Coach Mike Gabinet, junior forward Zach Jordan, and senior forward Fredrick Olofsson answered media questions as part of “Omaha Athletics Weekly Media Availability” on Oct. 9, 2018.
Gabinet fielded questions regarding UNO Hockey's Oct. 12 & 13 series at Union College, and the upcoming series on Oct. 19 & 20 vs. Notre Dame at Baxter Arena.
ON THE UNION SERIES...
Gabinet: “I think that’s what a lot of the games are going to look like this year. In my opinion, I think we’re going to be in a lot of close games. I think we knew that going into the season that it is gonna be really tight fought games, week in and week out for our club. I think the biggest takeaway is that we need to be a little bit smarter. I think we need to play a certain style of game where we’re giving ourselves a chance at success."
Gabinet: “I thought we were really good for four of the six periods. Both second periods weren’t our best hockey and they made us pay for it during those times.”
Gabinet: “We’ve got to make sure we buy in as a team to be smart. There are certain things we’re going to have to do as a team to be successful.”
Gabinet: “We can’t just show up and play any way we want to play and hope it’s gonna work out for us.”
ON SPECIAL TEAMS PLAY IN THE UNION SERIES...
Gabinet: “We had some power play success early on and our penalty kill was really good on Friday night, then it struggled a little bit on Saturday night — but when you break it down, it wasn’t a structural breakdown, just some individual plays that weren’t the best plays at the time.”
Gabinet: “I don’t get too excited about the power play or too worried about the penalty kill, because that stuff has a tendency to even itself out over the long haul.”
FEELINGS ON NEW PLAYER PERFORMANCE AT UNION...
Gabinet: “There’s a few guys that I think have some potential, like Kevin Conley being a sophomore transfer. It’s nice, he’s got a little bit of that game experience at the college level already. So I think he’s a guy we’re going to keep relying on to contribute.”
Gabinet: “We had an all-freshman fourth line there, and I thought they did some good things, but did some things they’ve got to get better at as well.”
ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF NOTRE DAME COMING TO TOWN...
Gabinet: “It’s just like a big-time football opponent coming into your building. Everybody gets excited, and its a special time.”
ON NOTRE DAME’S STYLE OF PLAY...
Gabinet: “I don’t like to talk about another team too positively. With our guys, we’ve got to keep them focused on what we’re doing well. I think sometimes coaches can make a mistake about speaking too highly of their competition."
Gabinet: “First off, their personnel. They’ve got a lot of highly talented players on their team. They play an extremely sound defensive game. They’re a very structured team. Not a lot of improvising out there. [Jeff Jackson] plays a very structured team — where they’re very robotic in the way they play out there. They don’t give up a lot.”
Gabinet: “Once they step in their d-zone structure, there’s not a lot available. Very good in their forecheck. Extremely well coached.”
PLAYER REACTION TO THE UNION SERIES...
Jordan: “We really would have loved a win Friday night. And then Saturday night, we just came out and I thought it was a little bit of a special teams game...we obviously lost the battle.”
Olofsson: “I’d say I’m a little disappointed with the weekend, but a lot of stuff we’re going to work on this week.”
Jordan: “I think it’s just going to keep getting better from here on out.”
AREAS TO BUILD ON...
Jordan: “The main thing I took to build on was our second periods...both nights our second periods weren’t the best. Especially Friday night, probably cost us the win.”
Olofsson: “Playing 60 minutes is so crucial. We were even talking about how one faceoff or one little play can be the difference in these games. The margins are so small.”
PLAYER REACTION REGARDING THE UPCOMING NOTRE DAME SERIES...
Jordan: “We’re all really excited for them to be coming to us. It’s a big-time opponent to be playing. Last year, we split with them. They ended up making it to the Frozen Four, and we didn’t. But it goes to show we’re right there...”
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