They did a good job of trying to get into my head. I think they accomplished that in the second period.

We're just trying to mature. We've got a lot of freshmen who really don't know what to expect. The coaches are just trying to calm us down and get us on the right track, but jitters are great. That's why you play this game, to have those jitters and have that opportunity to be successful.

It's kind of a double-edged sword. In a way I didn't care, but it kind of hurts knowing the (numbers) you put up and not be respected that way.

This is a different part of the season - different mind-set, different everything. You're not worried about your points anymore. You're not worried about individual achievements. It's more of a team part of the season.

At the beginning of the year, I think we hit our stride pretty well. But getting down the stretch, teams are keying on certain players and that's something you need to adjust to. I think we struggled with that of late, but there's definitely another level we want to get to and I think we're capable of. That's going to have a big impact on how far we go, and we realize that.

Each stick out of the box isn't always the same and you've got to make adjustments. I enjoy that. That's a part of hockey that I like. You take care of your sticks, they'll take care of you. That's the policy that I go by.