Hakstol Addresses DU Series On Radio Show

From: USCHO Message Board

(left) Cary Eades will man the UND bench on Friday and Saturday nights, but the "bennies" didn't include hosting the Fighting Sioux radio show last night

Here's a summary of Dave Hakstol's paraphrased comments on last night's Fighting Sioux Coaches' Show:

Regarding UND's high number of penalty minutes, Saturday night in Minnesota, there was some of the stuff at the end...if someone's going to take a shot at T.J. Oshie, we're going to take a shot back. We play it straight up. Our discipline and our focus have to get better as we go down the stretch. We have to make sure that what we do doesn't cross the line and what we do is straight up.

A lot of parts of our game that can continue to be better. We need to be better without the puck in all zones. We need to be hungrier to get the puck back.

The lack of scoring in the league will be addressed in the spring. Everybody wants to put the best product on the ice possible. There will be differing opinions about how to do that. This isn't the time of year to fix it. We have a great product now. How do we make it better? We have to look at all the factors that have led to a decrease in scoring.

DU has faced some adversity with Brock Trotter leaving. Sometimes adversity can make you better. DU didn't play much hockey during January, which makes it tough to get on a roll. Last weekend, they looked like they were back on track. They were playing within their system. I expect them to come in here and play very well. They do a very good job of staying in their system. They don't give up very many odd-man rushes.

Regarding whether the opposition plays the trap against UND, everybody does a little bit of trapping. I don't think it's particular to us. They might make some slight adjustments. We're not going to change our game. We're going to play the way we play. I think most teams play the same system regardless. They might make some adjustments, like we do, but they don't make big changes.

This weekend is about solidifying a top-three finish and maybe putting a little bit of space between us for a top-two finish.

DU does a good job of killing penalties. We have to get pucks to the net. They're going to pressure us like they always do. We need to be sharp, not too scripted and get pucks to the net. Cary Eades has a good plan when it comes to the power play. It's a question of executing it. Sometimes the best play is the simple one, which is pounding the puck on net.

We've talked to Oshie about shooting the puck more because he's got a great shot. He's great at using a defenseman as a screen and shooting it past him. That's a skill that not to many players have.

Cary Eades, Dane Jackson and Scott Koberinski will do a great job without me on the bench. It also has a lot to do with leadership among the players. The players will go out and play. Some of the voices behind them might be different, but they'll do a great job both nights. It's an important game and we're going to do a great job, regardless of whether I'm on the bench or night.