0:08 This is The GPL Podcast from gopherpucklive.com. 0:23 Now, here's Hammy, Vegoe and your host, Jupiter. 0:37 Thank you. 0:37 Good evening, and welcome to The GPL Podcast, episode number 159. 0:46 Yes, it's a lot of podcasts, but we brought back our favorite guest, Frank Mazzocco, who was on show number two back nine years ago now, and now making his seventh appearance on the podcast. 1:00 Frank Mazzocco, how are you doing? 1:02 And you haven't looked back, have you? 1:04 And it was just like a skyrocket right from number two. 1:09 Hey, I'm doing fine, thanks. 1:10 You know, people can still have access to those old podcasts. 1:16 They're all still out there from episode one all the way through to today. 1:20 And boy, is it terrible. 1:22 But you know, that's how you learn though too. 1:26 You learn how to do these podcasts and you figure out how to record them and figure out how to do them live. 1:33 And now we have live people listening to us right now. 1:35 So it's, technology has brought us far and we're all on our computers or phones and doing all this. 1:41 It's pretty cool stuff. 1:43 So, cause I know you're a big tech guy as you told me this past weekend. 1:50 Well, yeah. 1:52 Old school tech. 1:55 No, I like to stay as current as I can. 1:58 I mean, there's increasingly like by the day, there's something that I'm thinking. 2:04 I'm not even gonna try to figure that out by the time I'm, you know, toes up. 2:10 No way am I gonna, just don't need it. 2:13 You embrace technology more than a lot of people. 2:16 I love it. 2:17 I mean, you've got the iPad there with you at the games where you can look up things and you're even sending audio from your iPad at times, aren't you? 2:25 During the broadcast? 2:28 Haven't done it this year. 2:29 There's been no call to do it yet this year. 2:31 What did you have in the past? 2:32 And that's been- 2:33 Oh, sure, yeah. 2:33 And that's technology, right? 2:36 It's your fingertips and you could be out in who knows where to be able to do that type of stuff. 2:41 No, it's great. 2:42 I mean, I really appreciate it. 2:43 I've been using it for a while. 2:45 It just gave us another dimension. 2:48 The hard part is that I haven't found an easy way to edit on my iPad and therefore, it's not worth it to slug around a whole, you know, a great big laptop. 3:02 GarageBand is your friend. 3:03 I'm sure GarageBand would work pretty well. 3:07 Maybe I'll have to give you some lessons sometime. 3:09 We'll have to see. 3:11 But you've embraced technology. 3:12 Wally Shaver, not so much, but he did a few years ago, your partner in crime did get an iPhone. 3:18 So he's moving up. 3:23 One of these days, we're gonna teach you how to use the internet. 3:26 Oh no, you don't wanna go there. 3:28 And get him on the podcast. 3:30 Don't wanna go there. 3:34 No stories out of school, but Wally does well with hockey and his boat and things that you can actually better tactile. 3:46 Just don't get him into digits. 3:48 Oh boy. 3:50 Well, that's Frank Mazzocco and Hammy's off again this week. 3:52 Hammy's working on a big project for work. 3:55 He's just got, you know, they're introducing a new product. 3:57 He's kind of the main guy behind it. 3:59 And you know what? 4:00 That takes precedence. 4:01 But as always, Vegoe, you're here. 4:04 How you feeling? 4:06 I'm feeling great this week. 4:08 Looking forward to another weekend of hockey here. 4:10 Nonstop action right now. 4:12 Oh, I love it when the season gets going. 4:15 Now that everyone's playing, we're in the league play now. 4:19 Not the best of weekends, I would say, Veegs. 4:23 They got the extra point and a tie on Friday and a loss on Saturday. 4:28 And a lot of people were saying it and the stats bear it. 4:35 Face-offs really kind of killed them this past weekend. 4:39 Yeah, and Bob Mazzocco said we're not allowed to ask him about the team being young, but having troubles in face-offs is a sign of a young team. 4:51 I think early in the year we saw some issues with them getting into their defensive coverage off of a face-off loss, things you can do in the neutral zone and things you can't do. 5:02 Well, this weekend against a veteran Notre Dame team, they got exposed. 5:07 You had a lot of inexperienced centers who don't have a lot of moves trying to do the same thing over and over again. 5:13 And Notre Dame just took advantage and dominated the circle and had Minnesota chasing the puck all weekend long. 5:21 And Frank, face-offs have been a big deal forever for this Gopher team. 5:26 I recall back in the day when you were calling TV with the Wuger, I remember specifically the Wuger saying, boy, they might be 50-50 on face-offs, but they're losing critical face-offs at critical times in the defensive zone or when you're on a power play. 5:41 And the Wuger knew what was important then and it's important now. 5:45 Face-offs are big and it killed them. 5:48 Oh yeah, you know, if the face-offs, if you've lost maybe by 10 draws, I mean, it's not gonna make a huge difference, but when they're as lopsided as they were on Saturday night, yeah, that's telling because you're gonna spend 30 seconds of your 45-second shift chasing the puck. 6:08 And then let's say you do get it with 15 seconds left, you're gonna dump it in and you're gonna go off on a change. 6:14 So I mean, that's where it kills. 6:16 But you bring up a little point there about Daga and I wish somebody would have picked up on it stats-wise. 6:23 I mean, he wants to know offensive zone, defensive zone face-offs, the stuff that neutralize is not as critical. 6:31 And so he'd like a little separation in the stats there. 6:34 And I think that'd be pretty good too, although I don't know, maybe the majority of face-offs are in the end zones anyway. 6:41 So it may not reveal anything significant. 6:45 But I think one of the things about the neutral zone face-offs, it allows you as a center to try different things. 6:51 So you're not always going to the same move all the time. 6:54 And you can try stuff out in the neutral zone a little bit because it's a lower risk play. 6:59 Sure. 6:59 That's a good point. 7:00 Yeah. 7:01 And why couldn't the stats team give you those kind of stats? 7:03 I'm sure they keep track of it. 7:04 They might not give it to the public, to the official game stats, but that's easily something to track. 7:12 Yeah, I'm sure coaches have it, but it's a matter of having the technology lined up to do it too because a lot of the stats are electronically punched in anymore. 