March 18, 2008

Farmington Hills, Mich. -

The head coach of each of the four teams involved in CCHA Championship Weekend this Friday and Saturday participated in a conference call with the media today.

You can listen to the conference call in its entirety by calling:

(641) 715-3443 and entering Access Code: 919397#

The following are excerpts from each coach's comments.

Northern Michigan head coach Walt Kyle:

We're really pleased to be here. Anytime you get an opportunity to play for a league championship, you have to cherish the moment and we're really happy to have this opportunity.

Our series against Michigan State was certainly a big challenge. It didn't start the way we wanted. We wound up losing the first game down there and it put our backs against the walls. They're a very good team; they came at us in a lot of different ways and put a lot of pressure on us. I give our guys a lot of credit, they were able to be resilient and hang in there and find a way to get the job done. Late Sunday night with two or three minutes left in the game, Michigan State ties the game late and we were fortunate enough to be able to get a bounce and a power-play opportunity in overtime and be able score on it. It was a big moment for us and it was great to be able to move into the championship.

Its not any kind of reward, it's the opportunity to play Michigan. They're a very good team and they've kind of had their way with us over the last couple years. It's going to be a good challenge. They're a very good team and it will be a difficult match-up.

Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson:

The series against Ferris State was, without question, a challenging series against one of the teams that has really elevated their game in the second half [of the season]. We had problems with them just a month ago in a regular season series down in South Bend. I have total respect for Bob Daniels and what he did with that team in the second half. They gave us all we could handle. Obviously, beating us on Friday night, I thought we had some rust in our skates with the bye week for the first ten minutes and that was the difference in the game because they scored two quick goals and we had to climb back in to make it 2-1, but they prevailed in the end. Saturday night, our team had their backs against the wall and probably played one of our best games of the season, very determined. We came away with a big win and put ourselves in position to win game three. Game three was as I expected it to be, a hard-fought, defensive battle. We were fortunate to get the lead in the first period and very similar to the Friday night game in a reversal of roles, where it was pretty much a defensive battle for the remainder of the game.

Obviously, we have great respect for Miami. We haven't played them since the beginning of the year. Without question, they're one of the top teams in the country, if not the top team in the country, and I'm sure it will be a difficult challenge. They bring a lot to the table; they have tremendous depth. We're going to have total respect for that depth and what they bring to the table from an offensive and defensive perspective.

Miami head coach Enrico Blasi: I thought the series [with Bowling Green] was hard-fought, a lot of good energy both nights. Friday night, we had to kill two five-minute majors to our captain Ryan Jones, who we didn't have for at least half of the game. I thought our guys did a pretty good job gaining momentum through our penalty kill and we were able to execute when we were 5-on-5 and in a couple of power plays in the third period, so that was the difference in the game. Saturday we came out with an early lead. I thought Bowling Green did a great job, they played well, they had a lot of chances, [Jeff] Zatkoff played well in net. We were able to come out with a win on Saturday night.

As far as Notre Dame is concerned, it was a heck of a series back in November. They won the first night; we were able to get one on the second night. It's going to be a big-time challenge. Notre Dame is very good defensively; they're well coached. They have some guys offensively that can hurt you if you're not taking care of the puck. [Notre Dame goaltender Jordan] Pearce has played pretty well, for the most part, all year. It's going to be a challenge and we're looking forward to it.

Michigan head coach Red Berenson:

Like a lot of the coaches that had a [first-round] bye, we were concerned with how well we'd play in the first period on Friday. It turned out not to be a concern, we played one of our best periods of the year. We took a big lead, a 3-0 lead, in the first period and then 5-0 and it was just one of those games where the puck was going in and Nebraska never got going. The next night was an entirely different game. Nebraska played well. Although we had a 2-0 lead, they're power play got them back in the game. It was anyone's game after that. It was a 2-1 game with a hard-fought finish. We have a lot of respect for Nebraska-Omaha and how they got their first-round win. They played better than that 10-1 score [on Friday] would indicate.

As far as Northern, I don't think anyone's playing any better hockey in our league than Northern Michigan since we saw them with those hard-fought ties. They swept Michigan State and they went on a run. They're as good as anyone. We're looking forward to the game. It will be anyone's game.