Found a few more quotes from the game on Tuesday in various articles/interviews:
- "If you're not ready at this point, in the finals ... it's kind of mind-boggling," said Steve Martinson. "But that's what you saw. We didn't have enough of our guys ready to go with their A game; we were soft tonight."
- "This is a real tough environment," Thunder coach Kevin McClelland said. "You saw that team battle hard; both teams battled hard tonight. At the end, we got the result we were looking for."
- "We did some different things leading up to this series to make sure we were ready to play," Martinson said. "Obviously that didn't work."
- "If we match Wichita's work ethic we are going to be okay," said Todd Robinson.
- "We didn't play physical enough. Our team is a physical team and we passed up a lot of checks which we can't do if we are going to be successful," said Jason Deitsch.
- "We turned the puck over too much," Martinson said. "We were trying to be cute, but this is a good team we are up against, so you have to battle for ice with them and frustrate them by getting traffic to the net."
- "We need to get more pucks and more bodies to the front of the net. As big Luds (aka Craig Ludwig) always says no goalie likes a lot of traffic and a lot of shots and that is what we have to do," said Deitsch.
Goalie play has been a key for these teams getting to the finals as you can't get this far without outstanding goalies. The goalie stats are interesting when you look at the regular season and the playoffs. In the regular season Aaron Dell ranked number one with a GAA of 2.30 while Torrie Jung was ranked seventh with a GAA of 2.66. In the playoffs Torrie Jung is ranked number one with a GAA of 1.42 while Aaron Dell is ranked seventh with a GAA of 2.68. For Jung that equates to giving up just 13 goals in 9 playoff games. I found the article below written by Bob Lutz of the Wichita Eagle (kansas.com) which talks about what is becoming the story of the 2013 playoffs and that is the goalie play of Torrie Jung.
 |
| Torrie Jung leads Wichita to nine straight playoff wins with a 1.42 GAA photo by chlphotos.com |
Bob Lutz: Jung putting Wichita Thunder on his back
Remember how Jonathan Quick got so hot in
the goal during last season’s Stanley Cup playoffs for the Los Angeles
Kings? And how Quick’s dominance helped LA win the Cup and win 16 of 20
playoff games in the process?
Well, a similar thing is happening with the Wichita Thunder and its goalie, Torrie Jung. He’s not just standing on his head in net for the Thunder, who have a chance to go up 2-0 against the Allen Americans on Thursday night in Texas in the CHL finals. Jung is doing cartwheels back there — he’s allowed just 13 goals in nine playoff games.
All nine have resulted in victories.
Jung isn’t pinching himself. He’s not following the same daily routine, fearful that if he steps out of the norm pucks will come crashing in around him. When I talked to him Wednesday he had just finished a casual lunch after the team’s practice and was hanging out with his teammates as they await Game 2.
“I try not to get myself into a specific routine just because I don’t like to be superstitious in any way,’’ said the 24-year-old Jung, in his first season with the Thunder. “I don’t like superstitions and I’ve never been superstitious in any way. I don’t have any superstitions whatsoever.’’
We won’t get into a debate about whether not having superstitions is a superstition itself. We’ll just say Jung is a red-hot goalie, boosted by an air-tight defense and a team that has rolled through the CHL playoffs with nine consecutive victories.
“Everybody seems to have come together at the right time,’’ Jung said. “This is the time of year when you want to peak as a team.’’
Wichita isn’t just peaking, it’s blowing the lid off. The Thunder has outscored opponents 31-13 in the playoffs, consistently scoring three or four goals per game while holding opponents to one or two. Jung has a couple of shutouts and three other games in which he and the Thunder defense have given up just one goal.
In the Stanley Cup playoffs for Los Angeles last season, Quick gave up 1.41 goals per game and had a .946 save percentage. For the Thunder in the CHL playoffs, Jung has allowed 1.42 goals per game and has a save percentage of .941.
“You see it all the time when a goaltender gets in a groove,’’ Thunder coach Kevin McClelland said.
But not like this. This is rare. Jung has put a fort around the Thunder’s goal, as impenetrable as a bank vault.
“I give Torrie a ton of credit for where we are,’’ McClelland said. “(Tuesday) night in our game, he made some unbelievable saves early to keep us in it until our nerves calmed.’’
