Wisconsin Postgame Quotes
Wisconsin vs. USA U-18 Team 
October 21, 2016
Kohl Center - Madison, Wis.

Head Coach Tony Granato
 
On if he was watching Team USA:
"We were. I know all of those kids because that's the team that Don (Granato) coached and I cheer for them. They played extremely well. They came out really, really hard. I think they gave us fits early, and I think we battled as well. If you look at killing off seven penalties and 5-on-3 for basically a full two minutes you see guys standing in front of slap shots to block then you know we played hard and played to win. Lots of good things from both teams. I think they got to be really happy with it. They just competed and played really well against a good college team, and I think we got what we wanted out of it. We learned from it again and our power play came up big and the goalies made a few big saves when they had to as well."
 
On the defensive lapses early on:
"We gave them confidence early I think. A bit, yes. I think we shot one in our own net and then in the third period we knocked another one out of the air into our net, so two we put into the net ourselves.
 
If you give up seven power plays they are going to get chances. They're very talented. These guys are going to be in the NHL in two or three years, so I think that's a pretty good hockey team. They are going to get better. I watched their game against Minnesota last week. The shots were even. They gave up six power-play goals so Minnesota blew them out, but five-on-five they played with them so they are going to beat some college teams and there are going to be some guys, like I said, you'll see them be elite college players and a lot of them are going to be in the NHL soon as well."
 
On who stood out that doesn't usually play a lot:
"I thought Jason Ford played hard and well. I thought some of our penalty killers got a little bit of extra time on penalty kill that they might not have in a regular game that could be regular penalty killers now. (Jack) Berry again came in and was very solid. I could go through the roster and look at some guys. Hurley, his first real game, I thought he was real good.  Lots of positives from guys that didn't get as much ice time earlier stepped up tonight and did a really good job."
 
On competition between Berry and Jurusik:
"Jurusik's our goalie but we also know that when we need Berry that he'll be in there and ready to go. That's why we didn't start him, we started Matty and put (Berry) in a position most of the time he's going to be coming in relief or in the middle of a game and tonight was no different. He came in and he played just like he did last weekend against BC."
 
On Cameron Hughes: 
"I know he left the bench. I didn't have a chance after the game, I wasn't able to go and see the doc so I'm hoping, obviously, for the best. We could use that guy."
 
On his concerns on the slow start:
"You don't like to have that happen. Sometimes circumstances, it happens. They came out, they had a lot to prove. They came off a tough loss where they got embarrassed last week and they had this game on their schedule circled for a long time. They came out and maybe caught us a little bit by surprise with their speed and how hard they came at us and took advantage of it and got us on our heels so let's give them some credit, too. Like I said, it's a learning process for all of us, for me as a coach and us as a team. We have to have a better start and hopefully we learn from it and get ready for next weekend."
 
On the compete level improving from the emphasis at practice:
"I did. It was better. We'll continue to make that a focus point. Every week and every day you just want to improve as a team so we'll focus on a few things this week that we need to do to get ready for next weekend."
 
On Will Johnson's penalty:
"It was to try and save a goal. He came to me after and said coach I had to take him down. And I said absolutely. You know the last minute of the game, there's a name for that when you're in the last minute of a game and you do whatever you can to keep the puck out of your net. Cross checking and hacking and whacking and that kind of play with that in your mind, to prevent a good scoring chance, you don't care if you take a penalty. That was the case there."
 
On new line combinations:
"I think the Frederic line tonight was probably the most solid line. All of the other lines did have some good shifts as well. We'll mix this week. I'm not sure what we will go with next week when we get back. We're going east, so when we go to Clarkson and St. Lawrence we'll have a week to put some lines together."
 
On getting Johan Blomquist into the game:
"It was just the game. When we went up two we were planning on having him go in the last 10 minutes of the game but when they pulled within one, we thought it's not fair to him to put him in that spot."

Luke Kunin

On whether he saw one-on-one battles improve:
"Yeah I think so, I think that part of the game can always get better and I think practicing like that is only going to help us in the long run. That's how the game is, those 50-50 puck battles. I'd say 85-plus percent of the game is those battles, so if we're good on that and in those areas, we're going to see the results we want."
 
On the play of the forwards in the defensive zone:
"Obviously those two bad bounces, you know we put the puck in our own net, but we're always working to get better. I think forwards take it upon themselves to be plus players along with the defense. We never want to give up any goals, but I think throughout the year, it's still early and we're definitely going to tighten up that D zone and get pucks out quicker to possess in the offensive zone."
 
On the slow start of the game:
"Yeah I think it took our group a little bit to get going. I thought we definitely got better as the game went on, but that's hockey. Some nights you're going to have slow starts and it's just how you react to that and how you come back. I thought that the guys did a good job, everyone was supportive and had the same game plan in the locker room. I thought we did a good job in the second and third and we got the win, so that's all that matters."
 
On avoiding a sluggish start:
"I think we just have to have a better start, I think it's pretty simple. We just have to be hard right off that first draw and get pucks behind them and play our game right off the bat. If we can do that then I don't think there's any teams that can handle us when we're playing our best like that"
 
On expecting Team USA to come into the game with fire:
"Yeah for sure. Like you said, two years ago I was sitting in their shoes and playing here at Wisconsin. It's exciting, they're fun games. Being 17 and playing college guys, not many guys are doing that at their age. We knew they were going to come out strong, they're a great team and great players on that team. It was a rough weekend for them in Minnesota and I thought they came out strong tonight and gave us a good battle."
 
Dan Labosky

On playing on a line with Max Zimmer and Trent Frederic:
"It was an easy transition. Any time you get to play with a guy like Trent it's pretty easy. He's an easy guy to play with. He's a big force out there and moves the puck well, protects the puck. Like I said, easy transition, he's a great player. It's nice to play with those two guys."
 
On starting up a goal by winning a two-on-one battle on the boards:
"We had a good forecheck, Coach has been on us all week like Luke said, stressing that compete level and being aggressive and causing turnovers. I just went in on the forecheck hard and caused a turnover, it was a great play by Trent to get it over to Max."
 
On avoiding a sluggish start:
"I think we have  to take the game to them. I feel like we're starting off slow because we're kind of dipping our toe in the water and kind of letting the game come to us. Coach has kind of talked about that, making sure we're ready to go off the hop and taking the play to them and dictating rather than letting them dictate. We can definitely work on that one."