0:06
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, Vegoe and your host, Jupiter.
0:39
Thank Thank.
0:40
Good evening, and welcome to The GPL Podcast.
0:43
This is podcast number 110.
0:48
Well, we're back for another week.
0:49
The season's winding down, and he's been a writer on GPL for a while, so we thought we'd actually bring him in.
0:56
So today, we have Chris Eckes on as a guest.
1:00
Chris, how are you doing?
1:02
I'm doing great, Jupe.
1:03
The Gophs are in first, nothing really to complain about.
1:06
Well, there's always something to complain about, you know.
1:08
And obviously, we could start with this past weekend where it was not the greatest of games Friday night, was it, Veegs?
1:16
No, it was one of those games where Minnesota came out with a great first period and then kind of mailed it in the second and third.
1:25
Turnovers have been the big issue for this team all season, and they came up again on Friday night.
1:33
Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers.
1:35
Well, for one thing, I didn't see the game.
1:38
I didn't see either game this weekend, so I'm going to rely on you guys.
1:41
But when I see that, you know, they do get the lead, they do play well.
1:45
And then, like you said, Veegs, they just play like crap the rest of the game.
1:51
What happened, Hamme?
1:53
Oh, go ahead, Veegs.
1:55
Well, it's just they're forcing the play to happen.
1:58
You know, this team, they get in these situations where they think their skill can get them through a play, and it's just not there.
2:04
And especially when you're playing with a lead, they don't need to do that.
2:08
Hamme?
2:10
Yeah, I mean, you know, I think it's sort of what we've said a couple of times before is that they get, you know, they've had some success coming from behind or losing a lead and, you know, getting it back.
2:22
And sometimes you can get into some bad habits doing those kinds of things.
2:25
And I think that, you know, they just happen to get caught this time.
2:29
And, you know, hopefully these are the kinds of situations that you get out of your system and you learn your lessons before the games are super, super important.
2:37
So let's just hope that these guys, being a relatively veteran team, are learning their lesson.
2:43
Well, let's hope they get it out of their system.
2:44
But Chris, you know, they did turn it around Saturday night and got the 4-1 win.
2:49
So what do you think about that?
2:52
Yeah, Saturday, they played a little better.
2:54
I think it's interesting, though, they've come from behind so often this year.
2:59
It seems like when they actually do have a lead, this late in the season, sometimes it seems like they don't know how to play with the lead yet.
3:05
So in that third period, I saw a lot of them playing defense, trying to prevent Michigan from coming back.
3:13
And as we all have seen in the past, that only serves for the other team to have a lot of chances.
3:19
Thank goodness, Shearhorn was good on Saturday, and especially in the third period.
3:23
Otherwise, it might have been certainly less than a split for the Gophers.
3:28
Well, Vegoe, you mentioned today a lot on Twitter about, you know, what Lucia said on his show with the turnovers.
3:34
Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers.
3:36
It killed them Friday night.
3:38
They limited it much better on Saturday night.
3:42
Yeah, on Friday night, Lucia cited they had 40 turnovers, and then on Saturday, they only had 15.
3:50
And I asked him a little bit about that today, about what are you going to show these guys?
3:53
Obviously, it's a point of emphasis every single week that they need to manage the puck better.
3:58
If you listen to his coach's show and his availability throughout the entire season, it comes up again and again and again.
4:04
And it's almost like they got to try something else to get this in their head, that you have to play a little bit differently sometimes.
4:12
You can't always go for it and try to make the nice play, the nice one-on-one play.
4:17
Sometimes you do have to chip it deep and rely on your forecheck.
4:20
There's a couple of times where they played like this.
4:23
I thought the North Dakota game, the Saturday night, they played just like that.
4:29
They chipped it deep, they protected the lead, they played smart percentage hockey.
4:34
Maybe in this BigTen schedule, I think they don't have to do that.
4:37
But I think when they get in the NCAA tournament, sometimes they're going to have to rely on that.
4:41
They're going to have to make smart plays.
4:44
Well, let's just hope they keep their head in the game.
4:47
One positive that we keep seeing from this team though, Hammy, is Petlik is scoring almost every game.
4:56
We talked about it many weeks ago that he had that talent.
5:01
We wanted him to be shooting a puck more and creating.
5:06
He's definitely been doing that, obviously, in the last handful of series.
5:12
It's been great to see because he's very, very dangerous on the rush, his speed and he's got a great shot.
5:19
I think people are starting to see more and more of why he was so good last year in the USHL.
5:25
He's going to be an exciting player moving forward.
5:29
I would suspect he's going to be around at least a few more years, given he's not exactly your prototypical-sized NHLer, so I think that we have a lot to look forward to with him.
5:40
Well, Chris, one guy I'm thinking that may not be around a few more years is Tyler Sheehy.
5:46
He keeps scoring as well, leading the team.
5:50
Boy, is he going to be around very long?
5:53
Yeah, that's a good question.
5:54
You certainly hope so.
5:57
Also, he's not one of those guys that's all that big, so you would think maybe the NHL might not want him, but I know he's one of the most coveted free agent targets for the NHL this coming off season, so I'm sure he's going to get a lot of looks.
6:12
Similar to how Justin Cluse has the last couple of years, and Cluse decided to stick around, so with Cluse being a very vocal captain, you can only hope that he's instilled some of that pride in wearing the M in Sheehy, and he might stick around another year or two.
6:25
Well, one thing we should say about Sheehy, though, is that he may not be tall, but he's definitely thick, and he's not a small guy.
6:33
He might be short, but someone like Cluse is much smaller in stature, smaller, skinnier, but Vegoe, when you look at Sheehy, he's a pretty thick guy.
6:43
Yeah, he definitely came to the University of Minnesota as a put-together individual.
6:47
He's put in the time in the weight room, and he's very sturdy on his skates.
6:52
I think, you know, for some of the other players, it's taken them more time to get to that point, but he's an older guy.
6:58
He played some juniors before coming to the Gophers, and he's putting up a lot of points.
7:03
I think it helps that he plays with Cluse and Pitlick.
7:06
He's admitted he's the slowest guy on the line, and with those two linemates, that's nothing to be ashamed of.
7:12
No.
7:13
But he's really capitalizing the role with this team.
7:16
One of the things Lucia talked about a couple weeks ago was that she would benefit by sticking around to play in all situations.
7:23
He's kind of that seventh penalty killer for them right now among the forwards, and that's something he'd be able to do moving forward if he stayed.
7:32
Well, basically, you know, we end up with a split on the weekend, regardless of Minnesota would have won Friday night with Western Michigan winning, they were going to jump to four no matter what because of who they beat.
7:44
So it looks like Minnesota is sitting around number five right now.
7:47
I don't know if they can get back up to four.
7:49
We'll have to wait and see.
7:51
More importantly right now, Hammy, is that Minnesota does have a three-point lead in the Big Ten because Penn State did Minnesota a favor and at least got a split on the weekend with Wisconsin, so Minnesota is back in control.
8:04
They control their own destiny with the Big Ten Conference.
8:08
It's tighter than we thought it would be.
8:09
We didn't think it would be Wisconsin, but at least Minnesota has a lead, huh, Hammy?
8:18
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
8:20
Hold on there, Hammy.
8:23
Hold on there, Hammy.
8:25
Are you guys hearing Hammy as bad as I am?
8:29
Yeah, he sounds like a robot.
8:31
He can't sound like a robot.
8:34
Yeah, it kind of sounded like...
8:35
Oh, there, there, that's better.
8:37
Sorry, you just kind of sounded like a robot there for a second.
8:40
We can hear you better now.
8:41
I was doing some imitation like...
8:44
What was it, like Battlestar Galactica?
8:47
You did kind of sound like a Cylon a little bit.
8:50
The 1970s version.
8:53
Yeah, so in any case, yeah, it's great to have your own destiny in your own hands, especially when you're trying to win a trophy.
9:05
So we can't really ask much more than that.
9:07
Heading into the last weekend and we're playing an opponent that I think pretty much everybody thinks we should sweep, and hopefully the players don't take it quite like that.
9:17
We also thought that last weekend too.
9:20
Well, I mean, that was a road game in Michigan.
9:25
Like we've always talked about with rivalry series, even though Michigan might not be on the level of Wisconsin for rivalry, you can kind of throw the records out some years.
9:36
So that's one of those series on the road that as much as we probably are, well, we know we're a better team on paper, I'm not shocked by the result.
9:45
But this weekend being at Mariucci, we're playing a team that we're definitely superior to in pretty much every way you could ask for.
