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NCAA MEN'S FROZEN FOURApril 9, 2014Zane GothbergDave HakstolMark MacMillanStephane PattynDillon SimpsonPHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA THE MODERATOR: Dave Hakstol, the head coach of the University of NorthDakota. In his tenth season, amazingly six times, sixth appearance since he's been head coach that he's led NorthDakota to the Frozen Four. Coach, welcome. Your thoughts? I know back again. COACH HAKSTOL: It's good to be here. I guess maybe the biggest thing is it's nice to get a good practice in and get that under our belts and settle into a regular routine as we go into game day. So everything since we've been on the ground here in Philadelphia is tremendous. The reception, the organization, not just in and around town but in the city, here at the arena it's really evident that a lot of time and effort continues to go into this great event and we're excited to be here. ZANE GOTHBERG: Nothing to say. Just enjoying it, I guess. It's been a good workday as Coach Hakstol says, and we've been working towards tomorrow night. So just taking it one step at a time, I guess. THE MODERATOR: Mark, have you been to Philly before? MARK MACMILLAN: No, first time. Exciting to be here. Obviously worked our way and earned our way here. Like Coach said, it's been great since the second we landed here. It's been nice to see Philly a little bit and get going tomorrow. THE MODERATOR: Steph what are your thoughts. STEPHANE PATTYN: Like everyone said so far. Great city. Got the chance to go for a walk and explore a little bit which was nice. Been accepted very well in the community already, and we're excited to be here and ready for tomorrow night. THE MODERATOR: Dillon, what about dinner last night? Any tips on what you had? DILLON SIMPSON: I kept it on the healthy side. It was a fun night for the team. It's been a long ten days of kind of built‑up excitement to get that week off. Just kind of wait around and want to get to Philadelphia, and it's been tremendous since we've gotten here. For us, we're just excited about the opportunity to get to play tomorrow and go from there. THE MODERATOR: What do you guys suppose kept it on the healthy side means? DILLON SIMPSON: Salad. THE MODERATOR: We heard chicken parm from others. Something like pasta, probably. STUDENT‑ATHLETE: I went with if a heat as last night if anyone's that interested. Q. Coach, I know you guys are going to be in this great rivalry with Minnesota in the Frozen Four, and Philly is a town that loves hockey a lot, but because there are not any college hockey teams in the city, how have you seen before some of the passion and pageantry you're going to see tomorrow night with these two teams skating together. What do you think this city is maybe missing out on by not having that experience and now getting to see it for the first time? What do you think it's going to be like? COACH HAKSTOL: This city has such a great tradition in hockey and pro hockey and the rivalries that the Flyers have built with a few other teams around the NHL. Hockey fans in this town have felt the strong passion and tradition of those rivalries. They're going to see one of the great college rivalries up close and personal tomorrow. Really, it's what they've seen through their own Flyers and some of those traditional rivalries. The rivalry between NorthDakota and Minnesota is a good one. It's a healthy one. There is a little bit of nastiness to it, and respect to it between the two programs. To be able to have the opportunity to play on a large stage tomorrow night, obviously it's great for the rivalry and for college hockey and maybe for some new college hockey fans here in Philadelphia. But let's also keep our focus on what's at stake tomorrow night, and that is the opportunity to move on and advance in this tournament. That is the most important thing that we'll be playing for on Thursday night. Q. Zane, you were splitting time to start the season, missed a few games with an injury. What's this season been like for you, and what's allowed you to seemingly get better as it's gone on, even post injury? And Dillon, if you could chime in on what you've seen from Zane this season after? ZANE GOTHBERG: I'd just say personally every day is a day to get better, especially at UND, we have great resources. Whether it's Mark Pullman in the weight room or in the rehab process and stuff or Karl Goehring working specifically with myself and two other goalies during goalie drills, goalie practices, before practice, actual practice, and then just as coach talks about, being a pro every day. Making sure you put your best foot forward and really just strives to be better each day. So I think it's been a process. Obviously a slow, but I think, maturing process throughout the two years here personally. Just making steps in the right direction, I guess. DILLON SIMPSON: Yeah, Zane all year long has pushed to get better, like you said. It's been pretty amazing to have a goalie like that. He's a passionate guy, competitive guy, and he pushes everyone around to be better. I don't think I've met a goalie that doesn't like to get scored on as much as Zane. I think that's just part of his attitude and dedication to hockey. Ever since he came back, he's been great. Using every day to get better, and for us as a D‑core, it's great to have a guy there you can count on. Q. For the upperclassmen, last time you played Minnesota in the NCAA Tournament in St. Paul a couple years ago, obviously it didn't go well for you guys. Was that an easy thing for you guys to get out of your mind? Do you feel like you maybe have a little bit of a chip on your shoulder from two years ago? STEPHANE PATTYN: That