|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
NCAA MEN'S FROZEN FOURApril 7, 2011Dave HakstolCorban KnightDerrick LapointST. PAUL, MINNESOTA Michigan – 2 MODERATOR: We will begin with opening comments from Coach Hakstol. Dave? COACH HAKSTOL: I think we're ten minutes from the end of a hockey game, so obviously to put things into perspective right now is impossible. I'll congratulate the University of Michigan. They played very well tonight. They were a tough team to play against. We played extremely hard. We didn't leave anything in the tank. But we couldn't get one past their goaltender. And it's a hard loss for us. In particular, well, for everybody in the locker room, certainly for our group of seven seniors. But congratulations to Michigan. They played a good hockey game and did a good job in getting the win. We'll take questions. MODERATOR: Questions for the players first. Q. Derrick, was it hard to -- as a leader of this team to keep these guys from gripping their sticks too tight and keep these guys -- and help keep the guys calm on bench and this game got deeper and deeper with the 1-0 score? DERRICK LAPOINT: You know, I think as a group of older guys, we kind of set the tone, and the younger guys have been great all year. There is no tension. We played a great game. First period may not have been the way we wanted to, but we definitely had our opportunities and, you know, they really played an outstanding game. So we gotta give them credit where it's due and it's extremely difficult to lose a hockey game like that. To end your career like that. But, no, there is nobody gripping their sticks too tight. Everybody was loose, everybody felt confident the entire game. Q. Corban, when you guys had a power play at the end there and also when you guys pulled a goalie, and could you imagine anybody having better chances than he did, especially with Evan having a couple shots there at the end? CORBAN KNIGHT: With that power play there we thought we might have been able to capitalize, but gotta credit their goalie. He made some phenomenal saves there. Obviously going back you'd maybe like to do something different looking back, but, I mean, we -- plays that we were looking for weren't there, and when they were, the goalie shut us down. MODERATOR: Further questions for the players. Q. Derrick, can you talk about the effect of losing Brock Nelson so early and kind of the effect that it had on you guys throughout the game? DERRICK LAPOINT: It's tough to see a teammate go down like that. You never want to see a stretcher come on the ice. And Brock going down in the regional, we kind of had been through it before. So I think a lot of guys rallied around it. It's disappointing that we didn't do the job for him definitely. Q. Derrick, obviously you haven't taken your jersey off, you haven't taken the pads off. How difficult is it going to be for you to peel that jersey off knowing that pretty much your whole life you wanted to play for North Dakota? DERRICK LAPOINT: Can you even put that into words? You never want to lose your senior year, especially the last game. And for the group of guys that I'm graduating with, they're some of my best friends, for them to not win a national championship and not end it the right way, the way we wanted it to, is extremely difficult. It's been a dream of mine to play for the Fighting Sioux, and I just really wanted to add to the tradition of that program. And to not win a national championship is heartbreaking. You just don't want to do it, and it will definitely take a long time for me to take this jersey off because it's something I've worn with pride my entire career. And I know the group of seven guys in there, we've left it all on the table, all four years that we've been here, so it's not an easy time right now. Q. Corban, besides goaltending, did you see anything tonight, did you sense anything tonight that maybe -- reasons behind maybe finishing some of those plays that most of the time this year this team has finished? CORBAN KNIGHT: I don't know. I mean, I think you look at every guy in the lineup, they give 110 percent out there. So I don't think it was a question of whether they were gripping the stick too tight or not bearing down our chances. It's just one of those nights where the bounces weren't going our way. And that happens in hockey. It's just unfortunate that tonight had to be one of those nights. Q. Derrick, might be kind of hard now, but this year you guys won the WCHA regular season title, Final Five, regional championship, everything like that. Looking back, is this season still pretty successful for you guys even though you guys aren't going to be after the championship game? DERRICK LAPOINT: I'd have to say, honestly, no. We failed at what we were trying to do. We were trying to win a national championship, and we didn't do it. We can look at what we've done and, yeah, it's great, but this is the biggest stage and you want the biggest trophy. And to not do it is a failure, at least in my mind. I think I gotta give credit to our guys. We had an outstanding season and we won those games and those championships. But to not win the national championship is a failure, in my mind. MODERATOR: All right, guys. Thanks very much and we will continue on with questions here for Coach Hakstol. Q. Dave, considering how your offense played this year and all the chances you got tonight, did you ever think this run would end with you being shut out? COACH HAKSTOL: Regardless of how, I didn't think it was gonna end. I mean, just going to bluntly honest. I don't think anybody in our locker room considered the option of losing down the stretch. Period. So in the way it happened, no. The answer to the question is no. Not in any way. And I think you heard how one of our leaders and captains seniors answered the previous question. I'm very proud of the standards that our leaders had set, not just this year, but throughout their time within our program. So for it to come to a close short of our goal is pretty difficult, and that is not -- no, that's not something that was in -- certainly not in my mind, and, as I said, I don't believe it was in any one person's mind in our locker room, as an option. Q. Dave, can you just talk about the frustration that it seemed to be you guys did everything possible it looked like out there? Tell me what was going on through your head from a coach's standpoint. COACH HAKSTOL: There was no frustration in our game. We laid it on the line right until the end of the game. I mean, I thought absolutely, you know, until the final buzzer that we had an opportunity to tie the game. Obviously the empty-netter with 30-some seconds to go puts us in a pretty deep hole. But there was not one minute -- or one second throughout the third period that any doubt had crept in. You keep going. You keep working. We created the opportunities. Unfortunately for our players -- and that's my biggest concern, our program and our players. Unfortunately one didn't go in. And that's the sudden finality of the NCAA Division I sports. It's a one-game shot. You win and you move on. You lose and it's a very sudden and final finish. Q. Dave, after hearing Derrick's comments and the passion in those comments, how do you console your hockey team after this? COACH HAKSTOL: You know what? As strong a group of young men that we have in that locker room, we've talked in real terms all year, we haven't skirted any issues. We've been -- we've dealt with everything pretty directly and pretty head-on behind closed doors. That's the way we'll talk about this. I know this. This group of young guys attacks everything in their life in the same way that they attacked this season, the same commitment and passion. There's going to be an awful lot of successful young men in that locker room in their futures. So take a great amount of pride in that. That doesn't lessen the blow or the pain of losing a hockey game tonight. Q. Dave, do you have an update on Brock? I understand he did go to the hospital. What can you tell us about him? COACH HAKSTOL: That's all the information that I currently have. I don't have any update. Q. Dave, you obviously coached a lot of times through the Frozen Four. Is this one a little bit tougher to deal with knowing that you guys kind of came in regarded as kind of maybe that it's a heavy favorite of the Frozen Four? COACH HAKSTOL: We came in with our own expectations. I don't know what the expectations were in terms of you can label whoever you want as a favorite or an underdog. There's four -- I said it yesterday, there's four real good teams that have come into this tournament. I feel like we had a good hockey team and we played extremely well down the stretch. We've built that over time through the season, and we played a pretty good hockey game tonight. So regardless of any of the expectations or rankings from the external side, yeah, this is real tough. It's real tough to take, and that's what I -- I talked about that a few questions ago. Very difficult to lose a hockey game and have your season end. MODERATOR: Coach, thank you very much. COACH HAKSTOL: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|