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This is The GPL Podcast, sponsored by Vintage Minnesota Hockey, your exclusive source for throwback Minnesota jerseys.
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Visit vintagemnhockey.com.
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Now, here's Hammy, Vigo, and your host, Jupiter.
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Thanks.
0:23
Good evening, and welcome to the GPL Podcast, episode number 124.
0:48
We are back from our long winter break that we usually take for most of December, since the team usually doesn't play too much, and we're all busy.
0:57
But we have a guest on tonight again.
1:00
He was guest on our number two show, and has been on almost every year, I think, Frank.
1:06
Frank Mazzocco, thanks for joining us yet again.
1:10
Hey, you're welcome.
1:11
Gosh, your ratings have been just skyrocketing ever since number two, right?
1:16
Oh, number two.
1:17
You can actually go back and listen to those podcasts, and they're pretty ugly.
1:21
Oh, no, I've gone back and listened to my old tapes.
1:24
That's ugly enough.
1:26
Hey, we never claim to be professional.
1:29
We're just a bunch of guys just out there, putting a little product out there, and we've gotten a little better.
1:34
I got an ugly tape coming up.
1:37
I'm working on a, I think it's a 25th year.
1:41
Let's see, I have tape from a 93 playoff game, me and Wooger.
1:47
Really?
1:50
Wooger would have been coaching then.
1:51
You sure it's not 2003?
1:55
Let's see.
1:56
Yeah, that would be right.
1:57
So then, what's this, 15 years?
2:00
I lost a decade somewhere in my life.
2:04
Yeah, so that would be what, 15?
2:05
Yeah, so it would be like 15th anniversary of this game was a 93, I think it was a Duluth and Gopher game.
2:12
It must have been mid-season.
2:14
You know what, now that I think about it, that 93 game I got is me and Tom Reed.
2:20
A game against Wisconsin at Milwaukee.
2:26
Milwaukee.
2:27
And the young Ryan LeFevre was on the show.
2:30
But here I dominate, you haven't even introduced your regulars.
2:32
Oh, well, that is quite all right.
2:35
Everyone knows that we're always joined by Hammy and Viggo.
2:38
Hammy, how are you doing?
2:39
Did you have a nice break?
2:41
Yeah, I can't complain.
2:43
A little bit too much time off from work, man.
2:45
I was feeling sluggish.
2:49
Well, Vig, we know you're always busy because you have young kids and you just had a nice Christmas and it must have been fun with the kids with Christmas, wasn't it?
2:57
It's fun, although one of the fun things that comes up with five-year-olds is you ask them, do you think they're going to be on the nice list or the naughty list?
3:05
And they go, doesn't matter, we got grandparents.
3:11
So they get pretty excited for the season and my five-year-old's playing mini-mite hockey now, so we're getting ice time and the rinks across the street are open now and it's a fun, busy time.
3:25
Hammy, are you already following VEGOS Kids for recruiting purposes?
3:31
No, I can't say that I am.
3:32
I usually let them age a little bit.
3:34
Maybe Lucia is though in these days, you never know.
3:39
Oh boy.
3:39
That's why they have the little chippers at Mariucci between periods.
3:46
Well, boys, before we signed off for 2017, we talked about a series with Ohio State.
3:55
And I think we were talking probably split or something along those lines.
3:59
And Frank, you went out to Columbus and it didn't turn out so well for our Gophers.
4:06
Do you remember that series?
4:12
It seemed like so long ago, but it was not good for the Gophers.
4:15
Yeah.
4:16
When you put Ohio State in your tweet this afternoon, I thought, it's got to be a typo.
4:21
He's got to be really meaning St.
4:23
Cloud State.
4:24
No, that was a long time ago.
4:26
That was one of the more depressing trips that I've been on in quite a while.
4:31
They expected at least a split and banged around like they're very good at doing these days, banging around the rink and getting chances and not being able to score.
4:43
Watched Leon Brewstead have three whacks at the puck and not a one of them was close to going in.
4:49
It was just miserable.
4:50
That was a very quiet ride home.
4:52
I bet it was.
4:56
I know Hammeh, you and I are probably a little more upset than Veegs because Veegs knows that Veegs, you're the level headed one, I would say.
5:06
But I know I was not very happy after that Ohio State Series.
5:10
Hammeh, I'm guessing you weren't either.
5:12
But Veegs, please bring us back to reality.
5:16
Well, on the bright side, they did out shoot the Buckeyes both games.
5:22
This isn't Penn State.
5:23
The two games where they are generating offense, they're just not producing goals.
5:29
And as mad as you want to get at players about not converting chances, like for a stint kind of whiffing on pucks, as long as they're generating the chances, you have to hope in the long run that they do it in the games that matter.
5:43
And let's be honest, Notre Dame's running away with the Big Ten.
5:47
Gophers are in good shape pairwise.
5:50
That series in the big picture doesn't matter.
5:52
You know, if they have this trend where they don't play well or continue not to score as we get to the end of the season, then you can get concerned.
6:00
But there's really not too many things Lucia can do other than continue to pump the tires of his players that have scored before.
6:09
Is there any question why his kids don't need Santa Claus?
6:15
Way to go, Veegs.
6:16
That's good.
6:17
That's good.
6:17
Keep a stiff upper lip and all that stuff.
6:21
Now on the other side, Hammeh, how did you feel about Ohio State, the two losses?
6:27
Well, I mean, obviously we all kind of expected a little bit better result.
6:31
You know, I mean, when you get an overtime loss, I mean, I guess you can see, you know, how it's the thin line between winning and losing.
6:38
So, I mean, I think that that's one of the things you can look at.
6:43
But yeah, it definitely wasn't something that was a very thrilling result for any of us.
6:47
And it was kind of like, all right, I think we're all ready for the break.
6:50
So, yeah, that's true.
6:52
Well, one thing that did happen, Frank, was that Mr.
6:56
Robson became eligible that Ohio State weekend.
6:59
And after the two to one loss, Sheerhorn set out his first game in forever.
7:05
90 some odd games.
7:08
How do you think Robson did in his first game?
7:10
I mean, it wasn't a win.
7:11
The offense didn't do good.
7:12
But how do you think Robson looked in his first game as a gopher?
7:17
I thought he looked really good.
7:20
I thought he looked poised.
7:22
I thought he was square to his shots.
7:23
I don't think he was flopping around very much.
7:27
I don't quite feel the same way after game two against Army.
7:33
But I'm going to reserve judgment because it's a work in progress.
7:37
I mean, he's got some adjustments to make there.
7:40
I'm not saying he played poorly against Army.
7:42
He got a win, which is important.
7:44
He only gave up the one goal.
7:47
But I don't know.
7:48
I just thought he was jumping around in the crease a little bit more in that Army game than he was at Ohio State.
7:53
But yeah, after that Ohio State game, I thought, well, Bing, no wonder everybody's talking so highly of him.
7:58
This is a slam dunk now.
8:00
We're going to rotate goaltenders the rest of the year.
8:02
Well, Frank, he did was like the number three star of the week in the Big Ten for getting that one win.
8:07
I'm not sure why either, but he was.
8:09
So he must not have been too bad.
8:13
No, he wasn't.
8:14
He wasn't.
8:14
But I mean, it's going to sound like I've taken away from the kid.
8:18
But I don't put a lot of mileage in those three stars of the week, you know, necessarily.
8:24
There's so much goes into it.
8:26
I just remember there was one PR director, league PR director who said, well, you know, we gave it to the other guy last week, so it was this guy's turn this week.
8:34
Well, that sounds like a Frank Mazzocco three stars pick.
8:38
I mean, you can't do that when you're the league PR director.
8:40
I mean, you got to be a little more objective about it.
8:43
But, you know, that plus the other thing is who else was playing?
8:47
I mean, the league, you know, the schedule was getting thinner.
8:50
I don't know if all the teams were playing.
8:51
But so, I mean, that sounds like I'm slamming Robson and I'm not.
8:56
I don't intend to do that.
8:58
I, you know, I want to give them the, you know, I've just, I've not heard any bad words about them and I want to give them the whole chance to get going.
9:05
And he very well may.
9:08
Well, as a result of that OSU loss or pair of losses, Hammy, Gophers find themselves in fourth place in the Big Ten with two games in hand on all those other teams.
9:19
Or those teams have all two games in hand, I should say.
9:24
At least it looks like Notre Dame is going to run away with Hammy, but does Minnesota have a chance to get back up there?
9:29
But it's not looking good for the Big Ten this year.
9:34
No, I mean, I guess you kind of just have to look at it like Vig said.
9:37
I mean, at this point, you just try to continue to improve your performance week to week and keep yourself in that pairwise hunt and then hope when you're kind of hitting the end of the season that you're playing your best hockey because when you kind of, it's kind of one of those, the old saying goes, you can't win the league in the first half, but you can certainly lose it.
9:56
And I think that that's kind of the way that they've played up to this point.
10:01
You know, Notre Dame certainly has put themselves in a good position to win, but they haven't won it.
10:05
But the Gophers have definitely put themselves in a position where it's going to be pretty tough to, you know, even compete for it.
10:12
So at this point, it's just about playing, you know, improving and playing your best hockey at the end of the year.
10:18
Veegs, they are 4-7-1-1 in the Big Ten.
10:23
That's not going to cut it.
10:24
But like you said, we have to look at the big picture.
10:27
But for the Big Ten, it's not looking good.
10:30
No, it's not looking good.
10:32
And you can see that Don Lucia is trying to shake things up and make some moves.
10:36
When was the last time you saw a player added that's the quality of Clayton Phillips?
10:41
You're bringing a guy who's a drafted player who's being counted on to contribute on the power play and generate some offense.
10:49
And what I saw with him against Army is he's a player who can help.
10:53
He's got quick feet.
10:54
He's got quick puck skills.
10:56
He looks very comfortable at the top of the power play even after just one week in earning gold.
11:01
And he's a player who's going to contribute.
11:03
And then you also saw Tyler Nanny being pushed up to forward.
