Dave Hakstol
Dave Hakstol
Dave Hakstolis the head coach for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League. A native of Warburg, Alberta, Canada, Hakstol was head coach of the University of North Dakota men's ice hockey team for 11 seasons. Hakstol played for the Fighting Sioux from 1989 to 1992 and in the International Hockey League for five years before becoming a coach...
best building good hockey hopefully momentum playing short time tournament year
I think it's important to be playing well at this time of year. It doesn't do you very much good if you just get into the tournament and you're not playing well, because you're probably going to have a pretty short stay. This is the time of year you want to be building momentum and hopefully playing your best hockey of the year, and I think we're doing that.
again believe carries elevated extra game guys half hard ice jordan leader locker onto room second time toward trade year
Jordan elevated his game once again toward the second half of the year, as he's done before. He's the leader for us in the locker room and he carries that onto the ice with him. I believe our guys play a little extra hard with him in the nets. At this time of year I wouldn't trade him for anybody.
add continue expect good guy guys jump lead league year
We're not going to expect a guy to jump into the league his first year and lead the WCHA in defenseman scoring. That's not realistic. I think our young guys are doing a good job, but they can continue to get better and continue to add more offense. We want them to do that.
brings brought certain leader leadership level obvious offense time veteran year
It was obvious what (Stafford) added. Not only the offense he brings, he also brings a certain level of calmness. He's been a leader in that way. The more veteran leadership this time of year is a big positive. I thought he brought some real stability.
certainly earlier ends night season team tournament whether year
There's only one team every year that the season ends the way you want it end. Certainly when your season does come to an end, whether its earlier on in the season, earlier on in the tournament or a night like tonight, it's tough.
confidence front guys playing stability
Those two guys we have in back will have a lot of stability for us. They can give a lot of confidence to the guys playing in front of them.
came chemistry forward goals good saw three
We saw some good chemistry with our forward unit. All the goals we scored came after two or three passes.
beginning bit consistency few gain gotten hopefully left needed talked tear wear weeks
At the beginning of the year, one of the things we talked about was how we needed to gain some experience. There's only one way to do that. That's to go through the wear and tear of a season. We have gotten a little bit better. Our consistency has gotten a little bit better and that doesn't end. We want to keep getting a little bit better. Hopefully we have a few weeks left to do that.
advance expected frozen maybe others period says teams won
You can look back over a long period of time. Some of the teams that won it at UND were expected to and others maybe not so much. It says a lot about how important it is to have the right to advance to the Frozen Four.
bit carry extra gave goal locker momentum playing relaxed
When we went down 2-0, I actually thought we were playing pretty good. The first goal we scored was important. It relaxed us a bit and gave us a little extra confidence. Then we scored at the end of the first and we were able to carry that momentum with us into the locker room.
against focus four good leads michigan opportunity prepare rink task team three tough weapons
We wanted an opportunity to come back to the rink (today) and prepare for another game. That's what our focus was tonight. We had a real tough task against a real good Michigan team. We had leads of two, three and even four goals, but against that team and the weapons that they have, you really never feel comfortable.
battles game hockey played tight time virtually
We've had tight battles with virtually every time we've played them. It was a playoff-type hockey game tonight.
adjust behind guy hitting lose midway situations
We've had a lot of situations where you lose a guy to a hitting from behind midway through games. You just adjust to that.
ability afraid experience guys half learning mental next
One thing I really like about these guys is that they're not afraid to play. If they make a mistake, they're not afraid to go out there the next shift. The first half (of the season) as a freshman, there is a pretty big learning curve. The only way to go through it is to experience it, if you have the mental ability and toughness.