0:03 This is The Gopher Puck Live Podcast, episode number ten, recorded December 6th, 2011. 0:20 Welcome to the GPL Podcast, along with Hammy and Ryan Cardinal. 0:25 I'm your host, Jupiter. 0:27 Just a reminder, we record these podcasts on Tuesday nights, around 9.30 or so, usually just a little bit after. 0:33 And if you head over to the GPL Podcast page, at that time, you can listen to us live as we record the podcast. 0:40 And that allows us to take your questions via Twitter, you know, at Gopher Puck Live, or via email at podcast.gopherpucklive.com. 0:48 So, tune in if you can. 0:51 Well, let's get right to this, gentlemen. 0:53 The Gophers sweep the visiting Mavericks from Mankato, but Hammey, it was not that easy, was it? 1:00 No. 1:00 I mean, you know, and I can't say that when I think about it, you know, Mankato is getting healthier. 1:07 I think that, you know, after watching them this weekend and, you know, being able to see two games, granted, the Saturday game was a mess because of the refs, but, you know, they're, I think, going to be a better team. 1:16 And you want the Gophers to kind of take care of business a little bit more, given we were first place, and I think what, going into this series, were they in last place or close to it? 1:25 But I think that their record in there, you know, is a little bit deceiving. 1:29 And, you know, that Saturday game was just a total mess. 1:33 I'm sure we'll get into some of that in a little bit. 1:35 But all in all, I guess you can't complain too much about two wins. 1:40 They did what they were supposed to do. 1:41 And I honestly thought it would be a tougher series, and it kind of looked on paper. 1:45 So all in all, I guess it's not a bad thing to come out of the weekend with four points. 1:51 Yeah, I mean, not too much more to add. 1:53 I mean, I think, you know, you saw Minnesota State play the Gophers kind of the same way that Wisconsin and North Dakota did where, you know, they're not going to like St. 2:00 Cloud, you know, try to run and gun with them and try to outscore them. 2:03 But it was more of, you know, stack guys across the blue line force them to dump the puck in and make them go get it. 2:08 And, you know, to their credit, they executed that pretty well. 2:11 I mean, they made it tougher for the Gophers to get a lot of offensive flow going. 2:14 And, you know, you saw the Gophers kind of bottled up to a degree. 2:17 You know, it seemed like on Saturday night they were going to kind of run away with things once they got out to the 3-0 lead. 2:22 But, you know, like Hammey said, the refs, and again, both ways, not just against the Gophers. 2:26 You know, that game was a complete cluster due to some pretty poor officiating. 2:30 But yeah, like I said, I mean, give them Mavericks credit. 2:32 They've been, you know, kind of a thorn in the Gopher side. 2:34 I mean, ever since that playoff series up until then, the Gophers had really dominated them. 2:38 And, you know, obviously the Gophers came out ahead in that playoff series three or four years ago, whatever it was now. 2:43 But since then, I mean, Mankato has played them tough, whether the Gophers are really good like they are this year or whether it's been some of the more downtrodden Gopher teams that we've seen over the last couple years as well. 2:53 So, yeah, but Mankato, I mean, like Ami said, they're going to get a little bit healthier. 2:57 And, you know, just with that brand of hockey they play, if they get the goaltending, you know, they can be a little bit tough. 3:02 But, yeah, all in all, I mean, you can't complain getting four points at home. 3:06 Well, let's get to the refereeing. 3:08 I mean, there were calls that were pretty borderline. 3:11 Then there were makeup calls that were just as bad. 3:15 It seems like the refs were almost competing against each other to see how bad they could be. 3:22 You know, obviously, Coach Lucia was not very happy Saturday night. 3:27 I just happened to be, you know, shooting, you know, from the photo box between the benches on the third period. 3:33 And he, let's just say he was very salty with his language. 3:37 And he was just not a happy camper. 3:42 Well, I mean, the whole weekend, I mean, I didn't think Friday was, you know, badly refed. 3:47 I mean, the only thing that really bothered me that night was Mankato's second goal. 3:50 And Marshall tried to clear the puck and they kicked it down. 3:54 But then LaFontaine, right after, just kind of tripped him from behind. 3:58 And of course, that created all that advantage and that big pile up in front of the net and whatever. 4:02 But all in all, I didn't think Friday was, you know, all that bad as far as roughing goes. 4:07 But Saturday was a total joke. 4:09 I mean, like Ryan said, it wasn't just against the Gophers. 4:15 It was both ways. 4:16 I didn't really pay a lot of attention to the ones on Mankato. 4:19 But the goalie interference, like, for instance, on Bukstad in the first, I mean, he got checked into the goalie before he even touched him. 4:27 So that's a joke. 4:29 You got Larson for a hold where Door basically stops right in front of him. 4:33 And Larson's going full blast. 4:34 Well, what the hell is the guy supposed to do? 4:36 He didn't tackle him, for god's sakes. 4:38 He was just trying to get out of the way. 4:41 You have Ben Marshall for interference. 4:43 I mean, Wu brought it up in the broadcast. 4:44 And him with common sense could tell you he wasn't trying to interfere with the guy. 4:49 Raul for roughing in the third. 4:51 I mean, all he did was give him a hard check. 4:53 There was no shot. 4:54 It was shoulder to shoulder. 4:56 I didn't hit him in the head. 4:57 I mean, the slash that Hanson gave right afterwards, that was legit. 5:00 I mean, that was a stupid play by Hanson. 5:02 But, you know, roughing on all for a good check, calling Raul for embellishment on a cross check. 5:09 I mean, give me a break. 5:10 I don't know what the hell Adam and this other ref were looking at. 5:13 And I don't honestly, for some of these checks, I don't know what is legitimate anymore. 5:17 I mean, when I saw the two checks, like Raul and all being called for, I'm like, you know, I think Hankinson said on the broadcast a few years ago, you know, that wouldn't even be a penalty. 5:27 So nowadays, I don't even have an idea, unless it's something directly to the head. 5:30 I just don't have a clue anymore what a good check is. 5:33 Well, you know, the Raul check, you know, that was close to the board, well, it wasn't close to the board. 5:37 I thought it was a good check. 5:39 I do believe the referee Walsh called that. 5:42 And it was kind of scary at first because they were discussing it for a long time. 5:49 I seriously wonder if he wanted to call something like a five minute on that when I'm thinking that Don Adam might have talked him out of it because they were talking awfully long on that penalty and I couldn't even believe it was a penalty. 6:05 Well, I don't disagree. 6:06 I don't know how Ryan feels about it. 6:08 I just thought it looked like the replay shoulder to shoulder. 6:11 And granted, we have the benefit of replay. 6:13 Refs don't. 6:15 But I just don't know what a good check is anymore. 6:18 I mean, those two checks that got called, I'm like, it wasn't like it was an elbow. 6:23 It wasn't like there was a shot to the head. 6:25 I just, I mean, what's a hard check anymore? 6:28 What's a hard clean check? 6:29 I don't know. 6:30 Yeah, I mean, I thought the same thing on the one that Saratori got called for in the first period. 