0:05
This is The GPL Podcast, sponsored by Vintage Minnesota Hockey, your exclusive source for throwback Minnesota jerseys.
0:14
Visit vintagemnhockey.com.
0:19
Now, here's Hammy, Vego and your host, Jupiter.
0:40
Good evening, and welcome to The GPL Podcast, episode number 123, End Counting.
0:49
We're back here for another week, hoping Vegoe gets online.
0:52
He's not online right now, but when he gets online, we will have him join in to the discussion.
0:58
Hammeh, you're here.
1:00
So at least we've got half the show going.
1:02
That I am.
1:04
We managed to get home from the brutal commute to do the early show.
1:09
Yeah.
1:10
We're on early tonight just because we're going to have Dan Kelly from the Big Ten Network on here in a little bit after we do our little recap of Wisconsin.
1:19
He needed to come on early.
1:20
He's like, we'll do the show early.
1:22
There's no problem.
1:24
Until I needed to drive home with like you as well.
1:26
I didn't get home until just a few minutes before I started firing up the computer and getting it ready.
1:31
So hopefully, it'll go smooth here.
1:35
Hopefully, we'll hear from Veegs.
1:36
If not, we'll just do it without him.
1:38
I think we're fine without him.
1:39
Aren't we, Hamme?
1:40
We're good.
1:41
We're good.
1:42
Well, Splitsville with the BADgers.
1:46
You and I were just discussing before we came on the air that you were wondering which night I felt they played better.
1:55
Boy, for me, it's hard to say.
1:59
Well, the thing is, when you get out shot, and you're giving up 20 shots in a period, but you win the game, and then the next night you're out shooting, and you're like, no, shots on goal aren't the only measure of everything.
2:11
But it does tend to show some kind of dictation or the flow.
2:18
Sometimes you think, some weekends you're like, the game we won, I actually felt like we didn't play as good as the game we lost.
2:24
I was like, I wonder if that's one of those weekends.
2:27
So that's kind of why I was asking that.
2:29
But you know, it's a rivalry series.
2:31
So you kind of throw, even like I've said in the past, even when Wisconsin was bad, you kind of throw the records out the window because rivalry series, it's all about pride.
2:41
And teams can rise up one way or the other and make it a better series than you might expect.
2:47
Well, I would say that Friday night game, they were down after one, and then they just blew up in the third or in the second, I should say, scored all those goals.
2:58
But then that third period kind of had the same feeling as some of those other games against Harvard and against Michigan.
3:04
It got close in the end when it really shouldn't have been, Hammeh.
3:08
Yeah, I don't know what the mentality is.
3:11
If it's just like you kind of tense up because you have the dreaded two goal lead or whatever.
3:18
What do they say?
3:19
They always say that that's the hardest lead to protect or whatever.
3:22
Whatever that means.
3:23
But I just think that sometimes the mentality becomes, all right, we've got a lead.
3:29
Let's not make any mistakes.
3:31
Sometimes that just breeds that mentality of taking the foot off the pedal and playing it really safe.
3:38
It's almost like you're afraid to make mistakes at that point.
3:42
Maybe that plays into it.
3:43
I don't know.
3:43
I think some of it also is the fact that we've talked about it before, but we don't really have the defensive players that are really slick with the puck and that I think can really help skate you out of problems.
3:54
We don't really have that as much this year, at least in my opinion.
3:58
And I think sometimes that can contribute later in the game when the other team is pressing and you don't really have that guy that can just skate you out of problems.
4:08
Can Nanny be that guy?
4:11
He seems like he gets aggressive at times.
4:14
And maybe it's that kind of offensive spark they need from the defense at times?
4:20
Well, I think there's guys that have some of that potential.
4:23
I think with Nanny in particular, when you've been out as long as he was, it's kind of hard to throw that on a guy within the first couple months of the season.
4:31
So maybe he develops into that kind of a guy as he gets more and more comfortable with the competitive environment and kind of getting those legs back and whatever.
4:42
Maybe that will happen, but it's something that I don't know that I would want to put the pressure on him right away.
4:47
Well, we do know one thing is that it's looking like this Big Ten race is pretty much over.
4:54
Notre Dame has gone undefeated.
4:56
They're going to be tough to catch no matter what.
5:00
So, I'm not really...
5:02
Should we just give them the title now, Hammy?
5:06
Should we crown them?
5:07
I like Denny Green, is that what you're saying?
5:09
You know, I don't know.
5:12
It's like I said the other week, they haven't really played a lot of road games yet.
5:17
They did finally, I mean, they were playing Michigan State, so it's almost like not even that much of a test, given who it was.
5:24
So, it's hard to say.
5:25
There's still a long ways to go.
5:29
I guess we've seen the Gophers have won obviously several titles in a row, and it doesn't really necessarily mean anything in the grand scheme.
5:38
It's nice to win them.
5:39
Don't get me wrong.
5:41
But maybe this is the year where you just kind of worry more about getting your game rolling when it really, really counts and trying to make that run at the end of the season.
5:50
So, I guess we'll see.
5:52
Well, it's, you know, Don always says, you know, sweep at home, split on the road.
5:59
The team hasn't quite been doing that.
6:01
They're now behind Penn State in standings.
6:04
Wisconsin is not far behind in standings, even though, you know, they split this weekend, but Wisconsin does have a couple of games in hand.
6:11
So even second place is not a given right now, Hammeh.
6:16
Well, yeah, I mean, like I said, I just think it's too early to say, I mean, we're not even past the calendar turning over to 2018 yet.
6:28
So we'll see what happens.
6:29
But definitely, you know, I kind of expected a little bit better of a start into the Big Ten season, but are part of the season and just doesn't happen to this point.
6:39
It's been a little bit inconsistent.
6:41
Yeah, what can you do?
6:42
It's just, you know, this team's kind of what they say stacked, but we just haven't quite seen it come together.
6:48
You know, I'd really like to see some Brischtad one of these days because he has pretty much disappeared altogether.
6:57
You know, he's got to be frustrated with that.
6:58
You know, Veegs has mentioned in the past that he had Patoni to talk to and sit down and go over things with them.
7:05
Maybe he doesn't have that type of mentorship that he had in the last previous year, so we'll have to see.
7:11
But boy, if this team goes anywhere, Brischtad needs to step up.
7:17
Yeah, I mean, you definitely expected him coming to a senior year to be a lot more productive than what he's been.
7:23
I only have three points, and this far into the season is definitely not what any of us would have predicted coming into the season, especially given his background.
7:31
You would kind of hope that he would have a pretty good senior year.
7:35
But I think, as I mentioned, I think it was last week, it's sometimes when you have those seniors that don't start off gangbusters, they start kind of pressing a little bit, gripping the stick a little bit tighter, and they almost maybe sometimes become their own worst enemy in that sense.
7:50
And I don't know, I'm not at practice and I'm not one of the coaches, so I don't know what it's going to necessarily take to get them back on track.
7:56
But hopefully they're trying to figure some things out, and maybe I'll have a big second half.
8:01
I guess we'll have to see.
8:02
We can only hope so, Hammy.
8:04
We can only hope so.
8:05
Well, we kind of have to cut the Wisconsin, the Wisconsin, I should say, a recap short because we need to get to Dan Kelly here in a few seconds.
8:14
So, you know, not the greatest weekend.
8:17
Boy, we can just hope they do better at Ohio State this coming weekend.
8:23
We'll have to wait and see.
8:24
But before we move on to Dan Kelly, we need to hear from our sponsor.
8:30
vintagemnhockey.com is a proud sponsor of The GPL Podcast.
8:35
Well, what is Vintage MN Hockey?
8:37
Well, it's kind of the place to get all of your history of Minnesota Hockey, from the pros to the minors to the collegiate teams to even the high school teams.
8:47
All information about any of those teams can be found on vintagemnhockey.com.
8:52
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9:02
So make sure you check out those interviews.
9:03
It's a really great thing.
9:05
But as I always say, I think my favorite part is the store.
9:09
The store, you can buy a custom historical jersey from the Gophers or the Bulldogs or some of your favorite high school teams.
9:16
And if you do make a purchase, just use the code GPL Podcast, all one word, and you'll get 10% off your order.