9:52
They just have to kind of make sure that they put in the effort and play a full 60 minutes both nights.
9:58
And they should come out of it with another league title.
10:03
Well, we're hoping so.
10:04
Chris, we had Penn State split with Wisconsin this past weekend.
10:08
They're within five points.
10:09
They basically need to root completely for Ohio State to sweep Wisconsin and then Penn State sweep Michigan in order to win.
10:17
Chris, Penn State, third place, you think they could sneak up there or is it pretty much Wisconsin's to have?
10:24
Wisconsin's got Ohio State at home.
10:27
And despite how bad they were last year, I think we've seen that Wisconsin is actually a pretty solid team.
10:34
I certainly wouldn't expect them to lose both games at home this weekend to Ohio State.
10:40
Now, we've seen Penn State.
10:42
I do think Penn State's pretty good as well.
10:44
But right now, it's not in their hands.
10:46
And I think Wisconsin's just too good.
10:48
I think they'll at least win one of those games this weekend.
10:50
And really, Penn State needs to mostly worry about Ohio State, huh, Jamie?
10:55
Yeah, you know, Ohio State has sort of been schizophrenic.
10:58
I mean, you know, it's like you just don't know what's going to be going on with that team.
11:02
So, you know, so yeah, I mean, I'm not expecting Ohio State to win two games or even win the majority of the points in Wisconsin.
11:13
I would suspect that, you know, Wisconsin's going to come out of that series with, you know, the majority of the points.
11:19
And then, you know, I think the Gophers are going to have to have the mentality that they're going to have to win both games if they want to have the league title outright.
11:28
Definitely, definitely.
11:30
We've got a bunch of Twitter questions.
11:32
And if you're listening live, you want to send us a question, just use the hashtag GPL Podcast on Twitter and we will try to get to it.
11:39
I'm going to throw this one at you, Veegs.
11:43
How do gopher fans feel about possibly facing UND in Fargo?
11:48
This comes from John S.
11:49
Hot Rodder 48 or Rod Hotter 48, sorry.
11:54
How do the gopher fans feel about possibly going to Fargo and playing UND right off the bat?
12:00
I think you have to feel good about it because it's going to make the Gophers focus.
12:05
Going into a building like that with a crowd against them, they're going to have to play smart hockey.
12:11
They're going to have to manage the puck just like they did back in November.
12:13
I think that was one of the more complete games.
12:16
We've seen them play the entire season.
12:18
There are very few turnovers.
12:20
I wish I had access to Lucia's advanced statistics to see just how few they had, but they didn't turn the puck over.
12:27
They played the body and they played a smart hockey game.
12:31
So I think if they play North Dakota in the first round, you're going to see a great game.
12:35
And that game, too, they played a full 60 minutes in that game.
12:38
That's one thing Hammeh said earlier is this team, if they're going to win, they need to play a full 60 minutes.
12:45
And I think, Vegoe, to your point, when they're engaged, they have the ability to play that full 60 minutes.
12:52
And we've certainly seen them in situations where maybe they should have been engaged that they didn't play a full 60 minutes.
12:57
So I think I agree with your point that if we were to go up to Fargo and play in North Dakota, you have to believe that all those guys would be energized and ready to play that game.
13:06
Now, Hammeh, we know you're not feeling the greatest on the North Dakota rivalry, but what do you think?
13:11
I mean, would that really get the team up to play this kind of game if they were to play UND in Fargo?
13:19
Well, I mean, I think that personally I feel like it can be a little overrated just because you are in the NCAAs.
13:28
And, I mean, you have to be focused, you know what I mean?
13:31
I mean, at this time of year, if you're not, you know, at least in NCAAs, I mean, you kind of don't deserve to move on.
13:39
I would hope it wouldn't take any specific, you know, opponent to really drive that kind of focus and energy for the team.
13:46
I would hope it would be just the stage and what's at stake would be enough for them to do that.
13:52
You know, I don't really care so much who we play.
13:55
I do get a little bit tired and bored of kind of how the NCAA always seemingly tries to put, you know, the Gophers in North Dakota and, you know, in the same bracket, you know, and that it just gets old.
14:08
I mean, sometimes it feels like you're being force fed a certain thing and I get they want to have, you know, a crowd and whatever.
14:16
But I don't mind if it's if it's in the frozen form, teams have earned their way into it.
14:20
Hey, that's one thing.
14:21
But when you're sort of just trying to manufacture it, it's different.
14:25
The crowd thing, though, is not a big deal because they've already sold out Fargo.
14:29
So that shouldn't be a consideration at all.
14:31
I mean, do you think it will be a consideration, Veegs?
14:35
I think it might be.
14:36
You know, it would create a good television audience for them to play in North Dakota in Fargo.
14:43
But television is not going to ever be a big thing.
14:45
If you had them going out to Providence and playing the Friars in Providence, that would be a worse matchup in my mind.
14:54
I don't know.
14:56
I don't think they've ever worried about TV.
14:57
Just look at the commercials they put on there.
15:00
It's usually bottom of the barrel stuff.
15:02
They're definitely not making any money off of it.
15:04
Can it be any worse than the Alaska Anchorage commercials we used to watch?
15:12
Yeah, well, that's cable access television.
15:16
This is ESPN.
15:19
It was kind of fun watching some of those commercials.
15:22
It's like, come on down to the Moose Lodge Bar.
15:27
They'd have some bears out in the back or something like that.
15:31
I don't know, some crazy shit going on.
15:35
Well, we can avoid this whole discussion if St.
15:38
Cloud does us a solid this weekend and sweeps them in the first round of the Nacho.
15:42
Would that knock them out?
15:43
You're Mr.
15:44
Parawise now.
15:46
Yeah, they'd be real close to the bubble.
15:50
Well, what a shame that would be.
15:54
See, I don't do the Parawise bit like a lot of people do.
15:56
I mean, for me, it's like, I don't even analyze it at all because it's like whatever shakes out after that tournament weekend, I mean, that's it, you know what I mean?
16:06
Trying to read the tea leaves, I know it's mixed for good conversation for some people when they see these weekly, you know, bracket breakdowns by USCHO or whoever, and it's just like, yeah, but, you know, at the end of the day, none of that matters until the end of the year, so I don't read too much into that.
16:24
I'm kind of with you, Hammeh.
16:25
I mean, Moi starts doing this in early January, and I just, I don't know, everything just changes so much.
16:32
I don't know, it's probably just to get clicks on a website, and then, I mean, it's kind of the point now where, you know, Gonzales from the Strib is writing stories about Moi's stories about bracketology.
16:44
I'm like, I just don't understand it because, like you said, you know, wait until we get to that last weekend, you know, literally, you know, championship weekend, then you can kind of see, hey, if you win this game or you lose this game, you're going to drop to this spot.
16:58
You really know where things are going to go, but up until that last weekend, it's really just a crapshoot, isn't it, Vaze?
17:05
Well, I do think it is a bit of a crapshoot to try to predict how it's going to work out, but with so much emphasis on the bracketology, the players at least know how important it is.
17:16
You ask the players on this year's gopher team about, you know, pairwise implications of games, and they realize it affects them.
17:23
You know, last year, if they would have beat Minnesota State and Bemidji, they were in.
17:27
I think this year, if North Dakota would have handled Michigan State earlier in the year, they'd be in very safely right now.
17:36
So I think it's interesting with all the analysis that the players have picked up how important it is.
17:42
Yeah, but a lot of that stuff is hindsight.
17:44
You know what I mean?
17:44
It's like weeks or months later.
17:47
And to me, it's like more people that do that stuff now, they're looking into the future.
17:53
It's like until you get to the end of the year or pretty close to the end of the year, it's like you don't even realize.
17:59
It's like we've talked about a few weeks ago where, you know, until you really look back in hindsight and you say, oh, that one game back in mid-November that we lost to that team is what cost us that bubble spot or whatever.
18:12
I mean, that's to me, almost it's the hindsight that's more entertaining than anything.
18:17
But I do think it does make the players maybe a little more focused in those early season games and the non-conference schedule and some of that stuff because they do learn over time that those kinds of games can literally cost you an opportunity.
18:36
I'm going to throw this question to you, Chris.
18:38
It's from GoHuskiesWoo.
18:42
How high in the pairwise would Minnesota, actually U of M Twin Cities campus, he says, be if they had not been the second worst team in Minnesota?
18:54
Well, that's a bit of a leading question.