7:25 Yeah, we still get the handwritten shot chart. 7:28 But yeah, I think in order to do that, break it up, you got to have a different function key on your laptop to punch in a win or a loss, offensive zone, something like that. 7:39 I'm going to get Rob Schiehl on that. 7:42 He'll take it over. 7:43 Yeah, I'm sure he will. 7:45 You've got influence. 7:47 I'm sure they're excited to get into face-off stat-keeping details. 7:52 This is a good week to ask about it. 7:54 Well, Rob listens to the podcast. 7:55 So Rob knows now just to, hey, once his own, just say, hey, offensive zone loss, defensive zone loss or win. 8:01 I mean, they're already keeping track of face-offs. 8:04 They know who's winning. 8:05 They know who's going against each other. 8:08 Let's put it this way. 8:09 Rob Shield is the official score of the most reliable stats crew anywhere. 8:16 And I really don't want to burden him with it anymore, because perfect is fine right now. 8:21 Those guys are good. 8:23 Yeah, we don't need to go any further, I don't think. 8:25 We're all right. 8:26 And our boy, Tom. 8:28 I'd like to see the coaches' stats on hits and giveaways and turnovers and things like that. 8:33 But probably never see those, I don't think. 8:37 The video guy would keep track of that, wouldn't he, Veegs? 8:41 He would. 8:41 He would probably more call those out for video review. 8:47 And if there's anything specifically they were looking for, I know last year, Bob Mazzocco, the big thing was he was looking for scoring chances created and scoring chances given up. 8:57 And that was one of the ways that he would evaluate playing time for guys, taking over a new team. 9:03 He wanted to have some actionable data to make decisions on because he didn't really know what he was getting into last year with the team. 9:11 And he needed to have something to help guide him. 9:14 I think this year, he's got a little bit more of a feel and artistic vision for what he wants to be doing. 9:20 And so I think he's doing it more by feel. 9:23 So what else happened this weekend in your eyes, Veegs? 9:25 Like I said, the tie Friday night, the loss Saturday night, like I said, they did pick up the extra point on Friday night when Sammy Walker scored three on three, which was the first three on three point they've ever gotten. 9:37 They've only had a few of them. 9:38 They finally got that. 9:40 Boy, I want to say Nate kept other stats too, that they've rarely picked up the extra points, but it was important that they did. 9:46 But what else did you see this weekend that was good or was bad, Veegs? 9:50 Well, I think there are two big things I took away from the weekend. 9:54 One, we saw the good side of Jackson Nelson and Jack Purbecks. 10:01 Bob Mazzocco has been using this analogy that all of his freshmen have their airline tickets, meaning they have the talent and they're ready to contribute, but he's waiting for them to check in for their flights. 10:11 Well, those two had a great weekend. 10:13 I thought they played great games both nights, both ends of the rink. 10:17 They were good on face-offs. 10:19 They had good intensity through the weekend. 10:21 They developed a little bit of confidence you could see it when Purbecks walked a D at the offensive blue line to create a scoring chance. 10:28 I thought they played really well. 10:30 And then on the flip side, I think we saw a lot of frustration coming out of Sammy Walker and Blake McLaughlin. 10:36 Sammy Walker's been leading the Big Ten in penalties, and you can just see the frustration come out of being the targeted line for Minnesota. 10:45 You know, they're seeing the top defensive units, they're seeing the top checking forwards, and it's frustrating them. 10:52 You're watching them, they probably could have got more stick penalties behind the play this last weekend. 10:57 I saw at least two or three times where Walker and McLaughlin were putting their stick and other players' hands behind the play, and there's just no need for that. 11:05 They're too good a player as to be spending that kind of time in the penalty box. 11:09 So some of the good and bad from the weekend. 11:12 What about you, Frank? 11:13 What was good for you and what was bad for you? 11:17 Bad, all right, so face-offs are out of the question, right, because we've gone through that. 11:24 I guess just the overall, if there was gonna be just a tie and a loss and an overtime, a three-on-three goal, would have been better to have that on Saturday night, because you're left with this bitter taste of this Saturday game where it was close till the end and then you realize you weren't close at all, that there was no way you were gonna get through Notre Dame. 11:50 Once they got their lead, they just kind of locked down and then all of a sudden it seemed like there was just greater separation, even more so, than the two games against Minnesota Duluth, even though they lost the two of them and they got shut out in one of them. 12:03 So I mean, it felt like the gap was bigger this weekend and probably in part because you thought you were gonna grow a little bit and grow a little closer to the teams higher up in the rankings, but it didn't happen. 12:15 So to me, that's the bad part is the emotional letdown of this thing and now four games without a win and then you look back on that and you only got seven goals, I think in those four games. 12:31 Starting to stretch the taffy a little thin, I think. 12:35 Well, the thing is it's very unfortunate because they did get that so-called extra point on Friday night, got some excitement and then they jumped out to that nice two-goal lead also. 12:47 I mean, they had things going for them. 12:49 What happened, Veegs? 12:52 Well, I think when Notre Dame got their first goal, came off a power play opportunity that they got from kind of a not-so-great call and that puts your team in a tough spot and it gives Notre Dame some momentum. 13:05 And then Notre Dame tied it up on a goal where Minnesota lost a face-off and just did not have the intensity to finish the play and basically gave the Irish a game-tying goal. 13:17 And then they had some issues with a couple soft goals to finish out the night. 13:20 And I think that's been one of the things that's challenged the Gopher goaltenders so far is shots through traffic that they just gotta stay big. 13:30 Two goalies that the Gophers have are big athletic goalies and they're just giving up these goals through traffic where they're getting caught looking around. 