Matvichuk Post Game Comments - 12/8

  Coach Matvichuk conducted the post game press conference after the Americans 3-2 victory over Wichita last night. Here are some of his comments:

- The game was a character win for the team. Everyone played well after the Friday loss.
- These are the type of games you build a team around
- Our guys got in trouble from us as coaches this morning and then had a team meeting by themselves
- Before we hit the ice the coaches told the players the ball was in their court and they responded very well

Other thoughts:

- There were 22 penalties called in the game. I thought Matvichuk had an interesting perspective when asked about all of the penalties. The biggest issue the coaches have is inconsistency in calling penalties but you have to keep in mind the referees are young guys and are in a learning process themselves. Like the players they are trying to improve and move up to other leagues. The coaches would much rather have young guys making mistakes but trying hard than old, part time referees who don't care.
- Being from Minnesota myself I always take a special interest in the players from the land of 10,000 lakes. It was tough to see both of our Minnesota players go down with head injuries. With the CHL policy of mandatory seven day injured reserve for concussion syndrome Brian McMillin will be out for sure. I would expect Mike Montgomery might also go on the mandatory seven day IR after taking a hard head whiplash.
- With all of the injuries new players will have to be signed. Expect Scotty Howes younger brother Andrew to be one of the new players signed. Andrew was the last player cut in training camp and really impressed the coaches. He is a high energy guy that just keeps on going. He has been playing for the Louisiana IceGators (Lafayette, LA) in the Southern Professional Hockey League. If you look in the October archives of the blog you can find a "paired preferences" post that the brothers completed.
- Coach Matvichuk singled out several players during his comments. Jamie Schaafsma played hurt, Garrett Clarke moved up to forward, and Drew Daniels had his best two games of the year this weekend. Matvichuk gave Drew a lot of credit for coming in the coaches office, asking what he needed to do to get more ice time and going out and doing it on the ice 100%.