11:07
He's a player who himself today said that he prefers playing defense and that's where he sees his future.
11:13
But Lucia has talked him into playing forward because they need guys who can skate, provide some speed and provide some secondary secondary scoring because that's really hurt them this year.
11:23
Well, actually, that was the next topic we're going to talk about.
11:26
It was a Clayton Phillips coming in and on his way out was Nate Knappke.
11:32
Is that how you pronounce his name?
11:33
Knappke?
11:35
Knappke?
11:36
Knappke, yep.
11:38
I leaned away from this thing here.
11:40
Knappke.
11:41
So Phillips in, Knappke out.
11:43
Looks like Knappke is going to, you know, they said he's going to spend the year in the USHL.
11:48
I doubt he's coming back.
11:49
I mean, do you think he's going to come back, Cami, or is that the last we've seen of Nate?
11:54
I mean, I think it's been typical that unless it's an academic situation, kids don't tend to come back from the school.
11:59
They leave halfway through the year.
12:03
So I would be a little surprised if that happened.
12:06
And Veegs, I believe you looked at when was last time, has the Gophers ever done this?
12:11
Midseason brought somebody in that wasn't like somebody like a Robson who had to sit on purpose?
12:17
The only close parallel at all was Andy Brink joining the program.
12:23
He was just skating with the team.
12:24
He was on the golf team, and Woog decided, you know, you can help us.
12:28
We're going to add you to the roster officially.
12:30
You know, he became a hockey player instead of a golfer.
12:33
That's the only thing even close I could find.
12:35
That was like 20, 25 years ago.
12:37
Yeah, that would have been a long time ago.
12:42
Well, how about, didn't he bring, didn't he bring Tommy Nevers in once also?
12:48
He asked the ball player.
12:52
I remember that.
12:53
I don't remember when he brought him in.
12:56
Did he bring him in halfway through the year?
12:57
I can't even remember.
12:59
I believe Nevers was.
13:00
It was like an injury deal where, I mean, they got where they were getting so banged up that he needed some kind of help somewhere.
13:05
And I'm not even sure, never saw a game, although he must have.
13:09
Otherwise, it wouldn't be noteworthy.
13:11
But I think he did see at least one game.
13:13
But the thing is, who is he brought in?
13:16
I can't remember a kid coming out of juniors or outside of the campus to come in and play.
13:23
And if I've missed somebody, I don't think I've missed a third round draft pick coming in to the middle of the campaign.
13:31
So I don't know that that's ever happened.
13:34
I just think it's a heck of an adjustment and a gutsy move by Phillips to come in in the middle of the year.
13:41
By the way, we're doing one of our Gopher Insiders with him.
13:45
He's quite an articulate kid.
13:49
Maybe I let a cat out of the bag here.
13:51
I might get in trouble for...
13:53
Yes, V, we did get a chance to do a one-on-one with him today.
13:56
And so we're going to have the interview.
13:57
I'm going to push for getting it on the air on Saturday night.
14:01
I'll be listening then.
14:02
He has not faced the rest of the media jackals yet.
14:06
Maybe because I promised I wouldn't be a jackal.
14:13
But I mean, that's the thing.
14:14
This is a kid who they wanted to have come in right away at the start of the season.
14:18
He had some academic things to finish up with high school before he could come to the university.
14:23
He did that.
14:25
They reached out to him and, you know, he can help this team.
14:28
And it's kind of a no-lose situation for them because, you know, he's probably a guy who wouldn't have been here for four years anyway.
14:35
So they get him for maybe three and a half now.
14:38
But what does it say about how Don feels, how this season is going, that he needs to do this?
14:47
Well, I think he's definitely under some pressure to perform this year in the postseason.
14:52
I talked to Don and Mark Coyle this past month and both those guys say, you know, for an extension to happen or for him to be having a say in the program, you know, they need to win this year.
15:03
You know, they need to show that they can perform in the NCAA tournament.
15:10
Well, I don't know.
15:11
It's just, like you say, it's kind of unprecedented for us to see that.
15:15
And obviously, I think it's a great move, but who knows how Nate Kniepke feels.
15:23
I'm guessing he, I don't know if he wanted to leave, but maybe he was kind of forced out to be kind of curious to see how that all really washed out what happened.
15:31
For him to play any games this year, and that's what he needs, you know, juniors was the only way that was going to happen.
15:36
Because what this defense needs is offensive players, and that's not Nate's game.
15:41
He's a penalty kill guy defending the lead, so he wasn't going to provide offense.
15:48
So that's what happened in between.
15:49
And then we had a series with Army West Point, and it had been a long time since Army had been in town, Frank, but it was a bit chippy this weekend, don't you think?
16:06
I thought at times it was a little chippy.
16:09
Well, no, actually I didn't, but you know, you see chipping.
16:14
I don't see chipping this right away.
16:16
I think you see chipping this more when you're watching on TV because you get the closeups.
16:20
You know, we're at one distance, and we don't get to see the...
16:22
But I just thought it was a tough, hard-fought series.
16:26
I give Army credit for being as...
16:30
You know, they had skating skills, they had physical skills.
16:36
They just couldn't handle the puck.
16:37
They couldn't do anything with it.
16:39
And I mean, that's a bad quality to lose, but I think their skating and their physical play kept them in those games and made it a pretty good challenge for the Gophers.
16:49
I mean, I felt a little screwy after the week was over, saying, geez, did I oversell this thing on the air?
16:56
Was Army not that good?
16:59
You know, you just kind of have second...
17:01
I did, I had second thoughts about that.
17:02
But, you know, at the time and the way I called it and the way Wally called it was that, you know, Army was a good, strong, good skating team, strong team, and they gave the Gophers a battle.
17:14
They definitely did.
17:15
You know, it's been a while since we've seen some blowouts, and I was hoping, you know, one of these days, you know, the Gophers will light up a team that's inferior to them.
17:23
We didn't see that, Ami.
17:27
No, you know, I mean, I guess it's just one of those things where I think when you've been off for several weeks and it's kind of like that right before that one game or that one series right before the start of the year, you just kind of expect that it's going to be a little bit, you know, lackluster.
17:41
We would see that with the classic and prior years, you know, where maybe we were expecting to see better performance and just didn't quite pan out that way.
17:51
So, but I mean, you get two wins.
17:53
I don't think they played poorly by any stretch, but it certainly is kind of tough to gauge when you don't play the greatest competition and it's also at a point in the year where guys have had time off.
18:05
So, again, this past weekend, Veegs, we saw Robson play one of the games.
18:11
We actually have a question on Twitter by John Candles.
18:16
He wonders, wondering if you think Lucia will use two goalies for weekends more now.
18:21
I mean, he did kind of rotate them the last two weekends.
18:24
Are we going to see more of that or did Don kind of give you any heads up on what he's planning to do with the goalies for the future?
18:32
After last weekend, he said he foresaw playing both goalies over the next couple of weekends until someone either establishes themselves as a dominant player or the hot goalie.
18:44
He's going to play both.
18:47
Interesting.
18:48
So I'm guessing we'll probably see Sheerhorn at St.
18:51
Cloud this week and maybe Robson when they come back home for the home and home.
18:56
I guess we'll have to wait and see.
18:58
Another question is, one Pat McAleady wants to know, Frank, which number 26 is your favorite gopher?
19:08
I got to look in the book.
19:09
How many 26s were there?
19:10
My book.
19:14
Blake Wheeler?
19:15
Wasn't Wheeler 26?
19:16
Maybe Thomas Vannick?
19:19
I'm looking, babe.
19:22
Phil Kessel?
19:25
Were they?
19:26
I hate number illiterate here, but there is a book that's got...
19:32
Was Wheeler 26?
19:35
Wheeler had a couple numbers, actually.
19:38
How about Nick Angel?
19:41
Bingo, there you go.
19:42
That was from a Mixler listener saying they wanted Nick Angel as your favorite number 26.
19:48
I'd pick him over Mick Coletti.
19:53
He was fun.
19:53
He had a good sense of humor.
19:56
Yeah.
19:58
I'm guessing he will be joining you guys Sunday evening, won't he?
20:03
Oh, wait a minute.
20:04
You know what?
20:05
The pick is easy.
20:07
It's Darian Romanco.
20:12
You know what?
20:12
Mick would go along.
20:13
Mick is a big Romanco fan, by the way.
20:15
I just happened to talk to him today.
20:17
He is a big Darian Romanco fan.
20:20
He thinks he's got some scoring ability.
20:24
Somebody's just got to tap into it.
20:26
Christian Isaacson is in that list.
20:28
Jay Baraball, Castle was, yes, Vanik.
20:32
We had some good ones, didn't we?
20:33
Scott Blum.
20:35
Wow.
20:39
So there you go.
20:40
Reid Larson.
20:41
How about that one?
20:44
Is that before your guy's time?
20:46
It was before my time, but we definitely know that Reid wasn't good in the booth.
20:52
Sorry, Frank.
20:55
And other qualities.
20:56
There's a reason why the Wugger came along.
21:02
And I'm sorry, but the Wugger was wonderful.
21:04
Have you talked to the Wugger lately?
21:06
How's the Wugger doing?
21:07
I don't know.
21:08
I feel bad.
21:10
I get asked enough.
21:11
You think it would shame me into just getting out there and inviting them out to lunch or something.
21:15
I got to do that.
21:17
I got two weeks here where no travel.
21:19
I should do it in the next two weeks.
21:21
We've heard that before, Frank.
21:22
We'll hold you to it.
21:26
Shame me on the Internet.
21:28
That's what we do and what we do well.
21:31
Well, before we're going to talk about the World Juniors a little bit and talk about St.
21:33
Cloud.
21:34
But before we do that, we need to hear from our sponsor.
21:38
vintagemnhockey.com is a proud sponsor of the GPL Podcast.
21:43
Well, what is Vintage MN Hockey?
21:45
Well, it's kind of the place to get all of your history of Minnesota hockey.
21:50
From the pros to the minors to the collegiate teams to even the high school teams.