9:23
So make sure you visit vintagemnhockey.com and follow them on Twitter at VintageMNHockey.
9:31
And we're back here and this week we're bringing in a new guest to the GPL Podcast.
9:36
You hear him on the Big Ten Network calling hockey games all throughout the season.
9:41
And but really that's kind of his second gig.
9:43
His main gig is quite a few other things, but Dan Kelly, thanks for joining us.
9:50
It's great to be with you guys.
9:52
You got, you got a new fan of the show.
9:53
I'm looking forward to listening to the rest of the year and hopefully learning from you guys and your guests as well.
9:58
Well, we're just glad to have you on.
10:00
I always appreciate you quite a bit because we tweet back and forth once in a while.
10:05
I know that you're pretty interactive with the fans when they're listening.
10:08
I mean, you could be calling a game and I'll see you retweet something during the middle of a broadcast.
10:13
I can tell you one thing, the fans kind of appreciate that when you're so active on social media, and you've really kind of taken advantage of that.
10:22
Yeah, no, thanks for pointing that out.
10:25
I mean, the fans are obviously, they're not fans of necessarily the broadcast, they're the fans of what's going on in the ice.
10:33
But it's so nice to get input and to get insight, to get that direct feedback.
10:39
Sure, sometimes Twitter can have those type of people, but you simply ignore that.
10:43
But usually, I find it so valuable.
10:47
In hockey, it's a little more difficult to do it, although you can do it because of intermissions and commercial breaks, it helps.
10:55
Soccer, sometimes, if there's a lull in midfield play, you can glance at it.
11:00
But I find it such a great tool, and I'm sure you guys are fans of it as well.
11:04
It seems, especially in sports, sports and Twitter, and time to controversy, they go so well together, don't they?
11:10
They do, they do.
11:11
And you mentioned soccer, you are the voice behind the Chicago Fire of MLS, correct?
11:17
Yes, yeah, I just completed my eighth season and I'm a person that grew up in a hockey family.
11:21
My late father was a Hall of Fame hockey broadcaster.
11:24
My brother has been the voice of an NHL team now in St.
11:27
Louis and Colorado amongst a few.
11:30
That's my background as well before I came to Big Ten Network and started at Major League Soccer.
11:34
I was in the NHL for the first 10 years as a play-by-play announcer.
11:37
So the similarities of hockey and soccer, there's so many.
11:42
So that helped me learn a little bit about soccer on the fly at the pro level.
11:49
So I'm fascinated now.
11:50
The two sports, there's a lot of similarities and it's fun to talk to coaches about that.
11:54
I think really any good soccer coach or any good hockey coach, they would be very wise to watch the other sport because you could learn things.
12:02
Well, you definitely can.
12:04
Well this weekend, you're calling both games for Minnesota and Ohio State in Columbus.
12:12
Who's going to be joining you?
12:13
Is it going to have Ben Clymer with you or who's going to be your co-host?
12:16
Yeah.
12:17
Good Minnesota boy, Ben Clymer, both games.
12:21
It's a different atmosphere as you guys know, calling a game or playing a game in Columbus.
12:26
It's not Mariucci.
12:28
It's a giant cavernous 21,000 seat buildings.
12:33
It's a little different.
12:34
It's much like actually a lot of the NHL buildings.
12:37
You're far away.
12:38
We're spoiled as broadcasters in college hockey.
12:42
Even Mariucci in a pretty big size, large size building.
12:45
That's a beautiful view that we have.
12:46
And Yoast Ice Arena.
12:48
And the list goes on.
12:49
You have some great views.
12:50
So it's a little different weekend, but it's always fun.
12:53
These two teams are a little unpredictable, especially Ohio State.
12:57
Oh, yes, definitely unpredictable.
12:59
They've been kind of up and down all year.
13:01
You know, you mentioned good views.
13:02
I mean, I recall you calling a Badger Gopher women's game at Ritter.
13:08
And I find that that arena might be the best arena for a view from where you're calling the game.
13:14
I mean, you're right on top of the ice there.
13:16
And it's a great place to watch a game.
13:20
If people haven't seen a good game, go to Ritter Arena to see a women's game, because the sight lines are just as good as any of these other college arenas.
13:28
Yeah, no, that's a great point.
13:30
Forgive me.
13:30
I forget the name of the new beautiful facility in Wisconsin, too, for their women's program, but on Le Bon or yes, exactly.
13:39
And it's the same thing.
13:40
And, you know, it reminds me a little bit.
13:43
I was fortunate enough as a kid to go to a place like Maple Leaf Garden or some of those old buildings with the steep pitches.
13:48
Chicago Stadium comes to mind.
13:50
But you're actually in the press box, especially a place like Maple Leaf Garden, to where if you drop something out of the press box, it's going to hit almost center ice.
13:57
It really changes the game when you see it that way in that perspective of that, that old style steep pitch.
14:04
You almost have to hold yourself back because the game is happening so quick.
14:09
Well Minnesota is in a little bit different situation this year.
14:12
These first few years of the Big Ten, they've come out as a head of everyone else in the regular season, won the regular season championship, maybe not so much luck in the playoffs, but they've done really well in the regular season.
14:25
But this year is quite a different game with Notre Dame into the conference, Dan.
14:31
Yeah, you know, we get so focused on game to game, I haven't really thought of that big picture, but you're right.
14:36
Minnesota, and I haven't had a chance to talk to Coach Lucia this week, I'm going to talk to him tomorrow morning, but it is much different.
14:43
I mean, Notre Dame all of a sudden unbeaten, you can't score goals off of them.
14:49
I mean, Minnesota has been the dominant team in this conference, they won the conference before they even joined the Big Ten.
14:53
So, I mean, sure they faced adversity, but this is a little different.
14:58
And I think also, you know, maybe not overall, some of the teams, like even Ohio State, you know, it's a cliche to say, oh, anybody can beat anybody on any given night, but it's becoming true.
15:08
And I think slowly but surely, you're seeing this conference improve.
15:14
And part of that is going to be teams, hopefully catching up to Minnesota, because they've been the dominant program, not just in this conference, but other conferences as well.
15:22
Well, we have talked about it extensively on this podcast.
15:25
A lot of the fans were not happy with the formation of the Big Ten Conference.
15:30
We've come to the conclusion that it is what it is, and it's time to embrace it.
15:34
So you had the fans angry, and then at the same time, you had some teams that were not performing as they used to.
15:41
When the conference started, Wisconsin and Michigan, two of the big teams have really struggled, have had some down years.
15:50
Wisconsin just replaced their coach, and Michigan did as well.
15:54
So there was just a lot of changes at the same time, and everyone was like, oh, the Big Ten sucks, the Big Ten sucks.
16:00
It was just a bad timing for it, but I think this is going to be a pretty strong conference, Dan.
16:06
I agree, and I understand Minnesota fans, I'm from the Midwest, I grew up in St.
16:11
Louis.
16:11
They're traditionalists, and Minnesota, it's been the epicenter of American hockey for so many years.
16:17
They played hockey in Minnesota before they knew what this war was around the country.
16:22
So I understand that.
16:24
The thing is, you're going to have these kids now, and I said this from the beginning, I thought it would happen quicker, and you're right.
16:29
The big part is some of those teams have struggled, and now you have new coaches, Wisconsin, the Michigans.
16:35
But I always said that I thought this would become a superpower conference, because you grew up around the country in North America, and you couldn't watch college hockey unless certain pockets of hockey.
16:44
It was such a blessing, like, to all of a sudden.
16:47
I used to watch the Beanpot Tournament.
16:48
I never watched East Coast Hockey anymore, because I'm not focused on Big Ten.
16:51
But just to have that glimpse as a young kid, a young hockey player, it was so cool to watch the high school state hockey tournament for Minnesota with the clear boards.
17:00
Like it was in wonderland.
17:02
And now all of a sudden, I really think, and I'm a freelancer for Big Ten Network, so I don't mean to be waving the pom poms too much, but I believe the power of television is going to help that, going into those markets in Canada, going all around the United States.
17:16
That's one thing that the Big Ten Network has done, is they've set the standard that ESPN and elsewhere around the world are imitating, is to how they cover collegiate sports and the amount they do.
