0:05
This is The GPL Podcast, sponsored by Vintage Minnesota Hockey, your exclusive source for throwback Minnesota jerseys.
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Visit vintagemnhockey.com Now, here's Hammy, Mego, and your host, Jupiter.
0:41
Good evening, and welcome to The GPL Podcast, back for episode number 118.
0:50
Having problems trying to get Vigo on Skype right now, so it's just Hammy and I, for the time being.
0:55
We're trying to get Vigo added to the conversation.
0:58
But until then, Hammy, it's just you and I.
1:01
And last week, I kind of mentioned that I thought it was pretty important for the team to sweep.
1:10
Just to show people that they're a real team.
1:13
And that, boy, I don't know.
1:19
We've been kind of waiting for something like this.
1:21
And you know what, Clarkson's a pretty decent team.
1:25
Yeah, I didn't really.
1:27
I mean, I said last week that I kind of wanted the team to get off to good starts, because I felt like that was going to be really important.
1:34
They seem to play much better when they do come in.
1:37
They come off to a good start and didn't really happen either night in a sense.
1:40
I mean, they didn't play badly necessarily, but the first night it was like they didn't play well, but Shearhorn kind of kept them in the game until they kind of found their bearings and eventually got to the win.
1:52
And then the second night, they scored first.
1:55
But fortunately, we kind of rebounded with a power play goal not long after that.
2:00
So it didn't really kind of even though we won both games, it didn't really pan out the way I expected.
2:05
But it was great to win both games against a quality opponent.
2:09
Like I kind of mentioned to you before the podcast, it was interesting to read after Friday night's game all the kind of whining I saw in GPL.
2:18
I was like, OK, did we just win or not?
2:20
We did just beat a quality team.
2:23
I know it wasn't necessarily a 6-0 trouncing or something, but it was still a quality win.
2:29
So it was a little weird to see that.
2:31
Well, it's not going to be a 6-0 trouncing when you're playing a top-10 ranked team, and these teams aren't bad.
2:38
Clarkson's a good team.
2:39
This isn't like 1988.
2:45
We're just picking every little guy we ever want.
2:50
Just rollover teams left and right.
2:53
It's not quite like 25, 30 years ago.
2:56
I know.
2:57
Veegs, are you there?
3:01
I'm here.
3:02
There he is.
3:05
Yeah, we get the usual cutouts like we usually do, but we can hear you.
3:11
We were just talking about a top-10 team came into Mariucci, and as last weekend Minnesota swept them, which is good, and we kind of talked last week that we kind of needed a sweep, get some confidence going into the Big Ten season.
3:25
What do you think?
3:31
I think the big teams figured out.
3:33
Okay, hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.
3:35
Maybe we're a little slow to start them.
3:37
Yeah, when you just start over there, Veegs, you are really cutting out.
3:44
Any better now?
3:45
No.
3:46
Not really.
3:52
Technical difficulties.
3:53
I'm trying with my century-length.
3:56
Oh, century-length, they will not be a sponsor.
3:59
We have to get you off of the dial-up.
4:05
Maybe it's the New Yeti.
4:07
Well, you do sound better, but you're just dropping in and out.
4:12
Try again.
4:13
What are your thoughts on this past weekend?
4:15
Uh-oh.
4:18
I thought the most important thing that came out of it was definitely the special teams.
4:25
Well, I heard special teams.
4:26
I heard special teams.
4:29
Well, let's talk about that, Hammy.
4:30
Special teams, power play, three power play goals on 10 attempts.
4:36
Penalty kill was 100%, one for one one night, three for three the next night.
4:41
So, specialty teams were better, Hammy.
4:47
Well, yeah, and we know that that has been obviously the start of the season.
4:50
It's been a real issue.
4:52
It's been terrible.
4:54
What's that?
4:54
It's been terrible.
4:56
Oh, yeah, I know.
4:57
I mean, it's kind of one of those things where, you know, there's nowhere to go but up kind of deal.
5:02
And, you know, so it was nice to see a little bit of success.
5:05
You know, you kind of hope that maybe some of these guys are getting a little bit more comfortable with the roles or the coaches are kind of settling in and feeling more comfortable with their combinations on the specialty teams.
5:16
And so it's just, you know, I think the talent is there.
5:20
You just kind of hope that it's one of those things where the chemistry develops a little bit more as guys kind of get more familiar with each other, you know, especially some of the new guys incorporating into the, you know, with some of the older veteran players.
5:33
And hopefully it's going to continue to be a success as we move forward and get into some of the more conference play.
5:41
So Veegs, can you hear us now or can we hear you with that new Yeti mic?
5:45
I can hear you guys crystal clear.
5:48
Well, now you sound good.
5:49
Hopefully it won't cut out again.
5:52
Yes, don't move.
5:56
Maybe I should just, you know, get a Civic and head back in there and maybe I'll improve things.
6:02
Who knows?
6:02
All I know is that a certain Brian was getting a little impatient with us.
6:08
He's a busy guy.
6:09
A lot going on.
6:11
This is the first week they've had freshman availability for the media.
6:14
And, you know, the ESPN College Hockey Show was on campus this week.
6:19
Talked to Casey Middlesett.
6:20
So a lot going on there.
6:23
Well, yeah, we did have freshman availability.
6:25
We're going to get to that later.
6:26
But now that we can sort of hear you, Veegs, give us your thoughts on the weekend.
6:30
You mentioned special teams and we talked about that a little bit.
6:33
But what are your thoughts?
6:37
Well, I thought the most interesting thing was that the Gophers went to more of an overload power play, which means that they're going to work the puck lower in the zone off the half wall, especially with Casey Middlesett and Ron Pitlick working there.
6:50
You know, those are probably the two most dynamic power play talents they have right now.
6:54
And those two guys made things happen.
6:56
You know, they made a nice backdoor play to Spitula for a goal on Saturday.
7:02
And they just look better.
7:03
They look more dangerous.
7:06
Well, if anything, I just hope it helps their confidence because confidence can breed success, Veegs.
7:15
Well, definitely.
7:16
If you're not confident and you're pressing and you're trying to pick corners, you know, that's not a way to be successful.
7:21
You know, if those opportunities are there, you can jump on them.
7:23
But really, you're going to get more success when you just pound pucks on net.
7:28
You look for rebounds.
7:29
You create traffic and you create chaos for the team you're playing against.
7:34
And I think too often we've seen Minnesota get set up on their power play and they'll move the puck around, but they're not generating enough shots.
7:42
I think that the season overall, the offense just is not putting pucks to the net.
7:46
And that's something that they need to do to be successful.
7:49
I think that's something that could really get Tyler Sheehy going in the score sheet is just getting a bigger volume of pucks going to the net because he was really good at jumping on loose pucks and putting them home last year.
7:59
Well, let's talk about Sheehy there, Hammey.
8:03
He's had a few assists, but he's been kind of quiet on the goal scoring front, hasn't he?
8:09
Yeah, I think there's still probably a little bit of him trying to find his way after some of that offseason, you know, some kind of recovering from the injury from last year.
8:21
And I'm sure that that probably has hampered his start a little bit.
8:25
I mean, you don't like to use those as kind of excuses, but I'm sure that sometimes some of these guys, maybe they just didn't get quite into the swing of things as quickly as you might have wanted simply because they are trying to get back in the groove after some kind of injury issues.
8:40
And I think that he certainly, you know, we saw him play through some issues last year, and obviously having some of that medical help in the offseason, you know, it's just not going to be necessarily a great start all the time when you're kind of coming off those kinds of surgeries or injuries.
8:57
And I'm sure that that's playing a role in it, but you kind of hope as the season wears on that, you know, he kind of finds his way and gets back in the groove, like we saw last couple years.
9:08
Well, Veegs, I don't think this team goes anywhere unless she, he does kind of get his groove going because he could be, well, he was one of our top players last year, if not the top player.
