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WHOC Coach Chris MacKenzie - Media Day 9-15 · Coaches Corner

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Head coach Chris McKenzie entering year 14 at the helm.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: Give us your thoughts on this year's squad.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Well, we've been going for about two weeks now. Really
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: like the speed of our team. I think our freshmen
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: hopefully are going to make a great impact this year.
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  Speaker 2: We're returning a lot of experience.
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: We have A little experience in net, so that will
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: be our biggest question mark. But I like what I
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: see so far, and we're going to find out a
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: lot about ourselves Saturday against Quinnipiac for our exhibition game.
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  Speaker 2: That's all I got. Who says you can go first?
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: I'm the dean. Got it. Go. Thank you.
• 0:48
  Speaker 3: You've known that the day would come when you wouldn't
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: have Tia here and go, right? So I'm sure you've
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  Speaker 3: thought about it at times. How do you go about
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  Speaker 3: replacing such a, you know, almost an icon?
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: We were worried when Elaine Chooley left. We were worried
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: when Morgan Fisher left. We were worried when Annie Belanger left.
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: We were concerned when Tia Chan was leaving. But I
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: just think there's going to be someone that's going to
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: step up. It's happened enough over the 13 years we've
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: been here. We're going to need one of our three
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: that are in there right now to step up, and
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Shannon and Amelia and Taylor have been competing, and we'll
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: see what happens. Is that a fun part of coaching,
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: just finding out who that next one is going to be,
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  Speaker 1: almost like a Christmas morning kind of feel, trying.
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: To wrap that present?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's fun to see people go through
• 1:39
  Speaker 1: growth stages in their life, in their playing career, going
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  Speaker 1: through adversity, really working hard to achieve something. It's rewarding
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  Speaker 1: as a coach to see them elevate in certain ways
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: and watch their families go through that. They're already proud of,
• 1:53
  Speaker 1: you know, if you have children that are competing at
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  Speaker 1: anything or doing something, you're proud of them, but you
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: want to, you want to be part of that journey.
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: And I feel like our coaching staff is part of
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: that to see our team and our players do that.
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  Speaker 2: What do you expect Claire to do for you this year?
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: What she's been doing?
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  Speaker 4: Yep.
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  Speaker 2: What she's been doing.
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  Speaker 1: And she was voted captain by her peers, which is
• 2:12
  Speaker 1: a great honor. And she has, an amazing work ethic,
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: professionalism with how she's done. From day one, she's had that.
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  Speaker 1: I think her teammates noticed that. And as a junior,
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  Speaker 1: she's been voted a captain.
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  Speaker 2: When you're a coach, you love having her on your team.
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  Speaker 1: Why would you be a coach that doesn't want to
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  Speaker 1: see her coming into your building?
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  Speaker 2: What separates her?
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  Speaker 1: Although she's not physically very big, she's actually a very
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  Speaker 1: good power forward. She is really in the corners and
• 2:42
  Speaker 1: along the wall. She's very hard to get to the puck.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: She's strong. She's elusive. She creates.
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  Speaker 1: She makes the conditions of the puck for our team
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  Speaker 1: better pretty much every time she touches the puck, so
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  Speaker 1: something good happens. And I think just the respect she
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: commands in our locker room with how she does.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: Her work every week speaks volumes. Is that bulldog ice mentality?
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  Speaker 2: Is that her personality?
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  Speaker 1: It's in there somewhere, yeah. She's been a competitor. She
• 3:10
  Speaker 1: takes a lot of pride in what she does and
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  Speaker 1: just a pleasure to coach.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: How about Libby as well as being a leader on
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: this team?
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  Speaker 4: What does she bring in terms of her leadership?
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  Speaker 1: She is an incredible hard worker, very diligent in everything
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  Speaker 1: she does on and off the ice, her grades, the
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: types of things she does. Again, another person voted as captain.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: I think here's somebody that if you look at some
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  Speaker 1: of our championship photos, year one, not dressed. Year two, dressed.
