0:05 This is The GPL Podcast, sponsored by Vintage Minnesota Hockey, your exclusive source for throwback Minnesota jerseys. 0:14 Visit vintagemnhockey.com Now, here's Tami, Vegoe, and your host, Jupiter. 0:39 Sports University. 0:40 Good evening, and welcome to The GPL Podcast, episode number 121. 0:48 Well, boys, it turned out to be a pretty darn good weekend for the Gophers, a 4-2 victory Friday night and a nice comeback 2-1 victory Saturday night. 0:58 Kind of what the doctor ordered, huh, Hammeh? 1:01 We're coming. 1:05 Yeah, I mean, it was a good weekend. 1:07 And I thought it was probably the best overall weekend of the year, I think, in terms of consistency throughout both games and, you know, guys putting in the effort and seeing good goaltending, you know, for the most part and just, you know, obviously offensive and defensively. 1:25 I thought it was a pretty good weekend. 1:26 And I know Harvard hasn't played many games this year. 1:29 So you don't want to go too far with the praise because that could be a little bit of it. 1:32 But overall, considering, you know, some of the hype that Harvard had coming into the season, you can't complain too much about two wins. 1:41 Well, let's start with Friday night there, Veegs. 1:45 Four-two victory for the Gophers. 1:46 They get it four to nothing real quick. 1:48 And then in the third period, Harvard does make it a little bit interesting with a couple goals. 1:54 But it wasn't like another Michigan game. 1:57 Minnesota actually finished out this game and it was a good game Friday night. 2:03 I think the big key on Friday night was that even when they took the penalties in the third period, the penalty kill came through. 2:10 And I think we're starting to see that they're getting some consistency with their play, especially led by Ramsey and Romanko. 2:17 They're just doing a great job blocking shots, getting clears, you know, keeping the teams tight on the kill, which is huge for them. 2:25 On Saturday, they didn't have to do that, which is good on the discipline end. 2:29 But it was nice to see the kill come through when they needed it. 2:32 Yeah, after that horrible start with the kill this year, I mean, what have they given up? 2:36 Maybe one power play goal on the last week or something like that? 2:41 Yeah, I mean, week. 2:41 I mean, yeah, they've been pretty a lot of games, I should say. 2:44 Yeah, it's one week there. 2:47 I'm sorry. 2:47 I'm just I'm zoned out a little bit. 2:50 You already been drinking? 2:51 Well, I want to say, yeah, I may do that. 2:56 Well, I'm thinking maybe though, was it the last seven or eight games? 2:59 Quite a few of the last series, they've only given up, I want to say, one power play goal. 3:03 And it looks like out of the six chances this weekend, they were 100%. 3:06 So it was a good weekend for special teams, Hammeh. 3:12 Yeah, I mean, I think it's kind of what we talked about earlier in the year about guys kind of getting used to their roles, kind of finding a comfort zone with the different power play units. 3:23 You know, because last year we did have some guys that played a lot of minutes that are no longer on the team, you know. 3:29 So it's nice to see these guys kind of acclimating to their roles and kind of pulling together as a unit and showing some success. 3:38 Well, one thing though, I would say, Veegs, is that they still have a little ways to go in the power play. 3:45 Well, more than a little ways. 3:47 Especially in that second unit, they're really trying to find the right personnel to use there. 3:52 I think the one bright spot is Don Lucia is starting to settle on a first unit. 3:58 He's got Pitlick and Mittelstadt, who've shown a lot of chemistry, trading places, controlling the puck, winning one-on-one battles down low. 4:06 I think Tyler Sheehy's found his spot back on that off wing in the circle, kind of around the net. 4:12 Steve Johnson's done a nice job at the point. 4:15 And Brent Gates has kind of emerged as a guy in the middle who can put the puck on that and create some havoc around the goalie. 4:23 Well that's definitely a good thing. 4:27 I mean, after how much they've struggled, anything to do better is going to be good. 4:34 And like I said, you can only do so much with the penalty kill. 4:36 You can just kind of keep killing, keep killing, and your numbers are going to get up there. 4:40 And like you said, that second unit in the powerplay needs to get better. 4:43 But that's all we can hope for. 4:47 And when the team's winning, those issues are not so bad. 4:50 It's later in the year when you, boy, you could really use a power play goal and the like where that's when you really need it, I guess. 4:59 Well, I think the one thing with that second unit is you got to find a way for Tommy Novak to make an impact on the game. 5:05 He's probably their best passer, one of their best vision playmaker guys on the roster. 5:10 They just need to find a way to make him effective on that unit. 5:13 They've been putting him a little bit on his strong side, which has made it difficult for him to be a threat, but they've got to find a way to compliment his ability and plug in other pieces for him. 5:26 Well, I must say that the best thing I would say coming out of this weekend is we believe that Harvard will be a pretty darn good team by the end of the year and beating one of the top teams in the ECAC is going to be great for the pairwise Vegs. 5:43 Yeah, definitely. 5:44 They're looking like they're in great pairwise shape. 5:46 They've done such a good job out of conference, but the only problem has been the NCHC when they lost to Duluth and then split with North Dakota, but otherwise they're going to be great when it comes to comparisons across the country. 5:58 So that's one of those benefits of the schedule that Don Lucia puts together is that they have the opportunity to win all these comparisons if they do well and they're out of conference games out east. 6:12 We have found in the past that winning and losing even early in the year like it is now can affect you at the end of the season. 6:20 I'll never forget one season, I don't know, about 10 years ago now or something along those lines. 6:26 Minnesota didn't win because or couldn't get into the NCAAs because of a tie or a loss in an overtime about a month or two before that to Michigan Tech, at Michigan Tech. 6:38 So these games are important, you know, everyone says it was early in the year, but it does add up at the end of the season, folks, and it could matter in your pairwise. 6:46 So I think these are huge wins this weekend and, you know, looking Friday night was a good victory, but Saturday night, excuse me, Saturday night was a much different thing there, Hammeh, Minnesota put on a lot of shots, a lot of pressure, Harvard's goalie Madsen was excellent, but finally, in the end, Minnesota did get that late tying goal and did win it over time and it was a pretty exciting, fun game. 7:12 Yeah, I mean, I thought, you know, for all the flack that we've heard about crowd and whatever, I mean, I thought it was a pretty energetic crowd, all things considered, maybe not a North Dakota or Wisconsin type of crowd, but nonetheless, considering it's Harvard, I thought it was pretty good and they actually played very, very well throughout the entire game. 7:33 And obviously, when you have such a large shot disparity, it's not just about, you know, it's not like a Penn State shot disparity where you're just throwing everything. 7:41 I mean, they had some good chances, you know, and to be able to kind of come through with Pitlick kind of later in the game and then to win it over time, I mean, I'm sure that's, you know, hopefully it'll spur the guys on, you know, as we get these final weeks of the first half and they'll have some success, especially against a good team in Notre Dame coming up. 8:02 And speaking of the crowd, Veegs, obviously it wasn't a full crowd, but it was the largest crowd that they had on the season. 