13:39 So that's something they've gotta address. 13:42 If you're a big goalie, you don't want to be caught giving up holes in your body. 13:46 You want to just get big and let the puck hit you. 13:48 And Eric Sheerhorn had a little bit of the same issue in his first year, maybe year and a half, where he just wasn't, you just didn't see his head bobbing enough to look through the trees to see where the puck was. 14:01 He was kind of just waiting for the crowd to clear and it oftentimes didn't and he was kind of very vulnerable. 14:07 Robson had that issue too and he really cleaned it up and I think that's one of the things that made Robson the number one goalie last year, is that he identified that issue, cleaned it up, was able to get his head to see pucks, but he never put himself out of position. 14:22 And that's the thing, you got to be able to fight to see through the traffic, but you can't create holes by letting your arms get wide. 14:29 Right, yeah. 14:30 So it's a combination of things, to be able to fight through traffic and then not create holes. 14:35 We saw Mo both nights, Veegs, what are your thoughts on that? 14:39 Well, I thought Mo was pulling ahead. 14:41 I think we talked about this last week on the podcast, that I thought he was gonna get the Friday night start, and if he played well, he'd get the next night. 14:50 Coaches do like to have a number one if they emerge, and so he wanted to give him that chance after LaFontaine had gotten the Friday night start all the weeks before. 15:00 Looked pretty good through the first period on Saturday, but then those soft goals just came up throughout the night. 15:05 You kind of have these young goalies, they wanna fight to make plays, and sometimes they need to be more relaxed in those situations, and I think it burned them a little bit. 15:14 You get that mental stress of being in the net so long can really impact you. 15:19 And boy, I gotta tell you, I was listening to you guys Friday night, Frank, and I turned it on in the first period, and it sounded like Moe gave up the first shot on goal again. 15:32 And I'm thinking you've gotta be kidding me. 15:34 It was luckily he was called off, but I'm listening to you guys on the radio, in my car screaming, are you kidding me? 15:40 Because it would have been four games in a row for him. 15:43 Yeah, well, you know, Mazzocco didn't hesitate to mention it in the post game either, you know. 15:50 Once again, we were four for four in that department, but yeah, you know, but the thing about Jared Mowes, I think he attacks that position. 16:00 I think he's a little more assertive and maybe Vegas, you might say that maybe he's wandering a little too much or a little bit out of control, but I think he's trying to make more things happen rather than the Lafontaine style, which is more kind of letting the puck come to him, a little more controlled, a little more cool, but I think Mazzocco likes the spirit of a Jared Moe who wants to go out there, he wants to get it, and I think that's why he got back to back starts, among the reasons. 16:34 Yeah, and I just think college goaltending, there's so much more traffic in front of you, and the players are more experienced, they know what gets to goalies, they know what works. 16:43 It's just something that he's gonna have to adjust to and pick up his learning curve. 16:48 Yeah, boy, I know the past two weekends that I've seen Mo play, this past Saturday night, I've been in perfect position to see that puck the entire way to the net when it went in. 17:01 I mean, there's a huge open spot. 17:03 I could see just from the angle, and I could see it was gonna go in long before it went in, because you could see it from long ways away. 17:09 So I think you're right there, V. 17:11 He's maybe not looking around those screens and he needs to be a little more active in that area, because if I could see it that far away, because I'm 200 feet away at least, and boy, I saw it go right in the net the entire way. 17:22 Well, you just have to trust your positioning as a goalie. 17:25 And once goalies get that comfort level, that comes a little more naturally, I think. 17:33 And important for him to find it while his team still has confidence in him back there. 17:39 Yes. 17:39 You know, which so far, so good. 17:41 You know, we're early, and I'm hoping, you know, things will be, there'll be different moods this weekend going against Michigan. 17:47 I don't think the top 10, the battle against the top 10 will be hanging over the team. 17:55 These two squads might be a little more evenly matched. 17:59 So maybe, you know, maybe they can find themselves in different ways against Michigan. 18:04 Is there any way that Lafontaine doesn't start Friday night, guys? 18:11 Veegs, I don't know, were you there Tuesday? 18:13 I thought I heard, I was out doing my interview and when I came back, I thought I heard somebody say that Mazzocco committed to starting him on Friday? 18:23 He didn't commit to which night he was gonna start him, but he said both goalies are gonna play against Michigan. 18:29 He didn't tip who was gonna get the first night. 18:32 So I think regardless of how the goalie does in front of it, the other one will get a look on Saturday. 18:38 So I think Lafontaine's chomping at the bit to get back in there, and I think Mazzocco wants to give both guys a chance to find their game. 18:46 Right, and I think it's important for both of them to play in a road series too, because if one of them does wind up being a main goaltender for next year, I think it's important for them to have played in as many of these away buildings as they possibly can. 19:03 And it's definitely different than the opening weekend at CC and maybe just one game in Duluth. 19:08 You know, Yoast is quite the place to play, isn't it, Frank? 19:12 It's fun. 19:13 I, you know, yeah, the fans are rabid in there, but I can't imagine a player, a visiting player not enjoying playing in that building. 19:21 I mean, it's just a fun atmosphere. 19:24 And it's constant noise. 19:25 Yeah, and I recall you saying in the past that there's not a lot of pumped in music. 19:29 It's a lot of the band playing and just the students participating. 19:32 It's just fun. 19:34 I'll bet it's an 80, 20 mix band to recorded music. 19:39 That would be nice. 19:40 Yeah, it's fun. 19:41 And the students don't sit down. 19:43 They don't sit down. 19:43 They don't shut up, which is great. 19:45 I mean, the whole thing just is an entire show. 19:48 It's kind of like Vegas. 