0:05 This is The GPL Podcast, sponsored by Vintage Minnesota Hockey, your exclusive source for throwback Minnesota jerseys. 0:14 Visit vintagemnhockey.com. 0:19 Now, here's Hammy, Vego, and your host, Jupiter. 0:41 Good evening, and welcome to another GPL Podcast. 0:44 We're back at full strength this week after Hamme took last week off. 0:48 Hamme, how you doing? 0:51 Not too bad, yeah. 0:52 Well, I wouldn't call it that, taking it off. 0:54 Let's just say the real job kind of came into play, so I had to have priorities, you know? 1:00 That's the one that actually pays me a lot more than this one does, so. 1:05 Don't blame me there. 1:06 Stuff happens, and you just gotta take care of things. 1:09 Veegs, how are you doing? 1:11 Doing well. 1:12 Enjoyed the last North Star College Cup. 1:15 The last North Star College Cup. 1:17 Well, there you go. 1:18 Starting the conversation already, and boy, kind of an interesting game Friday night against Duluth. 1:24 You know, I thought, you know, the first period, eh. 1:28 Second period, all Duluth. 1:29 Third period, all Minnesota, but what matters in the end is in that third period when Minnesota was trying to get back in, there was a goal scored for each side, nothing really changed. 1:38 So, Vegue, your initial thoughts against number one Duluth. 1:43 I thought we saw how good both teams can be. 1:46 I think the difference was Hunter Miska looked really good in that third period when Minnesota was pushing and Minnesota didn't get a lot of second chances, whether it was they couldn't get any rebounds or Miska didn't give them any opportunities or they weren't getting enough guys, you know, more crashing than that, getting that presence. 2:07 You know, they just didn't have enough to quite get over the hump on that. 2:11 What do you think, Hammeh? 2:13 Can Minnesota stick with this team or is Duluth what everybody thinks they are? 2:19 Well, I definitely think they can stick with Duluth. 2:21 I mean, I don't, you know, I, you look at Duluth, I mean, obviously they've had a lot of success this year, but I wouldn't exactly, you look at that lineup and I wouldn't exactly say, oh my God, you know, they got a bunch of superstars that are just light in the sky and they've got a good team depth wise and obviously they've been getting some very good goaltending. 2:44 So I think they're a good team, of course, but I don't see a team that's like really going to blow you away as far as, you know, you can stay in games with them. 2:54 I really think that the Gophers just didn't have a consistent 60 minutes and they had played the game like they had in that last period. 3:04 It would have been a different story, but it just didn't happen for them this time. 3:10 I think it's funny watching fans, you know, the whole GPL thing. 3:16 During games, it kills me when I read the next day some of the in-game comments and how people are just freaking out about things. 3:24 And there's just a real lack of kind of a big picture vision during the heat of a game. 3:32 Boy, I completely agree with that. 3:34 It got to the point, you know, I got home late that night and I'm like, okay people, step away from your phone, step away from your computer, take a break off of Twitter for a while. 3:44 And Veegs, you also had it firsthand, didn't you? 3:47 With the social media Friday night and Saturday. 3:51 It was kind of funny because I watched the game a little bit on delay on DVR. 3:55 So, you know, it's kind of my relaxation for the night was to watch that game. 4:00 And it was quite entertaining. 4:01 I thought Minnesota answered the bell pretty good against Minnesota Duluth. 4:05 It's just those couple turnovers that cost him. 4:08 I think that was the lesson I have to take away from it is, you know, when you're playing teams, you know, at the top of the country, if you make mistakes, they have the talent to make you pay. 4:17 You know, Avery Peterson converted that breakaway goal that was huge. 4:22 They got that 5-1-3 and scored on the power play. 4:25 Those are mistakes you can't really make when you're playing a top team like that. 4:29 The reaction on social media is hard to be in a fanatic, I think. 4:34 You watch on GPL and people ride the roller coaster of this team. 4:39 The fire Lucia crap and I'm like, oh, come on, people. 4:43 Yeah, I mean, ultimately, you have to look. 4:45 I mean, pair-wise, rankings-wise, I mean, they're in good shape. 4:50 I mean, right now they are. 4:52 I mean, obviously, they continue to win, but it's not like this is some team that's been floundering. 4:57 This is not exactly the Lucia teams, you know, about six, seven or what-odd years ago where we were having that streak of a couple of years where they were struggling and all that. 5:11 I mean, I understand the expectations are high and of course, we always want to win and especially we always want to win against in-state opponents and some of the rivals and all that. 5:22 But I wouldn't exactly say that they completely laid an egg in that game. 5:27 And it's like, I'd get it if they completely flopped, but it just isn't what happened. 5:31 So people need to have some perspective. 5:35 Well, they definitely do. 5:36 But the one encouraging thing though, I guess we could say, Veegs, though, is that, boy, that third period, you know, shots 22 to 2. 5:48 Unfortunately, you know, if Sheerhorn makes that breakaway save, may have been a different story, but they did show that they can dominate when they need to. 5:59 Or they can dominate at times and show that they can stick with these top teams. 6:03 You know, it's kind of sad we're saying that because we're used to being one of those top teams and they should be playing with us, but obviously it's a process here. 6:13 Well, you know, they come into that game 2-17, their last 19 in-state games. 6:20 So you can't really come into that game with the swagger and confidence or pride on ice. 6:25 You know, when you're 2-17, your last 19, that's non-existent. 6:30 You know, you're trying to build yourself from the ground up. 6:33 And I thought that was a great way to build up their game. 6:35 You know, they had a lot of possession. 6:38 They got defense involved in the offensive cycle. 6:41 You know, they were great on face-offs. 6:44 You know, they drew the power play late in the period. 6:48 I thought it was a pretty dominating period for them. 6:50 It was good to see. 6:52 You know, and they took it into the next game. 6:54 And despite that opening minute, they had another game where there was never really a doubt once they got past the three breakaways they gave up that they were in control of that game. 7:05 Yeah, Lucia, you were right there. 7:07 Lucia was kind of sort of laughing about the three breakaways that he ran out of defensive pairs because they all gave up a break in that first couple minutes of that game against Bemidji State. 7:22 Well, I mean, that first minute, you're just wondering what the heck's going on. 7:25 I mean, you can't look at it any different. 7:28 You know, the team just was not ready to go. 7:32 And it was every pair of defensemen and it's just them to cover. 7:36 Obviously, the forward's got to cover as well. 7:40 But Sheerhorn definitely saved their bacon at the beginning of the game because I guess a team like Bemidji State, obviously they're not a powerhouse, but they can play defense very well. 7:49 And if they get the lead, Minnesota's in trouble in that game. 7:55 Yeah, for sure. 7:55 I mean, Bemidji has statistically the best defense in the country. 7:59 So getting that first goal was really important for Minnesota. 8:03 You know, it didn't come until the second period, but they didn't turn the puck over very much. 8:07 Bemidji did have some looks in the third period, but Sheerhorn stood tall. 8:12 He did, and I think he got about his third shutout of the season. 8:16 So I guess that's a good sign. 8:18 He wasn't terrible against Minnesota Duluth. 8:24 Maybe, I don't know, I guess there's really nothing. 8:26 You know, maybe if he could have stopped that breakaway, but you know what? 8:29 Breakaways are not on him. 8:30 He's just the last line of defense. 8:32 So, you know, overall Sheerhorn had a pretty good weekend. 8:37 But like you said, in the Duluth game, it was just mistakes that killed, turnovers and just, you know, bad, you know, the five on three, bad penalties. 8:45 And it seems like they did kind of come back in that second game, and they just kind of just play their game. 8:53 They withstood that first minute, but they just stayed patient. 8:56 Finally got a goal in the second, and then a few more in the third, and got the 4-0 win, and, you know, finally a win in the North Star Cup, which they hadn't had since game one, isn't it? 9:09 What was that, game one? 9:10 Yeah, the Minnesota State game and the opening. 9:12 Yeah, that was the first time they had won a game in the North Star Cup, since game one four years ago. 9:19 So, I guess, you know, a split on the weekend, a really good effort against Minnesota Duluth, and obviously a 4-0 win over Bemidji States is at least pretty good in my mind. 9:35 I don't disagree. 