Both Ontario Reign Insider and Mayor’s Manor have already posted almost complete quotes from Tuesday’s OT victory over the Texas Stars. But here are some delectable leftovers, including Stothers staring down a certain JFTC reporter (I think he was having fun!) and Dowd’s junk food of choice:
Stothers, to the JFTC reporter who suggested last weekend that he should consider playing backup Michael Houser at some point this week:
Geez, I’m glad I didn’t make a goaltending change. (Stothers stares at JFTC reporter) It was thrown out there the other day, but I’m really glad that I didn’t give it much consideration. (JFTC: Well, I was thinking more of in the back-to-back…) [Budaj was tonight’s] third star. (JFTC: He was great tonight, for sure.)
Budaj, on how he reset after a tough weekend:
I think with age, you kind of turn it off. We just try to enjoy our time. I enjoy my time with my family, my kids, my wife. Kind of just hang out and not think about the game…I think the guys were kind of squeezing their sticks too hard last few games. And tonight, we played really well.
Dowd, on if he’s noticed his ice time increase in Newbury’s absence:
Yeah, a little bit. Obviously, Newbs is a great player. He’s good on faceoffs, responsible, and obviously, he can score goals, which is great. But I think we have enough guys, with Army up too. I think he’s been playing really well for the situation he’s been thrown into. So I think that helps a lot. But you know, I’m never going to complain about ice time. That’s the last thing I’d ever do. Everyone wants to play more.
Dowd, on his junk food of choice:
Mine? You know what, I’m actually a pretty healthy guy. I do love chocolate-covered almonds though. Those are like my thing. I get those at Sprouts. Those are good.
Gravel, on the aggressiveness of the Stars compared to other teams they’ve faced:
They’re skilled. Their forward group is very good. And their D, they’ve got some skilled guys back on the backend. Like I said, they’re probably one of the better transition teams that we’ve played. We turn the puck over in our neutral zone…they’re back the other way, all five guys are coming quick. We knew that going into it. We try to limit it as much as we could. But you know what? They got a good team. They’re going to get their opportunities. They did. Buds played outstanding for us tonight. And when it came down to it, we had one more goal.