Frozen Four Preview: What Penn State, Boston U. Said Before Their Game in St. Louis

Nittany Lions coach Guy Gadowsky and Terriers coach Jay Pandolfo break down their NCAA Tournament semifinal game.

The Penn State Nittany Lions celebrate a goal in the second period against Michigan in the Big Ten Hockey Tournament. | Brian Bradshaw Sevald-Imagn Images

Before facing off in the NCAA Frozen Four, Penn State hockey coach Guy Gadowsky and Boston University coach Jay Pandolfo discussed the first game between the teams. Penn State and BU will meet at 8:30 p.m. ET Thursday at St. Louis' Enterprise Center in the second game of a Frozen Four doubleheader.

Penn State is the Frozen Four newcomer, making its first appearance in four NCAA Tournament trips. BU, meanwhile, is making its 25th Frozen Four appearance, having won the national title five times, most recently in 2009. Here's how the coaches previewed their semifinal game.

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Penn State Coach Guy Gadowsky

On doubting whether Penn State would ever make the Frozen Four: I don't think anybody had any doubts. It's Penn State and they've proved to be pretty successful athletically. The support that our administration gives all student-athletes is extreme, so I think everybody thought it would happen. Jumping into the Big Ten and that conference earlier than we were supposed to was a little bit daunting, but that's why you have guys that don't mind that challenge and they're the ones who built the foundation for this to happen.

On playing BU: No matter what way you slice it, you're going to face a very good team who's hot. We like to put ourselves in that category as well. That's not anything surprising. We expect that of anybody we play this time of year so the focus is on us. It has been throughout this whole run that these guys refocused themselves to be successful. Nothing has changed. We're keeping it about us.

On treating this like a normal game: We've been in playoff mode for a pretty long time here, so we believe that our routine has worked so why change? We know what's at stake but it's business as usual and that message really came from the leadership group, not necessarily the coaching staff. I think it's a good one. It's consistent with what we do, so don't see a reason to change.

On the last 10 days: It's been fun. I think any time a program does anything that's the first I think it's special. I think they're very proud of where they came from, as we mentioned starting winless in the first nine Big Ten games so going to the Frozen Four is pretty special. I think they always had Faith in themselves but the fact that they did it makes them feel really good.

That said, there's a lot more media. We knew about it, I think our [strategic communications] department has done a really good job to try to get us to take care of as much as we could last week so we did that and focus more on the task at hand this week. The guys have a great time just competing with each other on the ice, but off the ice as well. There's a lot of competes and ping-pong, darts, you name it. They just love that stuff.

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Boston University coach Jay Pandolfo

On believing in his team after a 7-5 loss to Yale in December: I think I would have said that I still have plenty of belief in this group because of the players that we have, the players that have been here. I think sometimes it's good for a team to go through the adversity we've went through this year, as long as you learn from it. And I think we have, in a lot of different moments. Right after the game maybe if you asked me, I would have said something different, but knowing these players that we have, I'd say, yeah, we'll find a way.

On goaltender Mikhail Yegorov: He had an immediate impact for us the first game we threw him in. He got right to the ice and got a penalty before we even started the game. But yeah, he just has a presence in the net. He's got an infectious personality off the ice where day one I think these guys understood what type of kid he was, how much he cared, how grateful he was for the opportunity, all those things. He fit right in with our group, and then they realized how good a goaltender he was and how accountable he was at the goaltender position for our team was really important.

ON BU's improved penalty kill in the season's second half: First half of the season, we were taking way too many penalties, probably averaging five or six a night, and having to kill that many off, it's going to wear your team down. You're going to end up getting scored on if you're taking that many penalties night in and night out. I thought we were a little too passive the first half of the season where we'd kind of sit in and let the power play kind of buzz around our zone, and we weren't clearing plays and killing plays quick enough.

We made an adjustment in the second half to get more aggressive on the penalty kill, and it's helped us. I think it helps our team; it helps the way our guys play. It's a more fun way to kill. You're going to give us some chances here and there, and that's where you need your goaltender to step in, and Big Mike's been really good in the penalty kill for us, too. So, I think all those factors combined is the reason it's been so much better.