9:35 I mean, I think that you, obviously everybody wants to win every game, and I just think it's, for me, the frustration gets to be with some of the defensemen. 9:48 That's where I tend to get frustrated, especially with the turnovers. 9:53 At this level, I get it if you're getting a lot of pressure and things just happen, but sometimes it's just mental mistakes, and that's what is unfortunately the frustrating thing, and you see some of that end up in the back of the net, and everybody wants to blame the goalie, of course, at the end of the day when I look at the save percentage. 10:10 But there have been several games where he hasn't had a lot of favors from his teammates. 10:17 Well, obviously, it is the end of the North Star Cup. 10:20 It was a four-year experiment. 10:22 It didn't really turn out the way that a lot of teams wanted it to turn out as. 10:28 Vegs, you wrote an article last Friday, I think, on GPL. 10:34 Yep, I put up on Friday afternoon before the tournament. 10:37 Yeah, about the death of the tournament. 10:40 Why don't you share some of your thoughts that you had in the article there? 10:44 Well, I just think that there was a lot of blame being placed on Minnesota not being able to keep this event going. 10:51 There was a lot of blame from people about it being a money grab by the University of Minnesota. 10:56 And while the Gophers do have the advantage of it being at Excel, it's not a home game for this team. 11:02 And as history has shown lately, it's not really a very big advantage for them to play on the smaller rank. 11:10 So, they're giving up the ability for St. 11:14 Cloud, Mankato, Duluth, Bemidji to sell their own tickets for the event. 11:21 And every ticket they sold in that first phase, they got to keep all the revenue. 11:26 When Mankato held that game at Excel during the lockout, they made $140,000 that year in profit. 11:35 And I think their revenue for the entire year was like $1.1 million. 11:40 So, it's a huge opportunity, I think, for those other schools to sell tickets and get some revenue for a great tournament. 11:47 You know, you've got two of the top ten teams in the country playing with Minnesota and Minnesota Duluth this year. 11:53 You've got the WCHA's best team in Bemidji. 11:55 And you have a team in St. 11:57 Cloud who has a world junior championship winning coach and a pretty good team. 12:03 You know, it's on the bubble of the pairwise for making the tournament. 12:06 So it's a good product on ice. 12:09 People are upset with FSN for not broadcasting the entire tournament. 12:13 Well, FSN already has contracted with the Gophers to show those games. 12:18 So they own those rights and they're going to show those games. 12:22 Now, the other schools had the opportunity to contract FSN to broadcast the games and they chose not to. 12:29 So I think there's a lot of criticism there that's kind of short-sighted. 12:33 When Duluth wanted out of this event, they want the home games since they've opened their new arena. 12:38 They're rolling in the dough. 12:40 Their revenues went from about one and a half million to three million a year. 12:44 So they would rather be playing in Duluth for two extra games and making the money there. 12:49 So if you don't want to blame Minnesota, I think it's probably just that angst towards the University of Minnesota. 12:58 It's misdirected. 12:59 It shouldn't be at the North Star Cup. 13:01 I think you're being actually probably kind. 13:04 I think it's ignorance is what it is. 13:07 I mean, when you have to tell people about the TV situation, because they're barking and whining about the fact that some of the other games aren't on, and they're just completely unaware of the fact that the opportunities are there, it's just whether their school stepped up and wanted to provide the opportunity to FSN. 13:27 I mean, it just tells you it's ignorance. 13:28 I mean, they think that FSN is basically, you know, essentially Gopher TV, you know what I mean? 13:36 And it's like, well, as we've seen in recent years, they've been broadcasting other teams' games. 13:42 It's just really a matter of do they give them the opportunity to broadcast those games or not? 13:46 And they're not on. 13:47 It's not because the Gophers were on the show. 13:50 It's because of other reasons. 13:52 And, you know, so like I said, it's always been that way though, man. 13:57 Just there's a level of ignorance and people think, I mean, yeah, I get people hate the Gophers, you know, the other teams and their fans hate the Gophers. 14:04 We all know that, but it kind of blinds them in a sense. 14:07 It makes them ignorant to what some of the reality actually is. 14:11 So you're being kind, I think, to some of these people. 14:14 Well, it just seems crazy to me that the other schools in this event didn't really make any effort to make it work. 14:21 When Mankato had their game at Excel, they had 18 buses of fans come up for the game, free round trip transportation, and they made over $100,000 on the game. 14:32 It's an opportunity for those schools to reach out to their alumni and have events for this. 14:38 Just like Mankato did that one time or the way that North Dakota did during the final five. 14:43 I think it was just a short-sighted missed opportunity by all those schools and fans. 14:50 Well, you also have to remember, I don't think, I mean, it is a nice tournament, don't get me wrong, but I also think that people, it was kind of a half-assed attempt to try to capture more of a bean pod feel and all that. 15:08 You're just not going to replicate those kinds of things, as much as it might be a good tournament and with good teams. 15:14 I don't know, I think there's got to be more to it. 15:18 I think maybe the fans here, because of all the rivalries over the years and some of the things that have gone on, I just think that you're going to have to find more reasons for them to just try to rehash a tournament that's been very successful out east. 15:35 We'll just have to wait and see. 15:38 I want to get to some of the questions. 15:39 We've got a bunch of questions into us. 15:41 And this one actually relates to the North Star Cup. 15:45 Eric Burton, old goon, our favorite North Dakota fan. 15:51 He wants to know, so can we blame the NCHC on the downfall of the NSCC? 15:57 I'll hang up and listen, he says. 16:00 Veegs, it's all their fault, isn't it? 16:03 It's clearly all their fault. 16:05 You know, the NCHC tried to make a money grab conference as much as they did, and it's done very well for Duluth and St. 16:14 Cloud. 16:14 I posted their financials last week when people are making fun of the Gophers. 16:20 And it's been good for them, but it's a money grab. 16:23 It's too bad for Minnesota State and Bemidji that they're, you know, in this WCHA league that has a lot of travel expenses, not a lot of big money games, and not a lot of big money programs. 16:36 You know, it would have been nice if they would have figured out a way to bring those guys along. 16:42 All right, well, there's your answer, Goon. 16:46 Gosh, there's so many questions. 16:47 I'm dry. 16:48 I have to go through them here. 16:50 Let's just start with a few of them. 16:52 Let me see here. 16:55 Well, that's more related to this weekend. 16:58 So let's try to get something more not related to this weekend. 17:02 Okay, here we go. 17:03 Charlie, Hockey Bias wants to know, I feel this year as Shearhorn goes, so goes the Gophers. 17:09 How far can they go if he plays like he did last year? 17:12 Your thoughts? 17:12 So V, he's basically saying, if Shearhorn's good, we're going to be good. 17:17 If he's not, we're going to be pretty average. 17:20 What do you think? 17:22 Well, I think even in this last little stretch, they've been giving up plenty of shots on goal. 17:27 And Shearhorn's answered the bell. 17:29 I think it's going to be key for them to have good goaltending for them to go anywhere. 17:33 I don't think this is a perfect team that can go out and really dominate. 17:37 So I think it's important for Shearhorn to play well if they're going to do anything. 17:43 All right, Hammy, this one might be more for you since you love to watch the recruits. 17:47 Charlie, same guy, hockey bias wants to know, is Jackson Nelson exceeding or not expectations with the Stampede? 17:57 What do you know about this guy? 17:58 How's he doing? 17:59 Well, I mean, he's not lighting it up, but I think people have to realize that you're coming from Southern Minnesota, small school, not great competition, and stepping up to the junior A level USHL, there's going to be a transition period. 18:18 I think that he's still got a couple years left before he's really going to be counted on to be here at the U. 18:26 So I mean, I don't really think that you're going to be judging a kid at that stage and saying, is he kicking ass, is he not, what are the expectations? 