19:49 I don't know if we were in that one game out there. 19:51 Was it last? 19:52 Yeah, last fall. 19:53 I mean, once the pregame skate starts, it's entertainment until the game is over. 20:00 And it doesn't stop. 20:02 It's just constant music and videos. 20:04 That's Vegas. 20:05 But it's a little different, a little more subdued at Yost. 20:07 But it's the same deal. 20:09 It's entertainment all the way through. 20:11 Veegs, we need to plan a road trip out to Michigan one of these days. 20:14 Yeah, McManus called it one of his favorite buildings to play in. 20:18 He's looking forward to seeing all the chirps from the children of Yost and just the energy in the building in general. 20:26 Well, I know I'm looking forward to it. 20:28 You guys should be out there. 20:31 I haven't traveled in ages. 20:34 You don't travel well? 20:36 Well, that too. 20:36 But back in the day, I've been to the Grand Forks. 20:41 I go to Mankato and St. 20:42 Cloud and Duluth. 20:45 I haven't been back to Madison since Phil Kessel put his hand up to his ear. 20:51 Oh, that's like 12 years ago. 20:52 13 maybe. 20:56 Yeah. 20:56 You're getting older and it's not as easy to travel. 20:58 Vig, you know that. 20:59 You have a family now. 21:00 How many road trips have you been going on lately? 21:03 Not too many. 21:04 Just to Duluth because I love that town. 21:06 Duluth is fun. 21:07 I'm hoping eventually we go back to the, not the home at home, but a full weekend up there or a full weekend down here. 21:14 That's coming. 21:15 A couple more years once we get out of this current contract. 21:19 Well, let's talk about some of those road stuff because... 21:22 By the time that happens, boys, we're going to have new leagues and we're going to have an interlocking schedule. 21:27 Oh, geez. 21:28 Let's upset the fans even more, Frank. 21:29 Because we know they're not pissed off still at all. 21:33 Just when we start to like BigTen Hockey. 21:36 Yes, there will be another... 21:37 BigTen is not going to go away. 21:39 You're just going to have an interlock with the NCHC or some combination of whatever leagues are going to be around. 21:46 And then those games will have meaning. 21:48 There will be points on the board. 21:49 This will be about one year after I become hockey czar of the country. 21:55 But really, I think they should think about that. 21:58 Because there's going to be some changes. 22:00 There has to be some changes made. 22:01 What with the WCHA saying what they're going to do or not do or who they're going to play with or not play with. 22:07 There's going to have to be some changes made. 22:08 And I think it would be great if somebody would just take an overall look, not with the East so much, because I don't think you want to mess out there and screw the East up like we've screwed the West up, but just kind of find a way to get some geographic balance and competitiveness and get some rivalries back in. 22:26 Because I think the Michigan schools and Ohio, the old CCHA group, I think they wished that they had some of that back that they had before also. 22:39 So I don't think we're the only ones pining for what used to be. 22:44 But the thing is, no one's going to get their exemption anymore because the Alaska schools will probably be gone. 22:53 Well, then you lobby the NCAA and get yourselves two more games. 22:58 Maybe. 22:59 It's unfortunate, but that's just kind of how things are moving right now. 23:05 Who knows? 23:05 Well, we've got some questions from Twitter from earlier today, and our boy Tim Hapke wants to know, I think I know the answer to this, has Frank ever been harassed by opposing fans at an arena or after a game at a restaurant? 23:24 Boy, I didn't read the question that way. 23:28 Yes, he has. 23:30 That's a yes or no question. 23:31 Yes, he has. 23:33 What's the most memorable one of those, Frank? 23:37 Some good chips. 23:42 You're opening wounds here that are... 23:44 I had two of my Fox colleagues escort me to my room because they feared for my life. 23:53 Let me guess, Grand Forks. 23:55 I don't know if I want to go that far. 24:00 You know what the crazy thing was? 24:02 It involved two people who were actually three from Minnesota. 24:10 Shocking. 24:10 Happened to be going to school up there. 24:12 I'm not kidding you. 24:15 The thing is, it's so bizarre. 24:20 Maybe I did lip off a little bit, but you be the judge, I'll tell you the story. 24:26 The kid wouldn't tell me where he was from. 24:27 I say kid because when he was in there, he was in the lobby, he was drinking. 24:32 At my age, almost everybody is a kid. 24:35 He wouldn't tell me where he was from. 24:38 He's standing there and he's taking little jabs. 24:41 I just thought the whole thing was good nature. 24:42 I finally said, well, do you want to tell me where your hometown is? 24:45 I said, you must not be very proud of your hometown. 24:48 Was that bad? 24:49 No. 24:51 Then he went nuts. 24:55 I can see the veins bulging. 24:58 Finally, some of my Fox co-workers said, Frank, come on. 25:02 We're going now. 25:07 I might drink it. 25:10 I even then didn't even feel threatened except that this guy was a loony bin. 25:17 But somebody else was more worried than I am and I'm glad she was. 25:21 She took me under her wing. 25:23 Little mother goose action there. 25:25 So yeah, that was up in the friendly forks. 25:30 Shocking. 25:32 Shocking. 25:34 The funny thing is that I think a lot of those guys miss you and the Wuger on TV. 25:41 Well, they have no one to shoot arrows at. 25:43 Pardon me, but no one to shoot darts at anymore, right? 25:46 It's kind of one thing, but then when the broadcast changes, and it's not as propped up as it used to be back in your time, a lot of those schools complained, it's kind of really downhill at Minnesota, and it's not the school's fault, it's just kind of how things have evolved over the years. 26:06 They're on multiple networks and blah, blah, blah, and like I said, they don't have somebody to go after anymore. 26:13 It was either you and the Wuger or back when Tom Reed days, and they always had you guys to kind of pick on, mostly because they're jealous because they weren't on regional television at all until they were playing us. 26:31 So it's just how it goes. 26:38 I mean, I've had a lot of fun at arenas, but I'm typically pretty disarming, and I just go along with it and play with them, and I haven't gotten beaten up yet. 26:47 Well, there were famous fans among parents up in the Old Ralph, Gopher fans and Gopher parents and North Dakota fans. 26:59 But let me give you just a comment. 