8:08 They sold, you know, over 8,800 tickets to that game or distributed whatever their little term is. 8:16 And you even mentioned that in your article that even the players thought it was a pretty good crowd. 8:24 Yeah. 8:24 And I think it was entertaining hockey, you know, Gophers against the Crimson, both played up and down styles and the Gophers were playing great. 8:33 You know, their retrievals were good. 8:35 Their first passes were good. 8:37 They could speed through the neutral zone and gave the crowd something to cheer about. 8:41 And the biggest crowd of the year. 8:42 So based on our ticket scanning data in the past, probably mid-6000 actual attendance is what I'm thinking. 8:52 But it was a loud crowd and the players noticed it. 8:55 Pitlick said it was the best crowd next to the North Dakota one last season. 9:00 And Mittelstadt said today that it was one of the best crowds he's played in front of. 9:04 So I think the players noticed that when they get more fans in the building and they're loud and energetic. 9:10 And I think with the season ticket sales down a little bit, and then the Black Friday promotions that they're running where they're selling tickets at 40% off, offering standing room tickets for $15, maybe there was some new energy in the building. 9:24 And you definitely feel it when they got those two goals in the third and overtime. 9:29 It was big. 9:30 And one thing I really liked about that Pitlick tying goal is he really celebrated. 9:34 He was really happy. 9:35 And another big thing I noticed was Mittelstadt jumping up and down in his excitement. 9:41 I think it's nice to see excitement in these players. 9:43 I mean, we've had so many instances of players in the last two years and they score a goal and they barely celebrate them. 9:50 I kind of like the enthusiasm I saw Saturday night, Veegs. 9:56 Yeah, I would say what you will about some of these guys. 9:58 You know, Rem Pitlick grew up gopher fan, you know, his dad, Lance Pitlick, playing for the Maroon and Gold. 10:06 He's wanted to be a gopher and now he's doing it and he's doing a great job. 10:10 He's probably their most consistent player. 10:12 And then a guy like Casey Mittelstadt, it was his birthday today and his mom tweeted out a picture of him, probably four or five years old, in a gopher jersey. 10:22 And Casey said today, he's like, I've always wanted to be here. 10:25 The dream can true. 10:26 It means a lot to me. 10:28 And you can tell, you know, these players want to do well wearing the M and they're delivering those to our fun to watch. 10:35 And you know what that means, people? 10:36 It means go buy tickets, show up for the games. 10:40 You know, if you have tickets show up, I mean, a lot of we're finding a lot of these tickets are being used. 10:44 Get to the game. 10:46 I'm going in roof mode Saturday against Wisconsin, I bought two tickets for that series because I want to kick back and relax and have some fun myself and support the team. 10:55 So quit not using your tickets, folks. 10:59 We know there's about 2,000 of you or more each night not using your tickets. 11:04 Use them. 11:05 Quit bitching about the team. 11:06 Quit bitching about the Big Ten. 11:08 Support the team. 11:10 You know, they, you know, when they feel you supporting, they play even better. 11:13 So get out there and go to the games, folks. 11:17 All right, getting off my pulpit there. 11:21 Just getting sick of everyone complaining. 11:22 Sorry, guys. 11:25 If you have any questions for us, just hop on Twitter and use the hashtag GPL Podcast. 11:31 We'll take a look. 11:31 And if we want to talk about it, we will. 11:33 And of course, Nate always comes through strong with us, Nate Wells. 11:37 Hammy, he wants to know what's the best Thanksgiving side dish or what is your best Thanksgiving side dish? 11:44 So like, what's my favorite? 11:46 What's your favorite side dish? 11:47 I don't make them, you know. 11:49 Yeah. 11:50 What's your favorite? 11:52 Boy, that's a tough one. 11:53 I mean, because for me, I kind of always have favored mixing turkey with cranberries. 12:00 You know what I mean? 12:01 So yeah, turkey is sort of like the main dish, right? 12:05 But I always like to mix the cranberries with that. 12:08 But I mean, I don't know that I have a favorite because to me, it's like everything mixed together. 12:12 I could pile that crap together and just like eat it like it's one thing. 12:16 So if you put like turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and cranberries together and just like mashed it all together, I could like wolf that all day long. 12:28 I'd say for me, you know, a nice stuffing, not the stovetop stuff, but the real good stuff. 12:35 And maybe just it seems like mashed potatoes just taste better on Thanksgiving as well. 12:39 So I'll go stuffing and potatoes, Veegs, what's your favorite side dish? 12:46 It's definitely stuffing. 12:47 I need a stuffing that's got like some sort of, you know, pork sausage. 12:51 Yeah, pork sausage. 12:52 Yes. 12:53 I need some I need some onions in there. 12:56 I like little bacon in there sometimes. 13:00 You know, all kinds of good stuff in there. 13:03 Stuffing is the key for me for a side dish. 13:06 The one thing I'm coming around on is Brussels sprouts. 13:09 Oh, yes, roasted with bacon, like olive oil, balsamic vinegar, bacon, Brussels. 13:17 Awesome. 13:17 Yeah, it's only good because there's bacon there. 13:21 The Brussels roasted. 13:22 It's my new thing. 13:23 Probably one of the best examples out there is Butcher and the Boar makes a Brussels sprouts with kind of like a hot oil. 13:30 So good. 13:32 And they have good bourbon there too. 13:35 Oh, nothing wrong with good bourbon these days. 13:36 And you got me on to that. 13:37 Thanks, Veegs. 13:39 You're welcome. 13:39 Yeah, it was it was a good time last Friday night tweeting as I'm drinking. 13:46 Definitely entertaining. 13:49 We'll just leave it at that. 13:52 Well, what else you guys got? 13:53 You guys got any other thoughts on this weekend? 13:55 I mean, you know, like I said, it was a good weekend. 13:57 But anything that really stuck out for you, Hammy? 14:02 No, I mean, I think it was just like I said earlier, a little bit of it was just like the consistency, you know, and you know, and I think the other thing is we've seen games like Saturday night where we're vastly outplaying the other team and you see the guys get frustrated and you know, somehow it just at the end of the day doesn't work out for them because either because they get frustrated or for various other reasons. 14:26 And I was real happy to see the players kind of just really keep the foot on the pedal and keep working and, you know, and to see them rewarded with the tying goal and to, you know, break through and win it in overtime. 14:38 I think that that's really important and certainly, you know, every season is different. 14:43 But I mean, and it's not like these guys forget things, but it's always nice to have the reminder of, you know, having had to come back from a deficit and kind of dealing with some of those frustrating circumstances and still coming out on top. 14:57 So, hopefully, this is something that they can use to their benefit, you know, as the season progresses. 15:04 One of our Mixler listeners, Tony, says he really likes that Mittelstadt goal on Friday night. 15:09 That was a pretty sweet goal, Veegs. 15:13 Yeah, and you know that he was changing the angle, going nutmeg on the defenseman and picking the corner on purpose. 15:21 When he shoots the puck, he's picking out a spot. 15:24 He may not say that he did that, but you know he is. 15:27 He's got that kind of talent and it's a lot of fun to watch. 15:30 The biggest thing for me coming out of that weekend was the consistency. 15:34 I don't think they gave up hardly any odd man rushes the whole weekend. 15:38 I don't think they had one on Saturday. 15:40 And that's just speaking to making good decisions with the puck. 15:43 That's something they're going to need to do this weekend. 15:45 They're going to be playing a very different kind of team this weekend. 