17:27
So again, I don't mean to be waving the pom poms too big, but I think if you show the skill and you put it on television in beautiful HD, the product will sell itself, and you're going to start to attract more of the top talent and start to wrestle some of those kids away from Canadian Major Junior Hockey as well.
17:42
Well, I think the Minnesota fans have been spoiled for a long time, especially when it comes to television, because back in the 90s, we had Midwest Sports Channel that turned into Fox Sports North, and it was kind of the home for college hockey, and then things changed.
17:59
And a lot of these things that changed are out of Minnesota's control, or at least the team.
18:03
It's the university above them.
18:05
It's the leagues above them that made these decisions.
18:08
Unfortunately, the fans, they complain, where's the game this weekend?
18:11
Where can I find the game?
18:13
It's just something for them to complain about.
18:15
That's what I have found.
18:18
What can we really do?
18:20
It's just the nature of sports now.
18:23
Different networks are covering these games.
18:25
And I think either way, it's good for the exposure.
18:29
And Gopher fans don't have the best memory exactly when it comes to how it used to be either.
18:34
They don't.
18:37
No, that's a good point by you guys too as well, is because Gopher fans have had a seat in other sports.
18:41
The schedules are consistent with college basketball or men's football.
18:48
I mean, now at the NFL, there's a game on every night.
18:51
I mean, good or bad, the way of the world is now is television usually controls start times and game time.
18:57
So blame the Big Ten network, I guess, right?
19:02
And hopefully, there's more networks that cover this great conference, too.
19:06
The DSPN and the Fox Sports, the Big Fox Sports could somehow get involved, too.
19:11
I mean, I think that would be a great eventual goal.
19:13
Well, we've had fun with Rick Pizzo over at the Big Ten for a while here.
19:18
We usually blame him for everything and he just goes along with it.
19:21
So he's a good sport about it.
19:24
He is.
19:24
And Rick, and as you guys probably know, that Rick played collegiate hockey.
19:28
Rick's a hockey guy.
19:29
If Rick was making the decisions down in downtown Chicago at the Big Ten network, there would be more hockey coverage, I promise.
19:36
Oh, yes.
19:37
We recognize that a while ago.
19:38
We had him on the podcast a few years ago and he's a great guest.
19:41
And I think we might try to get him on again because he is a good guest and he could talk college hockey really well, even though he doesn't look like it.
19:49
He does look like a TV guy.
19:50
He's got that TV look to him.
19:53
He does.
19:54
He does.
19:55
That's a compliment.
19:55
It goes.
19:56
So let's get into this weekend.
19:57
I see Vig's did join us now.
20:00
Vegoe had a hard time connecting and had some technical issues, but he's now on the podcast with us.
20:04
Vig's, we kind of already re-kept at Wisconsin.
20:07
The split, not the greatest, but then this weekend, we're heading to Columbus.
20:11
What can we expect from this club?
20:14
We've talked about in the past that Shearhorn has been a little up and down, but Shearhorn's got somebody knocking on his door that's eligible to play this weekend, and I'd be curious if he actually does play.
20:26
Yeah, the transfer, Matt Robson, is eligible to play.
20:29
We're entering the second half with the first 18 games in the books, so he's a big athletic goaltender, more of that 6-2, 6-3 range.
20:40
Most of the recent goalies for the Gophers have been 6 feet or under, so it's a different kind of style of goaltender.
20:47
This weekend, I don't know if we'll see him play.
20:50
Lucia said at Availability that he's pretty confident Shearhorn's going to try to hold down the fort, but there's competition now, so if you have one of those Friday nights where Shearhorn's not on, they've got someone to turn to, whereas in the Michigan game, when Shearhorn started to look a little shaky, there weren't a lot of other options.
21:10
When the Gophers and Buckeyes play hockey, you can't expect a lot of offense.
21:15
Well I'm hoping to see an offense.
21:17
Hammeh, what do you think?
21:18
Robson, do you think he's going to get in sometime soon, or will it be more of an Army thing later in December?
21:25
Yeah, I don't know.
21:26
I don't know if they're going to put him in the line up right away.
21:29
I'd be curious to see him play against a pretty competitive team, because obviously Army is not going to necessarily be the biggest challenge in the world.
21:37
So you'd like to see him play against an Ohio State.
21:41
I mean, obviously he's been practicing, and being able to get some of the rust out, and maybe not necessarily getting that competitive environment yet in a game.
21:52
So hopefully, he'll get some time soon.
21:55
I'm looking forward to the fact that we'll actually have some competition, because we really haven't had that.
22:00
It's kind of been sheer horn or bust in recent seasons.
22:02
So it'll be good to have somebody that can push him.
22:06
So Dan, we're a few days before the series here.
22:09
How do you prepare for these series?
22:12
I mean, you said you're going to talk to Coach Lucia tomorrow.
22:16
Is it more of a usual thing?
22:17
Like every time you're going to have a game, you have the same kind of schedule of what you do, but how do you really prepare for these series?
22:24
I mean, you follow it like you guys do all the time, watching games and on Twitter, but sometimes the problem is you're doing other games.
22:32
Yeah, true.
22:34
You completely lose touch for a weekend.
22:37
But we always have conference calls with the coaches, and that's the nice thing about these collegiate coaches.
22:45
Even Don sometimes, I can joke that he's grumpy, but he's not.
22:48
Those guys are pretty accessible, and he's insightful.
22:50
And it's great to hear their knowledge and learn from them.
22:55
But conference calls during the week, just talking amongst ourselves and doing your own research.
23:00
Twitter's a big help now.
23:02
It seems like more and more every year, game notes become less of a factor, especially because the privilege that I have is I get direct access.
23:10
Because then come game day, if you're in town, go to morning skate, and then also try to maybe even sneak in a conversation with a player or two at that morning skate, but then also the coach may be quickly again to refresh.
23:21
The same thing Saturday morning is just to try to take advantage, especially at the college level, not to say that pro coaches are not accessible, but these guys are more down to earth and they get it.
23:33
They know that we're storytellers and they're trying to sell their program, and we're just trying to tell the story.
23:39
That's the biggest thing, I guess, is trying to take advantage, especially because now in the modern day of sports, when Big Ten does this very well, sometimes we'll call some olympic sports like college soccer off the monitor, and occasionally we've done that in the past with hockey because of shortage of whatever, trucks or whatnot.
23:59
So the big thing is whenever I'm on site now, it really hammers home that you better take advantage and talk to people because that's the big thing that fans can't do.
24:07
So make sure you do that.
24:09
How are you handling the neutral network?
24:13
Because obviously when you're calling Chicago Fire Games MLS, you could be more of a homer.
24:17
But boy, on social media, they just love to murder you.
24:21
If they even think you are biased at all, and I've seen you do this on Twitter a lot.
24:25
And for us, I tend to think you're pretty neutral.
24:30
People say you celebrate a little bit when a team wins.
24:33
Well, you're just celebrating a goal.
24:36
You're not really a biased person, but that is one struggle that you do have when you're more of a national type of network covering multiple teams.
24:45
Yeah, you know, it's fun.
24:47
Like I started to do a couple of ESPN games for Major League Soccer.
24:49
And it's so really, it's really easy because there are no favorites, because, you know, every team has good guys.
24:56
The coaches are good people.
24:57
The SIDs are easy to deal with.
25:00
You know, if anything, if 1% of myself is going to shade some way, 51% to favor someone, it might be the Gophers, because at the end of the day, who's watching the most college hockey in this conference right now?
25:12
It's, you know, a big city, you know, the tradition there.
25:17
But, you know, again, that's not a team that you...
25:19
That doesn't pop in your head.
25:20
Let's favor this team.
25:21
Let's talk about them more.
25:23
You're talking about the team that's playing better, why they're playing better, and, you know, why that team that is trailing right now is losing.
25:30
It's, you know, it's not that...
25:33
I find it funny, you know, someone that I grew up around in the late Jack Buck and his son Joe Buck, I think Joe Buck is very talented, and he rubs people the wrong way in different markets.
25:42
I know in Minnesota he has.
25:45
I live in Chicago, I'm from St.
25:46
Louis, but I know in Chicago he does.
25:49
But, like, and I hear it all the time, people think he favors someone.
25:52
I mean, I think sometimes it's, you know, it's just a fight you can't win.