9:20
We really need him to get that, at least that first goal and get some confidence going.
9:27
Yeah.
9:27
And I think as guys, you know, go longer in the season without that first goal, that confidence, you know, isn't there for them.
9:34
And especially for a guy wearing a seat, Justin Kloos talked about this quite a bit.
9:39
His second year as a captain is how much pressure he put on himself and how much he worried about leading the team when he wasn't producing on the score sheet like he's used to.
9:49
So I think those are things that are impacting his play.
9:51
I think if they do go to this overload power play, he's really good on that back door.
9:56
You know, not really a main guy handling the puck, but a guy who's a threat to score, you know, as the defense commits over to the wall and towards the puck, you know, he can kind of slip into soft spaces in the zone and get himself open because he's a pretty dangerous shooter when he gets in tight.
10:14
Well, you talk about the puck handling, you know, sheehee's not going to be the puck handler, but that's sort of what Mittelstadt and Pitlick are for, aren't they?
10:22
Yeah, Mittelstadt and Pitlick and Novak are really good puck handlers.
10:26
They're confident under pressure.
10:29
They have kind of that low pressure point where they just, you know, can get guys in tight on them and still be able to make plays.
10:34
I think sheehee isn't really that kind of player.
10:37
And so when they were having him on the umbrella a little bit higher up and away from the net, you know, trying to move pucks and create space, you know, he's not as comfortable in that role.
10:46
He's more comfortable around the net getting closer, you know, capitalize on mistakes.
10:52
So I think that's something to look for going forward here.
10:54
I know Michigan State this weekend will be another matchup problem for the power play and a chance to prove themselves.
11:02
Yeah, well, luckily it's on the big ice, which does give them a bit more real estate to move around.
11:08
But overall, Hammy, a good sweep of a number nine Clarkson team that will help us, you know, in the end of the year when it comes to pairwise rankings, you know, and now we want Clarkson to go off and win their league and whatnot.
11:21
So overall, you know, we talked about before the show, you know, people complaining and whatnot, though they didn't kill them six to nothing, but really solid wins this weekend.
11:34
Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, I mean, I don't know that we're going to see this team like consistently blowing out the competition.
11:43
I mean, I think especially because we don't have some of that back-end skill that can really kind of help add to the offense.
11:49
At least we are not seeing it thus far.
11:53
So I don't really expect that that's going to be something that we see consistently.
11:57
I think it's going to be more, you know, kind of try to get to that three to four goal range and just kind of play some solid defense and hopefully get some good goaltending like we've seen from sheer harm from this point, you know, to this point in the season.
12:11
That's probably going to be the formula as far as I can see thus far this season.
12:17
And, you know, sheer harm has been playing well, saved the bacon a few times, probably kept some of those games and some of those losses from getting worse.
12:26
But we also know that in a month from now, Vigo, sheer harm is going to have some competition.
12:34
Yeah, Matt Robson wasn't brought here to just be an option backup.
12:39
He came here thinking he could play a little bit, and he's a bigger goalie, you know, a 6'3 guy who's also athletic, and it's something where I'm not sure you'll see him get nods right away, but he's definitely going to be there if sheer harm's not on.
12:55
And so I think that's part of the reason why sheer harm took this off season really seriously.
12:59
You know, he worked with Andy Kent all off season at the mega gold tending.
13:03
You know, he was really focused on his fitness, focused on improving his vision and eye tracking, training.
13:12
These are things that might not have happened if he wasn't having this serious competition from Robson.
13:19
Well, we'll have to wait and see.
13:21
He becomes eligible for the Ohio State Series in about a month.
13:25
I don't know if we'll see him that weekend, like you said, unless sheer harm struggles, but I have a feeling we'll see him when Army comes at the end of December, if anything, just to get him in there and get some time and see how he does look against competition.
13:39
We'll just have to wait and see.
13:43
We have a bunch of questions via Twitter this week.
13:46
If you have any questions for us, just use the hashtag GPL Podcast and we'll try to get it on the air.
13:52
Obviously, I kind of talked about some of the attendance issues, and we'll get into that a little bit, but I figure we might want to hit some of these questions that are not having to do with attendance right off the bat here.
14:04
Taylor Kern says he loves the program here.
14:07
What have you guys seen that makes you think we can make a run or not at the NCAA title this year?
14:14
Hammeh, what have you seen?
14:16
Wait a minute, is this Motay?
14:17
Is that who this is?
14:19
That is Motay.
14:20
O-Tay Motay.
14:22
O-Tay Motay.
14:23
I think that's Motay, isn't it?
14:24
I think I recognize that.
14:26
That could be him from the old days.
14:29
That's like USC HO.
14:31
He and Mav Stink used to battle it out on USC HO.
14:35
It could be him.
14:36
It does say Motay 86.
14:38
That's Motay.
14:39
O-Tay Motay.
14:43
Anyways, the question was, I'm sorry.
14:45
What have you seen that makes you think we can make a run this year or not?
14:51
I think certainly I feel pretty good about what we've seen from the goaltending.
14:56
Obviously, that's a major key to anybody's season.
15:00
You got to feel like you have a pretty good competent and solid goaltending night in and night out.
15:07
Of course, we don't know what we're going to get from a freshman yet, but he's certainly got the background of having some success.
15:13
Shearhorn has shown thus far that he can really carry things when the team is needing some support and they're not playing their best.
15:22
I feel really good about the goaltending thus far, and I think it's probably the best combination we've had for several years, so that's good.
15:29
And I think as far as the offense goes, I like a lot of our forward depth.
15:34
I think we have some good young guys that have a lot of skill that will probably blend very well with the veterans as the season progresses.
15:42
And I think the question mark is certainly what we're going to be getting out of the defensive group.
15:47
And hopefully they'll be improving and playing more solid defensively.
15:52
Not that they played poorly thus far, but you want to continue to see improvement.
15:57
And hopefully one or two of those guys will step up and pitch in a little bit more on the offensive end.
16:02
So I feel pretty good overall what we've seen, but I wouldn't say it's making me super excited for NCAA Championship aspirations either.
16:12
What are your thoughts on that, Veegs?
16:15
What have you seen that makes you think this team can make a run or not make a run?
16:21
Well, I think the biggest pluses right now are the Reedy-Pitlick-Mittlestadt line, how quickly they've gelled and how dangerous they look on the ice.
16:30
You know, they're a group that really can sustain some end zone pressure.
16:34
They make plays in tight spaces.
16:36
They seem to have some chemistry.
16:38
I think Midlestadt's going to continue to get better and more comfortable in college hockey.
16:44
And then the goaltending, like Hammy was talking about, you know, Sheerhorn has that athletic ability to shut guys down when there's the odd man rushes coming at his face.
16:53
I think his big struggles have been sometimes some inconsistency where he's just not totally focused in on a game and he gets a little overactive and he's really cleaned that part of his game up.
17:05
So I think it's something they can be, you know, counting on.
17:08
And then the trench line with Romaco and Ramsey has been a real consistent line for Lucia, you know, guys who are making the smart plays, who can grind away, you know, and eat up some ice time.
17:23
The one thing that's also encouraging so far is they've been playing a lot of ranked teams and really the only game we saw a lot of bad turnover and decisions was UMD.
17:33
Other than that, this team has been pretty smart with the puck, so maybe they're starting to get the message that the coaching staff is putting in their heads.
17:44
Another question from Patrick.
17:46
I'm not going to try to pronounce his last name, but if you were to pick an all-time gopher team, who makes the cut, Hammeh?
17:55
I am, I mean, that's not exactly easy.
17:57
Let's just say starters or maybe some of your favorites.
17:59
They don't have to be the best.
18:00
How about some of your favorites?
18:02
Well, I mean, obviously, it's before our time, but you can pretty much be an idiot to not add Mayessich to the mix, so that goes without saying.
