Nick Vitucci Quotations

When we were 12 points behind Wheeling, we never doubted ourselves and always believed we could do it.

What a great effort. It was a smart 60 minutes of hockey. I couldn't be more proud of this hockey club over the last two games.

With the new rules this season and our inconsistency, a two or three-goal lead isn't a safe lead by any means.

When times are tough and points are hard to come by, we need individuals to step up to be heroes. Tonight we had a lot of guys who were heroes.

Mac has been awesome for us. He gave the whole team a shot in the arm. He instills a lot of confidence in our team. He was dedicated to come back here and it shows how much he cares about organization. None of the players want to disappoint him.

Maybe this is good. It knocked us down a bit. Maybe we're back to reality a bit.

Right now it's better than ever. It's nice to know that whatever line we put out there, they're capable of putting it in the net.

I'd like to see a little more consistency out of Scooter and Kenny. If they play like they did earlier in the year, they can take us a long way.

He held us in a hockey game that maybe we did not deserve to be in.

He means an awful lot to the Detroit Red Wings. I might dig out some old cards and get him to put his John Hancock on a few.

Huge. This is a relief. This is excitement. It's just a culmination of 72 games that this team has just grown and matured so much. What a nice reward we got tonight.

He was solid. When you only have three shots against you in one period, it can be hard on you mentally. I thought he gave us a chance to win. He stopped everything he should have stopped and he made a handful of good saves to keep us in the game.

He did not look out of place at all. I think he scored at least a couple on me.

I was a goalie for a long time and I stood in there and took my lumps until I was asked to get out of the net.

Our fate rests in our own hands. And that's a good position to be in.

Part of that stretch where we were a mediocre hockey team was because we were getting mediocre goaltending. They weren't getting the big saves when we needed them. Sometimes you need those heroic saves to steal a game. Bernd and Drew are now giving us that consistently.

That was great. Our fans have such great enthusiasm. They're the sixth man on the ice for us. It's an intimidation factor.

That says a lot about our style and our ability to put that many shots on goal.

We were looking at this weekend as keeping pace, more so than making hay. We have to take care of our own business. We hold our fate in our hands.

We'd play for five minutes and be off for 15. It wasn't good for the guys.

We've made this trek a little harder on us. But you can't expect to win every game and it may not hurt to get back to reality a little bit. We've overcome setbacks before and I'm upbeat about how our team will rebound. We have to have a strong game from start to finish. We can't take periods off and we'll have to keep our emotions in check.

We needed to bring in size, strength and talent.

We have an opportunity to redeem ourselves. Hopefully we'll put a stop to this.

To hang another banner in this building would be nice. But, more importantly, we can secure home ice advantage through at least the first two rounds.

Wheeling is an opportunistic team and we are giving them too many opportunities right now. We need to get away from some of the things that are frustrating us out there.

We played a little scared and I don't know why. We asked ourselves Sunday what we needed to do differently and we still don't know.

We sent the fans home happy and ourselves as well. It's nice that everyone will be able to enjoy tonight with a smile on their face.

When our backs are against the wall, we are a confident team and that's very nice from a coaching perspective.

We've certainly worked hard to put ourselves in that position. The next three games will dictate whether we have home-ice advantage or win a division title. It's nice to be in that position.

The players were getting frustrated and I told them to try to go with the flow.

We've been playing great as a team. Everyone has contributed. If one line wasn't playing well another one would step up and be the hero.

We've got a good mix of young and old. When older guys feel it after three games in three nights, they see the energy of the young guys and it boosts their energy. It works the other way, too. The older guys help the young guys work through things.

We tried to let things go as long as we could, but it got to the point where the safety of the players became a concern. You've got to think of the players' best interests and not put them in harm's way.

We just need to keep playing the way we've been playing. We are solid up front and along the back and in goal. We just have to keep our confidence going and not make mistakes.

We weren't happy going down 4-2, the players were visibly upset. Maybe we need to play desperate more often because they really responded.

Consistency has been a problem for us, especially on the road. But we played 50 minutes of good hockey tonight and that's not always enough, but it was tonight.

Another great game. Two great teams that match up well against each other, and we were just on the other end of it tonight.

The third period has always been our best period. But I don't think it's ever been this good to us.

I've never been around a team that everyone knows they're going to come back every time. They have that never-say-die attitude.

Sometimes when you're pressing, you squeeze the stick too hard and instead of a goal you have a handful of sawdust. A big team effort and victory erases all of that. It's nice to get off this little slide we were on. Our mindset will be so much different. They know how hard things have been and it's nice to see them leave the rink with a well-deserved smile.

Some people think these guys are just hockey players, rough and tough guys. But they also have lives and aspirations away from hockey. He is a perfect example of that. One day he's sitting in front of an impressive group of people and two days later he is fighting in front of another group of people.

That's hockey players - he played through it and didn't have a second thought about it.

This is huge because it allows us to rest.

They score the old fashioned way. They pressure physically and cause turnovers.

They need to talk about how far this team can go if we can control our emotions and talk about what is on the line.

This is why we need home ice advantage. Our fans are so important to us. When you have 5,000 fans behind you, it's an adrenaline rush. The players, the coaching staff and the ownership all appreciate that.

They play hard even though they aren't in the playoffs because they're playing for pride. Those are dangerous teams to play.

They're all now important factors on this team.

It was excitement, but there was relief, too. We battled and fought so hard. After the season we will reflect on the title. But the most important thing right now is that we have five days off before we play again. So we can rest our weary bones.

It was real big and hard earned. That was a tough couple of games that we had to play here. I am happy with my team. We kept working hard. It was a good two points for us tonight.

It's the exact opposite of our losing streak when we couldn't buy one.

It's another big game for us. Actually, most of them are now.

It's par for the course with these two teams.

That's playoff hockey on Feb. 1. It was a fitting end to a great hockey game. Both goaltenders were phenomenal and there was just really nice hockey being played out there.

That sounds great. I'm very happy. It's been a long time coming. It's well deserved.

I've got nothing. I'm out of words right now. In 75 games we did not do this. They just have a couple guys that get under our skin and we were running around taking penalties. It's frustrating.

It went right through the net. The ref said that the net bulged but he wasn't sure whether it was a stick that caused it or not. Their goaltender told our players it went right through the net. That's par for the course the way our luck has been going.

They wanted it more than we did. They played well, they played smart, but we gave them a lot of opportunities.

It was huge for us. It was a very tough series. We have guys with bumps and bruises. There are ice bags all over the locker room. This allows us to get some much needed rest.

Six weeks ago, realistically we were hoping for second thinking Reading was maybe too far gone for first. But we chipped away at it and clawed ourselves back and here we are.

I'm sure the guys will be very excited to see him. Obviously he is a big player and a big part of this team.

I'm really happy with our consistency. We're playing sound hockey. It's a confidence thing. We have our swagger back.

I had him at my son's school. Not only can we count on him to do things that are asked of the team, he goes out and finds other things to do. That just says so much about his professionalism and character.

I just hope they beat each other up. I hope it goes three games and we have a weary hockey team to play.

I don't know if I can come up with enough intelligent words to describe Drew MacIntyre. The confidence he has instilled in the rest of the team is unbelievable. If there is a goalie outside the National Hockey League that is playing as well as him, I'd pay good money to see him.

He's an absolute warrior. He is a gladiator out there.

The Kid Line has speed and tenacity all over the ice.