Mike Kemp Quotations

We're a pretty good goal-scoring team, top to bottom. Parse is the high profile guy, but we've got a group of gifted scorers.

Obviously, we're taking away a lot of positives for the season. We've got a national scoring leader, conference player of the year and we're one of the top scoring teams in the nation. I think we're seeing a constant improvement in this team. The way the season ended doesn't diminish what the accomplishments were this year.

I was really proud of the way our guys came out and took it to them in the first period.

He's a special kind of player. He combines the grit and toughness with a skill level that's outstanding. He give us a player that's among the best in the country.

He's phenomenal. You bring a player of this talent and, in general, a lot of times they've already reached their peak. He's not one of those kinds of players; he just continues to improve.

I think it's going to have a very positive effect on our team. When we went up to Northern Michigan, we were really banged up. We were playing at about 75 percent.

I was certainly pleased with the outcome, but not necessarily the process. It was a huge relief and a great feeling to know we can change momentum like that.

I think that might have been a turning point in the game.

Over the course of my career there's been many that have been memorable...without reservation, the most memorable night I've ever had coaching was not winning the National Championship, that was a great night. But it probably was the night we played Bowling Green and won here to go to the Joe in our first year of our program.

Those guys played awesome tonight. They were aggressive, they were quick - when they were on the ice they were threatening with frequency.

We get it back to 3-2, and all of a sudden they come right back off that goal and score again. It took any momentum from the goal that got us back in it. Then it snowballs to 5-2, 6-2, and our bench sagged dramatically at that point.

We came up with this necklace that we could have designed and made so each player could get one. It's one of a kind, only made for us.

This to us is a gratifying accomplishment to be here. But it's certainly not the culmination of what we feel is our season, or the culmination of what we are hoping to do as a program. This is just the start. We talked about this after the selection show. It's great to have the opportunity to compete in the national tournament and be here to play. But frankly for us, it's one step in what we hope is a longer stay in the tournament.

We've been aiming for this day for a long time since the inception of the program back in 1996-97. So nine years in, we're very proud of the fact that our program has reached a level in which our team is one of the last 16 competing in the nation. For us, that's a very big step.

You can't diminish the contribution (Kaufmann) made tonight. Northern really turned the tables between the first and second period We were hemmed in our zone a lot, so he saw a lot of action down there and under the pressure he stood up very well.

It would be huge for the program to get the national recognition. It would signal that we get the best players in the country coming to UNO.

You're scrambling around and they went up 3-1 and then we scored, but then gave it right back and I think that was a turning point. That took any momentum we got away and then we gave another one up real quick. All the sudden we were down 5-2, 6-2 and it snowballs. Our bench sagged pretty dramatically after that point.

You don't replace the kind of production you get from a player like Bill Thomas. He is a one-of-a kind player.

They're a great hockey team, so it's going to be a challenge. Obviously, we both ended up tied in the league for a reason. We're both very similar hockey teams in ability and it will be a challenge to go in there... Winning four games on somebody else's ice in a season is a challenge.

A symbol of 20 guys going out all for the same reason. Individual medals become one.

It's going to be a big David and Goliath match-up. You look at the tradition and history of their program. They've been in the tournament twenty-some times, and their coach (Jack Parker) has been one of the greatest coaches in college hockey since I've been able to shave.

It's getting everybody there. You know? We had to work on flights, and all the buses and everything else. But I think we got it worked out, and now it's just a case where you can focus on what's really important -- winning hockey games.

It's certainly not the way we wanted our first venture into the NCAA tournament to turn out, but it is what it is. My hat's off to Boston University, I thought they did an excellent job in every phase of the game.

It was good to get some breathing room. Anytime you've got a one-goal lead against a team that's as offensively explosive as Bowling Green, you're never real comfortable. With the amount of firepower they have up front they can score at any time.

They were a much more physical team than we were. The back wall was an area where they really took it to us.

I?m proud of the way our team continued to scrap and fight and battle ourselves back into the game.

He's the best player in the country. He deserves it.

He played both ends of the ice very solidly and very consistently. You don't replace the kind of production you get from a player like Bill Thomas; you just hope the rest of the team can step up. He is certainly a one of a kind player.