18:38 I don't know that we would have high expectations of a kid at 16, that's in the US or excuse me, in high school right now. 18:47 So I mean, you have to be patient, and just see how a kid is going to do over the next couple of years. 18:55 So I don't see anything that scares me about him right now, that I'm like, oh my God, he's not doing well. 19:01 I just think that you have to give a kid coming from that situation enough time to really develop and get used to that level of play, because he certainly hasn't had that when he was down in Southern Minnesota. 19:16 So you just have to be patient. 19:20 Yeah, and a lot of times people forget that the Junior Leagues used to be more for the post high school kids, but now it's obviously it's kind of shifted more towards the younger kids. 19:30 But not completely, has it Vegs? 19:32 I mean, there's still a lot of older kids, more mature kids playing, so it might take a younger kid a while to really kind of get going in the Junior League. 19:41 Yeah, and I think, you know, Hammy's right. 19:43 You know, jumping from Laverne to Sioux Falls is a pretty big jump. 19:47 I actually was talking to Potoli today a little bit about the jump from North Dakota to Lincoln. 19:53 And he remembers his first year in Lincoln, he was getting scratched a fair amount. 19:57 And, you know, it's a transition when you change leagues like that, and, you know, it's going to take a while. 20:02 You know, he is still producing some points here and there, so that's good to see. 20:06 And, you know, it takes big guys a while to kind of develop into their big bodies and keep up with all those players. 20:12 The USHL has been a great league, you know. 20:15 They've got a lot of good players in there now. 20:17 A lot of guys on the Central Scouting List, too. 20:20 So, it's a talented league that's gotten a lot better. 20:23 Another question, Nate Wells wants to know, Vego, if you've looked at Toronto's weather forecast yet. 20:28 I'm not sure what that means. 20:29 I have. 20:30 It's not t-shirt weather. 20:32 I'm often, you know, checking the forecast, so I know how to dress in the morning. 20:35 Quite a few people were taken aback at how cold it was on the way to availability today. 20:41 Oh, jeez. 20:43 Were you one of them? 20:43 Must not have been, huh? 20:45 No, you gotta get kids dressed in the morning. 20:47 You know what the weather is out there. 20:49 It's cold. 20:51 Nate's so young, though, he doesn't get it yet. 20:53 I mean, you know, they were talking about, you know, not knowing really about the Edmonton Euler dynasty because none of them in the Puck Dynasty Podcast was alive when the Oilers had their dynasty. 21:06 So he's young. 21:08 He doesn't know. 21:09 He'll have kids one day. 21:10 He'll learn. 21:11 Yeah, there's all kinds of young kids at availability now. 21:13 It's him and Drew and Declan. 21:16 The whole group. 21:17 They're all a bunch of youngsters. 21:19 Wow, they never were. 21:20 They weren't even alive. 21:21 No, I remember. 21:22 I was watching that team at Met Center against the North Stars. 21:26 Yeah. 21:27 Gretzky and Nethier. 21:28 Well, even older than that, you know, the coffee and all those guys. 21:31 The Islander dynasty before then. 21:35 I mean, to me, that was my, because obviously the North Stars were my favorite team. 21:40 But Edmonton was obviously my second favorite team because I just loved the skill and it was fun to watch. 21:47 So being able to watch those great oiler teams against the North Stars at the early 80s, I mean, that was some of my favorite memories. 21:58 I remember that's awesome stuff. 22:01 Yeah, Nate, we know. 22:02 We're old. 22:02 That's just how it is. 22:04 What can we do? 22:06 All right. 22:06 Well, what else do we have here? 22:07 Oh, state of hockey. 22:08 He's always sending us questions. 22:10 He wants to know. 22:12 Actually, he sent me a more extensive question. 22:14 He says, is there a beef between Lucia and Leopold? 22:19 He says when Leo was on Beyond the Pond and talking about the national title years, a question was asked about coaching. 22:26 He quickly said something along the lines of, our senior class led the charge. 22:33 He agreed and found the tone very interesting. 22:35 He's wondering our thoughts. 22:36 I heard that part where that Leo was talking about on Beyond the Pond this past Saturday. 22:41 He said that championship team didn't really need coaching because the leadership led the way. 22:48 And I thought that was kind of interesting as well. 22:51 Hammy, do Lucia Leopold not get along? 22:54 Do we know anything about that? 22:58 I don't hear specifics on some of that kind of stuff. 23:02 Some alums, it's like anything in life. 23:05 It's kind of like when you have some of your bosses you really like, some of them you really didn't care for too much. 23:13 I can't speak specifically about that one. 23:16 I think people have to remember, from Leopold's perspective, he wasn't recruited to the U by Lucia. 23:23 That senior class that year, they weren't Lucia recruits. 23:28 I don't know if that might be part of what he's thinking about with regards. 23:34 They weren't his class necessarily. 23:37 I don't know if maybe that plays into some of his mindset, but I don't know. 23:44 I think it's a little bit silly to say that. 23:47 I think it's a little bit of kind of revisionist history to say that, I mean, you look at that staff, you had Gensel, you had Motzko, you know, and Lucia. 23:55 I mean, that's a pretty good coaching staff. 23:58 And to say that they didn't need coaching in some respect or another is a little ridiculous in my view, but nonetheless. 24:07 I think part of that though is that, you know, one thing Leopold is saying is that it wasn't just, you know, the coaching part, it was the leadership part. 24:16 And he did mention about, you know, there doesn't seem to be the talk of pride on ice anymore and how that team took control and, you know, and involved everybody and say, this is, you know, this is for Minnesota, this is, you know, we are pride on ice, we are the best team. 24:33 You know, they just had a feeling about them. 24:37 I'm not sure really the right word is, but, and I think that's what he's kind of saying, is that there's really not much of that these days. 24:44 I mean, Vegs, we kind of see that in clues, but then, you know, in the post game, we see somebody like a Taylor Camerata who got on the board this weekend, and he's wearing a Shaddock tie. 24:58 And he's just kind of blah about being a gopher and the pride on ice stuff. 25:03 So maybe there is something to it. 25:07 Yeah, it's hard to say. 25:08 I mean, I think, you know, your leaders are what hold players accountable. 25:12 You know, the coaches can only do so much, especially in today's day and age. 25:16 You know, you're not going to go out and skate your team, you know, Sunday morning, Monday afternoon, Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday afternoon, and then get to Friday and, you know, not have any effort. 25:27 You know, that's just not going to happen anymore. 25:29 You need your seniors to step forward and hold everybody else accountable. 25:34 You know, I didn't hear the context of the interview, so I didn't, you know, I didn't, I don't know what all that was said or whatever, but you know, I do think that there is something to be said for, you know, making sure that you have the right group of guys on the team that take, you know, that look at the situation. 25:54 I mean, Clues is definitely a guy that really bleeds from burning gold, but, you know, not every guy does that. 26:01 And I think part of that comes down to when you're in the recruiting process, understanding the kinds of players that you are recruiting and do they have that kind of character? 26:10 Do they kind of seem to have that pride, not just within, you know, the program, but within themselves to, you know, what their legacy is and what they can provide to a team and a program and what they can do for their teammates. 26:25 I mean, so, it's, you know, I don't want to get in the whole Cami thing because everybody knows I've gone over that about a thousand times over the last few years. 26:37 So I'm not going to go there again. 26:38 But I mean, I do think that that's kind of an example of, you know, where a coach maybe falls in love with what he sees statistically and maybe doesn't put enough emphasis on, you know, some more of the intangibles that really can matter when you're talking about developing a team. 26:56 And if there's something that I would say, I think the Gophers at times have done good jobs with that, with certain players. 27:03 But other times, I don't know that they've done quite the job that they should as far as placing a little more emphasis on the character and some of the grit of a player, the mental toughness of a player. 27:16 And that's where I think that they've maybe failed. 27:19 When I think back at those championship teams, especially the one that Leopold was on, I mean, there was a lot of that. 27:26 There was a lot of character. 