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: Year three, significant role. Year four, hopefully that's even going
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  Speaker 1: up for her. So the sky's the limit with her potential,
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  Speaker 1: and there's no stone left unturned with the way she
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  Speaker 1: prepares and cares about getting better.
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  Speaker 4: Even with that expectation of seeing some of your younger
• 3:59
  Speaker 4: players contribute this year, Chris, when you have a journey
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  Speaker 4: or track like that with somebody like Libby, how much
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  Speaker 4: is that an example to maybe somebody that may be
• 4:09
  Speaker 4: fighting for playing time this year and wants to build
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  Speaker 4: towards something like that?
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  Speaker 1: There's been plenty of examples of players that we can
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: say to a player, let's say just this year, hey,
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: you're not playing much right now. Look at so-and-so in
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  Speaker 1: our lineup. They were in your shoes, or you might
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  Speaker 1: actually be ahead of them, and look what they're doing
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  Speaker 1: right now. So this environment will allow you to improve.
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  Speaker 1: You've just got to keep putting in the work, believing,
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  Speaker 1: having some patience, and preparing for your opportunity because an
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  Speaker 1: injury could change that opportunity quick. So that's part of it.
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  Speaker 1: There's been tangible examples of that all through our program
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  Speaker 1: for a number of years.
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  Speaker 4: When it does come to the goaltenders, what can you
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  Speaker 4: tell about that position before the actual game starts?
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  Speaker 2: I think just who's looking confident.
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: Not only is it just stopping the puck, which all
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: of us can see, it's more of how are you
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: working with the defensemen?
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  Speaker 2: How are you looking in breakouts? Are you managing the
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: puck to.
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  Speaker 1: Just keep it out of our zone, let alone just
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  Speaker 1: stop it? Are you going to be able to come
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  Speaker 1: up with those one or two huge saves we're going
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  Speaker 1: to need at any point in time? I think, again,
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  Speaker 1: experience will dictate a lot of this, but we're wide
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: open with what's going to happen here.
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  Speaker 2: The Tiller sisters, were they coming as a package deal?
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  Speaker 1: How did that whole thing work out? They're twin sisters
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  Speaker 1: in the same year. They're graduating together. They've played together
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  Speaker 1: their whole lives. I think they look great right now.
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  Speaker 1: We're hoping they can make an impact right away. I'm sure,
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  Speaker 1: as freshmen, they're going to have a little bit of
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  Speaker 1: a rollercoaster in their first year, but They've showed up.
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  Speaker 2: They're ready to go.
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  Speaker 1: They were here all summer training. So, you know, we're
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: optimistic that they can contribute.
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  Speaker 2: Bonus, that one was a forward, one was a D? Sure, yeah,
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  Speaker 2: we'll take it. You've had twins before?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, the Wabik sisters were here, graduated in 2017 or 18,
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: I think.
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  Speaker 2: After COVID. Yeah, we've had twins before, yeah.
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: Is there, like, a certain challenge to coaching twins?
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  Speaker 2: Well, these, both sets of twins we've had, one's a forward,
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  Speaker 2: one's a D. So it's not. No, I think it's just.
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: If you're high on both of them, take them both.
• 6:16
  Speaker 2: I think they want to go together, at least in
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: these two situations. It's worked out here. Have they switched
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: uniforms to try to fool you yet? We did it
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: once with Casey. We switched the one.
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  Speaker 1: The Wabik sisters, one shot left, one shot right, they
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  Speaker 1: switched and they tried to play like that, and it looked.
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: It didn't look so high, and they were, Casey figured
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: it out. He was like, what is going on here?
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: He switched the drill. That was pretty entertaining. The Tillers
• 6:45
  Speaker 1: don't look alike, so we'll never be able to fool.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: But the Wobbys, I couldn't tell them apart for two years.
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  Speaker 5: These are coming off your most successful years of programming
• 6:55
  Speaker 5: in terms of getting your first tournament win. These last
• 6:59
  Speaker 5: three years have been great for the program. How do
• 7:01
  Speaker 5: you continue to build going forward?
