University of Minnesota Athletics
Men's Hockey Media Day Held On Wednesday
10/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Hockey
With the puck dropping just two days from now, the University of Minnesota men's hockey team faced the media on Wednesday in the team's annual media day luncheon at Mariucci Arena.
Head coach Don Lucia and the team's captains addressed the media about the upcoming season, which begins with an exhibition game on Friday against the University of British Columbia at 7 p.m. at Mariucci Arena. The regular season begins the following weekend with an home-and-home series against St. Cloud State.
Coach Lucia Media Day Quotes:
Opening Statement:
“Obviously we are excited to begin the year. As with every off season, there seems to be a lot of changes with the program. I was certainly happy reading the paper that Blake Wheeler who left early last season made the Boston Bruins organization which is exciting for him. We have a lot of new players this year with a dozen freshman and Ryan Stoa returning after his injury last year. Basically half of our team is new this year so it is going to take some time to figure out the chemistry and who should be playing with whom. At the same time, I think we have a great core of leadership with Ryan Stoa as our captain and Justin Bostrom and Ryan Flynn as our assistant captains.
On early-season practices:
“One thing I have seen so far with the group is that we have a pretty high skill level. Based on what I have seen so far at practice, the new guys have been welcomed additions. I think I have seen a change in some of the older guys with the juniors and seniors. They seem more confident. They had a great summer in the weight room. They came in good shape. When you look at the six hour practices we have had, I think we have made some good progress. I think we can skate pretty well. I think it is going to be a fun year with this group. We seem to really be a team this early in the season which is great to see.
On the WCHA:
“As we all know the WCHA will be as good as ever. The one thing we will look at is that we have a good schedule. Twenty of our thirty-four games are against teams that were in the NCAA tournament a year ago. That is the kind of schedule that the University Of Minnesota should have. Not only a great schedule within the WCHA, but games that include University of New Hampshire, Michigan, and Michigan State. We are excited about the year and wish we had a few non-conference games to begin but we don’t and that is just how the schedule is this year so we get our one exhibition game Friday night and then jump right into St. Cloud and Wisconsin for our first four games of the year.”
On starting out the WCHA season so early:
“We are going to go up to St. Cloud and head up to Madison the first two weeks of the season. You are going to get into some very hostile environments. The positive is that you are going to pick out right away what the WCHA is all about and certainly what playing on the road at the University of Minnesota is all about. It will be good for them to get their feet wet so to speak. They are going to have to dive right in. We don’t have a say in when those games are going to be played. It is a little unusual to have WCHA games so early in the schedule but again, it is just the way it is this year. I think our guys will be ready for it and I think that they are looking forward to it. It is important that we get off to a better start. Obviously, we got off to a poor start last year and you are digging yourself out of that whole in the get go when we started 0-4 away last year.”
On the special teams:
“Last year’s team wasn’t very special, especially on the power play. In my opinion, it cost us a lot of games. How many games did we tie or lose by a goal because we didn’t generate anything on the power play. Many times last year, I felt the power play was a momentum killer. We would play well on the five-on-five and I almost wanted to decline the power play. I think we have some guys that can move it. I do think that guys in the back line, like Kevin Wehrs is a much better player then he was a year ago. Cade Fairchild, David Fischer, and Aaron Ness back there are some guys to make some plays with. I do think we are going to be better on the power play then what we were a year ago. With the new rule changes especially early, that will play a part because you better have some guys that can play the power play and you better have some good players that can kill the power play. They should be the same guys because early on when they see games ten power plays aside.”
On this year’s coaching philosophy:
“We are trying to play a little more pressure hockey. We want to get up on our tails and skate more. I think last year we tried to protect our defensemen and maybe played a more conservative style then we have played in the past and I think we want to get back to playing a little bit more what Gopher Hockey has been historically and I think we are going to be in a better position this year. That may take some time and some mistakes early in the season where guys are getting caught but at the same time in the long run, this team will be better suited for that style of play at least we hope so. We want to get our guys up and down the rink a little bit more then we did a year ago.”
On the incoming freshmen:
“I think they look good but they are freshmen. For me, it is not about the freshmen, it is about our returning players. It is about leadership and the returning players making a step and our balance here. It is about having a great game and giving us an opportunity to win every night. That is how I dictate our season. Our freshman are going to be playing important roles but I think that is it a little unfair to put the burden on how well off a season we are going to have based on our freshmen. As far as I am concerned, our best recruit this year is Ryan Stoa because he did not play last year so getting somebody back with experience, I think is going to help us a lot.”