27:27 There was a lot of grit. 27:29 And, you know, I don't know that they've, I've seen enough of that on teams in recent years. 27:37 They might be successful, but there's an element that maybe is missing from some of the intangible point of view. 27:43 Well, the funny thing is, you know, so Leopold is now one of the co-hosts on Beyond the Pond on KFC on Saturdays. 27:49 You know, I believe that he was asked, you know, who was a player that you thought really contributed and really was kind of important for you. 27:58 And the funny thing is, he talked about Chad Roberg. 28:06 He says, Roberg got in one game. 28:08 Yeah, it was an exhibition. 28:10 But it was just the fact that he was a walk-on. 28:13 He busted his ass. 28:14 His nickname was Rudy. 28:16 And that was the first person he thought of when he thought of that team, was Chad Roberg because of who he was and what he meant to the program. 28:23 And I found that quite interesting. 28:30 No thoughts on it? 28:31 No, I mean, I didn't know what Vegas was gonna talk about. 28:33 As Vegas, did he have to go take care of something? 28:35 I don't even know what he was talking about. 28:37 I'm back. 28:38 Oh, okay. 28:38 Well, you were a Goph. 28:39 Yeah. 28:41 Okay, so anyways, yeah, I mean, I think it is something to be said for some of those character guys that, you know, maybe they just show up and they do their job and they know that they're not gonna be kind of the guy that's gonna be in the spotlight. 28:55 And you know, players respect that. 28:58 I mean, I think that, or at least most players respect that. 29:02 And it is something, you know, it's a testament to him that, you know, that the guy that played in NHL and, you know, and has had success on all levels, you know, to make that kind of a comment. 29:14 So, it does show you the value of some of the role players. 29:19 And I do think it comes down to, you know, a certain element of grittiness and toughness and kind of doing your job. 29:26 And I think back to those Gopher teams and, you know, everybody, you remember John Weibel, it was a big, I mean, you know, and he was a pretty talented kid, you know, considering the role that he played and he did produce for that role. 29:38 But I mean, players like that, you know, they meant a lot to their team and, you know, maybe some of that has been missing in recent years. 29:47 I'm not saying anything about the lower line role player guys, but I mean, I think that, you know, they sometimes may get underestimated in terms of the role that they can play to being a successful team. 30:04 I do think you could have all the role players you want in your lineup. 30:08 You still need your big knockers to knock. 30:12 That team did win their titles because of guys like Leopold, Martin, Patoni, Vanek. 30:21 You need guys like that who can produce for any team to go far. 30:26 So, when you look at this year's team, this team's going to need their power plays to be going. 30:31 They're going to need good goaltending. 30:33 They're going to need their defensemen to not turn the puck over. 30:37 Now, this isn't a flashy group of guys, but they have talent top to bottom. 30:42 They've got some depth. 30:44 So, you can talk about the Chad Roebergs you want, and I think that's interesting that that's where Leopold chooses to go, especially when he's going after the coaches. 30:55 But they had a lot of talent, and I don't think Roeberg is the one that put them over the top. 31:01 He might have helped that locker room, but... 31:03 I think he's really going after the kind of person, the character of the person. 31:09 I think that's what he was more saying. 31:12 Back then, a few guys had aspirations of the NHL. 31:17 Now it seems like just about everybody has aspirations, and that's their ticket. 31:23 This is just a stepping stone. 31:25 Whereas back then, even 15 years ago, that was not as much the case. 31:32 Just a little different today. 31:33 And that's just how it is. 31:35 Well, that, and you have to remember back then as well, it was a totally different NHL collective bargain agreement. 31:42 I mean, it costs a lot to sign guys. 31:46 Whereas now, it's just basically, I mean, yeah, it's not nothing, but compared to back then, it's pretty cheap to be able to sign players to deals. 31:57 And so, you know, a lot more of these guys probably do have that perspective these days because they see a lot more opportunities, you know, maybe not necessarily in terms of numbers, but of opportunities, but, you know, it's not the huge contracts like it used to be. 32:14 And so, you know, I think it's being spread out a little bit more, and I think players see more of an opportunity in that sense. 32:23 I don't know, when you look at this team, you look at the top players on the Gophers right now, I mean, they're not drafted guys, you know what I mean? 32:31 And so, and one, at least from a forward perspective, in terms of production, I think that that's kind of where Lucia and them kind of made an adjustment, you know, several years ago is making a little bit more of an emphasis on guys that maybe were skilled players that could produce on a college level, but weren't necessarily, you know, going to be high draft picks that had great opportunities to be NHL players. 32:56 I mean, not that they totally ignore those players either, as we've seen with Middlestead, for instance, but I think that they made a little bit more of a concerted effort to kind of blend the team a little bit more. 33:07 And it's not that I think that somebody like Roberg or four playing guys are going to be the ultimate difference makers, but I do think that people underestimate the value that they bring to the locker room and what they bring to the ice every week. 33:22 And those great Gopher teams that we thought of 10 plus years ago, they did have very good players in the third and fourth line that produced for their role. 33:34 And we probably haven't seen that as much in recent years. 33:37 And I think that we generally will always have pretty good players that can produce in the top six or in the top four defensively. 33:45 But it's those deaf guys that seem to make the real difference for the Gophers when they're having good seasons versus great seasons. 33:55 Well, definitely, definitely. 33:57 Time to change, folks. 33:58 We're just gonna have to deal with it. 34:01 Well, before we hit some more questions by a few people, let's hear from our sponsor, Vintage Minnesota Hockey. 34:10 vintagemnhockey.com is a proud sponsor of The GPL Podcast. 34:15 Well, what is Vintagemnhockey? 34:17 Well, it's kind of the place to get all of your history of Minnesota Hockey, from the pros to the minors to the collegiate teams to even the high school teams. 34:27 All information about any of those teams can be found on vintagemnhockey.com. 34:32 They also have great interviews with some historical Minnesota hockey figures like John Mayessich and Lou Nani, Glenn Sonmore, some of the greats of Minnesota hockey. 34:42 So make sure you check out those interviews. 34:43 It's a really great thing. 34:45 But as I always say, I think my favorite part is the store. 34:49 The store you can buy a custom historical jersey from the Gophers or the Bulldogs or some of your favorite high school teams. 34:56 And if you do make a purchase, just use the code GPL Podcast, all one word, and you'll get 10% off your order. 35:03 So make sure you visit vintagemnhockey.com and follow them on Twitter at VintageMNHockey. 35:11 Remember if you have a question for us, even during the week or if you're listening live right now, just jump on Twitter and use the hashtag GPL Podcast and we'll try to answer your questions. 35:23 I know we had a couple of questions from people using the chat feature on the Mixler live broadcasts of those guys, same guys in there that were in there last week. 35:33 If you have any questions for us, we'll try to get to those as well. 35:36 Back to Charlie Hockey Bias. 35:40 Let's give this one to you, Veegs. 35:42 What do you think? 35:43 Will Lindgren stay for three plus years? 35:48 Well, he definitely feels like he could be a three-year player. 35:52 He's kind of a steady defenseman, a 200-foot guy who's working on that first pass, real tough on his own end. 36:01 We saw last weekend him getting involved a little bit more in the cycle and bringing his offensive game. 36:07 The game he got a goal, he jumped in the rush. 36:11 But he's a guy who's going to develop at Minnesota very well on the big ice. 36:16 He's a guy who's going to have more time with the puck on a stick at Minnesota. 36:21 He's a Boston pick. 36:23 So it depends a little bit for them what their cap situation is. 36:27 I know Hammy is talking about it's cheap to sign guys. 36:30 Well, guys in the NHL need cheap players because of the salary cap and it's going to stay the same next year as it is this year. 36:39 So teams could be in a little bit of cap trouble. 