University of Minnesota Athletics
Frost, Pannek Preview OSU Series
10/19/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Hockey
MINNEAPOLIS - Head coach Brad Frost and junior Kelly Pannek spoke with the media as the Gopher women's hockey team prepares for this week's WCHA series on the road at Ohio State.
Gopher Sports: What do you expect out of this weekend's series at Ohio State?
Brad Frost: Ohio State is a tough place to play first of all, and we've had good success out there recently, but they have a couple difference-makers up front, they've got Jincy Dunne and Dani Sadek on the blue line who are all-conference type players, and their goaltender, Sauve, has been really the difference by the looks of things as you look at the box scores. It's going to be important for us to take her eyes away and to put a lot of pressure on her and see if we can put a couple by her.
Kelly Pannek: Going into this weekend, we just have to be ready for a battle knowing that they're going to give us two really good games. It's always an interesting environment playing in Ohio. It's just a different road trip, by plane, not a bus. There are different factors going into it. We're ready; we're excited to see Coach Muz in her new environment and just to see her again. We are looking forward to really good games.
Gopher Sports: What do you think it will be like playing against a team coached by Muzerall?
Frost: It will be a lot of fun. Nadine has earned the right to be the head coach there at Ohio State. So far there are doing a real good job. I would imagine that their team will come out with a lot of jump, and she'll have that team ready to play.
Pannek: It'll be interesting to see her on a different bench, that's for sure. Just knowing how she coached us, we know how she is going to coach them, too. She brings a lot of passion to the bench and has knowledge as a player and a coach. It will be weird going through the line and shaking her hand after the game, but I'm excited for it.
Gopher Sports: What did you take away from the close series last weekend?
Frost: I was really happy with how we played on Saturday. We came out and, while we didn't get the lead, we started quickly. We were applying a lot of pressure, we were winning races, winning battles, and those are things that we want to do for 60 minutes and really feel like if we do those things we are going to win a lot hockey games. It was nice for them to be rewarded for their hard work by getting that one in the third and then in overtime. We were proud of the way they were playing and just hoped that we would catch a break.
Pannek: It was a good weekend to get some things figured out. We had a little more consistency with who we're playing with, which is always nice. Getting that power play figured out a little bit was huge for us. That's a really important part of our game and is something we've had for the last few years, a really good power play. Our penalty kill was figuring some things out, so being able to do that against a top-five opponent in Minnesota Duluth. The series was really fun too, kind of renewed that rivalry a little bit.
Gopher Sports: What is it like to be approaching the milestone of 300 coaching wins?
Frost: Well I think that the biggest takeaways are that one, I have been here a long time and two, we have had so many successful players and teams throughout my 10 years as head coach and some great staff members as well. I have had several assistant coaches that have gone on to do a multitude of other things, coaching at the high school level or Division III and now Division I. I think that's what I'm most proud of, being a part of a real special program with a lot of special people involved in it.
Gopher Sports: What would it mean to get the sweep this weekend and get Coach Frost's 300th coaching win?
Pannek: To sweep the series is really fun, and to see your coach have a huge milestone like that, 300 wins, is huge. He won't make a big deal out of it. He will probably say that other coaches just got their 400th win and what not. It's obviously huge for him and this program. He deserves it, and he's a great coach and awesome to play for.
The No. 2 Gophers take on the Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio, this week. Puck drop is set for 5:07 p.m. CT Friday and 2:07 p.m. CT Saturday at OSU Ice Rink.
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