15:48 But when you have a team that manages the puck while the blue lines and gets out of their zone clean, that's a real good sign for the future. 15:57 Well things are definitely going to ramp up this next weekend for Notre Dame on the road. 16:02 But before we get to that, we need to listen to our sponsor. 16:07 Vintage mnhockey.com is a proud sponsor of the GPL Podcast. 16:12 Well what is Vintage MN Hockey? 16:14 Well, it's kind of the place to get all of your history of Minnesota Hockey. 16:19 From the pros, to the minors, to the collegiate teams, to even the high school teams. 16:24 All information about any of those teams can be found on Vintage mnhockey.com. 16:29 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. 16:39 So make sure you check out those interviews. 16:40 It's a really great thing. 16:42 But as I always say, I think my favorite part is the store. 16:46 The store, you can buy a custom historical jersey from the Gophers or the Bulldogs or some of your favorite high school teams. 16:53 And if you do make a purchase, just use the code GPL Podcast, all one word, and you'll get 10% off your order. 17:00 So make sure you visit Vintage mnhockey.com and follow them on Twitter at Vintage MNHockey. 17:07 Well, earlier today, we had a question from a one Pat McColetti, and he wants to know, guys, what's the best hockey conference in college hockey? 17:17 What the best conference in college hockey, I should say? 17:19 And when will we have Frank Mazzocco on as a guest? 17:23 Well, we'll get to the Frank thing in a second. 17:25 But personally, I think the HCNC, whatever is the best conference right now. 17:32 Obviously, they've got the top three teams. 17:36 Hammy can we really say that that's not the best conference right now? 17:39 They've also got the last two national champions as well. 17:43 Well, I mean, I guess I tend to throw out past seasons because we know that that kind of ebbs and flows. 17:49 It does. 17:50 I don't really still. 17:51 I don't really focus on that. 17:53 I focus on present tense. 17:54 And certainly you can't argue from the top end perspective. 17:59 They've been the best thus far with Denver and North Dakota, St. 18:05 Cloud. 18:05 So they've been obviously very successful. 18:07 You can't really argue with that. 18:11 I guess it's kind of something that just plays out as the season progresses. 18:15 I know that we've gone through a decent chunk of the non-conference play. 18:20 But what does that to see? 18:22 I do think that we've seen Notre Dame's playing well, the Gophers are playing well. 18:31 Penn State, Wisconsin have opportunities, Michigan. 18:34 I mean, I do like the Big Ten, I think, more from maybe a depth perspective. 18:40 Because some of the teams that I see in the NCHC that beyond the top few, I don't know that I would say are as good as some of the Big Ten teams that after the top few. 18:52 So I guess it's up for debate, but I would probably say it's one of those two conferences at this point. 19:01 Well, I will say it's a lot closer than it was a year ago, but it's definitely between the NCHC and the Big Ten. 19:08 Obviously Denver is probably the cream of the crop this year, but even they lost that series to Western Michigan. 19:15 So they're not infallible either. 19:18 These are college kids. 19:20 But the depth of the Big Ten is definitely unique this year. 19:23 I think some of their bottom teams are better than we thought they were going to be. 19:27 Michigan, Michigan State, are definitely better than I thought they were going to be at the start of the year. 19:31 And Notre Dame and Minnesota are going to be teams right in and at the end. 19:36 The one thing that I take away so far from the first third of the college hockey season is how good the West is. 19:42 You look at the Big Ten, the NCHC and the WCHA, could be 12 teams of the field. 19:49 I mean, that's how well they're playing and how poorly the East is playing against them. 19:55 Well, it's hard to argue with it. 19:58 I mean, we could potentially have a frozen four in St. 20:04 Paul with three Minnesota teams in it. 20:09 I mean, it could easily happen with St. 20:11 Cloud and how good Mankato is playing in Minnesota. 20:14 And you never know, Duluth could sneak in there as well. 20:17 Yeah, you just hope that the committee doesn't... 20:20 Go ahead, Hammeh. 20:22 Well, I was just saying that you just hope that the committee doesn't do something like put all eight Western teams in the West and Midwest. 20:29 You hope at the end of the year they put them out fairly in the brackets more according to their true seed instead of trying to set up a regional way where you prevent that from happening. 20:41 You were saying about Mankato there, Hammeh? 20:44 I was going to say that they're going to piss down their leg. 20:47 I was basically saying that for Motay because I know that sometimes he listens and he likes to give crap to Mab, what he calls Mab stink. 20:55 So I know, Otey Motay, I'm just talking shit for you, buddy. 21:04 Heath Warnert wants to know, why is the Huskies so damn good? 21:10 Why are the Huskies so good, Veegs? 21:12 Because they are an excellent team. 21:15 They've got a lot of scoring. 21:16 They are a get up and down team and they've got so much scoring depth that even when they have an off night, they're able to score their way out of it. 21:25 And that's something that not very many teams can do in college hockey. 21:30 And they've got a great center in paling. 21:33 Hopefully he sticks around for a while because he's a fun college hockey player to watch. 21:38 He is. 21:38 That whole family is pretty good. 21:40 So, you know, I asked for that pre- 21:43 Oh, go ahead, Hammeh. 21:44 Well, I was just going to say, I mean, the one thing I would caution to a degree is that I don't know that they've really played the greatest schedule at this point. 21:54 I mean, they've played a lot of home games. 21:58 I mean, literally, I think they've played eight of their, you know, like what, 11 games have been at home. 22:06 So, I mean, that's obviously going to be beneficial to a team. 22:10 And really, other than Denver, I mean, I think BC is kind of down, even though they've kind of rebounded a little bit. 22:17 Denver to me is the only really good team that they've played. 22:20 I mean, Duluth has, you know, kind of been a little bit up and down, sporadic, you know, 500. 22:26 They play us great, but they don't really play everybody else that great. 22:29 So, that's the one kind of caution I would say before you. 22:34 But as Denny Green would say, start crowning them, so. 22:40 Yeah, I think once our conference schedule starts up, it'll be a little different for St. 22:44 Cloud or at least conference games on the road and whatnot. 22:47 So, as for, you know, the rest of Pat McAleti's question, you know, he's asking when we're going to have Frank Mazzacca on. 22:55 I'm thinking we might have him on in January. 22:57 He'll come on anytime, I'm guessing. 22:59 So I'm not worried about Frank. 23:01 Next week, we got Todd Molesky from the Wisconsin State Journal is going to join us and the following week before the OSU series, we're going to have Dan Kelly from the Big Ten Network on and actually that show we're going to be doing earlier in the evening to accommodate for Dan because he needs to get his beauty rest. 23:20 So on Wednesday the 6th, we'll be live at about 6pm. 23:24 So just got to shuffle some things around to get Dan on the podcast. 23:28 But it sounds like he really wants to come on and join us for the podcast. 23:30 So that's going to be great. 23:32 Well, I don't know about you know, you kind of cheap shotted Frank, you know, I'm not worried about Frank. 23:37 I mean, he just basically taken Frank for granted. 23:39 I mean, the guy has been always so nice. 23:42 He is here you are. 23:44 Now here you are dumping all over. 23:46 You know, actually not going to hear. 23:48 He's probably not going to hear it. 23:49 You know, but oh, he'll hear it. 23:51 Pat, Pat or somebody tells him, no, he'll hear. 23:54 That's that's kind of a cheap shot. 23:56 No, it's not a cheap shot at all. 23:58 I actually thought about having them on the show tonight, but then I'm like, it's thanks for Thanksgiving. 