36:40 So I think that more than anything could decide where he's going to go. 36:44 But he definitely feels like a player who wants to stick around for a little bit. 36:48 Next year, he's got a great chance to be the captain of the World Junior Team too. 36:53 Yep, he's still a youngster, folks. 36:54 So let's try not to get rid of him yet. 36:56 Hammeh, any thoughts on Lindgren staying for at least a few more years? 37:02 Well, I mean, that would be my expectation. 37:04 I don't see a guy. 37:05 I mean, I think it's kind of interesting that people are talking about a guy that's got five points on the year. 37:11 You know, granted, he is a defenseman, but it's not like he's lighting the sky either. 37:16 You know, he's a good all around player. 37:19 And I think that there's a lot of long-term positives with him. 37:23 But I think that this is not a guy that I would suspect would be on the fast track either. 37:29 So I think that people need to, I know it's sort of, you know, like I said, it's cheaper to sign players. 37:35 And I think people get gun shy because they see guys go maybe a little sooner than they would like at times. 37:41 But I think, you know, we're barely over halfway through his freshman season. 37:45 I think we can kind of calm back, calm down on those kinds of questions. 37:52 State of Hockey wants to know, looking ahead after Middlestead, is there another elite prospect on the radar, Hammeh? 38:03 Well, I guess, I mean, by prospect, he means like current recruit or what are we, I mean, because that's the hard thing to say. 38:10 I mean, and what is he going to consider? 38:14 Elite? 38:15 Yeah, I mean, you know what I mean. 38:16 That's just the word of the week, because it's a fleck, but. 38:19 Right, I get that, but it's like, we're talking about a kid who's going to be in the top 10 of an NHL draft is that his definition of elite, because I think personally, people overrate the whole NHL draft, that stuff, because ultimately, we're talking about college hockey as much as, I know some fans and I, in particular, get all hyped up about that kind of stuff. 38:48 But ultimately, we are talking about the college level. 38:52 It's great to have players that move on and are successful at the NHL level, but it's like ultimately, we care about how they're going to produce in college, and after they leave, that's great. 39:05 I have all the success in the world, hope you're great. 39:07 But if he's going to say, do we have another guy in the top 10 of the NHL draft that we have in our recruit list, I would say no. 39:15 But if you're asking, do we have some impact players that are going to be very good in the college level, I'd say yes. 39:22 But it's hard for me to define, based on that question, what he's looking for. 39:28 But I think we're looking at Brock Besser, Luke Cunning, Casey Middlestad. 39:33 Is there an ex-player that could hit college hockey and step right in and score 20 goals? 39:41 Yeah. 39:42 Well, I don't see that guy right now. 39:45 Well, that's the thing you have to say right now, because a lot of these guys are still two plus years away. 39:50 I mean, you have to project. 39:54 I mean, even the NHL Scouts, with all their resources and whatever, they get first round NHL draft picks, they get wrong. 40:01 You know what I mean? 40:02 So, it is a little bit of a crapshoot, even for the very best of situations for NHL Scouts. 40:09 So, we'll just have to see how it pans out. 40:12 I do like a lot of the guys that they have in the pipeline. 40:17 I think that one of the things that I would like to see them do better is it will be a little bit better with some of their defensive recruiting. 40:24 As we've seen with the current lineup, there's been some whiffs. 40:29 I think that usually when I've seen them make whiffs, it's been when they've reached for guys who were too young that maybe had some of the size elements and some of that, but maybe overlooked some players that didn't necessarily have the ideal physical traits. 40:47 So, I think that they have to be a little bit more careful in that respect, but I like a lot of what they have in the pipeline. 40:55 All right. 40:56 That's a lot of questions we've gone through tonight. 40:59 We should probably get on to actually talking more about to who the Gophers played this week. 41:03 Hammy, Penn State is coming to town. 41:05 They've had a pretty good season. 41:06 They've been at the top of the college hockey rankings, not too long, a week or so ago. 41:14 Obviously, they've struggled a little more recently. 41:17 Obviously, a lot of us think their schedule is inflated, but it still comes back to they were winning games. 41:24 And when you win games, you do get confidence. 41:27 And Penn State will not be an easy win this weekend for either of the games. 41:35 Well, I don't know that, you know, I would say that they'll be easy, but I can't argue with some of the commentary about their schedule. 41:41 I mean, when you look at their schedule, they played five road games, essentially. 41:44 You know what I mean? 41:47 I mean, two at Ohio State, two at Notre Dame, one at Mer-. 41:49 I mean, and then the ones that they have played at home, for the most part, have been up until essentially Ohio State. 41:56 I mean, I wouldn't say that that's exactly a murderers' row of great teams. 42:01 So, I mean, to me, there are still some definite big question marks regarding that team. 42:07 And, you know, being away from home against a good Gopher team that has been tested, certainly a lot more than Penn State has been, I can see why people would, you know, feel that the way that they do. 42:21 I mean, they have the, what, right now, the 35th ranked strength of schedule. 42:24 So, it hasn't been a great schedule. 42:25 And it's been very heavily dominated by home games. 42:29 So, to me, this, you know, the Gophers play the way that they're capable of, especially like what we saw, you know, against UMD for a chunk of that game, they should win both games. 42:42 But, you know, it still remains to be seen. 42:44 I think that they have to do a good job. 42:46 Penn State likes to throw a lot of pucks on that. 42:48 And I think they have to be pretty good about, you know, making sure that they control the rebounds and box out players and not give up rebounds, you know, to players coming in for that second opportunity. 43:00 So, I think that that's the key, I think, from a defensive perspective. 43:04 And offensively, I like our, you know, I think that we have a lot of skill and a lot of power play players that can be successful. 43:12 So, I mean, I think that we have to be very good on the special teams as well. 43:15 So, but I think that this is going to be a good weekend for the Gophers, but I'll probably regret saying that a week from now. 43:22 But I do think that, you know, that this is an opportunity to really do some damage, you know, from a Gopher perspective in the conference. 43:28 And so, I look forward to good things this weekend. 43:32 Well, Veegs, it's definitely a key weekend point-wise, because, you know, Penn State's only two points back. 43:38 They have the same amount of losses, just that one extra tie. 43:43 You got Wisconsin tied with Minnesota with the same record. 43:46 They're playing Michigan State this weekend. 43:49 So this is a key weekend, I mean, to show Penn State who's still on top. 43:55 And you know, that Wisconsin's back and we need to keep winning to stay ahead. 44:01 Yeah, I kind of looked at this month for Penn State as the show me month for them. 44:05 It is. 44:06 They're playing six games here, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Minnesota, where they're going to be tested. 44:13 I think Penn State does rely a lot on getting volume of pucks to the net. 44:18 And if your goalie is not sharp against that, you know, you can have a long night, you know, but she horns look steady lately. 44:26 He does better when he sees kind of that constant stream of shots and Penn State coming into Mariucci, the big ice. 44:32 I think playing on that big ice for them is a challenge because those shots from the wall are basically turnovers. 44:41 So I think that's a big opportunity for Minnesota to get some momentum. 44:46 The defense hasn't been real flashy, but they've been pretty solid on their retrievals and first passes. 44:51 I think it's going to be real big on the wings and center to gain that blue line and get Penn State moving back. 45:00 Special teams, I think the Gophers finally have like the right setup with their forwards. 45:07 They've got everybody in the right spot with the right hands on their off wing and the left hands on their off wing. 45:12 And I think that's big for this team, so we'll see what happens this weekend. 45:17 But I'm not expecting Minnesota to struggle. 45:21 I think this should be a sweep for them. 45:24 Okay, well I noticed one thing you heard today at media day with Coach Lucia is that he mentioned that special teams are as important. 45:34 But he also said that they need to kind of pick up the pace a little bit on the powerplay. 