Hockey East Semifinal Coaches Media Teleconference Transcript: Cav/Brown On Boston University

Audio is here.

Mike Cavanaugh:

"Before we get to BU, we had to get through UVM which was a tough, physical series. Jerry [York] always says that getting through that quarterfinal series is always one of the toughest of the year, he thinks because it doesn't get the fanfare that this weekend will get. You're always trying to end one team's season, and one team is going to go home and is most likely not going to go to the national tournament so you're going to have to take their sticks away. It's always a really hard-fought series, and we were happy to get by UVM.

We're obviously excited to be playing in the Hockey East championships. It's a great weekend, and we're playing BU which always brings a lot of intensity. Anytime we play BU it's always a fun game to be a part of."

Greg Brown:

"I spoke with coach [Jerry York] this morning on my way in, and he's home and doing well. There's not a lot of pain. They completed the surgery pretty quickly yesterday morning, and he was home by 10 or 10:30 in the morning. Optimistically, he's hoping that it's a fairly quick recovery, and that he'll be back with us hopefully after this weekend.

As far as the game with BU - like Mike said - it's always fun to be a part of. The rivalry has been going on for so long, and it's always great to play them anytime, but when it's a playoff series, it's ratcheted up even that much more."

It's somewhat ironic how coach York always says that this time of year, everyone is nicked up, and now he's out. Was there an advantage to you guys having a chance to run the show earlier this year in January when Jerry had his first surgery?

MC: "I think so for sure. When we got the news it was really surprising on Saturday because both Greg, myself, and Jerry, we had a team meeting and then went and worked out afterwards. Jerry customarily goes home and then comes back around 5:00, and when we got the call at 3:00 that he was at the hospital, it was surprising. If we had not gone through it earlier in the year, it probably would have been a lot more to handle, but since we had experienced it with the UNH weekend and with UMass and Northeastern, we had a pretty good idea of how it was going to work and how we handle things. I thought for the most part, it was as seamless as it could be on Saturday."

GB: "Especially for the kids, since they had all done that before, they didn't miss a beat. The seniors picked right up and told the other guys that we'll be fine, and they had a great attitude going into the game. There wasn't a lot of confusion at all because it had happened once before."

BU is really rolling into the playoffs. In addition to the fact Jack Parker is retiring, they are just playing well. From your perspective does that change your approach at all?

MC: "They always seem to be playing well when they're playing us so that's not really a concern of ours. I know that they've won four in a row. They are rolling along here and playing well as a team, but when they play Boston College, they could have lost four in a row, and we're still going to get their best game. The old adage and it's a cliché ‘you can throw the records out the window when these two teams play' I think it is evident from our past games, and I think it will hold true this weekend. You're going to see the best from both teams on Friday night."

Could you could talk about your third and fourth lines and the depth they have been providing later in the season with some of the timely goals that they've scored?

MC: "They've played very well for us. Patrick Brown had a big goal for us this weekend. Brooks Dyroff had a big goal and so did Cam Spiro. We got great contributions from our third and fourth lines. I think whenever you're in a playoff series whether it's college or NHL - I remember when the Rangers were going through their series they had Stephane Matteau score big goals - you need contributions from your so-called ‘not marquee' players. The best teams are always getting contributions from those types of guys, and they've worked hard. I think we said Saturday night, if you're going to put on a BC uniform you're expected to contribute in one way or another. We've been really proud of those guys. They're committed. They work at their games, and it's nice to see that hard work get rewarded with some timely goals."

Could you talk about how playing young defensemen throughout the season has turned what could have been a liability into a benefit?

GB: "Well, due to injuries and graduation they were forced into action early. They certainly got more minutes than you would have expected freshman defensemen to get. I think they've learned a lot along the way, and I think their progress has advanced more quickly than any of us would have expected. A lot of that is due to necessity, and a lot of that is due to hard work by them. Now that we have Patch [Alber] back, who had a very good weekend after a long layoff, it gives us some depth on the defensive side of the puck which we haven't had for a long part of the season."