25:57
But having said that, you don't hear that.
25:59
It's interesting because, like, you look at a national broadcaster like Al Michaels, who's called so many sports, and major sports and major championships, you don't hear that gripe about someone like Al Michaels.
26:09
So, you know, I don't know, maybe I do favor teams.
26:11
But no, seriously, it's, I mean, you really don't, you know, oftentimes you're just like, especially if you have an early flight the next day, you're like, OK, let's just get this game over with.
26:19
You know, I love my job.
26:20
Let's get to bed.
26:21
So that's the case.
26:23
Well, you do mention that, you know, Minnesota does kind of rule the roost when it comes to TV.
26:28
People here watch the games.
26:29
It's just that's just the fact that they've been used to TV for so long.
26:34
And it's just one of those things.
26:36
I'm guessing the numbers are down compared to what they used to be.
26:38
And maybe the late 90s and early 2000s.
26:40
But still, like you mentioned, Minnesota kind of rules the roost.
26:44
And I'm guessing it's pretty close that they might have the most games on Big Ten Network or pretty close to it.
26:52
Another thing that might even go in hand there is that, you know, you got Ben Klammer calling the games on Fox and on Big Ten.
26:58
So maybe they're thinking he's got the bias there.
27:00
He went to Minnesota.
27:01
So, you know, maybe it's not even just a combination of you.
27:03
It could be Ben too.
27:04
We can blame Ben for anything if we want.
27:07
Yeah, exactly.
27:08
No, I'll tell you a funny story is actually before the Big Ten Conference started, I was doing a Minnesota University of Denver game.
27:14
And I called University of Denver games for two seasons when they won the back to back national championships.
27:20
And it was a nice rivalry then with Minnesota.
27:21
Oh, yeah.
27:22
Don and the Gophers won the consecutive ones prior.
27:26
So I did a game and I was always a fan of George Gwazdeki.
27:29
And I talked about University of Denver too much.
27:31
And this is on the Big Ten Network and they're playing Minnesota.
27:34
And it was a good lesson for me because, you know, it's rare.
27:38
My bosses are good at the Big Ten Network, you know, they don't micromanage me.
27:41
But that was mentioned, you know, we heard from Gopher fans.
27:44
And that was a big, I guess, a great lesson for me is that this isn't the University of Denver Network.
27:50
You know, it's not necessarily the University of Minnesota Network either.
27:53
But especially if you're going to play a non-conference game, you know, some of my focus is going to be more on Minnesota, you know, at the end of the day, I think.
28:02
Well, I agree with that.
28:03
Definitely.
28:04
Let's talk a little bit more about this weekend.
28:06
Hammy, Minnesota has been very up and down.
28:09
They have not been good on the road.
28:12
They have not been good on the smaller rinks.
28:15
And then I think to even complicate this anymore, the atmosphere is not going to be that great this weekend at Ohio State.
28:23
What can we really look for this team to do to kind of combat those problems?
28:28
Well, obviously, you kind of have to start off really well and create your own energy.
28:32
You're not going to be getting it from the crowd.
28:33
It's not really a rivalry series per se.
28:36
I mean, yes, it's conference, but it's not a rival of a traditional rival.
28:39
So it's a matter of trying to create your own energy.
28:42
And certainly starting off well is going to be very important.
28:46
We know it's going to be a pretty up and down series.
28:48
So hopefully our defensive, our overall team defense is going to be good.
28:53
But we need the blue liners to definitely be solid and certainly play their roles and not try to do too much.
29:00
We've talked about it in the past.
29:01
So where we get in trouble sometimes is certain guys try to do too much.
29:05
So hopefully it's going to be just basically starting off really strongly and creating their own energy.
29:10
How do they create their own energy this weekend, Veegs?
29:14
Well I think it's just stick to their game plan.
29:16
They've talked a lot about having good exits, good entries, sustained offensive zone pressure.
29:22
I think if they stick to those principles, they'll be fine.
29:26
I think part of the problem when people are talking about the Gophers on the road, look where they've played.
29:30
They've played at Notre Dame, at Michigan, at North Dakota, at Minnesota Duluth.
29:36
I mean those are four of the top teams in college hockey traditionally.
29:40
Tough places to play and those are teams that get up for playing the Gophers.
29:44
And when you start making mistakes in buildings like that, that energy just grows.
29:49
You make those same kind of mistakes in Columbus, there's not many people to feed off of it.
29:54
So I think there's a little bit more room this weekend for the Gopher team to take chances.
30:01
We'll just have to wait and see, I guess.
30:03
We asked a few of the listeners to send us some questions for the podcast and we've kind of already covered a few of them.
30:09
But Nate Wells wants to know, where does being the Wellesie Ward winner stack up on Dan's list of accomplishments?
30:18
Amongst the top and speaking of people that I rely upon during the game, I've just met Nate a few times and spoken to him.
30:27
He's always a good guy to talk to.
30:28
But just someone I respect.
30:29
His knowledge, the way he follows the team and covers the team.
30:32
There's someone that, if I see something on Twitter during the game quickly, that's from someone like Nate, it's like, okay, I might want to use that one if it's really a big nugget, you might have to reference him.
30:45
So I would say, yeah, that's a big award because I lean on people like Nate during the game.
30:51
We definitely enjoy Nate.
30:52
He's on the podcast at least once a year.
30:55
He does listen a lot live and he'll, we might have a question for ourselves that we don't know how to answer and he'll answer us through Twitter as we're doing the podcast.
31:03
So we definitely appreciate Nate a lot as well.
31:06
And typically he travels to almost all these road series too.
31:10
So you probably saw him at Yoast.
31:12
And I don't know if he's traveling to Columbus this weekend, but I wouldn't doubt if he was.
31:17
So Nate is definitely a good resource for all of us.
31:21
And if you're not following Nate, you should be on Twitter.
31:27
All right, what else?
31:28
Well, most of the questions I see are mostly, are we gonna play Robson this weekend?
31:33
And things like that.
31:35
So I guess I'll light on questions.
31:39
Which I'm fine with, because I actually kind of wanted to ask you, Dan, as a soccer guy, what the heck happened to Team USA?
31:49
You know, I don't cover the US international team.
31:52
Oh, I know you don't, but I'm guessing you follow.
31:55
Yeah, you know, I mean, look, Italy and the Netherlands didn't qualify either.
32:00
Although their group was more difficult.
32:03
I think the big thing is, you look at, you know, Christian Pulisic, and I'm probably pronouncing his name wrong, Pulisic.
32:11
But there's that gap of players that are, you know, the 16 to 19 or, you know, that might be off by an age or two that are very good.
32:19
The same, you know, the issue is, you look at the last two Olympics, that age group from like around 23 to 28, those two groups didn't qualify for the Olympics, which, you know, the U-23 players usually represent the US.
32:32
They didn't qualify.
32:33
So the warning signs were there.
32:35
I think that's the big segment.
32:37
The good news is, these young players up and coming, there's some talent there.
32:41
And now also, the good thing about not qualifying for the World Cup, it's got people's attention.
32:45
There's going to be change, and hopefully for the good, because there's just way too much momentum.
32:52
There's way too much soccer on television.
32:54
There's way too many kids playing it in this country for the United States not to qualify for the World Cup.
33:00
And I think it wasn't just the Olympics.
33:02
It was the U-20 teams as well for soccer.
33:05
We're missing the World Cups in qualifying.
33:07
It's just a glaring problem that they should have seen coming.
33:12
Yeah, there's a hole.
33:14
And I mean, a lot of people blame it on Major League Soccer, but I mean, or some people do.
33:22
I think that that's changing so rapidly too.
33:24
I mean, teams are getting better.
33:27
Sure, if you're good, go away early.
33:32
I mean, I think perhaps US.
33:34
Soccer could learn a little from USA.
33:37
Hockey and what they've done with the National Development Program in Ann Arbor too.
33:41
I mean, since I'm not an expert on US.
33:45
Men's Hockey, but it seems like since we've started that program that gold medals have been appearing more frequently at the junior tournament on the big stage.
33:55
Well, I think also US.
33:56
Soccer could take some lessons from the American Development Model and doing more small area games and more skills and trying to keep more players in the game longer.
34:06
It feels like US.