21:55
All information about any of those teams can be found on vintagemnhockey.com.
22:00
They also have great interviews with some historical Minnesota hockey figures like John Mayessich and Lou Nanny, Glenn Sanmore, some of the greats of Minnesota hockey.
22:10
So make sure you check out those interviews.
22:11
It's a really great thing.
22:13
But as I always say, I think my favorite part is the store.
22:17
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22:24
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22:31
So make sure you visit vintagemnhockey.com and follow them on Twitter at VintageMNHockey.
22:38
Well, before we get into some World Junior Talk in St.
22:41
Cloud, some great thing happened on the Internet today.
22:45
And someone posted on Twitter, and it was our great friend, Frank Ceratori.
22:54
Somebody asked him about some of the referees this past weekend, and this audio quality is not great, but let's just take a listen to Frank.
23:03
The great officials, you know, anybody can call penalties.
23:06
Hey, if you're looking hard enough, if you're looking hard enough, you can find a penalty on just about every shift.
23:12
The great officials know how to manage the game, they know how to manage people.
23:17
And like I said, you know, I never said one word to the guy.
23:20
Finally, after the fifth or sixth penalty, you got to stick up for your guys.
23:23
And I clapped three times, and he's looking at me from the other side of the rink, and he didn't hesitate to team me up.
23:29
Rather than having the bedside manner to come over, okay, Frank, I got the message, that's enough, you know.
23:35
But, you know, maybe hopefully Don Adam will learn with this, work with this guy, and he'll learn this way.
23:41
Maybe some of them will never learn.
23:42
I mean, like, you just never learn.
23:43
Hey, there's three things I've never seen in my life.
23:46
I've never seen Bigfoot, I've never seen the Easter Bunny, and I've never seen a referee say he had a crap game, you know.
23:53
So, I have seen Santa Claus.
23:55
I actually met him in a bar in San Francisco.
23:57
Me and my brother Tony, good dude Santa, likes his pops.
24:01
Good dude Santa likes his pops.
24:03
Sorry, the audio quality is a little weird there.
24:05
It was like in stereo at first, and then it went to mono on one side.
24:09
So, not the greatest audio quality.
24:11
But all that matters is Mr.
24:14
Mazzocco, Mr.
24:15
Sertori is a treasure.
24:18
I think he's one of the funniest human beings I've ever met in my life.
24:23
And I'm not saying just coach.
24:24
I'm not saying hockey.
24:26
I'm not saying...
24:27
He is just hysterical.
24:31
He's a wit.
24:32
It runs in the family.
24:36
You know, he named the arena what it should have been named.
24:42
He called it the Wooger Dome.
24:45
And from that day on, you just realize how funny that man is.
24:50
Yeah, he's had quite a few of them.
24:54
I mean, when Blue Line lunches used to be in vogue, he would get up and he would do his half hour and your sides would be splitting.
25:01
You would have paid $10 or $12 for a lunch, and you would have gotten like a $50 comedy club show right there.
25:08
He's just hysterical.
25:10
Well, we actually, the last few days, we've seen a lot of brutal honesty on the internet.
25:17
The coach is saying, you know, being more honest than we thought.
25:22
I mean, I believe I heard some quotes from the Swiss coach at the World Juniors saying a lot of honesty and Veegs.
25:29
We don't see a lot of that honesty these days.
25:31
Usually the coaches are pretty much straightforward and just kind of go around it.
25:34
But there are a couple of gems out there.
25:37
Yeah, there's always that Bill Belichick, you know, play everything tight to the vest and script everything and don't give anything away.
25:44
Then there's other guys who feel pretty secure in their spot where they can, you know, get on their pedestal and speak their minds, which is good to see.
25:52
You know, this year, I think we've seen Don even get a little bit more opinionated and honest with the media this year, which has been fun to see.
25:59
But I think it's good for the games when you have colorful personalities.
26:05
And that's actually one thing we've kind of lacked for a little while, are the personalities.
26:13
Everyone knows the Wugger is a little more outrageous than the Don has been.
26:16
But when you throw on somebody like a Frank Sertori there, it just brings us back to those old school hockey guys that are just fun.
26:26
And like you said, Frank, he's just a funny guy.
26:30
He's hilarious.
26:31
But there's a little bit, the pressure is not, I don't think there's pressure to win at Air Force Academy.
26:40
I'm not saying they don't.
26:41
There's all kinds of pressures that they have to excel anyway at either of those two military academies.
26:47
And the kids are just driven human beings to begin with and to perform their best.
26:53
But, you know, I don't think anybody said, you know, jeez, our program is going downhill.
26:57
We need you to come back and build us a winner.
26:59
We got to get to the NCAA.
27:00
I don't think that's happened.
27:02
So when you're not under that kind of microscope, you can be a little looser.
27:06
And that's part of the deal.
27:09
You know, there's a lot more college TV than when I started.
27:14
Remember, you know, back in the 80s, if you didn't have a phone, if you couldn't make a phone call to a radio station in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, you'd have to wait till tomorrow's paper to get a score.
27:26
And then maybe you'd get all of them.
27:28
So another one that I'm saying is there's just much more focus.
27:32
They're more visible to the whole community.
27:36
And with that comes a little bit more close to the vest.
27:39
And you're afraid to give away some things.
27:41
And it's a different game.
27:43
It's just a whole different world.
27:44
Well, it's definitely different.
27:46
You look back at the 90s.
27:49
It was Mazzocco and Reid.
27:50
And you guys were the only guys in college hockey for a while.
27:53
Yeah.
27:54
I mean, honestly, they have some massive stuff.
27:58
Take it a generation before us and go back to when Mariucci was coaching.
28:03
And he and an opposing coach would wind up in a bar and have some drinks.
28:06
I mean, you think that's going to happen today?
28:08
Not very often.
28:11
It definitely won't.
28:12
So it's definitely a different time.
28:14
One thing that's different now than it was maybe, say, 15, 20 years ago is the World Juniors VEAGS.
28:20
It's a special tournament now, and it's a tournament that I guess back in the 90s and early 2000s that the US would come back with their tail between their legs.
28:31
But it's a little different these days.
28:33
And right now our team USA is in the semifinal.
28:37
They'll face Sweden tomorrow.
28:40
And a certain Gopher is doing pretty well, isn't he?
28:44
Yeah, Casey Middlestad is leading the team in scoring and put him back with his peers.
28:50
And he is just even more special.
28:53
He's got more space.
28:54
He's got the size advantage on so many players.
28:58
He just looks really comfortable in that rink and in the big situations.
29:03
And it should be fun to see him against Sweden.
29:06
Sweden has a tremendous record in the World Juniors lately.
29:09
I think you could probably say it's Sweden, US, maybe Canada 3 these days.
29:16
I saw a feature on TSN before the tournament where they said, you know what, the US might be ahead of Canada right now developing players for this tournament.
29:25
It's pretty impressive, the performance.
29:27
Bob Mazzocco has gotten out of these guys the last two years and they're playing some really good hockey and it should be a fun one tomorrow.
29:34
Hammey, will Milstead come back and look like this for the Gophers?
29:40
Who knows?
29:40
I mean, you always see, we've seen historically over the years, some guys come back and they kind of get that boost from that, being involved in that.
29:48
And there's other guys that seem to kind of lose some of their energy from having been involved in that tournament.
29:54
So hopefully he will be one of those guys that does get a boost from it.
29:59
I think the thing that you get a little worried about, not that we didn't have to think about him leaving early anyways, but when you see a guy go to a level where he's playing with very talented guys and he shows a lot of success, it kind of probably perks up the ears of a general manager and says, if we get him in here and get some other talented guys around him, he could probably make an impact sooner than we might expect.
30:24
You know what I mean?
30:25
So you kind of get a little bit leery when you see that.
30:29
But I'm glad for him, I'm glad for Team USA that he's having that kind of success.
30:34
Frank, have you enjoyed the World Juniors a little bit?
30:37
I've enjoyed it immensely.
30:41
For various reasons, I don't usually get a lot of time to watch.
30:45
Sometimes I'll have to go to a replay, but I've been able to watch a goodly amount of these things live, and it's a treat.
30:53
It's a great product.
30:54
I don't quite understand why there aren't more people in the stands there in Buffalo.
31:01
Especially because it's just a short border crossing for the Canadians who supposedly love this tournament more than just about anything in the world.
31:08
I thought there'd be a few more bodies in the seats.
31:11
Maybe there will be for these final two rounds of games Thursday and Friday.
31:16
Yeah, I've just enjoyed the heck of it.
31:20
I wonder if either of you guys watch any of the NBC game tonight before we started the podcast here?
31:29
I sent out a tweet trying to get an answer and no one's even responded to it.
31:34
There was a guy on the desk there in the studio, Dennis, an analyst, and I don't know exactly who it was.
31:42
Bring a bell?
31:43
I didn't see it.
31:47
Sorry, but I won't get...
31:48
He started talking about the need to...
31:50
The US Olympic team has only picked one goaltender at this point.
31:54
He went on to suggest that maybe that the US Olympic team might be also in need of some help on defense, and he said they could use Middlestad, who's a defenseman.
32:05
Okay, so now I know that's wrong, but did he mean Lindgren?
32:12
I'm not sure where he was going with that comment, and I just thought I would throw that out here for you.
32:17
I don't know, or is his credibility totally blown and we don't know what the heck he was getting at?
32:26
I don't know.
32:27
If it's just me, I hear so much praise of Lindgren on the national team, and I just don't see it when he comes back here, Veegs.
32:38
Well, you see it because you're expecting him to be a Mike Riley or an H.
32:42
Schmidt, and that's just not the kind of player he is, and especially when you put him on the big ice, it's not going to be as noticeable as when they're going to play on these NHL rinks and they need to play tight defense and shut down opposing players.
32:56
That's where he shines, and it's just the kind of player you're looking for because he looks really steady, clear in the front of the net, killing penalties, getting the breakout started, but he's not going to be a flashy player who's going to show a lot of offense.