45:40 Yeah, I think when they had Novak on the powerplay unit, when he was starting the year on his off wing, he was really successful. 45:48 But I think as the Gophers try to get Rem Petlik on the powerplay, they kind of force some pieces into the wrong place to get him that opportunity. 45:59 Now that Novak is out of the lineup, they're not doing that anymore. 46:01 They're getting people in the right positions. 46:04 I think that's an encouraging sign for them. 46:08 Petlik is a dangerous player, but when they had to put him out there and then they put Novak on the wrong side, it really limits the options and everything slowed down, and it's never really picked back up. 46:18 So hopefully, as these guys get some familiarity with one another, they can pick up the pace. 46:29 You're on YouTube. 46:30 Sorry, did it again. 46:32 Here, I'm sitting there talking again, not being heard. 46:36 It's probably a good thing. 46:38 Wisconsin's tied for first place, guys. 46:40 Did you guys see this happening this quickly? 46:44 Any of you? 46:44 I've seen them play Minnesota, I did. 46:46 Okay. 46:46 This Wisconsin team is good. 46:48 The issue early in the year was their goal-tending was really inconsistent. 46:53 I watched a little bit of that game in Ohio State and they got good goal-tending. 46:58 So Wisconsin's going to be a threat this year. 47:01 Good goal-tending, good center play can get you a long ways. 47:05 That's a good thing though, isn't it, Hammeh? 47:09 With regard to them being competitive again? 47:13 Yeah. 47:13 Yeah. 47:14 I've been saying that for the Big Ten to really pick up where it should be at, Wisconsin's got to be a part of that. 47:23 And as much as we liked seeing them struggle, but it's more fun to have success and be an opponent that you're a rival with when they're got some good players and good teams. 47:38 When we went in there last year and completely destroyed them on their home ice, it was kind of like a yawner. 47:46 It was like, what a joke. 47:47 You know, and as much as we like to win 4-0 and a 9-2 against a rival, you kind of want to do that when they're a good team versus when they're a complete disaster. 48:00 So in a sense, yes, it's good for the league. 48:05 And I think it will add to the rivalry moving forward, that if they're playing well and have some competitive teams, it's certainly going to get that rivalry back to where we want it to be. 48:16 So, Veegs, what else are we going to hear on the postgame audio today that we always throw at the end of the podcast? 48:22 What player did we get today? 48:25 Well, we got Ryan Collins. 48:26 I missed the player availability. 48:28 I'm working on a story on Grant Patolny for this weekend. 48:32 So I had to head out early to get started on that, but it's attached. 48:37 I think you get Ryan Collins and another forward, probably Brent Gates, but I'm not sure about that. 48:45 I got two players, but I wasn't there to drill them for questions. 48:50 What about Coach Lucia? 48:51 Obviously, he mentioned some of the speed and moving the puck better on special teams. 48:56 What else is he talking about? 48:59 He also talked about what they got to do to be successful against Penn State. 49:03 He talked a little bit about Penn State's rise as a program. 49:07 They've done it the right way. 49:08 They had a big money donor come in and get them a great facility. 49:13 They're in a great recruiting spot with the East Coast, Michigan, Canada, all within driving distance. 49:20 PJ Fleck talked about that eight-hour drivable distance as a fertile recruiting ground. 49:25 Well, Penn State's in a great spot for that. 49:30 Pabula came and looked at Mariucci and a couple of the other arenas around here when they're putting their stuff together. 49:36 So he talked a little bit about that as well. 49:40 Also, we might see Marouni in the lineup this weekend. 49:45 He played on Smetula's wing today in practice. 49:48 Lucia did stay in the North Star College Cup, but he wanted to get Marouni in the lineup. 49:53 He just didn't think Duluth or Bemidji were a good matchup for him. 49:58 Maybe Penn State's a good spot for him to get in the lineup again. 50:01 Because you got to see what you got in games with these guys. 50:05 You can practice all you want, but games are a little something different. 50:09 So, sweeper, go home this weekend, guys? 50:12 Hammy? 50:14 That's my feeling. 50:15 I mean, you know, I mean, I'm not going to... 50:18 I expect to make the majority of the points for the weekend. 50:20 But, you know, I do think that we're the better team. 50:23 I think we should be, especially at home ice. 50:25 I would agree. 50:26 We've had good success against Penn State, so I expect us to do well. 50:30 But we'll still have to show up and play the game, so we'll see how it goes. 50:35 They definitely do, and this is a good time to start being consistent in Minnesota. 50:40 But we will say that they're in good enough shape pair-wise where this is not a must-win weekend. 50:46 I think the Big Ten's got a good chance of having two, maybe even three teams in the tournament this year. 50:51 That's true. 50:51 With Wisconsin on the rise, they finally became ranked for the first time in a few years this week. 50:56 They're on the rise. 50:57 Obviously, Penn State's top ten. 50:59 Ohio State's kind of a bubble team, but we could have three or four if some teams start playing better. 51:05 But right now, it's looking like a good solid three teams, especially with Wisconsin on the rise. 51:11 You just never know. 51:14 We shall see, boys. 51:15 Anything else for this week? 51:16 Anything else interesting going on? 51:19 I think that's about it. 51:21 Yeah, I would think so. 51:22 Remember, you would have known half of this stuff if you were following Vegoe, because Vegoe tweets out all this stuff when he's following, listening to Lucia on media day. 51:33 So you would have known half of the stuff if you follow him. 51:35 So get over there, follow him. 51:37 And Hammy, follow him too, at Hammy Hockey. 51:42 That's all we have. 51:42 Yeah, I don't comment that much. 51:44 Yeah, you're a little quieter, but we'll just have to see. 51:49 So we'll be back next week. 51:50 We're going to recap the sweep of Penn State. 51:52 Yes, it's going to be a sweep. 51:54 And then we'll preview Ohio State. 51:57 We're heading on the road out to Columbus next week. 52:00 Until then, thanks for listening. 52:28 Pretty much a volume shooting team. 52:30 They go to the net as well as anybody. 52:32 It's something that our goaltender has to do a good job with rebound control, kicking pucks away, taking whistles. 52:39 From a defensive standpoint, we're going to have to do a good job of boxing out, taking care of that area, the blue paint, and have good clean retrievals and getting out of our own zone. 52:48 So, good team. 52:51 They put themselves in a great position, and obviously the next few weeks are going to be real critical with back in Big Ten play. 52:58 So, for us, we're stressing team defense, discipline, taking care of a puck, how important that is this time of the year as we get down to the end. 53:09 How important will the power play be this weekend in terms of how successful it's been so far? 53:12 It's always important that you've got to get some power play goals, and that's a battle within the battle, especially teams. 53:20 Our penalty kill continues to improve and get better. 53:25 The power play, even though we've scored some goals, I haven't been in love with it as maybe I was a little bit earlier. 53:31 So we got to get back to moving the puck a little bit more quickly. 53:34 We got to get back to a better net front presence, whether it's five on five or certainly on the power play. 53:40 And so we'll work on it and try to have a little bit better execution. 53:44 But to me, we've just been a little bit slow in moving the puck from one point to the next. 53:49 Paloalto Hill has been one of the top of the nation in the past about 10 games or so after being one of the worst of the last season. 53:55 What do you kind of credit towards the change? 53:57 Well, we've got some veteran guys on it. 53:59 You look at the only guy we lost on our Paloalto Hill last year was Hudson. 54:04 So I think another year that the experience they had last year was important. 54:10 Same thing with our D. 54:11 We had some new guys that played. 54:14 We're spending a lot more time on it because we know how important that is. 54:17 And you get back and ultimately cost us at the end when we give up what, two or three power play goals against Michigan in the last game. 54:23 And the season is over, so we've dedicated two to three days a week in our practice schedule to our penalty kill on different aspects of it. 54:31 And Mike's in charge of it and does a great job with it. 54:34 And I know it was a sense of frustration for him. 54:36 And obviously, the best penalty killers are goalie. 