27:01 I really wanted to not even discuss that city, but I wanted to throw the positive side out of these road trips. 27:11 We go down to Mankato, and you're open. 27:15 You sit basically on a concourse location. 27:19 You've got fans in front of you, fans behind you. 27:22 There's absolutely no protection except a little red ribbon at the end of the press row, and they sell alcohol in the building. 27:30 Yes, they do. 27:33 That is the most welcoming place to do a game that I've been in, especially because there you are, you're with them. 27:43 And what happens? 27:44 You turn around and you talk to them. 27:45 You have a good time. 27:46 I share them some stats, and everything is fine. 27:49 And they're drinking. 27:50 There's no big deal. 27:52 That's great. 27:55 I can do that all night, I mean all year. 27:57 Mankato is one of my favorite places to go these days. 28:00 It's neat. 28:01 Well, for one thing, it's close to my place because I live out in nowhere. 28:05 And it's just in the middle of the Milky Way, I think. 28:12 Here we go. 28:13 Oh, no, you know, but you can see it from there. 28:17 Yes, I can. 28:19 And you've seen it too. 28:20 I have. 28:22 Mankato is one of my favorite places. 28:24 And now for me, it's a favorite place to shoot with the camera. 28:30 I could just sit up in that little kind of new little press box they put behind where TV or radio would be. 28:36 And I get a great view. 28:37 I'm up above the fans. 28:39 It's great lighting. 28:40 It's just a fun place. 28:44 I'm with you there. 28:46 But you've also been that close to fans in St. 28:48 Cloud. 28:48 I'm guessing that has not always been the greatest. 28:53 Frank just got caught. 28:57 No, we just had one episode. 29:00 One guy came back for a second visit after he was told to leave. 29:07 But by that time, I had a cop at my left elbow. 29:11 Nothing wrong with that. 29:13 No, that was very good. 29:14 And then I just did my Don Corleone impression and waved a finger and the man disappeared. 29:22 He was gone. 29:25 Cop took him right away. 29:27 He didn't even get up halfway up the stairs. 29:29 That was powerful. 29:30 Was that the same year you did Hockey Day Minnesota with your little Burger King vests? 29:34 No, no, I think that was later. 29:36 That was the guy with the helmet who sat down there and gave Wuger and I pictures. 29:42 He always came with a pith helmet. 29:45 He was a character. 29:46 But fun. 29:49 All right. 29:49 Well, that one was obviously for Frank. 29:52 We've got another couple more questions. 29:53 We've got Ted Schmenke. 29:55 I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing that right, but that's OK. 29:57 He wants to know, number one, proper term, sweaters or jerseys? 30:01 I'm going to throw that at you, Vig. 30:02 Sweater or jersey? 30:05 If you're going kind of an old school look, it's definitely a sweater, especially if it's kind of a throwback thing. 30:12 If you're getting, you know, nostalgic. 30:15 Jersey is the proper thing when you're saying what color people are wearing, I think. 30:21 It's a sweater. 30:22 It's a hockey sweater. 30:27 Sorry, Vig, but it is. 30:29 And, you know, like they don't get dressed in the locker room because there are no lockers. 30:34 It's a dressing room. 30:36 And they wear sweaters. 30:40 There it is. 30:41 Frank Mazzocco has just determined it all for us. 30:43 No more ever calling him jerseys. 30:46 Made a different fabric, that's all, but sorry. 30:50 I know you have a fabulous Gopher hockey jersey that says Mazzocco on the back. 30:54 Do you still have that hope? 30:55 That's a nice jersey, actually. 30:57 I do. 30:58 So let me run this by it. 31:00 Here's my issue with that, right? 31:02 Team gave that to me, or administration, whatever, right? 31:06 And it's my name on the back. 31:07 And I wore it once. 31:09 And some guy from behind says, You don't deserve to wear that name on there. 31:15 Oh my gosh. 31:17 Okay, so do I or don't I? 31:18 What's the etiquette? 31:21 I think you can do whatever the hell you want, Frank. 31:25 No, seriously. 31:26 I mean, you've been covering Gopher Hockey since the late 80s, either on television or on radio, with just a couple years off here and there. 31:35 I mean, you were the voice on television for 20 plus years? 31:43 Way plus. 31:44 Frank, I believe it's 33 years of coverage. 31:49 Well, that includes the radio gig. 31:51 Yeah. 31:53 Yeah, it's up there. 31:55 You need an abacus. 31:56 That's longer than anyone else. 31:57 It's a third of the program's history. 31:59 Oh. 32:00 Here we go again. 32:02 Yeah, careful there. 32:04 That's true. 32:05 It's true. 32:05 Yes, it is. 32:08 And obviously, you're backing up Wally now because you never know with his voice. 32:14 You might have to be calling a game here again soon. 32:18 I doubt it. 32:20 If he didn't falter last two weekends, he's not going to falter. 32:24 Oh, poor Wally. 32:27 Good thing he's not doing TV this weekend either. 32:30 He popped a blood vessel in his eye this week. 32:33 Oh, he just looks like in tough shape. 32:37 He had to skip hockey this week. 32:39 Uh-oh, that might make him crabby. 32:43 I've never seen Wally. 32:44 Well, I have seen Wally crabby, but not for public consumption, but rarely, like once, twice. 32:51 We all know who the crabby person is. 32:57 I'm not going there either. 33:00 I know who's grumpy. 33:01 I can't wait till he hears the podcast. 33:07 Sweet. 33:08 He's too busy these days. 33:10 Brian Deutsch does a great job as this ID, but he's got a little one and so a little less sleep. 33:17 He gets a little grumpy from time to time. 33:19 It's tough working with these prima donnas out here. 33:23 And you know what, a lot of people don't give him and his staff credit for the TV program. 33:30 I know you're on Radio Frank, but you know how people are with TV and they busted their butts to make sure a lot of games are on TV this year. 33:37 And they just get hammered too. 33:40 People complaining about the Duluth game in Duluth and their broadcasters and the CC game there and what they don't understand is that they busted their butts to be able to pick up these broadcasts. 33:53 And it just goes to show how good this program has it for media and how good their television coverage is, how good their radio is compared to all over places in the country. 34:03 And they, them, him and the staff bust their butts to get all this stuff on the air. 34:10 So we like you, Brian. 