6:34 I mean, you watch NHL games or, you know, and he hit the guy hard and Saratori hits guys hard. 6:39 I'm sorry. 6:40 That's what he does. 6:40 And I mean, he got called right away. 6:42 Even that one, it seemed like they're almost debating it. 6:44 And again, he just hit the guy hard against the glass. 6:46 And yeah, when he hits guys, it's going to be loud. 6:48 And I don't know if that influenced it or what. 6:50 But, you know, like we talked about, what was it the North Dakota series, just the inconsistency on things. 6:55 I mean, I'm fine if you want to be tiki-tack or whatever for a series, if that's just how ref A and ref B want to be. 7:01 But it's just the inconsistency where some things get called and other things don't. 7:05 And it's just all over the map. 7:07 And again, it's, you know, I didn't buy into the whole WCHA ref freezer garbage thing, mainly because it started from Grand Forks and I usually go the other way, whatever those people think. 7:15 But I'm totally on board with that now after the last few years. 7:18 I mean, it's getting worse by the weekend, it almost seems. 7:21 And again, it's not just because it impacts the Gophers in this particular case. 7:25 There was stuff on Mankato that I don't think should have been called. 7:27 So, yeah, I mean, it kind of wrecked the game and made there's no flow and constant special teams playing. 7:35 It just made for the product really poor when it definitely wasn't a game that was out of hand or something like that, where there needs to be a lot of stuff called or guys taking big time runs at each other or something like that, where it's like, OK, I can understand why there's been a lot of penalties. 7:47 So again, it just kind of ruined the game on Saturday night and made it borderline unwatchable. 7:52 And hopefully, from a Gopher standpoint, we don't have that crew again anytime soon. 7:57 Well, it was definitely entertaining for me being in the photo box in that third period, because when I went back and watched it on television, FSN didn't really do justice to how mad Don Lucia was. 8:08 So that may have been a good thing, I guess. 8:12 So beyond that, oh wait, go ahead. 8:14 I was going to say, you know that Friday, the tying goal that, you know, there's a big pile up in front of the net. 8:19 I saw a lot of Gopher fans online, you know, complaining that that was a, you know, that shouldn't have counted or whatever. 8:25 But honestly, if you look at the replay of that play, Buxtad checked the Mankato player, Enda Patterson, and that was a legit, you know, non-call. 8:35 Well, I would agree with that. 8:37 I, you know, at first when you see her, you're kind of like, oh, that was kind of strange. 8:40 But, you know, it was pretty clear that he checked him. 8:43 It altered his trajectory. 8:45 He went into the goalie. 8:47 Patterson didn't get up. 8:48 It was a legit goal. 8:50 I completely agree with you there. 8:52 But to me, the irony of it is that Buxtad, the next night, gets the goalie interference penalty in the first period. 8:58 And I swear to God, if you look at the replay, he didn't even touch the goalie until he got checked into him. 9:04 I mean, he was a good two feet away before he got checked in on him. 9:06 And it's like, how do you interfere with the goalie when you're checked? 9:09 I mean, how is it one night it's not a penalty or not, you know, it's a non-call the next day you're given a penalty. 9:15 It's like, it's like Ryan saying, there's no consistency at all. 9:20 So beyond the bad reffing, mostly on Saturday night, are there any players for the Gophers that stood up for you or any players that disappointed you on the weekend? 9:29 I, you know, we've kind of ragged on them a little bit, but I actually thought Ambrose had a relatively solid weekend. 9:35 I mean, when you consider that, you know, it was Mankato's pretty penalized team and so are the Gophers. 9:42 And, you know, he only had the one minor for the weekend, which is, you know, pretty good for him, the way he's been kind of taking penalties. 9:48 And, you know, he got a goal and assist on Saturday night. 9:51 He's contributing. 9:52 And I like the way that he's played, you know, around the net and, you know, maybe he's adjusting a little bit better to the college game. 10:00 So I thought that, you know, for all the grief we've kind of given him, you know, that he does for a little bit of props for how he played this weekend. 10:07 Yeah. 10:07 And I'll go with Ben Marshall. 10:09 And especially on Friday night, I know, I mean, he drew a couple of penalties and, you know, it seemed like the team on Friday night in general, and maybe it's just a byproduct of how Mankato was playing them. 10:17 But they just were taking everything wide and he'd pull into the zone and do that Gino Geiger thing where they just pull up and, you know, they weren't driving to the net like they need to. 10:24 And you saw Marshall do that a couple of times on the, you know, the left side there. 10:28 And I think it was once during the first period and then again during the third, and he drew a penalty both times. 10:32 And, you know, like, you know, I asked Lucia about it after the game, because he really, you know, stood out to me. 10:36 And I like the term Lucia user. 10:38 He said he had a lot of dash to his game. 10:39 I think that's a great way to put it, just, you know, even in his own end, where he can, you know, kind of do pirouettes and spin out of trouble and, you know, start the breakout or, you know, just get around that first four checker. 10:48 And maybe it's, you know, part of it, too, is we haven't had a guy like that in so long. 10:52 You know, I think people on GPL have kind of said he's, you know, kind of what we thought Aaron Ness would be. 10:56 And we just never saw that, you know, electricity of, for lack of a better term, out of Ness. 11:00 But with Marshall, you get it every night. 11:02 And, you know he hadn't won an assist on the weekend. 11:04 He was a plus one both nights. 11:05 So again, like Hamme alluded to a few weeks ago, the points aren't really, you know, coming a lot for him. 11:10 Like maybe we thought they wouldn't. 11:11 Part of that's due to Nate Schmidt really stepping up and, you know, quarterbacking in the top power play unit. 11:16 When maybe there was some thought that Marshall could be that guy before Schmidt really emerged. 11:20 But yeah, I think Marshall in the back end, and I think, you know, he's a smaller guy and maybe you worry a little bit about, you know, the second half of the year being a freshman and maybe worrying out a little bit. 11:28 But I think with his skating and just, you know, his hockey sense in general, I think, you know, big things from him to come both in the second half of this year and down the road as well. 11:36 I think that he's a lot better defensively than some of the fans even credit for him. 11:41 I mean, you know, he's made some mistakes. 11:42 And I mean, we all remember like when he got burned in Duluth. 11:45 And, you know, like I said, the one Saturday, he got tripped from behind. 11:49 There was nothing to make it. 11:50 I mean, granted, he should have cleared the puck and a few other guys probably should have cleared it before him. 11:54 But I think that he's more solid defensively than he gets credit for. 11:59 I think that it's just that the few mistakes he has made has been a little bit more, you know, ended up in the back of the net kind of so. 12:06 But I like how he plays overall. 