April 6, 2000

OPENING COMMENTS -

"It's been a great ride, for sure. In retrospect, playing BU was a good break because of the recognition that we got, being a small school . Seeing CNN and being on 'Plays of the Day', for you guys had to be like taking a picture of the Loch Ness Monster. We're pretty happy to be here. Obviously we're excited.

This has been a very low-maintenance team, a team that's really bought into the team concept. The team has a good personality. They've been pretty mature about things, and have really stuck to it. They don't necessarily have a lot of numbers, but the players are low maintenance, and the high agenda, and the team's been pretty mature about things and haven't been too excited about themselves. When they've lost they haven't been too down on themselves.

Our last loss came in Providence. Hopefully that won't be repeated. The 6-0 loss to Brown, that's the only loss we've had in our last 19 games. I think our league is sometimes underrated in terms of the parity in our league. We've had three overtime games in our last four games, and the one against BU counts more than a couple of games.

How we match up against BC, it's pretty tough when you look at what they can do. All three of the teams here are experienced teams, and have been here before. All three coaches have won national championships. It's certainly a great field: experienced players, a showcase that's great for our game. "

ON COACHING A LONG GAME -

"I will say one thing about the BU game, certainly in terms of preparation, we rode that roller coaster for a long time that day. BU and Jack Parker were incredibly gracious. The one thing that we said going into that game was that we wanted the bye to be a factor. We played in '92 in Providence, the last time we played an NCAA game in Providence, we lost and we never felt we really took advantage of the bye.

"We went in after the third overtime and they were absolutely giddy. We said we need to get these guys focused, and we felt the longer the game goes, the more it favored us, since we had the bye. But, neither team had much gas left.

I think all we wanted to do was keep our emotional level up. What they did in those 20-second shifts they were taking at that time was important."

ON HAVING A WEEK OFF BEFORE THE FROZEN FOUR -

"We didn't really start practicing with any furvor until Thursday. It gave us a chance to square things away with school. I think it's good for all the teams, especially for teams that had to travel."

ON PLAYING THE CHAMPIONSHIP ON DIFFERENT ICE SURFACES -

"Well, St. Lawrence isn't going to build a new rink. I echo what Jerry [York] said. You may be putting some restraints on the selection process, and may exclude certain venues. But one thing I know is that any three of these teams would be very good on an NHL or Olympic surface.

I think you have to have good, fast teams. Our games that we played in the ECACs were good games, and were fast. I'm not sure where we're best suited. I think one thing that's helped us is our adaptability, and again, I think you want to stay as consistent as possible."