34:07
Soccer has done such a good job of saying you're elite at 12, you're elite at 13, you're elite at 14.
34:13
You gotta try to keep those kids playing the game and not giving up because they're not on the best teams.
34:18
So I think that's one of the things hockey's done better the last decade is trying to keep people playing longer, which I think is good for the game.
34:25
It gets more fans, it gets more talent, it gets more eyes on the sport.
34:32
No, you're right.
34:33
I mean, the old thing, I'm 44 years old, I was a typical American, I quit playing soccer when I was like 10 or 11, and then just focused on hockey and quit all other sports.
34:42
Now it seems like those are such crucial ages, like when you hit 14 into that college age, and that's where it seems like the Americans are dropping off, much like we used to see, with the exception of the great state of Minnesota, for the most part, in pockets of the United States, 20 years ago, the US couldn't keep up with Canada.
35:05
That's where that separation of that age seemed to be.
35:06
To me, around 12 or 13, that's when those kids, the Minnesota and the Canadian kids, started to separate themselves from kids playing in the southern Midwestern states.
35:15
Well, this is gonna be our last podcast until, because the team takes a break pretty much for the whole month of December, but yeah, during our off break, that World Junior Tournament will be happening in Buffalo.
35:26
And Hammey, let's talk a little bit about that.
35:30
We've got a couple of players from Minnesota that are on the preliminary roster.
35:33
It looks like they're probably gonna make the team.
35:35
At least we know Mittelstadt will.
35:37
Quick thoughts on the World Junior, since we'll be off here for a month.
35:44
Well, I think it's gonna be interesting that we're not gonna get hit as hard as we usually do.
35:49
That's true.
35:49
We have more guys that we're worried about being gone and this year is not gonna be the case.
35:54
I obviously think some of that is just because of the fact that we're a little bit more veteran.
36:01
We don't have as many young guys that are being counted on for big spots.
36:04
So, but it'll be interesting.
36:07
I think Mittelstadt, certainly we've seen him do some pretty dynamic things.
36:11
I'm definitely gonna be excited to see what he can do on that stage.
36:14
He certainly had success on multiple different levels.
36:17
So, you know, USHL, high school, even, you know, from a national perspective.
36:22
So it'll be fun to see what he can do when he gets on that stage.
36:27
Besides that first regional weekend for college hockey leagues, the World Junior Tournament, end of December, early January is is probably my favorite time of year.
36:37
I agree.
36:38
It's such a great tournament because you have probably the best talented players in the world at that age and most of them are playing.
36:46
There's going to be a handful that NHL clubs don't release, but it's such a great opportunity to see those guys.
36:51
They're still at the point in their development where they make mistakes and they're allowed to make mistakes and you have enough talent to see it go the other way and team score goals.
37:01
So it's a fun, exciting hockey.
37:03
Don Lucia mentioned today that there's so many Canadians who travel to Europe because it's cheaper for them to travel, stay in hotels and get tickets than even get tickets in Canada.
37:14
That's how big of a deal it is to Canadians.
37:16
So hopefully that continues to grow here in the US.
37:20
I know having the NHL network is huge for hockey fans.
37:22
You get to watch it because it's must watch hockey for me.
37:26
Oh, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
37:28
Dan, how much do you get a chance to watch the juniors?
37:30
I hope you get a chance to watch some of it because it is really good stuff.
37:34
Yeah, I do.
37:35
I can remember I was in Canada with my family on a vacation in the 80s, and they had to turn the lights off between the Russians and Canadians because of a brawl.
37:43
But especially with my schedule, sometimes you miss things, but that's the good time.
37:48
It's during the holidays.
37:50
Yeah, usually I for sure try to watch that.
37:52
As you guys mentioned, to me, one of the biggest draws at college hockey is, they're not necessarily allowed to make mistakes, but they make mistakes.
38:00
They're very talented players that make mistakes, and sometimes they end up in the back of the net in an exciting play.
38:04
So, that's what's cool about watching kids play hockey.
38:08
Well, I think to develop players, you have to let them make some mistakes.
38:12
I know a lot of fans right now are critical of the Gophers because of the struggles they've had.
38:17
But part of that is letting these players grow and figure out what kind of plays they can and can't make.
38:22
Scott Bell said one of his biggest surprises here working with Don Lucia is seeing how patient he is with the players and letting them grow.
38:30
With that RPM line, they're going to make mistakes.
38:33
But by the end of the year, if he lets them grow their talents, they're going to be a tough line to play against in the playoffs.
38:41
Yeah, especially if you're like Don Lucia or you guys know how talented Minnesota has been over the years.
38:47
If you're going to stifle their imagination and creativity, well, you're the wrong coach for that program.
38:55
Boy, you can't really disagree with that.
38:59
We like that creativity.
39:00
We like the offense here.
39:02
The defensive style doesn't really work too well here in Minnesota, at least the neutral zone trap stuff that we saw in Wisconsin, and eventually it got to Wisconsin that they're slowly changing theirs to more of an up temple style, we can only hope we see more of that.
39:20
Obviously, you want good defensemen, but, Veegs, I'm really glad we haven't taken that super defensive style and that we still do play some open hockey here.
39:31
That's what Minnesota is known for.
39:32
They're known for having a transition game.
39:34
They're known for getting defensemen in the rush.
39:37
You look at Mike Gensel and the job he's done with defensemen over the years.
39:42
It's fun hockey to watch.
39:44
Even Scott Bell has taken a shot at Notre Dame last week, because if you want to learn how to play defense, that's a great place to go to school.
39:50
If you want to score goals, play for Minnesota.
39:54
Yeah.
39:55
Well, after that Notre Dame weekend where it was 1-0, I tended to agree with him.
40:00
Boy, what can you do?
40:01
Dan, I'm curious.
40:03
You call in the Big Ten games and obviously, you do some other things with the Big Ten network as well.
40:07
You're calling the Chicago Fire.
40:09
Then you've picked up some ESPN, MLS duties.
40:13
What's on the future?
40:15
Are you looking to get into anything else or other types of areas, whether it's back in the NHL or anything like that?
40:22
What's your holy grail of doing something, I should say?
40:27
Is there something out there you still want to do?
40:30
No.
40:31
I think what I'm doing now, and to continue to hopefully get some stuff at the national level and soccer.
40:38
I get to satisfy my hockey craving with covering great hockey in the Big Ten conference.
40:47
I guess I'm happy with what I'm doing, just to do more of it, and maybe at times or maybe at a higher level, and maybe one day if I...
40:56
they're bigger aspirations.
40:57
But if I was to do the NHL, selfishly I'd like to do it at a national level right now.
41:03
So it's so time consuming if you go work for a team, and that's what's nice about Major League Soccer, is sure the season is eight months long, but at the end of the year you're usually only covered about 29 or 30 games for your team.
41:16
So it doesn't take up your whole schedule, so there's flexibility.
41:19
But I love what I'm doing right now.
41:21
Soccer and hockey are the main part of it, sprinkled in with some Olympic sports.
41:26
It's very enjoyable.
41:27
I work with great people, and the people I work for leave me alone.
41:30
As you guys know, that oftentimes is really important to do a good job.
41:33
Except on Twitter, which you're biased, remember?
41:37
Yeah, well, that's expected.
41:42
Hammeh, let's get your final thoughts on this weekend with Ohio State.
41:46
How do you feel this weekend going for the Gophers?
41:47
Is it another splitsville?
41:50
Yeah, it's just hard to feel confident that they're going to put two good games together on the road.
41:55
They've struggled against teams that have some good offense, and I certainly would expect that this would be a pretty up and down series.
42:03
I would expect a split, whatever that would mean in terms of shootouts and whatever.
42:08
I think we'll at least see something one win for each team.
42:11
I don't know how it will happen, but that's pretty much how I would feel would shake out.
42:16
And Veegs, we've got some audio from today's media availability that will end at the end of the podcast for people listening on the download.
42:24
What are we going to hear today?
42:26
Well, thanks to Brian Deutsch for getting that to me today.
42:29
You'll hear about Lindgren and Mittelstadt, talking about the World Juniors.
42:33
Mittelstadt led on that he and Lindgren have been talking quite a bit about it, even though I think the message from the coaching staff is to say it's an honor and we're focused on Ohio State.