12:08 And I, you know, I talked to you guys about this last week defensively. 12:12 I mean, how many odd man rushes or breakaways did you give away? 12:16 I was just thinking about that, too. 12:18 You know, what was it, like four or five or something? 12:20 It was pretty lopsided, and you know, I mean, what was it at the end of the Saturday game? 12:26 It was, wasn't there a three on one? 12:28 Yes. 12:28 Oh my gosh. 12:30 Yeah. 12:31 And this is where I get back to, there's times that we need to be a little bit more conservative defensively, because, you know, when you're ahead, you're protecting a one goal lead, you're not trying to really, you know, blast one from the point on a one-timer, you know, with less than a minute left in this, you know, on the game on Saturday. 12:49 And that, of course, he fans on and ends up being a three on one the other way. 12:52 I mean, that's the kind of crap that just annoys the hell out of me. 12:56 And Hull got, you know, he gave up one bad one that I think it was that night, you know. 13:03 These guys need to be a little bit more intelligent about when they're doing these things. 13:07 And, you know, we gave up, you know, we're very, very aggressive on the power play. 13:13 I mean, I noticed watching the game on Saturday just how low, you know, four of our guys are just way low. 13:20 I mean, they're basically circles on down. 13:23 And I'm like, it's no wonder, you know, you get some of these breakaways or odd man rushes and short handed when you're playing that aggressively. 13:30 And I just think that they need to be a little bit more careful with some of that stuff. 13:36 Well beyond that, do you guys have anything else on the weekend? 13:39 Four points is good. 13:40 I mean, that's the bottom line, I guess. 13:44 It's hard to say much. 13:46 I mean, other than the refs were such a big part of the Saturday game. 13:52 What do you take away from it? 13:53 I mean, we started off pretty good and then the refs kind of take over so you don't really know. 14:00 When it comes to a special teams game, it's a little bit difficult to judge. 14:05 Yep. 14:06 Well, elsewhere in the WCHA, we had Duluth head to Michigan Tech and they swept the Huskies. 14:14 Ryan, any thoughts on that series? 14:17 No. 14:18 I mean, both games were tight and you know, you kind of Michigan Tech, we'll talk about them obviously in a little bit with them coming out in Mariucci this weekend but kind of the book on them so far has been a little bit tougher at home and they've been on the road and you know, they kind of lived up to that this weekend. 14:30 Both the games were pretty close and but Duluth, again, they're on fire. 14:34 They haven't lost since the Gopher Series against what, 12 game unbeaten streak and you know, they're the hottest team in the country right now and they continued it last weekend against Tech. 14:42 So what's the first of four straight series on the road for them and so far so good. 14:49 Yeah, I mean, there's nothing I could really add to that. 14:50 I mean, you have to tip your hat to UMD. 14:52 They played well on the road this last weekend and you know, they did what they had to do. 14:57 I mean, Tech has generally been solid but you know, I think that they just don't quite have the offense yet to kind of keep up with teams like Duluth and hopefully this will, you know, this next weekend they'll have difficulty with us here at Mariucci. 15:13 Then we have Bemidji taking three points from St. 15:18 Cloud. 15:19 I was a little surprised by that. 15:20 What about you, Ami? 15:22 Yeah, I mean, I was very surprised by it. 15:25 I, you know, Bemidji hasn't exactly been a, you know, goal scoring machine and then all of a sudden they put six up on the board against St. 15:31 Cloud on Friday. 15:32 And then they kind of had a more of a grinded out win on Saturday. 15:36 And I watched some of the Saturday game and, you know, St. 15:41 Cloud is a hard team to figure out. 15:42 I mean, they, you know, part of it, you kind of think, I didn't see the Friday game, so I don't, I can't really particularly judge. 15:49 But, you know, you wonder how much of it is, you know, Farreger kind of coming down to earth a little bit, not playing, you know, like he was early on. 15:58 And how much of it is just defensive lapses? 16:01 You know, I'm sure it's a combination of the two, but yeah, it's very surprising to see Bemidji go in there and take three points from St. 16:08 Cloud. 16:08 St. 16:08 Cloud had been undefeated, I think, going into the weekend at home. 16:12 So props to Bemidji for that performance. 16:16 Yeah, I mean, to see, you know, Farreger, obviously we saw, he did against the Gophers, especially, I mean, obviously the Gophers lit him up on that Saturday night, but, you know, he was awesome that Friday night up there. 16:25 And, you know, we all know about him going up to North Dakota in his first start and shutting them out. 16:28 And he's been really good for him. 16:30 But, you know, he, you know, the Rose might be off that, you know, the Blue might be off that Rose a little bit, considering what they've done. 16:36 And, you know, also, you can't underestimate the loss of LeBlanc. 16:39 I mean, he was a point per game guy, senior captain. 16:42 And, you know, their offense looked fighting against the Gophers for the most part. 16:45 I mean, again, Saturday night, not good, but, you know, that's a tough, you know, when you're, you know, lose a senior like that, it's a tough thing to replace, and you can maybe cover it up for a little while. 16:54 But, you know, the deeper into the year it gets, the tougher it is to, you know, kind of cover up those key injuries. 16:59 So, yeah, that's definitely a tough weekend home for St. 17:01 Cloud. 17:02 It just seems defensively as a team. 17:05 Motzko's teams, for whatever reason, if their goalie's not playing out of their skull, they just seem to have problems. 17:11 I mean, they've never really been, I think, a real solid defensive team. 17:15 So, I mean, I guess they can't, if your goalie's not playing as well as Farreger was early on, they're going to give up some goals. 17:23 And we have Denver at CC, and CC wins in overtime with a penalty shot, which was definitely a highlight real goal. 17:32 I didn't see the call that caused the penalty shot, but I did see the highlight of the game-winning goal. 17:38 Ryan, do you know what happened there? 17:40 Yeah, I mean, I don't even want to pronounce the kid's name. 17:43 We'll call him Alexander Kay. 17:45 But it was a legit call. 17:47 I mean, maybe in overtime, I could see the ref swallow in the whistle a little bit. 17:51 But if you're a CC fan and that doesn't get called, you're going to be pretty upset. 17:55 I mean, he was leaning in, I believe, to get the edge and pretty much a breakaway. 18:01 And the Denver kid took him down. 18:02 I think even after Gwazdek, he said it was the right call and that he didn't really have a huge problem with it. 18:08 But yeah, I mean, that's a big win for CC. 18:10 I mean, they had lost to Denver a few weeks ago and they did the single game deal that weekend and then also this weekend. 18:16 So kind of weird, but they, of course, swept at North Dakota. 18:19 So you come home against a big rival and that game can be a tipping point. 18:23 But Joe Hall got back in the net and he was pretty solid, obviously. 18:26 Only all three goals to Denver and Denver had 30 plus shots. 18:30 And then the big line for CC, at least, Blue Cays didn't score any goals. 