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NCAA MEN'S FROZEN FOURApril 9, 2015Dean BlaisJake GuentzelRyan MassaBrian O'RourkeBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS Providence – 4 MODERATOR: We're joined by Omaha head coach Dean Blais and student‑athletes Jake Guentzel, Ryan Massa and Brian O'Rourke. COACH BLAIS: I'm proud of the team obviously what we accomplished this year in our first trip to the Frozen Four. Didn't turn out like we hoped but certainly proud of the guys and the way they never gave up. I thought when it went 2‑1 we had a chance. They came down and scored the next shot. So very disappointed that we lost, but certainly proud of the overall team and what they accomplished this year. MODERATOR: Questions for the players. Q. Ryan, midway through the second period, did it feel like the tide was starting to turn a bit before Providence scored that opening goal? You made a couple of really good saves at that point. RYAN MASSA: I mean, they're a great hockey club, came from the drop of the puck, played a full 60 minutes. Didn't give me very much breathing room. Kept me busy pretty much all night, and when you're a relentless team like that and they capitalized. So hats off to them for making it difficult and banging in a couple of greasy goals. Q. Ryan, could you take us through that first goal? It looked like that long rebound kind of caught you. RYAN MASSA: Yeah, no, he shot it through RD's legs and didn't put too much on it. So when it hit me, it just kind of got out of reach. I went to go grab it and I think one of our guys got his stick in there just as I was going down with my hand and it kind of pinballed around. I lost sight of it, and then just I heard the horn. So I watched the replay a bit and it looked like he got the rebound off the backside of the net. Tough play. Obviously would like to maybe control that just a little bit better. But they found a way to put it in. Q. Brian and Jake, Brian, first of all, what do you think as the senior class you guys did to set the tone for what this program can do moving forward? And, Jake, as a returning player returning, could you talk about what you guys did this year and the standard you've set going into the future for UNO hockey? BRIAN O'ROURKE: We're obviously happy with what we were able to accomplish this year as a team, coming to the Frozen Four for the first time as a program. I think sort of puts Omaha on the map. With a great young group of players coming back next year, everyone can look forward to another great season from UNO hockey. JAKE GUENTZEL: This year was a success. Obviously with these seniors we're going to miss them. They were the team this year. They led everyone and they put a good stamp on us younger guys, what to look up to and what to do next year. So really looking forward to the future. Q. I want to follow up on that. What do you think that coming to the Frozen Four, any of the players, can do to help future teams, this experience to help future UNO teams? BRIAN O'ROURKE: I think definitely one thing it will do, it just lets the player know what it takes to get to this level. Obviously it's a long season, and there's a lot of highs and lows. But this year I think we were able to kind of keep the ship steady toward our main goal, and that was trying to win a championship. Yeah, we fell short, but I think we're able to establish a little bit of a culture, team culture that it's going to be standard from here on out and what is expected each and every day. And these younger guys, they really took to it and really understood it. That just carries over now. RYAN MASSA: Where you have such a heavy freshman/sophomore class, certainly this stage is something that's naturally nerve‑racking for anyone. For the first time in the school history making it this far in the postseason with a youthful team only bodes well for the future of this program. It's going to give guys that confidence and understand how hard it is to get here and then even how much harder it is to win that one game to get you to the National Championship finals. So I think it was a great learning experience for these guys, and it was an honor to be there for them and experience it with them. MODERATOR: Questions for Coach. Q. Dean, can you comment about what you think they did best? Probably didn't want to look at 48 shots. But aside from that, what do you think they did best tonight? COACH BLAIS: I just think they were more relaxed than us. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary. We had a routine. You get into a routine, no matter if you're in the regular season or the Frozen Four. But I thought when we hit the ice, we didn't execute like we wanted to. We had simple rules. Yell for the puck. Get it in deep. Try not to turn it over. And we didn't accomplish that. But give Providence credit. They have more of a veteran set of forwards than we do, and I think they played with more confidence than we did. Q. Do you think it was a combination of maybe the team's first time here, plus so many younger players that might have contributed to that nervousness in the beginning? COACH BLAIS: I think exactly what that was. They were excited. We try not to get overexcited about being here. You want to put on a good show. And I don't know if we did that or not. We'll have to reflect on that. But I think the effort was there, and that's all I usually ask out of the team is effort. And we've gotten better over the course of the year. Not quite there yet. But certainly, like the players say, they know that the players that we have coming in for the future are pretty talented. We're going to also miss the seniors and the leadership of graduation. So the future looks bright, and the experience was great here. I really appreciated the city of Boston, especially little things like the escorts by the Boston Police going back and forth. That was a gas going back and forth to the hotel and all the lights going and everything. Everything was a great experience here. Q. Did you feel that, when you scored that one goal and you maybe take some of that momentum, maybe take some of the nerves away, the quick response by Providence just didn't really allow you to get that nervousness out? COACH BLAIS: We talked about getting the next goal when it was 2‑0 between the second and third period no matter what the shots were, because we're a team that has come back during the course of the year. Quite a few times. And third period is usually our best period. And when we got that goal, I just thought we had a chance, whether you have to pull your goaltender and get the extra attacker on, but when they scored right away to make 3‑1, you could feel the energy go out of the bench. Great shot by a great player. Ryan will blame himself. But give him credit, that was a big goal for them. Q. It's not uncommon for Ryan to have 40‑plus saves. I've seen this a couple times, it's happened this season. But did you rely on him too much, do you think? COACH BLAIS: No, I don't think so. I think we expended a lot of energy like everyone else to get here and the emotion. It's like a tank of gas. You only have so much left in it. Not that we were gassed or anything, but emotional two wins in Notre Dame at the Midwest Regional and to advance to get here, and the parents being here and just the chance to play in the Boston Garden and the tradition of this whole community. So it was a big deal for us. It really was. But I don't think it was anything that we did wrong. I think it was a lot of what Providence did right. Q. Can you just speak to the way you hung in with them through the second period, especially in that flurry of shots that they put in that power play opportunity in the way Massa came up standing at the end of that? COACH BLAIS: I was cheering just like our fans were. I mean, he made some spectacular saves. I felt bad for him, obviously, and the way to go out with a loss. But there's only going to be one happy team after Saturday, no matter who you are. And I was just proud of the way he battled. And he's done that all year for us. It's just that I thought that they were a better team. I'm not going to criticize my guys for anything. Maybe a little bit nervous, but it was more of being here for the first time, people asked. And not being quite as experienced as we're going to be. MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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