Bowling Green State University Athletics
Quotes From BGSU's 4-2 Victory Over Alaska On Friday Evening
February 09, 2008 | Ice Hockey
Feb. 9, 2008
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BOWLING GREEN, Ohio - Bowling Green State University head coach Scott Paluch and sophomore forward Kai Kantola met with the media Friday, following their 4-2 home victory over Alaska.
Head Coach Scott Paluch
Opening Statement
"I thought it was a really solid, complete-game effort from our team. I loved the way we came out tonight and had some good jump. More importantly, I thought we had some good physical play early on. It helped us set a pretty good tone and we stayed with it. We answered the bell on two of their goals, we were solid done the stretch. The penalty-kill was solid. It was just a real important win for us."
On ending the power play streak against an Alaska team that doesn't take many penalties
"There was a huge, collective sigh of relief on the bench when that first power-play goal went in. It's one of the few comic moments you have in the middle of a hockey game. The goal was the kind of goal we thought would have to happen to end the streak. I think the first one went off of two bodies before it was able to get into a position to go in. That's a team that doesn't take too many penalties and luckily for us, we were able to capitalize on a few chances when they took some penalties in the second period."
On the hunger of the team around the net
"I think our hunger around the net tonight was due, in large part, to hunger to get to loose pucks. We were pretty quick on the loose pucks, we created some chances with that and as a result we got some goals to go in. I can think of two in particular, where they were a direct result of a quick stick and the will to stay in the scoring area."
On being more physical and the new attitude the team has been trying to bring to home ice this weekend
"I thought the first shift of the game we had some good contact and it seemed to carry over for the rest of the game. We were fairly consistent with it for the entire game after that point."
On the play of Kai Kantola
"Kai [Kantola] played with a lot of energy tonight, like so many of our guys. It was a great effort out of Kai and one we like to see from him."
What's your opinion or view on this team of yours with three weeks to play?
"Well we have two more points right now than we did when we came into the game. One thing I like is that its been a fairly consistent 27 games and when really think about it. We keep alluding to the fact that we're in position in that second wave of teams in our league and we want to play at home in the playoffs. Whether that's in the first week or the second week, we want to be at home. What we've done to this point, allows us to be in control of that. Now either we'll play well and earn that or we won't and it's a good position to be in. We don't need a lot of things to happen to decide that, it'll just be our own play."
Sophomore Forward Kai Kantola
On the win and the solid effort shown by the team
"We emphasized at the beginning of the week in practice that we needed to come out and just battle. We wanted to play a tough, playoff type of game. This is a team that is right under us in the standings and these are very important points for us."
On the success of the power play
"We've been kind of snake-bit on our power play, but we just fought through it. We watched some video of us scoring to help us lift the spirits up and it seemed to help. When we look at ourselves, we have a pretty good power play unit and we just had to fight through some adversity and we found the net twice tonight."
How did you guys keep them from going crazy with the momentum in the third period when they got the early goal?
"Momentum changes many times every game. That's especially true in the third period. We were up by three goals in the third period there and we let that one in and it's definitely an awaking experience. You just have to fight through it and try find ways to shut them down. We did that by playing great defense and not letting them get many chances. They got some good opportunities, but we just played tough defense."
On being a more physical team tonight on the home ice
"The playoffs are coming along here pretty quick and we've got three weekends in-a-row here where we'll be dealing with teams right around us in the standings. We want that home-ice advantage and we really should start preparing, like we have been, for playoff hockey coming up."
