Interview With Craig Russell

With a 4-2 win over Framingham State on Saturday, February 2^nd, and a 3-0 win over Worcester State on Monday, February 11^th, the Plymouth State Men's Hockey team only needs a win and a tie in their last three games to clinch the MASCAC regular season championship. Head Coach Craig Russell likes his teams chances for the rest of the year, despite multiple delays due to last week's winter storm.

Eric Brill (EB)- Starting off with last week's game, which was the only game that you guys played since we last talked, was a 4-2 win over Framingham. Alex Cottle had his 100th point of his career. You guys had 43 shots, and last week you were saying that was one of the big things, in terms of being able to put the puck in the back of the net. Two of the goals were shorthanded, and you said that the special-teams needed to step up, but the team was also 0 for 4 on the powerplay, and had eight penalties.

Craig Russell (CR)- Well, the 0 for 4 is misleading. For us, with the 0 for 4, we had :08 left in the game, and I wasn't going to put a powerplay unit out there for that. That makes it 0 for 3, but one of the penalties that they took that we had a powerplay on, we took a penalty on :25 into it. Really, it was 4:25 worth of powerplay time. We made some tweaks to our first unit; they have been struggling quite a bit, and they moved the puck decent; it will get better. We got some shots to the net and a couple of opportunities. Once they start to get comfortable, some more chances are going to start pouring into the net.

EB- You were obviously happy with the 43 shots on net.

CR- Sometimes, our shots are selective; we don't have a whole lot of guys with a scoring touch.  That has been really starting to come about lately. We have been missing way too many quality chances, whether it be a breakaway, or a scrum in front of the net. We need to get a little bit better with a killer instinct around the net when we are within a 10-foot radius around the net. The shots are great, and the traffic is good; we are right there.

EB- Having the two short-handed goals has to give you a lot of confidence as well.

CR-We have had nine this year, and looking back, I can't find another year that he had seven. Scoring short-handed goals is a great thing, but on the other hand, we are still giving up too many powerplay goals then we'd like. We aren't scoring our powerplay goals either, and I think since we have started league play, after the New Year, our short-handed goals are out-numbering our powerplay goals. That is something we want to obviously change, but we also do have quite a few short-handed goals. Our powerplay is running at roughly 15% since then, and it should be running at about 25%.

EB- Looking ahead to Worcester State on Thursday, you guys lost to them earlier this year 4-3, and beat them 5-1. How will you make sure you won't lose to them like you did the last time you played them?

CR- The game that we lost to them is an interesting one; our goalie didn't play well that night. They hung around, and got a goal early in the third period to make it 4-2, and that was it. I had to make a change, and we pulled him and put Jack in, and gave us a little bit of a spark. There rink is a tough place to play, they play on a small sheet, so you have to kind of change your game-plan a little bit.

EB- How so?

CR- Everything happens quicker; bounces come off the boards/glass quicker, shots come at different angles. Everything just happens faster since the sheet is smaller. You have to be mentally prepared to make plays quicker, and shoot the puck quicker. A lot of guys have difficulties with that. We've done okay with that this year, but we go to UMass Dartmouth, and it is the same thing. We got a couple of bounces in that rink, and beat them 5-1. When we go down there on Saturday to UMass, it's not going to be the same thing; they are just going to battle, and battle, and battle. It is going to be a tight game. The Worcester game is an aside from everything, had we had everyone mentally engaged in the game, we win it. The UMass Dartmouth game is going to be the big test.

EB- Assuming you guys beat Salem (which was a 3-0 win on Monday night), and Worcester, that will set up you guys winning the regular season title if you beat Dartmouth then, right?

CR- At this point, we need five points in the next four games to solidify, without getting any help along the way. If we win the next three games, we are in, and if we win two and tie one, we get first place. We have to control our own destiny, and that is exactly where you want to be at this point in the year; you don't want to be backing yourself into the playoffs. You want to be controlling the game, playing your best at this time of year. This is why I am glad to have three out of our last four games at home, so we can really get into a nice rhythm, and really look forward to hosting, at minimum, one playoff game, if not two.

EB- Jack has been playing on his head as the season has gone along. Last game he was 34 for 36 in save situations. As he has gone on this season, have you put a lot more faith into him?

CR-I have never lost faith in Jack. Jack has been our guy since sophomore year, and he has proven he can be that guy. I don't worry about his preparation. I saw him in warm-ups a couple of weeks ago against Fitchburg, and he was fighting the puck a little bit. He let up two goals in the first four minutes. He battled back, and made every save from there on out, and we were able to pull the win out in overtime. That's what Jack does; he battles. Even when he is not playing his best, he will battle for you. That's why the guys play so hard in front of him, and that is a tough thing to come by.

EB-Do you see the guys being a lot more focused as the year is starting to come down to the last couple of weeks?

CR- They are getting there. They lost it a little bit with the snowstorm coming in, and the game getting moved. But now, it is really starting to come down to crunch time. They are really fighting. Guys that aren't necessarily in the line-up every night are really fighting to get in. Guys that are maybe almost out, are really fighting to stay in. That is a good thing; you always want competition in your line-up. I would like our practices to be a little more up-tempo, but with the storm, it is a little bit of a set-back.

EB- What does it mean to you, as far as having the first home game since Winterim, with everyone being back on campus?

CR- Really looking forward to it! Our crowd makes us go, no question about it. How could it not? It just gets electric in here. The guys really look forward to that.