0:08 This is The GPL Podcast, sponsored by Vintage Minnesota Hockey, your exclusive source for throwback Minnesota jerseys. 0:17 Visit vintagemnhockey.com. 0:32 Now, here's Hammy, Vego and your host, Jupiter. 0:45 Good evening, and welcome to season number eight, and episode number 134 of The GPL Podcast. 0:56 We're back after our six-month hiatus, and the hiatus was even longer for our favorite team. 1:03 Seemed that they didn't play pretty much that whole last month, last year, after getting kicked out of the Big Ten tournament early. 1:11 But of course, always joining us is Hammeh and Vegoe. 1:16 Guys, how are you doing? 1:18 Doing well, looking forward to a new season. 1:21 Fantastic, excited for the hockey season to be here. 1:24 Oh, it is kind of nice, you know. 1:27 Obviously, the twins kind of had faltered out there, and Vikings, who knows, are kind of up and down. 1:33 But all that matters is that hockey's back, the Wild are back, and then definitely our Gophers are back, and they're back with a whole brand-new staff. 1:43 You know, towards the end of the last season, we talked about Matzko being brought on. 1:48 But just a lot of changes all around, Veegs. 1:51 Yeah, I think, you know, a lot of people associated with the program just felt like, you know, it was time to move on. 1:59 And when Bob Matzko is the top of your list, and that's who you end up hiring, it's a win for the state of hockey. 2:06 I'm excited to see what kind of energy he can bring to the program. 2:10 You know, he's done a lot of good things at St. 2:12 Cloud State, but when you get the keys to Minnesota behind the bench, you can do a lot more things. 2:18 And the cupboard isn't bare for him. 2:21 He's got a great opportunity here to hit the ground running. 2:25 Well, obviously, that's great because it was getting a little stale. 2:30 And, Hammeh, you and I were talking about that before we started the show here, is that you've always had the belief that every coach kind of has a life span and only so much time in one job, where you eventually need to kind of put new cookies in the cupboard. 2:46 Yeah, I mean, it's kind of like I was telling you. 2:47 I think that my belief is a good decade, maybe a little bit longer than that, is kind of when things start to feel a little bit stale for coaches. 2:56 Of course, there's always exceptions to the role. 2:59 But I think in many cases, that's kind of how it plays out. 3:02 And like I had mentioned, maybe with Lucia was a little different because he had that little two-year span of time where he got sick. 3:09 And sometimes after you've had something taken away from you in life, when you have the chance to get back to it at full strength, then you maybe recapture a little bit of that passion. 3:19 So maybe that kind of extended it a little bit for him for those extra years, but then kind of seemed to get back down to that level of having a lull in recent years. 3:28 So I think it was time. 3:30 I think that we've talked about it for several years, having maybe a transition plan in place, and not that they really had one, but I think we all kind of thought that time was right for this kind of a move. 3:43 Well, Veegs, we've talked about this in the past. 3:49 Moscow, he's been here before, so that piece is good, but he's bringing in a whole new staff. 3:57 He's got Garrett Reboeing, who's been with him for a few years. 4:00 We just added Ben Gordon. 4:01 He's going to add, he added some student to, what do we call them, student teacher? 4:07 Undergraduate assistants. 4:08 Undergraduate assistants in Ryan Patoni and Bickel. 4:13 This staff is coming together pretty good, though they're a bit young, aren't they? 4:18 Well, I think they're a bit young and a little inexperienced in some ways, but at the same time, it's a hungry staff. 4:25 These guys are wanting to prove themselves. 4:30 I think that's important. 4:31 You want some young energy. 4:34 You hear Lucia talk about how he didn't want to be spending his weekends in the fall watching Elite League, going around all kinds of USHL rings, going out to the select camps. 4:46 These guys, it's all new for them. 4:48 So it's new energy for them to connect with recruits. 4:52 They're going to be out there looking for recruits to play Bob's style of hockey. 4:58 I think Bob Motzko wants to make his mark, and he's going to be coaching everything. 5:03 I've already seen it in a lot of practices. 5:06 The other coaches are connecting with the players a little bit, but Bob runs the show. 5:11 Well, tell us more about that. 5:12 Like you said, you've been to quite a few practices. 5:14 You've seen Bob running the practices, but besides he's running everything, what are you seeing from somebody like a Roboyne? 5:24 And obviously Gordon was just there very recently. 5:27 But even Petone and Bickel, what are they all doing out there? 5:31 How are they contributing? 5:33 Just stuff we don't hear about. 5:35 Well, I think it's a struggle because they only have four hours of ice to work with each week, and they don't get another four hours of film time. 5:44 So when they're on the ice, Bob is running most of the practice. 5:49 He is stopping practice when he sees something he doesn't like. 5:53 If he wants to bring the power play group together to kind of go over a little bit of what he's looking for, he'll do that. 5:59 It seems like the other coaches, they'll kind of pull guys aside one on one, away from the drills and things like that to get their input. 6:07 But in terms of running the huge flow, it's mostly Bob. 6:12 When they break out and do their skill work, Raboyne does a little bit more with the defensemen. 6:17 But overall, Bob is trying to make his mark on this team as fast as he can. 6:23 Now, Hammey, I must say, I really like adding Ryan Petolian and Stu Bickel as graduate assistants. 6:31 These guys are doing unpaid type of work because they're back at U, finishing up their schooling. 6:40 Both these guys had not great NHL careers, but they both played in the NHL. 6:43 They both played for a long time. 6:46 I really like this addition. 6:48 What are your thought of those guys being added? 6:51 Well, I think it's always great to have guys who have had success in the program come back and contribute to it in different ways, whether it's off-season stuff or whether it's in situations like this, having that bond with players that have gone through the program and had success. 7:07 I think it's always good to have that connection to the current team. 7:11 I'm sure that they can communicate some of their experiences when they were college players and some of the trials and tribulations they went through or some of the successes that they went through and what they did to become successful players. 7:26 So I think that that's always great to have guys that have walked in those shoes and know how to communicate to the current players what they need to do in order to reach that level. 7:36 So I think it's a great addition. 7:37 I think it's great to have alums be a part of the program. 7:40 I know that we were all kind of wondering before Gordon was hired, you know, who was going to be that guy for that second assistant role. 7:47 And, you know, we all kind of thought it would be an alum, but you just never know until they finally do hire the guy. 7:54 And I'll piggyback kind of on what Vig said. 7:56 I think that having, you know, a young staff is important in the sense that they do bring a new energy and a passion. 8:03 And I think that they have some things to prove. 8:06 You know, it's always nice for a fan perspective to be able to look at coaches that have experience and kind of feel like you know what you're going to get. 8:14 But that's not always a guarantee. 8:17 I mean, I think back to when Bill Butters joined Wisconsin, you know, several years ago, and he didn't really, you know, he had great success at the U many years before that, but he didn't really bring that to the table at Wisconsin. 8:27 So it's not a guarantee that, you know, somebody with experience will be great in that role. 8:32 So I'm excited to see what these new guys bring to the table. 