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  Speaker 1: I think just our players, all of us understanding the
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: standards are pretty high, and that's an expectation that.
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: Any program you're going to want to go to, you're
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  Speaker 2: going to want to be a part of that.
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  Speaker 1: There's still things we want to reach. There's still steps
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  Speaker 1: we want to get to. The success we've had took
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  Speaker 1: a lot of hard work. To continue that and build
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  Speaker 1: on it will take even more. So I think it's
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  Speaker 1: an expectation our players have. They've seen that it can happen.
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  Speaker 1: And now it's just taking that next step as a group.
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: I remember you talked.
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  Speaker 4: Last year about just kind of stacking those non-conference.
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: Games to have, I guess, another tool or trick to
• 7:41
  Speaker 2: try to build yourself the resume.
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  Speaker 4: To be able to make the tournament.
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  Speaker 3: How do you, I guess, handle that philosophy with so
• 7:49
  Speaker 3: many new players and so many seniors having left?
• 7:53
  Speaker 1: I think with the games, you have 10 games, and
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  Speaker 1: you want to try to get a a bunch of
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  Speaker 1: teams that are in different leagues and hopefully a strong schedule.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: That's what we're trying to do with those 10 non-conference games.
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  Speaker 1: I think our players are coming here, and it doesn't
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  Speaker 1: really matter who we're playing. They're going to try to
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: do their best and represent UConn the right way. For
• 8:14
  Speaker 1: some of them, it might be their first game. They're
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: getting their feet wet. I think they came here to
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: try to win championships, get a great education, and we're
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: trying to provide the environment for that growth, for that
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  Speaker 1: to happen.
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  Speaker 2: Because here are moments where you're like, where did the
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: 14 years go? And when you think back, what do
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: you think about?
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  Speaker 1: I think it's been really great to see, you know,
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: we were at a head coach or all staff athletic
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: department meeting in the volleyball center, which used to be
• 8:44
  Speaker 1: Freitas Ice Forum, and then to be over here. It's
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: nice to see our whole athletic department. Just the last decade,
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: the investment, the new buildings, not only just Toscano, but
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: There's more stuff coming to Gample Pavilion right now in
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: our field house. The institutional support is amazing here. I
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: think 13 years ago it was a three-win team and
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: now we're in the top ten consistently. I think it's
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: a reflection of hopefully some good coaching but also a
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  Speaker 1: lot of institutional support.
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  Speaker 2: Where have you grown most in that time? Obviously when
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: you're new at something it takes a little while. I think.
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: As a younger head coach, I think what you see
• 9:28
  Speaker 1: with younger head coaches, they try to take on everything.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: And I've learned over the time, create the environment for
• 9:34
  Speaker 1: your colleagues to do their job. So my assistant coach,
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: I need to create the environment for him to be successful.
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  Speaker 1: My assistant coach, Ainsley Svedek, she's a newer assistant, former captain.
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: Create the environment for her to be successful. I'm more
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: in charge of the environment than I am day-to-day stuff.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: What are the strengths of Julia's game heading into her
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: senior year? Julia Pellerin?
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: Speed, speed, speed. Incredible shot. Offensive instincts. She has developed
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: a little bit more of her 200 foot game defensively too,
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: which is great to see. But she is someone who
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: wants the puck on her stick in those clutch moments.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: And she really came through for us some big moments
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: last year. We're hoping she can build off that.
• 10:18
  Speaker 4: How do you see her role shifting coming into this
• 10:21
  Speaker 4: year with, again, just the senior group leaving and then
• 10:23
  Speaker 4: her kind of sliding.
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: Into that forward role?
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: I think she's primed for a breakout offensive season and
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: just really, I think, really hopefully another all-star type season
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: for her. That's what we're hoping for. So I think
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: there's less questions here for her at UConn. She was
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: kind of settling in at this time last year. Now
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  Speaker 1: I think she'll.
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: Be ready to go. Chris, who do you open with,
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: some of your non-conference opponents? After the Quinnipiac game Saturday,
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: we're going to St. Cloud for two.