42:44
So you can tell they're excited.
42:46
This weekend for Don Lucia, he's looking for offense.
42:49
He thought Scott Reedy played his best weekend against Wisconsin as a college player.
42:55
And that line is the one that stands out.
42:57
When they did film this week, they really just highlighted that line is that's the way Gopher Hockey should be played.
43:05
So I think those three guys will get leaned on quite a bit this weekend.
43:11
I'm looking forward to seeing the power play continue to improve.
43:14
I think they put Novak on his off wing on the wall, which makes that second unit work.
43:19
And obviously the first unit's been pretty dangerous.
43:21
They just haven't got the puck luck this year.
43:24
And we just had a question come in from one of our listeners and they're wondering, Dan, what do you think about the shootout?
43:32
That's funny you say that.
43:33
I was thinking of that today because I could foresee one day like Don Lucia retiring and me working with him.
43:40
That's happened now that I've been in the business long enough.
43:42
There's some coach that you work with and the next thing you know, you're working with him.
43:46
But you know, he's like he's I don't even think Don does it even like four on four.
43:51
No, and that's not disrespecting Don or any coaches.
43:54
Most coaches don't like things that are and I say this with a grain of seriousness.
43:59
They don't like things that are fun.
44:00
But we're in the entertainment business for the most part.
44:03
And to me, especially during the regular season, I think a shootout is it's fun.
44:08
It's entertainment.
44:10
I love to see Rem Pitlick on a breakaway or these great players.
44:14
You know, you talk about one of the biggest events in sport, the World Cup can be decided on a penalty.
44:21
So not to compare those two, but it's not like we don't see these in the tournament.
44:25
We don't see these in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
44:26
So I guess I'm a fan of the shootout.
44:29
And I can remember when they first implemented them, I was in the NHL covering, I forget which team, but it was Barry Trotz in Nashville.
44:36
And Barry Trotz is a traditionalist.
44:37
And he said, you know, when I see everybody standing up during the shootout, that tells me that this is a good thing.
44:43
So I mean, I think it's about entertainment.
44:45
It's, you know, this is a game, and this is a bunch of kids or grown men chasing a puck.
44:50
Let's not take it too serious.
44:51
Well, I do agree that it is definitely good for the fan participation.
44:56
But I also like how college hockey has, I think they do the overtime and shootouts better than the NHL.
45:02
You know, if you win in overtime, that other team doesn't get a point.
45:07
And, you know, in the NHL, once you get to overtime, you've already got that one point.
45:11
I do like the overtime rules, at least in, you know, regular season for college compared to the NHL, because you lose in overtime those first five minutes, sorry, you get no points.
45:22
And then if there's a tie after that, then, you know, each team gets a point.
45:26
I wish the NHL would do that, but the NHL cares probably a little bit more about parity than college hockey.
45:32
Maybe that's why we like it better, because the passion and whatnot.
45:35
But I do feel that the college way of doing overtime and shootouts is a little better than the NHL.
45:44
That's a great point.
45:45
And I don't watch the NHL that much anymore, so I missed them.
45:50
That's something I'll bring up with Ben.
45:51
So thanks for pointing that out.
45:54
Well, I think that's all we've got for this week, folks.
45:56
You know, Dan, we really appreciate you coming on and spending your early evening with us.
46:02
Maybe we can get you on again sometime next season.
46:04
If you're still calling games, I hope you're still calling games next year.
46:07
We hope so.
46:09
But I know you follow all of us on Twitter and you will tweet back and forth.
46:14
And we really appreciate you participating in our little college hockey world because it's a fun little world that we're all part of here.
46:24
No, it's very cool to be part of it, guys.
46:26
And it's fun to share the passion.
46:27
I can certainly hear it from you guys and see it from you.
46:30
And I expect great podcasts in the future because I'm just getting into listening to podcasts.
46:34
So in my future preparation, I'll be listening in.
46:38
So no, seriously, thanks for for having me on as a guest.
46:40
Well, we definitely appreciate having you on.
46:44
We'll be back.
46:45
This is time for our monthly break.
46:47
We're not going to be back until after after Christmas here.
46:49
We'll be back in early January and then we'll talk about the World Juniors.
46:52
We'll talk about this weekend against Ohio State and look towards St.
46:57
Cloud State, which is going to be a pretty good series coming in early January.
47:02
Thanks for listening.
47:29
Let's start off a little bit about Tyler Nanny, just his journey to get from, I guess, Ohio State now back now all the way up to here.
47:36
How do you think he's played and how he's progressed?
47:38
Well, you know, it has been a journey for him.
47:41
You know, he had the illness detected when he went to Ohio State that summer and couldn't skate and ended up transferring back here.
47:52
And, you know, it took till basically this summer to finally get him 100% cleared, even though he practiced with us all last year.
47:59
So there was always going to be that unknown.
48:01
But he worked really hard last year.
48:03
I thought he improved a lot during the course of the season.
48:05
But, you know, all of a sudden this year begins and he hasn't played a game in over two years.
48:11
So I think the month of October, there were certainly some ups and downs and the learning curve, like any freshman would have, but I think that he's really improved in the last month.
48:22
He's settled in a lot more.
48:23
He's not, he's managing the puck much better, making decisions.
48:27
You know, he's bringing some offense.
48:29
I mean, you saw that power play goal he scored.
48:31
He really, it was a great shot.
48:33
He has the ability to do that and he's got good feet.
48:36
He's competitive, great personality in the locker room.
48:40
Just, he's working to try to get better.
48:41
And, you know, sometimes even though he's been in the program and for, this is the second year we have to remind ourselves that, you know, he was really just a freshman starting his collegiate career.
48:53
I heard you guys have had a lot of swings, ups and downs this season.
48:56
How do you kind of look to maintain consistency as a season goes?
49:00
Well, I think the good thing in the last month, I think we've played well.
49:03
I mean, we've been, you know, the losing goal goes off a skate, you know, previous weekend goes off a hip and bounces up.
49:09
So, you know, we haven't exactly had puck luck, but I like a lot of things that we're doing and how we're playing, but obviously the bottom line is results.
49:18
And, you know, we just went through a stretch where we won in three and the last four league games.
49:22
And, you know, obviously that's not what we want.
49:26
We have to add that consistency start to finish.
49:28
The goal scoring has been very up and down, a little bit surprising at times.
49:33
And that's an area that, you know, since the start of the year, our penalty kills improved a lot.
49:38
I think our power play has too.
49:40
But now we've got to get the power play going on a consistent basis.
49:43
And we have to get the offense going on a much more consistent basis with some of our key guys.
49:48
I mean, that's the bottom line is that, you know, there's guys we look to and every team does.
49:52
And they have the responsibility to bring a little bit more offense than what they've brought so far this year.
49:58
Does it help to be able to kind of look at the games that you guys have lost and see that it has kind of been puck luck and hope that some of those bonds are your way as the season goes on?
50:05
Well, you know, we chart scoring chances in the last month.
50:08
We're getting more scoring chances, but we're not getting more goals.
50:11
And we've talked about, you know, like Casey's power play goal.
50:15
I think it was Tyler, she had a great screen on the goaltender.
50:18
And so we have to get more traffic there.
50:21
I think we're doing a better job of getting our defensemen involved in the offense.
50:25
Jack Sadick had a nice goal on Saturday night with the pass from Gates.
50:28
And we have to play as a five man group in the offensive zone.
50:32
So when I look, we're getting the puck out of our own zone better and more cleanly than we were early.
50:37
You know, I think that Eric was really good, you know, in October, maybe when we were making a lot of mistakes and he's had a good first half, a couple of games maybe that, sorry, that he's struggled, but anybody's gonna, you know, when you play a lot of games.
50:52
And so now we got to find the recipe where, you know, our goalie's on, our specialties are on.
50:57
And, you know, we're playing consistently from start to finish an entire weekend.
51:01
And, you know, for the most part, we had that in Notre Dame.
51:04
I thought five out of the six periods we played really well.
51:06
And, you know, even this weekend against Wisconsin, I thought there were two really good hockey games.
51:10
And I think we're starting to see the Big Ten as what we want it to be, what we hoped it would be.
51:15
And now there's a lot of good teams.