8:35 And definitely it's a young man's game, so to speak, when it comes to the recruiting grind and connecting with players. 8:41 So I'm looking forward to it. 8:43 Well, Veegs, one thing that I think has been missing, and I think a lot of people think has been missing for quite some time, is toughness on this team. 8:50 And I'm hoping that Mr. 8:51 Stu Bickle brings some toughness back to this decor and even, you know, some of the forwards. 8:57 It's been really lacking. 9:00 Well, you can try to demand toughness all you want. 9:04 But what it's going to come down to is the players deciding that's how they want to perform and that's how they want to play. 9:11 I think that's probably the big challenge for Bob and Garrett and Stu and Ryan is how to get that out of this team. 9:18 We saw last year a team that, you know, sometimes would be a little tentative to get in on the forecheck and apply pressure. 9:25 You know, it's kind of looking around who's going to be the guy that does that each shift. 9:30 So, we've seen it out of the trench line, you know, when you got Norman, Romacho and Ramsey out there, but you don't see that typically in the other lines. 9:39 So, getting that out of this team is going to be the big challenge. 9:42 And I think, you know, Bob talked about that at the media day. 9:45 You know, he's going to try his darndest until the end of the season to get them to play that way. 9:51 And, you know, that's what they've got to find. 9:54 Well, one of the terms he was using is he wants 30 seconds of hell. 9:57 Doesn't he? 9:59 He wants his players to come out there and give a good, hard 30 seconds. 10:04 You know, and give it all they got on the ice and make it difficult for the other team to play against. 10:10 I thought Jeff Jackson at media day for the Big Ten was saying something kind of telling when he said, well, we know that with the Motsgow team, they're going to be more difficult to play against. 10:21 Yeah. 10:22 Read into that what you want. 10:25 I think it speaks pretty loudly. 10:28 We haven't seen a lot of passion from this team in a while. 10:31 I mean, passion and toughness. 10:35 And boy, it has been lucky. 10:38 It has been lacking, I should say. 10:41 It's been really frustrating. 10:42 You know, you see some of these efforts, you know, against some of the lower teams and they're like, what is going on here? 10:48 And even against some of the big teams, you know, we'll talk about it later, you know, when they've played Duluth. 10:53 Boy, in the past, there was a lot of effort and guys out there busting their ass, but I think some of this lack of effort and lack of passion has kind of been one of the reasons why this team has been down for the last few years. 11:07 They just haven't quite been in the upper echelon like we're used to. 11:11 So, you know, hopefully this changes. 11:13 Well, you know, we're hoping a lot of these changes happen. 11:16 Let's kind of look at the team all around here, guys, you know, what's coming in this year. 11:20 You know, we lost a few, you know, a few guys, you know, graduation and whatnot. 11:24 You know, we talk about effort and we talk about that Romanko, Norman and Ramsey. 11:28 Those guys are going to keep bringing it. 11:29 But can this coaching staff encourage the rest of them to bring it? 11:34 Hammy? 11:37 Well, I mean, I guess that's one of the key questions, obviously. 11:39 When you're bringing in a new staff, you know, you're all getting to know each other and you're trying to set the tone for what the culture is going to be. 11:47 And I know that, you know, the early comments that Matzka was making back in the day was, you know, he wants a team that's going to bring an effort and be tough to play against. 11:57 And I really do expect that this team will, you know, bring a little bit more passion to the table. 12:03 I think, you know, partially because you're re-energized by a new vision, but also because you're trying to prove yourself. 12:11 I mean, I'm sure, obviously, certain players have earned the right to be first-line players ever, but, you know, it's still going to be a competition to some degree. 12:19 And when you have a new coach, a lot of times they're going to wipe the chalkboard clean, so to speak, and make guys kind of prove things a little bit. 12:27 And so I'm sure that some of these guys are going to see this as an opportunity to kind of gain some ground, get some better opportunities. 12:35 And I think that they'll bring some passion to the table. 12:38 And I think, you know, what better way to do it than, you know, play one of your rivals in the first week. 12:45 Well, you know, that's kind of one of the things that's, that Matsuko said at the media day there, Vigz. 12:49 They're going to be thrown right into the deep end of the pool against the defending national champion this Saturday night. 12:56 And this team, he can only prepare him so much, he can't do much. 13:00 And, you know, I noticed one thing he, you know, when you were asking him, you know, where will this team be? 13:04 He's like, ask me in December. 13:06 But, and Matsuko did mention that he liked, you know, some tough games, but then he likes some of the single games. 13:12 So the rest of the month, it kind of lets them learn and get to know the team. 13:15 But they are being thrown into the deep end right off the bat. 13:19 This team with a new coach. 13:21 Yeah, I think going up to UMD when they're going to raise the banner, a team they haven't beaten since 2014. 13:29 You know, it's been a long time, this year's senior class, they're 0-5 against UMD. 13:36 And there's going to be no place to hide. 13:38 You know, they're going to have to play their freshmen this weekend. 13:41 You're going to see Walker, Ranta play key roles. 13:47 You're probably going to see Brinkman, Stucker, Denman, all in the lineup. 13:53 You know, these guys are going to have to hit the ground running and play against a team that's pretty talented and hard to play against. 13:59 I think one of the keys for UMD last season was how tough they were in the neutral zone. 14:04 So, you're going to need a team that's going to be playing intelligently in the ice and applying pressure. 14:12 Well, for me, that's the key. 14:14 I mean, look, win or lose, what I want to see is a team that's really competing hard. 14:19 I mean, we know it's going to be a tough series against Duluth, so I don't really have any expectations one way or the other in terms of wins or losses or whatever. 14:28 But for me, it's more, what are we going to see for an effort level? 14:31 Because that's the one thing that the team can definitely control is the effort and the grit that they show. 14:37 And being able, if you're down a goal or two, to be able to fight, still fight back and maybe tie a game, win a game, whatever it might be, but to at least put that effort in. 14:47 Because I think what I think to some of the recent performances against some of the rivals like UMD, for instance, I think what separated them hasn't been the talent. 14:57 It's been more the effort level and the passion. 15:00 And I think UMD has brought it more consistently, and that's why the results have been what they've been in recent years. 15:08 I think there's also in these games a tendency for Minnesota to force the play a little bit too much and carry the puck across the blue line in a situation where they really should be putting it deep and getting in on the forecheck and applying some pressure on the defense. 15:24 I thought last year they had a big chance to go up against a team that was playing five freshman D and really play a difficult game, and I didn't think they did that. 15:34 I thought they gave away the puck too easily at times. 15:38 I thought they let UMD kind of warm up into the game, and you can't do that in these games. 15:46 It's so hard to score goals. 15:48 Sometimes, you just need to apply some pressure, and we saw Penn State do that to Minnesota at the end of last year. 15:55 When you play like that, there's no place to hide. 15:57 If you can bring that intensity, you're going to be in a good position. 