24:02 I don't want to bug them. 24:04 You know, we have Todd for next week for the Wisconsin and then OSU wanted to do because it was a Big Ten Network games with Dan Kelly. 24:11 And then we've got the whole month off until St. 24:14 Cloud in January. 24:15 So I think we will have Frank on in early January. 24:19 If he'll come on, he'll still come on. 24:28 But actually, what it comes back to is, you know, Pat's talking all this stuff here. 24:33 Pat, how about you come on the podcast? 24:37 Does he really want to sink to that level? 24:39 I think he wants to. 24:40 I think he's being prevented by certain powers above him at KFAN. 24:44 They don't like him being on all these different things. 24:47 That's what I was told last year. 24:49 So, Pat, why don't you go talk to your little friend over there, Chad Abbott, and tell him it's just a harmless podcast. 24:56 We'd love to have you on. 24:58 I don't blame him when you're the big money guy, like Letty. 25:02 I mean, you probably don't want to be. 25:05 I'm surprised. 25:06 We'd probably have to pay him to come on. 25:10 He's making that kind of big money, right, with being on all the radio and whatever else. 25:15 Pat's a good guy. 25:17 Vegoe and I get to have some interaction with him at the games. 25:20 He's a good guy. 25:21 I think he'd come on if it wouldn't cause trouble. 25:26 And actually, I've talked to Wally Shaver as well. 25:30 Even when I asked Wally Shaver about it, Frank Misawa didn't believe that Wally's technical knowledge was good enough to get him on Skype. 25:42 I think it would be fun to have him on, we could hear some like, Oh yes. 25:49 Take that, you know, whatever, all the same. 25:53 And I'm thinking, maybe we should get both him and Frank on at the same time and then just have a hoot. 25:59 I don't know, we probably wouldn't even get a word in, would we? 26:03 And that's just fine. 26:05 Okay, well, let's get to this week, guys. 26:07 The Vs, we are headed to Notre Dame. 26:10 Notre Dame is number one in the conference, four and all. 26:12 You know, they've played two less games in Minnesota, but they have come out really strong so far. 26:18 And this is going to be a tough road weekend. 26:21 I think one of those weekends that I think the Don would be happy with a split on the road against the Notre Dame team. 26:28 Well, I think the Gophers' perspective coming in this weekend is definitely to get points out of Compton and Family Arena. 26:35 Notre Dame's had a great start. 26:37 They're a tough team to play against, kind of like St. 26:40 Cloud. 26:40 We don't know exactly how good they are. 26:43 They had a series with Denver where they tied and lost. 26:47 Other than that, their schedule hasn't really been that challenging. 26:50 They played Ohio State and Penn State in conference, and then got sweeps in both those games. 26:55 But they haven't played their lockdown defense like they had done in the past, where they let 25 shots on goal be the norm. 27:04 You know, they've crept in the mid-30s, which is unusual for them. 27:07 They returned five defensemen. 27:10 So they're a veteran group back there. 27:12 Jordan Gross, a local kid, has done very well for them. 27:15 He's getting a lot of shots on net. 27:17 They rely on him for a lot of offense and zone. 27:21 They're one of those teams that relies on all five of their players to create offense in the zone. 27:25 They're not really a big rush team unless they get on the counter. 27:29 So that's something the Gophers need to be cautious about this weekend. 27:32 And they have very good special teams. 27:34 Both their power play and penalty kill, percentage-wise, are very good. 27:38 And I don't know if you heard this today at media availability, or maybe it was even on Saturday after the Harvard game. 27:48 But do any of these players, are they angry at how the season ended last year against Notre Dame? 27:56 I mean, Notre Dame ended their season. 27:57 They were a four-seed, and Minnesota couldn't get through again. 28:01 And I mean, what do you think there, Veegs? 28:06 Well, Tyler Sheehy definitely remembers, still here in his clip today, there's two mental layers that cost him the right to goals. 28:13 And he could remember those plays very clearly in his mind. 28:17 And it's a good reminder that when you're playing Notre Dame, they're not going to get a lot of scoring opportunities, but they have the talent to capitalize when you give them chances. 28:26 And in that regional game, that's what they did. 28:28 They just kind of had a mental breakdown on a couple of plays, made some turnovers in the neutral zone, didn't have good line changes, and Notre Dame capitalized, and then it was game over. 28:39 Well, I hope they bring some of that anger into this weekend series because they're going to need it. 28:44 Notre Dame is an excellent addition to the team. 28:48 But I think we lost Hammey there. 28:51 Hammey, are you still there? 28:52 Yeah, we lost Hammey. 28:56 What a shame. 28:56 I'm not sure what happened to him here. 28:58 But I'll try to add him back in here. 29:01 We'll see if he's... 29:04 Oh, he's offline. 29:05 Oh, there he is. 29:07 We lost you for a second there, Hammey. 29:09 Yeah, I know. 29:11 You're back. 29:12 Well, I was just going to say that Notre Dame has been a very good addition to the Big Ten, at least for quality team-wise and whatnot. 29:20 They've started off so well, Hammey. 29:23 What are your thoughts on how this weekend is going to be? 29:28 Well, I mean, I think, obviously, given how Notre Dame has been pretty good, that you at a minimum want to go on there and split. 29:35 I think, you know, especially being those guys, like it's kind of like Vig said, I mean, they've played some good teams. 29:44 Other teams are kind of a question mark yet. 29:47 But we know that they're a good team. 29:50 And we know that they've had some success in recent years. 29:53 So it'll be interesting to see what this last series with Harvard will kind of spur the Gophers forward and create a little bit more confidence in them heading into a difficult road environment, road series. 30:07 But I would think that the objective for this weekend would be at a minimum to get a split. 30:13 Well, Vig, you know, Notre Dame did lose some pretty good players off last year's team that went to the Frozen Four and defeated Minnesota, ended their season. 30:21 I mean, they had a great goalie and had, what is it, Andrew Bjork up front. 30:25 And this was a good team, but they're still really good this year. 30:29 They're the fourth ranked team right now. 30:31 They're the highest ranked Big Ten team in the country right now. 30:34 So it's not going to be an easy task. 30:39 Well, I think the big thing for them is, you know, they play a structured game. 30:44 So if you don't play disciplined, you're going to be in trouble. 30:47 But the other thing they do is they play a heavy game. 30:49 You know, they're going to run the clock down you. 30:52 They're going to make it difficult. 30:53 They're not going to give you anything on the rush. 30:55 And that's going to be something this Gopher team is going to have to play against. 30:59 Casey Mills that talked about that today that, you know, they're not probably going to get a lot done on the rush and power plays aren't going to be easy for them. 31:06 So they're going to have to get their ground game going like they did against Harvard, getting pucks deep and kind of waiting for that right play while they maintain possession. 31:15 So often, earlier this season, we've seen them get in the offensive zone, rush to make a play that's not there and then have to chase the puck back in their own zone. 31:24 I think it's going to be really important for them to protect the puck, even against the bigger bodies that Notre Dame is going to throw at them. 31:31 One of the fun things this week on the Coach's Show is Scott Bell hopped on for Don Lucia because they had a big recruit in on Tuesday. 