Quotes from HEA Semi-final Coaches

Hockey East
Michael King

Here are some of the highlights from the Hockey East conference call on March 13 with the remaining coaches:

BC coach Jerry York
On the status of the team:
“Well I think we’re playing our best hockey of the year at this juncture. Now, having said that, it’s a matter of how you do the next time you put on the skates. We hope there is a carryover but you can’t assume that ‘hey, we played well; we think that we’re going to play well in the future.’ We’ve had two good days of practice and we look forward to the Lamoriello Cup. I think it’s something we all talk about during the year. It is one of the coveted trophies and we’re preparing hard for BU.”

BU coach Jack Parker
On his relationship with UMass coach Don Cahoon:
“He was my first assistant coach when I started coaching here. He’s really settled in up there now and they’ve got it going real well. It was just a matter of time, in my opinion, before he would be very successful there. He’s successful because he’s a real good coach. His attention to detail is terrific, but he’s also a real competitor. He wants to do well and I think he wants to do well for his players, and that’s the most important thing. He wants his players to experience the same things he did as a college hockey player.”

“I was surprised to hear him say “the cadre of scorers that UNH has.” I was impressed since he was a phys-ed grad at BU.”

UNH Coach Dick Umile
On UM’s offense:
“I believe that UMass does not get credit for its offense. They can transition off a very good defense and they play it very well. I’m not saying they’re just playing a trap game – they can play against a very strong defensive posture and yet be aggressive; they transition off of it very well.”

“Right now Quick is playing well. You look in our league, the four teams in the playoffs, everyone has very good goaltending. “Toot” has his team playing extremely well. Defensively they make you work for everything. They don’t give you much. They keep you out of the Grade A scoring opportunities and they are a transitional team. They can bottle you up in the center zone and yet they are quick and have some players that can put the puck away. (Chris) Capraro is playing well for them. He is their finesse player that does it all for them and (Cory) Quirk is playing well. Right now, they are feeling very good about themselves, beating Maine four times in a row. There are not many teams that can say that they’ve done that. They are playing well and that’s why they are playing in the Garden this weekend.”