Michigan State University Athletics
Michigan State 2, U.S. Under-18 Team 4
12/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey
Dec. 16, 2008
Michigan State Head Coach Rick Comley
On if the exhibition game was a step back...
No I don't think so, it was just more of the same. They're coming off exams, but I thought they competed very well in the third period until the player over handled the puck on the shorthanded goal. We were real slow getting going, but in the third period we seemed to battle harder. We struggle at defense obviously, and at scoring. The dilemma we have is that we practice against ourselves. Sometimes you can make things happen in practice, but it's against our weakness and when we get in the games, those bigger and stronger hurt us.
On the game preparing the team for the Great Lakes Invitational...
It's hard to say. We come back against North Dakota and their scoring goals so that makes it tough. We'll have to see. Right now they probably need to get away from it. It's obvious that the mistakes you make cost you goals, everybody in the building can see it, and it wasn't necessarily freshmen that were doing it.
On his view of the U.S. Under-18 Team...
They skate well, handle the puck well. The shot by Ryan [Bourque], the third goal, was a great shot. He had nothing to shoot at and it was just excellent. They have a lot of good players, they always do. Their goaltender made a couple real good saves at good times.
On playing the game this year unlike last year...
You can't get rid of the negative right now. The important thing was to get them through exams, which they did very well in. Then we practiced three of four days, played a game and now they have 11 days until the next. That's certainly better than not playing for three weeks, and maybe a break will be good for them.
On his overall view of the game...
There were times we played okay, and then there were times were some guys played okay. The disappointing thing is how we gave up the goals and that's what bites you. If you don't understand to not do what those two guys did, you're talking now a sophomore and a senior that have played a lot. I don't have any options. You just have to lead with your chin, take the punch and just keep moving.
Michigan State Senior Goaltender Jeff Lerg
On Michigan State's performance...
I thought that we played well in the first period, but then - it's happened before - something comes out of us during the intermission and we didn't have the same jump for the rest of the game. They're a very skilled team that attacks with speed. They had their chances and I thought [Freshman goaltender Drew] Palmisano played great.
On the second half of the season...
The good news is that we kind of control our own destiny in the CCHA. We play all of the teams ahead of us in the standings in the second half except for Nebraska-Omaha. That's something we can build on by winning weekends and getting two, three, and four points at a time.
On the Great Lakes Invitational...
The tournament is an exciting time for us. We talked about how there are a lot of pictures in the hallway of Great Lakes Invitational Champions. It's a big deal for this program. We've stayed around as long as we have this month to be better prepared for the tournament. North Dakota is a top-10 program year in and year out. I've never beaten them personally so hopefully we can do that and maybe get a rematch with Michigan.