18:35 So anytime they can score four goals and the Schwartz brothers don't score any of them, you got to figure they're going to have a pretty good chance to win. 18:41 So yeah, again, it was a big win for CC and for Denver, again, it's just tough sledding right now. 18:47 They have the third string, the finish kid in net. 18:50 And again, I haven't seen him play a lot, but he's won three and two on the year. 18:54 And again, it's the third string guy. 18:55 If the Gophers had to play Kramer in net, I don't think we'd be expecting a lot and it would be pretty tough goal. 19:01 So again, until Denver gets Murray back or Britain, you don't want to say it's a lost season or anything because they still definitely have a shot. 19:07 But they're definitely behind the eight ball with the goaltending injuries. 19:11 I kind of went a little bit of the opposite drive and said it on Twitter. 19:15 I thought it was very borderline to call a penalty shot, and at least in overtime, I could see maybe doing that. 19:22 I know some people don't like the call should be the same no matter what part of the game it's in. 19:27 But for me, Kruschele Niske is the guy's last name. 19:32 Certainly, he had an opportunity that was negated. 19:35 It should have been a penalty, of course, but penalty shot and I don't know. 19:40 It was a very entertaining game. 19:41 I watched, I don't know, at least the third period in overtime and I think some of the second period, but it was very entertaining. 19:49 Zucker looked really good. 19:50 Wild fans are obviously going to have a lot to look forward to with that guy. 19:55 And there was some good plays. 19:57 I mean, I didn't really, both sides, they just played very good open hockey and I really liked the game. 20:02 So props to those two teams for an entertaining game. 20:05 And we'll see how it affects CC. 20:08 I'm sure that it was a big positive for them to come out with such an entertaining victory in the way it was kind of dramatic. 20:16 So. 20:16 And with that penalty shot too, I don't know if the refs were kind of quick on their feet and considering their WCHA officials, I'm guessing not. 20:24 But I mean, that call happened with a minute 14 left in overtime. 20:28 So it would have essentially been a half power play as well for CC. 20:31 So again, I don't know if that factored into it, but I mean, I could see the refs. 20:35 Maybe they did see that and were like, well, it's only really going to be a minute and change the power play. 20:39 It's not like it was a minute in overtime where they had a bunch of time. 20:43 So again, I don't know if that factored in. 20:44 But like Hammeh said, I mean, it was close. 20:46 And I guess you could argue it kind of either way. 20:48 I think you're giving the refs too much credit. 20:50 Probably. 20:51 Yeah. 20:53 North Dakota goes to Anchorage and gets a rare sweep. 20:58 I mean, I recall them getting too many sweeps up there in the last five, six years. 21:02 Yeah, I mean, I have to give them credit. 21:05 I think they've won five of the last six. 21:07 And their offense has certainly been much better in recent weeks against CC and then this last weekend. 21:12 Their power play is clicking pretty well. 21:14 And, you know, maybe they'll actually prove me wrong and actually show that they're going to be a player in the second half of the season. 21:21 But you certainly have to give them credit. 21:23 They're playing a lot better hockey overall. 21:26 And, you know, I don't know if it's some of it. 21:29 You know, I don't know if like we talked about, CC being kind of weak in Grand Forks and a little bit iffy defensively and Anchorage is kind of up and down. 21:37 And, you know, I don't know if it's a competition thing. 21:39 You know, I think it's probably a combination of factors. 21:42 But you have to give your tip your hat to North Dakota for, you know, a nice streak of wins. 21:48 Yeah, and I think the key for them, I mean, we all talked about how they struggled offensively and they've kind of come out of that. 21:53 But when you look back at their last handful of games and aside from that, you know, they beat CC seven six, you know, a few Fridays ago. 22:00 But they've been allowing, you know, one, two, and on occasion three goals a night. 22:03 So it seems like they've kind of got their back end sorted out. 22:06 And then, you know, up front, I mean, they scored five power play goals last weekend. 22:09 And the, you know, we talked last week about that big line and how they broke it up against the Gophers. 22:14 But they've been back together with, you know, Corbin Knight in between Brock Nelson and Danny Cristo. 22:18 And I think Brock Nelson is up to 14 goals, I think, on the year. 22:21 And a lot of those have come on the power play. 22:23 So, you know, North Dakota, if they can, you know, get that kind of production out of their first line and get, you know, the kind of defense and goaltending that a lot of people thought they'd get at the start of the year, you know, they could definitely be a dangerous team. 22:34 And it's been huge for them to, you know, get a handful of wins prior to the Christmas break. 22:39 I mean, you know, we've seen with the Gophers at times where, you know, you struggle late in the first half and, you know, you see almost, it's not an afterthought, but, you know, it's almost the end of the first half, Christmas and everything else. 22:48 But these games are important and you don't want to have to climb that mountain starting in January if they can, you know, get something rolling here. 22:54 So four straight wins. 22:55 And then, you know, you figure they host Omaha this weekend, probably have a good chance to get at least one or two more. 23:01 Roll Ryan, you kind of joked about this last week, but it turned out to be somewhat true. 23:07 UNO goes to Alabama Huntsville and splits. 23:12 We kind of joked about it last week, but you may have been on to something. 23:17 Yeah, well, now in hindsight, I mean, it may have come off as a joke, but I was 100, no. 23:23 If you're Omaha, what do you say? 23:27 Huntsville's 40% of their last five wins have come against you, but even in the game where Omaha lost down there, what was it, 3-1? 23:35 Omaha had 45 shots and Huntsville had 17, and again, seems like the goaltending thing kind of let them down that night. 23:41 Maybe three goals and 17 shots, so Omaha, again, they've been a lot more inconsistent than I thought they'd be this year. 23:48 I thought they'd be a pretty solid top four type team, but again, when we've seen them at Denver, and if your goaltending is in disarray, it doesn't matter how many shots you put up and everything else, every time you have to kind of watch with one eye when the other team's on the offense, so not good for them, and like I said, heading up to Grand Forks this weekend, they probably could have used some more momentum. 24:09 Any thoughts on it, Hammeh? 24:12 You know, nothing that I think it's entertaining a little bit, that for UNO, that's the goalie thing, you know, I mean, three goals in what was, I think it was like 17 shots or something like that. 24:25 I mean, it's just, it's the inconsistency that they face, and you know, it'll be interesting to see how they perform up in, you know, the Meek Rainer and Grand Forks this weekend, and you know, I'm sure with the momentum that the Sioux have, well, I guess they're not the Sioux anymore, but the momentum that UND or North Dakota or whatever their nickname is going to be eventually, we'll see how they can handle it. 24:48 Well, let's get straight to it then. 24:50 This week, we've got UNO heading to Grand Forks and to play the Fighting Flickertails. 