Chris Duncan Quotations

We're looking forward to the challenge of playing at the state tournament. We have to go up there and play our game. We can't let the excitement of the state tournament get us out of our routine.

I always felt I had to prove I was worthy. Especially being a first-round (supplemental) pick and having your dad as a coach. I don't want anything ever to be just handed to me.

Marquette is a very fast and disciplined hockey team and they gave us a lot of trouble. We had a solid game plan, but didn't execute it. Plus, we had 12 minor penalties and you can't survive against a team like Marquette with that many penalties.

I thought I was going to blow my back out.

We've got pretty good balance on offense to complement the defense. We have a simple game plan and the kids have done a nice job of carrying that plan out.

Up until a couple of days ago, I didn't think I had a chance. It worked out good for me. I got a chance to play and that's all you can ask for.

Despite giving up a last-second goal, I was pleased with the Lasers' third-period play. It's easy to get tight after giving up a pair of quick goals. The boys stuck with the game plan and increased their intensity throughout the game.

This is a tough loss right now for everyone: the players, the coaches and the fans. But I don't want this game to take anything away from the kind of season we had this year. I'm proud of every kid on this team for getting us to this point. Making it to state has put us on the hockey map. Now our goal is to continue to play at this kind of level. Believe me, we want to get back here. This was a great experience today.

I took bad at-bats. I was maybe trying to do too much. Definitely not a good way to go about it.

Considering the improvement in our schedule strength, this season was a big step forward for our program.

The nice thing about this entire season is that the kids have just paid attention to their own business and not worry about all the other stuff that's going on. A lot of people thought we didn't deserve the No. 1 seed, but the kids proved the doubters wrong. The kids reached down and took the next step. And now we're playing in the state tournament.

It's nice to see a team mix up that kind of speed with disciplined play. That is what we need to be able to compete with Minnesota. Hats off to just a fantastic team. They skate hard, are fast and skilled.

That goal gave us some confidence, even as we struggled in the second period.

That second goal they got us early in the second period got us out of our game plan. We've been successful all year following our game plans. But once we got down 2-0, things fell apart.

If there's that big of a shot differential, 80 percent of that is definitely goaltending. The other 20 (percent), I attribute to our players' ability to finish.

I don't know if there's another sport that has the parallel like getting the first goal in a hockey game. When you can score first, you can set up and play with more confidence. That worked for us tonight.

Chapter one is completed. It's playoff time and we look forward to the challenge that comes with being a No. 1 seed.

This is a great accomplish?ment for the kids to be playing at state. Nobody believed in us all season. But that didn't matter. We believed in ourselves. We knew if we played the kind of hockey we're capable of, we had a chance.

This is a great accomplish­ment for the kids to be playing at state. Nobody believed in us all season. But that didn't matter. We believed in ourselves. We knew if we played the kind of hockey we're capable of, we had a chance.

The guy's a proven hitter his whole life. Ever since he's been playing pro ball, he's been doing damage. Get him healthy and in the lineup and we'll score some runs.

The last two days, I don't think I got one ball -- not even a ground ball. But if our pitchers can do that all year, that would be pretty good as far as I'm concerned.