Michigan State 4, Maine 2
4/5/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
April 5, 2007
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Michigan State Head Coach Rick Comley
Q: Opening Statement
A: "Two weeks of preparation out the window in 15 seconds... So much for coaching, I guess. Great job by these kids. All year long, they've been very resilient, and just kind of got better and better. Now they've got a chance to play for a national championship, and I'm as proud as you can be, or as proud as I've ever been of any team I've ever coached."
Q: Can you talk about these players from your point of view? You had said earlier, when they started to play well in the postseason, that they had bought into what you asked them to do. Can you talk about this game, and being down, and staying in this system, to be able to come back and win this game?
A: "Well, obviously, all coaches coach. It became obvious early this year that we're a team that's emerging and growing. We don't have any All-Stars, no Hobeys, no All-Stars. We need a lot of guys to play well. We never quite know exactly what's going to happen, or who might do it. And I think that if you can get them to buy into a team style of play, there's a strength in that. I think they have the ability to come back to that. I thought we shut Maine down pretty darn good, especially in the third period. That's the strength factor; I don't think there's anything magic about it. We do have very good leadership, whether they grow into All-Stars or not, who knows? We're playing a pretty big game Saturday night, so I think that speaks volumes."
Q: Talk about staying out of the [penalty] box; You only took two penalties. Could you imagine that kind of discipline from your boys against their power play?
A: "Yeah, I could. We're the least-penalized team in our league, and somebody said we're the least-penalized team in the tournament. We don't take a lot, and what we didn't take tonight were sloppy hooking penalties; Sometimes that will get you in more trouble. It was a physical game, but not a `big-hit' game. I thought the referee did a good job as far as letting kids play, and there wasn't any nonsense out there. You hope when kids get to big games, that they will make good decisions. Most penalties come because of sloppiness, and we just didn't do that."
Q: Can you talk about Jeff [Lerg]'s performance, the way he rebounded after giving up those two early goals? Had you ever seen him get rattled in a game, and how did he come out of that with his mindset?
A: "I do think that last year, in the Maine game, he was also nervous to start. Even though the goals weren't his fault again, he just didn't look sharp. He got a break, I thought, on the third shot of the game when it hit his blocker and just settled on the top of the net. If that goes in, ugh, I'm not sure if you're going to come back from [being down] three. Once he got that, you could just see his confidence. I have so much of a belief in him. A lot of years, you give up two quick ones, you're looking to make a change, but it never enters my mind with him. I just trust him tremendously, that he'll settle down and find a way to get it done."
On Jeff Lerg turning the tide after killing off Maine's first power play...
A: "On the penalty, right? I think they had a power play, and he made two or three really good saves that were `his kind' of saves. And he's so tidy - that's a Ron Mason word. We knew, around their net, that there would be a lot of pucks bouncing loose, but with him, it sticks to him pretty darn good. There was a play late in the game when he made a save, a Maine kid was coming in, and he just took the stick and banged it away. He has such composure. He's probably always going to answer questions about being 5-foot-6, but we can't make him - I guess we could put lifts in his skates, to eliminate the questions - but he's really special. I tell you he's special all the time, but again: A 4-point student, a severe asthmatic, works with the American Lung Association. This kid epitomizes what you want college athletes to be."
Q: Couple of questions for you. First off, the kinds of goals that you got - the Mueller goal, and the McKenzie goal - they're the kinds of things that are very hard to replicate. Do you think the team gets more of a boost out of getting those kinds of goals than out of something you see game-in and game-out? And the next question is, at what point in this game were you able to loosen up and say, `this is the team that beat Notre Dame in Grand Rapids', as opposed to the team that started the game?
A: "You know, I think we believed coming in, you weren't going to beat [Ben] Bishop clean. He's just too good. You're not going to come in, take a shot and beat him. You had to get rebounds, and screens, and tips, and those are the types of goals we got, and to be honest with you, that's kind of how we score. We don't get a lot of pretty goals. I don't think anything's different [about our team from earlier in the season]. As far as control of the hockey game, I think I looked up and there were about 10 seconds to go, and we were up by two. That's about the only time I felt that we had control. I didn't really like the play where Jeff Dunne had it, could have skated it out of the zone, and flipped it into the crowd with, what, 38 seconds to go? In the National Hockey League, I guess that's a penalty."
