than surprised. Coming out here, we were on a hot streak. We wanted to continue that against North Dakota, but we’ll go back to work this week and get ready for Duluth.”
