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NCAA MEN'S FROZEN FOURApril 9, 2015Jon GilliesMark JankowskiNate LeamanTrevor MingoiaBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS Providence – 4 MODERATOR: We'll begin with some opening thoughts from Coach Leaman. COACH LEAMAN: I thought we had a good start. I thought we executed our game plan pretty well. I thought they made a good push about the last five minutes of that first period. They got some good chances. Jonny was able to come up big with some saves there, and we were able to get a squeaker in the second. So I thought Massa played a terrific game tonight and we could have gotten frustrated. I was really pleased with our mental toughness because I thought we could have gotten frustrated but we stuck with it. We stuck with it. And we finally got a bounce and got the first one and then I thought they made a really good push in the third period and we defended well and we were able to get that bounce back all after they scored. I thought it was a big moment in the game because I thought they had some momentum there. Showed good mental toughness, beat a good hockey team and well coached team fortunate to move on. Q. Trevor, were you feeling snake bit up until you hit that goal? TREVOR MINGOIA: Massa played a real good game. He's one of the best goaltenders we've seen all year. Coach said we got frustrated; I will did as well. We've got to stick to the game plan. I was fortunate enough to pop one in there at the end came out with the win. Like Coach said, you can't be frustrated and be done with the game. You gotta continue on playing your game. Q. Trevor, if I'm not mistaken, last year you watched your former teammates win a national title. What was that like for you and how do you feel now? TREVOR MINGOIA: It was very motivating time for me. I couldn't be happier for them. I've got a lot of great friends on that team. A lot of respect for that team. I was happy when they won. But jealousy roles in. I want it bad, and I have the opportunity to do it this year with this team. It's an absolute family in that locker room. I wouldn't want to be here with any other team. Q. Mark, can you describe the goal that you got and the period that came after Noel's goal, and plus the job that Nick Saracino did in terms of getting the puck to you guys? MARK JANKOWSKI: Started with Trevor there. He won a great battle against their player and got it to Nick, and Nick found me in front of the net. Great play by those two players. And I just tried to outweigh Massa there. And he sprawled on the ice. I just tried to get it up over his pad. Q. Jon, in the first period there you guys really set the tone defensively. Could you talk about how you're able to take away some of their scoring chances and really set the tone there in the first period? JON GILLIES: I think it's a continuation of what we're able to do all year defensively as a team. It's the commitment to moving our feet and closing that gap a little bit more than maybe some other guys would and really taking away time and space where they saw the rush or if they get a dump and they get possession down low. It's guys knowing the rules, knowing where they have to be and always having their heads on the swivel. So if they get possession in tight, they're able to take away their space and maybe force a pass they didn't necessarily want to make. And our other guys, with good finals and stuff, were there to take it away. So a real good job by our team. Q. Mark, in the last few games of your regular season hockey playoffs you guys put up a lot of shots but ran into some high goaltending and puck luck, what have you. Do you think it set you up for tonight in facing a hot goaltender like Massa and keeping with it? MARK JANKOWSKI: Yeah, I think the main thing was to stick with our game plan. If we were getting pucks inbound to net, we would be able to pop a few. So without getting frustrated and stick to our game plan and stick to the process, we could be able to bury a few. Q. Can you go back to the question about Saracino's play and why that line seemed to click so well? MARK JANKOWSKI: I played with both those two players in the past, and it's two very good hockey players. They both work hard, have a lot of skill and have a lot of grit to them. They work hard. They battle hard. And they both have a lot of vision. So it was really a great play by both those two players for Trevor to win the battle and get it to Nick and for Nick to find me in front there. Q. Jon, could you reflect a little bit about what you guys have done as a team now to make it to the National Championship? First time this school's making that appearance in three decades. Can you reflect on the magnitude of the feat? JON GILLIES: I think it's pretty special for everyone in our community, especially our guys in the locker room, and some of the fortunate‑‑ some of the alumni that are fortunate to be with us throughout our journey. And the support has been unbelievable from our fans and all the way through up and down the list, can't thank them enough. As far as our team goes, obviously battled some adversity there getting knocked out by UNH in the quarterfinals. But we made our mission to be able to make ourselves ready in case we got that second chance, and that was our focus throughout those two weeks that we had off and especially when we got in just by a hair there into this tournament. So we truly believe that once you get in, that's the hard part, that any team can take it. So we're very happy to be here and very fortunate to be moving on to Saturday. Q. Jon and Mark, your reaction to Trevor's goal coming when it did, as quickly as it did? JON GILLIES: It was nice, because that goal, it was ‑‑ it started with me, a little miscommunication with our defensemen and I made the wrong play with the puck. I was happy to see us go down into their zone and get a little grind time there. And then that was a phenomenal shot by Trevor. I don't think any goalie is stopping that. That was a great finish and it was a great comeback from a tough letdown there. MARK JANKOWSKI: To score the very next shift after their goal, that was part of our game plan and part of our team mentality. We're relentless. No matter what, if they get a goal, things are looking down, we'll be relentless and battle back. For Trevor to get that huge goal for us the very next shift that was a big play. MODERATOR: Questions