Interviews

Brian Anderson (Fill in Goalie for white, fill in skater for Blue)

1. You played 3 games tonight. Perhaps getting eliminated last week was a better way to go personally. How are you feeling after being under the weather Saturday?   I actually felt pretty good after the games were over last night but feeling pretty rough today.  The goalie experiment last night was a little disappointing but I know that team has made a lot of goalies and teams look bad this season.  Anyone who signed up to play in this league definitely got their $$$ worth.

2. Do you think the two best teams met in the championship? Absolutely.  Zach and Clint vs Noah and Adam is a good matchup.  Gotta give Noah credit for the team he drafted.  His overall play along with the mix of guys (and girl) around him frustrated a lot of opposing teams this season.  It may be one of the best draft league teams I have seen in recent memory.

3. Give me a player or two that you feel took a step forward this fall league?  Cody Haag played very well on Zach’s team.  He was a big loss for them the last couple weeks.   Noah went from being really good to really dominant and Braxton stood out between his skating out on that team to the game he goalied for Orange.

4. Another fall league is in the books. How do you rank fall league compared to XHL and the summer league in Brockway?  Its one of my favorite leagues but I thought this was one of the tougher fall leagues we have had for a while.  It was a struggle to get enough people to play in the first place and then there were a lot of different people missing throughout the season.  It made it a challenge to keep a good league going but as I mentioned above, people got their $$$ worth.  XHL will definitely be easier to run each week with people more committed to playing on their respective teams and the bigger rosters.  Its still hard to beat the outdoor atmosphere in Brockway in the summer.

 5. What do you expect in the upcoming XHL season? Do you expect one team to dominate?  I look for a good competitive league.  I don’t look for anyone to dominate considering some good competitive teams around them.  Some teams may take a while to develop an identity with one another but I am looking forward to a good competitive season.

Zach Smith (Blue)

1. 2 hard fought games last night. How are you feeling today following all the hockey last night? I was sore and cramping up last night. Today isn't that bad. I'm ready to get back to it and have some fun

2. As a player with your caliber, how do you compare playing ironman to playing with at least one sub on the bench?  I'm only a higher caliber player when I'm rested. I can't keep up with all the kids like I once used to without taking a break now and then. I was trying to not go so hard in the first game just in case we won and had to play again, but I was still sluggish for parts of the second game. I like playing Ironman, but my game does suffer without subs.

 3. You guys beat Bob and company last night. What can you say about the effort and overall play in that game? We played very well for the first part of the game and then slowed down and let them come back towards the end. Clint played great for us and kept the score to a comfortable lead for most of the game.

4. You had another different lineup last night. How do you think you all fit in considering the circumstances? . I thought we were starting to get into a grove with all our regulars playing every week. It's unfortunate when people can't make it, but I thought we were competitive in both games.

5. Noah’s team controlled this league from the beginning. What did you observe from reffing their games and playing against them the couple times you did?   . Their passing was far superior to any team. I thought they wore us out by making good passes and making us chase the game. Obviously, Noah can beat anybody one on one. When he does that, it breaks down the defense and allows for cross crease passing. I think that's where they really put it to their opponents along with enough skill to finish those chances.

6. One last question ---- You will have a different mix of guys for XHL. How do you think you will be able to fit in with Andy and Brandon this season?   . I haven't really played with either of them. It will be a nice change of pace to have teammates of their caliber and specific skillsets. I don't think it will take long to develop some chemistry with them.

Bob Anderson (Gold)

1. Slow starts got the best of you in your 2 playoff losses. What do you think went wrong in those games? I don’t remember what happened in the first game, but they were just opportunistic tonight with the three they scored in the first period. We pretty well exchanged chances with them. They just did a better job of picking corners to make theirs count

2. You and Cory kept the game close but you couldn’t get the one goal to keep momentum going. How tough is it trying to overcome multiple goal deficits against the better teams? It’s always easier to play from ahead. When you are trailing, you tend to take chances which leads to more potential scoring opportunities for the opposition. Credit to them. Every time we got a little momentum they took it back with a big goal

3. No Fred. What did his loss mean to your team tonight ?  . Fred’s defense was certainly missed. We gave up too many off man breaks and it burned us. You always know Fred has you covered on the back end so that was a big loss.

 4. Blue hung tough against black. Did it surprise you at all? Blue deserved to play in the final. They really turned it on mid-season once Zach Foradori joined the team. He and Zach Smith had really good chemistry. Blue impressed me in that final game against Black. I think they just ran out of gas in the third period.

5. How would you compare Noah’s team to some of the draft league championships you have been on in years past?  To be honest, I don’t remember too many. It seems like Noah’s team cruised to a championship. They always seemed in control, even when their games were a bit competitive. Their team chemistry was really good. I don’t remember winning championships quite so easily in the past. This was a dominant performance from them.

Noah Kline (Black)

1. Championships are following you around. How do you compare this team to the draft league team you were on in brockway? I feel like both teams were amazing. I will say that the draft league team in brockway i did have to carry a lot more weight. but in general both teams were very good.

2. You guys were down by 4 goals last week and 2 goals in the 2nd game tonight. Did you ever have any doubt in those games? No i never really had any doubts in either games. in the game we went down by 4 we realized that they always had 2 guys far up and we weren’t keeping 2 guys back. once we figured that out we started to comeback. Tonight i pulled a muscle in my lower back during the first game and it got worse in the second. after we went down instead of playing easy on it i decided to just try to tank through it and it worked out in our favor.

3. You are playing your best hockey right now. What kind of expectations do you have for the upcoming xhl season?  . My expectations for this next season are very high. I’m very excited to play with a new group of guys and i think bob and i will be a force to be reckoned with on the offensive side of the game. We also have a very good defensive team so we are very well rounded. as far as my expectations for myself, i just expect myself to play how i’ve been playing.

 4. Were you surprised at how well you all played together in this league? I wasn’t too surprised to be honest. I have played with pretty much everyone on the team. Me and gaydosh fell short last reynoldsville draft league. Laken and braxton i’ve played with as well. It was also amazing to have adam back us up in case we weren’t having the best game

5. What are your plans for hockey when you go to college?  . My plans are to keep playing hockey in college. I’m going to Mercyhurst university and they have a division one program as well as a division 2. I talked to the coaches and they hold tryouts every summer before the season so i plan on attending those. I’ve been on ice skates quite often lately to be honest more than i’ve been on roller skates. i already feel super comfortable on ice just as comfortable as i feel on roller skates.