University of Minnesota Athletics
Frozen Four Championship Press Conference Held
4/5/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
Pre-Championship Press Conference Quotes
March 25, 2006
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Press Conference Participants
Laura Halldorson (Head Coach, University of Minnesota)
Andrea Nichols (Player, University of Minnesota)
Bobbi Ross (Player, University of Minnesota)
Opening Comments
Laura Halldorson: I just am still really happy about yesterday’s game because it was just a great college women’s hockey game that had a little bit of everything. We have that behind us now and we are just excited too that there will be another WCHA women’s hockey national champion.
Question and Answer Session
Q: How do you prepare to keep from being inconsistent in this kind of game?
Halldorson: First of all, I think that the inconsistency occurred quite a while ago. We have been awfully consistent down the stretch and that it helps that we have a day off in between. It gives us another day to recover to take on Wisconsin.
Q: With not having a dominant scoring line, how do feel about relying on all three lines?
Halldorson: This year we have gotten contributions from all three of our lines. We expect all three of our lines to contribute. It’s not like it was last year where one line got the majority of the points. So this year I think it’s a positive that we get scoring from the other lines as well. It makes something other teams have to worry about.
Q: What do you need to do against Wisconsin this time around?
Halldorson: The last time we played them Wisconsin had three power play goals. So we need to do a better job of killing penalties. I think we just need to focus on ourselves, and play our game. They are a tough team to score against, so we are going to need to take advantage of the opportunities that we get.
Q: What did jumping out to a 2-0 lead last night mean in terms of confidence?
Halldorson: The first goal was huge. It was a great play by Bobbi (Ross) early in the game. I think that knocked them on their heels a bit, and to get the second goal right away was exciting. But it was a little too early in the game to think that they weren’t going to come back and battle and they are such a good team that they battled an regained the lead. It had a little bit of everything, a see-saw battle, with Bobbi’s penalty shot and all it was a great game.
Q: When a player gets hot, like Bobbi last night, do you think there will be extra concern from UW?
Bobbi Ross: I think we have played them enough this season, that they won’t base their whole game plan on just one player. I don’t know what they are going to do, but they are playing really well and have had success against us. So I don’t see them changing their game plan based on one game.
Q: Do you think the overall speed difference is an advantage for you?
Halldorson: I think both teams have speed and we have played UW so many times that we are familiar with each other. And they have three lines that give them a lot of depth at certain positions. Some of them can really move, but I don’t necessarily see a big difference.
Q: Do you like playing a team, in this magnitude, that you have played this season a few times already?
Halldorson: We are just happy to be playing. We’ll take anybody at this point. We were happy to play Princeton in the quarterfinals game, since we hadn’t seen them or were familiar with them. Same thing with UNH, we didn’t know much about them. So now maybe it’s fitting to play somebody that we are familiar with and it should make a great game.
Ross: Of course we have seen them a lot, but when it comes down to a national championship all those games are thrown out the window. The only thing that matters is who wants it most. Tomorrow it’s all about intangibles.
Q: Do you think one of the keys tomorrow is finishing all 60 minutes?
Andrea Nichols: Any time you get to talented teams together it’s about capitalizing on mistakes. If a team makes one minor mistake, a talented team will take advantage of that. So I think we will have to bring a full 60 minutes.
Q: Talk about your goalies play yesterday versus New Hampshire?
Laura Halldorson: She got overshadowed in the 5-4 game, and it was just huge for Brittony to come in both last weekend and this weekend now after Kim Hanlon had an injury and Brittony has played in a lot of pressure situations. When she played at the oval she played in a lot of big games, she drew from that experience and she just played very well. The goals that were scored yesterday were tips and going off skate but I thought she did a nice job, there was a lot of scrambles in front and she is able to cover a lot of ground because of her size and I feel we did a nice job of battling in front and blocking shots and those are the things that don’t show up on the score sheet and our team played with a lot of heart.
Q: Can the players talk about how Brittony has not played a lot near the end of the season and how she has stepped in and played in the post season?
Nichols: I just think that either way what ever goalie is in net we have a lot of confidence in, they are both very talented and they both come from a pretty good background, either way we have a lot of confidence in both of them.
Ross: You can’t deny the success that Kim Hanlon has had throughout her starts in the season, but at the same time we always new that it didn’t matter what goalie was going in on a given day. I personally have played with Brittony outside of this team, we have been in National Championship games together and she was always our MVP so I think personally I always saw her as a person we can rely on in a given situation.
Q: Laura what is your biggest concern in terms of prepping for Wisconsin?