for Coach. Q. You're talking about the process, sticking with the game plan. Was that something designed for this team or was that just Providence hockey that we're seeing? COACH LEAMAN: It's just our hockey. I think it's why we struggled early in the year and why we're playing a lot better now, is that we know our identity. We know who we are‑‑ who we are and we know when we stick with our game plan we can have success. So it's the growth of a team throughout the season. Q. Just wanted to ask you about that, the goal they got and of course the response, the rapid response. I mean, what was the reaction on the bench? And especially with you, I mean, when you saw them finally get to that point where it seemed, they seemed to see a little bit of momentum? COACH LEAMAN: Well, it was probably the biggest moment in the game for us, that and getting the first goal. Coming back the shift after giving up a goal, they had momentum. And for us to kind of score right back, it deflates their bench a little bit and it picks up your bench a little bit. So the best thing about it is that I thought we were slipping with some things we wanted to do in the third period. And right after we scored that goal, all the guys on the bench were saying the right things. And I thought we played the rest of the game with the way that we wanted to play it in that third period. Q. We've seen a lot of times when teams come out a bit flatfooted. Dean seemed to think that was the key with his team, too, they couldn't get going as quick as they like. But what it is that you did to make the team to make that jump as quick as Providence seemed to do? COACH LEAMAN: We've been focusing on ourselves, that's the big thing. It's the lesson we learned against UNH in the Playoffs. It's probably the best thing that happened to us to prepare us, to be quite honest, is that we played a great game in Game 1 in that series. And we put up 42, 43 shots but we made a couple of mental mistakes they took advantage and beat us. Game 2 and Game 3 I thought we were hoping a lot. We really weren't going after it. We were hoping a lot. And we're not a very good team when we're hoping. Q. I wonder if you could just take a minute and discuss what you see in your two possible opponents, if you could spend a second on each team, BU and North Dakota? COACH LEAMAN: We played them both this year. So there's some familiarity there. North Dakota, we played them up there and terrific power play. Their D are very involved in their offense. Great goaltender. And they play hard, hard‑nosed hockey. BU is big‑time skill. They can pick you apart if you give them time in space. Obviously in my opinion they have the best player in the country in Jack Eichel. You've always got to be aware of where he's at and where he's going and things like that. But both teams, we lost the first night and came back with really good games the second night. So I think whatever team we're fortunate enough to play, you know, I think the guys will have a good feel for who we're going to play against and how they play and how we need to play. Q. You talk about identity, in your terms, in your sense. What do you feel is the identity of this team? COACH LEAMAN: We're a hardworking team, hardworking simple team. A lot of our offense‑‑ we feel like we can‑‑ it's funny because a lot of people were calling us a structure team, a structure team. I don't know if we're a structure team. I think we can generate offense a lot of different ways, which we showed tonight with 48 shots. So I think we're a team that is kind of multi‑faceted. It's still a hockey stage. Q. The Acciari line seemed to be working hard, pretty active early on. How much of an engine were they for you and how nice was it to see them get rewarded with that first goal? COACH LEAMAN: Noel, he's been a horse for us. He does a lot of things well. I thought he was winning faceoffs well early. And I would agree with you 100percent every time I threw him over the boards, felt like we were getting zone time and good things were happening. Q. How advantageous was your speed tonight, and kind of getting your forecheck going and really putting them on their heels? COACH LEAMAN: I thought we had our feet moving. That was one of the points we really wanted to get across to the guys is again getting back, not hoping, making it happen, playing on our toes. And I think we have good team speed. I think we have good mobility, and getting some pucks in behind him helped us use that speed early. Q. What does it say about college hockey that three of the last four champs were first‑timers and now you guys have a chance to do the same thing? COACH LEAMAN: I think it talks about the parity. We were hundredths of a point from not making it to this tournament. And we felt like we had a great season. We felt like we had 22 wins and 8‑3‑1 nonconference. And we finished second place in a league that finished above .500 against every other league and we're holding our breath to see if we get in the tournament. I mentioned this, I believe yesterday, that it used to be that if you could get 20 wins, you're pretty much locked in the tournament. But this year we had 22. Bowling Green had 22. And it came down to the two of us to see who was going to get in. But I think it just speaks more to the parity of college hockey right now. There's not a lot that separates teams. And it comes down to a bounce here, bounce there, almost every night. Q. Trevor talked about what it was like for him watching Union win last year and his reaction. I know you've talked about that in the past. Was it something that the two of you talked about, since it's such a similar situation for both of you? COACH LEAMAN: No. You know, the only time I talked to him about it was going into the game last year, just didn't want Trevor to be overemotional, because when you go into that, you're playing against friends on both sides of the ice and you want it so bad. But, no, I mean I would echo Trevor's words. That staff at Union did a terrific job led by Rick Bennett. And proud, happy for them. Proud to say that I worked there at one time. And it's kind of on to our summer and how do we get better to get there. Q. Similar to what I asked Mark, what do you feel your team learned from some of those big shot, low goal games towards the tail end of the regular season? COACH LEAMAN: Oh big shot, low goal. I thought you said local. Big shot‑‑ you know, we had a