34:15 Well let's talk about this weekend, guys. 34:17 VEGS, we're heading out to Michigan. 34:19 We've had some good success against Michigan in recent years. 34:21 I think they've won the coach's trophy, what, eight out of the nest, nine years or some kind of strange stat like that. 34:29 So what's it going to look like this weekend? 34:32 Do they still get that little spitfire on defense? 34:35 I don't think they do, do they? 34:36 No, Quinn Hughes is playing for Vancouver in the NHL. 34:41 Is he up with the big club? 34:43 He's up with the big club. 34:44 He's getting points for them. 34:46 He's playing a regular role. 34:48 He is such a good skater that they will go through the growing pains with him. 34:54 Oh boy, he was a good player, boy. 34:56 And actually Minnesota did a pretty good job the past few years keeping him off the tally sheet. 35:02 I mean, not always, but you know, Veegs, you know, we've talked about this over the years. 35:07 It seems like Minnesota has always done a good job against those superstar players. 35:12 What they've had more trouble with are the superstar lines, you know. 35:16 They've always, that Michigan state line killed them so many times. 35:19 But when it came to individual superstars, Minnesota has been done a pretty good job and they did a really great job against Mr. 35:25 Hughes in all those last few years. 35:28 Well, I think one of the things that Mike Gensel did really well was he matched up his defensemen against top players. 35:35 And it was something he really focused on was making sure he had his best, most veteran D playing against the top players because it's not always matching a line that can be kind of difficult to do, especially on the road. 35:47 But defensemen who can play a few more minutes, you just want to make sure you have good pairs of defensemen out against top players. 35:54 And they've done a really good job with that. 35:56 So what does Michigan bring to it this year, Veegs? 35:59 Well, they still have talent up front, but they're kind of a young team like Minnesota and they're going through some growing pains. 36:06 They took some bad penalties last weekend in their series that probably cost them. 36:12 They don't quite have the high end talent that Michigan teams have had the last couple years losing Hughes. 36:19 They also lost Josh Norris to Ottawa. 36:22 Their top player this year is probably Will Lockwood, who's actually a senior, a high draft pick by Vancouver. 36:27 He was injured a little bit, but he's a top player. 36:31 Pass Jove, who played with Lindgren growing up, he's back. 36:35 So they've got some talent there. 36:36 Jack Becker from Monomedi, a fun local player to keep an eye on. 36:41 But they're going to go through some growing pains too. 36:44 I think they're in the lower half of the Big Ten for predictions and it's going to be an opportunity for Minnesota to find their game again. 36:52 It's a team that wants to get in transition just as much as the Gophers, so it should be fun hockey to watch. 36:58 What are you looking forward to this weekend on the Gopher side, Frank? 37:00 What do they need to do to be successful at Yost? 37:05 Can I bust format here a little bit and go back to Vig's? 37:08 But I will come back because I was having an intermittent thing and my Skype was blinking. 37:15 Vig's, did you touch on Cam York and Johnny Beecher? 37:21 Not really because those are young players that are kind of the high end talents. 37:25 I don't think they're quite the top talents that Michigan has had, but they're highly regarded. 37:31 They're both first round picks and I'm not saying good or bad or anything. 37:38 I'm just kind of wondering what you've heard so far. 37:40 I'm just kind of looking. 37:43 Beecher's four points in eight games. 37:47 York four points in five games. 37:51 So if a first round pick is only playing five games this point in the season, I'm wondering why, which could be injury, but I don't know. 38:00 I'm just curious if you had said anything. 38:03 I think they're young players from Michigan that are put into roles that they might not be ready for. 38:08 So it could be a struggle, I think, for them this year. 38:11 They're both talented players. 38:14 York especially was really good with the development team program, a program that was super successful last year. 38:20 So they're putting a lot on his shoulders. 38:25 Okay, Jupe, I will answer what I'm looking forward to. 38:31 Continuation of what Vig mentioned earlier, and that is the development of Jackson Nelson because this has got the potential of being one of the fine, fun subplots to this whole season. 38:45 This big guy, it looks like he is a graceful big skater, and I hope he can turn into. 38:57 A scorer because we have to get lines two and three going, otherwise Walker and company are going to have no room whatsoever. 39:05 Just what Vig was talking about. 39:07 That's the beginning of that Saturday night when you get McManus and who got the other early goal, Reedy. 39:18 Yeah, Reedy. 39:20 No, no, no, wasn't Reedy. 39:24 Burke, I think. 39:25 I can't remember. 39:26 I can't remember what I had for breakfast. 39:28 All right. 39:29 But it was not a front line player. 39:31 We were getting secondary scoring early on in that Saturday game and that's kind of what has to happen. 39:36 I hope Nelson could help start generating some of that stuff. 39:40 That would be pretty good, but we got to remember that they're freshmen and we may not know. 39:46 We're going to find out two things by the break. 39:49 Either they're going to flame out from all of a sudden having all these games to play or if those that played in the US league are going to have enough games under their belt that the second half, they'll be able to get to a higher comfort level and start playing more like sophomores. 40:03 But we got some growing pains to go through yet. 40:07 Well, there's two things I like about Nelson's game. 40:11 One, he seems to be pretty smooth on the puck. 40:14 He's not rushing his decisions. 40:16 He's using his body to create space and he's making intelligent decisions to move the puck when he does. 40:24 The other thing I like about him is that he finds his way to the front of the net and he finds a way to get on the net side of his check. 