Northeastern University Athletics

2014 BEANPOT CHAMPIONSHIP POSTGAME QUOTES
NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY
Monday, Feb. 10, 2014

NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY HEAD COACH JIM MADIGAN
Opening Statement:
“Well congratulations to Boston College for winning their fifth in a row in the 62nd Beanpot. I thought they played very well. In the third period we just couldn’t match their speed in that third and they came at us and we didn’t have a quick enough response to that. I thought we did a good job actually on their winning goal in tying up Brown down at the net and he was falling and he had a stick and somehow he got a stick on it and scored the winning goal.

“I like the way our team played, [they] competed hard. They battled for the whole game and through two periods I liked where we were. If you can be 1-1 or up a goal or down a goal going into the third period, you’ve got a chance to win. I just liked where we were going into that third period and we just couldn’t generate the offense and they just, in the neutral zone they transitioned pucks very well and they kept coming on us and we just couldn’t get pucks in deep in the third period. So, they were just transitioning pucks quickly and they’re a very good team. So, congratulations to them and we’ve got another rabbit to chase – we’re chasing a Beanpot rabbit and we’re chasing a Hockey East playoff opportunity. So, we’ll take a day off and then get ready for UMass on Saturday.”

On getting outplayed in the third period:
“I thought if you look back in the third we had a chance – a breakaway – a minute into the third. If we score that, it’s two-one us and they’re chasing us a little bit. But as the game just went on, you look at our third periods, our third periods have been our best period, we shortened the bench a little bit but they were just relentless. More than anything in the neutral zone, offense begins in the neutral zone; we couldn’t get pucks in deep. The little things were hurting us and not getting them in deep.

“They were transitioning pucks and they were flying, particularly Hayes, they were flying him out of the zone an awful lot. So by not getting it established in our forecheck they kept on coming at us in our own zone and by the time we get it out we’d be tired, looking for a change and they would be coming again. So, it was all to do in the neutral zone we just couldn’t manage it well enough.”

On goaltender Clay Witt:
“I thought he played fabulous. I thought both goalies played really well tonight and Clay gave us a chance to win. It’s 1-1 after two periods and their goalie makes a great save to keep it out of the net...  and Clay makes a few good saves there and he just couldn’t get the tip. It was well placed and he just couldn’t get it. But he was really good. He’s given us a chance to win all year long. I should have said earlier in my comments, I’m really proud of our guys. Our guys really worked hard, battled hard.

“We come in here facing a team that’s number one in the country and defending Beanpot champions, whose playing really well - They’re undefeated in 14, 15 games. I think we gave everything we could. I’m not walking away happy with the loss but I’m happy with the way the guys competed and battled and they prepared themselves for this game. That’s the part that stings the most; you walk out of here with a little bit of hurt because you didn’t get the job done.”

On Kevin Roy’s performance:
“I thought he played well. He was jumping, looking for opportunities to get in and around the net. Everyone knows when he’s on, kind of like we all know when 13 and 12 are on for them. A couple times you just get shots blocked, they were sticking a puck on him an awful lot in and around the crease there. So, they converge on him when he’s in that space. He jumped an errant pass by the BC defenseman and jumped in and his shot didn’t go in but the rebound by Stevens did. So he continues to provide offense for us.”

On challenges when facing BC:
“They do, it’s not a surprise to us or I don’t think any of the teams in Hockey East. You watch them on tape and you play them. They are a well-coached team, they’ve got skill, and they’ve got intelligence. They battle hard for pucks ...there’s a lot of underrated players on that team who contribute offensively. Patrick Brown – it was a big time play for them in finding that goal. He had to battle for space on the ice, our defender did a really good job down low but he battled for space and found a way to get a stick on it. But no, they are deep – they’ve got a lot of depth, they have good systems and they’ve got good goaltending.

So there’s a reason why they’re number one in the country and as I said I thought our guys battled. We had a chance to win and when you’re under five or six minutes left those are the situations when, if we’re going to win as an underdog, that you want to be in – a tie game with only four or five minutes left in the game.”

SENIOR FORWARD BRADEN PIMM
On multiple chances:
“When it comes to big games like this, it is all about the little plays. You have to bear down and make sure you finish your opportunities. We had the chances but we couldn’t bear down to get one by.”

On senior year:
“It is a stepping-stone for what we have ahead of us. We have a great team, and we are resilient. We are going to get back to work and we look forward to getting back here for the Hockey East tournament.”

On BC talent:
“Like I said, we have to make sure we bare down at the blue lines, getting pucks in and getting pucks out. It is the small things in games like this and they make a big difference. Whoever makes fewer mistakes usually comes out on top.”

On winning goal:
“He made a good play, getting me out of the shot lane. I tried as best as I could to block it, but he made a good play, made a good tip and they got one in.”

REDSHIRT JUNIOR GOALTENDER CLAY WITT
On game winning goal:
“It was shot from the point. Their guy made a good tip and tipped it back the other way on me. It is what it is.”