Boston College press conference tidbits

Compiled by MiCHO Staff

Boston College had a pre-championship game press conference this afternoon.

Some highlights:

BC head coach Jerry York talking about Wisconsin head coach Mike Eaves:

“I’m still mad at Michael for not coming to Clarkson. I was at Clarkson in the '70s and he was a high-scoring forward in the Ottawa area and we recruited him pretty hard. He went to Wisconsin. It softened a little bit when I got the chance to coach Ben (Eaves) and Patrick (Eaves). They were such great players for our team and for college hockey. I’ve noticed that a lot of the times, coaches’ sons just understand the game better. Mike did a great job raising his two boys as far as hockey players and they’re good people, too. So, I have more appreciation for Mike now that I did back in the '70s. He’s done some amazing things with the Badgers. They’re back in the championship game and he’s a difficult opponent. He’s an awfully good coach.”

Sophomore forward Jimmy Hayes on BC's upperclassmen:

“They’ve been great throughout the year, and it’s not just the stuff you see on the ice. They’ve been great mentors for me personally and have helped me grow up as a person, on and off the ice. I think that’s carried over to all of our young guys and it’s brought us all closer together, so it’s a great feeling to be playing in a national championship game.”

Junior goalie John Muse on coming back from a hip injury:

“It was a long time off. I didn’t skate for five months and I was on crutches for nine weeks. Through our strength coach Russell DeRosa and our trainer Bert Lenz, I worked with them all summer. They got me going and ready and I was ready to go the first game.”

Senior forward Matt Price on lack of distractions:

“To be honest, this is the closest I’ll ever be in college hockey to my hometown (Milton, Ontario), so I actually had about 20 family members and friends. But throughout the year we worked on putting away the distractions whether it was in Boston or here in Detroit. Guys have been able to focus on the present and focus on the game at hand.”

York on Wisconsin as a whole:

“I didn’t watch last night’s game – maybe bits and pieces a little bit, but I’ve watched them during the course of the year. They’re always on that Fox sports channel that I can pick up in Boston. The strength of their team is in the defense. I don’t know if I’ve seen a defense that deep and that talented in college hockey in the span of my career. They’ve really got some outstanding players there. It’s not just draft picks, but even some of the players that haven’t been drafted. They’re big, they’re very physical and they handle pucks extremely well. So that’s more than key to our approach. We’ve got to limit their input in their offense. If they join the play, they’ll have a lot of shots from the offensive points but also we have to win the cycle game that goes on – the game below the dots. And their strength is certainly a factor. We’re going to have to keep pucks moving and be strong on our skates. It’s a good club. They’re different than the team we played in ’06. That was a team that wanted to play a 1-nothing game or a 2-1-type game with a much more defensive approach to the game. Now, with (Blake) Geoffrion and (Derek) Stepan, they’ve got players now that can play an open game so they’re a little more balanced than the Badgers were in the 2006 game. They’re a pretty good club."