Larry Kupczyk Quotations

We always get great crowds here. We played some of our best hockey that weekend.

Obviously if we had beaten Medford, it would have been hard for them to be seeded above us. It might still be hard for them.

He had another solid game for us. He did a fine job for us all year and his entire career.

He's a skilled player who has been able to put the puck in the net on a regular basis. Jesse also took more of a leadership role this season and is a very solid player.

I thought we did a nice job on the penalty kill tonight. We got a lot of different people in. We had a few penalties, but they were aggressive penalties ? hard-working penalties.

I thought we played a solid first period. We played a solid game all-around.

I thought so. I thought putting five on was good. I thought maybe Tyler Cameron could have gotten a vote here or there, but I was satisfied with five people on there.

I think we match up very well with them. I hope the players are all business tonight, knowing the playoffs are coming up and knowing we match up well with our opponent. We'll work real hard the next week-and-a-half.

Our team had a solid group of seniors. Our seniors individually had good seasons.

Looking at the numbers and common opponents, we should match up well against them. If we can get a win against Hayward, it would be a confidence-boost for us, and that's what we need right now.

That was some of the best hockey we played was earlier in the year. I hope we get back to that because we've been struggling lately. I thought we had a good effort at Lakeland (in a 5-1 loss last Tuesday), but we're still capable of playing better hockey.

That was a good game for us on the road. We played decent hockey, but we're capable of playing much better. We gave up a lot of odd-man rushes against Medford.

We came out real flat. We had a good third period and overtime. We peppered their goalie, and he made some big saves.

We have a tough stretch of games coming up, and hopefully we can build on the effort we put in on Saturday and move forward and finish the year strong.

This was just one of those games where we got it handed to us. We'll put it behind us, and we'll play better (today).

This was Tony's first year playing defense, and he played at a high level all season. He was always the most-physical player on the ice, and he possesses great hands and a heavy shot.

We did a lot of good things. That's why it's so hard to swallow. We did enough good things to win.

Northland Pines will be a real tough game. They've moved up to No. 2 in the state. We need to go out and play hard. Somebody has to lose. If we come out and play a solid game against them and lose, then so be it.

Add this one to the other four that we gave away. This is the fifth game we let slip away. There's no use sugarcoating it. I know it's a tie, but it's a loss for us as far as I'm concerned when you let a three-goal lead slip away at the end.

Zach ended the conference season with a save percentage of 90 percent. I am very happy for Zach. He has worked hard and deserves this recognition.

They're a very good team. They skated well. We let a couple of soft goals in early, and they just fed off that. They're a great passing team and a great skating team.

It was simple things ? missing two opens nets from near point-blank range. The guys that did it forgot hockey was still being played. They felt sorry for themselves after missing the open net, and Medford comes down 6-on-4 because they're feeling sorry for themselves. It's hard to take.

They've put in a lot of hard work over the years. If I can accommodate the seniors even if it's just going through introductions, I'll do that.

The rest of our season our inexperience at defense was exposed.

After the game, I thought we played all right. But after watching the tape, we didn't play well at all. We made a lot of glaring mistakes that shouldn't be made at this time of the year. And it wasn't just our younger guys. Hopefully we can put it all together for one game.

I'm not sure what it is, but we've really struggled in the second period this year. Overall, we played pretty well. We came out and skated hard. But we just can't seem to put together a good second period. And that's something we need to address.

I hope a couple of the players step up. I challenged our seniors over the weekend. I told them their time is running out and that they're capable of more. And we are as a team. But we go as our leaders go.

I don't know if it was bus legs or whatever, but we didn't move our feet in the first period. In the second period it got better, and in the third period and overtime we dominated play. We just didn't put the puck in the net.

The crowds have been great for us. They give us a boost, and we appreciate that. We have to stay positive and upbeat and finish this out strong. We need a good game tonight and a good game Thursday.

The coaches and players would like to thank our fans, and especially the AHS students who came out in large numbers and supported our team again this season. (They) definitely give us a home-ice advantage.