16:05 You're on mute, Jupe. 16:07 Or Jupe, mute, Jupe, mute. 16:10 Mid-season form. 16:13 Well, I was just going to say that, Veegs, you mentioned last year after that game in Duluth that it was a turnover at the blue line when they were entering the zone. 16:23 And then all of a sudden, they had guys out of position, and boom, the game was over and over time. 16:27 And you talked about that. 16:28 It's those kind of mistakes that have been kind of killing this team for many years. 16:35 Well, they get in these rivalry games, and you just get the sense that these players want to win so bad that they make bad decisions, and they force the game, and they don't play like it's any other game. 16:47 Like you have to. 16:48 And they just kind of force themselves into bad plays. 16:50 So you know, you want to win, but you don't want to give the game away. 16:55 So let's go back to kind of the whole team here. 16:58 We'll get more into the Duluth series later. 17:01 But Veegs, what's the keys here? 17:06 I mean, we need some freshmen to really kind of grow up as sophomores. 17:11 We need those sophomores to jump up. 17:13 You know, some of the players that we thought were going to have big years last year, like maybe Novak and Ashihi, were not on their game like we thought they would be. 17:23 Some of that having to do with injuries that we didn't know about. 17:25 But some of these older guys need to really step up if they want to be successful this year. 17:31 Yeah, I think Shihi and Novak wanted to press themselves into play and play through their rehab last year. 17:39 Novak obviously coming off the ACL surgery. 17:43 Shihi coming off the disc surgery on his back. 17:46 Those guys just missed their off season, so they were behind from the start. 17:50 You could just see that they didn't have the jump that they needed to play well. 17:54 And then Novak had the arm injury that kind of hampered them in the second half of the season. 18:00 I think that's a big reason why I think he only had three goals and about 20 some assists. 18:06 So that kind of forced him into a passing role. 18:08 We also had shoulder injuries to Reedie McManus took away their shooting. 18:13 So I think this team did to get back their offensive game. 18:18 They're going to need shooters. 18:19 And I think Ronto is a player who can shoot the puck. 18:23 I've been seeing him play with Novak and Shihi. 18:27 So I think that can be kind of a dangerous line because Shihi and Ronto are both, you know, scorers. 18:32 They can put the puck in the net if they get going. 18:36 Sammy Walker, he's been playing with Pitlick and Gates on a line quite a bit. 18:40 And Walker brings a lot of speed. 18:42 You know, he's going to put fear into a lot of defensemen with the pace that he brings to the ice. 18:47 And then Scott Reedie is moving back to center this year. 18:51 He's always been a center, but moved away last year. 18:53 He's been playing a lot with McManus. 18:57 And they've been shifting some guys in on their left wing. 19:00 Looks like Garrett Waite might get a chance to play there this weekend. 19:03 And then of course, there's the trench line. 19:07 And you know what? 19:08 We always get effort out of the trench line. 19:09 I mean, they may not always be scoring, but at least they're out there pressuring. 19:13 And I know that we know that Moscow likes that type of play, is the pressure game. 19:17 Those forwards have to get in there. 19:18 They're hard to play against. 19:20 You know, they make smart plays. 19:21 Very rarely do you see Romaco and Ramsey make a bad decision with the puck. 19:26 They're always making the right play. 19:27 And, you know, they're hard to play against. 19:29 You know, if they can tire a line out and then get one of the top nine guys out there, put the Gophers in a good position. 19:37 Hamme, what are your keys for some of the older guys this year going into this season? 19:41 What would you like to see? 19:43 Well, I think for me, the biggest question mark is defensively what we're going to get out of that group. 19:49 You know, I think that, you know, when we think of classic Gopher Hockey, we think of guys that not only play well defensively, but really can transition the puck and provide a little bit of offensive support to the frontline guys. 20:02 And, you know, I think we have some question marks due to either inexperience, you know, young guys coming in or just guys that didn't really play a lot before. 20:11 And so for me, that's really the biggest key to the year is, you know, I think we'll be perfectly fine up front. 20:18 I think we have really good, you know, talent up front. 20:22 I think we have some pretty good goal tending. 20:24 I think that Robinson and Shearhorn are a good pair that, you know, have experience and should bring some, you know, solid, if not really good, goal tending to the table. 20:34 It's really going to come down to, for me, what that defensive group can bring to the table on both ends of the rank. 20:39 And in particular, I'd really like to see them be able to transition to puck more effectively, really carry the puck up ice, get the offense started. 20:48 Because that's really where I think we've struggled a little bit in recent times. 20:54 All right. 20:56 People are always going to want to know, what do we know about this freshman class, Veegs? 21:01 I mean, let's go with, start off right at the bat. 21:03 Let's go with Brinkman. 21:04 What do we know about him? 21:05 What's he about? 21:06 What's he going to bring to the team? 21:07 We know he's a big boy. 21:09 I got some updated weights today, and he weighed in around 225 pounds. 21:16 So that's a reason why he accelerated at high school. 21:20 He's a big physical guy, skates pretty well. 21:24 I don't think we'll see him on the power play at all this year, but I think he's going to play pretty consistently for this team. 21:30 He brings a little bit of an edge, plays in the corners. 21:34 He's almost like a bigger Ryan Lindgren in the corners at times. 21:39 It will be interesting to see how he plays right out of the bat against Duluth. 21:42 I think he had to hold his game back in high school, and he will really be able to press it going into college. 21:50 There's no doubt about that. 21:52 When you're in high school, yeah, that size especially, you can't breathe on guys without getting a penalty. 22:00 Well, it could still be the case in college as well. 22:03 There's still quite a few little guys, and sometimes that elbow can get up. 22:07 You know, right in some guys' head when it's a little guy coming at you. 22:10 What do you know about Nathan Berkham? 22:12 I mean, do you know much about him? 22:13 He's kind of one of the more unfamiliar names to me. 22:17 Yeah, I mean, I was just one of those guys that kind of, you know, flew in under the radar, so to speak. 22:23 I think that a lot of people, you know, he doesn't come from that traditional Gopher recruiting background. 22:31 So it's like, you know, coming from Arizona, that's not exactly typical Gopher territory. 22:36 Definitely not. 22:38 Yeah, you know, and he played in the NHL, so it's not like, you know, a lot of fans, like, spend a lot of time hyping up USHL players. 22:45 So, you know, but he had some good success there. 22:48 You always have to be a little leery. 22:50 I think of, you know, what guys in that league do, because, you know, it's kind of hit or miss sometimes, as we've seen with some of the players that we've brought in, that actually had some decent offensive numbers in that league. 23:01 But he, you know, he's a little younger when he had success in that league, scored a lot of goals, so obviously has some ability to do that. 23:09 But I wouldn't expect that we're going to count on him for a lot, you know. 23:14 This year, it's just going to be more of a depth kind of a guy. 23:17 Vig, who's, oh, go ahead. 23:20 Yeah, one of the things with Berg is he's been sick for most of the month so far of practice. 23:25 So I think, you know, he's going to have a delayed impact. 