18:57
You beat Duluth and your pairwise would probably be in much better shape.
19:01
Since they're the second worst team in Minnesota, even though they're not, would it really have helped Minnesota?
19:09
I haven't looked at the analysis perfectly, but I do know that if we had beaten St.
19:16
Cloud in those games, that we should have beaten them because we are a vastly superior team in every way to St.
19:21
Cloud.
19:22
Oh, now you're going to get them going.
19:25
I think we'd certainly be up in that one band instead of sort of on the bubble of the one band right now.
19:33
But yeah, there certainly were some winnable games early in the year.
19:39
There also were some loseable games that we ended up pulling out.
19:42
So I think to everybody's point about the pairwise, I think it all shakes out in the end.
19:49
And while picking out individual games is fun to play a what-if game, at the end of the day, I think the pairwise is the best system to pick the best teams.
19:58
So it all shakes out.
20:02
Any thoughts on that, Vegoe?
20:04
Well, you can look back and if they would have played better, obviously they'd be the 3 seed right now.
20:10
If they would have played better against Duluth, they could be the 2.
20:12
But I think Minnesota has played very well this season.
20:16
They've won a lot of those 3 out of 4 segments that they talk about so much.
20:20
And this team has achieved pretty consistently.
20:25
Tim Kotke wants to know, how annoyed does Hammy get this time of year with recruiting questions?
20:32
Ex players having such a great state tourney.
20:34
Hammy, you kind of mentioned this earlier today.
20:40
Somebody is going to get hat-trick.
20:42
It's an annual tradition.
20:45
There will always be one or two kind of unknown guys coming into the state tournament.
20:53
One guy blows up and has an incredible game or maybe even a couple of good games in a row.
20:59
Next thing you know, it's, oh my god, are the Gophers recruiting that guy?
21:04
How come this happened or why did that happen?
21:06
It's like, oh my god, everybody lives in the state tournament bubble.
21:13
I don't get annoyed by it like I used to as much as it's just like I shake my head and try to be a little bit entertained by it, I guess.
21:20
That's kind of why tongue-in-cheek made that comment on Twitter today.
21:26
It's that time of year once again.
21:28
Well, didn't a Gopher recruit from Laverne, he could have really helped Laverne out tonight.
21:34
Yeah, Jackson Nelson is up in the USHL.
21:38
I actually was thinking the same thing that you just mentioned like when they were tied the game up.
21:43
I'm not thinking to myself.
21:44
Because I'll be honest with you, I hate Hermantown.
21:47
I can't stand Hermantown to me.
21:49
They're sort of like a private school of the north even though they're not.
21:53
I mean, I get that at least their homegrown talent and all that stuff like that.
21:57
But it's sort of like, you know, have some, I just feel like teams that make it that consistently.
22:02
It's like have some balls, move up to class AA and play with the big boys.
22:07
And, you know, it's hard for me to really, it's like I just, I like the small towns that are, you know, maybe like the southern Minnesota towns or the central Minnesota towns or some of these places that, you know, are truly in the middle of nowhere that aren't going to always be, you know, great teams every other year and that actually get to the state tournament.
22:28
I mean, I like that, but I can't stand it when there's a team that everybody knows should move up and they just, for whatever reasons, they just don't have the balls to do it.
22:37
And I hate that.
22:38
Sorry, I just do.
22:43
It's not as bad as private schools being in single A, but it's close.
22:47
Yeah, well, we were cheering for your Laverne team tonight, Brian Deutsch.
22:51
We were cheering for him.
22:53
He was there in person.
22:54
Yeah, he was there.
22:55
He was tweeting a little bit.
22:57
It's just too bad, but we were definitely cheering for him, Deutsch, because I think we all wanted to see Laverne win tonight.
23:05
We've got Nate Wells always listening live, or at least most of the time he does, taking away Jupe's love for mid-90s Jefferson teams.
23:13
What are your favorite The Tourney memories?
23:16
Let's start with you, Chris.
23:17
What's your favorite state high school hockey tournament memory?
23:22
So I graduated from Minnetonka High School.
23:27
You can do me now, I guess.
23:30
The year before that, maybe?
23:33
One of my favorite memories was that epic three or four overtime game that they won in the semifinal in 08, maybe?
23:42
To get to the final and then they lost to Dinah the next night because they were all gassed.
23:46
But what a great moment and what a great memory for me, cheering for Minnetonka, seeing them get to the final and then eventually lose like they always do in March.
23:54
You see, now my Minnetonka memory would be Jefferson beating Minnetonka in four over times the next morning in the mid-80s.
24:03
I think it was a 7 o'clock game.
24:04
They got done with the third overtime.
24:06
They're like, sorry, we got to get the next game started.
24:08
So we'll have you play at like 9 o'clock in the morning.
24:11
They came back and I think Jefferson won within a minute or so.
24:13
But that's my favorite Minnetonka memory.
24:17
Vegoe, how about you?
24:19
What's your favorite memory?
24:21
It's clearly the Apple Valley Duluth East game.
24:24
Yes.
24:24
Back when I was in high school and when you play high school hockey, you get access to tickets and you're in the same section every year next to the same other teams that don't make the tournament.
24:35
And you get kind of a little bit of a rivalry with those guys and get to see them at the tournament.
24:40
That was a late night and a lot of fun.
24:42
They could have used instant replay that night.
24:46
Yeah, maybe, but it was fun for all the fans in those stands.
24:51
I'll remember that game for a long time.
24:53
Hammy, you're more old school like me.
24:55
What's your favorite memory?
24:58
There's a lot of them, man.
24:59
Of course, I don't know that I have one specific one.
25:03
I mean, Spihard is obviously a great performance back in the, you know, when he was in there.
25:09
I remember, you know, because they're gopher related.
25:13
I remember when Dan Welch scored for Hastings back in the late 90s to win a game.
25:21
They scored with a few seconds left to tie it, and they won it miraculously.
25:25
Yeah, I mean, I remember that game.
25:27
I mean, you know, I mean, there's just so many of them that's, you know, especially those ones.
25:34
I remember, I mean, granted, I haven't been as big of a fan of the Class A ones, but, you know, Blake Wheeler had, you know, obviously a great year, and, you know, he won the state title for Blake and just how dominant, you know, he could be.
25:47
And, you know, there's been a lot of great performances.
25:51
A lot of great games.
25:52
Yeah, that was with Breck, correct.
25:54
Better be careful, people are going to get all over you.
25:56
Probably Nate.
25:58
Yeah, but I mean, for me, you know, I think, I guess a lot of the things that I really remember are usually because of there's some kind of a Gopher player involved in it or whatever.
26:08
I mean, like the Dan Welch one, I mean, he scored with the second left, you know, to win that game.
26:13
And, you know, back then we knew they were going to be Gopher recruits.
26:16
And, you know, there's just been a lot of great talent.
26:19
I mean, we've seen, you know, Kyle Rowe, you know, scoring, you know, that great goal with that great effort, you know, not long ago.
26:30
I mean, just some of those kinds of memories that you see.
26:32
And, you know, there's a lot of ones, you know, that are kind of faded, to be honest with you, because I actually, you know, Chris was talking about Minnetonka.
26:39
I actually remember when Minnetonka made it kind of, I think it was like 85 or 86.
26:45
I can't remember what it was.
26:46
I think it was the mid-80s.
26:49
Hannes and Snuggerwood?
26:51
What's that?
26:52
I think it was Tim Hannes and Snuggerwood were on those teams, weren't they?
26:55
Snuggy was the Hopkins boy.
26:57
Oh, that's right.
26:58
Don't insult Snuggy, okay?
27:01
He might have lived in Minnetonka, but he went to Hopkins.
27:03
Sorry, my mistake.
27:07
But yes, that was back at Tim Hannes, and I can't remember who else was on that Minnetonka team.
27:14
And I also remember who was the Richfield goalie that got a slip in my mind.
27:23
It was in the 80s, and Richfield, of course, wasn't that great that year, but he was so incredible that they made the state tournament with him.
27:32
I think he even actually had a losing record.
27:35
I can't remember 100%, but it's going to bug me.
27:38
I'll have to check that later.
27:41
But just some of those kinds of players and some of those classic games and great performances.
27:46
I mean, even though he was a badger, for instance, Bessie having that great state tournament performance.
27:53
Five goals.
27:54
Yep.
27:57
So there's been a lot of great things and a lot of great memories, and this is a great time of year.
28:00
Tommy Novak winning it for St.
28:02
Thomas, right?
