Max Coatta: “Every game has been tough, but winning that 4th one is going to be the hardest”

Max, congratulations on your third win in the final series. What has been the key factor for your teams consistent performance in the finals?
“It's a lot of things. I think just the group sticking together, through all three games we've played so far, there's been good moments in the game and also not so good moments in the game. And I think the group just staying positive and sticking together has been huge for us.”

You personally had nine playoff games without a single goal, which was your longest cold-streak the entire season. In your 10th playoff game - it was game five in the semis - you scored your first AHL playoff goal. This was the start of a five game goal-scoring-streak. How is it possible, that a "hot-scoring" streak and a "cold-streak" are so close together?
“I think when you go through cold streaks you got to take a look at your game, see if you're doing the right things or not. Sometimes you just need to keep shooting and eventually it's going in. I think the group really helped. It´s nice to be scoring again and helping contribute to the team.”

With Ritten now just one win away from clinching the title after leading the series 3:0, how do you prepare mentally and physically for what could be the decisive game against a formidable opponent like Cortina?
“Every game has been close. Every game has been tough, but winning that 4th one is going to be the hardest. This has been our goal throughout the whole season. We're going to be ready and give everything we have to win on Thursday night but we know Cortina is going to be ready to play hard. So we need to play our game and focus on ourselves.”

Each game in this series has been highly competitive, as you already mentioned. Can you share how the team's strategy or your personal approach changes when facing the pressure of potentially closing out the series?
“I think we've had a lot of pressure throughout this playoffs. A big thing is that we've talked about is not get too high, not get too low and Thursday night we have to remember that. There's obviously a lot on the line but we have to stick to our game plan.”

Looking back at the games against Cortina, both in the regular season and now in the finals, you personally have had significant success, scoring at least one scorer-point in all seven games. That's 6 goals, and 5 assists in total only against Cortina this season. To what do you attribute this effectiveness against Cortina specifically?
“Personally you just try to bring your best game every night. Our team has been doing a great job. We've had a lot of games against Cortina, a lot of close ones.”

Reflecting on the journey from the regular season through the playoffs to now, how has the team evolved, and what lessons learned will you be taking into what could be the final game of the series?
“We obviously had a good regular season and I think the group has grown a lot throughout these seven and a half months. We've had a lot of pressure throughout the playoffs and I think that you definitely learn about yourself and learn about your group and one thing about this group is we're very close and guys care about each other and I think that's huge in playoff time.”

For you, it would be the first league-title on pro-level. What would that mean to you personally?
“Yeah, it would mean a lot. Every time you start a season you have goals and desires to be the league champion. This group that we've had throughout the year, I've always believed in them that it's something that we can do and we're solely focused on doing that and it would mean a lot to me and it would mean a lot to the guys in that room, so we're looking forward to it.”

Watch final four between S.G. Cortina Hafro and the Rittner Buam SkyAlps on Thursday from 20:30 live on valcome.tv.

Copyright: Max Pattis