23:28 I think one of the things Motska wanted to do with this recruiting class is get a couple guys in earlier. 23:35 Rather than push them all out till next year because they're going to be losing so many players next year. 23:40 He kind of wants to start making his mark a little bit sooner. 23:43 That's why Burke's on campus. 23:45 Okay. 23:46 Okay. 23:47 Matt Denman. 23:50 What do you think, Vig? 23:52 He's a solid defenseman. 23:55 He's got good size. 23:57 He was kind of a late bloomer who went from the NHL to the USHL last year and shined right away in that league. 24:05 He's another guy that Motzko identified as someone I want to bring in now. 24:10 That's kind of why he's here now versus another year junior. 24:14 He's looked very steady. 24:15 I think all three of the freshman defensemen are going to see ice time this season. 24:21 Hammy, what about Blake McLaughlin? 24:23 Obviously, we know he's going to be out for six weeks, which is obviously not good. 24:27 But what can we look forward to maybe more closer to Christmas? 24:34 Exactly. 24:35 Well, I think one of the good things is that we don't play a lot of games that first month or so. 24:40 So that's going to help him. 24:42 You know, so that's if you're going to get hurt, I guess. 24:45 You know, it's good to get hurt over that period of time. 24:48 We're not playing a lot of games, but he's got he's a good offensive player. 24:51 You know, came out of Grand Rapids, had a pretty successful year in the USHL last year. 24:59 I think that he'll bring some good offensive skills and some scoring depth. 25:03 I mean, he's not going to probably be one of those top line guys right away. 25:07 But I do think that, you know, you look forward to guys like this, granted, like we talked about, he's not going to play a full season. 25:14 But you kind of hoping that he gets maybe around that 20 point range, have a nice, solid first freshman year, maybe not have the, you know, expectations like of a lot of guys that we tend to hype up over the years. 25:30 But I think that he's going to be a good player for the Gophers over the next, you know, few years. 25:34 And I think that he'll have a solid impact. 25:36 And just a note on Blake. 25:38 It was a six week injury, but it happened about three weeks ago. 25:42 Yeah, I was just going to ask you what happened, if we know anything of what happened. 25:47 Yeah, it was just something in practice where he got his lower body in a bad spot on his own. 25:52 And he's already skating again. 25:55 He's out of his boot. 25:57 So, you know, there's probably a chance it's faster than three or four weeks here that he'll be back in the lineup. 26:04 Well, like I said, it's a good thing. 26:05 You know, we've got the big series this weekend. 26:06 But after that, you know, we've got two exhibitions and a single game against, you know, North Dakota. 26:11 So, boy, this is the lightest October I can ever remember. 26:14 There's just, there's not much going on. 26:17 Well, that's probably a good thing, though, given the fact that you got a new staff and the team trying to get used to that staff and what they want. 26:24 So, it's probably beneficial. 26:27 And I think one thing with Blake is, you know, his game has been slippery, vision, puck handling, being a little bit fancy. 26:34 So I think, you know, the lower body injury that he has probably won't hold him back too much for making an impact. 26:42 Sample Ranta. 26:43 Is that how you pronounce his name, Veegs? 26:45 I think that's sounding pretty good. 26:48 He is a solid kid. 26:50 He is six feet over 200 pounds. 26:53 Good shot. 26:54 You know, if he's playing with Novak and Sheehy, he should get a lot of space. 26:59 I've seen him playing the off wing on the power play in practice. 27:03 You know, he's a guy who can make an impact. 27:05 I think the reason he fell in the draft a little bit was some concerns about his skating. 27:10 You know, he's not a great skater, but he's a very solid skater. 27:14 And he's a guy who can contribute some offense, which this team needs. 27:18 He's definitely a shooter. 27:20 I mean, that's the one thing that you can say about him more than anything else is he's not shy from shooting a puck, and he's got a hard shot. 27:27 So I definitely would expect him to have a pretty good impact on the power play, you know, this year and in the future years. 27:36 We've been kind of missing that recently, haven't we, Veegs? 27:39 You know, a good, solid shooter, a guy who likes to shoot the puck. 27:43 Yeah, I mean, last year it looked like McManus might be a guy who could do it, and it ended up really being Nanny was the only one who could one time the puck. 27:51 I think they've got a few more options this year, and Enrant is definitely one of them. 27:57 Hammy, Robbie Stucker, what do you know about Ham? 28:01 Oh, St. 28:02 Thomas Academy, you know, I mean, I think that he's going to bring some good offensive skill. 28:08 I mean, we kind of talked about it earlier with, you know, having a guy that can bring it up the ice and kind of transition the team. 28:17 And I think that he has the ability to provide some of that. 28:20 I mean, I'm not saying he's going to be some slick All-American, but I think that he's going to help contribute to that and be able to transition the team, get them going on the offensive end. 28:29 I think that he'll be solid defensively, some pretty good size to him. 28:33 So I think that he'll be good defensively. 28:36 So I thought that was a pretty good addition, all things considered, when it wasn't happened. 28:45 Well, we'll keep adding. 28:47 And he's going to be playing on the power play. 28:50 He's a right shot defenseman, which is something they need. 28:53 And he looks pretty steady back there. 28:56 I think he and Phillips are probably the top two guys, quarterback power plays this year. 29:01 We'll see Nanny there some a little bit. 29:03 And I think we'll see Nanny on the off wing a bit, too. 29:06 How many more Edina guys are we going to have? 29:11 And I think we'll see. 29:12 Well, shit, we got two Northern Minnesota assistant coaches. 29:16 So who knows? 29:17 Maybe they'll dry up and they'll be going more to those small town guys. 29:21 That'll make some of those fans on GPL happy. 29:24 Like some of them. 29:26 What is it? 29:27 What is the guy from Morehead? 29:28 I can't remember. 29:29 It was the Morehead poster. 29:30 I know he'll love it. 29:31 And I'm sure some of the guys that are from the 218 area will love it. 29:35 Well, we've got Sammy Walker, who's coming in straight out. 29:38 Is he straight out of Redondo this year? 29:42 Correct. 29:42 Well, there you go. 29:43 I mean... 29:44 Mr. 29:45 Hockey last year. 29:46 Yeah. 29:47 Sorry. 29:49 I just don't keep up. 29:50 We know you're busy with your wild social life. 29:53 Yeah. 29:54 I just don't follow the high school game like he used to because my team thinks so. 30:00 It's tough, especially when it's Dynas. 30:03 So what is Sammy going to bring to the team there, Hammy? 30:07 Speed. 30:08 Lots and lots of speed. 30:10 He'll definitely be a guy that the fans will enjoy, carrying the puck up ice and creating. 30:17 He'll definitely create space. 30:20 He's a good offensive player. 30:23 You know, I'm real excited, especially in the big sheet. 30:25 You know, he'll definitely be able to create some offense. 30:29 So it'll be a nice addition to the team. 30:33 I mean, he's about as fast as they're going to come. 30:36 He's definitely an elite skater. 30:37 So it'll be exciting to watch him on the big rank. 30:41 And finally, Veegs, we've got Garrett Waite. 30:47 Seems like he committed to the U about 10 years ago, doesn't it? 30:50 It does, actually. 30:52 But you know, there's a benefit to having guys who will play through years of junior and come on your roster. 30:59 Probably didn't turn out like everybody expected when he committed. 31:03 But you know, he's a veteran player. 31:05 And he's going to get a chance here to play some games, especially with Blake's injury. 31:11 You know, he's going to slide in there on a left wing and see what he can bring. 