Halldorson: I don’t know if I have any big concerns, but I feel good with where we are right know we are playing with a lot of confidence, I think we are going to be in the right frame of mind and we just need to refresh our memory on what they do and make sure we are aware of what they do and make sure we do a good job on the penalty kill. We just want to play our game.
Q: Talk about what was going through your mind the eve before the National Championship with previous teams compared to this team and where your mind set is?
Halldorson: Obviously the last couple of years we have been a top seed so it has felt a little bit different because of that, this year we came in as a four seed so it is a little bit different that way, but I would say my impression of a team that is on a championship run you are sort of on auto pilot you know how to prepare for games and you just want to get into the same routine that you always are in and I think we have done a really good job of that so we will just go out there prepared and work hard and we will see what happens.
Q: Win or lose tomorrow how do you respond to that you are the premier program in the country?
Ross: We have a lot of pride of what we have done this season we have went through a lot of ups and downs. It was definitely not smooth sailing for us in the beginning of the season. In the beginning half was tough and we lost a lot of bad games but the attitude we kept is probably what saved us and I agree that there is no denying that we have done something great this year, but at the same time I won’t be satisfied without another National Championship.
Q: Talk about the good news bad news of playing an opponent that you have already played this season and who you have lost to four times this season?
Nichols: The good news is that we have seen Wisconsin many times and we know what to look for and what to be prepared for but at the same time it is a National Championship game and it is unpredictable you don’t know what is going to happen. We just have to come ready to play.
Ross: You look at our record and we will be the underdog against Wisconsin tomorrow I don’t know whether to say if that is good news or bad news because it worked out well for us yesterday.
Pre-Championship Press Conference Quotes
March 25, 2006
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Press Conference Participants
Mark Johnson (Head Coach, University of Wisconsin)
Sara Bauer (Player, University of Wisconsin)
Sharon Cole (Player, University of Wisconsin)
Opening Comments
Mark Johnson: It’s nice to be here, if I look back maybe Tuesday or Wednesday of this week and looked at a match up that I would be good for women’s college hockey we got it. It’s going to be a lot of fun tomorrow afternoon, it’s going to be a good game and I anticipate there will be a lot of people watching the game and for people that don’t have tickets they should certainly come out and watch the game because any time Minnesota and Wisconsin get together whether it’s hockey on the Men’s or Women’s side, or basketball or football it’s usually a lot of fun and I know our team is excited to play in the National Championship and having Minnesota as our opponent, it’s going to be a special moment.
Question and Answer Session
Q: On coaching against the place that he has family history with?
Johnson: It was fun watching the game last night, it was certainly entertaining, with stuff you don’t usually see like a penalty shot. I was sitting with my wife, my two daughters, and two of my sons and I had them after the first period go up to one of the corners and have them see if they could find there grandpa. He was in a couple of pictures up there from when he played in the 50’s. So I’ve spent a lot of time in this area, my grandparents lived here, I played for the North Stars for a short time, my dad won a Stanely Cup in this state, so this is a place I’m very familiar with. Like I say playing tomorrow afternoon against Minnesota in Minneapolis makes the afternoon very special, I know from our players stand point it’s a long and tuff journey to get here, as I told them this morning there is one game left, we’re done with practices, you don’t have to back to practice on Monday, the season will be over tomorow afternoon so we’re still playing, whether the opponent be Minnesota in there back yard it just makes it that much more special.
Q: On what do you take away from playing Minnesota in the past?
Johnson: Other than we won a few and they won some that’s about it. When you put the stage and you put the trophy that both teams will be playing for. You can eliminate the previous five games other than our two previous games against Mercyhurst and St. Lawrence we didn’t know a lot so there was a feeling out period well the feeling out period has already been eliminated because we’ve already played each other five times, four in the regular season and a game for the WCHA championship so that’s what I think makes it more exciting, you can eliminate who won more or who lost more and it comes down to 60 minutes and one teams ability to handle the pressure maybe a little bit more than the other team, it might come down to one team maybe executing a little bit more and so that is what makes it fun. The fun part is you don’t know the end result so you prepare and each team has certain habits and gets ready and you throw it out on the ice and leave it on the rink because at about 5 o’clock tomorrow afternoon it will be all over and you don’t want to short change yourself.
Q: Do you have a preference on where you would like to play (Olympic size ice compared to smaller ice)?