33:11
Now, one topic that Frank mentioned there that I wanted to talk to you about, Veegs, is the attendance at the World Juniors is down quite a bit, and I know you were kind of talking about that earlier this week, saying how they're kind of pushing this as an NHL type of thing, and the cost of the tickets and everything is more along the NHL level.
33:31
Should they be doing this?
33:33
Well, when you get into these tournaments where you're renting buildings like the Harbor Center and Buffalo, and last year they had the same problem when they were at the Air Canada Center and the Forum in Toronto, Montreal, they're charging NHL prices, they're in NHL buildings, and people would rather go see the NHL.
33:50
When you're charging that much, unless it's the gold medal game or a semifinal game, people aren't going to pay 80, 90 bucks for a lower level seat for these games.
34:00
I think they've kind of overestimated their market a little bit on this stuff.
34:04
When you get into a smaller building, something like if you had a Mariucci Ritter Arena building where you could have $40 tickets or $20 tickets, you'd probably see a bigger turnout for this kind of stuff.
34:19
These tournaments and the regionals, they have these guarantees to lie in the pockets of people in the IIHF or USA Hockey and it just doesn't work out well for the fans.
34:35
Yeah, if they're charging those kinds of prices, that is a shame because it seems like the whole tournament, there have been nobody at these games, obviously except for the outdoor game, which is far as in the first place.
34:47
I didn't get to see the game yesterday, but when I heard that there was places fairly empty, I was pretty disappointed.
34:57
That's USA versus Russia.
34:58
It's the Commies.
34:59
Come on.
35:00
They've been the mortal enemy in hockey for decades.
35:04
That place should at least have been half full, but it was empty.
35:08
It was also the first day back to work after a long holiday break for a lot of people.
35:12
Yeah, maybe.
35:14
But you're right.
35:14
There were fewer people there for those games than there were for the round robin back between Christmas and New Year's.
35:26
What's funny is they've shown shots of the other arena that's attached, and it probably seats like 3,400, and that building's been kind of packed for games.
35:36
When Sweden played in there, it was full.
35:39
There was good atmosphere.
35:40
They haven't shown a lot of those games on NHL Network, but it's a fun environment when you get enough people fill in a building.
35:49
When did Grand Forks...
35:51
Sorry, Vig, go.
35:53
I'd rather have a Ritter packed than an empty Excel for these kinds of things.
36:00
I think it was in Grand Forks 2005.
36:05
Nate Wells would be the person who knows this probably off the top of his head.
36:10
And why aren't you following Nate Wells on Twitter, Frank?
36:15
I thought that was pretty funny.
36:20
I didn't even know you could find out who was following you unless you spent a lot of time.
36:24
I guess maybe it meant something.
36:26
So Nate, I'm sorry.
36:27
I'll follow.
36:27
If you click on somebody's name, it'll say if they follow you or not.
36:37
He probably clicked on your name so you didn't follow him.
36:39
What a jerk.
36:42
He's probably trying to slide into your DMs.
36:45
Yeah, that could be it.
36:48
He might start annoying you then.
36:49
Sorry, Nate.
36:50
We're just kidding.
36:56
Okay, well, the World Juniors is going to be wrapping up here.
36:58
Hopefully, the Team USA.
37:01
If they win it this year, Hammy, I think they'll deserve it.
37:06
For a medal round to go through Russia, Sweden, and most likely Canada, if you get a gold medal out of that, boy, do you deserve it because it's not an easy road.
37:16
Yeah, but I don't think that it's ever really an easy road if you win the gold medal on that.
37:22
You're going to have to go to some good teams.
37:24
It's kind of like winning the NCAA tournament.
37:26
You know that in order to get to that title game and to win it all, you're going to have to play.
37:31
I mean, you might have an easier first round game, but you know that you're going to have some pretty tough competition, especially in that semifinal final time frame.
37:40
So I think you earn it regardless of the year.
37:44
I think what just ramped it up was the fact that they were playing Russia in a quarterfinals, and typically it's more of a semifinal that they would play that kind of caliber team.
37:54
But it's all entertaining to me.
37:58
And I just know that tomorrow Veegs against Sweden, it should be a fun game.
38:03
Yeah, it should be a fun game because Sweden's a puck possession team, and they've got probably the number one pick in next year's draft, and Dahlund, the defenseman, the young guy.
38:13
One thing I'll be looking forward to is to see if Quinn Hughes picks up his game a little bit.
38:18
He's a player who looked real dynamic in college hockey, but lately in the World Junior, he's looked a little passive and hasn't found a way to make his mark.
38:28
Fox has been the guy who's been the most impressive, I think, for the US defense.
38:33
Go, USA.
38:34
It's all I can say.
38:36
It's a fun time of the year.
38:38
The World Juniors and regional weekend for me, with all that hockey, is the best times of the year for hockey for me.
38:46
Well, this weekend, guys, we've got the number one St.
38:50
Cloud State Huskies, home and home.
38:53
And Frank, if they don't beat one of these Minnesota teams, hell's going to break loose.
38:58
They've got to win at least one this weekend, Frank.
39:00
I mean, even though it's the number one team, they just can't beat any of these Minnesota teams.
39:05
No, it's a cloud that's kind of hanging.
39:08
It's one of those clouds that doesn't really have any meaning in the standings, but it's an image issue.
39:16
If nothing else, I mean, you can do well in the national tournament, which they haven't done great, but I mean, you can have success other places.
39:26
But for the record that they have against the Minnesota teams, it's getting to be a bit of a blemish, and they're not doing real hot against St.
39:33
Cloud State.
39:34
I think they've only won two of the last seven overall, something like that, two of the last seven in that building.
39:43
And this is not going to be any easier.
39:44
Holy smokes, it's not going to be any easier.
39:46
What a juggernaut, these guys.
39:47
I was just, I was amazed that as I looked at it deeper, they've only got two losses this year, St.
39:54
Cloud State.
39:56
That's pretty stingy.
39:57
At Denver.
39:59
Right, yeah, yeah.
40:01
That's a tough road trip.
40:06
And they're scoring goals.
40:07
They're getting over four and a half goals a game, I think.
40:11
So, you know, I mean, going in, the Gophers are spotting them a goal and a third going in.
40:18
And who would have thought that?
40:21
Well, that point is very valid.
40:25
I think it all comes back to, you know, how well teams like St.
40:29
Cloud and Duluth have done against Minnesota the past five years.
40:35
They've done very well.
40:36
They've done, you know, well in the tournament.
40:38
I mean, Duluth was in the national championship game last year.
40:42
St.
40:43
Cloud is, you know, still hasn't won the big one yet, but this could be their year.
40:48
And, you know, Hammy, you know, win or not, you know, breaking this streak or not, at least getting one win this weekend would be very good for the psyche of the Gopher Hockey Team right now.
41:05
Well, I mean, I kind of piggyback with what Frank was saying.
41:07
I mean, from a game-to-game perspective, it doesn't really mean any more than any other game, whether it's Minnesota competition or not.
41:18
I know from an ego perspective, especially from fans, it has a little bit more meaning.
41:22
But, yeah, I look at it more as, hey, we're playing a good team this coming weekend.
41:27
You want to, like I said, start the second half of the season on a positive note.
41:32
You want to feel like you're getting better as the season is progressing.
41:35
The Gophers have played the toughest schedule in the country up to this point.
41:39
So I think that they're pretty well prepared for this kind of competition.
41:43
So I'm hoping that they'll bring their A game and they'll play well.
41:48
I certainly don't foresee us sweeping the series by any stretch, but I would like to see two competitive games and certainly Gophers winning one of those games.
41:57
So we'll just have to see how it plays out.
42:00
Veegs, what makes St.
42:01
Cloud so good this year?
42:04
Well, I think Jimmy Schultz really makes them a dangerous team in their power play.
42:10
They have lots of guys who can score on that power play unit.
42:13
They've been very effective.
42:16
Makes it tough to play against them because you don't want to be taking penalties.
42:19
And then also, you know, their penalty kill has been good because they've gotten good goaltending.
42:23
So you put those two things together and it's a tough team to beat.
42:28
Their defense is probably a little bit better than the Gophers.
42:31
They've got guys who can move the puck and get involved in the rush.
42:35
And I think one of the big things in the series, looking back, I think St.
42:38
Clouds won five of the last six.
42:41
In those games, Minnesota has turned over the puck a lot, and St.
42:45
Clouds been able to counter.
42:47
And the defense been getting the rush, and they get these odd man situations have been able to capitalize, and the Gophers have taken too many penalties.
42:54
So those are two things I'm really going to be watching this weekend.
42:57
Well, they cannot take penalties this weekend because St.
43:00
Clouds power play is very good, Frank.
43:03
If Minnesota starts taking penalties, it could be a long weekend.
43:07
You know, one of the things that I've noticed with their stats is that, first of all, their overall scoring is spread out over quite a few players.
43:17
Goal scoring now, I'm not going to get into the assists, but oftentimes you see what happens when you look at the power play numbers, and that gets to be concentrated among two or three players maybe.
43:30
Their power play numbers are spread out over a whole bunch of guys.
43:34
Power play, four, three, four, another three, a couple more with two.
43:40
I mean, that's at least six strike there.
43:44
So it goes to what Vig was saying.
43:45
I mean, this power play, the power play has depth, not just their regular roster.
43:52
And at 26% on the power play, that's pretty good.
43:57
Now, Vig, I'm seeing via the Mixler Chat, Tony Newell, he's saying that St.
44:04
Cloud's a very good team.
44:05
He's been to a few games this year, but he's thinking that their competition they've played is maybe not as tough as Minnesota, so maybe their record's a little inflated.
44:14
What do you think of that?
44:15
Wow, no.
44:16
Don't think so.
44:17
They probably haven't played the depth of teams that Minnesota's played so far.
44:22
I mean, Minnesota's played a very difficult schedule.
44:25
Only three teams they've played this season have been unranked.
44:28
So Minnesota's had a tough test, but St.