28:03
Yeah, he was at St.
28:04
Thomas.
28:08
Didn't he win it?
28:09
Get a goal really late and give them the championship as well in A before they moved up to double A.
28:14
I mean, that was huge as well.
28:17
For me, I'm not going to pick my mid-90s Jefferson team, Nate.
28:20
I'll go with my 1989 team that won it in overtime.
28:25
The overtime win against John Marshall.
28:27
I was at the game.
28:29
In fact, that was the last state high school hockey tournament game I ever attended was that game in 1989.
28:35
I haven't been back there since.
28:38
You know, Jupe, I live in Bloomington now, so I'm a big Jefferson Jaguars fan.
28:44
They're terrible.
28:45
They got just killed last week.
28:47
But they made it.
28:48
They made it.
28:49
Yeah, but they upset a couple things, but it's just not the same.
28:53
That's kind of like cheering for the Cleveland Browns now, isn't it?
28:57
Hey, it's not that bad.
28:59
It's bad, but it's not that bad.
29:01
I mean, I am podcasting wearing a Browns sweatshirt.
29:05
Oh, what the hell is wrong with you?
29:10
I mean, it's kind of when you think about how there's been some changes.
29:15
I mean, to imagine where like, I mean, back in the day in the 80s, like Kennedy, you know, and Jefferson and Burnsville.
29:24
I mean, not that those teams are completely terrible every year now, but it's like, you know what I mean?
29:32
And Holy Angels was great for a stretch and like, you know, and it's just, it's interesting.
29:38
You see some of these changes in the shifts and, you know, some of these outer ring burbs becoming, you know, big high schools and having more dominant teams.
29:48
And it's just kind of interesting how some of that changes, but at least around the metro area.
29:53
So for me, when I was in, when I was in school, I mean, Holy Angels was usually, well, they were the co-stars back then.
30:00
And they were usually the eighth seed or seventh seed in the section.
30:05
They weren't not as good.
30:06
You know, we'd have teams like, meaning, the Southwest that Jefferson would play.
30:12
But back then it was just, you know, section five, it was either Jefferson or Kennedy for 15 or 20 years.
30:18
One of those teams would go.
30:20
So that's what I remember most.
30:21
Obviously, the section finals on the Saturday before the state tournament at the Mets Center along with, you know, at the time, section six.
30:28
And it'd be something like, you know, Edina or Minnetonka or whoever it may be.
30:35
People say, you know, it's not as great as it used to be.
30:38
But you look at those section finals that happened up in Duluth this past weekend and they had 7,000 people in there.
30:45
It was packed.
30:47
It's a good thing they didn't call the fire marshal because it was a huge deal.
30:53
Go ahead.
30:54
Yeah, you know, I've been to Mariucci for a lot of big games.
30:58
And in the past, certainly, it was pretty filled whenever North Dakota or a good Wisconsin team came to town.
31:04
But I think the time that Mariucci Arena has been the most full that I've ever seen in my life was a section final night.
31:13
I think it was in 2006.
31:16
And every seat was full.
31:18
They were four, five, six people deep in standing room.
31:24
Just unbelievable.
31:26
So those section final games are sometimes just as good as a state tournament.
31:30
And I try not to miss them every year if I can, because they're just great hockey.
31:34
And it was similar 10 years before that when they had them at Mariucci.
31:39
And I remember seeing Jefferson against Apple Valley, one versus number two, and it was the exact same thing.
31:45
Every seat was filled.
31:46
It was six, seven deep around the sides.
31:49
You know, a good probably 11,000 people in the building.
31:53
It was quite the experience.
31:54
But, you know, it wasn't all that different even at Met Center.
31:58
I mean, the lower bowl would be full.
31:59
They would probably get 12,000 to 14,000 people in there for section finals, because there was always two section finals back to back.
32:06
It was a...
32:08
And that place could hold it, and it had plenty of parking, and it was a perfect setup back in the day.
32:15
Are you talking about section finals?
32:17
Yeah.
32:19
Yeah, because I kind of faded out and hadn't joined back in.
32:23
But yeah, I mean, that's...
32:26
Some of my best memories are the section finals.
32:28
I mean, even to some extent, they could be even more entertaining than the actual state tournament, because just getting to the state tournament was such a big deal that...
32:38
that just watching those kids fight that way, you know, to try to get there is really special.
32:45
By the way, I actually figured it out now.
32:47
It was Damian Rhodes in 1986 for Richfield.
32:53
They played NHL, didn't they?
32:57
I thought he did.
32:59
Yeah, I don't remember where he...
33:01
I should check where he went off to, but that's...
33:03
He's the one that stuck out to me, because I just remember...
33:08
Richfield wasn't a very good team, but he has played so incredible.
33:15
He basically just rode him into the state tournament.
33:19
You kind of remember certain things like that, those underdogs, that one guy just kind of helped raise the entire team.
33:29
He played at Michigan Tech, and then he went on to play in the NHL.
33:32
There you go.
33:34
Well, one thing I've enjoyed about the A games today is, for the first time that I can remember, these Wednesday A games have actually been enjoyable.
33:44
We've had a couple of upsets already.
33:45
We had Hermantown get brought to overtime.
33:47
This game on right now is a one-goal game.
33:51
These games, at least today for A, are much better than they have been for years.
33:58
Well, I think some of these out-state teams are getting better, like Laverne, St.
34:04
Cloud, Cathedral.
34:06
These teams are getting better and more competitive.
34:09
I think that's part of the reason they went with the Class A and the Class AA, was to grow hockey in some of these areas by giving them that carrot of being in the state tournament.
34:18
It's always kind of frustrating when you see Blake Brack, SPA, St.
34:23
Thomas Academy win these Class A sections.
34:27
I think it's more meant for these small-town schools to get the chance to grow the game there.
34:34
It's fun to see.
34:35
Vintage Minnesota Hockey has a great history of the high school tournament.
34:39
It's got all the results, all tournament teams, programs, ticket studs.
34:44
It's kind of fun to look at.
34:45
Yeah, I think the thing that I, you know, they still have great players that make it in the state tournament.
34:51
I mean, obviously, Middlestad, for instance.
34:53
But, you know, when you think about back, especially like I think in the 80s and the 90s, just how many great players ended up playing in the state tournament.
35:03
You know what I mean?
35:03
I mean, I mean, it was just loaded.
35:06
Every team, you know, seemed to have, you know, at least one or two guys that were like total, like high-end superstar types of guys that, you know, I guess from a gopher perspective, it was always great because you knew that most of those superstar guys were going to end up at the U.
35:24
But, you know, it was just so much fun back then to see some of these guys play and to see some of the talent.
35:30
And, you know, we still get that to a degree, but, you know, we do lose a decent percentage of top players, you know, to USHL or to the national program or whatever.
35:41
And, you know, it's a little unfortunate, but, you know, it's still special to watch the state tournament and see good players.
35:48
But those are the things that I really remember as much as anything is just some of that incredible talent that every team had.
35:56
It wasn't just one or two teams, but every team had back then.
36:01
I would agree.
36:02
I would agree.
36:03
I'm just glad that the A games have been competitive today, because for a long time it's been pretty bad, and we haven't seen very many upsets in close games.
36:12
Yeah, I agree.
36:13
You know, it is fun when you see these kind of competitive games.
36:18
That's what everybody wants to see.
36:19
I mean, everybody remembers those really tight games that are won in the last few minutes or in overtime or whatever.
36:26
The more you see that, the better.
36:28
It's kind of like NCAA basketball for March Madness.
36:31
You want to see those buzzer beaters and great tight games, even if it's two teams you don't really even care about.
36:37
It's the same thing with the state high school hockey tournament.
36:39
You want to see those great games and some great performances and things that you can remember for years.
36:47
Well, we've got more to get to here, but before we move forward, we need to hear from our sponsor.
36:53
vintagemnhockey.com is a proud sponsor of the GPL Podcast.
36:58
Well, what is Vintage MN Hockey?
37:01
Well, it's kind of the place to get all of your history of Minnesota hockey, from the pros to the minors, the collegiate teams, to even the high school teams.
37:11
All information about any of those teams can be found on vintagemnhockey.com.
37:16
They also have great interviews with some historical Minnesota hockey figures, like John Mayessich and Lou Nani, Glenn Sanmore, some of the greats of Minnesota hockey.
37:25
So make sure you check out those interviews.
37:27
It's a really great thing.
37:29
But as I always say, I think my favorite part is the store.
