“I think overall our special teams is an area where, while seeing some good things, we are not getting the results that we want. We have given up four more power plays overall to our opponents and that is four more chances for the other team. We are minus one in the shorthand department and that is thing we must fix. We have been penalized 32 times compared to our opponents that have been penalized 17 times. We need to minimize the chances on the penalty kill and start capitalizing on the power play. That is an area we are looking to improve on this weekend.”

      Statistically, the Golden Flashes have had little success on the power play netting a pair of goals on 19 special teams’ opportunities (10.5%), while allowing opponents to tally seven goals during 23 power play, earning a 69.6% on the penalty kill.

     “I was explaining it to my guys that if you take eight minors in a game, and are on the penalty kill eight times, even if you kill 80% you are still giving up a goal and a half a game. You are starting the game almost down two to nothing.”

     “Right now, our goals against average is at 3.75. If we clean up our penalties that is going to automatically drop. If we raise up our power play percentage 10-15 points, our 2.25 goals for is going to go up to three and we have closed the gap.”

     “We have spent this entire week with a focus on the defensive zone. We have worked on the details of where skates and stick positioning need to be in the d-zone and communication that is involved to properly defend. Once we defend as a group of five, then we can create turnovers. How we transition to offense starting in our defensive zone has been a focus going into the weekend.”

     “We are only four games in, but we are on the verge of a full 60-minute game, but we’re not quite there yet. We are still a young team and learning how to compete. There are moments where we have strung a couple of periods together, maybe a large chunk of a period of good hockey, but we have taken a step back by taking a couple of shifts off. Some of those minutes have come back to haunt us.”

     “A great example was when we were up 3-0 over Syracuse on home ice and the last 10 minutes (of the third period) we kind of took off and they tied it 3-3 and we had to win it in overtime.”

     “At our level if you take one shift off, there is a high percentage that the puck will end up on the back of our net.”

     Underwood is challenging his team to play “six complete periods” in the upcoming weekend series against Toledo with special attention to the opening frame.

     “Our focus in on the first period. If you get behind early in the first period, it changes the opponents swagger and our mindset a little bit. Now you’re playing catch-up and guys start gripping their sticks a little harder. We have to learn that we need to put ourselves in a position that, going into the second period, we have the lead or are, at least, tied.”

     “Every year I am a firm believer that the expectations of our freshmen are low. That’s by design. (We) haven’t had them for a year, they are coming straight out of junior or travel hockey and there is a learning curve. At this point, I would say that we have a handful of freshmen that, collectively as group, are exceeding our expectations. Three out of our five top scorers are freshmen.

     “They are all seeing different situations on the ice that necessarily wouldn’t be granted to all freshmen. We have some on the power play, on the penalty kill and touching the ice in critical times of the game. They have done a phenomenal job and believe in the process. They are improving every single day.”

    “While this doesn’t speak to what is (happening) on the ice, it is definitely a wonderful experience. We are live broadcasting our games in a partnership with our School of Journalism and Mass Communications. There is a group of nine students getting real world work experience. We have announcers, producers and camera operators. We believe it has taken our program to another level of professionalism and believe it will help recruit students to that school program and players to our program. It’s an observation that can’t go unnoticed.”

    “None of this would be possible without the generous donation of Steve Albert.”

    Albert, now retired from an impressive professional broadcasting career, is a Kent State University alumnus. Albert’s announcing career expanded over 45 years and included play-by-play stints with the New Jersey Nets and Phoenix Suns among others.

     <> After hosting the Toledo Rockets on Friday at Kent State Ice Arena, the teams will play in Toledo at the Ice House on Saturday. Both matches start at 7:30 PM.

     <> Toledo has split their opening six games (3-3) and have allowed an average of 6.67 goals per game

     <> Freshman Ian Rapp (Waterville, Ohio) leads the Rockets in scoring with an impressive 2.33 points per game average. Rapp has netted six goals and earned eight assists.

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