• 10:56
  Speaker 1: If you look at our schedule last year, it's almost
• 10:57
  Speaker 1: an exact mirror, just where the home games are now away.
• 11:01
  Speaker 1: Clarkson will come here for a weekend. We have Princeton
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: again for two. We play in the Nutmeg Classic. That'll
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: be Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, Yale.
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: Where's that? That this year is hosted at Yale.
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: How good is the defense in front of your young
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: goalies or inexperienced goalies?
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: We look pretty good right now.
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: There's some mobility. Jade Lord came back from injury. She's
• 11:25
  Speaker 1: a mobile defenseman that can really.
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: Move the puck.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: We have, on our defense, we have three righties, three righties,
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: five lefties. That, for in the neutral zone, going lefty
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: to righty is a little bit easier in the game.
• 11:39
  Speaker 2: Last year we had five righties regular. Sorry, five lefties
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: and one righty.
• 11:44
  Speaker 1: So a left shot going to a right shot in
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: the neutral zone is a lot easier than going lefty
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: to lefty.
• 11:51
  Speaker 2: If you watch it, you'll see what I'm saying.
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  Speaker 1: But my hope is our neutral zone transition game will
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: be a lot cleaner and quicker this year because of that.
• 12:01
  Speaker 5: I'm assuming those pairs are split up like that.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: Well, yeah, in a perfect world, it'll stay that way.
• 12:07
  Speaker 2: We'll see.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: There'll be a pair at some point that's lefty-lefty, but
• 12:13
  Speaker 1: we think it already looks that way, we'll just, we'll
• 12:15
  Speaker 1: have to see as we get into the season.
• 12:17
  Speaker 5: Does that make that group a little bit more dynamic
• 12:18
  Speaker 5: that you are able to have those three right shot defensemen?
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's, it's just, it moves the puck quicker to
• 12:23
  Speaker 1: our forwards and they have a little more space when
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: they get the puck and we're now entering the zone.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: You enter in the, you enter the offensive zone with
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: the puck, your percentages of scoring go up.
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: So that's what we're looking to do.
• 12:34
  Speaker 4: Any other questions, guys?
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: A similar question was asked.
• 12:38
  Speaker 5: Earlier about Pellerin, but what about with Sadie Hodless?
• 12:42
  Speaker 1: What are you looking for with her and the, uh,
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: We told her at the end of the year, we
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: told her we're going to need someone to replace Kyla Josephovich,
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: who left us. I think we're looking and hoping for
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: Sadie to provide that, a little bit more offensive spark.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: She's looked great in practice and just really, you know,
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: expand her role a little bit more. More power play time,
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: some penalty killing. She's had a little bit of that
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: in her first two years, so hopefully this is the
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: time for her to.
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: Expand her role. Do you have a number one line set?
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: Not really. I'll let them decide it.
• 13:21
  Speaker 5: I don't know if you had seen, kind of going
• 13:23
  Speaker 5: around social media yesterday, there was a proposed bill about
• 13:27
  Speaker 5: limiting international.
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: Players on college rosters to 20%.
• 13:32
  Speaker 5: Obviously, you guys have a lot of Canadians on the roster.
• 13:37
  Speaker 5: I just wanted to get your thoughts on that.
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I've briefly heard about that. I don't know anything.
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: about it I will I guess if something's passed we'll
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: we'll read react to it but yeah I know that
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: would give us some thoughts on consider that could impact
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: our program significantly if it goes through yeah or just
• 14:01
  Speaker 1: NCAA athletics you know we're not it's not just this
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: for it could be all of them so it's a
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: lot of international athletes and a lot of really think
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: of the field hockey team so interesting Maybe they ship
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: me out.
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: Who knows? I grew up in Canada. Don't do it. Thanks, guys.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: Have a great year. Who's coming up here?
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: Wait until you see how well-spoken they are.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: Thanks, guys. Have a good one. I'm sure I'll see
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: you in and about.