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NCAA MEN'S FROZEN FOURApril 10, 2015Matt LaneMike MoranAhti OksanenDavid QuinnDoyle SomerbyBOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS MODERATOR: All right. Let's have at her. Who would like to‑‑ Q. David, as remarkable as the turnaround has been since last year, the trophies you've won, how important‑‑ you've gotten this far‑‑ to finish this thing and put a punctuation mark on the season? COACH QUINN: I think it's incredibly important. Anytime you get a chance to play in a game of this magnitude, you can never take it for granted. You need to take advantage of it. We've come too far and put too much into it. And I think our guys feel that way. The thing that I liked after our game last night is there was a level of excitement, but it was subdued. And I think there was a feeling in the locker room that we were excited about winning the hockey game, but I got a sense shortly thereafter that our guys were getting ready to win the National Championship against a very good Providence team. Q. For any of you guys that want to answer this, Jack Parker was interviewed on TV last night talking about the importance of the seniors, referring to the 2009 championship. You guys don't have a ton of seniors, but they are very important. If you could just talk about their leadership and what it's meant to you guys? MATT LANE: Like you said, we only have two seniors, but we feel like our leadership extends throughout our team. We have a big junior class, a big sophomore class, and with those guys it helps ten freshmen transition. And like I said, everybody's a leader, and that's been huge to our success all year. MIKE MORAN: Hohmann and Grzy, we've got some great leadership in the junior class, senior class, and the sophomores definitely with Doyle and Nicky been doing a great job this year. So right from the top‑down it's been great. Q. Coach and any of the players who want to weigh in, the fact it's an all Hockey East final, miles apart, are you indifferent to it or is it just a nice story for us to write about? COACH QUINN: I think it's a nice little story, but I think it's great for our league, and I mean that sincerely. We think we have as good a league if not the best league in college hockey. I know we've only got three teams in the national tournament, but I think the next four or five teams, I think two or three of them are Hockey East teams that could have got in the tournament, and it's such a fine line between the 15th and 16th team that gets in and 17th and 18th team that doesn't. It's an incredibly exciting atmosphere. The building will be packed and a lot of passionate Providence fans and a lot of passionate Terrier fans. Two teams that know each other pretty well, and I think it's going to be a great matchup. DOYLE SOMERBY: I think it speaks to the parity of Hockey East. Every night it's extremely difficult to win a game. It's nice for Providence to get in and us to play them and just good for Hockey East. MODERATOR: Ahti. AHTI OKSANEN: Yeah, it's a great match against Providence. I think we won one and lost one earlier this season. It's going to be a tough game Saturday. Q. Coach, you're a Cranston, Rhode Island, guy yourself? COACH QUINN: Yes, I am. Q. For you to be playing Providence in the National Championship, is there a little bit of a special feeling? And my second question is: What do you remember, if anything, from the 1985 team from Providence that made it to the National Championship? COACH QUINN: Well, it is special because I belong to Wannamoisett Country Club down in East Providence, Rhode Island. A lot of members there that are Friar graduates. I've been engaged in a lot of fun text exchanges since last night. I remember that'85 team was my freshmen year at BU, and they beat us in the semifinals. And I know Chris Terreri was the backbone of that team. They had a lot of good players. It was the first year that Lou Lamoriello wasn't coaching Providence anymore. I think Steve Stirling was coaching at the time, and they had a really good team. And they had a magical run. I think Terreri had 70‑plus saves in the Hockey East Finals and then did the same thing to BC in the National Tournament. I know it's been a long time coming for Providence. It's been a great program for a long time. Nate's done a phenomenal job. I'm happy for the team, I'm happy for the school, but I will be more happy to beat them. Q. Can you maybe contrast the styles of teams between North Dakota that you faced last night and what you're going to see in Providence tomorrow night? COACH QUINN: Well, actually similar teams in a lot of ways. They both have great goalies, they both have mobile D core. Their forwards are big, strong, physical. Seems like we've been playing teams like that all last month, to be honest with you. They're well coached. They're an older group. So we're going to have to earn every inch of ice we get out there. They take away time and space. And it's going to be as it should be and as it always is when you play for a National Championship, you have to be at your best, and we certainly know we have to be at our best tomorrow night. Q. Matt, could you contrast last year when you had a more prominent role on a team that really struggled, you've had to go in take on maybe a lesser role this year with a team that's now playing for the National Championship game. Can you just talk about that? MATT LANE: Last year we struggled, fortunately this year we got a lot of good players. And if it were up to me, I prefer to be in the role I am playing for the National Championship and be