Postgame Quotes: #3 Minnesota-Duluth 3, #2 Michigan 2
4/10/2011 12:00:00 AM | Ice Hockey
April 10, 2011
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Michigan Head Coach Red Berenson
On the game ... "Tough loss. I think looking at the big picture, St. Paul did a great job in hosting this, and the University of Minnesota. Everything was first class. This is a great hockey environment, and great attendance and great crowd. These players had a chance to play in a real special event, and I think obviously Minnesota-Duluth is a proud champion. They should. It's the first time they've won a national championship and good for them. They were the better team. Even though the game ended in overtime, it was a tough -- I didn't think our team really got to play their best hockey this weekend, for one reason or another. I don't know what it was. But it's a tough loss. Shawn Hunwick was terrific. He gave us a chance and it wasn't to be. The overtimes, you never know what happens. We couldn't get a player off the ice. We got two forwards out there, we couldn't change. You know how you have to change ends in the overtime. And we couldn't get the puck out of our zone, and it ends up costing us a game."
On how Minnesota-Duluth's offensive zone time affected play late ... "I don't think it affected the game later on, but we got that early goal that was called back, and then we took a couple of penalties, and they got the offensive -- you get offensive momentum just by having the puck in the other team's zone. They're killing a penalty and that's kind of what happened. They've got a great power play, and it was all we could do to keep them off the board. But I think penalties had a big part in the whole game. Just too many penalties. Were they good penalties? I can't tell you what I really think. I mean, you can't talk about refereeing and penalties, but when one team gets nine and the other four, it doesn't add up. We just thought we were on our heels a lot because of penalties."
On losing in overtime after winning twice before ... "Ask their coach. They'll remember it the rest of his life. He doesn't know it now. It takes a while to sink in. You're so focused on the game. The players they're part of instant gratification. I think for coaches it takes a while for the whole thing to sink in. Good for Minnesota-Duluth. It's been a long time coming for them, and they've got a good coaching staff and they've got a good team. They're a better team than we thought they were during the year. They kind of slipped under the radar all year, after they dropped out of No. 1. But they're the real deal, and they're a good team. I just wish we could have given them a better game."
On getting the puck out of the defensive end ... "I thought we turned the puck over too often. Maybe we were a little jittery. We made some good plays but too many turnovers. Way too many turnovers starting in the first period. Whether we were not as confident or not as patient with the puck as we should have been, and that's one of the tell-tale signs that we weren't having as good a game as we needed to."
On the penalty kill ... "Our assistant coach Billy Powers looks over the penalty killing. I thought he did an incredible job developing our team for the power play. As good as a power play team we've seen all year. We were dialed in. Of course Shawn had to make a couple of saves, but for the most part we did a good job. You can't kill nine penalties. Like we said before the game, if they get three, if we can kill three penalties, that should be it. We're not out there to take penalties. So every time a player falls down it shouldn't be a penalty not in NCAA championship hockey. But I thought our penalty killing was outstanding, our defensemen and our forwards and our goalie."
On the goal scorers in the game ... "I think the top players just about neutralize each other throughout the game, and it's an unsuspected or unsung hero that ends up scoring a goal, it might be a fluky goal like Rohrkemper's goal was a fluky goal, but it was a huge goal. Our top players when they got their chances you saw Caporusso on that 2-on-1 that's the game. Nobody is surprised if Louie scores because he's a clutch scorer, but it wasn't to be tonight. It's a one-shot game. Comes down to one shot. Doesn't have to be a good shot."
U-M Senior Forward Louie Caporusso
On the unsung heroes ... "They've all been unbelievable, unbelievable all year. Look at a guy like Scooter who stepped up and played an important role all year. And Ben Winnett had a great weekend. If it wasn't for him, I don't know if we would have been in the final game. Played unbelievable. Guys go unnoticed. A guy like Matt Rust goes unnoticed. Those guys win championships. They're in the shadows, unsung heros. They played unbelievable."
