March 28, 2010
NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Midwest Regional
March 27, 2010 – Allen County War Memorial Coliseum – Fort Wayne, Ind.
Bemidji State vs. Michigan Quotes
Head Coach: Tom Serratore, Bemidji State
On the overall play of the game…
“That’s a great hockey team we played tonight. They have a lot of octane, and they took advantage of every opportunity. Every time we had a breakdown, they took advantage of the opportunity, and that is the sign of a great hockey team. I’m especially proud of our guys; I thought they fought until the bitter end. [Michigan’s] the hottest team in the country, and it might be the best team in the country right now.”
On the importance of power plays…
“It’s tough because you wonder when it’s going to wear out. We had those four in the first period, and you would like to convert, there’s no question about it. As the game went on, we had more power plays, more possession time, and more shots, but we need to get goals in the first period.”
On the growth of the program…
“I think the program has always been strong; we’re proud of our program, our tradition, our history, and the success that our program has had. I guess we are a little more on the radar the last two years because of the success of our team last year and this year. That’s attributed to these guys right here. These guys come to work every day; they have such great practice habits and a great work ethic, and it’s easy to coach a group like that. From that standpoint, they are the program. It’s easy to coach when you have good people.”
On the third Michigan goal…
“It was a tough line change; you give Michigan an inch, and they take a mile. We just had a bad line change. It was a slow line change, and then there’s a two on one. That’s tough, and they took advantage of that.”
On playing worse the second half of the season…
“I think you have to give credit to the opposition that we are playing. They are good hockey teams. There is a very small margin of error in Division I hockey. I don’t think it was just us; I want to give credit to the opposing teams. The second half of the year, we had 18 games and only five home games. I don’t think there is a team in the country that had five home games and thirteen on the road. There was a lot of wear and tear on our guys’ bodies, and I think at the end it took its toll. I feel like we had a lot of gas in the tank tonight, and I didn’t see any effects from those games at all. I don’t think we’re as bad as some of the people want to let on. I just realize it is very difficult to sustain the type of energy that we want the second half of the year when you have that many games on the road. We had to win every weekend to solidify our spot; we did take points every weekend.”
On the offseason and plying in the WCHA next year…
“I’ll coach the same way. We kind of have been in the WCHA the past few years when you factor all the games we play. The one thing is that we play a very difficult schedule with 16 nonconference games a year. There’s no question it’s going to be interesting playing for points in the WCHA every weekend because it’s a very different animal. We’re not going to approach it any different; we are going to do the same thing that we’ve always done.”
On the lack of high quality shots vs. Michigan…
“Their speed is just tremendous. I just think we had a really hard time with their speed. They were one step ahead of us. Eventually what we did was stretch out a bit trying to create some offense that way. We tried to get pucks behind their defense to create more options, and it really did help open things up for us.”
Ian Lowe, Junior, RW
On struggling with momentum…
“We got that goal and got a bit of momentum. We had a tough break in there and a change, and then they got another one. We got momentum back and would have liked to get another one quick, but that is the way it goes.”
Chris McKelvie, Sr., LW
On giving up a late goal in the second period…
“Any time you give up a goal that late in the period, it’s a little deflating. That was definitely a preventable goal. We just had to bare down on the puck from there.”
On his experience as captain of a Division I hockey team…
“The locker room this year is closest locker room I’ve ever been in, so from that standpoint it’s like going into the rink with 26 brothers every day. You get to go to the rink like that every day so it’s pretty sweet.”
On the difficulties of the season…
“I think our effort was there; I’m really proud of the way we battled. There were definitely some bounces that didn’t go our way, and that’s why we didn’t win the games, but to point your finger at one thing is impossible. I think Coach kind of alluded to the kind of grind it was physically and mentally. You have to remember we’re all student athletes too, so it can be a grind, but hopefully these guys can learn from that experience. We went into uncharted territory this year and it’s a learning experience, but we just keep moving forward.”
Head Coach: Red Berenson, Michigan
On the game overall…
“It was a hard fought game. I don’t think it was a 5-1 game, but they were always in the game when you think about it. They scored a goal to get back in it and really the momentum was about to change, and then Carl [Hagelin] scored his goal. It was an important comeback goal to keep the momentum on our side. Our penalty killing and goal keeping had to be solid; I thought it was a good team effort.”
On the play of the 3rd and 4th lines…
“You never know who your third line guys are going to be out against, and their top line is as tough as it has been all year. I thought we did a good job of minimizing the damage, and it wasn’t just the top two lines. AJ had a good game for a freshman; this is a good venue and experience for him. I also thought our 4th line was solid.”
On the speed of the team…
“I think we’ve worked hard all along, but I know personally when you get confidence, get in pressure, and get a sense of urgency you can pick up the pace. So I think our team is feeling that feeling. Sometimes you’re in a rut and don’t know that you can go harder and faster. This is the time of year where we’re playing for our season and I think everyone is putting everything they have on the ice.”
On Louie’s goal…
” It was huge too and maybe a little bit of luck. I thought the play started with Chris Summers who forced them to take a penalty using his speed, and we ended up with a four on three; that gave us a chance. When Louie got that goal late in the period, you know those plays are tough.”
On Bemidji State’s play…
“They came back and gave it everything they had; they had a good season. They are a good team, and they are well coached. I can’t say enough about them. I’ve watched more games on tape of Bemidji than I ever have, but I’ve been so impressed with them. We were very respectful of them and knew we had to put pressure on them. We knew we had to win the 3rd period because if they were on our heels they could take over the game.”
On playing Miami…
“We’re here and they’re here and last week’s game just motivated them. I told their coach yesterday that we did everything we could to help them get ready for this week. They’re the team to beat being the number one seed. They went home and had a great week of practice. We know we’ll have our hands full tomorrow.”
On having [Chris] Summers back in the game…
“I thought he played well. You knew there would be a bit of a transition when you haven’t played in three weeks with the quickness, speed, and intensity. We’re playing at a much higher level than the last time he played, but he’s such a good player. He picked his spots and played conservative, and I thought overall he played well.”
Carl Hagelin, Jr., LW
On the challenges of penalties…
“I think we were aggressive throughout the whole game; we didn’t give them much, and we came up hard on them. Before the game we did a good job scouting them. We just tried shutting them down, and today we did a good job at it.”
Louie Caporusso, Jr., C
On reestablishing the lead…
“We just tried to get the puck moving around on 4 on 3, and Brownie [Chris Brown] happened to see the seam that was open to me, and it just went in. It was kind of a scramble play.”
On key saves by the goalie…
“Those are the types of saves that are going to keep you in the game and win you games. [Shawn Hunwick] has been phenomenal since he’s been [in goal], and I can’t say enough about him.