on a 10‑20 team. I'm happy where I am right now, and I've embraced the role the best I could and we're just going to keep contributing here and hopefully finish this thing out one more game. COACH QUINN: It's funny, people ask that a lot. But his role hasn't diminished. He's on the power play. He kills penalties. He's a huge part of our team. He's playing in key situations. If you look at his ice time it's probably less than last year because we have more depth, but he's more important to our team this year than he was last year. He's had a heck of a year. He's a big reason why we're in the situation we're in. It's just‑‑ but I understand the line of question, a lot of people ask that about his diminished role. And you were on the power play, kill penalties? Five‑on‑five, a lot of five‑on‑five time. Plays a lot of hockey for us. That's why we're in the situation we're in. Q. Dave, you kind of touched on it earlier a little bit, but there's been some talk this year of it being a down year for hockey. Some teams struggled out of conference earlier in the year, only get three teams in. Was there ever a point where you thought this might be a down year for Hockey East and what is it about Hockey East that got you guys ready for the NCAA Tournament? COACH QUINN: No, I never thought it was a down year. I thought we had a lot of good teams in our league. You go through the standings. I mean, Vermont really good team. UNH finished 8th in our league, and they were playing as well as anyone at the end of the year. We saw them in the semifinals. Our league has been great for 30‑plus years. And I say this all the time, somebody has to finish last in our league, and more times than not the last place team is still a good hockey team. Q. Since you brought up the texting earlier, is there a particularly amusing text from Rhode Island that you can share with us? COACH QUINN: Steve, I don't know if you know the Rhode Island crowd, but, yeah, exactly, I'd have to clean up some language if I did. But a lot of guys loved me going into last night's game and a lot of them don't like me now. So... I haven't got to all of them either. So I'm sure there are a few I haven't got to. Q. Coach, we're going to have an NCAA State of the Game press conference after this. I'm sure the regional sites issue will come up. How do you feel about going back to the way it used to be and maybe having the advantage of playing it again? COACH QUINN: I've thought about it a little. I'm not being coy here. I just haven't thought about it a lot. I know it's a topic that will be discussed in Naples. I like the regional feel. I think it creates a little special atmosphere. But I think there's going to be a lot of factors that go into that decision. And again, I'm not avoiding the question, I just haven't thought enough about it. We've been so entrenched in the season. And after the season ended last year, the National Championship wasn't high on my priority list. So it's something that I know it's been talked about for a while with the attendance issues, and it's difficult to find venues in the Midwest. I know they're talking about maybe having permanent sites and maybe not actually having to have one in the Midwest, maybe two out west and two out east. I'd probably like to see us gradually go to the on‑campus scenario. Maybe try the permanent sites before we made that big leap of going back to the campus sites. But like I said, that will be discussed at length with people with a lot more information than I have. Q. Dave, I know you probably aged a great deal in the last seven minutes of that game last night. But is there any way to kind of put your finger on why these guys are just not rattled when‑‑ I mean, they're like coming at you, coming at you, and that's happened so many times this year, and it just doesn't seem to faze them in any way. COACH QUINN: We talked about our leadership and these guys alluded to it earlier, our leadership runs deep through all four classes. I know we have four seniors, two of them play regularly. But I think our confidence in our ability to be composed under difficult situations, a lot of that has to do with each player has a belief in himself, but I think each player also has a belief in his teammate. And when you're sitting on the bench or in the locker room and you're looking around and you think, oh, he's pretty good, he's pretty good, he's pretty good, I think that's where that calmness maybe comes in. And I think it gives you a sense of‑‑ I don't want to say relief‑‑ but it gives you a sense of confidence that you're going to have to weather storms at this time of year. You're playing really good hockey teams and how do you handle the ebb and flows of a hockey game. Last night, for example, we come out and play really well early. All of a sudden, the second period starts and they get that goal early and now we're on our heels because they're smelling blood. And we get the all‑important third goal and I thought we started playing better. And then the third period, not a lot was happening. And all of a sudden we give up a flukey goal and we're back on our heels and respond the way you need to. And championship teams do that. You have to weather storms. You're not going to blow people out at this time of the year. And I think our leadership and our confidence in each other has allowed us to withstand some of the ebbs and flows of a hockey game. Q. You've talked about the composure and the leadership. Yet, not to be the fly in the ointment, but it looked like Rodrigues‑‑ looked like a 13‑year‑old kind of stunt what he did last night. Your thoughts