31:39 And so Don was busy with that. 31:41 So they had Scott Bell on the show and he was basically making a recruiting pitch against Notre Dame during the show talking about how if you're a defensive forward, Notre Dame is a great place for you to go. 31:52 But if you want to get up and down the ice and score goals, Minnesota is the place to light the lamp. 31:57 So it's a great listen if you want to tune back into that and listen to Scott Bell promote the program. 32:02 And just check out Vegoe's Twitter feed for that because he retweeted that link to the to the coaches show that happened on Monday just earlier today, I believe, didn't you? 32:11 Yep. 32:13 There we go. 32:14 Scott Bell is a fun addition to the program. 32:17 He is. 32:17 I kind of enjoyed him so far. 32:20 And he follows GPL on Twitter. 32:22 So he retweets some of our things. 32:24 So we appreciate that, Scott, because we know it's actually him on the account. 32:29 I'm not so sure with the with the with the old Don. 32:34 I don't think Don actually has Twitter on his phone. 32:36 But that's just my personal opinion. 32:37 Has he ever retweet retweeted GPL anyway? 32:40 Well, I don't think the Don doesn't follow us. 32:42 Right, exactly. 32:43 We're too we're probably too critical and just not professional. 32:50 Hey, Tony Newwell in the Mixtor chat is wondering, do we know who the recruit was who was in town this weekend or this week? 32:58 Do we know, Hammy? 32:59 I'm sworn to secrecy. 33:01 I actually I actually do not know. 33:03 I haven't been I haven't been off of work this entire week and I am not doing jack squat other than just enjoying myself. 33:11 So I've been kind of out of the loop. 33:13 Hey, it's all good, man. 33:15 It's all good. 33:16 All right, guys, let's get to some predictions here. 33:19 I'm thinking of split. 33:20 I'm not going to go with the old sweep like I usually do. 33:23 I'd like to see a win Friday night and probably a loss Saturday night. 33:28 And that's that's what I think. 33:29 What do you think, Veegs? 33:30 How's the team going to do this weekend? 33:33 I think we're going to see a split as well. 33:36 Notre Dame is going to be a tough team to get a sweep out of. 33:38 I think you're right on. 33:42 Looking at Saturday is the night that they get their win. 33:44 One of the interesting things Lucia has talked about is that, you know, this first part of the season, they haven't had a single bye week yet. 33:52 Whereas the last couple of years, it's always been like, OK, let's let's get going. 33:56 You know, they have so many bye weeks early in the season. 33:59 This year they don't. 34:00 Part of that's because they're restructuring the Big Ten tournament. 34:03 But on Saturdays, they haven't been doing a pregame skate in the morning. 34:07 And he said, you know, they've looked the best on Saturday night. 34:11 So I think that's the night to look for a win. 34:13 OK, well, there you go. 34:15 Hammy, thoughts? 34:17 I actually believe that if we're going to win, it's going to be Friday night. 34:22 I'm looking at, you know, two of their three losses were in the first game of a series. 34:28 So I just I would be more likely to believe in the Friday night scenario. 34:34 But we'll see. 34:35 I do expect it to be a split. 34:37 Hopefully, we'll see like we saw this last weekend, especially on Saturday, just a very consistent effort. 34:44 Obviously, you'd want more goals than two on like we saw on Saturday. 34:48 But I think that, you know, if we get it up and down the ice, I think we have more of that kind of attacking style than what we're probably going to be seeing out of Notre Dame. 34:58 So hopefully, we'll be able to kind of press the play and for check hard and get some goals and get some special teams opportunities and hopefully connect on those as well. 35:09 Well, it sounds like we're going to have a good old split this weekend, guys. 35:14 I mean, Lucia has always said sweep at home, split on the road. 35:21 And I think that would be a good thing. 35:23 Don't forget, Friday night's game is on the NBC Sports Network. 35:29 Saturday's game is not televised, but if you have the NBC Sports app, you can watch it on there if you want. 35:38 Oh my God, is the world going to end? 35:41 It's not on Saturday. 35:43 Is GPL going to melt down? 35:45 They always do. 35:46 Oh my God. 35:48 You know what, the good thing will be, is that maybe people will still be, they'll kind of be tired from Thanksgiving, so maybe they won't whine as loud on Saturday. 35:59 Nope, you're only thankful on Thursday, and then you can go back to being cynical for the rest of the year, Hammy. 36:05 Just bitterness. 36:06 Everybody's bitter. 36:08 Oh, they are. 36:09 No TV, bitter. 36:13 Tell us how you really feel, Hammy. 36:16 I don't whine about that stuff. 36:19 And I think I saw something on the university site that I think one of the games is a little conflicted with Go for Basketball, so streaming, you might have to go to, I think it said 102.5 or some weird things this weekend, so I'm not sure where exactly the audio stream is going to be. 36:35 Oh my God, we're not even going to be on regular radio, our regular station, and we're not on TV. 36:46 Somebody make sure that people from GPL, like some of them, are not on the ledge. 36:52 So it's going to be on 102.5 for the full game, and it will be on 103.5 after basketball. 37:01 So it will be on two radio stations on for the end of the game on Saturday. 37:04 There you go, folks. 37:06 Quit your bitching. 37:09 I think one of the nice things about this weekend is Notre Dame does play on that hybrid size ice sheet, so it's a nicer adjustment for Minnesota. 37:17 It's 90 feet wide instead of NHL 85, so it's a little bit more width, so less adjustment for the Gophers this weekend as well. 37:26 And the boards are beautiful with no advertising on them. 37:29 Love it. 37:30 It's lovely. 37:31 It is. 37:32 Lovely rink. 37:33 It is. 37:33 It's a nice little rink. 37:34 It's not a huge rink. 37:36 It's a beautiful rink. 37:37 And it is a little odd that it is new and they have the benches on opposite sides, but that does make it unique. 37:43 And boy, the clean boards with just Notre Dame and fighting Irish on it, I think, is very clean and I think very classy. 37:52 I like having the teams across the rink from each other. 37:56 I like having the penalty box on one side. 37:58 It's kind of fun. 38:00 Gopher State's going to be there covering the game, so there will be some Minnesota media making the trip. 38:07 Do you think Don will be wearing a Notre Dame t-shirt under his suit? 38:15 I don't think so. 38:16 You know, I mean, because people might get upset about that. 38:19 I know that I ripped on him the one time, but that was different. 38:23 But I'm just saying, maybe he might have a Notre Dame t-shirt or maybe he has Notre Dame boxers. 38:31 We'll see. 38:32 We'll see. 38:34 He did say he's going to go light a candle in the grotto, so maybe he'll be saying a prayer for a split. 38:44 You are at media availability today. 38:47 Who are we going to hear and what are we going to hear, Veegs? 38:50 You'll hear Casey Mittelstadt talk about the picture that his mom tweeted this morning of him and his gopher jersey at age four or five. 38:59 You'll hear from Tyler Sheehy talk a little bit about the success he's having coming off of his injury and kind of hitting his stride now. 39:07 And then he'll talk a little bit about the regional last year kind of sticking in his brain. 39:12 And then you'll hear Don Open that he's very happy with his contract and health insurance at the moment. 39:18 And that was all he wanted to say. 39:19 And then he'll talk about the way they played against Harvard, a little bit about Brent Gates Jr., the power play, and then going back to Notre Dame. 39:29 There you go. 39:31 Well, remember, as always, we add that to the end of the podcast if you're listening to the download version. 