On the weekend ... "We all know Michigan hockey, we don't let up, usually we're the more dominant team. We take pride in the cycle keeping the puck in their zone and putting pressure on them. I don't think we had that for a sustained amount of time this weekend. But I think on the other hand we played well defensively, everyone filing out to the net, branching out. So just for whatever reason didn't click this weekend, but hopefully these guys will get it next time."
On the penalties ... "With the power play that powerful you don't want to go in the box nine times. We didn't expect to do it this weekend. But we did. I was really proud of our PK, so that's good."
On the short-handed two-on-one in the third ... "It was a PK rush, I think it was, and Carl made an unbelievable play. He made a great block where I think he just disrupted defensemen and ended up with the puck. I knew at one point he was going to pass. When he branched out he was going to pass I squared up and got ready for it and he did a great job getting it through. And when I had got it, the goalie already had double-pad jammed it. So I tried to shoot it as hard as I could. And I stopped -- made a good stop."
U-M Senior Goaltender Shawn Hunwick
On the game-winner ... "Yeah, I think the guy was behind the net. Threw a backdoor kind of. I didn't get over and across in time. I need to see the replay again. It happened so fast. I'm not sure really what happened."
On the defense ... "I thought we had a strong defensive effort, faceoff goal, and a power play. Where Johnny makes a good play and the puck goes right back to the guy, a little bit of bad luck and there at the end in overtime, anything can happen. But it was a strong defensive effort. And we gave up 37 shots. But I thought the team played really well."
U-M Senior Forward Carl Hagelin
On the disallowed goal in the first period ... "I think the ref said he blew the whistle before I hit the puck. That was the explanation. I felt since I was on the icy kind of felt like they weren't going to allow that goal. I kind of heard a whistle right when I touched the puck. So we tried to just keep going. That's what we've been doing all year. And it came down to overtime."
On the penalties ... "You know, you never want to kill nine or 10 penalties in a game. But today, we had to do it. And obviously some guys get more tired than others. It's tough like Louie said, got some pressure. I think we did a good job, only allowed one goal and they had a really good power play. So obviously some of us got a bit tired by playing too much PK."
U-M Sophomore Forward Jeff Rohrkemper
On the emotions after the game ... "Sadness. It's the opportunity of a lifetime gone in the blink of an eye."
On the penalties ... "Obviously any time there is penalties it cuts down on the amount of guys playing. It cuts down on the flow of the game. I don't think anyone blames the officials for the game, but it cuts down on momentum."
On shutting down Minnesota-Duluth's power play ... "Our coaches do a good job of getting video ready for us. We watched a lot of video on them. Our [penalty killers] are our leaders and our seniors. They are great players and did a great job again."
On the final minutes of the game ... "When it comes down to that, no one is feeling tired. Like I said before, tonight was an opportunity of a lifetime and no one held anything back."
On the seniors on the team ... "As coach always says, we are only as good as our seniors. I think our seniors showed how good of a team we are because of them. They kept us going. It's a great group of guys and a great team."
U-M Junior Defenseman Greg Pateryn
On the game ... "It is obviously disappointing. I think there are areas of the game where we could have played better and some things we did well. That's how the game goes. It doesn't always go your way. We are all disappointed and sad, but we're still moving forward. Next year. Our time will come I guess."
On saving the goal in regulation ... "I think some guys got some energy from it. That is what our goalies expect. If something goes by them, they expect us to clean up after them. I saved the goal, but it is expected from us."
On what was said going into overtime ... "We knew it was going to be a really ugly goal. We knew it was going to be quick. That is what overtime is sometimes. We knew it was going to take one shot and it did, but it wasn't for us."
On the heart of the team ... "This is a really close group of guys. That is the biggest thing about this program: the family we make. I think with some of these guys leaving I don't they will be able to be replaced. We all play for each other and I think that is the big part of Michigan. We all play for the guy next to us and not only for ourselves."