37:33
The store, you can buy a custom historical jersey from the Gophers or the Bulldogs or some of your favorite high school teams.
37:40
And if you do make a purchase, just use the code GPL Podcast, all one word, and you'll get 10% off your order.
37:47
So make sure you visit vintagemnhockey.com and follow them on Twitter at VintageMNHockey.
37:54
And just a side note for Vintage, they're at the Let's Play Hockey Expo this weekend at the River Center.
37:59
So if you're going down there for the state tournament, go and visit them.
38:03
They're in booth 265 and they're there.
38:06
They probably got jerseys and all those historical pictures.
38:08
So make sure you check them out at the Let's Play Hockey Expo.
38:12
All right, boys, we've got more questions here.
38:17
So let's start off with Tim Hapke.
38:19
He's always sending us stuff.
38:21
He says, when the Gophers recruit defensemen, do they try to recruit an equal number of right and left shooters?
38:28
Let's start with you, Hammeh.
38:29
Do they try to balance out the left and right handed guys?
38:32
I mean, I think they obviously that would be the preferable thing to do.
38:38
But I mean, you have to ask yourself at times if you have a couple of great guys that are out there that are definitely high end world beater type of defensemen, but they're both left handed and you don't really, maybe you need only one, but I mean, you don't really care.
38:58
You'll find a way to make it work.
39:00
So I mean, obviously that's the preference and they're not going to want to just load up on one side, of course.
39:06
But sometimes you just say to yourself, you know, I'd rather have two lefties out there if they're both great players than to miss out on a great player and have, you know, kind of an okay guy just because he's a righty, you know what I mean?
39:19
So you just make those kinds of choices and live with it as best as you can.
39:24
Okay, PuckHog16 wants to know, we'll send this towards you, Veegs.
39:29
Do any gophers have a real shot at the Hobie?
39:33
And who has the best shot?
39:36
Well, I think because voters rely so much on statistics, she might be their best shot at a Hobie.
39:43
I would pick Cluse as my candidate for the Hobie.
39:45
I think he does so much for the team program, embodies what the Hobie should be about.
39:51
But I don't know if they'll get the national exposure to be considered Hobie candidates.
39:56
I did a nice feature on Justin Cluse for Minnesota Hockey Magazine that's out and about in town.
40:01
You can pick it up if you're at the state high school tournament this weekend.
40:04
It should be available somewhere around there.
40:07
But I don't know if they'll get a legit shot at being the Hobie.
40:10
I would expect at least one of them to get named a finalist.
40:15
Chris, do you think they'll make a finalist, Chris?
40:21
I would expect that Sheehy will be one of the final ten.
40:26
I agree with Vegoe's take.
40:28
I think Clues, certainly on and off the ice, is a leader for this team.
40:35
And his leadership really has brought this team a long way.
40:40
That said, just like Vegoe said, stats are what matters.
40:43
And Sheehy is currently, I think, eighth or seventh in scoring nationally.
40:48
So I would expect him to be in the final ten, especially for a team like the Gophers who's been hovering around fourth or fifth place all year.
40:57
But realistically, looking at the numbers of the guys that are ahead of him, I don't think he has much of a chance to win it this year.
41:04
Now, Hammy, do the stats really matter though?
41:07
I mean, you look at somebody like Ryan Batoni, ten, twelve, whatever, years ago.
41:12
I mean, nobody has scored as many goals as he did in that season.
41:16
And he was doing very well.
41:18
And he wasn't even a finalist.
41:21
So do the stats really make that big a difference?
41:23
They didn't back then.
41:24
I mean, I tend to lean towards that they do.
41:30
I mean, I just, you know, I think that when you're talking about, you know, East Coast, West, you know, or Central United States and, you know, I mean, you're not.
41:41
I mean, granted, there are more games on TV these days.
41:44
So there is that.
41:45
But, you know, you just feel like some of these people that vote.
41:50
I mean, it's no different like when you watch people talking about recruits.
41:54
I mean, they talk about the players that maybe they see locally and then they, you know, it basically becomes a big hype fest, you know, for the rest of it.
42:03
So, you know, what they see in box scores for different leagues and whatever.
42:08
So I think it's some of that.
42:10
I do agree that the statistics play a role in it.
42:14
And I'm sure that some of it's word of mouth too.
42:16
I mean, I do think that word of mouth is a part of it.
42:19
I don't think that personal observations always play as much of a role as we like to think it does.
42:27
Suffering Soda Fan wants to know, who is the bottom six forward with the biggest breakout potential for the stretch run?
42:36
Any thoughts on that, Chris?
42:38
Which one of these bottom guys is going to step up?
42:42
Yeah, you know, I like a lot of the guys in our bottom six actually probably more than they deserve given what they've done so far.
42:52
I really think Ryan Norman has a lot of upside.
42:55
He's one of the few guys in the bottom six that has shown some flashes of being able to score.
43:01
He seems like he plays a pretty sound two way game, which is just what they need out of him if he's playing on that fourth line.
43:10
So I really like all the guys on the fourth line, but I think as far as guys that are going to contribute on the score sheet, I think Ryan Norman is one of those guys that we could see, especially now that he's playing more on the power play with Smetula out.
43:23
I think we could see Norman contributing a lot more on the score sheet.
43:27
V, are we going to have any of these guys break out?
43:30
Someone like a Ramsey or a Romanko with both each with a single goal on their career?
43:37
Unfortunately, for Ramsey or a Romanko, they just were not blessed with the goal scorers touch.
43:43
They are going to be career trench liners, I believe.
43:48
It's just the way it is for those guys.
43:50
They weren't blessed with the scorers touch.
43:52
I think the bottom six, the only way they're going to make impacts that this guy is looking for is on the power play.
43:59
Gates and Norman are both getting chances there with the injuries because they need right-handed guys for Norman.
44:06
But I think the key for these guys going down the stretch is not try to do too much, not try to impress the coaches with their skill, make the high percentage plays.
44:16
That's what's going to get this team deep in the tournament, is these guys playing smart hockey in these elimination games.
44:24
Any thoughts on one of these bottom six guys stepping up, Hammy?
44:30
You know, Norman would be one.
44:33
I definitely look at Gates as a guy.
44:36
I mean, he's had success this year, and it seems like, you know, he kind of reminds me in some respects of Grant Patolny back in the day.
44:45
And so, I mean, there's, you know, he just seems to find the net at times, and he's kind of got that same frame and, you know, some of the same characteristics.
44:54
So maybe he'll have some of the same success late in the year that Patolny did, you never know.
44:59
And he's a non-Minnesota boy, so, you know, maybe some of that will rub off as well.
45:03
But yeah, I'd say that those will be the two guys that, for me, pop out the most.
45:10
Remember, if you're listening and want to send a question to us or a topic, just use the hashtag GPL Podcast, and we'll try to get to it.
45:18
You can send it to us any time during the week, and we will try to answer your questions or talk about your topics and ideas.
45:24
So, well, boys, we need to move on to this week.
45:27
And obviously, it's coming down to the wire here.
45:29
Minnesota's got a three-point lead over Wisconsin.
45:32
So let's kind of start with Wisconsin and Ohio State here real quick.
45:35
Chris, anything other?
45:39
Wisconsin needs a sweep to have any real chance of doing anything here.
45:43
What are your thoughts on Ohio State and Wisconsin here?
45:47
Yeah, I'm really expecting a split in that series.
45:51
We mentioned earlier, Ohio State's pretty schizophrenic.
45:55
Some games, they're a team that I know Don Lucia picked to win the league this year.
46:01
I was really high on their chances coming into this year, and the games they've played well, they've played really well.
46:07
They can certainly score, but they just lay some eggs sometimes as well.
46:12
To say the least.
46:15
Yeah, so I would expect them to play at least one good game this weekend, and Wisconsin's good, but I think Ohio State, when they're playing well, is probably a better team.
46:26
So I would think Ohio State and Wisconsin will split this weekend.
46:31
That's my bold prediction, I guess.
46:34
Hammeh, can Ohio State be sane this weekend?
46:42
You just don't know what's going to happen next.
46:44
I guess in a way they are kind of, it's a desperate team, I guess, and I guess they are both to some extent, because it's not like Wisconsin is 100% safe either.
46:59
I think that Ohio State, I wouldn't be shocked if they come out of it with some points, but I still think, like I said earlier, Wisconsin is going to come out of that series with the majority of the points.
47:15
I have to say, I was really impressed with Wisconsin when I saw them play Minnesota last.
47:20
I think they get a sweep here against Ohio State.