54:39 And early on, I think Eric needed to make a couple of saves on the penalty kill too to bail our guys out. 54:47 And that's important. 54:49 And now he's been doing that on a more consistent basis. 54:52 And all of a sudden, if you're only giving up one or two shots on a power play, the goaltender's got to make some saves too. 54:58 And he's done a good job with that. 54:59 It's funny how maybe we're almost giving up more shots now than what we were, but he's making more saves. 55:05 Now that you've been playing Penn State for a few years, does it feel like you're starting to build some tradition with this matchup? 55:11 Well, I think you're building how a team plays. 55:14 And it's kind of funny. 55:15 It's how it was in other leagues too. 55:17 I mean, you play a team and you know their style and how they're going to play. 55:21 So I mean, you can kind of plug in the video and you know, okay, yeah, I know we're playing Penn State because they're going to shoot and they're going to crash the net and they're going to play, get up and down the rink. 55:31 They're usually a very deep team and a four line team. 55:34 They just roll their guys and they've never been too concerned about, you know, who's out against who. 55:39 They just, they're going to play their guys and that's their mentality. 55:43 They've built a nice program and when you look at the commitment that the institution made and obviously Mr. 55:49 Pugula to donate that amount of money and I think his dream has paid off when, you know, they sell out every game and it's a, you know, 6,000, whatever the rink holds. 56:00 They have a good atmosphere. 56:01 It's a nice facility to play in. 56:04 And I think when they decided to add hockey, that was their vision and it's come to fruition. 56:10 How impressive is it that just a couple of years ago, they had Puck kids on the team and now a couple of weeks ago, it's number one? 56:15 It's five years and then you look at, I mean, most, a lot of times you don't have guys more than three years. 56:20 So, you know, they had a chance to start fresh. 56:22 They're in actually a good spot recruiting-wise. 56:26 I mean, because you can drive to the East Coast, you can drive up to Canada and Michigan, you know, so you go 300 miles in a radius around state college, you can get to some pretty good grounds. 56:35 And then, you know, one of their assistants has roots here back in Minnesota. 56:39 So, you know, they're back here playing games. 56:41 And, you know, so they're recruiting in Minnesota as well. 56:46 And they've done a nice job. 56:48 Do you think it'd be good for the Big Ten if they're able to sustain some of the success and be a top ten team for years to come? 56:54 Well, I think it's good for the Big Ten that, you know, more teams are doing well this year, that you look right now and, and, you know, Wisconsin's rebound like you knew they would. 57:04 You know, Notre Dame's coming in, so, you know, Michigan's a pretty, I just think we're on the cusp of, you know, the Big Ten being really, really good. 57:12 Are you surprised at how quickly Penn State has become better? 57:14 No, because it's, you know, it's been a half a dozen years now. 57:17 I mean, you have a chance to go out and recruit and start over. 57:20 And it's, you know, everybody's heard of Penn State. 57:22 I mean, you go out recruiting, I don't care if you're in Ontario or British Columbia or Minnesota or, you know, Boston. 57:29 I mean, Penn State's a name brand school. 57:30 So with it comes credibility. 57:32 And when you have invested and, you know, built a nice facility to play in, that, you know, you're on par with everybody. 57:39 You mentioned Coach Fisher being from here. 57:41 He said he came to see Mary Uchee before they built Pugula. 57:45 Do you remember them visiting here to sort of- 57:48 Yeah, I actually, I do remember, you know, Mr. 57:52 Pugula here sitting in the office and talking about Division 1 hockey. 57:55 And I think that that's what they did. 57:58 I mean, I think most people now, when they're going to build a new facility, I remember when, you know, North Dakota was building them being, they were out at, you know, Ralph Engelstein was out at CC and, you know, with Dean, and they were taking a tour around the newer facilities and to see what they liked and, you know, what they didn't like. 58:12 And like anything, we were at that era where there was probably 10 or 15 new college hockey rinks that were built. 58:19 And you can go on and look and you can kind of take what you like and what you don't and formulate it into your own plans. 58:24 And especially with that, when, you know, money really wasn't an object. 58:29 Did you have any big words for them or? 58:31 No, I don't. 58:32 You know, no. 58:33 I mean, hey, he's a pretty good business man. 58:35 He knows what he's doing. 58:37 I'm not giving him any advice. 58:38 I ask him about how to invest money. 58:41 What can a series like this where both teams come in ranked in the top 10 do to help build a rivalry? 58:46 Well, you know, I think some rivalries is interesting when we moved to the Big Ten where in the old WCHA you could probably say we were everybody's main rival a lot, you know, seven or eight of the teams. 59:00 I think in the Big Ten it's a little bit more probably football related, maybe for like, not for the players or coaches, but if you said the student body. 59:08 And I would imagine that if you asked Ohio State, you know, who their fans want to beat, it's pretty obvious, it's Michigan. 59:15 And I would bet that if you ask Penn State who they want to beat, it's probably Michigan, Ohio State. 59:20 You know, obviously, we have that tradition in hockey, but I think some of the rivalries within the Big Ten are specific as much to, you know, football and the other sports, basketball, and those sports as much as anything else. 59:33 Obviously, we have ours with Wisconsin. 59:35 I would probably say right now our second biggest rival and the Big Ten would be Michigan as of now. 59:43 But at the same time, some of it is, you know, where the coach is from, you know, what for them, what Stokes. 59:49 I mean, if you've got Steve Rollock and Mark Strobel from Hill Murray High School, I'm sure they want to beat the Gophers. 59:56 You know, just maybe a player from Canada doesn't have that same feeling. 1:00:01 But I think it's helped playing four games a year, rather than all of a sudden you're on a rotation where you only play twice a year. 1:00:07 And even next year with Notre Dame coming in, when you go into everybody's building, and you do have a true champion when you play four games a year, and I think that's one of the things I like about it versus, you know, some leagues you could win a championship based on, you know, who your four and two game opponents are, or who you play at home, or who you play on the road in that type of situation, because we saw that happen before. 1:00:27 So I think people are getting more and more comfortable. 1:00:31 You look at right now, you know, we're in the top 10, Penn State is, Ohio State's just on the cusp, you know, Wisconsin's, you know, having a good year. 1:00:39 I mean, Notre Dame we're there at in Hockey East. 1:00:42 So I think that, you know, the future looks very good. 1:00:46 I just, I think people have made a lot out of nothing the last couple of years. 1:00:49 And I think it's just, it's going to be a good league. 1:00:51 It is a good league and it's going to continue to be, become better. 1:00:55 A word that was thrown around a lot recently has been death. 1:00:58 So how have you been working towards getting the core to produce more? 1:01:02 And how important is it? 1:01:04 Well, it's, you know, you're, there's an old saying, you know, your best players have to be your best players when you get to this time of year. 1:01:10 So we know who those guys are. 1:01:13 They've been identified. 1:01:14 But I think what becomes critical as you get to this juncture, you have to have some secondary guys step up. 1:01:19 Like Ryan Norman's got a goal each of the last two weekends. 1:01:22 You know, so I think those are important aspects of our team. 1:01:27 Like I thought, I call it our blue line with Romanko and Ramsey and Norman last weekend was the best they've played since the first month of the season and I've always been confident in them defensively but they just they did a better job of in the offensive zone and generating scoring chances and it just makes us a better team. 1:01:45 And when we get that that from throughout our lineup, you know, we still we're still trying to, you know, figure out who should be playing with Smetula right now. 1:01:53 On that right side, we've moved some guys around and we'll continue to move some guys around till we find out, you know, who that person is. 1:02:01 You mentioned after Saturday's game you want to try to get Maroney and this week you're still trying to do that? 1:02:06 Yeah, I mean, he's practiced, he practiced today on the black line with Smetula, whether he, you know, stays there tomorrow, we'll talk as a staff or, but, you know, sometimes until guys play, you don't know. 1:02:18 And they need a chance, you know, I've had guys that I've coached that are better in games than they are in practice. 