Jung didn’t become the Thunder’s full-time starter until January, when the goalie he was sharing time with, Kevin Regan, was injured. Regan tried to come back in February, but went down again. Jung has been in the net since and is 33-7-4 as the starter, including the playoffs.
Considering the record of the Laredo Bucks was 49-72-11 the past two seasons, Jung is a pretty happy goalie. He played for the Bucks in 2010-11 and 2011-12 and the team just couldn’t stand up to most offensive attacks.
The Thunder is the best all-around team in the CHL. It scores, it defends and it fights, as evidenced by an end-of-the-game melee with Allen on Tuesday night. Winning Game 1 in a place where Wichita has struggled this season is a major achievement.
Wichita and Allen didn’t meet until Dec. 8 and it was the Thunder’s 22nd game of the season. Since then, the teams have played 10 times, including five times in 20 days from Feb. 9 to March 1. There aren’t a lot of birthday-party invitations being exchanged between players on the squads.
“And then you have the heightened intensity of the playoffs,’’ Jung said. “All together, it brings out emotion. A lot of emotion. It would probably be weird if there weren’t all the chippiness and big hits and yapping after big plays, honestly. That would seem more weird to us. This is just playoff hockey.’’
For now, Jung is slapping aside almost every shot that comes his way. He has 206 saves in the playoffs alone. Good luck, Allen, trying to get anything past him.
- Finally, I wanted to post the latest version of Kevin Young's diary. Kevin is a Thunder defensman (#43) who has been writing a diary for the Thunder fans during the playoffs which I think is a great idea. For those that don't follow stats closely he leads the Thunder in point in the playoffs, was the top point getter among all defensemen in the CHL during the regular season and won the CHL Outstanding Defenseman this year. Here is Kevin's diary entry for yesterday:
Good afternoon Thunder fans and a few of my teammates. What can I say about that game? Let me tell you. We kept to our game plan and it worked out well for us again. Our discipline might have been the best it's been all playoffs. There were some questionable non-calls, but it went both ways so we can't complain there. Our guys really bit our collective lip and forged on. We have been stressing that all year and it's most important now. We play between the whistles and let them do what they want after the play. Our focus is on the game, not the antics.
We had a good skate today. We need to keep our fitness up so we had everybody out there for a good skate. We got the goalies some shots and made sure everybody got their legs going. It's currently 11:30 am and we have the rest of the day to ourselves. Guys will head to different places for lunch. Some will squeeze in a nap, some will go to the outlet mall to pass some time. Hockey should be out of our minds for the rest of the day now.
Things are rolling right now, but as I have said many times during these playoffs. We need to keep an even keel. We enjoyed the win for a few minutes after the game and then it was back to normal. We can't look back or be happy with what we have done and we can't look too far forward. We just need to focus on Game 2 now. Play like we are behind and know that we need and want this win more than them. I'll give you a quick update tomorrow. Mainly who won juice boy ( it was Griffith yesterday and it worked out pretty well for him in the game) and a few words on the attitude of the team.
Well, a similar thing is happening with the Wichita Thunder and its goalie, Torrie Jung. He’s not just standing on his head in net for the Thunder, who have a chance to go up 2-0 against the Allen Americans on Thursday night in Texas in the CHL finals. Jung is doing cartwheels back there — he’s allowed just 13 goals in nine playoff games.
All nine have resulted in victories.
Jung isn’t pinching himself. He’s not following the same daily routine, fearful that if he steps out of the norm pucks will come crashing in around him. When I talked to him Wednesday he had just finished a casual lunch after the team’s practice and was hanging out with his teammates as they await Game 2.
“I try not to get myself into a specific routine just because I don’t like to be superstitious in any way,’’ said the 24-year-old Jung, in his first season with the Thunder. “I don’t like superstitions and I’ve never been superstitious in any way. I don’t have any superstitions whatsoever.’’
We won’t get into a debate about whether not having superstitions is a superstition itself. We’ll just say Jung is a red-hot goalie, boosted by an air-tight defense and a team that has rolled through the CHL playoffs with nine consecutive victories.
“Everybody seems to have come together at the right time,’’ Jung said. “This is the time of year when you want to peak as a team.’’