47:23
Ohio State is just not playing very consistent.
47:25
I think Wisconsin is finding their form, and they've got some players who, I think, play those high-percentage style play, where they're not going to force the game, they're going to be patient, and they've gapped the talent with Cunningh, Bassie and Frederick.
47:44
Well, we can't argue with that.
47:47
That means Minnesota's got to sweep.
47:48
So, if only, maybe not quite sweep, but Minnesota's got to put some points up this weekend.
47:54
Obviously, Hammy, they're playing Michigan State, a clearly inferior team, a team they should sweep, and possibly, if we get a little help for Ohio State, on Friday night, we might be celebrating a Big Ten Championship Friday night.
48:11
Yeah, well, I mean, you're certainly hoping you can ice it as soon as possible.
48:16
You don't always want to have that pressure in that final game, but, you know, I mean, we've got some veteran players, a lot of upperclassmen, that have won a lot of things, and certainly, I'm sure they'd like to add another one to the mix, so hopefully, they'll be, you know, and some of them, it's going to be their last, well, technically not their last, but it's going to be pretty much, I mean, I guess, well, is it going to be their last now?
48:40
They don't play home games in the playoffs now, do they?
48:44
Yeah, so it will be their last.
48:46
I'm forgetting that it isn't like it was back in the day, so they're going to have to come, you know, if they want to have some lasting memories, they want to go out winners at Mariucci.
48:56
This is their chance to do it.
48:59
It's definitely their chance, and I'm thinking, Veegs, that this is Cluus' weekend.
49:05
This is all about Cluus and Lettieri, these guys who have stayed around the whole four years and put their heart into the program.
49:16
I'm thinking, Veegs, they're going to finish it off Friday night.
49:20
Yeah, I think they're going to finish it off.
49:21
I think they're going to sweep this weekend.
49:24
In the last series of Michigan State, they held them just over 30 shots in two games combined, which is really outstanding defense.
49:32
Michigan State is not going to be much more improved than they were when Minnesota saw them last in November, and Minnesota wants to finish out.
49:40
This will be their last two games at Mariucci, and last two times on the ice at Mariucci, in fact, because they'll be on Ritter's practice rank for the rest of the way.
49:50
So I think you're going to see a really motivated team.
49:52
I think even if they fall behind, they have the talent to pull it out against Michigan State.
49:58
And it is nice that, you know, this class is interesting because to me, they were like really kind of the first class that where it seemed like Lucia and them kind of started to alter their approach in recruiting because they really had kind of gotten burned a lot with some of those early departures.
50:18
And, you know, this was a class where, you know, they had kind of intentionally recruited more guys that, you know, were going to be more likely to stick around for three or four years.
50:27
And that's pretty much how it played out.
50:29
I mean, even Fashing, you know, stuck around.
50:33
And, you know, the one that really didn't work out the way we thought was Gertler, and that wasn't really because of anything other than just some off-the-ice issues.
50:39
But it's unfortunate it didn't work for him.
50:43
Yeah, I mean, he would have been a great player.
50:44
I mean, I think he really would have been a really good player.
50:47
I mean, we talk about, you know, the way the lines are right now.
50:50
I think he definitely would have been a big impact player on both ends of the rank for the Gophers.
50:54
So it's unfortunate that that didn't work out.
50:57
But, I mean, just that entire class, you know, thinking back five, six years ago, when it was being put together, you know, it had the makings of a special class.
51:06
Unfortunately, a little bit, you know, it didn't, can't really didn't pan out the way that we kind of would have liked.
51:12
And that's unfortunate.
51:14
But I think as a whole, that class has a lot to be proud of.
51:17
And they certainly contributed a lot to the program.
51:21
Chris, your thoughts on Sparty coming to Mariucci this weekend?
51:25
Yeah, I agree with everything Vegoe said.
51:27
I expect this to be a sweep for the Gophers.
51:29
I just think on the big ice, Minnesota has too much speed and too much skill for Michigan State.
51:37
That's pretty straightforward.
51:41
And it's true.
51:42
Well, this just isn't a very good Michigan State team.
51:44
Anastas is not having a great career with Michigan State, bringing in talent.
51:49
He's so close to Ann Arbor, and they just don't get very good development team players.
51:55
They could bring in some Canadians there.
51:57
It just hasn't worked for them, and it's kind of surprising to still see him coaching.
52:03
Well, maybe this is a better question.
52:05
Well, Anastas will have a job next Friday.
52:10
They haven't fired him now.
52:11
I don't see why they would after this season.
52:13
No, I mean, next Friday, Thursday, they're probably going to lose Thursday in the Big Ten tournament.
52:19
Will he have a job after that game?
52:23
I don't see why he won't.
52:24
They've made no move to suggest that they'll get rid of him.
52:32
This is an RPI, apparently.
52:33
Oh, poor Seth.
52:40
He gets to keep that nice contract, though, doesn't he?
52:43
Did he get the rest of the money for that?
52:45
Or is there some buyout?
52:46
Wasn't it?
52:47
He was signed through like 22, wasn't he?
52:52
He was signed through the next four years.
52:53
Unfortunately, RPI is a private school, so I wasn't able to get his contract.
52:58
Meaning you looked it up.
53:02
I've been doing a little project on coaching contracts that I hope to put something together come Big Ten tournament weekend on the contracts that are out there.
53:10
Kind of go over the bonuses that the gopher coaches could acquire this year.
53:17
You know, they get some pretty nice bonuses for a regular season title, potentially a Big Ten conference turning title.
53:26
They get bonuses if players are All-Americans or Hobie Bakers.
53:30
So you'll get to see that Big Ten tournament week.
53:34
We'll be looking forward to that.
53:38
You guys have anything else?
53:40
I think we're pretty good here.
53:41
One thing I want to touch on with Hammy bringing up Gertler with his class, he was definitely a guy who didn't fit the model for who Lucia recruited in this class.
53:52
He talked about today that this group of seniors, there were no concerns ever with off-ice issues.
53:59
There were no concerns with these guys academically.
54:01
He said it's the easiest class he's ever coached.
54:06
Well, so much so that I completely forgot about Gertler.
54:09
It shows how much little impact he had on us.
54:13
Did he play, didn't he?
54:17
Yeah, he played.
54:18
Not much though.
54:19
Was it just a few select games or he wasn't out there?
54:22
He had 24 games.
54:23
Really?
54:24
Yeah, he was a fourth line guy, I think, his first year.
54:28
Okay, well, just old age, my brain's going.
54:34
He had a couple of team suspensions as well, so to be part of it.
54:37
Yeah, but that would cause it.
54:42
Well, Vegoe, you were at the media availability today.
54:44
What are we going to hear at the end of the podcast here from Lucia and players?
54:49
You'll hear Lucia talk about turnovers, obviously, and you'll hear him talk about this senior class that he's had the pleasure to coach the last couple of years and what impacts they've made on the program.
55:03
You'll hear Lettieri talk about how important this weekend is for him.
55:06
He'll salute the fans, call them the greatest in college hockey and reminiscing about these being his last two practices coming up on that rink and last two games.
55:14
And then you'll hear Jake Bischoff talk a little bit about the decision to stay four years in high school, the decision to stay four years in college, which is pretty nice for people who like college hockey to hear.
55:27
We definitely like to hear that.
55:29
We like to get to stay in there four years and obviously get a good education at the same time.
55:35
Chris, thanks for joining us, man.
55:38
Yeah, thanks for having me any time.
55:40
You know, we might have you fill in one of these other days.
55:42
Gahoos can't fill in.
55:45
I'd be happy to be back.
55:48
You need me to bring a dose of optimism here.
55:50
Sometimes they're a little dour.
55:52
Oh, come on.
55:53
I am Mr.
55:55
Positivity.
55:58
I'm Mr.
55:58
Positivity.
55:59
What are you talking about?
56:00
I pick sweeps more than anybody.
56:03
What can you say?
56:05
Well, you can follow Chris on Twitter at Chris Eckes.
56:08
Obviously, you can always follow Hammy at Hammy Hockey and Vego at eVego.
56:13
We'll be back next week to review the Michigan State Series and preview the Big Ten tournaments.
56:19
Hopefully, we're Big Ten regular season champions again for the sixth year in a row.
56:24
We'll see a couple WCHA stuff in there.
56:27
But until then, thanks for listening.
56:55
In the big moment, how is this group, in a time like this, where there's a lot on the line this weekend, is there a group that can take a big moment and not be overwhelmed by it?