1:02:24 And, you know, he brings a certain element. 1:02:27 He hasn't had a chance to play a lot, but, you know, when he does, has played, you know, his speed is obviously noticeable. 1:02:34 And so there's some spots to be had right now, and that's what we got to try to find out here over, you know, the next month or so. 1:02:42 Everyone healthy? 1:02:43 Yeah, actually we are right now. 1:02:45 The key for a team like Penn State is getting the line to the net and traffic to the net, and creating chaos after shots. 1:02:52 What kind of challenge does that present to your team? 1:02:55 Well, I think it's a couple things. 1:02:57 Obviously, you don't want to get beat up to rank because your D will be very active jumping up. 1:03:02 I think the goal tenders got a big responsibility to kick pucks away from the net, whether it's to the corners, whether it's you take face-offs and just stop the chaos with a whistle. 1:03:14 Defensemen have to do a good job boxing out and getting pucks out of that danger area. 1:03:19 I think those are all important things for us this weekend. 1:03:22 What's that for your smaller forwards? 1:03:24 Smaller forwards and all those battles with rebounds? 1:03:27 Yeah, well, I mean, it's only one of them. 1:03:29 I mean, you got your D. 1:03:30 They're the main guys. 1:03:31 And, you know, it's not about how big you are. 1:03:34 It's about, you know, positioning and, you know, being able to lift up a guy's stick. 1:03:38 I mean, you don't have to be 6'4 to do that. 1:03:42 It's leverage. 1:03:44 Good. 1:03:45 All right? 1:03:45 Thank you. 1:03:47 In the Big Ten, what is it like to play against Penn State? 1:03:50 Do you see them as an upcoming team? 1:03:53 Yeah. 1:03:53 I mean, it's always fun to play against good teams. 1:03:55 And, you know, Penn State is one of them. 1:03:57 They're definitely up and coming in the Big Ten. 1:03:59 They've proved that the past few years that they're going to be a tough opponent to play against. 1:04:02 And that's good for us and that's good for the Big Ten. 1:04:05 Have you guys started to develop any kind of, like, feeling towards them? 1:04:10 Or are they a team that you like to play, you don't like to play, you expect a certain style? 1:04:15 I mean, I can say we expect a certain style. 1:04:19 They're one of the highest scoring teams in the country. 1:04:20 They're one of the highest shot percentage teams in the country. 1:04:22 You know, they take the most shots. 1:04:24 So we know they're a team that wants to play offensively. 1:04:27 They want to get the puck to the net as much as possible. 1:04:29 And they really like to crash the net. 1:04:31 So that's kind of the the MO of Penn State. 1:04:34 What does that mean you guys have to do as a group of defensemen then? 1:04:38 Well, I think that means we need to clear the front of the net and let Eric Sheerhorn see the puck. 1:04:43 It's important that we're not turning the puck over because they're a transition team. 1:04:46 And when they get the puck, they want to make one pass and shoot. 1:04:49 So, we know if we turn the puck over that it's going to be on the net pretty quickly. 1:04:53 It's an important series. 1:04:54 Both teams ranked in the top ten. 1:04:56 What can that do to help build some more rivalry between the Gophers and Penn State? 1:05:01 I think it can do a lot. 1:05:01 I mean, both teams are in a pretty good spot in terms of pairwise and Big Ten. 1:05:07 You know, two wins either way can kind of put a team behind you in the Big Ten race. 1:05:12 And it is a race this year so far. 1:05:14 So, I mean, I think it's very important, especially two teams like us that have ranked very closely in both rankings can really make a difference come the end of the year. 1:05:24 Penalty kill has been one of the tops in the nation over the past ten games. 1:05:27 It kind of struggled throughout much of last year. 1:05:29 What do you think is the biggest change? 1:05:33 You know, that's hard to put a finger on. 1:05:35 I mean, I think we focus on it. 1:05:39 Everything is kind of quick and I think some of it has to do with chemistry. 1:05:43 I mean, we have D pairs and four penalty kill pairs that have been together, kind of all year, and everyone is starting to form some chemistry with their penalty kill partners and form some chemistry as a penalty kill unit in total. 1:05:58 Is there a difference in playing Penn State and their shot volume style here on the Olympic size ice versus at Pugula? 1:06:07 I think a little bit. 1:06:08 I mean, you don't play it a whole lot differently, but with the big ice, you want to try to keep them to the outside and if they're taking shots from the outside of the rink on Mariuchi, it's going to be a little different than taking shots on the outside of Pugula. 1:06:24 So I think the focus for us is we know they're going to shoot whatever size the ice is, we need to keep the front of the net clear. 1:06:37 Thank you. 1:06:39 Penn State comes to town now as a top ten team. 1:06:42 Do you think it could be good for the conference if they're able to continue the kind of success that they've had this year as a new program? 1:06:48 Yeah, I mean, it's always good having good competition at a conference, and if we play well against them, that just is better for us when we're looking at the rankings at the end of the year. 1:06:58 Have you guys started to develop some feelings toward Penn State like you might have towards other rivals where you really want to crush them or you're highly motivated to play in this series? 1:07:12 Is there anything happening there with the rivalry? 1:07:14 I mean, I've only been here a year. 1:07:17 I guess we've done pretty well against them in the past. 1:07:20 And we swept them, or no, we didn't sweep them. 1:07:24 We split both series with them last year. 1:07:27 I guess, for me, there hasn't been as much of a rival as some other teams so far. 1:07:34 And that's because of the newness of the... 1:07:36 Yeah, and it's, yeah, I guess it's just because they're new. 1:07:40 And as I think about that, do you think maybe part of that is because guys that are playing here, Penn State's a newish program, so guys that you cheered for when you were watching and growing up and you were kids, Penn State wasn't on the map yet. 1:07:54 Yeah, I guess the rivalries were built a long time ago, and it takes quite a long time to form a rivalry, and maybe that's just why we haven't seen that as much. 1:08:06 But it is a battle for first place? 1:08:10 It is a battle for first place. 1:08:11 So how tough is this weekend? 1:08:13 It will be a tough series. 1:08:14 It's going to be a fun series. 1:08:16 From what we've heard, they get a lot of shots, and they play well. 1:08:21 I don't know. 1:08:22 It will be a good test. 1:08:24 What's the most important factor to take the momentum away from them? 1:08:29 I think just shut down their offense, because they score a lot each night, and we just need to prevent that. 1:08:37 Last weekend, Coach Ishida regarded your line. 1:08:39 You mentioned him in after Saturday's game, saying your line is one of the most solid all weekend. 1:08:44 How are you going to look to translate that game, that hard four-check, that check game, you had going? 1:08:49 I think for last weekend, we were just playing with a little more snarly mentality. 1:08:53 We got the puck low. 1:08:54 We worked it. 1:08:56 I guess, I don't know, those ins and outs are just, they get people going and I had fun playing against them and just, I don't know. 1:09:07 Last weekend was the first weekend without Tommy Novak in the lineup. 1:09:10 How do you feel you guys were able to fill in without him and how do you need to play in the future knowing that he won't be there for you? 1:09:18 We just need to, I mean, we just need to play like he hasn't been with us all season. 1:09:22 And it hurts us that he's gone, but guys step up and we fill out their roles and we just need to keep playing how we're playing. 1:09:32 Lost here to Ohio State 8-3 and have gone 8-2 since. 1:09:37 Was that loss at home the bottom of the barrel? 1:09:41 That, yes, that was the bottom of the barrel. 1:09:43 And I don't think that will happen again this year. 1:09:47 We've been playing good since then. 1:09:48 And it's just, I think it kind of flipped the switch in us, turned our mentality around. 1:09:56 We've been playing differently since then. 1:09:58 And it's more of a mentality to play towards the end of the year. 1:10:05 Can you elaborate a little bit more? 1:10:08 Playing, yep. 1:10:09 So play more defensively, I guess. 1:10:13 Because, you know, they say defense wins championships. 1:10:16 And that's what we need to do. 1:10:18 And that's how we need to play. 1:10:19 And we're competing for a championship. 1:10:20 We're first in the league right now. 1:10:22 And we want to stay there.