Miami (Ohio) 3, Michigan State 1
11/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Nov. 15, 2008
Michigan State Head Coach Rick Comley
Opening thoughts...
I thought the kids worked hard. I thought they scrapped and did what they could. I was an unfortunate second goal - bad luck on that one. But we just have to keep plugging away until the puck starts to go in. It's a very thin lineup as you can tell, but I thought they stayed in the hockey team and they created chances. Miami is a good team - they played well and their forwards are very good. We just have to take our lumps right now and move forward.
On the lack of scoring...
We had that five-on-three power play to start. But again I liked the effort, and we just have to keep looking because it's not like you can manufacture something - there's nobody hiding in the weeds. You have what you have. Again, I thought the effort was good. We played well enough to win, and you're not satisfied in not winning, but you're not leaving the rink mad because they didn't work hard.
On battling through injuries...
I'm frustrated, but with (Nick) Sucharski down, we've lost all our centers - we don't have anybody back. I'm playing wingers at center, and it's a tough position to play and to play well, and good teams are strong down the middle of the ice. I wish there was more that I could do, but right now I can just be patient and just keep plugging away.
On the play of Corey Tropp...
I thought Tropp was great all weekend. He played very determined, and he had a really nice goal. I thought that both nights their goaltenders played really well. Sometimes when you go through tough times, people emerge. One of the adjustments this year is that not only did we lose good players, but we lost all our top players, and now other players have to step up and be your best players. That's not a comfortable role to be in for everybody.
Michigan State Senior Jeff Lerg
On the level of frustration...
There have been times we have lost a lot in a row. It is frustrating as a goaltender, if one puck goes by, you're not really sure if you're going to win the game. You put a lot of pressure on yourself right now, but it is one of those things. You have to find a way. Tonight, the only difference was that they threw a puck and it went off our guy and went in the net. We threw a ton of pucks and couldn't hit off anything to go in the net. We played really well. I think that was our best game we've had in the last three weeks. It's a bad bounce. It's only November, we're saving all the good bounces for March and April.
On what he has to do as a captain...
We have to keep the attitude in the locker room positive and make sure guys aren't getting too down. I know it's frustrating; no one likes to lose especially two straight weekends of not being able to score at key times. It was hard tonight to score. Their goal tender had a few really nice saves and we couldn't find a way to get it over the line. Keeping a positive attitude and make sure they know it's only November. This reminds me of my freshman year when we were a .500 team at Christmas break and hopefully we can battle back and get to .500 and take off.
On if being a captain is more important than a goalie at this point...
Yes, I think the older guys need to make sure the other guys aren't turning on each other now or getting frustrated and start yelling at each other when things aren't going their way, and make sure we stick with it as a team. As captains we have to do a good job at coming to the rink on Monday - working hard and concentrating on Nebraska which is next weekend.
On Corey Tropp...
That was his best game of the year for sure. He had a lot of energy out there. We know he is playing well when he's hitting and he was over there in the third period hitting and he had a really good goal. He had another really nice chance too. If you would have watched the first month before school, you would have thought he was our best player on the team for sure. He had all the confidence in the world. He kind of got taken out of it with the illness but we need him to get back and score some goals.
On this being a team that should be scoring more...
On paper, you'd think so. Hopefully it's just a matter of time. If you look at our track record, November has always been a tough month for us so we're going through our normal little dip and hopefully we'll bounce back and be the team that we've been since I've been here.
Miami Head Coach Enrico Blasi
On getting the sweep...
Last night was obviously huge. You've got to take care of things on Friday first. I thought it was a good game tonight that could've gone either way. We got a lucky bounce on our second goal then an empty netter. All and all I thought it was a good road effort and now we move on.
On Miami's penalty killing...
Our guys are doing a good job. We don't want to take too many penalties, but our guys are working hard, blocking shots, giving the power play little times to set up and the times they did Connor [Knapp] came up huge.
On his duo of freshman goaltenders...
We've been here before and the credit goes to our freshmen goaltenders. They've been working their tails off and the competition in practice is fierce. At the same time, when one of them is in the net the biggest cheerleader on the bench is the other goaltender.