18:11
Certainly, when I was growing up, you know, Neil Broughton, for me, was definitely a guy that I really looked up to in particular, you know, finally when he got to the pros with the North Stars and the Olympics, and certainly obviously had a very good gopher career, even though it wasn't like a complete four years.
18:31
But I think that he's one of my favorites, Brian Bonnen, certainly, Mike Crowley, yeah, man, there was some great guys that, you know, from the 80s and 90s, you know, that I really fondly remember, simply because that's kind of when I was going through high school and college.
18:50
And I'd say certainly, you know, John Pole would be one, because obviously he was a guy that really can continue to progress and really turned into a great leader by the time he got to be a senior.
19:05
You know, it's Paul Martin, you know, Jordan Leopold, Ballard, I mean, it's hard to believe that all those guys were on the same team, you know what I'm saying, that's like, that's kind of like hitting the trifecta.
19:18
So those are some of the guys that, you know, immediately popped a mind for me, but there's just an endless amount of options that you could kind of rattle off.
19:27
How about you, Veegs?
19:31
Well, I think Stauber is probably the clear cut goaltender for an all gopher team.
19:36
You got to go with Broughton and Bonnen up front.
19:40
Maybe Michael Eddie's that third player, more of a goal scorer out of those three.
19:44
And then I really love Crowley and Leopold at defense.
19:50
Dude, what do you have against, what do you have against, what do you have against from Alex Kangas or, you know, Kellen Briggs, dude?
19:59
None of them would quite challenge at the top of the circles like Stauber would.
20:03
Ah, okay.
20:04
I'll give you that.
20:04
Never knew what was going to happen if you're coming in on a breakaway on Stauber.
20:07
He might come out and throw the pads at you.
20:10
Well, we've got Jess from Mixler throwing in his chat.
20:14
He says, Vannock, Patoling, Kessel, Oposo, Johnson, Leopold and Pohl.
20:21
That's some of his favorites, I guess.
20:23
Well, like you said, there's endless amounts of guys you can go with.
20:27
For me, I'm obviously the Jefferson guy.
20:30
I would take Crowley and Treble back on defense because Treble was a good puck mover and a good defenseman.
20:36
Then you've got that offensive threat from Crowley.
20:39
I kind of like what you had up front there, Veegs, with Abanen and Mikhailetti up there.
20:45
Oh boy, that could be a lot of scoring.
20:47
Yeah, with Neil Braun as well.
20:49
A lot of scoring and tough to play against.
20:51
They'd be heavy, too.
20:53
They'd be gritty with Mikhailetti.
20:55
With the puck.
20:55
Yeah.
20:57
Mikhailetti causing havoc in front of the net.
21:00
Yeah, but he'd be in the box a lot more often these days than he was back then.
21:05
And he was in the box a lot.
21:08
He was almost a whole season in the box.
21:13
Oh boy, yeah, that's tough.
21:19
Patrick, another question on this team.
21:22
It's got to be got to be herb, right?
21:25
I guess.
21:27
You can't really go wrong with that.
21:31
Gosh, yeah, I might even go with the Wuger just because I like the Wuger.
21:36
The Wuger won nothing, I know, but he's just such a lovable guy.
21:39
That's probably why I'd pick the Wuger.
21:42
That's just me.
21:44
Oh, Dunbar.
21:45
I don't think so.
21:45
Your list sucks.
21:46
Pat White, Blake Thompson, Mark Ault, Bill Cohn, Joe Dietzik, Rob LaRue and Nett.
21:56
I don't think so.
21:56
We'll get back to the questions here.
21:58
Patrick had another question, and we'll give this one to you, Vig, since you've actually talked about this with Mittelstadt.
22:04
How many members of the gopher media can do more pull-ups than Mittelstadt?
22:11
Man, that's a tough one.
22:12
I think there would be a lot of zeros on the scoreboard from the media.
22:18
Yeah, probably me.
22:18
I don't know if there's anybody that's covering the team now.
22:22
I mean, you know, maybe Wally could get one up there, but I'm not sure who else could.
22:27
Maybe Nate Wells could.
22:28
Nate?
22:29
Nate?
22:29
If you're listening, you could chime in.
22:32
How's your pull-up game?
22:34
Yeah, Nate's a little guy.
22:36
He could probably do quite a few.
22:38
Could he outdo Mittelstadt?
22:39
I don't know if Drew is up to it, he's only 19, so.
22:43
Mr.
22:44
Cove, yeah, he could probably do a few.
22:46
But I'm guessing after this summer, Mr.
22:49
Mittelstadt can do a little bit more than zero by now.
22:54
Yeah, when I talked to Cal at the start of the season, he was saying 8-9 was what Mittelstadt was doing after he had his shoulder manipulated.
23:01
They talked a little bit about that at Availability Today that Caldede saw during his evaluation this summer that there was something biomechanically off with his shoulder.
23:12
And so they just had a chiropractor come in and put it in the right spot.
23:16
And they're doing some things weight training-wise so that it doesn't become a problem again.
23:22
But it was interesting to hear them all talk about that today.
23:26
You'll be able to catch that at the end of the podcast.
23:29
Definitely will.
23:31
We have a bunch of questions about attendance, because I kind of brought it up today because it's a source subject.
23:37
I don't know if we'll hit every question because they're all sort of similar, but we'll get to that in a bit here.
23:42
But first, a word from our sponsor.
23:45
vintagemnhockey.com is a proud sponsor of the GPL Podcast.
23:50
Well, what is Vintage MN Hockey?
23:52
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.
24:03
All information about any of those teams can be found on vintagemnhockey.com.
24:08
They also have great interviews with some historical Minnesota hockey figures, like John Mayessich and Lou Nani, Glen Sanmore, some of the greats of Minnesota hockey.
24:17
So make sure you check out those interviews.
24:18
It's a really great thing.
24:20
But as I always say, I think my favorite part is the store.
24:24
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24:31
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24:38
So make sure you visit vintagemnhockey.com and follow them on Twitter at VintageMNHockey.
24:45
Well, Nate Wells has already responded there, says his writing game is better than his pull-up game.
24:51
So there's your answer, Veegs.
24:55
Drew is our only hope.
24:58
Drew is a little guy, he could probably do a few.
25:03
Well, I didn't make it to Mariucci this past weekend, had some prior engagements.
25:10
Veegs, you did make it on Saturday, I believe.
25:13
What was her name?
25:18
No comment.
25:26
Veegs, we had a number nine ranked team in town, sure.
25:30
Not a sexy name like everyone has, but boy, 8,000 tickets sold or so for each game and it was not that full.
25:42
Not even 8,000.
25:43
It was 7,900 for Saturday and 7,400 for Friday and there were not nearly that many people in the seats.
25:52
And I think it's probably the same ticket usage as we've seen in the past.
25:57
Ticket scanning data requests I've done, where 75% of the tickets sold are actually used and it's growing as a problem as they actually are starting to sell less tickets this year.
26:10
You know, smaller season ticket base, less walk up sales, surely Clarkson was not in the public's radar for a hot hockey team.
26:22
Maybe we'll see something by the time they play St.
26:25
Cloud, we might see some bigger crowds in the building, but there's definitely something going on there at Mariucci and the fans aren't showing up.
26:33
Well, we had so many suggestions via Twitter today, people, they need to lower the prices.
26:38
We've got the donation for season ticket buyer, people, costs are gone way up and the costs are way up.
26:45
I mean, if you want to buy an individual ticket, it's not exactly cheap.
26:50
We had people saying they need to get beer there and I guess I'd be fine with beer.
26:56
But Hammeh, I don't think beer is the big solution here because if you need to have or must have a beer to attend a hockey game, I don't think you're a real fan.
27:09
It's nice to have a beer.
27:10
It's nice to have a beer once in a while.
27:12
They're going to be $8, $10 beers anyway.
27:14
But boy, it's just frustrating people.