39:36 Any other final thoughts, Veegs? 39:43 No, look for a good weekend and get excited for Wisconsin the following weekend. 39:47 It should be a good stretch of hockey or before the break. 39:50 It is a good stretch. 39:50 Hammeh, any final thoughts for you? 39:54 No, just looking forward to hopefully another solid weekend of hockey and at least one win. 40:00 So we have something good to talk about next week. 40:03 I'm with you there. 40:05 We'll be back next week to recap the series at Notre Dame and preview the series of Wisconsin. 40:11 Everyone have a happy and safe Thanksgiving. 40:14 Don't drink and drive. 40:15 Behave yourself. 40:17 And we'll see you next week. 40:20 Thanks for listening. 40:46 I have a contract, so I'll just leave it at that. 40:49 And the checks aren't bouncing? 40:51 Checks are not bouncing. 40:52 They have good medical, so life is good. 40:54 Lot to be thankful for. 40:55 That's good. 41:00 Looking at Notre Dame and what they've done in their team, playing them the last few years, I think they're the most complete team we've seen so far this year. 41:08 Whether it's their goalie save percentage, whether it's their power play percentage, penalty kill percentage, their back end is extremely good, starting with Jordan Gross, and the guys really can get up into play from an offensive standpoint. 41:23 That's something we're gonna be really aware of. 41:26 They're very involved in the offense. 41:27 They can shoot the puck. 41:28 I think they have close to 40 points in the back end through 14 games. 41:34 Evans is having a great year up front. 41:37 They're a veteran team. 41:39 They were playing the Frozen four years ago for a reason. 41:41 They're a heavy team, not easy to play against. 41:44 So we're gonna, as I said, I think they're the most complete team we've seen this year. 41:49 Don't remind your team too much about what they can do, given how our season ended. 41:53 Pardon? 41:54 See, don't remind your team about what they can do. 41:56 No, I mean, I think, I don't even think about it, to be honest. 41:59 I mean, it's a whole new year. 42:01 Other than one team, somebody's gonna end your season. 42:03 And, you know, the focus is on, you know, they're off to a good start with the Big Ten, they're 4-0, it's not an easy place to play. 42:11 And we have to go there and get some points this weekend. 42:15 Where they have an opportunity to really put themselves in the drivers. 42:20 They play such a different style than Harvard did. 42:22 Is that a change for your guys to adjust so quickly? 42:24 Yes and no. 42:25 I mean, they'll get up into the play offensively. 42:28 They can push the pace. 42:30 They're not gonna get themselves out of position very often. 42:33 And they got some big, strong guys. 42:35 So they got some skilled guys and they got some big, strong guys that are hard to play against. 42:40 Their freshman goalies come in and have done a really nice job for them. 42:42 But again, when you have five veteran defensemen returning that are good and versatile and they can skate, it makes it hard. 42:50 I mean, you're not gonna get a lot of chances. 42:53 You have to be content to play a patient game and try to win a 3-2 game. 42:58 Seeing those goals against Harvard on Saturday, those kind of the recipes for this weekend as well? 43:02 Well, seeing those goals, yeah, there's only two. 43:08 You have to have timely scoring. 43:09 I like the fact that we were played a little bit desperate there to try to get the tying goal in the third period. 43:17 I think we had that stretch of 11 straight shots on goal before we finally did score. 43:22 I thought our defense would move the puck better on Saturday and got us to get it up to the forwards quickly. 43:27 I think that's important. 43:29 We had more shifts below the goal line, which is important as well. 43:33 Finally, we were able to get that breakthrough first goal. 43:37 Then I felt like we'd get another one if we could just get the one. 43:42 We've played good teams. 43:43 I think that's helped us with our strength of schedule up until now. 43:47 I think it helps prepare us for a very good opponent in Notre Dame, but Notre Dame is not going to beat themselves. 43:53 That's one thing they do very well is they make you beat them. 43:57 That's something that we have to be aware of. 43:59 We can't go on the road and shorten the rink up like we did against Michigan, against them. 44:04 We'll be chasing their defensemen up the rink all night long. 44:07 Saturday, you said that you thought your strongest suit was pace of game. 44:13 How does that translate into A, going on the road, and B, going on the road into a smaller rink? 44:19 Well, it's a hybrid rink. 44:21 It's 90 wide, so it's five feet, which I think is probably the perfect size. 44:28 Moving the puck quickly, not massaging it, stick handling it eight times before you move it. 44:34 I think that's important. 44:36 A good retrieval, a good first touch, a good first pass, that's what allows you to play fast. 44:42 And then not turning pucks over in bad areas. 44:46 That's when you pay. 44:47 A game of hockey is a game of transition, offense and defense, defense and offense. 44:51 How quickly you can do both goes a long way. 44:54 Who's going to dictate the tempo and pace of the game? 44:57 What has Gates really changed in his game to, I guess, get on the board more than once? 45:03 Well, I think strength, age, maturity. 45:09 I mean, he still just turned 20 years old. 45:11 I mean, you've got a lot of freshmen in college hockey that are older than he is as a junior. 45:16 And he came in as one of the youngest players in college hockey, just turning 18 in September. 45:21 So some of these guys just need time in the weight room. 45:24 And it doesn't happen overnight. 45:26 And he's worked with the skating coaches somewhere to improve that. 45:29 He's got really good hands. 45:30 He thinks the game really well. 45:32 And he's playing his best is when he adds that physical element of it. 45:37 And that's not there completely, game in and game out. 45:41 But that will be something that will be more consistent as he continues to work in the weight room and get stronger, because that's the type of player that he has to be, someone with a good stick that can protect the puck down low and start to win those one-on-one battles for punks. 45:56 Do you think Tommy really helps him out in that respect, being able to get him the puck? 46:00 Yeah, and that's one of the reasons why we put him there, is that Tommy's a good passer. 46:05 He's probably as good a passer as we have on our team. 46:07 He's probably a pass first, shoot second guy. 46:10 That line's played, since we put him together, they've played pretty well together. 46:14 So just trying to figure out the right combinations, whether it's five on five or on the power play about who should fit with who. 46:24 We've probably moved our guys around a lot more in game than we ever have before, especially when we were with 11 forwards. 46:31 I do kind of like the way that when we start to do that in a game that our top guys get more ice, and you do get a chance to mix and match your guys with different sets of players. 46:41 I think that can be good, too, that they bring a different element to a line. 46:46 So we'll probably continue to do that a little bit. 46:49 That power play group that finished the game against Harvard, is that a unit you like keeping together, and what do they do well? 46:54 Well, I mean, the most important thing with our power plays moving forward is we've got to shoot the puck more. 47:00 We're not, you know, just our John Hamry or Director Bobse just did a thing for us about how many shots we're getting on a power play, and we're not getting enough. 47:08 I mean, averaging a little over one shot on a power play, that's not enough. 47:14 Sometimes I think we want to make an extra pass rather than having a shot mentality. 