44:31
Cloud is playing good teams.
44:33
It's not like they're playing AIC in teams like that.
44:37
They're playing a decent schedule.
44:40
Do you guys, does anybody believe in strength of schedule, that number?
44:46
How does number two sound for St.
44:50
Cloud State?
44:50
Well, there you go.
44:52
And the Gophers number four?
44:54
I mean, you can't say one.
44:57
Those are so close.
44:58
I don't know that it would be fair to say that one is that much better than the other.
45:02
But I would say they're pretty non-comparable.
45:05
Where are you seeing that, Frank, because I'm looking at the college hockey news like ratings, and I just think the schedule is what I'm looking at there.
45:15
So I was just curious.
45:17
Yeah.
45:17
Well, I went to US-CHO, US College Hockey Online.
45:22
You go to their RPI.
45:26
And then I know they've just revamped the website, so it's meant more for phone.
45:32
So on the phone, you can scroll over.
45:34
See, I am tech savvy here, Joe.
45:38
You can scroll over in that right-hand column, and you get a strength of schedule ranking then.
45:42
I didn't know college hockey news.
45:45
Did you say college hockey news?
45:46
Frank, that's the RPI that's a little bit different than strength of schedule, which you'd see in the cratch rankings.
45:53
Cratch breaks out strength of schedule separately, whereas RPI takes into account your winning percentage, based on who you play.
46:01
Because it's not like they've played a bad schedule.
46:06
There's seven in the strength of schedule rank.
46:09
They are number one in RPI.
46:11
Yep.
46:12
And Minnesota is number one in strength of schedule and cratch.
46:16
So we believe those numbers more than the others because...
46:24
You can twist them, right?
46:26
I was told there'd be no math.
46:28
Right, exactly.
46:30
Okay, I've heard from mathematicians, a couple of the guys that first helped build the yes show site, who would tell me that the cratch numbers are a little more mathematically pure, but they don't sell well to the coaches, etc.
46:50
And therefore, they've never really come into play in picking the field.
46:54
But I always thought that the strength of schedules of both of those were the same, but I guess not.
46:58
I've learned that tonight, I guess.
47:01
I just think you look at St.
47:02
Cloud's schedule, and they played at Princeton for non-conference.
47:06
They played BC at home, who is having a great season, and they played Alaska in Minnesota State.
47:12
So I think when you're looking at that and you're comparing it to the Gophers, who they played with Duluth and Harvard and Clarkson, and now St.
47:22
Cloud State, and their 10 games, their only, quote, softies have been Army.
47:27
Well, the interesting part is that, obviously, Clarkson has gone on a tear since they lost two games in Minnesota, and it's those two wins by Minnesota over Clarkson that's keeping them much higher in the pairwise right now.
47:42
I believe, you know, somebody who's doing the math, if you take away those Clarkson wins, Minnesota's more closer to 20 than number 10 in the pairwise.
47:51
So keep winning, Clarkson, we need you to keep winning.
47:57
All right, guys, what else?
47:59
What else do we want to talk about for this weekend?
48:01
How are the...
48:03
How is Minnesota going to win a game?
48:06
What do they need to do, Veegs?
48:08
Because, you know, they obviously struggle against these Minnesota teams.
48:11
You know, they had a lead on St.
48:13
Cloud last year and choked it away and lost in overtime at Mariucci.
48:17
What do they need to do to win?
48:20
Well, they have to stop taking bad penalties.
48:23
I feel like every weekend, Don Lucia talks about them taking penalties in the offensive zone, at the offensive blue line.
48:29
You know, those are just places where you can't commit penalties and put your team short-handed.
48:35
So I think we need to see that part of discipline come to fruition through a whole weekend.
48:41
The one thing this team has done well is they've managed to puck well at the blue lines.
48:46
The only game where they didn't was probably against Minnesota Duluth.
48:49
But other than that, they've managed to puck probably better than any team I've seen from down the tree in the last 10 years.
48:56
And then the third thing is figure out their power play.
48:58
Clayton Phillips gets it going a little bit.
49:01
But again, you know, we probably won't see what their power play will look like for the rest of the season until Casey Middlesex gets back.
49:09
What are they, like, over their last 20 on the power play or something like that?
49:13
Yeah, they were 0 for 10 against Ohio State, and I think they were 0 for 10 against our army here.
49:17
So it's something they have to figure out.
49:19
I think they're 0 for 9 against our army.
49:21
So it's not a good stretch, and they have to get that figured out.
49:25
It was brutal before that anyway.
49:27
One time it.
49:28
It was brutal before that anyway.
49:30
I mean, it's been brutal all season.
49:32
They've been ranked, you know, around 50 for much of the year on the power play.
49:37
So that has got to change.
49:38
Frank, what is the key?
49:40
What does Minnesota need to do to at least win a game this weekend and not get embarrassed?
49:45
I think they're going to have to outgold tend the Huskies.
49:48
I think whatever game they win, I think their goaltender is going to be the star of the game.
49:55
What works in their favor this weekend is we'll have two games on a large sheet and two games against the team that does not like to take penalties.
50:04
In fact, are they somewhere ranked 50 to 60 in the country in terms of fewest penalty minutes?
50:14
That bodes well for them that we might get back to some run-and-gun hockey, which is where this team will flourish, and they can do it on a big sheet of ice.
50:22
But with the firepower that they're going to face with St.
50:26
Cloud State, I think their goaltender is going to have to be the star of the game, and it's going to be a close win.
50:32
It's not going to be a runaway.
50:35
Defensively, St.
50:36
Cloud State is too good.
50:39
How did they break through, Hammeh?
50:43
Hammeh?
50:44
Did we lose Hammeh?
50:46
He left us.
50:47
He left us.
50:48
Looks like we lost Hammeh.
50:50
Why?
50:50
What a shame.
50:51
Didn't get Hammeh's thoughts.
50:52
I told you this Skype thing is just not friendly.
50:54
I don't know.
50:57
Every year I come on here and I go, Holy smokes, how am I going to pull this thing off?
51:00
He's having technical difficulties.
51:02
He just texted us.
51:04
Somehow we managed to do it most weeks.
51:06
It's amazing.
51:08
It's a miracle.
51:09
Well, here's something for you, Frank.
51:11
Our buddy, Rob Schiel, on the Stats Team, he sent out a tweet.
51:16
He says, Since you've been to most men's hockey rinks around the country, where are the best and worst fans, students, atmosphere, radio facilities?
51:25
So he kind of wants to know, you know, what's the best and worst of all of it?
51:33
I'm beginning to sway my best fans over to Michigan.
51:43
That is an hour, that's a two hour or two and a half hour show that is a little bit of hockey, a little bit of students, and a little bit of band, and sometimes it's equal parts.
51:56
I mean, that student section and that band goes constantly.
52:00
It is so much fun to watch.
52:02
It is so lively.
52:03
There's no canned music.
52:05
There's no organ.
52:06
There's nothing.
52:06
It's just college atmosphere.
52:09
I think those might be the best fans.
52:12
It used to be that maybe the Badgers fans were the most vocal, but since they fell off, I think they've got some regrouping to do.
52:19
Well, you had mentioned Michigan and how the atmosphere is so nice.
52:23
We've wondered about the atmosphere at Mariucci, and they've really kind of moved away from the band and started plugging in more of that music.
52:29
You and Wally had mentioned to us that, boy, Michigan, it's just all band, all the time, all fans.
52:36
They're just having a good time.
52:38
Yeah.
52:38
I mean, next time you watch a game or listen to a game from them, just pay attention to the background noise and how constant it is on every whistle that there's a student chant, there's a band playing, they got a routine, they got a schtick, and it just keeps going.
52:54
It's just a lot of fun.
52:56
It's just a lot of fun.
52:59
I can see where those kids go out and drink after those games.
53:01
I mean, they've earned.
53:03
They get thirsty.
53:04
Worst fans, Frank.
53:06
What's that?
53:07
Worst fans.
53:11
Does it have to be up 94, you think?
53:13
It happens to be up 29, yeah.
53:16
Oh, 94 and 29.
53:19
Oh, those Who fans, they just loved you, didn't they?
53:22
They do.
53:23
They still do.
53:27
So you had fun in Grand Forks this year?
53:29
I didn't stay 200 miles out of town for no reason.
53:36
Oh, boy.
53:37
Here we go.
53:38
Yeah, I know.
53:40
I know.
53:40
They listen, but I love them like they love me.
53:43
So we tolerate each other, I guess.
53:47
What can you do?
53:48
It's just...
53:49
Hey, I got it.
53:51
But Rob Scheele, he didn't ask for this, but maybe he sort of did.
53:55
I'm just going to give another shout out to our stats crew.
53:59
Those people are professionals.
54:02
Our stats crew in this building are spot on.
54:04
I mean, there'll be an adjustment here and there, but not very often.
54:08
And geez, it's accurate and it's timely.
54:11
Rob Scheele is the official scorer, so he is, I don't know, the titular head of that group.
54:17
But they do a great job.
54:18
And part of the reason is that they're grownups, they're adults.
54:22
They're getting a few shekels for it, not much.
54:24
But they're getting a few shekels every game and they just do a good job.
54:29
We go into these other arenas and it's students sometimes that are doing it.
54:32
They don't have a clue.
54:34
I mean, goals come in, the assists are backwards and they get penalties backwards.
54:41
So anyway, yeah, there's no better crew anywhere that I've seen.
54:45
Well, there's a reason why, you know, the Minnesota crew did the final five all those years.
54:50
Well, for sure, yeah.
54:51
Well, for one thing, they were there, but they were just, they were the best crew.
54:55
They did the final five.
54:55
They'll be doing, they do the frozen four when the frozen four is here.
54:58
They'll be the crew doing the frozen four and whether Minnesota is there or not.
55:02
So they are the crew that handles the local stuff when it's here.
55:08
And you're right.
55:09
They're honest.
55:10
They're stingy.
55:11
If you get a point and you play in that Mariucci Arena, you get a point, you've earned it.