27:18
Oh, they need beer.
27:18
They need alcohol.
27:19
I'm like, that'd be nice.
27:21
But that's not why people aren't showing up.
27:25
Right.
27:25
I mean, look, I don't think there's any one solution, any one reason.
27:32
I think there's just a combination of factors.
27:34
Obviously, there's going to be a little bit of that fan base that just can't get over the change of conference.
27:40
That's just how it is with a percentage of people.
27:44
I don't think that's a large percentage of the problem, but I think that's going to be a little bit.
27:50
But I think even before, we've been talking about this for years, and now it might be a little bit more noticeable now than maybe several years ago.
27:59
But ultimately, for me, it's just a combination of who's buying the tickets and also what the cost is.
28:10
We've certainly been milking the hockey program, the athletic department has for a long time as a revenue generator, and it's gotten to the point where I feel like they've priced out a certain segment of people, at least from going consistently.
28:26
And if you're a fan that's going to select a certain amount of games to go to in a year, you're probably not going to pick a Clarkson or some of these non-conference.
28:35
You're probably going to go for either some high-profile in-conference teams or maybe a St.
28:41
Cloud or whatever, a Notre Dame, a North Dakota, when they're in town, that is, those kinds of teams as opposed to some of these non-conference that are not necessarily, like you said, the sexy names.
28:54
So I don't know that there's one big solution other than I think that they need to start looking at finding a way to kind of price things a little bit more reasonably.
29:05
And also people got to decide who you want to buy the tickets.
29:11
If you want corporate people, corporate customers, you're probably going to have to live with some of these no-shows.
29:18
That's just how it is.
29:20
Well, Veegs, the bottom line is that you can probably get a cheap ticket for not much.
29:26
Go get a standing room ticket, pay whatever that costs and go sit in any one of these seats that are available.
29:32
You can sit in center ice because you've got corpies not showing up or you can go sit on the glass if you want.
29:38
So if people want to go see the Gophers, it's not that difficult to get in there and sit in a good seat.
29:46
Okay, so I didn't hear 90% of what you just said, so I don't know if it was me or not.
29:52
Yeah, we are going to lose people.
29:52
Yeah, it was breaking up for me too a little bit, but what I think is the standing room tickets are available.
30:00
They were priced as low as $15 for the Wisconsin series last year as they were trying to get people to fill the building.
30:06
I think the most they've been is 30 bucks and that gets you into just about any game if you really want to go, that's probably one of your best deals and the scalpers know that too.
30:17
So you can if you don't feel comfortable getting a standing room seat, you can probably go to the scalpers and get in for whatever that standing room seat is costing.
30:27
So it's just it's something to think about there as well.
30:29
If you want to go see a game, there are seats open for you.
30:32
Well, and the thing is, what can you really do?
30:36
I mean, they're still selling a ton of seats and it's just people are not showing up.
30:45
So it's kind of tough to resell those seats unless those people give the seats back.
30:52
But I think there's just so many just variables here that it's going to be tough to figure out.
30:59
I mean, unless this team goes on a huge winning streak and people start showing up because they're super good, I'm not sure what the school can do.
31:07
I mean, you've suggested some things in the past about maybe, hey, maybe get some players on the line and have them call the season ticket holders and whatnot and kind of do a public relations thing where they're calling season ticket holders maybe in the off season saying, hey, we didn't show up like three quarters of the time this year.
31:24
Maybe you'd want to try something else.
31:26
I mean, what can you do besides something like that?
31:30
Yeah, I think there's some things they can do to reward loyalty.
31:33
I think they can have current coaches, players, higher ups on the athletic department staff that people would recognize.
31:42
Mark Coyle is calling you and has a five-minute conversation with you about go for hockey.
31:46
It might have a better understanding why people aren't showing up.
31:50
But also if people can't show up, a way to get their tickets in someone's hands who will, whether it's donating them, whether it's having group sales to youth hockey associations.
32:02
I know they did that for the Mariucci Classic.
32:05
I think it was a year or two ago.
32:06
They had Prior Lake fill up the student section for that weekend, which was great.
32:10
And those people all showed up.
32:13
There's things that they can do in arena.
32:17
The TCF Bank Stadium is really up their food game there with special things from Jacks and other places around the metro having stands.
32:25
I know that the U has things like Famous Dave's and Jack's at Mariucci Arena, but it's something they can do to improve their food.
32:33
Even the DACC had a bunch of stuff that they were introducing, like special pizzas and a pot roast sundae.
32:40
That was pretty good.
32:41
Things like that can get people coming to the rink for things other than the hockey.
32:47
At the Wild Games, they have that club level where a lot of people will go and hang out just to be there.
32:52
Now, they might not even watch a lot of the game, but they're there providing some atmosphere.
32:56
So there are some things I think they can do to improve the fan experience as well and allow season ticket holders to get tickets in other people's hands.
33:05
Well, one thing I'm really sick about and I think you guys are sick about too is that people complaining, bring back the WCHA.
33:11
It's the Big Ten's fault.
33:12
And you know what, people?
33:14
I think the Big Ten is going to be pretty darn good league this year with the addition of Notre Dame.
33:20
This league is going to be stronger.
33:23
We're not going back, folks.
33:25
The WCHA with Minnesota and North Dakota and all that, it's dead.
33:28
It's not going to happen again.
33:30
So just support the team.
33:33
Get to a game.
33:35
I think some of it too is people forget that we heard plenty of comments about lack of atmosphere and empty seats and whatever, even back in the WCHA days.
33:46
You are correct.
33:51
I think people forget that.
33:53
It's not like it was filled with the rafters every single weekend with crazy fans and whatever, even back in those days.
34:02
We certainly had the weekend where you have the Alaska Anchorages in town or a tack or one of the kind of lower rung WCHA teams.
34:13
It wasn't packed and it wasn't super excited and all that every single weekend, even back in those days.
34:21
I think that sometimes people tend to forget that and just automatically look for the easy, low-hanging fruit as a potential way to blame something.
34:30
I just think it's just a combination of factors.
34:32
Certainly when you're charging what they charge for tickets, especially for the nice seats, it's going to be pricing a certain amount of people out of the picture.
34:43
I think some of that pricing is to protect their season ticket holders so that people aren't just cherry picking those games.
34:49
If you look at a season ticket holder price, even with the donation, I think it's under $35 a game a seat.
34:56
I think when they price the single game seats that way, they're just trying to protect their season ticket holders because if you're trying to resell your ticket as a season ticket holder, you're probably not going to get $35, $40 for the Army game or the Michigan State game, but you could get that for Wisconsin or Michigan or St.
35:15
Cloud.
35:18
I think some of it also has to do with the heyday of the new Mariucci Arena was the 90s.
35:25
It was a brand new arena.
35:28
We had no professional team at the time.
35:32
So for hockey, Minnesota was the only thing in town.
35:35
Then in the early 2000s, you've got The Wild coming back.
35:41
You're going to lose some of your fan base there.
35:43
Or you have corporations that pick up season tickets for both.
35:46
I don't know if they're not giving them away or what have you, but the worst part is that when you have pretty much a national TV contract and you can see the M very easily in the stands because the seats aren't filled, it just looks bad.
36:08
Do you have any suggestions other than what you came up with that the U can do of these?
36:13
They don't want to go to these people and say, you never use your season tickets, we're not going to let you buy them anymore.
36:18
Because financially, that's just a stupid thing to do.
36:22
They're still selling a lot of season tickets.
36:26
Is the U kind of in a bad spot here?
36:30
Well, I think they have to figure out a way to resell tickets.
36:34
With the wild, it's really easy to do that.
36:36
The money that you get back from the sales, you can apply to your season ticket deposit the next year.
36:41
They make it really seamless for people to resell their tickets.
36:45
They're real active with using mobile devices to text people that tickets are available.
36:51
But I don't really know what the immediate answer is because this is the first season that we've seen crowds under capacity.