57:04
Well, I think you want to look at the big picture.
57:08
I mean, we have a chance to win a championship, obviously, this weekend, but it's still a big picture of playing the game the right way.
57:16
We want to continue to improve here and make sure that we play well defensively, and we're disciplined, and we take care of the puck.
57:26
And all the things that help you win hockey games.
57:30
And I think that's what we're trying to concentrate with what we're doing at practice, trying to practice fast and short and make sure we have great energy for the weekend.
57:38
You had all these turnovers on Friday and then cut them down on Saturday.
57:41
What do you do to get that in their heads?
57:43
Do you show them a video of Tom Brady throwing the ball away or?
57:46
No, it's a good analogy, though, and I use it quite a bit.
57:50
You know, sometimes live to fight another day, you know.
57:55
Usually it's almost once a week we show it to them.
57:57
So you hope at some point it clicks in.
58:00
And they understand it.
58:02
And just trying to make a play that's not there or a low percentage play, it's just not real good, smart hockey.
58:07
So it's an emphasis.
58:11
It's been an emphasis of our game.
58:13
It will continue to be just like a football coach talks about turnovers, turnovers, turnovers and they get beat because of turnovers.
58:18
You know, it's the nature of sports and we want to make sure we do everything we can to eliminate them and the lower our turnovers, usually the lower the goals against.
58:27
What's your sense of where Shearhorn is mentally right now?
58:31
I think he's in a good spot.
58:32
I do.
58:32
I think that, you know, when he broke for Christmas, you know, we told him just, you know, forget about the first half numbers and concentrate where you're on the second half and his second half numbers are, you know, a lot better and he's played pretty, much more consistent in the second half and, you know, I thought last weekend was another good example.
58:48
I thought he played pretty well.
58:49
On Saturday, he gave up the one.
58:51
Most of the goals, you really couldn't fault him on that, including the winner that went off one of our guys' rear ends and so I like where he's at right now.
59:00
I think he feels fresh.
59:01
I think he feels good and that's an important part of it too for a goal that's been played every night.
59:06
You mentioned on Monday the penalty kill needs to be more aggressive.
59:09
Is it more aggressive getting in shooting lanes or?
59:12
Well, I thought Saturday we were and I don't think we gave up a shot on goal on Saturday or certainly not a scoring chance and when you're aggressive with everybody, it can't be one guy going and three guys kind of watching.
59:24
You have to have guys going and stealing the next spot in the rink and they have to do it as a group of four, not one and then the second guy is a little slow to react.
59:33
We were much more I think on our toes in that first couple steps to shut things down on Saturday and then it helps take many penalties too, especially for our team right now when some of our power play guys are killing penalties and we're asking a lot of a few guys right now and the fewer times we have to kill the better it is for us.
59:54
Any comments on that 500th game at Marriotchee here Saturday, is it a survivors game?
1:00:02
The what?
1:00:02
The survivors game?
1:00:04
What's the survivors game?
1:00:05
What was it?
1:00:07
Brian told me about it.
1:00:08
I'm not sure what it is.
1:00:09
I don't know what you're talking about.
1:00:11
I'm really bummed that it wasn't the Brian.
1:00:14
Is it the 500th game at Marriotchee?
1:00:16
That's what I thought it was.
1:00:18
Yeah, there is.
1:00:18
It's been in the game notes the last couple of weeks.
1:00:22
Correct.
1:00:23
I'm trying to think of the survivors.
1:00:31
Wally, have you been in the beer or what?
1:00:42
I can sort of remember when Marriott was built.
1:00:44
It was my first year at CC and I remember coming in here and seeing it.
1:00:48
It's like, wow, what a great facility.
1:00:51
It's continued.
1:00:51
There's been a lot of great games over the years.
1:00:54
There's a lot of great players that have played here, a lot of winning teams that have been through.
1:01:00
And we have great crowd fan support.
1:01:03
And I think it's one of the, obviously, the top facilities in all of college hockey and certainly in hockey in general.
1:01:09
Are you guys on set for that next phase of renovations?
1:01:13
Yeah, we're close.
1:01:15
I think that the plan right now, I don't know if we're going to do it this summer.
1:01:18
Cal wants to, he doesn't want to give up the whole summer as far as working in the weight room.
1:01:24
He'd rather, maybe like in November through January.
1:01:26
And at that time, the village will be open and we're not lifting as much.
1:01:31
We have Christmas break, so probably more inclined to do more of the renovation for that over Thanksgiving through January rather than give up time in the summer.
1:01:41
What's involved in that next phase, Don?
1:01:43
Just the weight room, knocking down the walls and into our offices even.
1:01:48
It sounds like we'll probably end up with our offices over at Behrman after the renovation.
1:01:53
We have our offices down here now, which we didn't have before, so we can work out of both places and even in the time being, if we don't have access, they're going to rip out our area up top.
1:02:04
We can still work out a downstairs area during the season.
1:02:06
Saturday, senior night, senior night, you have a fairly large class.
1:02:09
What do these guys mean to you?
1:02:11
Well, winners.
1:02:12
I mean, I think classy kids.
1:02:16
All of them have meant so much to our program and they have a chance to do something special and that's four straight conference titles.
1:02:22
Obviously, six in a row overall, but that's quite a legacy and that's something we talk about when the year begins.
1:02:28
You want to try to hang a banner, whether it's a regular season, a playoff, or getting to a frozen four back at the NCAAs.
1:02:34
Those are all things that we want to try to accomplish.
1:02:36
It's hard to do over the course of a long season.
1:02:39
You get injuries and try to hang in there, but the guys have played very consistent.
1:02:44
I think they're all program guys, too, and I think that's the one thing that you have.
1:02:50
You usually have your best years when you have some seniors, and we've got a really good group of seniors this year that have been very loyal to the program.
1:02:56
Some of the guys could have left, but they're such program guys.
1:03:00
The other thing is they've really improved during their time here, especially when you look at Bischoff and Justin and Vinny.
1:03:08
They've taken great steps each year since they've been here.
1:03:12
And even a guy like Mitch Rogg, who hasn't played, he got to play an exhibition game, he's going to be a dentist, and he's just worked extremely hard every day at practice, but he still represents our program.
1:03:23
And same with Cotner and Cami.
1:03:25
They've contributed obviously a lot more on the ice than Mitch, but they all contribute in every way.
1:03:30
And I've used the analogy before.
1:03:32
I mean, a team is like a puzzle, and there's different sizes to the puzzle, each piece, but you can't complete the puzzle without every piece.
1:03:39
So the small pieces are just as important.
1:03:42
And that's the fun thing about this team is that they've worked, they've been a really enjoyable team to coach.
1:03:48
They listen, they work hard every day.
1:03:50
When we step on the rink, there's not a lot of days you say, geez, we didn't have a great practice today.
1:03:54
And I think that lends to a lot of the consistency that we've seen throughout the year.
1:03:57
You mentioned the class as a whole, but can you talk more about your captain, Justin Cluse, and what he's meant to the program over the four years?
1:04:04
Well, you know, I knew Justin when he was a little kid.
1:04:08
He played in the same 93 Icemen with actually Nick Seeler and Mikey Riley and Mario and Cluse and, you know, a lot of those guys have got on to play.
1:04:16
Cameron Eason was on that team.
1:04:17
It's amazing how many, you know, Bullock, I think, played out at Dartmouth and how many of the guys went on to play college hockey off that group of kids.
1:04:25
And Justin was the kind of kid who really blossomed as he got older.
1:04:32
I mean, actually, you know, Justin and Mario played a lot together kind of the third line on that team.
1:04:36
And then you watch a guy like Justin, how he, you know, just improved and got to the high school level and he became a real dominant player.
1:04:44
And the nice thing about Justin, even the recruiting process, is that he wanted to be a golfer.
1:04:48
And how important that is when kids, this is where they want to be.
1:04:52
Obviously, it's an easy recruitment.
1:04:53
And they have a loyalty factor.
1:04:55
And that's, you know, that loyalty factor is one of the reasons why, you know, he stayed through his senior year.
1:04:59
He wanted to see it through.
1:05:01
How important has that group been to helping some of these underclassmen acclimate so quickly?
1:05:05
Well, when you have a group of seniors like we have, that, you know, you can take the area of off-ice issues, you're not going to have it.
1:05:14
So what a great group to follow.
1:05:17
Same thing academically.
1:05:18
You know, they're all going to graduate.
1:05:19
They all have good grades.