40:32 So what I mean by that is when a defenseman is trying to man him up in front of the goal, he's able to get the defenseman on his back and so he can put his stick on the puck and make plays in front of the net. 40:42 I think that's so key for big players like Nelson to be able to do and we don't see that too often in Minnesota, big players who can get around the net. 40:51 So that's a good skill set to develop. 40:55 We're more used to the small waterbugs down the middle, just scooting up and down the rink. 40:59 This could be... 41:00 And then if we can get Scott Reedy going down the middle as well and have two big guys that can do something in front, that could give us a look we're not used to, but we need... 41:11 And we're going to have to get contributions to say, oh, you need it from here. 41:15 We're going to need it from everybody because nobody's going to be able to pick this whole boat up and carry it by themselves. 41:22 It's going to have to be a lot of role players chipping in and coming through at key times. 41:28 So it's going to take a lot of work. 41:30 And I think... 41:31 Go ahead. 41:32 The other thing to look at this weekend is to let Walker and McLaughlin just be who they are and not wear so much pressure on their sleeves during the game. 41:41 Those guys just have to focus on being productive. 41:44 They can't get the little stuff. 41:46 Let that get to them. 41:47 Scott Reedy has been put on their line for this week to try to take away some of that responsibility and let them have a little more freedom. 41:55 We'll see if that happens. 41:56 I know they're looking for Reedy to take some draws and take that pressure off of Walker as well. 42:01 Who are they moving in at center? 42:04 Myers will go back to center. 42:05 He looked really quiet with those guys up front last weekend. 42:09 So I think they want to let him get back into a role where he can impact the game more. 42:13 And so putting him between Ranta and McManus might be the right spot for him. 42:18 I think Ranta as well. 42:19 We got a question about that on Twitter. 42:21 He's got to find ways to use his shot. 42:24 He's getting a little tight to the net and he's been roofing it into the netting. 42:28 I think he might do better if he times his moves to the net a little bit more so he has a little bit more space. 42:38 Wasn't the question, how are we going to get Sampo Ranta more room? 42:42 I don't think that's been an issue. 42:46 Sampo has been able to navigate pretty much where he wants to go in the offensive zone, sometimes to his own detriment. 42:52 Sometimes he'll ramble a little bit too much. 42:55 But I think skating wise, in his strength, he can go wherever he needs to go, wherever he wants to go. 43:01 So I don't think it's a matter of getting him space. 43:03 I think he's got to do something with the space that he finds. 43:06 Like you say, once you get in position there, you can't be shooting the puck up to Goldie's perch. 43:11 It's not productive. 43:16 And that's one of the things to know that Wally was mentioning after the game Saturday is like, we're still seeing the Gophers making that extra pass when they're in a great eighth shooting spot. 43:28 Get the puck on net, Vig, it's, Mazzocco's got to be telling these guys, hey, you're in a good scoring position, you know, 20, 15, 20 feet out, take the shot. 43:39 And a lot of times we're still giving it up for a pass. 43:43 You know, that's just a message that has to sink in, especially when you're playing against good goaltending like you see in Notre Dame and Minnesota Duluth, players think they need to make the perfect shot. 43:54 Oftentimes a little bit of volume, putting it in his feet, looking for rebounds. 43:58 Those are the things you need to do. 44:00 But you also need linemates who stop at the net and are in position to get those rebounds. 44:05 And maybe we'll see that with guys like Purbix and Nelson and Burke and Myers. 44:11 That's something that can work for a college hockey team. 44:15 Isn't it quite a contrast between the Gophers who overthink their shots and Penn State who maybe underthink their shots and just fling everything up at the goalie, you know? 44:26 Well, I think one of those things is everybody on Penn State knows where the puck's going. 44:30 So they put tons of pressure on opposing goalies because the goalies know it's coming. 44:35 The defensemen know it's coming. 44:37 So everybody's trying to get to the net and stop. 44:40 Yeah. 44:41 And usually they're there. 44:43 Yeah. 44:45 They are. 44:47 Like you said, they just keep pushing it at them and hopefully they'll get the message. 44:53 I hate to defend that. 44:54 I mean, that's crazy chaotic watching them play. 44:57 It is a little over the top. 44:59 And then obviously the stats crew in Penn State get a little overzealous on their numbers, so much so. 45:07 They maybe get a little overzealous, but there are more shot attempts when you watch a Penn State team play. 45:12 Even when they play at Mariucci, like they will be here in two weeks, there's going to be a lot of pressure in front of the net. 45:18 And it's something that defensemen have to be ready for. 45:21 And I think looking at some of Minnesota's defensemen the last couple of years, maybe being a little undersized, it's exposed that pressure. 45:29 All right. 45:31 Well, I've got another question on Twitter and this one's for you, Frank. 45:34 Dave, I don't know, I'm not going to even pronounce his last name. 45:36 He says, if you could pick anyone that you've never called a hockey game with, who would it be and why? 45:48 You know, I had this answer made years ago. 45:51 So does this guy have to be alive? 45:54 It's whoever you want it to be. 45:56 Jeff Sauer. 45:58 Really? 46:00 Yes. 46:03 I just, back in the final five days, I wanted so bad to get a situation where the Badgers either weren't playing or I don't know if it was after his retirement or whatever, that he would be available for a third place game because those third place games didn't do much to get your blood pressure or your heart rate going usually. 46:24 And Jeff would just weave stories and he could talk X's and O's or he could talk stories or he could do whatever. 46:31 I just thought that would be the, that's one. 46:34 And I've had that in the back of my mind, as you can tell for years, because it's been 10 plus years since I've done a final five, but our frozen, whatever we called it. 46:44 Yeah. 46:44 No, it would be Jeff. 46:45 Alive now? 46:46 I don't know. 46:47 It would have to be somebody like him and I don't know that I've got someone picked. 46:53 You know, I still work with them from the past and that you guys did it once in a while. 