Tony MacAulay Quotations

We?re going to have to be mentally prepared, as well as physically prepared. We?re trying to look at both departments equally and make sure we?re concentrating on both sides.

Losing the first period 3-1 was an irritating factor to me. We had some chances to score and there were some things that were out of our control. Those are the factors that we want to fight and we will fight. Everyone in the dressing room is going to fight together. We don?t want to accept mediocrity.

Guys are stepping up. Everybody has to chip in. They?re learning and they?re extending themselves for each other. That?s the sign of a team that?s starting to become very cohesive.

He wanted to pull himself. I was not going to him let him do that. He is a fiery guy, a passionate guy. Every one is going to get emotional. He can learn from it. We can't quit. We have to play these guys six more times.

Guys wanted it to be the game-winner. I?m just real happy for Seamus, and so is everybody else. That?s what makes our team come together.

I think it?s there. I don?t think any player in our dressing room is worried about the challenge that?s ahead of us. If we take that framework-- that mindset -- that we?re not scared of anything, we?re going to be fine.

Our top three lines were going. Chris Pittman should have had four goals. We have to build off what we did well. When they do play the system, they look pretty good.

I thought Luke played great. He wanted to come in and make an immediate impact. He?s shown that he wants a job. He breathed some new life into our dressing room.

That was a small bump in the road when considering what others went through.

We were looking forward to the season and we had a lot to be proud of in Beaumont. We had a great summer of recruiting. That part was exciting for me personally and professionally, but I can't dictate what happened in Texas.

We have to learn something from today. Everybody?s going to go in different directions right now, because of how they?re going to accept this loss. But it has to bring us closer together.

We have nowhere to go but up. Everybody realizes that. The quicker we dust ourselves off and start running again, the better our hockey team?s going to be. Are people (ticked) off? Yeah, they?re pretty (ticked) off.

We were right there. We had good enough chances to do it. Guys were in the right spot. We?re playing playoff games now. That was a playoff game.

We have to deal with the hand that we?re dealt. We have to look at it as the glass being half-full. This is a challenge. A lot of times when you?re short, it becomes a time to learn. That?s what we?re hoping is going to happen.

We?re trying to get ourselves motivated to be the best team that we can. That?s really all we?re looking at right now. There?s some things that went well tonight, and we?re not going to discount them by any means.

You have to start periods strong and finish periods strong. All is not lost here. They?re going to continue to keep battling. It?s all part of the learning experience. It?s salt in the wound when you lose, but it?s murder if you don?t learn from it.

Everything?s a turning point now. We?re looking at the halfway mark. It?s more of dealing with what?s on our plate. We don?t want to put too much on our plate right now, because A, we?re going to get indigestion, and B, we?re going to get fat. We don?t want to look at this as getting too good too quickly. We want to digest our food and learn and start to peak at the right times.

Every day this week, before practice or after practice, we talked about what we did last weekend. It was only as a friendly reminder as to what we need to do, almost as if we need a wake-up call every day.

There?s not a big sigh of relief now that we?re in (the playoffs). It?s just another small stepping stone of where we want to be.

You score an empty-net goal and it?s 5-2, it should be done. But they get a third goal. That?s the part that worried me coming into (Sunday). We thought we just did enough. You have to work 60 minutes. We took some things for granted. We were three seconds away from getting a point, and it was a precious point.

It?s a concern of his, because he?s never been hurt like this before. If that stress is there every day, and it?s not being allowed to go away ..he?s doing the best he can. You have to give players like that credit.

It should put added pressure on them. The source of urgency has to come from the decision maker, in me, and it also has to come from within, the dressing room. That urgency has to be addressed and solidified. Not just talked about, but done.

Their body language would have to be different. You still have guys asking questions in a 6-2 hockey game. They?re being men. I have to practice the same thing that I?m preaching, too. There has to be accountability for our actions -- myself and our entire club.

I'm looking forward to keeping my options open.

Can?t give up soft goals. Ever. There?s always one a game. We have to eliminate those.

He took the bull by the horns today. We?re proud of the way he played.