31:15 You hope a player like that, who's that experience, can play smart hockey and bring that grit and pressure. 31:22 So we'll see what he can bring. 31:25 Well, one guy I'm kind of interested in seeing how he responds is kind of a half freshman, which I would think, in Clayton Phillips. 31:34 You know, he came in mid-year last year, just kind of thrown into the fire. 31:38 And I'm kind of curious to see how he turns out in his, you know, sophomore season, but, you know, he didn't play a huge amount of games there, Veegs. 31:49 Yeah, I think just putting him in the lineup mid-season was not a great thing for his confidence. 31:56 He's a guy who's got good hands, good vision. 31:59 You know, I think they're gonna be counting on him to man one of the power plays up top this year. 32:04 You know, he's got a lot of skill there. 32:05 He's got good size. 32:08 He's a player that needs to have a big jump from what he showed last year. 32:12 That first game that he played against Army, I think, played really well. 32:17 Next time out against St. 32:18 Cloud, it was all downhill from there. 32:21 So having that off season to acclimate is really important for him and he looks ready to contribute. 32:28 By the way, Hammey, Mote says it's time. 32:33 It's time. 32:34 It's time. 32:36 Mote, Mote. 32:38 Mote is excited for the season. 32:41 And some people are listening to us live right now via the Mixler app. 32:46 And they chime in once in a while. 32:48 In like just 2070, he says he misses Matt Demarque. 32:51 He wants that kind of toughness back on D. 32:53 Deadwoods says, are they going to bring back Blake Thompson as a grad assistant? 32:58 Talk about toughness. 32:59 Five games played, 25 penalty minutes. 33:03 So our live listeners do have a sense of humor, right, MoTay? 33:06 He says, you know it. 33:07 So there you go, guys. 33:10 Well, they listen to us, so they must have a sense of humor. 33:14 And remember, if you guys are listening live, you can always just send us questions via Twitter using the hashtag GPL Podcast. 33:23 And we'll try to get to them. 33:26 I've got a couple questions related that are more related to the games this weekend, but just one simple one right off the bat. 33:32 John Candles says, is it fair to expect an NCAA birth this year? 33:36 I would say it is, isn't it, Veegs? 33:39 I don't see why not. 33:41 They're returning a lot of scoring up front, and they're returning good goaltending. 33:46 So that's usually a recipe for success. 33:49 Motska certainly isn't shying away from those kinds of expectations. 33:53 He says that they are a team that should be in CAA tournament every single season. 33:58 So I think that's what he's pointing out is the expectation and the senior leadership. 34:03 They don't want to miss another tournament as well. 34:07 Definitely. 34:08 Well, the fans get a little bit angrier, and the attendance gets a little lower each year as this team is floundering. 34:18 Well, let's kind of widen out the scope a little bit here and talk more of the Big Ten Conference. 34:23 Boy, a couple of years ago, Hammy, a lot of people were bitching. 34:27 Some of us were bitching. 34:28 Oh, the Big Ten is just terrible. 34:30 Well, last year, they had three of the four teams out in the frozen floor. 34:37 And this league ain't not a terrible league anymore. 34:42 No, and I think that most of us that realized that it wasn't going to happen overnight. 34:47 I mean, when you have a Penn State and you had a couple teams that were down, of course, Wisconsin was kind of the surprise that we were kind of counting on to be a good team early on. 34:57 In Michigan as well. 34:59 You're right, and they just didn't bring that to the table. 35:04 But it's only a matter of time when you have these big money programs that do have prestige and do have good academic institutions and everything that a kid could really want from an academic and a development standpoint. 35:19 Then you add a Notre Dame to the mix, and so yeah, I really believe that this conference is going to be, if not the top conference, it's certainly going to be in the mix for that pretty much year in and year out moving forward. 35:33 One thing you were mentioning to me just yesterday, Veegs, was boy, you like Ohio State, and you were just, you were amazing that they kept some of those guys. 35:44 Yeah, I mean, Lesinski, Yopps, Joshua, those players are all elite to the Big Ten. 35:52 They've all proven them, they can do it. 35:55 I think Joshua is probably one of the more underrated players in college hockey, because when he wants to play, he is a handful. 36:02 He's just that power forward who can really take it to the net and be tough to play against. 36:09 Steve Rollock's done a really nice job with that program. 36:13 You know, they knew how to generate offense, and last year they learned how to play a little defense, and that's a good combination. 36:19 So Ohio State's going to be a tough team to play against. 36:23 We've got Chris S via The GPL Podcast, hashtag earlier today. 36:28 He wants to know predictions on where the Gophers finished in the Big Ten this year. 36:33 What do you think, Hammeh? 36:37 It's not a first place finish like it was before. 36:39 It's like, who knows? 36:41 Yeah, I mean, honestly, for me, I mean, talking about the NCAA birth, for me, that's more the goal this year is just for them to make the NCAAs because, you know, when you have that, it is a transition year. 36:53 I mean, I think one of the things that I like about these kinds of years where it's when you don't really know what to expect, it's almost like you're more excited for those because the unknown factors, you know, there's talent there and they certainly could do some great things. 37:08 But you also know there's enough unknowns there that you just don't know what you may or may not be able to count on. 37:14 So for me, I just want to see a team that's going to make the NCAAs and be playing good hockey and improve throughout the year. 37:22 Big Ten-wise, I mean, I don't expect them to win the league, but I certainly would expect them to be in that mix, in that last month, to be able to contend for that. 37:31 But I would suspect that they're probably going to finish third somewhere in that range, I would guess. 37:37 What do you think, Veegs? 37:39 Where is this team going to end up? 37:41 You know, I think they're going to be in the top three by the end of the season. 37:45 It all kind of depends how quickly Motsgau is able to get things going, and whether or not everybody buys in. 37:52 You know, we've heard a lot from the team over the last year and a half about everybody needs to get on the same page. 37:58 Everybody's got to buy in. 38:00 Everybody's got to, you know, sell out and apply pressure. 38:04 And you know, it's still going to be up to the players to do that. 38:08 Big Ten's not going to be an easy conference this year. 38:11 I kept thinking Notre Dame was going to fall off last year, and then what do they do? 38:15 They just, you know, run off, what, 18 game on beaten streak, you know, and they had to replace, you know, their top scorer and a top goalie, and they did it. 38:25 They're going to be right there. 38:28 I think Ohio State's going to probably be the favorite going in. 38:31 Michigan surprised last year. 38:33 I think getting Quinn Hughes back is going to make them very, very dangerous yet again. 38:38 Michigan State's getting better. 38:41 Wisconsin is starting to get in more recruits. 38:44 You know, it's going to be a tough league. 38:45 Penn State didn't really lose anything there either. 38:49 You know, this is going to be a conference that could get four or five teams into the tournament pretty easily. 38:54 Well, I would agree with you guys. 38:57 You know, Moscow talked about it the other day. 38:59 You know, no one was happy about it. 39:02 And then, you know, when it did come together, quite a few teams weren't that good. 39:08 But now it is coming together really nice people. 39:10 And I know that there's a lot of old fans out there who says, you know, who cares about Ohio State? 