Michigan State University
Michigan
From The Press Box
11/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Michigan State vs. Michigan
Nov. 18, 2004 * East Lansing, Mich.
Post-Game Quotes
MSU Coach Rick Comley
On the game...
"The difference in the hockey game was definitely turnovers. Two of their goals came from us giving the puck away. I thought we played well, we played hard and we out shot them. But, they are so dangerous and quick, that when you make mistakes, they will make you pay for them."
On the goaltending...
"I thought Al Montoya was probably the best I have ever seen him. He was steady and made a lot of good saves. He did everything they needed him to do, because we could have had two or three goals in the first period. But, (Dominic) Vicari was solid as well. It was a very good game on both ends, I just thought we got a little discouraged with the mistakes and couldn't battle back."
Looking ahead...
"You can't get too discouraged and you have to pick the good things out of the loss. We outshot them, 31-22. We know this stretch of the next two weeks is going to be tough, but we just have to hold it together."
On the changes that need to be made for Saturday...
"Losing Colton Fretter hurts us; he has been a big contributor for us. We also need to find some more speed to put in the line-up. You show them their mistakes, don't beat them up about it, and fight the fight all over again.
On Chris Mueller...
"He has really played well from start to finish. He is one person you know you will get a good effort out of every night."
Michigan Coach Red Berenson
On the overall game ...
"I think tonight's game was a hard-fought game. Obviously, Al Montoya was the difference in the first period, and then we got the bounces after that. More often than not those are the kind of goals that are the difference between these two teams because they're so evenly matched."
On the play of Al Montoya ...
"I liked what I saw. He looked solid - he really looked solid, and that made the whole team confident. I don't know how many great saves he made, but he was quick around the net, on the loose pucks, and he was good on the weird angle shots."
On the play of the Spartans ...
"I thought we played hard in the first period, but it was just the quick little turnovers that cost us, and they were quick when they were on the puck and they put a lot of pressure on us. I didn't think we played bad, but they played well."
On preparation for Saturday ...
"Certainly, it was good for us to finish the game strong and not on our heels. As you well know, quite often a team gets the lead and then they get on their heels. It gives us a chance to regroup and refocus, talk about the game, and really we'll start all over on Saturday, both teams. "
MSU Players
Bryan Lerg, Fr., F
Still have a chance when down 4-1...
"Yes, when it was 4-1 the team got down a little bit, once we scored it seemed like the team got going. We were playing down low a lot, but we need to take the puck to the net more."
On Michigan's speed...
"Michigan is a real fast team. They have a lot of speed. I thought we kept up with them pretty good."
On the feeling of the team going into the third period...
"Our team was still up in the locker room. We weren't having any bad feelings in there. We just kept it going, and kept chipping away and hoped something would come."
On things to do for Saturday...
"We got to play better in other buildings. We played real good against Ferris, but not really well against Northern Michigan. It's a hard place (Yost) to play in, so we have to come out and battle and keep competing."
Jim Slater, Sr., F
On the game...
"It is really disappointing when you fight back and make it 1-1 and then we had bad mistakes on our part which they capitalized on. They are a very good team. They pride themselves on creating turnovers and creating scoring chances off of it. So it is definitely hard. I thought we played good, but as soon as they got that third and fourth goal it was tough to get back from that."
On tomorrow's practice...
"I thought we played good, except we made a couple of mistakes and they made us pay for them. I would like to see what are turnovers were, if we can cut down on those then we will have a good chance. Other than that, I don't think we gave them that many chances. I thought our penalty killing did a great job. Our power play had a goal. Everything is there; it is just unfortunate that we had those turnovers."
On being the captain...
"It's the captain's job to get the team back from one up. I thought coming into the second period, everyone was ready to get going. We drew a penalty on that first shift and that is when they got the shorthanded goal. It really killed us there. When you get behind you got to keep the guys up. That is the great thing about hockey; we get to play them the following night or the night after."