47:21 Still, when you deliver pucks to the net, you score off rebounds, being able to one time a puck, and then even if you don't score, the puck goes to the corner. 47:31 I mean, now it's a retrieval game, puck recovery game, and now it's a scramble situation, and you know, you can get people out of their structure. 47:39 In Notre Dame, their penalty kill is really good. 47:40 They're 90%. 47:42 You know, I think that's one of the things that, you know, you look at some of the teams you've played with, North Dakota, Clarkson, and Harvard, I mean, their penalty kill is 85, 90%, with really good goaltending. 47:52 And so we have to do a better job of trying to get two or three shots on every power play. 47:57 We've had too many power plays this year with zero or one shot. 48:01 Not having a week off in the first half, as opposed to normally having a couple, have you had to kind of adjust your practice schedule? 48:08 Yeah, what we've tried to do is how long we've practiced. 48:13 You know, coming back from Michigan, we didn't practice on Mondays, so that probably came at a good time. 48:18 Even when we've been at the small rinks and when we're at Ritter, we only have the ice for so long. 48:25 And that's probably a good thing, too, that basically we have the ice for 75 minutes. 48:29 That's it, because the class schedule and the women going on. 48:32 So that limits us from all of a sudden you're going to be an hour and 45-minute practice. 48:36 And so when you're keeping it short, I think that's important as well. 48:39 Is there something that's been in the back of your mind? 48:42 Yes, very much so. 48:43 The first half is trying to monitor how we are on a weekend. 48:48 And for the most part, we've had good legs every night. 48:51 And you could certainly make the argument that we've had better legs on Saturday than what we've had on Friday. 48:56 So that's good. 48:57 Saturdays we never skate home or away. 49:00 We haven't skated on day-to-day. 49:02 We do on Friday, but not Saturday. 49:04 And again, another thought of, you know, usually in the past, the first half we have skated on Saturdays, but this year we haven't from day one. 49:13 And maybe that was because the Union game was an early game on Saturday after Duluth, and just kind of been in that rhythm of just getting a good stretch in on Saturday and just one less time you got to put on equipment to go on the ice. 49:24 Going back to Notre Dame, what does it kind of mean to you? 49:27 Well, it's always fun to go back, you know, for me. 49:31 You know, just spend some time around campus and go for a walk around the lakes or light a candle at the grotto. 49:35 And, you know, those things were important to me in my time there. 49:39 So there's a few times you got to say a few prayers to get through a final exam, and it worked. 49:43 I graduated, so that's a good thing. 49:47 But, you know, it shapes you no matter where you go to college. 49:50 I mean, that four years is a time from 18 to 22, and I'm grateful for the opportunity that I had. 49:58 I got a chance to play for a tremendous coach in Lefty, and just a great person. 50:03 And, you know, it's still, for me, it's now to go back and not have him there. 50:08 It's a little bit sad for me to go back and not, you know, see Lefty and have a chance to yuk it up with him a little bit, because he just, he was such a good person and a great ambassador for the game. 50:21 And, you know, in many ways a father figure away from home. 50:25 Top notch guys. 50:27 Just a great team so far this year, so we got to be ready to go when we get down there. 50:31 How do you think your line is playing specifically? 50:34 I want to talk a little bit about Brent Gates. 50:36 What does he really bring to the line? 50:38 And I guess sort of your guys as both, Brent likes to score. 50:41 I mean, he gets the puck on his stick, he shoots it just like a little bit like you. 50:45 What do you think that the chemistry on that line is like? 50:47 Yeah, for sure. 50:48 I think Gatesy and I are both kind of shooters, and Tom, he's a really good passer, so it kind of works out. 50:56 It's kind of been a click in the last few weekends, maybe down low. 51:01 I think just being older guys, I've been able to understand what the coaches are looking for as far as four check and defensive zone. 51:10 I think when that all starts clicking together, you can put together some pretty good shifts. 51:13 I think overall, it's kind of what we've been doing. 51:16 Like you mentioned, Gacy's had some goals this year. 51:20 In the past, he's kind of been known as a goal scorer. 51:23 He's got a great shot. 51:24 As long as we can get him in a spot to shoot and give him the puck, I think it's going to have a good chance going in. 51:30 I heard he's really competitive. 51:32 Did you see it when the goals, I guess, weren't coming so easy at the start of the year that he was maybe a little frustrated with some of the performance? 51:39 Yeah, for sure. 51:40 He's definitely a competitive guy. 51:42 You just got to get an argument with him one time to understand that. 51:45 He always wants to win the argument, or on the ice he wants to win the little battle. 51:48 So yeah, I don't think he's a guy who gets really frustrated or anything like that, but he's competitive enough to want to score a bunch of goals and overall help the team out. 51:58 So if he's scoring, there's a good chance that we're going to have success. 52:02 Your line is clicking pretty good. 52:04 Is Tommy feeling more comfortable now coming off the injury? 52:07 I think so. 52:08 I've always thought Tommy has a ton of confidence. 52:12 As long as you get him the puck, I think good things are going to happen. 52:17 I think the coaches have a ton of confidence in him handling the puck and making plays. 52:21 I think he's one of those guys who can make a few mistakes, but at the end of the day, he's going to have more good plays than mistakes. 52:26 So as long as he's got the puck on his stick, he's going to have a ton of success and it's going to help our line out as a whole. 52:35 Well, you're going along pretty good right now, too. 52:37 Were you feeling frustrated earlier on when they weren't going in? 52:39 Yeah, a little bit. 52:40 Just coming off kind of a career high for me, and it kind of brings frustration when we're not falling up the next year with the same, you know, as many goals or other little things like that. 52:55 But, you know, you just got to stay level-headed. 52:58 Overall, I just tried to work at the little things, and I tried to help the team just as a whole. 53:06 And so, yeah, kind of getting back to move my feet a little bit more. 53:09 The coaches kind of harped on that a little bit. 53:11 And I think I've been playing better the last couple of weekends. 53:14 Looks like your power play group is finding some more consistency and getting scoring chances. 53:18 And you're back in that off-wing circle. 53:20 What's clicking so well for you guys there? 53:22 I would say we've kind of, you know, it's something we've really stressed on. 53:27 And every year we've kind of made that, you know, a really big point that our power play has to be good. 53:31 We have to get a goal every night on the power play. 53:33 We have to win the specialty team. 53:35 So at the beginning of the year it really wasn't clicking and we understood that that was something we had to get better at. 53:40 So these last few weeks we've really been, you know, putting that into practice a few times every practice. 53:49 We're working on the power play. 53:50 So as long as we get those reps and the pucks moving around, I think we're going to have success. 53:54 What are the keys working with Ram and Casey down low on the power play? 53:58 I think for me just kind of get them the puck and kind of watch what they're doing, try to get open. 54:05 They both have a ton of skill and they can find lanes, they can shoot, and they can make plays in tight areas. 54:11 So as long as I'm getting open for them and finding those seams, I think they're going to find me or they're going to shoot. 