24:57 What do you think, Cami? 24:58 I mean, obviously, you haven't been happy with UNO's goaltending, and that could definitely come in to play this weekend. 25:06 Well, you know, it just seems like whatever North... 25:09 When Nebraska-Omaha is playing, it just seems like they have one bad game and then one good game pretty much every weekend. 25:16 I mean, I think that other than when they were up in Alaska early in the season, I think they've generally come out of each weekend with at least one win. 25:26 So, I mean, I would kind of expect that trend to continue. 25:29 I think that one of those nights, North Dakota will probably beat them by a couple of goals minimum. 25:35 And then I'm sure that the next night, maybe the Saturday night game, the UNO comes back and plays well and gets a victory. 25:42 But so I'm thinking that that series is going to be a split. 25:46 But I will be the least bit surprised if North Dakota sweeps it. 25:51 Yeah, I mean, you have to figure that blaze. 25:53 I mean, obviously, you know, he went back there last year with Omaha, but so it's not his first time back or anything like that. 25:58 But it still probably means more to him. 26:00 And he's going to have him, you know, ready to go, I think, for at least one of the games. 26:03 But yeah, I mean, I'll say three points for North Dakota. 26:07 Again, their back end right now is pretty solid, especially when you compare it to the, you know, turbulence that Omaha is dealing with in goal. 26:14 And, you know, I just don't know how. 26:15 I mean, Omaha does have some solid forwards up front, but I just don't know if they don't have anybody as high end as a Brock Nelson or a Crystal. 26:21 So I think those guys will kind of shine through and keep it going for the Sioux. 26:26 And we've got Denver heading to Bemidji State. 26:31 Let's see. 26:33 Go ahead, Ryan. 26:34 Oh, I was going to say, this is kind of, I don't know, this could be trouble for Denver. 26:37 I mean, Bemidji kind of got it going last weekend in St. 26:39 Cloud, and, you know, Bemidji is going to have the goaltending edge unless, again, I haven't seen if Murray is going to be back anytime soon. 26:46 But I don't know, this one feels kind of weird for Denver in that, you know, they're definitely favored, but they're going up under the, you know, under that barn and small ice sheet and everything else. 26:55 And I can see Bemidji kind of, you know, playing that tough defensive style and kind of bottling them up. 26:59 So I'll say a split. 27:01 I think Bemidji can hang in there with him one of the nights and take a couple points from him. 27:06 Yeah, I'm actually going to say the same exact thing. 27:09 I mean, it's hard for me right now to get on the Denver bandwagon. 27:13 They've been kind of so up and down this year that you'd kind of like to see a little bit of consistency there before you kind of go betting on them to really do well on the road. 27:25 They've really been on the road less than UMD has up to this point. 27:29 I mean, they have had five road games and only three of them have been in WCHA play. 27:36 They lost and tied at Tech. 27:38 Of course, they lost last weekend at Colorado College. 27:41 They haven't been great on the road in the few games they've had in WCHA. 27:46 I won't be the least bit surprised if Bemidji comes out of that series with at least two points. 27:51 Anchorage heads to the Colorado Springs to take on the Tigers. 27:56 This could get ugly. 27:59 Yeah, I mean, I don't have the stats in front of me on Anchorage and what they've done on the road, but I mean, they did pretty well at Mankato a few weekends ago. 28:07 But outside of that, I mean, they've really struggled basically all year on this, again, scoring goals. 28:14 And it seems like CC, meaning again, they've had the kind of the blip up at North Dakota, but it just feels like CC with their offense. 28:21 And they kind of got it going again last week in Denver. 28:24 And I'd be pretty surprised if it was anything other than a CC sweep. 28:29 Yeah, I agree with that. 28:30 I mean, Anchorage has lost nine of its last 12 games. 28:33 And I mean, they had the one weekend at Mankato. 28:37 That was a pretty solid performance. 28:40 But overall, they just have not been all that impressive ever since those first couple of series in the beginning of the season. 28:46 So I definitely expect Colorado College to come out of that series with two wins and probably a number of goals. 28:54 Then we have the red hot Duluth Bulldogs heading to Madison. 28:58 And obviously, we know the Badgers have been pretty bad on the road. 29:02 But at home, they've been pretty good. 29:05 Yeah, I mean, I think this is kind of a tough one to pick. 29:09 I mean, UMD, of course, has been very hot. 29:12 And you kind of say the law of averages is at some point, it's going to end, especially on the road, in a road series. 29:18 And I think it's definitely in Wisconsin's favor that they've had the week off last week to kind of rest up and get some fresh legs and prepare for this series. 29:28 And I'm sure they usually have pretty good crowds. 29:31 And they'll be amped up to have the number one ranked team in their rank. 29:35 And as we saw when we were there, they played pretty well in that Friday game. 29:42 So I kind of expect this series to be a split. 29:45 I do think Wisconsin will rise up and at least win one of the games. 29:48 So we'll see how it goes. 29:50 But I'm sure it'll be pretty, I would be surprised if it's not a pretty wide open series because Duluth likes to play that way. 29:56 And I know that Wisconsin tends to try to slow things down against that type of a team. 30:01 But I think Duluth will kind of end up sucking them into that kind of a game. 30:05 So we'll see how it goes. 30:07 Yeah, I think, I can't remember if it was last year or the year before, but I thought Duluth had a pretty wild series out there. 30:11 I think it was last year because it wasn't Duluth at the start of the year, some sort of bit where they won all those games in overtime. 30:15 And I think maybe one and I think maybe even two of them were out at Wisconsin. 30:19 So it seems like they've played some kind of crazy games together. 30:21 But yeah, I mean, if you're Wisconsin, it's going to, you know, they don't have the depth up front. 30:25 But, you know, their top line's been really good this year. 30:28 Was Engerley and Barnes and those guys, you know, they've got to, they're starting to get a little bit of depth up there. 30:32 But again, it doesn't compare to what Duluth has. 30:34 So, I mean, I think of Wisconsin, if these games get into a shootout, I just don't really like Wisconsin's chances. 30:40 You know, Duluth has the edge in that. 30:42 Of course, with Ryder, he's been really good this year. 30:44 And Wisconsin's, again, they've been good at home. 30:46 But a couple of freshmen and neither one's really, you know, grabbed the reins so far. 30:50 So, you know, I'll say probably a split. 30:53 But again, it wouldn't shock me if Duluth came out of there with four points. 30:56 They're just playing really well right now. 30:57 And, you know, I just don't know if Wisconsin's got the offense. 31:00 I mean, I think Duluth's going to get four each night. 31:02 And I just don't know if Wisconsin's going to be able to match them. 31:05 I believe the Friday game is on the Big Ten network, if anyone's interested in watching that one. 31:13 Well, could be a snoozer. 