March 22, 2008

Final Stats

Northern Michigan Head Coach Walt Kyle

On being proud of his team's accomplishments ...

"I am so proud of this team. You are 100% right. A couple things come to mind. We started out 1-8. We started off 0-7. It was tough. We had a lot of people jumping off the boat. We lost eight seniors and 16 regulars over the last two years. This was the year we were going to grow. This was going to be the tough year. A year ago, we thought we would be a lot better. These guys found a way, and not through us but through themselves, to -- I've used the word resilient all year -- find a way to become a team."

On the team growing together ...

"It's not the 20 best guys, but it's the best 20 guys together. These guys found that. They found a way to grow. With so many young guys, early in the year they were going to struggle. Our schedule started off with Miami, Michigan and Michigan State. We had played 44 games, and we had played 16 of the 44 against Michigan, Michigan State, and Notre Dame. That's one-third of our schedule. They found a way to do it and I see examples all the time."

On the lineup ...

"We wanted to get some young guys some experience. We wanted everyone to feel a part of tonight. We wanted to get guys in the lineup and they got to play. It wasn't me. I had guys come to me and ask me to play a couple of those guys. I've never had that happen and that's an unbelievable thing.

Senior Rightwing Matt Siddall

On ending his career ...

"There are definitely a lot of positives to take out of the year. It's an exceptional group of guys in that room. There is a strong core and they are only losing two (players). I wish them all the best. It will be interesting to really look back and see how we grew and how we went from October and November to the run we kind of put on from Christmas on. It really is something special and is something that I will definitely remember."

On the third period ...

"It was a tough game for us and a tough game to get up for emotionally after last night. The guys, we talked in the room about finishing off the season on a high note, and we had too much of a chance here to finish the season on a win. I thought we just wanted to start getting pucks in the net a bit more and establish more of a cycle. I was going to help with kind of turning the tides of the game, but it was a good third for sure. "

Sophomore Goaltender Derek Janzen

On entering in the second period ...

"I think any goalie will tell you that he wants to start the game, but watching Reid (Ellingson) go out there and play the way he did started to make me feel confident in myself that all three of us ..."

Kyle interjects ...

"Tell the truth. I mean the truth is that I talked to him before the game. He said 'Hey, I'm used to coming in and I'll be better coming in than he will.' He took the tougher job and that speaks a lot about this kid."

Notre Dame Third-Place Game Quotes

Notre Dame Head Coach Jeff Jackson

On the game overall...

"Well, it's your typical (third-place) game -- not much emotion. Why we play these games I'm not quite sure, but they tell me it's for an advantage so we'll take it. The bottom line is that we didn't have the same level of emotion or intensity going into this game that we had in our last three."

On the level of motivation the team had going into the game ...

"I thought that once Northern scored, I thought they got some energy. They were not nearly the same team I saw on film against Michigan or against Michigan State and neither were we against Miami or Ferris State last weekend. But that's the nature of this game. It's tough to come back after emotional losses, which both teams had (yesterday). One thing you can't do as a coach, as much as we always try, you can't do anything with human nature. That's why teams lose two goal leads. Its just human nature, its comfort, it's just the emotional aspect of the game that is almost impossible to coach."

Senior Right Wing and Captain Mark Van Guilder

On what the Notre Dame players were thinking before the game...

"It really shouldn't matter if it's a (third-place) game or not. That's why we're here -- to play hockey. It doesn't matter if you're playing the top-ranked team in the country or whoever; we should have been just as excited today as we were yesterday because we have plenty to play for."