36:59
In the past couple of years, they've always sold 95 plus.
37:03
So that hasn't been an issue.
37:04
This is the first season we've really seen crowds under 8,000 for regular season games.
37:10
And it's something to monitor going forward.
37:12
But if people are complaining about the prices, that standing room only seat is cheap.
37:18
Scalpers are cheap this year.
37:19
There's just not a demand.
37:20
There's a lot of stuff to do in the Twin Cities.
37:23
And if you're a College Hockey fan, this is the team to watch.
37:26
They've got a lot of goal scoring ability.
37:30
I got to agree with you there.
37:31
This is a good young team and you've got that a couple of young superstars or potential superstars that could really light things up and hopefully people will be there to see it because it could be a special season, folks.
37:45
The frozen forest here.
37:47
Go ahead.It's a little crazy to me that people are so amped up to go to the wild games and those guys are professionals.
37:55
If they don't have it that night, they're really good about not making mistakes.
37:58
You saw Bruce Boudreaux criticize this team for not playing discipline enough defensively.
38:04
Well, the other night they had a 0-0 game going into the third period.
38:07
There's not a lot of offense and exciting stuff there.
38:10
One of the great things about college hockey is it's a game of mistakes and college kids make a lot of mistakes because they want to make plays and they want to develop and they want to show off their offense.
38:20
So I think it's a more entertaining game than the NHL sometimes.
38:24
Even though they don't have world-class skill, they're still pretty darn good players.
38:30
I don't know what else we could say about this, Hammeh.
38:33
I just think it's a situation where fans are just going to have to adjust.
38:39
We know you've got the anger about the Big Ten.
38:41
You've got the prices going up.
38:43
You have the reseeding of the arena.
38:44
They're all kind of coming together at once.
38:47
You also have the fact that Minnesota is on TV a lot.
38:51
It's not easy to get down to Mariucci on a Friday night with traffic.
38:56
People are like, eh, I'll just stay home because it's easier.
39:00
There's just a lot of things happening here, Hammeh, that I don't know if they can really do anything.
39:06
Well, and I also think a lot of the people you see complain probably don't have realistic expectations in the first place about what they're going to see.
39:16
I think people latch on to best case scenarios and what they remember in the past.
39:23
Like I said earlier, people tend to forget there was issues with attendance in certain series during even the WCHA days.
39:34
It wasn't like it was all just packed to the rafters every weekend, but people tend to remember, oh, when it was so electric when we played Wisconsin or so electric when we played North Dakota.
39:45
It's like you latch on to those best case scenarios and you kind of feel like, oh, that's just how it's supposed to be.
39:53
It's not going to be that way every weekend.
39:55
That's just being honest and realistic about the situation.
39:58
Well, I'd love to keep talking about the attendance issues, but we'll just keep going around and around in circles, folks.
40:02
All we can say is go pick up some tickets and go to the game.
40:07
This is a good team.
40:08
You're going to see some entertaining games.
40:11
The players want you to be there.
40:13
They want you cheering.
40:13
They want you making noise.
40:15
So just like Vig said, go buy some standing room tickets.
40:19
Go sit on the glass because there's probably plenty of areas for you to sit.
40:24
We need to move on to Michigan State here, guys.
40:26
Michigan State coming into Mariucci this weekend.
40:30
What can we expect from that Michigan State squad?
40:34
Usually, they tend to be quite the defensive type of squad, but what are they this year?
40:40
They're a little bit different under their new coach, Don Cole.
40:44
They have got more offense and they're a young team.
40:47
They've got a lot of freshmen, sophomores.
40:49
Cordo De Danco is a real nice player for them, and they've been putting up a little bit more offense this season.
40:55
So I don't think it's the Michigan State of old.
40:58
It's a team that can score goals and has done really well doing that this year.
41:02
I don't think they've played a real difficult schedule to date, but they've won some games and put up some big numbers.
41:09
Well, that's kind of refreshing to hear actually, Veegs, because one thing that I have found the past 20 years with Michigan is that we could have some quite boring games.
41:23
And hopefully it won't be a little more wide open this weekend.
41:26
Hammeh, do you have any initial thoughts on Michigan State coming Mariucci this weekend?
41:32
Well, I mean, we kind of touched on it a little bit there.
41:36
I mean, in the past, they weren't really an offensive team.
41:41
You kind of expected it to be a low scoring, kind of slug it out affair.
41:45
And hopefully we're going to see a little bit more of an open style kind of game, especially on the big sheet.
41:53
And so hopefully, after seeing some of the special team success this past weekend, we can kind of continue to capitalize on those opportunities and shut down the opponent's opportunities in that regard.
42:04
And I think that we'll have enough five and five scoring this year where if we start to really take advantage of some of the power play opportunities we have, that the team will be pretty solid offensively.
42:16
And I think that might be some of the key this weekend, Veegs, is those special teams killing penalties and keep getting that groove going on the power play.
42:27
Yeah, I think that also what you're looking for out of Gophers is to stay out of the box.
42:33
That was something they did really well against Clarkson.
42:35
They didn't take a lot of penalties.
42:37
They only went shorthanded, I think, four times on the weekend, which is really good.
42:43
But I think that's going to be key for that is to stay out of the box.
42:46
That'll help their penalty kill quite a bit.
42:48
And then the big sheet definitely helps their power play.
42:51
It's easier for them to gain the zone.
42:53
There's more room to escape if they're trying to figure things out.
42:56
And I think we're going to see them experiment more with this overload power play luck.
43:03
Well, I like the sound of that.
43:07
I don't really have too many thoughts on Michigan State since I haven't seen them.
43:10
And obviously the new coach and like you said, a little bit new style, a little more offensive.
43:15
Well, let's get some predictions on Hammy.
43:18
I'm thinking for me, I guess it's not three out of four points, but I'm thinking at least a win and a tie and maybe an overtime win, maybe a sweep.
43:31
I think this is time for Minnesota to kind of start pushing their agenda and start getting up in the Big Ten standings here.
43:39
Yeah.
43:39
I mean, I feel like, I mean, I'm not saying that this is going to be too easy games or anything like that, but I do feel, hey, if we're coming off a sweep of Clarkson, a team that I think nobody would disagree with is a better team than Michigan State, certainly at this point.
43:55
And if we can sweep them on home ice, there's to me no excuse why we can't do the exact same thing with playing Michigan State.
44:02
So I'm looking forward to a sweep.
44:06
One game probably be a little tighter than the other, but I would expect two good games from the team.
44:10
And that's just, you got to start some momentum moving forward and start getting some wins in a row.
44:16
And hopefully some of these guys can start clicking and continue the success we've seen this last weekend on special teams.
44:23
Does the team start having some momentum this weekend, Veegs?
44:28
You know, it's a funny thing momentum, especially in college hockey, because each week is different.
44:34
And Don Lucia has talked about this quite a bit over the last couple of weeks that you start feeling good about yourself.
44:39
A week goes by, you got to prove it again on Friday, and then you got to prove it again on Saturday.
44:44
And so I think that's something this team really needs to focus on.
44:47
They're going to have to bring their own juice, I think, a little bit this weekend.
44:50
I'm not expecting big crowds.
44:53
There's a little bit of competition for playing time in the lineup, which is showing that he's comfortable going with 11 forwards and sitting one guy and trust another D or sitting one of his returning defensemen.
45:05
So I think there's competition in the lineup, which is good.
45:08
This should be a sweep, though.
45:10
I think Minnesota has a lot more veteran talent than Michigan State.
45:14
I think the only way they get into trouble is if they lose their discipline and if they start turning pucks over again.
45:20
And you never know when that's going to pop up, but I think they're going to sweep this weekend.
45:25
All right.
45:27
I like the positivity, guys.
45:29
Today, you're at the Media Availability VEAGS and the moratorium on freshmen is over.