Johnson: No. I just like playing and we’ll play Minnesota anywhere anytime in any place, but no I think if you talk and take a poll of a lot of the coaches they’ll probably want to play on the smaller ice sheet, but I think with the match up we have tomorrow we have the opportunity to maybe draw a real large crowd and I think for the overall growth of the sport and the opportunity it presents with Minnesota against Wisconsin I don’t mind playing here at all.
Q: On preparation for championship game?
Johnson: I think it’s crucial that we keep the same pre-game plan that’s why at the beginning of the season you talk about habits and instilling good habits whether it be at practice or in the classroom. Developing that routine and to get comftroble with. It’s worked for six months now and I don’t see just because it’s for the National Championship do you change too much. If I’m Tiger Woods and on Tuesday I’m working on my chip shots and his pre-shot routine is there and on Sunday at the seventeenth hole how well I practiced my pre-shot routine is going to dictate whether I make a good shot and win a golf tournament or I don’t. Your ability to prepare yourself is something you work on and you tweak it sometimes but at this point I don’t think you need to tweak it a lot. You need on one end of the spectrum your players relaxed and at the same time excited about the opportunity because come at 5 o’clock tomorrow afternoon it’s over.
Q: On handling Minnesota’s speed?
Shannon Cole: I got to watch the game. It was an exciting game. Hopefully we can I guess we can control there transition. There a very good team with very skilled players, and hopefully we can just do better than UNH did.
Sara Bauer: It’s kind of the same thing as Mark said, we’ve seen them before so we’re comfortable playing with them, we know what kind of effort it’s going to take and hopefully we go out on top because every time we’ve played with them it’s been a battle.
Q: Is there any confidence that you take into this game because of the success this season?
Bauer: Confidence, I think yes but, I don’t think will be too overly sure of ourselves. Every game has been a battle and it’s not like we have walked all over them. So we know we have to be on our A’ game.
Q: Are the low goal totals in the last couple games a concern because of Minnesota’s offense yesterday?
Cole: We are getting a lot of chances, with breakaways and opportunities in front of the net. It’s just not going in. We are getting the offensive opportunities.
Bauer: The opportunities are there. I think there would be cause for concern had we not been getting chances, but we know that if we keep plugging away that the pucks are going to go in for us.
Q: As captain, what will you message continue to be?
Cole: We have to play with heart. It’s what I keep saying because if we go out there with everything we got we will get the luck to turn our way. Just to keep playing at this point. The rest of the season doesn’t matter at this point.
Q: Does it concern you that Bobbi Ross has a hot stick?
Johnson: Bobbi (Ross) had a very good game yesterday. She electrified the crowd and ignited her team. But it is a team game and they have certain personnel similar to St. Lawrence that you have to be aware of. You have to been concerned with their strengths and what can be done to prevent scoring opportunities. Those are the little things you talked about. It all depends on which the puck bounces. Nobody has an idea of who is going to be in position.
Q: Is playing in Minneapolis going to present a challenge for you with the possibility of a big pro-Minnesota crowd?
Johnson: I am sure there will be a big crowd. And that is part of the fun of sports, getting involved and having these situations be created. You look at the matchup and I was thinking this week that it would be a great matchup, Wisconsin and Minnesota, in Minneapolis for the national championship. Its great for our league and its an opportunity to showcase our sport to a lot of people. It will present some challenges. I had a chance many years ago to play in front of a home crowd in a time when a lot of people didn’t think we were going to win a certain hockey game. It’s amazing what crowds will do bringing energy to a team. It will certainly be an asset to them, but you get back to the things I talk about with the pre-game routine and doing the things that you are capable of doing. The tough part is that momentum is a big part of our game, but it will be fun. I told the players yesterday that I wish I was taping my sticks to go out on the ice. It’s a lot more difficult to be the coach and sit there waiting and waiting. How exciting this is for these players. You look at Sharon (Cole) who grew up not too far from where we are sitting and has spent for long years and she is going to go out playing in the national championship game. These are the things from a player’s standpoint that are just a huge reward. You look at all the lonely stuff we do, all the practices and off-ice conditioning and grinding stuff that a lot of people don’t see. They are playing the biggest game of their careers. They should be fired up, they should be excited playing in front of a hostile crowd.
Q: Coach, are you still kicking around the idea of who to start in goal?
Johnson: I think you always kick it around until they drop the puck. We as coaches probably second-guess ourselves more that anybody. But it’s putting the pieces of the puzzle together in an educated way. We just have to make the decision so that we give our players the best chance to win.
Q: Sharon, being the last game of your career, does it feel any different?
Cole: It is definitely more exciting, this is the biggest game that I can possibly play in and that this is where I grew up, it makes it that much more special for me.