1:05:20
You don't have to worry about throughout their careers, they weren't a group that you ever had to say, you know, what's going on academically?
1:05:26
Why did you skip this class or why did you miss this tutor?
1:05:29
I mean, zero with this group.
1:05:31
And it all goes hand in hand when your behaviors go away from the rink, when your academics are in order.
1:05:37
Usually the hockey is in order.
1:05:38
And those are the kind of kids that just, it makes a lot more fun as a coach when you have a group like that.
1:05:46
Mike Smatula has been out for a few weeks, kind of hoping to have him back.
1:05:48
He skated a little bit this week, he's getting closer but, you know, he's not quite there.
1:05:52
So there's no question in my mind we'll have him back before the end of the year.
1:05:57
Now we're getting to the point though I really hope we get him back next week so we can get some games in before the NCAAs.
1:06:04
Everybody else available to play?
1:06:05
Everybody else is available to play.
1:06:07
We get to be happy with Grand Rapids making the state tourney.
1:06:15
Yeah, no, that's awesome.
1:06:16
I think, you know, I was pulling for them obviously and I was able to watch.
1:06:21
We were in Michigan, watched live feed on the internet and yeah, I know I was excited for sure.
1:06:27
I'm excited for those guys.
1:06:28
It's a senior weekend, been here four years and everything.
1:06:31
Just what's kind of going through your mind is you have your final two games in Mariucci.
1:06:35
You know, it's just sort of crazy how fast it goes by, you know.
1:06:39
I mean, growing up, everyone tells you, you don't enjoy it because it goes by fast and you just sort of think, you know, whatever, you know.
1:06:45
But now actually experiencing it, you realize it goes by quicker than you'd ever imagined.
1:06:52
So I'm just going to try to live in the weekend and hopefully we can come away with a couple of wins.
1:06:58
Having this time gone through the four years, kind of what advice would you give your younger self?
1:07:04
I just say enjoy it.
1:07:05
You know, obviously sounds cliche, but just enjoy every moment of it because it's a blast and it's awesome four years and just make sure you're having fun with it all.
1:07:16
What do you think the best part of it has been so far?
1:07:19
Yeah, it's all been great to be honest with you.
1:07:22
I don't know if I could name one thing.
1:07:23
I mean, I've had great teammates when I've been here.
1:07:26
I love the coaching staff, love playing marriage.
1:07:29
She loved going on the road.
1:07:30
I mean, it's all pretty awesome and I've loved every second of it.
1:07:36
Hardest part?
1:07:39
Probably just practicing, I guess.
1:07:43
Later in the season it gets to be a little bit of a grind, but we've been doing a good job of keeping them a little shorter and making sure we're quick and to the point.
1:07:54
What are the most important things you could take away from your time here?
1:07:57
Most important things?
1:08:01
Yeah, I mean, I don't know.
1:08:03
I mean, obviously I've taken away a lot of great friendships that are always going to be there for the rest of my life and I'd probably say that's one of the most important things, if not the most important thing.
1:08:15
Don was talking about how important it is to have program guys, guys who have a really deep sense of loyalty to the program.
1:08:22
What has this program meant to you, not only during your time playing here, but throughout your life?
1:08:27
Yeah, I mean, my whole life I think I've sort of bled maroon and gold.
1:08:32
I was a gopher fan when I was a little kid.
1:08:35
My dad played here, so when I was three years old, probably before I could even walk, he was bringing me to games with the season tickets.
1:08:43
I grew up a huge gopher fan and then coming here and being able to put on the M, it's just been sort of surreal.
1:08:50
I've just tried to do whatever I could to make sure I'm representing that in the right way.
1:08:57
Can you talk about how Justin Gluz, captain, senior, four years here, can you talk about what he's done, what you think he's done for the program?
1:09:05
Yeah, he's an unbelievable program guy.
1:09:07
I mean, there's no better captain that I've ever had or maybe ever will.
1:09:12
He's obviously one of my really good friends too in my class, so just being able to play with him and watch him, how he's led this team and taken on a lot of pressure and just performed and done a great job throughout the whole process, it's been pretty unbelievable to watch.
1:09:30
Do you think it will be an emotional weekend for the seniors?
1:09:33
I think so, yeah.
1:09:34
I mean, obviously, last time we'll be able to put on the Maroon and Gold and skate at Mariucci, so I think it's definitely going to be emotional, but also it won't be as bad because we've got games coming up next weekend, too, that we have to worry about.
1:09:52
Not all college players stay four years.
1:09:54
Did you and the other seniors talk at the end of last year about coming back or was it kind of always expected that you guys would play up four years?
1:10:02
I mean, a little bit we talked about it, but I just sort of knew.
1:10:06
I mean, you know, Clu is the kind of guy who stayed in high school in his senior year, you know, and that's how I was as well, and I think we just sort of knew that it wasn't right to leave, and we just wanted to make sure that we came back and tried to leave the program in as good a place as we could when we finally walked away from it.
1:10:27
When younger players ask you about that, what do you tell them about staying four years at a place?
1:10:33
I mean, I honestly just tell them that it's the best decision that I've ever made.
1:10:39
I stayed in high school in my senior year and I love that.
1:10:43
I love staying with the guys that, you know, have been there for you and are there for you.
1:10:49
I mean, the teammates I grew up with my whole life there.
1:10:52
Here I've had teammates for the last four years and I feel like you just can't leave them hanging.
1:10:57
You know, you've got to be there for them no matter what.
1:11:02
Last home series at Mariucci, what's the feeling going in?
1:11:06
It's pretty crazy.
1:11:07
Obviously, I've been here four years, but it feels like I've been here for two weekends.
1:11:12
It's been going by so quickly and as a freshman walking in and being in that national championship, it kind of just flew by and all the older guys were so disappointed, more disappointed than I was just because that was my first year and I really get to be there for that long.
1:11:27
They just always told me, it's going to go quick, you don't get here every year.
1:11:32
Since that moment, we haven't been back and it's so hard to get there.
1:11:36
But, you know, we have a great team this year and I'm confident in our group.
1:11:39
We just got to take it one weekend at a time and end up on the high note for the regular season.
1:11:44
Do you think this will be an emotional weekend for the seniors?
1:11:46
Yeah, definitely.
1:11:47
I mean, we have two more practices here left, Mariucci, and it's kind of sad just because we've had so many good memories here.
1:11:56
I've had such a great group of guys throughout my four years here that I just became family with.
1:12:02
Obviously, playing in front of these fans, they're the greatest fans of college hockey and I'm going to miss them a lot.
1:12:08
Yeah, I just want to win two games for them.
1:12:10
What kind of things do you hope that the younger guys can take away from the seniors that are graduating this year?
1:12:16
Just like I said, it goes by quicker than you think.
1:12:18
You never know until you go through it.
1:12:21
You learn a lot of lessons, too.
1:12:22
I want to make sure that as a senior, I give the freshmen a great experience, so when they become seniors, they can give the next freshman an experience that I had.
1:12:31
So you just got to be a good teammate and a good leader, and just kind of lead as a role model.
1:12:37
You guys have a chance to make some history this weekend with a fourth consecutive Big Ten title and a sixth consecutive conference title in a row.
1:12:44
Is it something that you're thinking about?
1:12:47
Yeah, it's always in the back of our head, but to me, it's just another game.
1:12:51
You can't really put a game more important than the other just because I know you'll start screwing with your head, and you'll just start thinking about things that aren't really needed.
1:12:59
You just got to go out there and be confident, and be confident with the guy next to you.
1:13:04
Just trust that they're going to do their job because we're in a good position right now, and we're leading in a good direction.
1:13:10
We've had good practices this week, so just trying to get that first 10-minute game going on Friday and just go from there.
1:13:19
Was Friday a good reminder about how to manage the puck against a talented team?
1:13:23
Yeah, you can't beat yourselves.
1:13:24
You can't turn it over, especially this time of the year.
1:13:29
You still end up in the back of your net, and that's just not what you want.
1:13:32
You got to manage the puck every shift and just take care of it and play percentage hockey.
1:13:37
Do you see that in video this week from the coaches?
1:13:39
Yep, every week we'll go over last week's games, the good and the bad.
1:13:45
You want to go over the bad as much as you can just to make sure you learn from your mistakes, but then also learn the positives that you did so you can keep that in the back of your head and just know that you are doing things right.
1:13:55
You got to tweak your game just a little bit just to be there at the end because hockey is giving you mistakes and the less mistakes you make at the end of the year, the better for you.
1:14:05
Thank you.
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