51:17
I mean, everybody's been over well over 500 in the league.
51:20
Some teams undefeated non-conference, I should say.
51:23
We go to Ohio State, they're eight, four and four on the season.
51:26
I looked at the roster, I think they have three guys that didn't play in the NCAA tournaments last year.
51:30
So they're a veteran team.
51:32
We've had good success there over the years.
51:35
And hopefully that will continue this weekend.
51:37
A lot of success at home this year.
51:38
How do you kind of translate that on the road?
51:42
Well, you know, it's like we talked about.
51:44
I mean, goaltending is huge on the road.
51:46
Specialties are huge on the road.
51:48
And, you know, your goal is against.
51:50
You know, you're not going to go on the road and give up five or six goals and have any chance to win.
51:54
It's, you know, giving up two and then try to win those three to two games.
51:58
And hopefully we can get back to that this weekend.
52:01
You have a goaltender that's eligible now.
52:05
So, are you going to work him out?
52:06
Yeah, I don't know.
52:07
You know, it's kind of day to day.
52:11
You know, we know he's eligible this weekend.
52:14
He had to sit the first half of the season, and so this is the halfway mark, so he is eligible to play.
52:19
And I know he's hopeful to play, but, you know, we haven't made that decision yet.
52:24
I mean, Eric's kind of held it for it for two and a half years.
52:27
And, you know, I'm sure he doesn't want to give away that net very easily.
52:31
So we're going to have some good competition moving forward.
52:33
And, you know, that's what you want to have.
52:37
Trying to experiment with some different line combinations, but you're trying to get, like, two guys that play together and trying to get the third piece of the puzzle to apply to that?
52:45
You know, that's a good question.
52:47
I think in the past, we've done that.
52:49
But, you know, trying to, you know, with who's the right wing, you know, with Reedy and McManus, they're the right side.
52:56
So there's two freshman spots, and Sheehee and Ramsey.
52:59
So, you know, we kind of know who the centers are, kind of know who the left wings are going to be.
53:05
You know, we've played some 11 and 7, but it's, we've moved guys around to try to get the offense going, because when you look at some of our numbers, whether it's, you know, some key upperclassmen with not many goals at this point this season, but they've proven that they've scored in the past.
53:20
And hopefully we can, those guys can start to find the back of the net, because if they can consistently start to score, it's going to go a long way of helping us, you know, win on a more consistent basis.
53:32
And, you know, they'll feel better about their game too.
53:33
When guys don't score, they start to press a little bit, and maybe start to cheat on the defensive end of the game.
53:38
And you certainly don't want that to happen.
53:41
A couple thoughts on Reeve's first season or half season, what do you see from him?
53:45
He's progressing.
53:47
You know, he's a big body, which we need.
53:48
He's good around the net.
53:50
There's obviously parts of his game that he has to work on, but, you know, he's a pretty confident kid, and I thought that Casey and Rem and him were very good this weekend.
53:59
They were, to me, after watching the video, by far, our best line on a shift-in, shift-out basis and created a lot of opportunities.
54:07
And, you know, just when we did our video with our team from the weekend, they had a lot of good shifts where you could show this is the way we want to play.
54:15
So he's come along like we hoped he would be.
54:21
Yeah, I mean, I think I'm worried about playing production from everybody.
54:23
When we have a lack of it at this point in time, we have a couple of guys that have probably consistently scored.
54:29
I mean, Tommy's got a lot of assists, but, you know, he's sitting with two goals.
54:31
I mean, Leon's with two goals.
54:33
And, you know, so five on five, there just hasn't been a consistent goal production that we, you know, want to see this year.
54:43
And that's going to be a big thing for us moving forward that, you know, we've got to score on a more consistent basis, because, you know, sometimes you might have to win a game, four-three or five-four.
54:52
You know, this, and, you know, being able to finish games.
54:55
I mean, we didn't score a goal in the third period last weekend.
54:58
So, I mean, if you're only going to score in the first two, you know, you really put yourself behind the eight ball.
55:03
And then even this weekend, the one game, I think we were down 10 minutes of the first 40 we played shorthanded.
55:08
So, you know, the discipline becomes important.
55:11
We still are taking at times, I believe, untimely penalties.
55:14
We put ourselves down three times, two men, this past weekend.
55:19
And you just can't do that.
55:20
Now you're just, you're giving the other team more of an opportunity to beat you.
55:24
And it's hard enough to win games that just don't give them any extra power plays if you can help it.
55:30
So 11 forward to 12, do you have a magic formula that you're going to stick with yet?
55:33
No, I mean, that's kind of game to game.
55:36
That's a little bit of a feel on what we want to do, you know, moving forward.
55:40
That's game to game more than anything else.
55:44
Well, it's ground that's been covered, but does the season ask about the juniors, the chance that Ryan and Casey may have to go play with juniors?
55:50
Yeah, I think there's probably a pretty good chance that they'll both make the team.
55:54
And, you know, we prepare with that.
55:56
We expect it.
55:57
We hope for it.
55:58
We've never denied those kids that opportunity.
56:00
I've said many times that, you know, I've got a chance to coach with some USA teams.
56:05
And it's an honor.
56:06
Anytime you can represent your country, it's a big time event.
56:09
And I don't think the people in our country understand what a big time event that is.
56:14
I mean, that is the best players for the most part, other than a handful in the world at that age group that are playing and, you know, having it, you know, in Buffalo in our own country, which we all know how big it is in Canada.
56:26
All I have to do is go back to, you know, people in Canada go to Europe to go to the games because it's cheaper than trying to get a ticket for the games in Canada.
56:34
Fly over and get an inexpensive ticket in a hotel, make it a vacation.
56:37
But, I mean, it is such a big event.
56:40
The coverage, the media, you know, I'm sure for Casey, it will be a little bit extra being in Buffalo where he was drafted.
56:46
Ryan will have an important part defending like he did last year.
56:50
We helped him win a gold medal.
56:51
So, you know, it's one of those events that, you know, I like to watch.
56:57
I think it's great hockey.
56:59
The intensity is the guys always come back better.
57:03
I mean, that's the one thing that, you know, maybe there's a little dip when they come back for a week or two, just from the mental and physical fatigue of the tournament.
57:12
But then they kind of pick themselves back up, and they're much better players for having the experience to play in an environment like that.
57:19
One other question.
57:20
Somebody can ask it.
57:25
Oh, she's got another battery.
57:27
You want to hook it up?
57:28
I'm good.
57:32
You can ask it.
57:38
That's timed out perfectly, I think.
57:40
Third period of the Friday game, that's happened a lot is do you get a sense that sometimes a team gets a goal there and it becomes all the way Eric?
57:46
No, I didn't really say.
57:47
I thought we were playing pretty well.
57:48
I mean, so much of it's how you're playing and maybe how your goaltender is playing, that when Eric's on, then you're not really worrying about him as much or when he's fighting a little bit like he was at Michigan.
57:59
Now, that's a little bit different story, but he's been pretty consistent all season long.
58:03
We gave him a day off this week.
58:04
We didn't have him practice Monday.
58:07
Just told him to don't put on your gear, ride the bike, get in the tubs, just kind of recharge.
58:14
And it's as much mentally because if we don't tell him that and he's never going to ask for a day off, that's just who he is.
58:19
And I think he's freshened up.
58:21
I mean, the nice thing about being at RIDA this week, we're limited.
58:24
We haven't practiced more than an hour any day.
58:26
And Monday we actually just let the guys play shinny hockey because we have gone straight through without an off week like most teams.
58:32
And I'm not sure an extra half hour practice is going to be important than rest is.
58:38
And maybe not so much physical, but the mental part of it as we hit the road, not to mention that final exams are coming up.
58:43
This is a time when papers are due and you have to write exams.
58:47
So there's more that mental pressure on kids from an academic standpoint that we're sensitive to as well.
58:56
Too much running over the ground again.
58:57
Thank you.
58:59
The way things have gone, when a Friday night happens and the other team gets a goal, is there any sort of oh my gosh here we go again?
59:07
I don't think you can look at things like that.
59:09
Obviously we've had some games this year where we've given up some goals in the third.
59:13
We obviously need to be better in the third.
59:14
That's something we've been talking about this week.