was a tough game. It ended our season, so it wasn't a good flow. Hockey is a game where you have to forget things. For us, we had a summer to think about it. Going into the season, we had to forget about it and move on. Obviously, we faced them last year as well. It's an extra little chip on your shoulder, just the team that ended your season last year and stuff. But that's so far in the past now that we're just really focused on the team we have now. We have a completely different team than we did two years ago and we're just ready for tomorrow night. DILLON SIMPSON: More than anything, a game like that, you kind of take it into the summer as it's quite a negative, but you use it as motivation. I think more than anything, that game kind of stung us throughout that summer and pushed us into next season. But as far as this year goes, like Pattyn said, we have way lot of new players on this team and new personalities where, you look back at that game and use it as motivation as part of the past, but I don't think it has a whole lot of bearing on the players we have in that locker room right now. Like any game, it's a rivalry game, and the guys will be fired up for tomorrow. So you have to take it for what it is. Q. Dillon, I think you and Derek are the only guys that have been to a Frozen Four. What advice do you give the rest of your team? DILLON SIMPSON: I think coming in as a 17‑year‑old, I didn't play my first Frozen Four, but still being part of the venue, and knowing what it's all about and what it takes, you learn a lot. Coming in this year, especially with the younger guys, not to get nervous about it obviously there will be butterflies. But you have to take that nervous energy and turn it into positive energy. Guys will be excited about the opportunity, just go out there and play. We have all the faith in the world with each other. Just go out and play your game and play to the best of your ability, and hopefully the rest will take care of itself. Q. Dave, obviously you've come in as the favorite at different times. What specific benefits were there not having that role this time coming into the tournament? COACH HAKSTOL: I don't know if it's really changed our mindset whatsoever. Maybe it reduces some of the outside chatter, but to be honest with you, I don't know if it has had an effect on our team one way or the other the guys in the locker room have a lot of faith of the guys that are beside them. Within that locker room, I think they've really done a great job as a group of players creating an identity. I think we've just stayed true to that. Not just over the past eight to ten days, but we've stayed true to that identity over the last several months, and that's what we'll carry forward into tomorrow's game day. Q. First of all, the second half of the season you've had a much higher percentage than you did last season. I think it's quite a bit. You're also playing in a tougher conference top to bottom than you were in the WCHA. What do you put that down to just looking at a couple weeks ago, is it fair to say that Connor Gaarder is maybe the biggest walk‑on you've had in the program at least in your time there? COACH HAKSTOL: You know, I guess I haven't really thought a whole lot about comparing last year or any of our past years with this year. I guess I'll attribute some of our success here this year to the guys in our locker room really sticking with a mentality and mindset, sticking together and having a really good, short‑term focus. When we've had some bumps in the road, we've been able to put them behind us quickly, learn from them. When we've had some small successes that we've had, we've been really able to keep our feet on the ground and not get too far ahead of ourselves. I think we have a real good understanding of what we are as a team, and I think that's a real strength of this team. In terms of Gordie, I couldn't think of a better guy to score the game‑winning goal that gives us the opportunity to be here today. He kind of embodies what our team is. He shows up every single day. He's a worker in the classroom, in and around our community and at the rink. I think if you asked the 24 teammates that he has if they could pick a guy, he'd probably be at the top of the list. As I said, he kind of embodies who we are as a team, and that workmanlike style paid off for him with that game‑winning goal. Q. You've got a player coach in Michael Parks (No microphone). What sort of sense do you have about him getting to be here? COACH HAKSTOL: I base everything off of what players are doing in practice and what their mindset is coming in. I think that's a lot more valuable than sitting down and having a two‑minute conversation. Michael's had a great week of practice. He's been relaxed. He's been executing really well. I think there is no question there is a little extra excitement for him as he steps on the ice in this building today for practice. But, again, I think just like collectively you keep everything in perspective, I'm sure Michael will do a good job of keeping everything in perspective and getting his focus on the most important things for game day tomorrow. That's all part of maturing as a player, and he'll do a good job of that. Q. Does the Philly cheese steak fit into the players' diet, Coach? COACH HAKSTOL: That's where we're going right after practice. Best vendor on the street, and best Philly cheese steak. How about after? Q. Coach, what do you think makes this rivalry so healthy and nasty? I think I saw a stat where you guys have pretty much scored the exact number of goals in all‑time games and you guys are pretty much at .500, is it the similarities or what is it? COACH HAKSTOL: I think it's an awful lot of things. You