lot of them in the first half of the season. I think we won three games 1‑0 in the first half of the season. I think our team feels comfortable playing in these low‑scoring games. Our team feels comfortable in one‑goal games. And we had to grind the first half of the season because we weren't scoring well. But we stuck with it. We stayed with it. And now we're kind of getting rewarded. I thought we had a pretty good second half as far as scoring goals. I wish our power play would have been a little better tonight. But I think when you go through rough patches, if your team takes the right focus and they battle through that adversity, they can get a lot better. It can make you multi‑dimensional. And I think when we were in that rough patch a little bit, we weren't scoring, we had to be a great defensive team, and we were. We were a really good defensive team during that time. And how we had to play is helping us now because we know we can gear down and we can play some good team D. Q. Your players talk a lot about being relentless with the puck. Head coach Dean Blais talked about the confidence that your shooters had. I know it kind of wasn't always like that this season. Could you talk about the development of that aggressive attack and the confidence they have with their puck over the years? COACH LEAMAN: I keep going back to that UNH series, but I think that was a big point for us. I think it was a big point for our team to learn, just kind of what we've been hammering home. And it's funny, when you start winning, you shoot the puck a lot better. You shoot the puck a lot harder. After we won the Regional in practice, it was like we noticed how well the guys were ripping the puck and feeling confidence with the puck and shooting the puck. So I think that's kind of carried over. And I think the guys‑‑ they're really feeling confident about their shots right now. Q. Wanted to pose the same question to you as I did to Jon about reflecting about getting to the final, given how close you were not to making it into this tournament. And to what degree does that seem like a surreal thing to you? To get in and to get this far and to be here in this moment for the first time at the school for three decades, to have a chance‑‑ and, as an addendum, to be one of the Hockey East representatives here in this building? COACH LEAMAN: It's funny how our season has gone, Mike. Because we went from‑‑ we went from being a preseason No. 3 in the country, preseason picked to win Hockey East to getting off to a slow start. We had some injuries. We were struggling scoring, to every article that was being written about how disappointing we were, how it was a disappointing season, how they're not living up to this. And when you go through this the first time and you haven't had any guy in your locker room that's been a preseason No. 1, we were just trying to protect the guys a little bit. Be patient with the guys, let them know that we had a lot of faith in them and we were okay, despite what people were saying. And we played a good nonconference schedule. We played some great teams. And I think that we got on a little bit of a roll towards Christmastime, November, Christmastime. We won the tournament in Vermont, and then we were kind of quietly going about things. Like we were playing good hockey, but we were‑‑ fortunately we were flying under the radar because everyone was still saying how they're disappointing, it's a disappointing season. And we know what a grind our league is. Our league is a great league and BU had a terrific season. But we weren't going to let it, within our locker room we weren't going to let it‑‑ we were trying not to let it affect our guys. Now we're getting back to a point where we're underdogs and people are going like how did they get here, how do you expect that, and it's kind of funny how the roller coaster has gone. But I can tell you, in the locker room, we had a couple of meetings, and right after we lost to UNH, we had a meeting. We said: Our goal is to win a national championship. We believe we can do it. And I think all the guys were on board with that. I don't know if I answered your question, Mike. I was rambling. Q. Can you address getting to this point‑‑ COACH LEAMAN: It's great to get to this point. It's great to represent the state of Rhode Island. It's great to represent Hockey East. I had a lot of coaches in Hockey East texting me today. That meant a lot because I have so much respect for the coaches in our league. I think it's a great league. And I'm really proud for‑‑ I'm really proud for our administration. I'm really proud for our school because the amount of support they've given to the program, from our president, from our athletic directors, you know, from our alumni, I'm happy for them. But at the same point, I'm pretty intense. It's like the job's not done. That's the front nine. That's the front nine. We got the back nine. And I was really happy about that after the game is that the guys weren't‑‑ it wasn't like the guys were jumping up and down and celebrating in the room. That's good because the message is getting across a little bit that we expect to win, and it's time to‑‑ whoever we play Saturday night, we know we're going to have our hands full. But we can't wait to get after it. Q. Just to follow up on that. Could you describe, the players talked about this a little bit, but your view of the reaction on campus to the success, given that the college hasn't been this far since 1985, what's that been like for you, what's the atmosphere been like? COACH LEAMAN: It's not like it's just taken off this year, I'll be honest with you. We got a new basketball coach. He came in the same time I did. We have‑‑ our women's cross‑country team won the National Championship last year. Our men's soccer team went to the Final Four this year. So the environment on campus and within our school is‑‑ things are really looking up for all of us, and I don't think it's just one sport carrying the flag. I mean, what our basketball team did last year, winning the Big East and getting into the NCAA tournament and getting back there this year, there's a lot of excitement on our campus for a lot of, almost all of our athletic teams. So it's a fun time to be there. I feel proud to represent Providence College. And we just hope it continues. MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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