Matt Thomas postgame quotes.

Thoughts on the series:
You saw it go all the way down right to Game 7. You’d think a 4-1 lead — no lead was safe in the series. It shows that both teams were focused. The desire level was probably like it was a championship series. I think both teams, really, if you look back at it, didn’t play great defensively, because I don’t think you can give up as many goals as we gave up in the series to each team, but I also think both teams — Kraus’ goal is one of the prettiest goals. They scored the goal last night, I forget which it was, but there were some pretty goals. For a young team too, with the amount of young guys up front, they’re a talented group. That’s a really good team we just beat. At the end of the day, I think we might have got the lucky bounces. And that ends up being the difference.

Did you see interference on Geoff Walker’s goal that was called back?
I didn’t see it originally. On the replay, there’s definitely contact. Our guy is trying to get back into the play, gets knocked down. I don’t really. (The interference) wasn’t what sprung them (to score the goal). The new standard is, any interference — impeding is the word — impede any player’s forward progress, and you’re subject to a penalty. I think at the end of the day that is the new standard.

Did you hear a whistle prior to the goal being scored?
I thought I heard the whistle. There was a few times in there that I didn’t hear whistles, but I looked over, and I think the whistles were blown. It went that way. Without looking at the video, I can’t comment.

Looking forward to playing Las Vegas?
I’m just looking forward to still playing. I think we’re the lucky ones. That’s it. We just had a little more luck on our side. Any time you can beat a team that’s that good a team, you have to have luck on your side. We got some bounces early in the game that ended up being the difference, obviously.

This entry was posted in Ontario Reign/ECHL by J.P. Hoornstra. Bookmark the permalink.

About J.P. Hoornstra

J.P. Hoornstra covers the Dodgers, Angels and Major League Baseball for the Orange County Register, Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, Torrance Daily Breeze, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News, San Bernardino Sun, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Whittier Daily News and Redlands Daily Facts. Before taking the beat in 2012, J.P. covered the NHL for four years. UCLA gave him a degree once upon a time; when he graduated on schedule, he missed getting Arnold Schwarzenegger's autograph on his diploma by five months.