Coach Lucia Discusses The First Half Of The Season
The Gophers are 14-5-1 overall and 11-3-0 in the WCHA at the winter break. They are tied for first in the league and ranked No. 2 in the nation. We recently talked with coach Don Lucia about this year’s team, exceeding expectations and what player has turned his head this year. We asked him a bunch of other questions too.
GopherSports: At the end of Last season, you said you felt the team was close to returning to form despite the disappointing end to the year. Is this year’s team where you thought it would be or have they exceeded your expectations?
Don Lucia: I just felt when the season ended last year that we had a good second half run and had been playing pretty good hockey. Had we not faltered in that first round we would have been an NCAA tournament team and been on to the Final Five and done many of the things we had hoped to do during the course of the season. That weekend kind of left a stain for everybody.
I thought we had a chance to be a good team this year. I can’t sit here and say that when the year began–looking at our schedule and knowing how young we were going to be in certain places–that we were going to be 11-3-0 in the WCHA. But that is a credit to our players and how hard they have worked and what a good team they have become.
GS: Coming into the season, a lot of people thought scoring would be a concern, but the Gophers have the second highest scoring offense in the nation. Were you as concerned as everyone else or did you think Minnesota would be able to score?
DL: It is always a concern and I think that is something that has held us back the last few years. We were not a high scoring team and could never get a timely goal or a separation goal when we needed it. I did not anticipate that we would be sitting here with Nick Bjugstad having 16 goals and Kyle Rau having 12 goals at the halfway point. Those two have gone a long way in helping alleviate some of our scoring concerns.
Then we did not have Zach Budish last year and I also think our freshmen have been complimentary pieces. Sophomores Nick Bjugstad, Erik Haula and Nate Condon have really taken another step forward in how they have played this year. It has also helped to get Taylor Matson back, who we did not have at the end of last year for the third straight year. That has made a difference. Then on the backend, a guy like Nate Schmidt has really emerged and played really well this year.
GS: You mentioned Nate Schmidt, who has 20 assists in 20 games this year. What do you attribute his breakout season to considering he played sparingly last year?
DL: He has shown a swagger this year that we never saw last year. I think last year probably in many ways was a humbling experience for him. He learned the value of how hard you have to work on and off the ice. Off the ice, he is in a lot better shape and leaned himself out. When the year began, we told him that he was going to be one of our top five defensemen and that we needed him to play with confidence. We told him that he was going to have to play himself out of a job and not into a job. He settled in and knew he was going to be on one of the power plays. He has done a nice job in every situation he has been in so far.