on that being something that could have put that team on the power play and led to a tying goal? COACH QUINN: Yeah, that was stupid. And a lot of things happened in the last seven minutes that haven't happened all year. I know I mentioned it last night. Matt O'Connor has never given up a goal like that during the year. And then we got a, quote/unquote, too many men on the ice penalty. But it actually wasn't too many men on the ice penalty, we actually played the puck without being on the ice, which is a penalty. A penalty should have been called, but it shouldn't have been a too many men on the ice penalty. And then Evan Rodrigues takes a stupid penalty, a penalty he's never taken in my two years here. So that added all up to a chaotic situation. And like I said, hopefully we can learn from it and avoid those chaotic situations. Q. Just to put a bow on this, I take it you did see the replay, and your thoughts on that? COACH QUINN: I thought it was a stupid play by a very intelligent player. And I think he got the penalty he deserved. I know last night people were asking about suspension, and I don't think that warranted anything like that. Yeah. Q. David, we all know Jack's legacy and history and imprint on the college hockey game. And you've been a long‑time figure within the Terrier's program yourself, but now that you're on the cusp of maybe setting your own milestone or standard, how do you and, say, Jack Eichel look at tomorrow night's game with the potential to really stamp your names in the Terrier record book forever? COACH QUINN: You know, it's funny, we've been in these situations the last three weekends, semifinal/final. And I have found that we have been a little uptight or nervous going into the semifinal game. And then once you get into that small tournament setting, you just‑‑ you play them. And I really haven't thought much about it, because you just get‑‑ you're so focused on beating North Dakota. And we beat North Dakota late last night and now we're getting ready to beat Providence. Maybe during some quiet time tonight and tomorrow that will wander through my mind. And it wouldn't be human if you didn't think about those things. But our group has been very mature in their approach to big games and living in the moment. And it's one of the reasons why we have the record we have. It's one of the reasons why we never lost two games in a row all year. And I think that's the type of stuff that‑‑ I think you can think about that stuff when you actually accomplish it. And we haven't accomplished it yet. Q. Matt O'Connor has been a real consistent part of your team's success all year. He did give up a really bad goal in the regional game. You talked about how he has to kind of man up and get his head back into it. Another really bad goal in this game. What kind of things have you talked to him, and can you talk about your level of confidence in his play? COACH QUINN: I find the less I talk to goalies, the better off they are. I mean that sincerely. I'm not being funny. Every player is going to make a bad play. Obviously a goalie's mistakes are a lot more magnified than anybody else's. But the key to any athlete's success is how do you respond to a bad play. And Matt gives up that tough goal. They get the power play goal, great goal by them, to the fault‑‑ Matt had nothing to do with it. Then after they make it 4‑3, he makes a huge save to keep it at 4‑3. So to me it's timely saves and how do you respond and what's your mental toughness. And he's shown it all year. Every goalie is going to have a bad goal in their career. It's how you respond to it. To me it's one of the reasons why we continue to play. It's why he's a great goalie. It's why he's going to have a chance to play at the next level. And I'm just proud of him the way he battled back from it. Q. Gillies is one of the goalies that doesn't give up too many rebounds. Obviously you have some great shooters. But what are a couple things you need to do tomorrow to maybe get Gillies to give up some rebounds and get some second opportunities? COACH QUINN: I think when you get rid of a puck quickly, a goalie has less of an opportunity to direct his rebounds. So we've got to be ready to shoot pucks. Two, we have to get traffic in front of him. I'm no different than any other coach talking in this day and age in hockey. The goalies are so big and the nets are so small. You have to get in front, take away their vision, make it difficult for them. When you get to the net front, you've got to have a physical aspect to your game. You can't be pushing it around there. You've got to be there with a purpose. The goal last night, if you watched the Somerby goal last night, I know people maybe thought it was a bad goal, but after watching it on tape, Oksanen and Greer doing an unbelievable job. That puck gets dumped in. It goes around goes around to McIntyre's right. Both Greer and Oksanen are going towards the puck. They both realized Somerby was going to get it. They both stop and go right to the net front. And he never saw it. And that stuff‑‑ we've done a very good job in that area. And I know we've got a lot of attention because of our flash and our dash at times because we can look like a skilled team. But that was a gritty goal. That was a hard‑earned goal. Those are goals you have to score at this time of the year. We've scored enough of them to continue to play and we'll have to do it tomorrow night if we're going to win the National Championship. MODERATOR: Thank you, Coach. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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