1. Back on the court last night after a long absence. How did you feel following the game and are you full healed from your injury? Felt okay. Definitely ran low on energy by the end. Injury is recovered about 90%, but back to a level where it’s not impacting or limiting play significantly.
2. You guys were ironman. How do you approach a game knowing you wont get a break until the end of each period? We discussed needing to play a defensive game and managing energy and sitting back a bit to have a chance at winning. We did a good job at that through almost the entire game and put ourselves in a position to win. Unfortunately physical and mental fatigue caught up to us and a late defensive breakdown cost us.
3. What can you say about the overall team effort last night? Couldn’t have asked for a better team effort in an Ironman situation. Everyone skated hard and managed their energy optimally. Henry played amazing for us and made some big saves to give us a chance.
4. What was your impression of the opponent and what do you think was the difference between winning and losing that game? I was told before the game we were playing a “stacked” opponent and that proved to be true through the game and throughout their entire lineup. Who knows how different the game may have been if we had one sub and had a chance to pull Henry late and work a power play with an empty net. The extra rest would have also benefited all of our skaters.
5. Losses are never ideal but maybe last nights loss felt like a moral victory. What was the teams mindset like following the game? You don’t often see roller hockey games with 5 total goals. I think it speaks to the compete level of both teams and goalies in this game. It’s fun to play in a game like this where each goal matters. Given we were Ironman and they are the defending champs, it felt good to keep it close. But at the end of the day a loss is a loss and we will try to find a way to be better in the next one.
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