45:35
And you guys got to talk to a few of them today, didn't you?
45:38
And we're going to hear that at the end of the podcast.
45:40
What are we going to hear?
45:43
Yeah, you'll hear a lot from Lucia, Mittelstadt and Reedy on Mittelstadt.
45:47
Everybody wanted to ask questions about the top prospect on the team.
45:52
So there's a lot of info on there.
45:55
Scott Reedy talks about playing with them.
45:57
Mittelstadt talks about playing with him in Pitlick.
45:59
Lucia talks about how much growth he's had during the season and a little bit about his shoulder issue that impacted his pull ups at the combine and how they've kind of managed that since he's been with the Gophers.
46:10
And a lot of good stuff.
46:11
Reedy talked about when you're playing with a guy like Mittelstadt, you always have to be ready for the puck.
46:17
And it's something between shifts.
46:19
Mittelstadt will say, hey, I'm noticing this about this defenseman.
46:23
Go to this space and I'll find you.
46:26
And he's a real competitive guy.
46:27
And he's a real great communicator on the bench that speaks well for his future.
46:32
Well, just one quick question for you, Veegs.
46:34
We talk about how Mittelstadt is setting people up in left and right.
46:38
Is he shooting enough?
46:43
I think he's shooting enough on the power play.
46:45
I think sometimes off the rush, he's looking to create something different.
46:49
I think as a whole, they want to make sure they get pucks on the net.
46:53
If he's not shooting, he's got to be getting the puck to a guy who's going to get it on net.
46:57
You don't want to be throwing pucks away.
46:59
I don't see it too often where he's giving it to a guy in a situation where that guy can't get the shot.
47:05
That's always the problem when you have guys passing up shots if the next situation doesn't develop into one.
47:11
But I think he's making pretty smart plays.
47:14
He's not deferring as much as some of the past freshmen have.
47:18
Well, I just something I thought about, obviously a lot of these guys are handling his passes because his passes can come at an instant in through traffic and you need to be ready like you said.
47:30
But I always do have the concern that I'd like to see him score a few more goals.
47:34
But we'll have to wait and see, I guess.
47:38
I think he is leading the team in shots even with missing the game in North Dakota.
47:42
He's a shooter.
47:44
Okay, well, hopefully I'd like to see him get on the scoreboard a little more with the goals.
47:49
But boy, he does have some sweet passes for some sweet set up.
47:53
So I guess it's all good for him right now.
47:58
Just keep this team building and keep this team building.
48:01
Well, remember, you can always follow Vigo on Twitter at eVigo and you can follow Hammy on Twitter at Hammy Hockey.
48:08
We'll be back next week to recap this series with Michigan State and a big series out at Michigan the following week.
48:17
Until then, thanks for listening.
48:48
What would you learn about your team last week?
48:50
Well, we ground out a couple of wins.
48:52
The areas that we really had worked on last week, I thought our specialty team was, play was much better.
48:57
Our penalty kill was more aggressive.
48:59
Our power play, we were three for 10, which is 30%.
49:02
More, I think, in the lines of what my expectations are.
49:06
I mean, we'd like to be around 25%, and our kill around 85%.
49:10
So, that was a real plus for me.
49:14
Eric continues to play really well in the net.
49:16
We got a lot of guys involved in the games.
49:18
Last weekend, both our freshmen, you got a chance to play.
49:21
So, it was our last opportunity to experiment a little bit more, because it was a non-league game, and it was nice to beat a quality opponent, like we did against Clarkson.
49:29
Does this start streaking out a thing where you just want to keep putting them out there to keep it intact, or do you arrest them if you feel like you need to arrest?
49:34
Who's that?
49:35
Eric.
49:35
Oh, I mean, I've used the expression before, and I haven't seen many arrests are starting quarterback.
49:41
They play one game a week, we play two.
49:42
If a guy needs a day off, he can do it on a Monday or Tuesday, but Eric, he played a ton in junior hockey, and we knew that going in, and he takes good care of himself, and he's a lot more calm in that so far from what we've seen from a year ago.
49:57
I know he worked really hard over the course of summer to quiet his game down, and it looks like he has.
50:03
When we make a mistake, he's there to cover it up.
50:05
We talk about defensively, we've only given up about a goal a game, five on five, which is going to win a lot of games when you do that.
50:15
We're trying to get some of our guys out of their comfort zone.
50:17
Offensively, we have to do a much better job, five on five.
50:20
We're not generating enough offensive.
50:22
We're not scoring enough.
50:23
We're not getting enough shots.
50:25
So that's kind of an emphasis this week.
50:32
It's been the trajectory I've expected.
50:35
You know, he's nursing a little bit of a, you know, I think he's closer to 100% than, you know, certainly what he was last weekend.
50:42
But, you know, learning to play with a little pain, that's part of it as you get to higher levels, too.
50:46
And, you know, that's why he started the Friday night's game at wing.
50:49
But, you know, halfway through, we just looked a little out of sorts.
50:51
We moved him back into the middle.
50:53
So what we hope now is we can stay healthy and develop some combinations within our lines so the guys can play together and start to develop some chemistry.
51:01
I think that's really important, whether it's line combinations or power play.
51:07
We'd like to get him a little bit more involved in the penalty kill.
51:09
I think he has the ability to do that.
51:11
He's done it in the past, but we've relied on our older guys up until now, the first month of the season.
51:17
But we'd like to start to, you know, give him a little bit more.
51:19
Some of your veterans got off the slow start.
51:22
Do you think that made it tougher on them a little bit as a freshman?
51:27
No, I don't think it made it harder on him.
51:28
I think it made it harder on the veterans.
51:30
I mean, when you, you always want to get that first goal.
51:33
I mean, like Tyler's sitting, he doesn't have a goal.
51:35
No, he, you know, he's only played six, not the full eight.
51:37
And Leon got his first.
51:39
Matula got his first.
51:40
You know, Gates got another one.
51:42
You know, Novak's sitting with one.
51:43
I mean, so we, our veteran forwards, they're the ones that have to start scoring for us.
51:47
I mean, I had never put the pressure that the freshmen have to carry us.
51:50
They've done a nice job with their goal total so far this year.
51:54
But, you know, the older guys now, it's their turn.
51:57
It's their time.
51:57
I mean, they're playing in the power play.
51:58
They're playing in a lot of minutes.
52:00
And they have the ability.
52:02
They've shown that.
52:03
As I told them, I mean, you're going to go through little streaks where you don't score for a while.
52:07
Now we've got to get going again.
52:08
Is that a good sign that your seniors haven't kicked it into gear and you're still getting some results?
52:12
Yeah.
52:12
I mean, that's the positive, that guys that have scored haven't yet on a consistent basis.
52:18
And when they do, it's going to make our team that much better.
52:22
We're getting some good play.
52:24
I have a number of guys.
52:24
But I still don't feel like we've kind of hit on all cylinders.
52:28
It seems like we're sometimes like when you're learning to drive with a clutch and you're kind of herky jerky and popping the clutch.
52:35
You know, the younger people don't understand that.
52:37
It's old guys.
52:39
So we need to smooth out our game.
52:42
Whether it's being not a good first pass out of our zone or it's in a skate or just not that continuity, we have to be a little bit heavier with our group of forwards.
52:50
And that's something we're trying to show them on video.
52:54
Because we got to be better off the end zone offense, half-court game, not just off a rush.
53:00
How do you help those veterans keep from pressing too much?
53:05
That's a good question.
53:06
I think the big thing is that if they're generating, I mean, I think some of those guys, like we'll show with video today, I mean, we have to be a little bit harder on a puck because we're not winning enough of those small area battles where you can maintain puck possession in an offensive zone.
53:23
It's too much where you're a one shot and done, or you get in there and you're not generating anything.
53:29
I thought the bright spot for me, I thought we got our D more in play last weekend in the offensive zone, and our D did a better job of getting some pucks through and moving around in the blue line.
