Head Coach Jim Culhane:
On the overall effort:
"I think it was a complete 60 minutes where we battled real
hard. We really felt we played a complete game. We really had to me some
intensity and emotions tonight that were like the playoff series we had with
them this spring. Another one goal game, we've played eight games so far and
seven of the eight have been one-goal games so it should be a very interesting
season. A lot of determination I'm pleased with to get five out of the possible
six points this weekend."
On the intensity of the game:
"I thought it was a very intense hockey game. I thought the
officiating crew did a great job. I thought both teams showed a lot of respect
for each other but I thought there were a lot of big hits in the game, a lot of
battle in the game. We want to be extremely disciplined. I'm proud of the team,
our team currently and the Lakers are the two least-penalized teams in the CCHA
and when you do that, you keep good power-plays off the ice. Our team showed a
lot of discipline and we'd like to see a lot of one penalty games."
On Riley Gill's performance:
"Solid. We've come to expect that type of performance from
Riley. We really competed and he went down and made some key saves for us and
solidified the win."
On Ian Slater's two goals over the weekend:
"A lot of drive, a lot of determination. Ian brings a real
workmanlike approach to the game, a real hard-hat, work boots, lunch pail like
mentality to the game. With that determination, you like to see guys with that
type of will, determination and desire get rewarded with a couple goals and Ian
did that this weekend."
On Military Appreciation Night:
"I'm really proud of our university, of our hockey program,
of our staff and of our team to put on such an event. I think it means a lot
not only to us as an institution, but to give justly deserved recognition to
those that serve our country. Without them we wouldn't be doing this. The
applause at the beginning of the game was a warm, touching moment for everybody
and it's something I feel very strongly about and feel we should do every
year."
On facing Ohio State and Miami the next two weekends:
"I think you're going to see more of the same. I like where
our team is at. We're making improvements as a group and we know the competitiveness
of the CCHA and it's not going to get any easier."
Ian Slater:
On the overall effort:
"Once again, they came out and played us really hard
throughout the whole game but we were able to persevere and stick to the game
plan. We played an extremely solid game all three periods from Riley on up. It
was definitely a hard-fought game."
On two-game scoring streak:
"It must be a full moon. Hopefully I'll keep it going."
On what's ahead:
"Just stick with the game plan. Come back to practice on Monday
and make sure we take this momentum to Ohio State and keep it going."
On crashing the net:
"We knew they kicked out quite a few rebounds so we knew we
had to go hard and get the puck to the front of the net as much as possible and
try to pick up some loose rebounds. We were able to do that quite a bit. I
picked up my own rebound on my goal. It was something we try to do as much as
possible. Get the puck to the front of the net and good things will happen."
Riley Gill:
On both goalies:
"It was a goalie battle the first two periods. Both goalies
played well and we were fortunate enough to get that first one. It was kind of
similar to last night, we knew it was tough."
On performance:
"I just tried to stay aggressive and strong in there and our
defense did a good job to clear out a lot of the rebounds tonight and I made
some big saves there at the end but that's what it takes to win."
"Just have to stay aggressive. There's a lot of bodies in
front and you have to stay aggressive and look around as fast as possible an
you have to see the puck as best as possible and I was able to do that. We got
the job done tonight, we got the clears when we needed them and it was a great
first win for us in the conference."
On team improvement:
"We're a young team but I think we've proven ourselves so
far this year. We've beat a lot of good teams and this is a big conference win
for us. We're going to take this win and look at it as a positive and just move
forward throughout the year."
On overall intensity:
"It was a battle out there, especially in the second period.
The hits picked up, there were a lot of bodies flying around and it was one of
those playoff atmosphere type games. It's the CCHA and a lot of the games are
like that so it's fun to be a part of and it's a big win for us."
On what's ahead:
"We got to bear down, we have some good teams ahead of us
we're playing. We just got to stick to the basics and stay aggressive and play
how we've been doing."