39:16 Well, you know what? 39:17 Ohio State's a pretty darn good team. 39:19 So they play a pretty darn good style of hockey, too. 39:24 So get out there and watch them, you know, because these are going to be good games this year, people. 39:29 Well, I think one of the things at the Big Ten Conference is, you know, I'm a numbers guy when it comes to looking at NCAA hockey, and of the top teams for revenue and spending in college hockey, the Big Ten has seven of the top ten. 39:42 Yeah. 39:44 You know, they are spending money and they have it. 39:46 So it's going to be a good conference for years to come. 39:50 Well, yeah, it's definitely I'm looking forward to the season. 39:53 It's it's, you know, obviously it's it's a it's a fresh thing. 39:57 I'm excited just we're back to hockey. 40:00 I mean, that's what I'm really most excited about is hockey is finally back. 40:04 But who also is back is our sponsorship with Vintage Minnesota Hockey. 40:08 They're back again this year like they are every year. 40:11 And let's hear from them. 40:15 Vintage MN hockey.com is a proud sponsor of the GPL Podcast. 40:20 Well, what is Vintage MN Hockey? 40:22 Well, it's kind of the place to get all of your history of Minnesota hockey, from the pros to the minors, the collegiate teams, to even the high school teams. 40:32 All information about any of those teams can be found on Vintage MN hockey.com. 40:37 They also have great interviews with some historical Minnesota hockey figures like John Mayessich and Lou Nani, Glenn Sonmore, some of the greats of Minnesota hockey. 40:46 So make sure you check out those interviews. 40:48 It's a really great thing. 40:50 But as I always say, I think my favorite part is the store. 40:54 The store you can buy custom historical jersey from the Gophers or the Bulldogs, or some of your favorite high school teams. 41:01 And if you do make a purchase, just use the code GPL Podcast, all one word, and you'll get 10% off your order. 41:08 So make sure you visit vintagemnhockey.com and follow them on Twitter at VintageMNHockey. 41:15 All right. 41:16 Thanks to Vintage for sponsoring us again this season. 41:20 I'm just going to hit a few questions from the Mixler chat. 41:24 Jess wants to know, thoughts on the New Jerseys? 41:27 You know, the road's upgraded, home's not so much. 41:29 Well, I actually think the homes are pretty good. 41:31 It looks like he's a little disappointed in that there's no gold M. 41:33 But what are your thoughts on the jerseys there, Veegs? 41:40 He's on mute now. 41:41 I think Veegs is on mute now. 41:42 Well, my opinion is whatever Ryan Cardinal says about jerseys, that's what my opinion is. 41:48 Because I don't know, I don't judge them. 41:51 So if Ryan Cardinal likes them, I like them. 41:53 If Ryan Cardinal doesn't like them, then I probably don't like them either. 41:58 I actually like the jerseys. 42:00 I think the home ones are pretty nice. 42:03 The road ones, one thing that does kind of bother me, I'm not so much on the fake laces. 42:10 But I don't know. 42:18 You want them to be wearing Cooperalls? 42:21 No, I'm not like Grey Eagle and love my Cooperalls. 42:25 I saw somebody asking for dazzle fabric. 42:28 And I hope that isn't something that comes to fruition. 42:32 The one thing that's a little goofy, I think, about the jerseys is take a good look at the M's. 42:36 There's a little bit of fabric technology that they threw in there. 42:42 We'll see. 42:43 I'm a little disappointed they took away that patch of the state of Minnesota. 42:48 But I do like having the vintage goldie on the third uniforms and the diagonal Gophers is always a great look. 42:56 And of course, we won't be able to buy these jerseys, will we? 43:00 Maybe Vintage Minnesota Hockey. 43:03 Well, you know, actually, I think they have to wait a couple of years until they can officially do that stuff. 43:11 But that's what keeps them in business because, you know, Minnesota does, you know, when they do do jerseys, they're the really cheap kind. 43:19 They won't do authentic. 43:21 We've been talking about this for years. 43:23 And the funny thing is when Minnesota tweeted out the New Jersey, they're like, when are we going to get off the authentic? 43:27 A lot of response about authentic and I've kind of given up. 43:33 I don't know. 43:34 Motay says he's getting the Jed Feeblecorn jersey just for you, Hammeh. 43:39 I thought he would be wearing a Mavericks jersey. 43:45 Another interesting question. 43:47 Ted Woods wants to know, any idea on where ASU is going to end up going to a conference? 43:51 You know, they're getting a new arena. 43:53 It's a big school. 43:54 Where are they going to end up, Veegs? 43:57 Jess Myers is always bringing that up at the NCHC media day. 44:02 Josh Fenton was pretty adamant that's not going to happen anytime soon and they're not looking to expand. 44:07 So I think ASU is just going to have to play the waiting game a little bit longer. 44:11 Getting a rank that's competitive for them, I think is important. 44:16 You know, Penn State did it absolutely the right way. 44:19 Someone wants to sign a check over for $110 million to start a program. 44:24 That's the way to do it. 44:26 Arizona State, you know, went a little more budget with their plan. 44:29 So I think once they get a good rank and a good attendance situation, then they're more likely to find a home. 44:37 They're going to play in the Pac-10. 44:42 Paul, we're talking hockey, okay. 44:44 Sorry. 44:47 All right, guys. 44:48 Well, just like last year, Minnesota is heading up to Duluth to kick off the season at Amsoil Arena. 44:54 Except this year, Duluth will be hanging a banner Saturday night, Veegs. 44:58 I know you changed your plans for watching the Gopher football game against Iowa and decided you're going to go out and cover it for the athletic. 45:06 I'm going up there in Rube mode just like I did last year. 45:09 Bringing the girlfriend up there, it'll be her first hockey game, so I'm throwing her right in the fire. 45:14 But here we are starting the season again with Duluth, a team that has dominated Minnesota for quite a while, Veegs. 45:21 Yeah, it's not a pretty record. 45:23 You look back to 2014 and UMD has got the better of the Gophers just about every time, and they've done it playing hard hockey. 45:32 The games aren't exactly high-scoring shootouts. 45:36 It's UMD squeaking out some wins here and there, and they always just find a way to play hockey smart. 45:43 They make the right plays at the blue lines. 45:45 They play physical. 45:47 They usually win the special teams battle. 45:49 Their goaltenders are just a hair more consistent than the Gopher goaltenders, and the big challenge for Minnesota is to flip the script. 45:57 They've got to treat it like any other game, and they can't force it to happen. 46:01 They just have to play hockey, and they just have not been able to do that in these in-state rivalries, and it costs them every year. 46:09 So, new coach, new team, maybe they can break it. 46:12 It's going to be a great atmosphere there. 46:15 I've heard from a couple Duluth fans getting after me, saying they're calling it.0001 day. 46:23 I'm excited to raise that banner, and I expect Scott Sandlin to maybe have his championship ring on a certain finger, if any Gopher fans want to see it. 46:35 Well, Hammey, the last win against Duluth was, I believe, the first game of 2014, wasn't it? 46:41 And Vig, didn't you find it was the first game, was it the icebreaker down there at Compton and at Notre Dame? 46:46 Yep, that's the last time they got a win. 46:49 It looked like an NCAA regional. 46:53 Hammey, that's not good. 46:55 I mean, we've been talking about, you know, they got a win against the in-state schools, but Duluth has just been dominating. 47:03 Well, like I said earlier, I think a lot of it is that Duluth has had more of an attitude in the series in recent years. 47:10 I think they've taken a little bit more pride, a little bit more effort, a little bit more of that consistent attitude, and certainly had a little bit more grit as well. 47:19 So, I mean, I just think talent wise, that really hasn't been the difference. 