31:14 Huntsville heads the man Cato. 31:16 Did you guys even bother picking that? 31:20 Honestly, I didn't. 31:21 But, I mean, this is one of those. 31:23 I mean, we joked about it a few weeks ago. 31:25 What's the crowd going to be like for this one? 31:27 I mean, it's one thing when you're playing a league game against Anchorage. 31:32 But, you know, at least there's something kind of tangible that you're trying to achieve with that. 31:36 But, wow. 31:38 I mean, this is probably going to be a pretty dull one. 31:40 And I would imagine, you know, based on what I saw this last week, and I think, you know, man Cato will probably win both games. 31:46 And, you know, I do think that they're going to be a better team in the second half. 31:51 And certainly from a Gopher standpoint, I'll be rooting them on simply because it helps our, you know, overall ability in the pair wise and all that kind of good stuff. 32:00 So, I mean, go man Cato. 32:03 Yeah, will there be more people in the arena or more people at Mettler's? 32:07 That would be, I think, it's kind of a coin flip. 32:09 But, no, I mean, Huntsville is awful. 32:13 They've won one game all year. 32:15 They were terrible last year. 32:16 It's a program that's going to be dead in a half season. 32:18 I mean, I hate to say it, but it's true. 32:19 And, yeah, man Cato shouldn't really have any issues, you know, rolling through them this weekend. 32:25 I just see that North Dakota is picking up the goalie. 32:27 I mean, already the carcass isn't even dead and they're picking at the meat, man. 32:32 So their goalie is going to be heading up to North Dakota, I guess, next year. 32:36 So that's interesting. 32:38 And of course, now we've got Michigan Tech heading to Mariucci this weekend. 32:44 The overall series, Minnesota leads 171, 76 and 15. 32:51 In the last 10 meetings, Minnesota is 8-1-1 against the Huskies. 32:56 And it looks like they've won the last seven. 33:00 Last time they lost was a 6-5 overtime loss in Houghton, which ended up knocking the Gophers out of the NCAA tournament when it came down to pairwise numbers. 33:09 But it's been a while. 33:12 Ryan, what do you think? 33:14 I mean, Tech's supposedly a little better this year, but Minnesota's handled them pretty well lately. 33:20 Yeah, and obviously Tech has improved, but like we've kind of eluded to throughout the podcast, a lot of those doing better has come at home. 33:28 I mean, they swept Wisconsin, which, granted, Wisconsin's not great this year, but anytime you can sweep Wisconsin, that's a good thing. 33:34 And they had three points from Denver, and they split with Mankato. 33:37 And so again, a lot of their doing better has come at home. 33:40 And that makes sense. 33:42 I mean, it's not the easiest place to go and play in the sense that it's a small rink, it's a dead building, it's a crappy trip for teams. 33:49 I'm sure most teams don't, like Denver, I think they would fly to Chicago and then bust there, I think, or fly to Minneapolis. 33:55 I mean, just a total nightmare, and it's tough to get up for the games. 33:57 But just in kind of looking at things for the little GPL preview I do each week, it just seems that on the back end, they're a little bit stronger, and offensively, they're still kind of challenged, which makes sense. 34:08 It's probably a little bit easier to improve defensively with a new coaching staff than it is to create offense. 34:14 So we'll see. 34:14 I mean, they're gonna come here to the Big Ice, and that's traditionally been something that you can kind of tell this in watching the teams that Michigan Tech doesn't have the skaters that the Gophers do. 34:25 But I think for the Gophers, and we've talked about it all year, that the other thing, and again, last weekend was a little bit skewed by the refereeing, but the Gophers has got to stay out of the penalty box. 34:34 Last Saturday jacked up their numbers, but I mean, they're second in the league in penalty minutes, and that's the one thing this weekend where you could see them get in trouble, and it's what happened Saturday against Mankato, when Mankato didn't have a lot of 5-on-5 offense, but they scored a couple of power play goals, due in large part to having 8-9 power plays. 34:51 So a team like Tech that isn't going to score a lot, but if you give them 5, 6, 7 power plays, logic says they might get one or two, and then they're probably, yeah, it'd be nice if the Gophers absolutely lit them up one night, but I mean, the Gopher offense isn't clicking in all cylinders right now. 35:06 So I think if the Gophers stay out of the box this weekend and just play their game and hopefully use their speed and be aggressive and go, you know, instead of, like I said earlier, you know, going around the net, cut to it, you know, draw penalties, be aggressive, play on their toes, you know, again, it should be another four point weekend. 35:23 Yeah, I mean, the way that I look at this weekend is it's probably going to be similar to what we've seen with some other teams in Mariucci where they've kind of, you know, like the Vermont series and this last weekend where, you know, that second game for Vermont, you know, they really tried to, you know, kind of muck it up and be a little bit more of a grinded out type of game. 35:43 You know, there was a pretty good amount of goals, and I think that Mankato kind of tried to play along those same lines. 35:49 And I kind of expect that kind of a series this weekend. 35:53 I think that a lot of people probably look at and think, you know, Gophers are more talented. 35:58 We should pretty much beat them by two goals a night minimum. 36:01 And I really don't kind of expect that kind of a series. 36:04 I think it's going to be a little bit more hard fought, kind of like this last weekend against Mankato. 36:07 I do think that we'll win both games, but I actually expect it to be a little bit more of a struggle. 36:14 Tech's actually got a pretty solid power play. 36:16 They're around 20 percent, and their penalty kill is not the greatest. 36:19 So, you know, if they do take some penalties, hopefully the Gophers will be able to capitalize on that. 36:24 But from a depth standpoint and offensively, and I'm sure, you know, Patterson's played all right. 36:31 I mean, he didn't have the greatest weekend, but he didn't play terribly this last weekend. 36:34 So I expect the Gophers to sweep, but I do think it will be a pretty hard-fought series. 36:39 I'm going with the Gophers' sweep. 36:41 They're going to win big Friday night, and we're going to see the backup goaltender on Saturday. 36:47 Really? 36:48 I'm just going with it. 36:50 Well, you've been pretty good with your bold predictions this year, so who knows? 36:54 Maybe you've got some inside insight. 36:57 I've got no insight. 36:59 I just pull it right on my butt. 37:03 Well, how about recruiting news, Hammy? 37:05 Anything going on there? 37:07 Well, in the last week, we picked up a name that's pretty familiar to long-time Gopher fans. 37:14 Jake Bischoff from Grand Rapids committed to the Gophers. 37:17 Everybody kind of probably remembers his dad, Grant, playing for the Gophers kind of in the late 80s, early 90s. 37:23 He was very talented and did very well. 37:25 But Jake's a defenseman that plays at Grand Rapids. 37:29 He's a pretty skilled, mobile, smart, very intelligent player, poised. 