Jeff Lerg, Soph, GK
Adjusting to the Frozen Four and Scottrade Center
"Getting here a couple days early and getting used to the rink, so there wasn't much effect, and so it wasn't a huge factor, because we're used to it by now. Maybe there were a little jitters and nerves, but we knew that Maine was going to come out hard. Last time that we played them, they came out flying, so we expected that but we didn't match them for the first three minutes or so. After that, we played a great game."
Q: What was your state of mind after those first two goals?
"I was just trying to think about keeping us in the game. I sorta flashed back to last year, and you start thinking how do you stop these guys? I think the mental game is my best asset. I have to allow my preparation and mental game for me to be successful. I had to shrug it off, because I know that we've lost two goal leads in 30 seconds, so the game can turn around just like that. I told myself that it's a 60 minute game, and if we win the last 55, we'll be alright."
Chris Mueller, Jr, C
Adjusting to the Frozen Four and Scottrade Center
"The Frozen Four is a special thing, and I think everyone was nervous. But once the puck drops and you get a couple hits, it's just another game. A big thing that played into this game was that Maine ended our season last year. When we found out that we were playing Maine, I don't think there was another team as excited and ready to go (as we were) play this game.We've thought for 365 days how Maine ended our season. We just had to get the job done."
Q: Shutting down nation's best power play by not giving man advantage opportunities?
"Definitely, because they got three goals on us last year by just throwing the puck and it taking weird bounces. We needed to block shots on both the penalty kill and even strength. You're not going to have much success at the Frozen Four if you're in the box. We just had to stay out of the box. When we have all our guys in the game and rolling all four lines, that's when we play our best hockey."
Q: Impact of the first goal?
"We got a bit of luck, because I batted it out of the air. You get motivation, and you get momentum on your side. It becomes just another hockey game where we come back just like we've done all season. We look at each other and know that we can do this."
Jim McKenzie, Jr, RW
Q: What was your state of mind after those first two goals?
"You have to give Jeff a lot of credit. He bounced back after letting two in like that. He's got a great head on his shoulders. Everyone in the lockerroom showed a lot of character after letting those two goals in."
Q: How did other comeback wins this year play into this game?
"Definitely, because a couple of the guys said that we've done this a lot. We definitely don't want to do it a lot, but we do it. There was no panic. We've got the best goalie in the nation sitting beside me, and we know that we need to play our game and get the pucks deep. When we play our game, we can beat anybody. We know that, we believe that and hopefully that's what we're going to do on Saturday."
Chris Snavely, Sr, D
Q: On the first quick goal by Maine in first period
A: "We're not sure what happened. We just looked at each other. Coach started laughing. We just knew we had to regroup and start over. It was an eye opener. Everybody just looked around and said, `Wow. What just happened?' The guys came back and battled hard. This just shows the character of our team."
Q:How are you planning for final game?
A: "We're going to get a bite to eat, hang out with the family. Hopefully we're going to come out better than our start today. Let's just hope so."
Chris Lawrence, Sr, F
Q: On MSU goalie A: "He was like a brick wall after the first 3 minutes of the game. A few scares here and there...a few pucks flew by his head. He came in after the first period and said `Now I know how big I am'. He was loose all game, guys talking to him, he was having a fun time, enjoying it. He made some big saves for us."
Q: How does it sound playing in the national championship game?
A: "It's nice a dream but we know our job's not finished. The guys were going nuts in here after the game. Coach said he could see it in our eyes that we weren't satisfied yet. We'll have a good practice tomorrow and be ready to play on Saturday."
Q: What were you thinking after the first quick goal by Maine?
A: "(It was a) `not again' kind of thing. The coach said we had to get on these guys early. I was just thinking back to last year, 13 seconds in to the game they got one in to the back of the net. Just kind of funny. We just got through talking about taking it to them and then they cam out and scored on us. We were able to regroup. We moved on to the second period and then to the third. We played pretty well."
Justin Abdelkader, So, F
Q: How far has this team come?
A: "I think it is going to take a while for it to sink in. It doesn't really feel like we're in the national championship. We're going to take it one game at a time and enjoy this one. We've got a big game Saturday"
Q: Should the team be nicknamed the cardiac kids?
A: "I would agree with that. It works for us. We play our best game every game, start to finish. Sometimes it is more exciting than other times."
