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NCAA MEN'S FROZEN FOUR

April 5, 2017

Chicago, Illinois

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome Denver to the stage. Head coach Jim Montgomery, Matt VanVoorhis, Will Butcher, and Evan Janssen. As we've done earlier today, we'll have Coach Montgomery offer an opening statement. Then we'll take questions for the student-athletes. Once those are through, we'll let them head back and open up questioning to Coach Montgomery.

Coach, whenever you're ready, if you just want to hit us with some of your thoughts, that would be great.

COACH MONTGOMERY: First off, apologize for us being a couple minutes late. I couldn't find any hair product after I showered (laughter). And that's true. Turtle Wax. It's nothing actually.

It's great to be here in Chicago. For University of Denver, there's a lot of connections between Denver hockey and Blackhawk hockey. Jim Wiste, Cliff Koroll, Richard Preston, and, of course, one of the most magnetic alum of all, Keith Magnuson, who was a hero in Denver hockey and a hero here. It's fitting we're back at the Final Four and the first time they've had it at the United Center.

THE MODERATOR: Open up to questions for the student-athletes. Anything for our guys at all?

Q. Will, you were in the Frozen Four last year. Obviously, it was a little bit of heartbreak. Can you talk about how that's driven your team this year.
WILL BUTCHER: Yeah, it was a bad taste losing that game to North Dakota last year in the semifinals. So I think starting off in the off-season, for this coming year, was big for us just because I think the guys put in that extra mile of work with our strength coach, Matt Shaw, and off the ice, the guys were just great. We kind of came together and just said next year is going to be our year. That's kind of been a goal from the beginning of the year.

Losing to North Dakota kind of started this pace for where we are now.

Q. Evan, there's been a lot of buzz, especially in the media, about how high powered your team is and how you might be the favorite coming into this. So how do you guys stay loose and avoid that letdown that Will was talking about that you had last year against North Dakota?
EVAN JANSSEN: Yeah, I think a lot of us try to stay off social media and reading into those things. We just try to focus on ourselves. We always preach how you've got to stay in the moment. We've been doing everything that we've done all year, which we call the process. With our preparation, everything's been the same.

THE MODERATOR: Just a reminder the locker room is open until 3:15. Fellows, you can head back if you like. Thanks for your time.

Open up for questions for Coach Montgomery.

Q. Anything that you learned from last year coming in this past week for preparation purposes that you changed up or did differently coming into the game for tomorrow?
COACH MONTGOMERY: Well, we started preparing for Notre Dame earlier than we started preparing for North Dakota because mentally we were fresh. We didn't waste a lot of emotion winning the regional.

The second thing I think that we've learned is how to manage our time while we're here. We purposely scheduled our practice -- luckily, being the No. 1 seed, we could -- so we have two hours of down time here before the banquet, which is going to allow our players just to relax mentally and get away by themselves.

Q. Jim, you talked with me about a week ago about having some dreams right before the first game against Michigan Tech that affected your line changes. Are you going to roll with the same lines that you rolled with in the regional at this point, or to be determined?
COACH MONTGOMERY: If I have the same premonitions that I did, I will change it, but that happened tonight, the night before the game, where I woke up in the middle of the night, and I started stewing on matchups.

So far, the way I've analyzed things, I don't see a need to change from our lineup that we put on the ice in Cincinnati.

Q. Last week you talked about how Notre Dame -- all that you learned there and the opportunity that you were grateful to have there, and Coach Jackson said himself that you have a special place in his heart. So I was curious, now being here in Chicago, what are some emotions and feelings you have knowing that tomorrow he'll be on the next bench? And out of curiosity, have you spoken to him at all, or are you waiting until after Thursday?
COACH MONTGOMERY: Oh, we've texted each other a couple times. One was about an article that was done that I thought -- and he thought as well -- that really, I guess, captured our relationship pretty well and how it's been tied together through Shawn Walsh, who we both are very fond and had a great relationship with. So I think that's where it starts.

For me, I'm happy. I think it shows that our relationship is special and that I learned from a great coach because he's here again for the sixth or seventh time in his career, and I've managed to get back here for the second year in a row.

