Bruins talk mindset ahead of Robertson Cup Championship

Bruins play Game 1 of a semifinal series against Maryland this Friday in Blaine.

(ABC 6 News) — This week, it’s put up or shut up time for the Austin Bruins as they’re in the Robertson Cup Championship for the first time in 8 years.

The team is fresh off the heels of defeating the St. Cloud Norsemen 2-1 in overtime during Saturday’s Game 4 of the Central Division Finals.

However, this weekend will be the toughest challenge of the season in a best-of-three semifinal series against the Maryland Black Bears.

In talking to ABC 6 Sports Reporter Jose Solis on Tuesday, the team is aware of the circumstances and the razor-thin margin for error. Nevertheless, the squad has faith and resolve in how it has played when times are tough and how their perseverance has led them to three wins away from a national title.

We need to be us,” Head Coach Steve Howard simply put. “We need to play our structure and our system and we need to do it well. It’s a team thing, you know? It really is, to get to this point, you got to be a full team and your depth has to play well and play hard and you’re playing against the guy across from you every single shift and you got to play your part.”

“Oh, yeah, we got a lot of depth,” Bruins forward Josh Giuliani agreed. “It doesn’t matter who we put out, we can trust every single guy on the team and we know that they’re going to put their best foot forward.”

“Honestly, nerves can be a good thing sometimes, gets you a little excited, gets you pumped up,” Bruins defenseman Ashton Bynum conceded. “Just got to learn how to manage those nerves and obviously, I don’t really know how I’m going to feel until I get there. But I’d say I’m ready to go.”

The Bruins and Black Bears play Game 1 on Friday at 7:30 PM at Fogerty Ice Arena in Blaine. Game 2 will be on Saturday at the same time while a potential Game 3 will be on Sunday at 6 PM.

Should the Bruins reach the championship game, that will be on Tuesday, May 23 at 7 PM.