Henry Sutter (Red)
1. 7-6 loss to team Gold last night. What can you say about the overall team effort last night? I thought the second and third periods were two of our best this season. We’ve played every team close, so it was nice to end with a good effort.
2. The game went back and forth with your team battling back to tie the game at 6. What do you think went wrong on that 7th goal that Zach Smith scored? If I remember the goal correctly (have to have a short memory in net) he got me on a screened one-timer to the low glove side. I should’ve been out further on top of my crease.
3. How do you think your team did trying to contain Bob and Zach? Overall, we’ve been great defensively this season. I’m always happy with our effort, and we try not to let anyone run wild. They’re both top players, and they made top plays. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap.
4. Team Green next week followed by Black or Gray if you guys win. What kind of game are you expecting from team Green? They play a suffocating game in the neutral zone. They try to limit shots, which means a lot of defensive zone time for us. If we limit their chance and capitalize on our own, I like our chances
5. NHL Playoffs are approaching. Who do you think will be the last team standing? Before the season, I had the Avs over the Lighting, so I’ll stick with Colorado. They’re a perfect blend of talent and depth, and they’re only going to get healthier. (Let’s go Pens) Evan Novella (Black)
1. 2 games last night. Hows your body feeling after all that hockey? Definitely feeling it today. Didn’t escape last night without sore legs.
2. The 2nd game got away last night. Did fatigue set in as the game went on or do you think they were just the better team? Not going to blame fatigue on game 2 last night. They played much better, much more controlled hockey than we did in the offensive zone. Gotta give it up to the way they played defense, and their goalie. They were a lot more in tune with each other than we were.
3. Your team has played in its share of close games this season. Do you like playing in those kind of games? It definitely keeps the excitement level up all game. You wanna be the player that breaks the ice and wins it in those situations.
4. You made the shootout goal look pretty easy. Did you have a strategy or did you just shoot and hope for the best? Originally, I figured I’d try and surprise the goalie with an early shot. They played far enough out that I decided to try and deke, luckily it worked. Corey had hit the post on the first shot, so I really wanted to try and get that back for him and the guys.
5. The team will need to win a couple games next week to earn a 4th and final playoff spot. Are you looking forward to the challenge? I don’t think we ever felt like our record reflected how good we actually are. I think we’ve hit a place where we feel no pressure and we’re just having fun. We know what to expect playing double headers and I think we still have a big underdog mentality. We’ll be ready. Steve Pompeii (Green)
1. 6-5 shootout loss last night. What can you say about the overall team effort? It was a good effort. Not the outcome we wanted but that’s just how it goes sometimes
2. The team appears to be playing much better after going into a slump for a while. Have you guys made adjustments or is it all just starting to come together now? I think the games that we have won and come close to winning have had good defensive play. The thing with winter league is everyone just skates around and there’s no structure really. It’s hard to create chemistry in a short season. The teams that get that going at the end of the year will have good success in the playoffs
3. The last 2 games have gone back and forth and have both gone to overtime. Do you like playing in those kind of games? Of course. It makes for a good competitive hockey game. I would rather play in close games than blowouts any day.
4. You guys will get to go against Red next week. Will you be able to be there and what kind of game do you expect from them (Waddell, Tosh, Amick, Dodd, Sutter, Reed, Pangallo)? I should be able to be there. I expect a good game. Waddell is the superstar on that team. You have to keep him in check or it could get ugly. Amick is a great all around player that can control the puck very well and that creates a lot of potential scoring chances. I’d rather be playing with him than against him.
5. NHL Playoffs are coming. Whats your gut telling you about the Penguins chances this year? When you have 2 of the best players in the world in sid and geno anything can happen. It’s always a show watching those 2 turn it on when it matters. Steve Hetrick (Gold) 1. 7-6 win over the Red team last night. What can you say about the overall team effort? I think the team did really well and we rallied around each other and stayed with it to pull off the win. I personally would like a couple of their goals back due to just missing a pass to Laken and little peach poking one in while I froze and watched it happen. I'll have to definitely correct this on my part.
2. They never led, but they kept battling back. What was your impression of the opponent last night? Team Red has given us a run for our money both times that we have played them. The first win went into a shootout and this one here was close to going into overtime. Henry made some spectacular saves once again and found his groove as the game went on
3. This team had lost 2 straight games going into last night. What do you think the team did better this week compared to the last couple games? I think we just kept at it, and did our best to control the game. The red team had a few good surges on us tho that we had to make sure to stay one step ahead of them. Was great to have our full roster their this week too to help us collect the W. We will just have to play like we did before from here on out when teams were upset with just how "stacked" our team was.
4. Team Red will be mixed in with Team Black, Team Green and Team Gray to see who gets that last playoff spot. Which team are you thinking has the best chance? By the numbers, I feel team Red has the best shot to keep moving in this league. I feel that Green and Black have made some significant advances recently, but not sure if they can keep that momentum going. As for team gray, seems like they have been steady all season, but with them having to get subs to fill other roles, feels like the chemistry isn't quite there.
5. Team Pink will be the opponent in two weeks. What kind of series do you expect assuming everyone from both teams are able to be present? I think it will be an amazing series. I believe when we played pink before that they got an early lead on us and we fought hard to rally past them in the final period. Although, with Tony Dodd playing an amazing game on Monday night and if this continues into our series with them, it's hard to say which way it will go.