54:18 Either one, they're unbelievable players. 54:21 So as long as they have the puck on their sticks and the rest of the guys are getting open, our power play I think is going to be pretty good. 54:27 Is that kind of what happened in that overtime period? 54:29 You just got lost. 54:30 Yeah, actually I kind of made a bad pass to Casey. 54:33 It hopped over his stick and then he ended up, him and Rem ended up winning the battle and kind of spit out to Gatesy there and he made a great pass finding me. 54:43 I think I just kind of found a seam and they kind of lost me. 54:45 So pretty lucky I guess. 54:49 Notre Dame's a little bit different style than the Harvard weekend. 54:52 What's the challenge for you guys? 54:54 They play so structured and defensively backing up. 54:57 Yeah, like you said, really structured as a team. 55:01 And it's kind of, you know, we try to play a fast up and down game and if we start turning the pucks over or trying to make plays at the blue line and we're giving them opportunities to go down on the rush, they're probably going to capitalize on those opportunities just because they're so structured. 55:17 And they might not get that many chances up and down the ice, but if they shut us down defensively, they're going to take their chances as much as they can. 55:27 So we can't be making mental errors or breakdowns, but I think overall, if we play simple and just kind of stick to our game, we'll be all right. 55:38 Do you look back to that game in the regional last year for lessons about how to stick it through? 55:43 Is it a patient game rather than force it? 55:46 Yeah, I think so a little bit. 55:47 I think, you know, I just remember two goals specifically where our mental errors, you know, they scored on them. 55:54 So, yeah, going into this weekend, you got to think about that, that, you know, we just talked, their structure is really good and they're going to capitalize on our mental errors, so we can't be doing that. 56:07 You know, not so much thinking about, you know, learning points, but just kind of not so much regrets, but just opportunities missed that, you know, maybe we could have went a little further last year. 56:19 But, yeah, so that one really stinks, but we gave them a couple goals. 56:23 So have they kind of changed with them being in the conference now, playing them? 56:28 I don't think so. 56:30 I think it's good that they're in the conference. 56:31 It adds, you know, a strong team to our conference overall. 56:36 You know, I don't really see it as any different, you know, playing them non-conference or in conference. 56:43 So, you know, it's going to be a real fun weekend. 56:46 They have a nice campus, great facilities, and hopefully it's packed even though it's Thanksgiving. 56:52 So we'll see. 56:53 You guys have any special plans for Thanksgiving? 56:58 Not me, no. 57:00 My parents usually go to Wisconsin for the holidays, so I don't know what the guys are going to be doing around here. 57:06 Hopefully we get a nice meal here, maybe some turkey. 57:10 I don't know, we'll see. 57:12 No, just get on the plane tomorrow and head to South Bend for a couple of wins. 57:18 So I saw a photo of you on Twitter today when you were a little kid from your mom. 57:22 Did you send her a little thank you text today for that going up? 57:27 Yeah, I actually stayed at home last night and had class today, so I went home and had dinner with them for my birthday last night. 57:32 I got to see them last night, which is good, and catch up and obviously it was a cool photo and fun to see. 57:38 How old were you, do you think, when that was taken? 57:41 Man, I got so many pictures like that in Gopher Jersey, I think. 57:44 I don't even know, I was probably four or five, not a pretty young kid. 57:47 So it was kind of fun to look back at those, and now you're playing for Gophers. 57:52 Oh yeah, definitely. 57:53 I think it makes it pretty cool, and obviously it shows that it's been a dream of mine since I was really young, so it was definitely a very cool picture. 58:01 If we go back to Saturday, tell us how fun it was to celebrate your first big overtime victory. 58:06 Was that a cool selling for you guys? 58:08 Oh yeah, that was unreal. 58:10 Obviously the place was loud and the fans were going. 58:13 I think that helps a lot. 58:14 I think we were a little snake bit throughout the game and then finally get one, and then the second one usually comes pretty quick, so for us that was huge, and that was probably my favorite one so far this year. 58:23 How open was Tyler? 58:25 He was wide open. 58:26 I don't think there was anyone other than 20 feet of him, so it was perfect, and if you give it to him there, he's going to score every time. 58:32 And you weren't worried about missing him? 58:34 I think Gates passed it to him, to be honest. 58:38 Sorry. 58:39 No, you're fine. 58:40 I don't think Gates will miss him either, so it doesn't matter either way. 58:44 That power play group is starting to find some consistency, generating scoring chances. 58:48 What are you guys doing well when you're having success? 58:51 I think the big thing for us is not trying to get too cute. 58:53 I think there's times to make plays, and there's times that you've got to shoot the puck, and usually if you shoot the puck early, it'll open up plays later in the power play. 58:59 So for us, it's shooting early and then using our skills and vision after that, and try to find the guy and make a play and score a goal. 59:06 Looks like you and Rem are very comfortable switching spots on that unit. 59:09 What goes into that? 59:12 I think just for us, it's consistency and knowing where each other is going to be when another person has the puck. 59:17 I think we're pretty interchangeable over there on the wall. 59:19 I don't think there's too much of a difference. 59:20 If I'm up higher, I'm down low. 59:23 Wherever I go, Rem usually finds me and vice versa. 59:26 So I'm just trying to keep making plays with them. 59:28 What's your overall comfort level now? 59:30 You're two months into your college career. 59:33 Yeah, I think I'm comfortable out there completely. 59:35 Obviously, there's some things that I still need to get better on early in my career, but I'm comfortable out there. 59:40 I'm comfortable with the puck, comfortable making plays. 59:41 So for me, I think I'm ready and I'm good to go. 59:46 Gates had a lot of shots this weekend. 59:48 Is that kind of a poster boy for put the puck on that? 59:52 Yeah, I think obviously Gator's going, and he's got a great shot and pretty deceptive release. 59:57 I think all the guys always talk about it. 59:59 It's kind of weird, but it goes in more times than not. 1:00:01 So he's been making plays, and their line's been playing really well together. 1:00:05 It's good to see. 1:00:05 About Notre Dame, you're facing team after team that you haven't seen before. 1:00:11 What are your thoughts about going against them this weekend? 1:00:15 Yeah, I mean, obviously they're ranked four, whatever it is. 1:00:18 So they're going to be a really good team, especially going into their rank, and we're going to have to be ready to go. 1:00:22 From what I've heard from the coaches, they're going to be heavy on pucks and play with some skill and some pace. 1:00:27 So for us, it's going to be good. 1:00:28 Try to match their pace, match their intensity, and make some plays. 1:00:32 Scott Bell said this week that Notre Dame play is a real structured defensive layered approach. 1:00:38 How does that change your guys' perspective on the game? 1:00:41 I think the big thing for us against the defensive approach is just making sure we're getting pucks behind their D and trying to make plays that way. 1:00:46 I think it's not always going to be a pretty play in the rush. 1:00:49 We're going to have to get pucks in behind them and get our ground game going a lot like we did on Saturday. 1:00:53 So for us, it's not going to be too different. 1:00:55 We're going to play our game, and usually if we do that well, we'll come out with a win.