55:17
You definitely have because we've seen they get their own DVR set up.
55:20
They can go back and they can check, oh, there's a deflection there.
55:23
We should have added assist or that, you know, it deflected off somebody's knee.
55:26
It should be their goal instead of someone else's.
55:28
They review everything.
55:29
And like you said, they'll correct it.
55:32
If you get a shot, you've earned it.
55:34
That's true because they will go back and look at question.
55:36
They will look at questionable shots.
55:38
This is at Penn State where something close is just considered a shot.
55:42
They, you know, you know, our favorite Mixler listener, Toms, he's not around today, nicely.
55:49
He actually officially scored a game at Penn State last year from the television.
55:55
And he saw the shots were at least 10 over, 10 or 15 over from what he saw on TV.
56:02
Yeah, I saw a goaltender slap his mitt on a puck laying in front of him, which was a rebound laying there.
56:12
And they gave him a shot.
56:13
They gave somebody a shot.
56:17
Yeah, so, you know, that's old, that's old fashioned stuff that used to happen before there was television.
56:23
You know, you'd go into buildings and they'd, they'd pad numbers to make themselves look better.
56:27
That shouldn't be happening now.
56:28
I mean, come on, it's 21st century.
56:31
Yeah, it's a good crew and like you said, they take it very seriously.
56:35
So and if you can follow them at Gopher Puck Stats on Twitter, you know, they'll tweet out the shot charts and so follow them on Twitter.
56:45
It's always a good follow.
56:47
So we're hoping for a split this weekend.
56:53
That would be reasonable.
56:54
Hoping.
56:55
I'm hoping for a split.
56:57
That's pretty bad when I'm hoping for a split against St.
56:59
Cloud.
57:04
In the past, I've been like, sweep, baby, sweep.
57:07
Well, yeah, right.
57:09
Right now, I'm hoping for a split.
57:11
You've only won two the last seven.
57:12
I know.
57:13
That's the pathetic part.
57:14
We should not be that low against in-state schools.
57:18
Well, you're not going to be five and two against them.
57:20
So hoping for a split, I think, would be pretty darn good.
57:23
Well, just look at Pat's provincial top teams in Minnesota.
57:27
Right now, he's got Minnesota at number four out of five.
57:30
Mr.
57:30
Michaletti.
57:31
So we need to get that number up.
57:33
So need to get that number up.
57:35
Any last thoughts on this weekend, Vakes?
57:38
No, just look for Tyler and Nanny to play in a forward roll this week.
57:42
It'll be interesting and to see what they come up with power play.
57:46
Some guys have the flu.
57:48
There's a couple of guys nicked up.
57:50
So it'll be interesting to see what kind of lineup they have this weekend.
57:54
Don texted with Lindgren and Middelstedt this week and both those guys are raring at the bit to play both games.
58:01
We'll see what happens there.
58:03
I would be surprised if they play both games, but they want to.
58:08
Well, the players always want to play.
58:11
Especially Casey.
58:12
I mean, he's the guy who's played through injury in the past and the Gophers have actually held him back a little bit when he was nicked up at North Dakota.
58:20
We'll see what happens this weekend.
58:22
It's a big weekend for Gopher Hockey.
58:23
Honestly, I think Casey wants to play at St.
58:26
Cloud.
58:28
It's his only chance probably ever to play a game against St.
58:32
Cloud and St.
58:32
Cloud.
58:33
He's not going to be here another year.
58:34
Wait a minute.
58:36
Wait a minute.
58:36
He's just played against the Russians.
58:38
He will have just played against the Canadians.
58:40
He's just going to be playing against the best in the world.
58:43
You think he still wants to go up to the Granite City to play a game?
58:46
He's a Gopher.
58:47
I think he does.
58:50
I think he does.
58:52
Don't you think he probably loved going to Grand Forks earlier this year, even though they head hunted him?
58:58
He loved it.
58:59
I know he's a competitive guy and he's got skill to boot with it.
59:04
Actually, I wouldn't put anything past him, but an afternoon nap, I think, wouldn't be an unreasonable request on Saturday afternoon.
59:16
I would put him in the lineup, even if you were just going to play him like eight or nine minutes.
59:22
Put him in a role where he gets a couple shifts a period and is out there for the power plays.
59:27
I think that could be a difference maker in a game against St.
59:29
Cloud.
59:30
That's a good point, Vig, because this team sometimes has looked better when they've gone with the 11th forward and just kind of rotating guys in.
59:37
For some reason, it seems their concentration is a little bit more locked in.
59:40
That's why I think a nanny move to forward might just help this team overall.
59:46
You're right.
59:47
Yeah.
59:47
If they spot him, dress 12 forwards and then make him the 12th, so to speak, get him in there every once in a while, you're right.
59:57
I think you could do the same thing with Lindgren.
59:59
Just use them like the US team is using them, where you have them out there for some D-zone draws, have them out there for the penalty kill.
1:00:07
Don't play them 25 minutes, but just play them 12 minutes and put them in those key situations and Don's been created with the lineup this year, so maybe we'll see that.
1:00:20
Hopefully.
1:00:20
I think having Nanne really helps in this situation because if he's playing, they could put him back on defense if Lindgren gets tired or something like that.
1:00:31
It offers a little more flexibility when they go to St.
1:00:34
Cloud.
1:00:37
You know, we don't have a Zach Budish, we don't have a big body Nick Dugstead, you know, we don't have a Hudson Fashing up there that can bash, thrash and score and maybe Tyler can do that.
1:00:51
Let's hope so.
1:00:53
Let's hope so.
1:00:54
We'll just have to wait and see.
1:00:55
Veegs, did you go to availability today?
1:00:59
I did.
1:00:59
You'll get some Tyler Sheehy talking about the in-state rivalry and what the team needs to do to have some success there.
1:01:07
He dishes a little bit on the power play and how they've been struggling there.
1:01:12
Don Lucia talks about how good St.
1:01:14
Cloud is, the kind of keys for them playing in that game.
1:01:18
He talked a little bit about how it's important to have schools like St.
1:01:22
Cloud on the schedule.
1:01:23
And then you'll hear Tyler Nanne talk about moving forward for a couple games maybe, his history playing the position and how he likes to bring a physical nature to the position.
1:01:36
His first shift at Ford against Army, he really just lined up Army's captain and took him off his skates.
1:01:44
He was a pretty big head.
1:01:45
And as much as Frank's talking about Nanne as a big physical guy, he's not too big.
1:01:52
When I'm staring at him in availability, he looks like a little guy to me, but he sure can bring the hits.
1:01:59
Well, that's because you're a big guy, Veegs.
1:02:01
You're on the meat line on the Robs hockey team.
1:02:05
You know what it's like.
1:02:08
Well, he's not a big guy.
1:02:10
No, he's not.
1:02:11
I don't know if he's 5'11.
1:02:13
I'm sorry, but you guys are cutting in and out on me here.
1:02:17
I'm only catching about every fourth word.
1:02:18
You still talking, Tyler?
1:02:20
Yeah, we were a little bit talking about his size and, you know, he's strong, he might not be big, but he plays big, and I think that's kind of the key there.
1:02:31
I don't want you to sign off yet.
1:02:32
I got one more number 26 for you.
1:02:33
Oh boy, who is it?
1:02:35
Jason Miller.
1:02:37
That's the keeper.
1:02:39
Yeah?
1:02:39
I'll have him on my team any time.
1:02:42
Over Pat McAloody?
1:02:44
He's got to be a little offended, I think.
1:02:46
You know, it's about time somebody gets under McAloody's bonnet.
1:02:49
He's had it a little too easy.
1:02:51
He's becoming the darling of the media.
1:02:54
I might just take it on my job to keep him in track.
1:02:56
I don't think he wouldn't pick on a guy that much older than him anyway.
1:03:01
I would just like to get him on the podcast, and it's been really difficult to do.
1:03:05
I tell you what, you get him on the podcast, the rest of you guys can go out for a sandwich.
1:03:15
Yeah, that's true.
1:03:16
Well, we've also tried to get Wally on the podcast.
1:03:19
And you think he might not be technically able to do it.
1:03:23
What are you putting that on me for?
1:03:29
Run a landline to his house.
1:03:31
It may have come from a discussion in Duluth while we were up there this past October.
1:03:37
He may need his wife to help him connect.
1:03:42
We love you, Wally.
1:03:43
We'd just like to get you on because I think Wally would be an excellent guest.
1:03:48
Well, Frank, thanks for coming on again.
1:03:49
This is getting to be more and more fun.
1:03:52
I like this.
1:03:54
That's good.
1:03:56
You and Nate are our go-to guys when it comes to guests.
1:03:59
You're on at least once a season and we always appreciate it when you come on because people love to hear from you.
1:04:06
Appreciate it.
1:04:07
Yeah.
1:04:08
I'm following Nate now, so we should be good.
1:04:10
We'll be buds again.
1:04:13
I hope so.
1:04:14
Well, it's a big weekend that's coming up for the Gophers, home and home with St.
1:04:18
Cloud State.
1:04:18
Remember, it's a Saturday, Sunday series.
1:04:22
You can always hear Frank on the call with Wally Shaver on, what is the network?
1:04:28
It's just iHeartRadio and you guys are on 1130 and you're on a bunch of different places actually now.
1:04:35
The network is Gopher Sports Radio.
1:04:37
True.
1:04:38
It's true, okay, locally 1130 AM WTLK.
1:04:44
Don't ask me the FM because I know there's an HD, but I don't have HD radio anymore.
1:04:49
103.5.
1:04:52
Okay, and then there's the iHeartRadio app, which gives you crystal clear reception.
1:04:57
Yeah, it is.
1:04:59
I actually listen to you via that app and like Vigo said, the HD is actually 103.5 HD2.
1:05:07
It's the number two channel.
1:05:09
So if you go up to KFAN, if you're on HD and you hit the HD button, the second channel will be you guys in HD.
1:05:14
And I think I told you, Frank, how much better the quality was on that HD station than AM, especially at night.