So whatever he taught me, I've been able to apply, and I think both teams play with a lot -- I guess the same way, and we don't beat ourselves, and we're hard to play against.

Q. Coach, I asked Will about the heartbreak of last year and how it's driven this year. I know you've talked a little bit about how it was a process this year. But can you talk about how the heartbreak fueled your team this year.
COACH MONTGOMERY: Yeah, I think it motivated us because any time you lose a game -- I mean, not only was it in the last minute, but it was something that we felt we could control, that we could learn from. I think the fuel in the fire Will spoke about, I think our players trained harder this year than they ever had, and I think also part of that was the success of the second half.

I don't think I can give Grant Arnold enough credit for what he's done for the culture of this program.

Q. Jim, could you just talk about the experience that you had last year and how much that's going to help you here this year.
COACH MONTGOMERY: Yeah, the experience that we went through being here, understanding how to take care of yourself, understanding what to expect is the biggest thing, I guess.

And then the second thing is there's going to be momentum swings in that game last year. You know, there's probably four or five momentum swings, and they happen quickly, and you really can't get too high, can't get too low, but you've got to stay in the moment and focus on what gives you success individually that helps the team collectively.

Q. Jim, have you talked to the players at all about your experience as a player where you lost to Northern Michigan in the Frozen Four the first time you went and they went on to win the National Championship, and then the second time you came back and you guys won?
COACH MONTGOMERY: Yeah, I've talked about that, and I also talked about how in the senior year, when we lost to BU, how it really put more urgency and purpose in what we were doing. We were never going to coast again.

And I think the loss to North Dakota in the NCAC semifinal game gave our team a little more direction and purpose for the rest of the season.

Q. Coach, we talked about the senior class, but what would it mean to come away from here with a couple victories for this specific senior class?
COACH MONTGOMERY: I think it would be a fitting, I guess, end to their four-year career and the development they've gone through. They've helped this program get better every year, and they're a huge part of why we were consistently good this year, is their leadership and their commitment to the team.

Q. Coach, Henrik's obviously had a big impact on your team this year as a freshman. When did you realize -- obviously, in the recruiting process, you must have liked him, but when did you realize he could have a special impact on the team this year? And is there one part of his development that you've seen improve the most over the course of the year?
COACH MONTGOMERY: First part was the second weekend of the year. First weekend of the year, I was like, oh, my gosh, we're not going to score goals with the way our team played. The second weekend, Henrik Borgstrom I think had four or five points and our seven goals. They were special goals, goals that not most people score. Because he gets a goal leaning one way, he goes underneath the bar the other way.

Second part of the question was -- oh, what facet of his game? He's played without the puck. When he wants to, he can be dominant on all 200 feet of the ice. It's just a question of whether he wants his motor to go. I think everyone saw in the Penn State game, from his first shift, first time he took two strides on the ice, I knew I was going to play him over 20 minutes that night.

THE MODERATOR: Coach, one more here.

Q. You talked about urgency a little bit, going up against a goaltender who last time you guys faced him, last year, obviously, two different teams, stopped over 100 shots in your two games on the weekend. What are you telling your team about urgency going up against him here tomorrow?
COACH MONTGOMERY: Well, we were just talking about what we think -- it's the same as any goaltender -- take away his eyes. Get to the net front. There's going to be rebounds if you take away his eyes.

I think the biggest thing for our group is that last year in the first half of the year, I think we averaged like 1.6 goals a game, and in the second half last year, after the weekend we played them, I think we averaged over 4. And we've done the same thing this year. The first half, we were 1.75, and in the second half we're 4.25 this year.

We're better than we were last year, and we're scoring more than we were last year when we faced him.

Q. Jim, this is the second year in a row that the NCAC has sent two teams to the Frozen Four. Talk about the strengths of the conference and how it gives your team an edge in terms of maybe playing Notre Dame tomorrow.
COACH MONTGOMERY: I think you see it in the regionals, for us two years in a row, that when we're used to playing at the NCAC pace, that we can jump teams early.

Usually by the time you get to the -- last year, when we got to this point last year at the Frozen Four, we were playing Notre Dame, and it was a track meet. It was a great game.

So hopefully, Notre Dame's not ready for our pace.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks for your time, Coach.

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