53:38
It's something we've been working on as well because it's not just three guys that have to do it in the offensive zone.
53:43
All five guys have to be involved and help generate because it's just too hard otherwise.
53:47
Reedy, like at Mittelstadt, what have you liked about them as a line so far?
53:50
They bring a little bit of, I think, with Casey and Rem, you know, they're kind of speedsters and prancers and they need somebody who will play a little bit heavy with them, you know, with a right shot, that helps.
54:02
So it's just, again, trying to figure out the right combinations.
54:06
Novak and Chi have played pretty well together in the past and, you know, he just seems like the right fit because he's good around the net.
54:13
He can body some people off a puck and keep the chain going.
54:16
How much has Casey grown strength-wise?
54:18
A lot was made at the Conmine, the pull-ups and stuff.
54:20
Yeah, I mean, probably more than it should have been.
54:23
I mean, part of the problem, and our strength coach noticed it right away, his shoulder was a little bit out of alignment.
54:28
And when he watched the way his arm swung, and then he got him fixed, you know, just with manipulation.
54:34
And then, you know, I think he was able to do a half a dozen right after that.
54:37
So some of that was just manipulating him.
54:39
But, you know, it's...
54:42
A strength program in college is different than a strength program in high school.
54:45
That's just the reality of it.
54:46
And, you know, now he's in a full-time strength program, and that's something he needs.
54:51
But at the same time, you can't teach the skill, you can't teach the speed, you can't teach the hockey sense.
54:58
Strength's gonna come, because he's more than willing to work at it.
55:01
What's nice with him is that, I mean, he's more competitive than I thought.
55:05
I mean, he's got a little of that Kyle Rau Bulldog in him that not everybody has, and, you know, that's a really good ingredient to possess as an athlete.
55:13
Michigan State's got a whole new coaching staff this year, and they're very heavy with underclass.
55:18
What kind of effect does a whole new staff have on the guys?
55:21
Well, I think everybody gets a clean slate.
55:23
I think that's one.
55:24
When you looked at their team a year ago, other than I think Applegate or Applewhite, whatever, he left, but the next three scorers were all freshmen.
55:34
And even when we played them earlier in the year to the end of the year, you could see the growth in some of those freshmen, and the team had improved.
55:42
And so now those guys are sophomore.
55:45
They're leading their team in score.
55:46
They got a number of sophomores, a number of freshmen.
55:48
So it's always new, a shot of adrenaline.
55:53
I think they're going to do some things for the program.
55:54
And you've seen the results.
55:56
They're four and two on the season right now.
55:58
But again, you could see some of that coming at the end of last year with those young guys that were playing.
56:03
Because Michigan State was always good defensively.
56:06
They always had good goalies, but they just didn't have that offensive firepower.
56:09
And I think that's the biggest change now.
56:11
You see a number of guys in their team who can put the puck in the net.
56:14
You mentioned Casey's competitive streak.
56:17
Do you have any stories already of him?
56:19
Well, we had to clean up his language coming back to the bench.
56:23
We addressed that.
56:24
Because you got the little kids back there, so it's like, you know, you might want to...
56:27
I know you're upset, but let's try to at least keep it PG-13.
56:33
Yeah, I mean, you can see him, and he gets upset, and just you hear.
56:37
I mean, he vocalizes it that, you know, when he's mad at...
56:40
He's not mad at him, but himself.
56:41
You know, because he has high expectations for himself.
56:44
But, you know, he's a freshman, and I think at times we always want to put too much on pressure on, you know, somebody that's just coming out of high school and feeling his way and adjusting.
56:56
And, you know, he's had an injury early on and missed one game already.
57:00
But, you know, I like the fact that, you know, he's battled through that.
57:04
You know, he only practiced really one day last week and played two games.
57:07
And I think it's obviously going to help him this week in a full week of practice back in, just for timing and everything else.
57:12
But he wants to get better.
57:14
He wants to learn.
57:15
You know, he's receptive to video.
57:17
And you show him the things that he needs to work on to get better.
57:20
And, you know, that's what he wants.
57:21
And that's what good players want.
57:23
They want to be pushed.
57:24
They want to be coached.
57:25
And they want to get better.
57:28
Well, let's start with Michigan State.
57:31
Did you play against them when you were NTDP?
57:34
Yeah, we actually had a game against them in their barn, so...
57:37
Any thoughts about the style of hockey they bring and what you guys might need to do?
57:41
I think we're looking at a new team this year.
57:42
Obviously, they got a change in the coaching staff, so, you know, we don't know too much about them, but I know they'll probably play a pretty heavy defensive style game, so...
57:50
Scott, Casey was saying you guys got a chance to play together a while back and how it kind of has helped you guys.
57:55
What do you remember about the first time you played with them?
57:58
Yeah, I think we got a chance to play together about two games over at the National Team Development Program.
58:04
You know, it was pretty easy to play with a guy like that.
58:06
You know, he makes plays and stuff.
58:07
So, you know, to be reunited with him here is, you know, a good opportunity for myself and I think, you know, together we can help the team a lot.
58:16
What's the key for you playing with him?
58:19
You know, he's definitely a guy that, you know, needs the puck on a stick.
58:22
So I think for me, making sure I'm working in the dirty areas and, you know, finding him in the open areas and getting open because I know he can find me whether he's looking at me or not.
58:31
So, you know, just get into the scoring areas and be ready for the puck at all times.
58:34
How do you think that entire line plays, you, Casey and Rem?
58:38
I think we're still a work in progress.
58:39
I think we have some natural chemistry.
58:41
I think we all think the game pretty similarly and complement each other's game pretty well.
58:46
So I think, you know, continuing in practice, I think we can get even better.
58:50
How's your adjustment to college hockey been?
58:52
What, if anything, has surprised you?
58:54
You know, the biggest thing for me was, you know, we got to play a couple games of college last year, so that actually helped me a lot.
59:00
You know, playing a USHL schedule as a 17-year-old definitely helped me be used to being a little undersized, and I put on some weight there, and that definitely helped with the transition to college hockey.
59:11
Has it surprised you to see your line being one of the most successful so far?
59:17
You know, there's a lot of talented guys on our team.
59:19
I think, you know, it's just a matter of when they're going to get going, so I mean, guys are going to have their ups and downs, and once we're all clicking at the same time, I think we're going to have the most success.
59:27
When your line's clicking, what are you guys doing well?
59:29
I think we got possession below the goal line, below the hash marks, especially.
59:34
I think we're good on the rush, but, you know, when we're really clicking, I think things are working well below the hash marks, and we're getting pucks on that.
59:42
Team's veterans kind of made it real easy for you guys to fit in just in the locker room and everything?
59:47
Absolutely, yeah.
59:48
We actually have a great core of older guys, and, you know, they helped us get comfortable real quick and, you know, involved us right away in all the team activities, so it was a breeze of a transition for us, and, you know, we're pretty appreciative of it.
1:00:02
You played with Brandon McManus at Shattuck.
1:00:06
What are you thinking about his game and kind of reaction did you have when he scored his first three goals?
1:00:10
Yeah, I was actually, I got hurt, so I was up in the stands watching, and, you know, the transition to college hockey can be tough, and, you know, he battled through some things the first few games.
1:00:19
He was having his moments, and it was awesome to see him break through, being his former roommate, Donna Shattuck, and line mate.
1:00:26
You know, I was extra happy for him, and I knew his parents were there, so it was definitely a very special moment for him, and, you know, I for sure had a smile on my face when I saw that.
1:00:34
What about his game in general?
1:00:36
He's definitely one of the skilled guys.
1:00:38
You know, he has a good hockey mind.
1:00:40
He makes plays.
1:00:42
He's definitely good with his one-timer shots, so, I mean, if you find him, he's got a good shot for that.
1:00:49
You guys committed to the school so long ago.