Wichita isn’t just peaking, it’s blowing the lid off. The Thunder has outscored opponents 31-13 in the playoffs, consistently scoring three or four goals per game while holding opponents to one or two. Jung has a couple of shutouts and three other games in which he and the Thunder defense have given up just one goal.
In the Stanley Cup playoffs for Los Angeles last season, Quick gave up 1.41 goals per game and had a .946 save percentage. For the Thunder in the CHL playoffs, Jung has allowed 1.42 goals per game and has a save percentage of .941.
“You see it all the time when a goaltender gets in a groove,’’ Thunder coach Kevin McClelland said.
But not like this. This is rare. Jung has put a fort around the Thunder’s goal, as impenetrable as a bank vault.
“I give Torrie a ton of credit for where we are,’’ McClelland said. “(Tuesday) night in our game, he made some unbelievable saves early to keep us in it until our nerves calmed.’’
Jung didn’t become the Thunder’s full-time starter until January, when the goalie he was sharing time with, Kevin Regan, was injured. Regan tried to come back in February, but went down again. Jung has been in the net since and is 33-7-4 as the starter, including the playoffs.
Considering the record of the Laredo Bucks was 49-72-11 the past two seasons, Jung is a pretty happy goalie. He played for the Bucks in 2010-11 and 2011-12 and the team just couldn’t stand up to most offensive attacks.
The Thunder is the best all-around team in the CHL. It scores, it defends and it fights, as evidenced by an end-of-the-game melee with Allen on Tuesday night. Winning Game 1 in a place where Wichita has struggled this season is a major achievement.
Wichita and Allen didn’t meet until Dec. 8 and it was the Thunder’s 22nd game of the season. Since then, the teams have played 10 times, including five times in 20 days from Feb. 9 to March 1. There aren’t a lot of birthday-party invitations being exchanged between players on the squads.
“And then you have the heightened intensity of the playoffs,’’ Jung said. “All together, it brings out emotion. A lot of emotion. It would probably be weird if there weren’t all the chippiness and big hits and yapping after big plays, honestly. That would seem more weird to us. This is just playoff hockey.’’
For now, Jung is slapping aside almost every shot that comes his way. He has 206 saves in the playoffs alone. Good luck, Allen, trying to get anything past him.
- Finally, I wanted to post the latest version of Kevin Young's diary. Kevin is a Thunder defensman (#43) who has been writing a diary for the Thunder fans during the playoffs which I think is a great idea. For those that don't follow stats closely he leads the Thunder in point in the playoffs, was the top point getter among all defensemen in the CHL during the regular season and won the CHL Outstanding Defenseman this year. Here is Kevin's diary entry for yesterday:
Good afternoon Thunder fans and a few of my teammates. What can I say about that game? Let me tell you. We kept to our game plan and it worked out well for us again. Our discipline might have been the best it's been all playoffs. There were some questionable non-calls, but it went both ways so we can't complain there. Our guys really bit our collective lip and forged on. We have been stressing that all year and it's most important now. We play between the whistles and let them do what they want after the play. Our focus is on the game, not the antics.
We had a good skate today. We need to keep our fitness up so we had everybody out there for a good skate. We got the goalies some shots and made sure everybody got their legs going. It's currently 11:30 am and we have the rest of the day to ourselves. Guys will head to different places for lunch. Some will squeeze in a nap, some will go to the outlet mall to pass some time. Hockey should be out of our minds for the rest of the day now.
Things are rolling right now, but as I have said many times during these playoffs. We need to keep an even keel. We enjoyed the win for a few minutes after the game and then it was back to normal. We can't look back or be happy with what we have done and we can't look too far forward. We just need to focus on Game 2 now. Play like we are behind and know that we need and want this win more than them. I'll give you a quick update tomorrow. Mainly who won juice boy ( it was Griffith yesterday and it worked out pretty well for him in the game) and a few words on the attitude of the team.
What is "juice boy" you ask? Kevin explained it in one of his earlier diary entries. Most of us and myself included play a game called Juice Boy. We all line up in a semi circle in one end. One player is in the corner and passes the puck to each guy. He takes a shot and then gets another puck to go in on a breakaway for round 1. If you score you're out. For round 2 and any extra round needed after that you only get the one chance to score. When one guy is left he is the Juice Boy and has to bring a cup of gatorade to everybody who participated in the game.
No comments:
Post a Comment