Bowling Green State University Athletics
BGSU Quotes vs. Windsor
October 05, 2006 | Ice Hockey
Oct. 5, 2006
Recap | Final Stats | Photo Gallery
Scott Paluch
Opening Statement
"I think it was a good start for our team. I think we got to see a lot of different areas and see a lot of different people. I think all and all it was a game where we did a lot of things better as the game went on, which is what I'm most pleased about. I loved our enthusiasm. I thought we had some good jump. Coming out of our offensive zone and transition we gave up a few odd-man rushes early and I thought we did a much better job as the game went on at correcting those. The goalies got to see some shots, which I'm pleased with. I thought it was a good start for us."
There was a lot of contribution from freshman tonight, what are your thoughts on their play?
"I thought the first time playing against other competition that they did very well. We were able to get a lot of ice time for some of them and work them into different areas. A couple of them were on the power-play quite a bit. You saw Kantola and Perkin doing penalty-kill for us, and I thought they did an outstanding job. The freshman got their feet wet and I thought they held up very well."
When you jumped out 3-0 in the first period, you had to like the attack on the offensive side of the puck.
"I loved the jump we had early and being able to capitalize, which was key. I thought after the 3-0 lead we settled into a little bit of a lull. I think we needed that period break to get us focused. We needed to get back to cycling pucks offensively. After the 3-0 lead we got a little too cute, but I thought we regained our focus and had a lot more power in our game."
How would you evaluate the penalty kill tonight?
"I thought the penalty kill after the first period did a better job of getting into the areas we wanted them to get to. We started crashing down from our forward spot, down on the half wall guy putting pressure. We have some upside down pressure, which we're looking at this year. We did a much better job of that. I thought there was too big of a scene on that 5-on-3 goal that we gave up, but I thought as the game went on we did a much better job cohesively.
How would you evaluate the power play?
"I thought we were better on transition on the power-play than we were in the zone. I thought we made some nice plays on the ice with the skill that was out there. I didn't think we did a good enough job of relieving the pressure against us. They were coming out really high, and being real aggressive. I don't think we did a real good job getting the puck from our defense down to our forwards to take advantage of that. We have to get the puck past pads and past sticks. I don't think we did that well. I did like some of the skill plays out there, up the rush that lead to some chances."
What did you like most about how the team played?
"I thought the overall energy was good. I thought the bench was very good. It was a cohesive game for us, but most importantly we did a good job of getting better in some of the areas [that we needed to improve on]. I also liked our back-check it was pretty good, we created some turnovers with our speed coming back."
Are you ahead of where you thought you might be?
"I think it's kind of hard to tell, with so much special teams in the game, I would have liked to see more five-on-five to really get an indication. I'm pleased with the way the game went, because I think as the game went on we improved in a lot of areas."
Were there any lines that stuck out today?
"The line that got to play the most as a group, the Meloche-Bales-Svendsen line seemed to have the most five-on-five shifts. I thought they did some good things, Brandon Svendsen was very strong on pucks and Rich Meloche on the left side did a good job. That was probably the most ice time Brian Bales has had in a 60-minute game. I thought he made some pretty good plays."
What stands out in your mind in the way the team played tonight?
"I think we had a pretty big emphasis tonight on defense. That's been the emphasis the entire preseason. It was a good showing tonight. The first period was a bit shaky we gave up a couple of odd-man opportunities, beyond that I think we shut them down fairly well in the second and third periods."
What did you like about the offense tonight?
"I think we started working on special teams this week since practice has started. Throughout the year one of our strengths this year is definitely going to be special teams."
