Boston College Athletics
Postgame Quotes - NCAA Northeast Regional vs. Harvard
2016 NCAA MEN’S ICE HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIP
NORTHEAST REGIONAL // DCU CENTER // WORCESTER, MASS.
BOSTON COLLEGE POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
MARCH 25, 2016
HEAD COACH JERRY YORKNORTHEAST REGIONAL // DCU CENTER // WORCESTER, MASS.
BOSTON COLLEGE POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES
MARCH 25, 2016
JUNIOR FORWARD AUSTIN CANGELOSI
SENIOR FORWARD TEDDY DOHERTY
SOPHOMORE FORWARD ALEX TUCH
Opening Statement:
YORK: “When you are in these type of Regionals or any type of NCAA, Frozen Fours - your opponent is going to be a quality opponent. Winning is difficult, but winning at this level is extremely difficult. I thought Harvard posed a lot of problems for us tonight. Their first line, (Kyle) Criscuolo, (Alexander) Kerfoot, (Jimmy) Vesey, is as good a line as we’ve played all year. I thought we limited a lot of their offensive chances. I thought Thatcher played outstanding in goal for us. There was one save, it was the third period - the game was still very much in question and he kicked out his left leg - just was an incredible save. We got big performances from a lot of players tonight, with Alex scoring twice and Austin scoring twice. What I liked an awful lot about the game was the blocked shot by Ryan Fitzgerald - he slid out, got great wood on it, stacked his pads and slid into a really - the bench got so excited on that play there. Pretty tense in the third period and I thought we made some good plays defensively to advance to the title game, but again very, very proud of the Eagles because of the quality opponent that we had to go through tonight.”
On containing Jimmy Vesey:
YORK: “I thought he was pretty dominant tonight when he had the puck. He was a dominant player. We held our own at best with him. Clearly, when he has the puck, he’s really dangerous and Thatcher (Demko) made some good saves off of him, but he’s an outstanding, outstanding player.”
On what Thatcher Demko did tonight to make him so sharp:
YORK: “We’re getting used to these delays to start the game. Last week, we waited two hours and tonight, an hour and 15 minutes I think we were waiting. I think he’s had a terrific year. we’ve seen it right from the get-go. He had that hip surgery last year - both hips - he’s elevated the team a lot this year. This was an outstanding game for him, but he’s had a number of these type of games over the course of the year. You get to NCAA’s and you expect him to play well. He’s become a real leader for us and I thought he made some outstanding saves tonight.”
On finding big moments:
YORK: “You get a lot of good players that are going to make good plays. We play a lot of teams that also have a lot of good players and it’s just a compete level and our players really responded. I didn’t think we were playing great hockey last maybe four weeks of the season and it was good to see us bounce back and play one of our better games all year. We were in a little bit of a lull - we played Vermont, we played Northeastern and we just weren’t on the level I expected us to be, but tonight we got excited about playing a cross-town rival, excited about being at Regionals. So, a lot of good, positive vibes in the locker room.”
On how Thatcher Demko’s game has changed and improved in the last three years:
YORK: I think he’s just getting more mature. He’s handling different situations better. I think he’s reading plays better. He’s always had terrific skills and size and a good understanding of angles but now he’s kind of reading three-on-twos, two-on-ones. He’s moving - almost anticipating where the shot’s coming from. He’s getting better and better every year. He’s still a young player for us.”
On the difference between the amount of turnovers last week and this week:
YORK: “I just think we were sharper. We were more in sync and that led to less turnovers. Just like a basketball team - if you’re not careful with the ball, you turn over the basketball too many times and it effects the outcome of the game. I thought, similar to that, I said Northeastern, we turned the puck over an awful lot. But tonight, we were just crisper and more in sync than five guys on the ice.”
On defending a six-on-four situation:
YORK: “That was interesting. It was a good move by Ted because, with four minutes left in the game, they scored five-on-four, but the chance to score with one extra player on the ice is worth the gamble. We got fortunate in saving the goal there but I would have done the same thing. I thought that our team did a nice job defending it.”
On why the team played better tonight than in previous games:
YORK: “I didn’t think we played particularly well there for one series either to being us to the Garden for the Hockey East tournament there and we didn’t play that well against Northeastern. Now both teams pushed us and they deserve credit, but I just think we played better tonight. Like I said, we were in sync and we were sharper and we made better decisions with the puck.”
On the cross-town perspective on Harvard’s team:
YORK: “I think it’s Ted’s best group. Best team - the record indicates that. We’ve been watching them play. They got a lot of good players that work really hard and they missed a big defenseman tonight - certainly would have played a factor in the game if he had dressed. They got a good club. There’s not a lot different between us going down to the finals of the Regional and them not - it’s really close. Thatcher was outstanding in goal. They got some really good players. Well coached team.”
On the work Miles (Wood) did to set up the first goal of the game:
CANGELOSI: “Yeah, he’s like a horse out there, you get him the puck and he starts skating really fast and he uses his big body and there he took one of his hard shots to the net.”
On playing with a new line tonight:
TUCH: “Yeah Matty (Gaudreau) is a big asset that we lost for the weekend when he had an injury against Northeastern, but I think the lines didn’t really matter to us. I think that although there was more chemistrytonight than we had against Northeastern I think, I think we had a really good and hard week of practice, so the lines didn’t matter much to us as long as we were working hard.”
DOHERTY: “Yeah just to follow what he said, the lines don’t matter, we are all best friends on the team so our chemistry just clicks like that, coach made the right decision. Alex had a big game, Cangelosi had a big game, same with Miles, so looking to build off that and moving forward, we will keep those lines similar and keep working hard.”
On Tuch’s first goal:
TUCH: “The defensemen moved it to Ryan Fitzgerald up at the top and he took a shot and I tried to tip it and spin it in front of the net and get the puck. I tried to jam it in and I think there were three or four guys trying to hit the puck in and hit the puck out, and I just got a lucky stick on it.”
On BC’s faceoff wins:
CANGELOSI: “A lot of credit goes to the wingers, coming in every single time. They do their picks and I don’t win the puck cleanly every time, but I count on them to come in and they get the job done as well and they get the puck back to the D which helps out.”