47:23 It's been more some of the intangibles and some of the effort aspects. 47:27 And that's why, if anything, I'm hopeful that this weekend, I just really want to see the team compete. 47:36 I want to see them start to bring an attitude to the table. 47:38 If they lose games, but they put up a good fight against an opponent that they're a rival with on the road, that's one thing, but none of us likes to see a team that just doesn't bring the effort at all and loses. 47:52 I think we've saw a little bit too much of that in recent years. 47:55 We are all frustrated when we would see a rivalry series, a rivalry game, and they just didn't seem to have that same passion that the other team had and hopefully, that's going to change with the new regime. 48:06 V, you've touched on it a little bit earlier, but what kind of lineup are we looking to have when we go up there? 48:13 I mean, who's going to be playing with who and maybe what are the possible power play combinations? 48:17 Because I know you mentioned it a little bit earlier, but what have you seen so far in practice? 48:23 Yeah, I think we'll see a top nine that's going to have something like Ranta, Novak, Sheehy, Gates, Pitlick, Walker, and then Waite, Reedy, McManus. 48:33 I think those will be kind of your scoring lines, and I think the trench line will stick together with Norman, Romanko, and Ramsey. 48:41 With the defensemen, it's hard to say who's going to play with who so far. 48:45 I just do think we'll see all eight defensemen play quite a bit early this first half of the year. 48:51 I might see Brinkman and Stucker play pretty consistently. 48:57 They look really good together. 48:59 Power play units, you know, we're seeing Stucker quarterback one unit and Phillips quarterback the other. 49:08 Guys underneath, you'll see Walker, Branta, McManus, Nanny, Reedy probably on one unit. 49:19 Then you'll see Sheehy, Pitlick, Gates and Novak on the other unit. 49:27 There's probably 11 guys or so that right now are getting power play looks. 49:32 So it'll be interesting to see how they come together. 49:35 I think Monsko is one of those soothsayers with the specialty units. 49:39 Well, one of the more interesting things is that we haven't talked about at all yet is we got two pretty good goaltenders and who's going to play Saturday night? 49:49 I mean, Sheerhorns played up there recently, but Robson hasn't played the Bulldogs. 49:54 Do we see Robson maybe get the start Saturday night? 49:59 If I was leaning one way, I would think each player gets a game and I think Robson might be the steadier player to play on the road. 50:09 But we'll see. 50:10 I think both goalies will get a chance. 50:12 They both have played a lot. 50:14 They both have pretty good track records for playing in that and big games. 50:20 There are two different styles of goalie too. 50:22 I think Robson is the more technical goalie who will let the puck hit him, and Sheerhorns is the more athletic goalie. 50:29 I think we'll see two different styles and two different goalies playing the first half of the year. 50:35 What do you think, Cammie, who should be in the net starting Saturday night? 50:40 I think I'll probably go with Robson personally. 50:42 I just think that I have a little bit more confidence in what he brings to the table. 50:47 But certainly, I think Sheerhorns is going to get his opportunities. 50:52 He's played a lot of games, won a lot of games, and always looked great doing it. 50:56 But I think that he's earned the right to certainly compete for the starting role in the early series in the year. 51:06 All right. 51:06 Well, let's hear your predictions then, guys. 51:11 You're going to go with a normal split or a UMD sweep? 51:14 I'm thinking that's more likely than a Minnesota sweep. 51:17 Cammie? 51:22 Yeah, it's so hard to know. 51:24 I mean, you don't know how guys are going to react to a new coach, new style. 51:35 I honestly can't predict. 51:38 I don't know. 51:39 I think really, like I said, I'm just looking forward to seeing an energized team playing with a lot of effort, kind of having a little bit of that toughness, especially when they're on the road. 51:53 So that's more than anything for me. 51:54 What I want to see is just, obviously I want to win, but I just don't know enough how these guys are going to transition into this new style, new staff. 52:06 So it's just hard for me to even predict. 52:08 I'll go with the split, but I can see any kind of a result. 52:12 Like you said, I'd probably say the least like it would be Gopher Sweep. 52:16 What do you think, Veegs? 52:18 Can Minnesota get off the Schneid and get least one win against the Bulldogs in the last however many years? 52:24 I think the Gophers are going to be able to win at home. 52:28 I think at Duluth, you know, it's going to be a tough task for them, you know, trying to get some new systems going up against a team that you know is going to be pumped to play the Gophers as they raise the banner, a team that has a lot of veteran defensemen coming back, you know, they weathered a lot last year. 52:46 I think the one thing about Duluth that I'm not sure about this season is where they're going to get scoring from. 52:53 You know, when they went on their run here in the tournament last year, it's not because they were scoring lots of goals, it's because they were playing a super tight checking game. 53:01 And I think losing, you know, Carson Kuhlman and Jared Thomas is going to impact their forwards quite a bit because I think a big reason they were so successful was with how they clogged up the neutral zone and I think it's going to be easier for them to do that at home than at Mariucci. 53:17 I think with a little bit extra space on the big ice, I think Minnesota will have an easier time getting through the neutral zone and I think you'll see some healthy players from the Gophers raring to put the puck in the net. 53:30 So I think, you know, we can see Minnesota score four or five goals on Sunday night. 53:36 Well, the fans would like that because I'm kind of with you, like with you, Hammeh, you know, I'm guessing, you know, if they, if they, you know, even if they lose both games this weekend, I want to see what their effort is and, you know, how much they're trying out there. 53:49 And that would make me more happy than, than, you know, getting their butts kicked and just looking terrible doing it. 53:57 So I just think it's going to be hard to find that energy right away in the first game of the year on the road against the National Champions. 54:08 When don't you? 54:10 Well, I just think, you know, coming up to speed, you know, it's going to be a fast, hard game right away. 54:14 And, you know, it's going to be a shock to, I think, some of the young guys. 54:18 And I think, you know, it's different going from practice to playing a game. 54:21 And, you know, Minnesota's had a hard time answering that bell in the past. 54:27 Time for, that's, that's why we have the new coach. 54:29 Time to get, time to put the foot in these guys' ass and get them going. 54:33 Bright Beaks could be in so negative. 54:36 I'll be surprised if they come on fire. 54:38 That's my job. 54:40 Quit stepping on my toes. 54:42 In the Mixler chat, LFAHockey24 wants to know, are season ticket sale numbers up this year with the new life and new energy in the program? 54:51 They're actually down another about 500 tickets. 54:55 They're under 5,000 now for season ticket sales. 54:59 It's an uphill battle for them to try to sell tickets. 55:03 We just hear it all the time that people are upset about the Big Ten. 55:08 It's just going to take a new generation of fans, I think, to get that season ticket base back up. 55:14 I think Minnesota is focusing more on group sales right now to try to get people in the building. 55:20 It will be interesting to see what happens with attendance. 55:24 Well, I think winning will help, but it is more than just winning, and there's just so many things that came together with that, didn't it, Veegs? 