1:05:22
Once you get out in the boondocks where I live, AM is so scratchy.
1:05:26
It's just awful.
1:05:27
But your HD came in crystal clear all the way out to South Dakota where I live.
1:05:33
So wow.
1:05:34
You got to have an antenna on your roof for that.
1:05:37
How do you get HD?
1:05:39
I get it in my car, and that's the only place, so that's good.
1:05:42
Oh dear.
1:05:43
You sit in your car at night?
1:05:45
That's scary.
1:05:45
No, I don't.
1:05:46
But like I said, I have at times had to listen to my car, and with the HD, it's basically FM, Frank.
1:05:55
You sound that good.
1:05:57
So it's all good.
1:06:00
Thank you.
1:06:01
Well, you could follow Frank on Twitter at Mazz Puck.
1:06:06
You know, you could follow Vigo at eVigo, Hammy at Hammy Hockey.
1:06:09
We lost Hammy.
1:06:10
Who knows where he went?
1:06:11
Technical difficulties.
1:06:12
We don't care anymore.
1:06:13
You know, we'll be back next week to recap this series with the Huskies and then kicking off a little more Big Ten Hockey.
1:06:27
Thanks for listening.
1:06:55
How's the power play coming along?
1:06:57
Two different looks that you talked about after last weekend.
1:07:00
Well, we're going to try some different guys and move some people around and maybe put some guys to back where some spots they were a year ago and see if we can generate something because obviously it's hurt us not consistently being able to score on the power play.
1:07:18
And I think this is probably an all-time low at about 14%, 15%, whatever we are.
1:07:24
We're getting 10 shots on goal but we're not finishing.
1:07:27
And hopefully some of these pucks will start to go in.
1:07:32
We have to do a better job of one-timing some pucks.
1:07:37
I think part of it is we've obviously played good teams and good penalty-kill teams and a good strong schedule that plays into it a little bit.
1:07:47
But we had made some strides up until the first week of December against Ohio State and then we had been about 20-plus percent the previous month.
1:07:56
But then now we're over the last four games and it hurts you.
1:08:01
In these low-scoring games, a goal on the power play can be the difference between winning and losing games.
1:08:07
We have to start to feel what we not only can score but also generate momentum on the power play.
1:08:14
What are the challenges of St.
1:08:15
Cloud's penalty kill?
1:08:19
Well, when you look at their team, it's just not their kill.
1:08:21
Their goal-tending save percentage are 93, my plus.
1:08:26
The old saying is the best penalty killer is your goal-tender.
1:08:32
They're there to clean it up.
1:08:33
They've got their veteran.
1:08:35
They've got a veteran decor.
1:08:36
They've got veteran guys up front.
1:08:39
But probably the biggest worry is their power play as much as anything because that's what's really been lethal against us the last couple years is they've scored multiple power plays at key times to beat us.
1:08:51
They have about eight guys between five and seven goals.
1:08:54
What kind of a challenge is that?
1:08:55
Well, they're deep.
1:08:56
I mean, if you look from an offensive standpoint, they're probably the deepest team in college hockey from an offensive standpoint.
1:09:02
And that's why, I mean, they've lost two games all year, and that was out at Denver back in November.
1:09:10
They don't rely on one or two lines of score.
1:09:12
They have great secondary scoring.
1:09:14
I know Bob felt they were kind of your way last year.
1:09:17
You know, they've got a good D-core.
1:09:19
We talked about their goaltending.
1:09:20
So, I mean, they're probably, you could argue, the most complete team in college hockey this year, from offense to defense to goaltending to specialty team play.
1:09:31
It's kind of a strange feeling, Don, because it's a non-conference game, but it feels like it's a rivalry league game, whatever.
1:09:37
Do you like that?
1:09:39
Yeah, I mean, I think it's nice to play good teams.
1:09:43
I mean, all of a sudden, I look at the top of the rankings, and we've played Notre Dame, we've played Clarkson, and now we're playing St.
1:09:50
Cloud.
1:09:51
Well, those are the top three teams in the poll.
1:09:53
And we talked about, I think we have the number one strength of schedule right now in the country.
1:09:56
We've played nothing but good teams all year long, and this will be another test.
1:09:59
And from the standpoint especially of, you know, I don't think we'll see a better team this year.
1:10:06
And we've played the top three.
1:10:07
How are we going to match up this weekend?
1:10:09
Where are we at?
1:10:10
Now, it's going to be a little unique because guys are getting parachuted back on Saturday.
1:10:15
Is Casey going to play?
1:10:16
Is he going to be back in time?
1:10:17
Or is Ryan Lindgren going to be back in time?
1:10:20
You know, maybe Bob's going to miss his flight.
1:10:22
He won't even be there.
1:10:23
So it's a little bit unique that you play the games this weekend, and if those two guys do play, they haven't practiced with our group all this week or since, you know, Ohio State.
1:10:34
So whether it's throwing them back in the power play with Casey in that instance, you know, can we get that chemistry back?
1:10:41
And then, you know, even for them, the fatigue factor of possibly playing, you know, four games in four days or five games in six days.
1:10:48
But I know I texted them both, you know, today and just said kind of what they're thinking, and they both said they want to play.
1:10:53
You know, now we'll see what their flight times are and when they get home on Saturday.
1:10:57
How close are they kind of cutting it in terms of being back?
1:11:01
Are you preparing for them that they will play?
1:11:02
Yeah, well, I think that I asked them to send me today their flight schedules.
1:11:07
I haven't seen it yet.
1:11:08
You know, it might be on my phone as I'm sitting here.
1:11:12
I think they thought originally that they'd get home around noon, which would be in plenty of time.
1:11:16
But, I mean, it's obviously the fatigue factor.
1:11:19
They'll be running on adrenaline, obviously, this weekend with, you know, what's going on the next couple days.
1:11:24
But, you know, it's not about the guys, those two guys.
1:11:26
It's about, you know, the guys that are here and that we continue to play well.
1:11:29
I like the fact that we're getting both our goals played well this past weekend.
1:11:34
You know, the giving up goals hasn't been our problem.
1:11:38
Our penalty kill is much improved from the first month of the season.
1:11:42
But, you know, the issue we've had this year more than any other is the offensive part of the game and generating.
1:11:49
Now, I think Clayton can help us with that.
1:11:51
I think Clayton can help on the power play.
1:11:53
That's why we brought him in at Christmas because we felt that was a real need on the back end, even in practice.
1:12:00
I mean, this week he's had a little bit more time and, you know, you can see that he's getting more comfortable.
1:12:05
And, you know, when we had him on one of the units, he was moving pretty well.
1:12:09
I mean, he's got some things you can't teach with snapping the puck in his feet and even getting some pucks through that's been such an issue.
1:12:18
So we have to get better on that side of the puck because that's what's cost us.
1:12:24
And we've lost games, given up one or two goals, and that's kind of unheard of with us.
1:12:29
But this year it's been a struggle to score.
1:12:31
How's your team's health going in this series?
1:12:33
A lot of question marks right now, to be honest.
1:12:35
We had some guys missing today at practice and, you know, some other issues.
1:12:40
So we probably won't know until Friday in the bill, Bill.
1:12:44
We have a couple of guys.
1:12:45
The illness or injury is scaring you more this time?
1:12:47
Well, you can get both.
1:12:48
We had three guys out with a flu early this week, and, you know, now we got a couple of guys with some dings and, you know, so that combination, but you kind of sense that then we were lucky because I think a couple of guys came down with a flu right after they, you know, the game on Saturday night.
1:13:03
So you hope that it doesn't just, you know, nail your team at an inopportune time.
1:13:08
Did you tell Lindgren to wash his hands and make sure he comes back in better shape than he did last year?
1:13:13
Well, I mean, yeah, he was really sick.
1:13:16
I mean, like, he went to the hospital when he got back for a couple days last year, and I think it took him, I bet you it took him two to three weeks to recover from that before he was back to his old self.
1:13:26
But, you know, he's not sick now, and, you know, I know how disappointed he was last year not to play that gold medal game.
1:13:32
So, you know, hopefully those guys will get another opportunity to win a gold.
1:13:36
Make sure Bob doesn't have control of the food and play schedule there.
1:13:39
Yeah, you know what, I'm a little worried about that, that, you know, he and his pailing will get back, and, you know, somehow our guys will get routed through Florida to get back.
1:13:48
What a series that Casey has had.
1:13:50
Yes, he's done really well.
1:13:52
And you know what, I've always said one of the nice things about the World Juniors, they get back in their own age group.
1:13:57
You know, so Casey jumps to college hockey, and you're playing against 22, 23, 24-year-olds, and now you're back playing against, you know, 18 and 19-year-olds, so your old age group.
1:14:06
So it just shows the type of player that he is and, you know, the competitiveness.
1:14:12
I think that's, I've got a few texts from the coaches, and I think that's a thing that has been reinforced when they've been around him in this tournament, is just how competitive he is.
1:14:23
And I didn't even, I didn't realize how competitive he was until I've been around him this fall.
1:14:28
I knew he was, I knew he was a lead player, but I didn't realize how competitive he is to win, get a puck back, you know, battle.
1:14:36
You know, he wants to, he wants to be a lead player, he trains to be a lead player, and, you know, his competitiveness is really off the charts.
1:14:45
With the North Star going, having gone away, and there being former games in the Big Ten, how important is it to still get those Minnesota teams?
1:14:52
Well, that's part of it.
1:14:53
I mean, that's not going to be every year.
1:14:54
I mean, now we have 24 games, and, you know, we have to monitor our schedule a little bit too, is that, you know, if North Dakota's on it and Duluth's on it, I mean, you know, St.
1:15:03
Cloud's one of the top teams.
1:15:04
I mean, at some point you can over schedule a little bit too.
1:15:08
But obviously with, whether it's Bemidji or St.
1:15:12
Cloud, Duluth, Mankato, they have to be on a rotation that we play them.