1:00:51
What surprised you most about playing college hockey and being at the university?
1:00:56
Yeah, I mean, like you said, it was definitely a long time ago.
1:00:58
You know, we had our dreams to come here, and when it was finally the time to come here, it's sort of a dream come true, and you kind of feel it for the first few days, but then you got to get right into it and, you know, just feel like it's another day and, you know, keep working, so.
1:01:14
I think you said of Casey that, you know, he'll find you whether he's looking or not.
1:01:19
Can you tell me what it's like playing with a guy like that?
1:01:21
Yeah, I mean, he's got a great hockey mind, obviously, so you give him the puck.
1:01:26
He kind of knows the route you're taking, so he might be, you know, a deacon of the defender, but in the back of his head, he's thinking where you are.
1:01:31
So, I mean, whether he's looking at you or not, he can still send that pass over, so you kind of just got to be ready for it.
1:01:37
Does he see those things and talk to you about them on the bench in between shifts?
1:01:41
Yeah, I mean, we definitely have our fair share of talk on the bench, you know, whether we see that a defender's a little slow on a certain side.
1:01:48
You know, we're always talking about that stuff just so we can have the advantage once we step back out on the ice.
1:01:53
So you kind of know when those no-look things are going to come?
1:01:55
Yeah, I mean, there's definitely kind of the sense we have together when he's going behind the net.
1:02:00
If he sees me in a certain spot, he kind of looks, and then he might make the pass three seconds later.
1:02:04
But that's kind of just the connection we have, I'd say.
1:02:08
Casey, how would you describe how your game has grown since you got here in June?
1:02:13
Yeah, I think just overall kind of doing a lot of little things, learning to play without the puck a little bit.
1:02:17
I think playing high school, you have a puck quite a bit.
1:02:19
So just learning a little things away from the puck, a little bit of stuff defensively and things like that.
1:02:24
So I think I've definitely improved and try to continue to grow.
1:02:28
How much in the weight room, how many strides have you made, do you think?
1:02:34
I mean, quite a few, I guess.
1:02:35
Obviously, it's a big part of coming here, and Cal does a great job developing us and helping us out with everything that we need.
1:02:41
So I would say quite a bit.
1:02:42
God mentioned the shoulder alignment.
1:02:44
Are you kind of amazed how much difference that made, how quickly, once you got your shoulder aligned a little bit, every time making that up?
1:02:52
I honestly have no idea what that means.
1:02:54
So...
1:02:57
Reference to the pull-ups and just how one subtle little change made a huge difference with the pull-ups.
1:03:03
I don't know.
1:03:03
Cal kind of figured out this weird wrist, shoulder, genetic thing, and now I'm only supposed to use neutral bar or whatever.
1:03:11
So I guess I don't know if that means something else or something like that, so...
1:03:17
How has the adjustment to college hockey been for you so far for the first month?
1:03:22
Yeah, you know, I think it's been good for the most part.
1:03:24
Obviously for me and for my own expectations, I think it's been somewhat of a little bit of a slow start, but I think we're starting to really get going, especially as a team, and I think as we all get better as a team, I'll get better.
1:03:35
I think that's the most important thing.
1:03:36
So as our forwards get going and we kind of start playing together with all five guys on the ice at all times, I think my individual play will go up as well.
1:03:45
One thing Don mentioned is how hard you are on yourself sometimes.
1:03:48
Has that been always the case or is it just you're putting any extra pressure on yourself here?
1:03:55
No, I don't think so.
1:03:56
I think, like Coach said, I already put enough on myself, so any time I try to add more, it's probably not too much of a good thing.
1:04:02
So for me, I have high expectations for myself.
1:04:05
I expect a lot of myself, and I'm going to go out and compete and try to make plays.
1:04:10
You mentioned that the play away from the puck is a big part of learning the game here compared to when you were in high school where you said you had the puck a lot.
1:04:18
What are some of the little things away from the puck that you're focusing on?
1:04:23
I think just like little plays, like if there's a loose puck in the corner, learning which way to bump it and stuff like that, especially being a center, helping the D down the corners and kind of reading which way they're going to move the puck or which way the forecheckers are coming.
1:04:35
I think that's one of the big things for me that there wasn't much of in high school.
1:04:38
It's kind of one guy picks the guy up and puck up and kind of wheels around the net and finds the open guy, but here you got to make a lot of little plays and little things to get out of the zone and start the offense.
1:04:47
How much are you feeding off of the way that the whole line is playing together with Scott and Hitler?
1:04:54
Yeah, I actually played like two games, I think.
1:04:56
One game with Scott and out a few years ago out at the program in TDP, and we played really well together, and I guess we didn't, we kind of both forgot about it and came here and I think it's kind of picked up a little bit where it left off, and obviously we fit really well together.
1:05:09
Me and Ram kind of fly around, and Reed does a good job getting pucks for us, doing a little bit on the corners and battling in front of the net, so it's been really good and hopefully we can continue to progress.
1:05:18
Goals are what they put on the scoreboard, but at the end of the day, what are you more satisfied with?
1:05:22
Have you scored a pretty goal or a pretty assist?
1:05:23
Like that saucer pass across the goal line was pretty good.
1:05:27
What's more satisfying for you?
1:05:30
Honestly, I don't care, I think.
1:05:32
I think a good pass is pretty nice.
1:05:34
I like that.
1:05:35
Let someone else score.
1:05:36
I like that, so probably a good pass for me.
1:05:39
From a guy who scored at the high level last year, have you gone to Tyler Sheheed off for any advice in adjusting to the game?
1:05:45
I sit next to him in the room, so I think it just kind of comes with the territory, and we've gotten to know him pretty well.
1:05:50
So just kind of being good friends with him now and just talking to him quite a bit I think helps more than anything.
1:05:56
He does a really good job being a good leader, helping all the freshmen be comfortable and things like that around all the older guys.
1:06:01
So for me, I think that's the most important thing.
1:06:03
Is there anybody else in your room you feed off of?
1:06:06
Yeah, I think I knew Ryan Lindgren really well coming in.
1:06:09
So I think that helps a lot.
1:06:10
He does a really good job, kind of leads by example, works really hard.
1:06:14
And I think another guy that's really touching all of us under his wing is Mike Smitula.
1:06:17
I think he helps just being, literally just being a great guy.
1:06:21
Everything we need is right there for us.
1:06:23
And if we got any questions or anything, it's always kind of the guy we go to.
1:06:26
Video work is such a big part of college hockey.
1:06:28
What are you taking away from those film sessions?
1:06:31
Yeah, I think we're learning quite a bit.
1:06:33
I mean, obviously there's going to be a lot of hiccups in the first few games.
1:06:36
Everyone's kind of figuring out their role in their spots.
1:06:38
So there's a lot to learn and we're doing it every day.
1:06:40
So I think we're definitely making progress.
1:06:42
There's things that you can see we're doing a lot better than we were doing, say, week one or even before the season.
1:06:47
So it's definitely been really good.
1:06:50
You've got a good knack for seeing a play ahead or at least a half a play.
1:06:54
If you want to be hard on yourself, it's a half a play.
1:06:56
But at least a play ahead.
1:06:58
But the pacer is so much faster than high school.
1:07:00
Honey, what do you attribute that to, being able to see a step ahead?
1:07:05
You know, I don't really know if there's one specific thing.
1:07:08
I honestly think for me it comes with watching a lot of hockey.
1:07:11
You kind of watch, there's a lot of guys I watch try to get better from them.
1:07:15
I don't know, I think that honestly helps a lot coming from guys like that.
1:07:18
You watch Kane and Krasby and McDavid.
1:07:21
Obviously they're three of the top five players in the world probably, but they're always one step ahead.
1:07:26
The ways they can finally get the fuck on their stick and get some time and space is pretty cool, so I think doing that quite a bit helps and then just kind of reading the play and being patient.
1:07:33
Thank you.
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