37:36 And I really think that he's going to be one of those guys that is a three, four-year type of a kid that's going to really pay dividends, especially as an upperclassman. 37:45 I think he's very smart. 37:47 You know, I know that Gensel was up there a few days before Bischoff actually committed, and so I think it's a good sign. 37:56 And we talked a little bit on GPL. 37:58 You know, when you come to these kind of legacy recruits, it's always nice to see some of these kids join the program. 38:05 And he's definitely qualified. 38:07 He was looking at Duluth and Notre Dame among some other schools, and so it's a good thing. 38:13 And like I said on GPL, he won't be the last legacy that's going to be in the program in the next four or five years. 38:19 So, we'll see more of that to come. 38:22 Now, are we getting way too many defensemen here? 38:26 It seems like we are. 38:29 Well, I mean, in this case... 38:30 We're getting really heavy. 38:30 I mean... 38:32 Well, he's not going to be around... 38:34 I'd say more than likely he's not going to be around until 2014. 38:38 I mean, he's only a junior this year, so he's not going to graduate until 2013. 38:44 And I highly doubt he's going to be coming right away because our numbers right now, we do have... 38:51 You know, we only have, as far as graduation goes, we're only going to be losing Helgeson after next year. 38:57 And I'm sure that, you know, maybe there will be a guy or two that might leave. 39:01 You never know. 39:02 But, yeah, we're pretty stocked. 39:03 And, you know, I was thinking about it today, looking at some of these defensemen and some of these mistakes, you know, some of these veteran guys, they're going to have to watch out because there's going to be a lot more competition next year for playing time, and there's some talent coming in with guys like Brady Shade. 39:19 They're not going to be able to, you know, continually screw up and expect to continually be put in a line up. 39:25 So they better clean up some of these mistakes. 39:28 But the only recruiting news I have is that I witnessed all three Riley brothers at the game Saturday night. 39:36 That's all I got. 39:40 They were here with a visitor and, or they were here on a visit and, you know, went into the locker room after the game, got to hear all the country music. 39:46 They loved to play in the locker room after the game. 39:47 And looks like they left with Rao and maybe he's showing them the town. 39:51 But that's the extent of my recruiting knowledge. 39:55 Excellent. 39:56 It's always good to have those tips. 39:59 So anything else? 40:03 I'll probably touch on the World Junior thing. 40:04 Oh, that's right. 40:05 You see with, not a surprise, that Bugestad is named to the preliminary roster. 40:10 And really not a surprise that Rao was either. 40:12 Obviously, Rao wasn't on the team last year, but in Bugestad was. 40:16 But given the way Rao started off this year, I know they, I can't remember, I know they've changed it in recent years, but it's the preliminary roster. 40:24 And you'd have to think that Bugestad's a lock and that Rao, again, with his unique skill set and that he's obviously a goal scorer and a smaller kid, that you have to think he has a pretty good chance of making it. 40:36 But I think they would do the cut down here in a few weeks. 40:39 So we'll see, you know, from a Gopher's standpoint, you'd almost rather not have Rao go, just because, again, we've seen guys kind of go up there and it's nice to, you know, obviously you get beat up. 40:49 And I think it is in Canada again this year. 40:50 So at least the travel isn't, you know, coming from Sweden or something like that. 40:53 But at the same time, you know, it'd be nice to have him back here, obviously playing for the Gophers. 40:58 But again, when you have a chance to, you know, it's cliched, but it's totally true. 41:01 If you have a chance to represent your country, you need to be all for it. 41:04 So in the US., you know, like most years, you know, now it seems like on paper, they have a pretty good chance to, you know, take it all. 41:11 So either way, it's going to be good for the Gophers no matter, you know, which of the two probably both end up representing the country. 41:18 Yeah, I'm not going to claim to be an expert on all these players that are up for the team. 41:21 But of the guys that I see on there defensively, I get a little bit concerned about, you know, our chances that, you know, that they got some young guys, they've got some guys that, in my opinion, are, you know, not quite as good as we've seen with some of these past USA teams. 41:39 So we'll see how it goes. 41:41 I think up front will be good. 41:42 And I'm sure that will be good. 41:44 But I'm a little bit concerned about the defense of Team USA. 41:47 I guess we'll see how it goes. 41:49 Well, I think for that, too, the big kind of the olens been there is Justin Falk. 41:52 And we saw how good he was for Duluth last year. 41:55 He's been pretty much a regular for Carolina. 41:57 I don't know if he's logging top four type minutes and they're not a great team. 42:01 And we've seen instances in the past where guys have played at a young age for NHL teams and kind of been, I think Falk spent a little bit of time in the minors, but just kind of that fringe player. 42:13 And it's almost beneficial long term, especially for a team like Carolina, who's not going anywhere this year, recently fired their coach to let a kid like that go and excel at the World Juniors versus playing maybe a limited role for them. 42:26 Again, long term, that's probably going to be more beneficial, and especially for the US. 42:30 I mean, if you can get Falk, I mean, he'd be obviously a top four guy and one of the best offensive defensemen in the tournament. 42:35 So hopefully for the US to say Carolina lets him head out with the boys. 42:42 Okay, not a college or WCHA topic, but I'd love to get your thoughts on the restructuring of the NHL divisions. 42:52 I am ecstatic about it. 42:54 Yeah, I mean, I mentioned it on Twitter and to me, it's great because I just remember back in the 80s, going to the Met Center and seeing the North Stars playing the Blackhawks and when Detroit would come in with Iserman and some of these, even the Blues were usually pretty testy games and whatever. 43:11 So I mean, the fact that we're going to be able to see some of these teams regularly here again, I think that's great and it will bring a lot of older fans some good memories from back in the 80s, 90s. 43:24 That was a great time in hockey around here. 43:27 And I think that, of course, the time zone thing, I mean, we see it tonight. 43:31 The Wilds start at 930 out in the West Coast. 43:33 And a lot of people probably aren't going to be up to watch most of the game. 43:37 So it's going to be a big boon for them, of course, television wise as well. 43:41 It looks like Harding is out as well, too. 43:46 Oh, is that right? 43:47 I just saw a tweet about that earlier. 43:48 It looks like they're playing their third goaltender right now. 43:51 Hackett is in for the Wild right now. 43:54 Some kind of neck injury to Harding. 43:57 Well, I know, Buddy was texting me during it, and the shots were like 22 to 4 at one point, but now they were 23 to 10, but the Wild are winning 2-1. 44:06 Well, that's good, I guess. 44:07 Yeah, we'll see if the Hackett kid can keep it up, because he's a... 44:11 He can hack it? 44:13 Oh, wow. 44:15 But yeah, like you guys said, I mean, I haven't heard anyone really complain about the venue realignment. 