1:15:17
So I think that, you know, we've won a pretty good rotation now with North Dakota just about every year, and then we want to rotate some other teams in and out, and we also want to have the flexibility, you know, to go out to the East Coast or play some of these teams that maybe we don't normally get to play that often.
1:15:32
Has it been difficult to kind of find that balance, since so many teams want to play?
1:15:36
Yes and no.
1:15:37
I mean, ultimately, it's our decision.
1:15:38
I mean, we have to worry what's best for the University of Minnesota at some point, and, you know, we owe, like Harvard coming in this year, we owe them a return trip.
1:15:45
So, but, you know, just like we did with our trips with Clarkson and St.
1:15:51
Lawrence and going out there or the BC Northeastern, it's kind of, it's good for our guys to get out in some different environments than, you know, just playing out here.
1:15:59
Have you figured out your ten games for next year?
1:16:04
Some of them, yeah, not all of them.
1:16:05
I'd have to, I kind of turned the scheduling over to Mike right now, so he's in charge of that.
1:16:11
But we're looking to try to bring back the tournament at Christmas time.
1:16:14
That's one of the things we want to do.
1:16:21
It's a strange thing.
1:16:21
It's a non-conference and you feel like it's the biggest year of the year in summer's time.
1:16:25
Yeah, absolutely.
1:16:26
Obviously St.
1:16:27
Cloud's having a great year, being number one in the country and, you know, stringing together a lot of wins here, so it's going to be a real big important weekend for us and it's going to be a lot of fun anytime you get to play in-state rival.
1:16:39
The energy is always great and the buildings are always packed, so it's going to be a great weekend.
1:16:43
What would be the biggest challenge facing them?
1:16:46
I think just like any other year, they play really hard.
1:16:50
They're kind of like in North Dakota, Duluth.
1:16:53
They're going to skate hard.
1:16:54
They're going to have some skill and they're going to defend well, so I think that just breaking that seal with us this past weekend, we got a few more goals than we have been getting in the past few weeks.
1:17:07
That's going to be, I think, the challenge is making sure we continue to score some goals and then defend as well.
1:17:12
We want a few in a row against you.
1:17:13
Is that extra motivation?
1:17:15
Yeah, absolutely.
1:17:17
Last year we lost that one game here at home and we had the lead going into the third, so that was kind of a heartbreaker.
1:17:25
And I haven't beaten St.
1:17:26
Cloud yet here in my career, so it's definitely extra motivation for the guys who, you know, kind of seen St.
1:17:34
Cloud and haven't been able to beat them, so I think it's going to be a really fun week in that aspect.
1:17:39
How is their atmosphere of their rank among the teams you play?
1:17:41
Yeah, it's great.
1:17:42
It's just like in North Dakota.
1:17:43
You know, the building is really packed and they're loud and the students are right on the glass, so it's a great environment and like I said, it's going to be a lot of fun.
1:17:50
Do you have any favorite moments from the student section up there?
1:17:54
Not that I can remember.
1:17:55
I remember last year, I just remember it being packed and I love that they're right on the glass and they bring signs and things like that, so it's pretty cool.
1:18:07
Takeaways from last weekend, do you think the team took any steps forward last weekend?
1:18:10
Yeah, absolutely.
1:18:11
I think first off, our penalty kill was 100% on the weekend and that was something that we always want to improve on, getting close to 90% and we're getting there, so our penalty kill was really good.
1:18:25
Obviously, like I mentioned before, we scored a few more goals than we have been in the past, so that's good to see some guys get on the scoreboard and just improving those aspects was important for us.
1:18:36
You got a fix for the power play?
1:18:38
We moved a few guys around.
1:18:40
I think it's just hopefully we can get one and break the seal.
1:18:44
It's been tough.
1:18:47
It's been tough not getting the goals, but it's important that we go out there and get some momentum and carry it out throughout the rest of the game.
1:18:54
That's something that we're going to work on this weekend and throughout the practice this week, and hopefully it works this weekend.
1:19:00
What about Casey Middlestad's been doing?
1:19:02
Oh yeah, I've been watching just about every game.
1:19:05
He's been great.
1:19:05
I didn't expect anything less from him.
1:19:10
At a big stage like that, he's going to perform.
1:19:12
He's a great player, so that's really cool to see.
1:19:14
Playing well on the road has kind of been a strain for you guys the first couple of years here, and it's been a bit of a struggle this season.
1:19:19
Is there anything that you guys are kind of trying to push forward this weekend, especially going up to St.
1:19:23
Cloud on the Saturday game?
1:19:25
I'm not sure if anything's going to change too much.
1:19:27
Obviously that's something that we've addressed.
1:19:29
Our road record this year isn't the best, and it's something we need to get better at going into the end of the year.
1:19:35
We're going to have to play on the road and beat teams on the road if we want to play in the final game of the year.
1:19:41
Yeah, that's something that has to improve.
1:19:44
I think it's just stick to our game plan.
1:19:46
Play hard and do things the right way will be good for us this weekend.
1:19:51
Coming off a break, you said you wanted the guys to relax.
1:19:53
Is that hard to do when you go to St.
1:19:55
Cloud?
1:19:56
I think maybe a little bit, yeah.
1:19:59
The tensions might be a little bit high with a rival like that, but I think if we just go out there and we're comfortable with our game and we know we got each other's backs, things like that, I think we'll be all right with not letting the crowd get to us.
1:20:14
It's been a bit of an eventful week for you and your family.
1:20:18
I could see any big NHL and get his first goal.
1:20:22
Yeah, it was exciting to see him get called up.
1:20:24
He's been dreaming that for a long time.
1:20:26
So have we, to see him play in the NHL, it's a dream come true for us.
1:20:32
Scoring his first game was really an exciting time.
1:20:36
How important is this St.
1:20:38
Cloud series to you guys, playing an in-state team that's ranked number one in the country?
1:20:42
We can just tell from the start, the beginning of practice, we've been going really hard and making sure pucks are past crisp and really listening to coach and the drills.
1:20:52
The result hasn't been there the last couple years, so I think the tempo has really set high.
1:20:58
We really owe the program a couple of wins this weekend.
1:21:01
How is getting acclimated to the college scene for you?
1:21:05
How's it gone for the first half here now?
1:21:07
It's been good.
1:21:08
It's been a huge adjustment, but a blessing to be back on the ice.
1:21:11
I think taking that much time off, you really get to know yourself.
1:21:15
Obviously it wasn't the start we wanted.
1:21:19
I have nine losses on the season so far, but a lot of room for improvement.
1:21:24
I think the break really helped us get refreshed and come back with a different mindset and a winning mindset that is to really give it our all and listen to coach and hopefully the result will be there.
1:21:36
How about you personally?
1:21:37
How's your game involved?
1:21:39
I think I'm learning each and every day.
1:21:41
I think I got a long ways to go, but I'm proud of where I am right now.
1:21:46
You know, playing forward in D I think it's been an adjustment, but I've had experience on both ends of the ice growing up.
1:21:53
So whatever position I can help the team the most, I'm going to play.
1:21:57
You're getting looks at both.
1:21:58
What do you prefer?
1:21:59
I prefer defense, but obviously being an offensive defenseman, I can play forward and get up in the ice.
1:22:05
And I think if I can use my physical presence in my shot, hopefully some pucks will go in the back of the net.
1:22:12
Don said after the game on Saturday, if you're going to play more forward, you're going to have to practice there.
1:22:16
Has that been brought up this week?
1:22:19
Yeah, this week I'm actually practicing at forward, bouncing around different lines, but I'm just getting acclimated with different guys on the ice and mostly playing right wing, but we'll never know until the weekend.
1:22:31
But yeah, I think wherever I end up come the weekend, I'll play it and play hard.
1:22:36
Against Army on your first shift, you had that kind of decision to go for the puck or go for the body, and you took the body.
1:22:43
Is that a big adjustment for you at forward to do that?
1:22:46
No, I think in the back when I played defense, I really try to use my physical play.
1:22:51
And I think our coach has been stressing a lot on forechecking and winning puck battles.
1:22:56
And I was fortunate to body the guy and get the puck.
1:23:00
So I think if we can play more with the physical demeanor and a little grit, I think we'll be successful.
1:23:06
Is it harder to throw hip checks at forward?
1:23:09
Yeah, I know it's facing the other way.
1:23:12
It's a different mindset.
1:23:13
But I might sneak one there next week.
1:23:19
So growing up, I played for the 96th Machine and AAA in the summer, and I'd play D.
1:23:24
And then in the wintertime for PUE Scores and Bannums, I'd play forward.
1:23:29
Mainly just because I wanted to score goals, but deep down I knew I was a better defenseman.
1:23:34
And then come high school, I played half and half sophomore year, D in defense, or D in forward, and then junior year is when I made my transition to fully defenseman.
1:23:45
I think I played about five games and started the season, and then they put me back there.
1:23:50
So looking back on it, it's really helped me evolve, being a 2-8 player.
1:23:56
But deep down I know going forward, if defense is the road I want to take, that's the road I want to take.
1:24:02
But as of right now, I'm playing forward.
1:24:06
What is it, growing up in Minnesota, what does it mean to kind of just play some of these in-state schools?
1:24:11
You know, really don't have much experience with it, but I grew up going to Duluth and St.
1:24:17
Cloud and the green team in Wisconsin.
1:24:19
I think all those teams, it's just the rivalry and the feeling inside the building is really special.
1:24:28
I think obviously looking back at our record against the in-state, it's not pleasing and I think that's when we kind of realized we got to step it up.
1:24:38
So I think if we can just play our game and listen to coach, I think we'll start turning around and getting revenge on the in-state guys.
1:24:48
Has that kind of come up this week, just the record recently?
1:24:51
Oh, a little bit.
1:24:51
We don't like looking in the past, obviously.
1:24:54
It's a new season, but anytime you can play another team in the country, it's the bar set even higher and you give it even more.
1:25:05
So I think we're going to be ready, we're going to be prepared.
1:25:09
We've had a good start to the week and finished off strong and head to St.
1:25:13
Cloud on Saturday.
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