59:17
But no, I don't think if you let up a goal in the third period and you're still up by one, or even if you're tied or you're down by one, you've got to have the same motto.
59:26
Stick to your game plan and everything will be all right.
59:29
How special is it to be a part of the World Juniors?
59:31
A chance to do it again for you?
59:32
Yeah, it's obviously a great honor.
59:35
I had a ton of fun at it last year.
59:38
So yeah, it's obviously really exciting.
59:39
But we got Ohio State this weekend, so I'm focused on that right now.
59:45
Coach mentioned that he noticed that a lot of the Big Ten teams are kind of starting to come into their own.
59:49
The conference is developing a little bit.
59:51
Have you noticed somewhat of an identity in the Big Ten conference yet, or is there that one thing that you can kind of see in conference play?
59:59
I don't know.
59:59
I mean, right now, I think goal-tenning's been really good.
1:00:04
Obviously at Notre Dame, we ran into a hot goal-tenner.
1:00:07
He stole a couple of games from us.
1:00:08
And even last Saturday, that barrier was really good.
1:00:13
So I mean, I don't know.
1:00:14
I just think the Big Ten overall is just getting a lot better.
1:00:17
You know, every team is really good.
1:00:19
Every game is going to be close.
1:00:21
You know, we're at Ohio State this weekend.
1:00:22
They're obviously a really good team.
1:00:24
They made the NCAA last year.
1:00:26
I think they're ranked like number 11th right now in the pairwise.
1:00:28
So we got to be ready for them.
1:00:30
But yeah, the Big Ten's a great league.
1:00:31
It just keeps getting better and better, which I think is really good.
1:00:34
To kind of surprise, do they have so much defense given the last couple of years, even when you're here last year as a freshman, but even before, it's been such an offensive, heavy league?
1:00:43
Yeah, I mean, yeah, I mean, I don't really know.
1:00:46
I don't know too much about why that is.
1:00:49
But yeah, I just, you know, just I guess it's more about the goaltenders.
1:00:54
And, you know, even last year, like Penn State and Ohio State were such a high caliber offensive teams that they'd shoot a ton of pucks and get a lot of goals.
1:01:04
But yeah, I don't, I can't say why.
1:01:06
It's switched a little more defensive style this year.
1:01:11
Your brother, he's 10 and 20, did you get a chance to talk to him much and what the experience was like for him to be the starter?
1:01:19
Yeah, I'm really close to my brother Charlie and both my brothers, Andrew, too.
1:01:23
But yeah, he was obviously really exciting for my whole family.
1:01:27
My parents are able to go out there and watch him play.
1:01:30
But yeah, you know, he likes to tell a lot of stories about about how it is up there.
1:01:35
And it was obviously a really cool time for him.
1:01:37
And and really exciting and, you know, my whole family and I couldn't be more proud of him.
1:01:42
It's, you know, it's just so special seeing your brother, you know, having his dream come true.
1:01:46
So that's really cool.
1:01:47
But but yeah, he's you know, we talk a lot and, you know, he just says how cool it is and how special it is.
1:01:57
Next weekend.
1:01:58
Thank you.
1:02:00
Good.
1:02:00
How are you?
1:02:01
Good.
1:02:03
What is being named to the final list, excuse me, preliminary list for the world juniors, the opportunity to play for your country before to maybe do it again on the kind of the biggest junior stage or what that means?
1:02:15
Yeah, I mean, obviously it's an honor.
1:02:16
It's something that you dream about growing up as a kid.
1:02:18
And I think we're definitely excited.
1:02:21
But right now, I think we got one more weekend and we definitely need these two wins here going out to Ohio State.
1:02:27
So we're going to focus on that and try and get a few wins here this weekend.
1:02:30
And then from there, we'll get excited.
1:02:33
What are you expecting to see out of Ohio State?
1:02:34
What have you seen on the film?
1:02:37
I guess I'm not too sure.
1:02:39
I mean, I've watched them play a few times in the past out here against Minnesota.
1:02:42
And I think from what I've heard, they're going to play fast.
1:02:44
They're going to try to score goals, make plays.
1:02:46
So kind of similar to us, I think.
1:02:49
And like I said, it's a big two games for us.
1:02:51
So we've got to get out there and be ready to go.
1:02:53
Having a couple of times this year, the Friday game with Wisconsin, you get that big lead, they score third period goals.
1:02:58
Is there any sort of, oh my gosh, here we go again, field, do you have to guard against?
1:03:04
I don't think so, no.
1:03:05
I think we've definitely talked about, we've got to work better on our third periods here and find a way to bury some of our own goals and end games against teams that we're ahead in.
1:03:14
But at the same time, I don't think we get that feeling.
1:03:16
I think every game is a new game and we're a pretty close knit group.
1:03:20
So I think we try to stick together in those situations and find a way to win.
1:03:23
Conscious decision to throw that puck between that guy's legs or just happen that way on that assist?
1:03:29
You know, I guess I have no idea.
1:03:32
I think at the time, you're just trying to make a play and then, I don't know, I think you've tried to make the play and whatever happens happens.
1:03:39
So I don't know.
1:03:40
I guess it was good.
1:03:41
Rem was in a good spot for me, so it worked well.
1:03:43
What's the most important aspect of shutting down offensive pressure?
1:03:50
You know, I don't think there's one thing I think just good overall five person defense is probably the best way to do it if everyone's working together and doing their own job.
1:03:58
I think that makes it harder some forwards.
1:04:00
I don't think there's one specific way, but like I said, I think just five guys sticking together and playing good team defense is probably the best way.
1:04:07
Coach mentioned that you guys have lacked puck luck so far this year, that a lot of bounces kind of go the wrong way for you.
1:04:13
Does that kind of help or hurt your look back on the first half of the season where you say, you know, moving forward, maybe we'll get a couple of those bounces and keep changing the results?
1:04:22
Yeah, I mean, I think that's probably definitely true.
1:04:25
I think there's been times where it's like, we can't get a bounce, like, we need one goal, we need a bounce quick and, you know, it doesn't happen.
1:04:31
But at the same time, I think most of the time it usually comes back around.
1:04:34
So hopefully for us in the second half, we'll get a few of those bounces.
1:04:37
I think it's more of a good thing than a bad thing.
1:04:40
I think you're trying to always look forward, trying to get a little luck.
1:04:42
So I think for us, that'd be nice for sure.
1:04:45
A couple of thoughts about Scott Reed.
1:04:47
What's it like having him on your line as a winger?
1:04:51
Yeah, I think I've actually, I played with Reed like two years ago, just for I think two games out in Ann Arbor at the program.
1:04:58
And we played really well together.
1:04:59
And I guess somehow maybe it transformed a little bit over here.
1:05:03
I think he does a really good job in the corners.
1:05:05
And that helps me out a lot.
1:05:06
I think, especially in the center, I'm usually the last guy coming up the ice.
1:05:09
So anyone who's got an forecheck in the corners, win puck battles really helps me.
1:05:14
And he does a good job.
1:05:16
He always wins a battle, looks for me.
1:05:18
And I like to play with the pucks.
1:05:19
So whenever I can get someone who can find me, I enjoy that.
1:05:28
Yeah, I think, like I said, it's definitely a huge honor, and I grew up watching it my whole life, and I think I've talked to Lindgren about it quite a bit.
1:05:35
I think he was on team last year, but we're definitely excited.
1:05:38
But at the same time, this is our biggest weekend of the year for sure, and we got two big ten games coming up this weekend.
1:05:44
We're behind in the standings, so we need to go in and get two wins, and we're gonna focus on that.
1:05:48
And then once this weekend's over, we'll get excited for it, we'll do it next year.
1:05:52
How have you been balancing with your first call to you here with finals coming up and the stress of being a student athlete, balancing everything that's been going out, has it been kind of tough for you so far?
1:06:04
You know, I don't think it's been too bad.
1:06:07
I think there's some days that get along with class and tests and finals, papers, whatever, but at the same time, we're all in it together.
1:06:12
I think every guy on the team's got class, every guy on the team's got finals, and same with the teams you play against.
1:06:18
So for me, it really hasn't been that bad.
1:06:20
I think having a good freshman class to kind of hang around with and stick around and have some fun with makes it a lot easier.
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