44:22 I know probably the Florida teams kind of get dicked the most just in having to play all the Canadian teams and have a lot of travel up there and go through customs and that whole deal. 44:31 So I guess they kind of get screwed with Big Picture-wise, and for the fans, you have to be happy with it. 44:36 And I think the playoff deal is the coolest thing where, again, you're going to have somebody in one conference that has 80 points, and they're going to make the playoffs, whereas somebody in another conference is going to have 90, and they're not going to make it. 44:49 Just, again, that's kind of the nature of it each year. 44:51 But you see that in other sports. 44:52 I mean, last year, the NFC West winner in the NFL makes it. 44:57 But they made it, and they won a game, and almost won another one. 45:00 So those teams are deserving, and that's going to happen. 45:03 But yeah, I mean, it's awesome. 45:05 And I think, especially for the wild, I mean, they kind of don't want to, obviously these things can change, especially the long term, but they got in a pretty favorable conference, I think. 45:13 They're not in there with a bunch of teams that are perennially ass-kickers. 45:16 I mean, obviously Detroit, but Chicago was horrible five years ago, and outside of that, everyone else in there is kind of Nashville, Columbus, Winnipeg. 45:25 These aren't teams that you really fear a lot. 45:27 So from a wild standpoint, I think it definitely benefits them. 45:30 I was never a big Vancouver rivalry fan anyway. 45:34 I mean, we had a series years ago, but I'm kind of like you guys. 45:42 I grew up in the 80s watching the North Stars. 45:46 Who grew up in the 80s? 45:47 Well, I grew up watching hockey in the 80s. 45:50 It started back in it. 45:51 Well, for me, for the North Stars, well, I think it was the 81 season, that big season that they played, that was kind of my introduction to hockey back then. 46:02 I always remember it. 46:03 I love the inter-conference playoff matches. 46:06 And then you move on to play the other side of the conference. 46:11 I think one interesting twist, though, is I wouldn't mind seeing them rotate which conference plays which conference in the semi-finals. 46:21 I think that would be an interesting twist if instead of the two Western conferences playing, mix them up. 46:27 Maybe the Western conference plays the North Eastern conference or something like that in the summer. 46:31 Just kind of mix it up a little bit. 46:34 That's something interesting I wouldn't mind seeing. 46:38 Yeah. 46:38 Honestly, all I really focused on was the conference changes. 46:44 I didn't really listen to the playoff stuff. 46:47 For me, I'm along the same lines as you. 46:50 I grew up with the North Stars, especially in the 80s. 46:55 Going to Mets Center and seeing them play those teams. 46:57 I remember Johnny Bianchi, the Bianchi boys, their dad used to work the penalty box at the Mets Center. 47:06 Him and my dad grew up together. 47:08 I remember him giving me a puck at one of the games. 47:10 Just like those kinds of memories against those teams. 47:14 I've always felt like it just hasn't had the same zest. 47:18 I don't care about Vancouver. 47:20 I know that we've had the Bertuzzi stuff and all that other kind of crap. 47:25 But it just hasn't been the same in Colorado. 47:27 These teams don't mean anything to me. 47:30 To have these teams that we grew up with finally be playing us regularly again, it'll be a great thing. 47:37 I'll be real excited. 47:39 Well, I think some of it also has to do that the North Stars are gone. 47:44 It was more of a romantic type of thing back then. 47:48 It's just not as exciting now that it's the wild. 47:51 I mean, that's kind of how I feel. 47:53 I mean, I don't follow the wild like I follow the North Stars. 47:56 So I think this conference shift will actually kind of help reintroduce me to the NHL again. 48:04 I can see your point. 48:05 I mean, I think the only difference probably is between the wild and the North Stars for people of our age is that we grew up with the North Stars. 48:15 And I'm sure for kids these days, the teenagers and whatever, the North Stars are just kind of like, it's almost like black and white film was for us watching football teams over the 60s. 48:27 The Vikings of the 60s didn't mean diddly to us when we were teenagers. 48:32 So I mean, I'm sure it's kind of the same concept for them. 48:35 But I think, when I think Blackhawks, I mean, I think Cicciarelli and Al Secord, you know, Dino sucks and Secord sucks and, you know, their crowd got on our guys and vice versa. 48:48 And it was just, you know, it was a great rivalry. 48:50 And I'm just looking forward to hopefully seeing those things kind of get recharged again. 48:55 And that's where I think this will happen. 48:57 I think it'll help maybe bring some of those old fans back because we'll be seeing those teams a lot more often instead of, you know, once or twice a year. 49:07 Yeah, I mean, I guess with that I'm kind of, I would agree with Sid on that. 49:11 I think it's just about winning. 49:12 I mean, I think if you're the Wild and they're, you know, consistently winning and, you know, this year obviously, you know, so far they have, but it's been, you know, more or less a struggle. 49:20 They've had a couple of runs, but I just think if you're winning, it doesn't really matter who you're playing. 49:23 I mean, when they were winning in against Vancouver, everyone is, you know, head over heels into that rivalry and loved it. 49:28 But again, I think where it'll help is when the Wild aren't that good and, you know, Chicago comes to town, it's going to be a lot better than if the Wild aren't good. 49:35 And Edmonton's here, so I think it'll help when, you know, the Wild do have the down years versus, you know, how much it'll help when they have the really good years. 49:43 All right, guys. 49:44 Any other thoughts on either the NHL this weekend and the WCHA or anything like that? 49:52 The only thing I was going to say, we're not going to have, you know, for the listeners, we're not going to have, obviously, a series to preview next week. 49:59 So what did you think Jupe the Plan was going to be for a podcast next week? 50:03 Well, actually, I was thinking we could just do a quick little, you know, we'll do a review, maybe a quick preview of the Merriachi Classic and then take like a month off. 50:13 And I think it would be a good idea to kind of look back on the first half as well, you know, that kind of stuff. 50:17 So I just want to kind of alert people that, you know, we'll still have something at least for next week, even though we don't have a series to really preview the following weekend. 50:26 And we did have some feedback this week, but it was all about that whole Twitter crap that was going on. 50:32 And I'm not even going to bother going into it. 50:34 So, any final thoughts, guys? 50:38 Nope, not for me. 50:39 Got nothing. 50:41 All right, Ryan, I assume you'll be on this week on KFAN, Thursday morning? 50:46 Thursday, Thursday at 9.55. 50:49 And you can also follow Ryan at at Ryan Cardle on Twitter. 50:53 And then, of course, you can also follow Hammy on Twitter at Hammy Hockey. 50:59 Just remember, you can always send us feedback. 51:01 Yeah, the best way is through our email at podcast at gopherpucklive.com. 51:06 Or if you're listening live, you can always send us a tweet at gopherpucklive.com. 51:13 And that about does it for this week. 51:14 Thanks for listening in and we'll see you next time on the Gopher Puck Live Podcast.