look at the history and tradition of the rivalry. It's been built like any good rivalry. There's been some great regular season games in there, but there's also a pretty large number of playoff games where there's an awful lot at stake. It doesn't surprise me to not only hear the results are fairly even, but right down to the statistics. You've got two proud programs that lay it on the line. That's what's been done in the past. I'm assuming that's what will be done tomorrow night on Thursday night. Q. Zane, I know it's probably not on your radar now, but you've been a Bruins prospect for four seasons now. What has your relationship been like with the Bruins, and what's it like when you look at that organization and see some of the other goalie prospects that they have? ZANE GOTHBERG: Yeah, we'll start with the first part of that. Just been in touch with the Bruins organization throughout development camps in the past years. There will be times here and there I'll receive a phone call, but nothing too crazy I'd say. I think the brass there at Boston does a really good job of letting their prospects play and develop at the team they're at currently, and just having trust in the process of becoming a pro player and pro prospect. I think it is what it is. Secondly, with the depth, I guess, yeah. No matter what, at any level you'll be at, there will be competition in that specific position and you've just got to work your tail off and do your best and let the chips fall where they may. Just to address that, it is what it is, I guess. Looking forward to it maybe one day down the road. Q. Fully respecting the Frozen Four teams and the rivalry question. Is the rivalry greater for the fans or the players between these programs? ZANE GOTHBERG: Probably different. Obviously, both fans and players get really excited for games like this. I know our fans have had this date circled on the calendar since that state game. For us as players it's also an exciting time. But I think more talk goes out to the fans than talking back and forth and making a bigger deal out of it than I think we do. As far as our team and the Minnesota team, it's pretty in‑house. We just look forward to the next game and trying to play our best game. We have all the respect in the world for their team and how good they are. But we're not going to go out of our way like a lot of the fans do to kind of go back and forth. Q. Zane, talking about that game a couple weeks ago, you obviously didn't know that night if you had won that game you'd be playing Minnesota next. But now that you know you're playing the Gophers is what you saw in the Ferris State game, do you feel like that's similar to what you might be seeing with Minnesota tomorrow? ZANE GOTHBERG: Yeah, I certainly think so. At this time of year it's playoff hockey, so anything can happen. Guys are throwing pucks at the net, wherever they're at on the ice so sheets. So what might be similar in the two teams with Ferris and Minnesota is the speed, the forwards and such. If you look back at tape and Minnesota's strong point is their speed up front and even on the back end too. So I think there will be definitely a similarity. But at the same time we're just worried about our game and what we have to do to be successful and go from there, I guess, really. Q. Dillon, some of the Gophers and their staff are talking about how they were going to find a way to play NorthDakota this year. As a senior, was there any talk about that early on, and is it good to be able to finish towards the end of your career, a match‑up like that? DILLON SIMPSON: Like Coach said, we've been a short‑term focused team all year, and that's been attributed a lot to our success. There's been no talk throughout the year of trying to play them or hoping to play them. I think for us it's a weekend by weekend kind of mindset as a senior to be able to play them in the Frozen Four, yeah, it is a thrill. But at the end of the day, no. We don't talk about it throughout the year. Q. Dillon, I think people who don't follow college hockey all the time may have heard about the nice arena you guys got built a couple years ago. But for you being one of the seniors on this team, talk about what it takes to go to NorthDakota, when for people in some parts of the country, and I would say here is one of those parts of the country, seems a pretty out of the way place relative to a Big Ten school or Boston College, the decision to go to NorthDakota, what means for you? DILLON SIMPSON: For me, going there and meeting the personnel right away and coaches and players and seeing Ralph Engelstad Arena, it was a quick and easy decision for me. It's a great community to be a part of. They love our hockey. They love our team. Kind of the tradition that's been built throughout the years in our program is something that we all take a lot of pride in. It's something that you kind of soak up when you first get there and it becomes a big part of your life. As for the rink, as a senior, I still go to the rink every day and look at it in awe. We're very privileged to be able to play in a place like this. We take a lot of pride in doing well for our program. Q. Dave, I'm sure this is old news in your two states. But with the change of leagues, what did prevent the teams from playing this year? COACH HAKSTOL: Well, I'm not going to get into specifics here. What I will say, I think it's a serious that should be played each year. We should have a two game series, and we're going to work to have that continue after we resume that regular season, non‑conference match‑up beginning a couple of years from now. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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