55:38 The reseeding, the prices, the Big Ten, and it's just hard for them to dig out of this hole. 55:46 Yep, and Minnesotans have long memories on that stuff, and it almost feels like the hockey fans are a little bit spiteful, and having the Wild come in and be as successful as they are filling their building. 55:59 There's only so many hockey fans in the cult to spend the money, so Minnesota is going to have to win a little bit and figure out how to get more new fans in there. 56:09 Well, I know one thing people will be a little bit happier about this weekend is that both games will be on TV. 56:15 The Game of Duluth will be locally on Channel 9 Plus, which is basically the old Channel 29. 56:22 So you'll be able to see the game locally. 56:25 And then Sunday's game will be on FSN. 56:27 There are a lot of games on FSN this year. 56:32 The North Dakota game is going to be on some local cable stations coming up at the end of October. 56:38 Not so much on the direct TV and dish yet, but it's a little bit better situation than last year. 56:46 And of course, the anxiety of people tweeting at being blaming Minnesota for all this. 56:50 And I guess some of these people just don't get it. 56:53 The TV situation on the road is out of Minnesota's control. 56:56 They have nothing to do with it. 56:58 But it's like I'm just talking and no one's listening. 57:04 Yeah, it was Joko and Nate Wells on some messages this week that we always get the same four or five comments on our articles. 57:12 We get the tickets are too expensive. 57:15 The games aren't consistently on TV. 57:18 You can't find the games. 57:20 There's not enough passion in the team. 57:23 We got a bunch of free spaces for a bingo card. 57:28 The one that I hate the most is when people say, I can't find the game. 57:30 I'm like, oh my gosh, are you just that stupid? 57:33 You have a TV, you have a guide for a reason. 57:35 Every cable station or every cable or satellite thing has a guide. 57:39 You can just flip through it and find the game. 57:41 It's not hard to do if you really want to watch it. 57:44 I think that's what the Gopher Puck Live schedule is for. 57:47 Just get that puppy on your calendar, subscribe to that. 57:50 Yeah, you literally can subscribe to it and it shows up right there. 57:53 And I have put in the TV information. 57:54 So I think people are just lazy. 57:58 They want it like the old days. 57:59 And that's just not the way things work anymore. 58:02 So just have to embrace things, people. 58:05 It's a new season. 58:06 Hopefully a little more success than last year when they lost out by 0.0001 of a point. 58:14 But we'll have to see. 58:17 I'm excited. 58:18 You guys excited? 58:20 Absolutely. 58:22 Can't wait. 58:24 Veegs is so passionate. 58:28 Oh, boy. 58:29 Well, Veegs, are you going to be doing a lot more for the Athletic this year? 58:33 Yeah, I think I'm put out about two or three things a month here on the Athletic. 58:37 If you're a hockey fan, it's one of the best sites out there. 58:41 All kinds of prospect coverage. 58:43 We're trying to get more coverage of all the teams in the state this year with a bunch of riders. 58:49 So there's lots of good content in there. 58:51 And the more people that read, the easier it is for me to keep freelancing for them. 58:56 So thanks for those of you who do subscribe. 59:00 Yeah, it's good stuff. 59:02 I mean, people talk about how the newspapers are going away and they kind of are. 59:07 I mean, we're talking about Drew Cove and he's stringing for the Pioneer Press this weekend. 59:14 Yeah, the weird not-seeing-a-wire story in there. 59:17 The Pioneer Press doesn't send anybody anymore, but it's great for Drew. 59:21 But it just kind of shows the state of newspapers right now. 59:25 And the type of sites like The Athletic, though people complain, oh, we're going to pay. 59:30 Well, it's kind of how it is now. 59:34 That's just kind of the way things are going. 59:35 And I think that the newspapers just kind of are still slowly wilting away, unfortunately. 59:43 So we shall see, guys, this is our eighth year doing podcasts. 59:47 It doesn't seem like it's been that long, but it has been quite a while. 59:51 So it's excited to do another season of the podcast. 59:55 You guys got any final thoughts before we close it down for the evening? 1:00:00 Veegs? 1:00:01 I just want to tell Deadwoods, alumni giving is coming around. 1:00:06 They don't have enough money to do the weight room just yet, but that's the next phase for their fundraising. 1:00:12 Then they're going to make some improvements to the M Club and stuff at Mariucci. 1:00:15 But it's coming. 1:00:16 I'd love to know what happened, how that fell through. 1:00:18 I'd love to know how that fell through last year. 1:00:22 Something happened. 1:00:23 That's last year, Jub. 1:00:25 I know. 1:00:25 I still would love to. 1:00:26 Get over it. 1:00:28 Hammy is Mr. 1:00:29 Positive this season, folks. 1:00:32 Well, hey, hey. 1:00:34 Everybody got what they wanted. 1:00:35 They got that loser Don Lucia out of the head coaching role. 1:00:42 I'm talking about you GPL haters who wanted Lucia out. 1:00:47 No. 1:00:49 People can't really complain about some of this stuff anymore. 1:00:52 Nobody's really got anything that they can whine about, although I'm sure they'll find something to whine about. 1:00:56 Maybe it's not enough first round draft picks in the recruiting pipeline or some baloney like that. 1:01:02 But yeah, I think it's going to be exciting. 1:01:05 I'm excited for the fresh perspective. 1:01:08 I'm excited for the potential cultural change. 1:01:12 Like we talked about earlier, I think that there's just kind of a disconnect between the coaching staff, head coach in particular, and the players in recent years. 1:01:21 And I think that that certainly came across with what we saw in the ice. 1:01:24 So having that new kind of direction and some new passion, some younger assistants, I think that it's going to be a good thing. 1:01:32 It'll re-energize Gopher Hockey. 1:01:33 It might not happen overnight, but I think it's going to be a change in the right direction. 1:01:38 And we'll see some good things in the future. 1:01:41 I'm with you, Hammy. 1:01:42 I'm with you 100%. 1:01:43 Get on board, baby. 1:01:46 Get aboard the Hammy train. 1:01:48 Here we go. 1:01:50 Deadwoods wants to know if I'm having any commies at Grandma's this weekend. 1:01:53 Probably not. 1:01:56 Sorry. 1:01:57 Got to do a little driving because the hotel spaces up there are like nothing this year. 1:02:02 Everything is packed full. 1:02:04 So we'll have to see. 1:02:06 He doesn't want to be sloppy, drunk around his lady either. 1:02:09 I saw that too. 1:02:10 That was me last year when it was just Veegs and I in the basement of his friend's house. 1:02:15 So there you go. 1:02:15 Till four in the morning. 1:02:17 Now we won't have the Walla Whiskey for us this year. 1:02:19 Oh boy, jeez. 1:02:21 That was a fun night. 1:02:25 A lot of whisky. 1:02:27 All right. 1:02:28 All right, guys. 1:02:29 Well, remember you can always follow Hammy at Hammy Hockey on Twitter. 1:02:32 And Veegs, like you said, you'll be doing a few things a month for The Athletic and you can follow him on Twitter at eVego. 1:02:38 So you got to preview this week, right, Veegs? 1:02:42 Preview this week is up. 1:02:44 I'll do a mailbag here probably for Friday. 1:02:48 So if you want to get questions in there that we didn't get to tonight on the podcast or you'd rather see me write them out, go ahead and let me know. 1:02:57 There you go. 1:02:58 There you go. 1:02:59 And of course, you can always follow us on Twitter as well. 1:03:02 And check out the GPL website. 1:03:05 I've made quite a few changes, a new theme on the home page, more access to articles and the podcast and other audio, like the audio from the media day yesterday is up over there. 1:03:17 So make sure you go over there and check it out. 1:03:20 It's the end of the show, folks. 1:03:22 We'll try to be back here next week. 1:03:24 No, we will be back here next week. 1:03:25 We'll review this whole UMD thing and see how things are going so far. 1:03:31 Thanks for listening.