I kept telling the kids not to give up and they never did. We played with a lot of pride. The kids left everything on the ice and that's all I can ask as a coach.

They have a lot of kids that don't have milk in the morning so economic development is the main priority. If you go there and say, 'Before I speak to you I want you to accept a national target, well, the dialogue will not be very long.'

Their offense is much better than their defense. We didn't want to let them in our zone. Our best defense was a good offense. We turned their 'D' and made it work hard. They weren't getting out of their zone very easily.

Today is Day 1 of a new season. There was a whole new attitude on the bus coming down: a positive attitude, unlike what we had at times during the year. It's a whole new attitude and a whole new season ? it's the playoffs.

They're all kind of blue-collar guys, you know, hard-nosed kids. All of them are very strong, take pride in their strength.

Our big guys-the key is they pass really well. The kids take pride in passing the ball. It's a traditional part of the program.