46:58 I always enjoyed when you brought Greg Shepard in. 47:00 I mean, yeah, you bring him from per period or something like that. 47:05 And he's just got the personality and the old school ways about him that, you know, I always thought he was very good. 47:11 Obviously not a broadcaster, but I always thought he was good addition or added a lot of color to the to the broadcast. 47:18 Oh, sure. 47:19 Yeah. 47:19 Well, he's better than a lot of those refs that the networks bring out for football. 47:24 Those guys are dry as bad toast. 47:27 You know, Shep would be entertaining and he would give you a straight answer about, you know, did the guy blow a collar? 47:32 Didn't he? 47:33 And he would say it delicately, but he would, yeah, no, that's that he was good. 47:38 He was fun. 47:38 Well, I know Mike Gensel always joked that when he was done coaching, he would he would be more than happy to go on the radio with you. 47:45 So maybe we'll see that one of these days. 47:47 That would be good. 47:50 That would be good, too. 47:51 Yeah. 47:52 You know, I told Mike he should he like I have any control. 47:56 But years ago, I said, why aren't why don't you have your own radio show? 48:00 I mean, he will talk any sport. 48:02 He will talk odds and stats and personnel about virtually any sport. 48:07 I thought he would be a great all purpose radio show host. 48:12 Just an opinion. 48:14 That's his next job. 48:15 Maybe who knows? 48:19 I don't know if he'd be able to sit still in front of a microphone or camera. 48:22 But maybe we'd need a five second delay, sooner or later, we believe I just make it you just broadcast on the internet. 48:31 You don't have to worry about it then. 48:33 We got another one that came in a tweet from a little while ago. 48:36 Arthur, he wanted to know for Frank, it's more of a Wally story. 48:40 He says, I have a childhood memory where every year, New Year's the North Stars would play and Wally would do an interview with Willie Platt between periods. 48:51 He said, Willie would always end their interview by cutting Wally's tie off with scissors. 48:56 Do you remember that? 48:57 And is that accurate? 49:01 Willie Platt cutting Wally's tie. 49:04 We might have to get Wally on just to see if that's true. 49:06 I remember a tie cutting something or other. 49:11 I don't remember the specifics. 49:15 I know we had, when Hockey Night in Canada was producing those Spectrum games, we had these company-issued ties that weren't always the most stylish, but they played well on a conservative TV show. 49:30 There was tie cutting that was going around, and I don't know if it was Wally or did they get Dave Hodge, the host. 49:36 Maybe. 49:38 There was something. 49:40 Okay, so maybe that's Frank's form for Friday night. 49:43 I'll drag Wally into that one. 49:46 But the other tradition I do remember, I think on Christmas or Boxing Day or one of those holidays around Christmas, I think Al had his one or both or three, because at one time I think he had two sons calling games, Wally and Gary, Greg, I don't remember. 50:07 And I think they had a family night in the booth then. 50:12 That was a tradition that I do remember. 50:14 The tie cutting, I know it happened, but I don't remember it that well. 50:20 Very interesting stuff, I got to tell you, you guys are all national treasures, you realize that for us Gopher guys. 50:29 You, Wally, the Booger, McLeod, all you guys. 50:34 Thank you. 50:36 I sometimes don't understand it, but I'll be here as long as I can for you guys. 50:40 Thanks. 50:40 I mean, that's... 50:46 Let's get some final thoughts on the weekend at Michigan, their young team like us, Veegs. 50:52 How do you think the boys come out this weekend? 50:55 It's got the feeling of a split. 50:57 I just think Minnesota doesn't have the discipline yet to take away all the points from a weekend, but I think they have enough talent where they have shown what they can be. 51:07 It's just I'm not expecting to see it for a whole weekend. 51:09 The biggest thing I'm looking for is discipline, taking penalties. 51:14 You don't want to see them taking penalties when they're on the power play, and you don't want to see them taking penalties behind the player in the offensive zone. 51:21 If they can get out of the weekend without those issues, I think that's progress. 51:27 I'm going positive. 51:29 It's been a while. 51:29 We're going GopherSweep at Yost. 51:34 That's all I got to say, positivity. 51:36 We need more of it now. 51:39 What about you, Frank? 51:39 It's not out of the question. 51:40 I don't think it's out of the question. 51:42 If the boys find their sink and get going, I think there are elements there that could have a nice coming out party here. 51:48 Could be a lot of fun. 51:51 But it is a road game and the safe bet obviously would be the sweep. 51:56 But I think it could. 51:58 I'm not worried about the discipline being because I don't think it's going to be that kind of an intense, we may have four penalties called all weekend. 52:11 The way these two schools play, I think. 52:15 I'm not so worried about the discipline, but it's the lazy penalty that can kill this team. 52:21 When you're playing a team like Michigan that has talent, putting them on the power play can get you in trouble. 52:27 As Bob Mazzocco talked about this week, they've given up three power play goals the same way to three different teams, so it's something they don't want to be messing with too often. 52:39 Yeah, right, and we've got to find some goals, so that somehow has got to happen. 52:44 I'm going to work on McManus' stick. 52:49 That's going to happen either Thursday or Friday. 52:51 Put a little baby powder on there. 52:53 I will let you know in Frank's forum, the second part of Frank's forum on Friday night. 52:59 Okay, I have a question for you, Frank. 53:00 You had mentioned this during the broadcast on Friday, and I talked to you a little bit on Saturday. 53:05 Did you ever find out if another college team had two drafted goalies? 53:12 No pressure. 53:13 No, I haven't. 53:17 A friend of mine, as a matter of fact, Herb Hollenstein, who calls the games for Ohio State, I ran it by him. 53:24 He gave me, he said, I don't know, but here's two thoughts. 53:28 Denver, when they made their run in 04, 05, maybe. 53:36 And Maine, whenever Jimmy Howard was up there. 53:40 And I don't, so I haven't looked beyond that. 53:44 Those were just possibilities. 53:46 But the other thing is, I mean, hey, just to get to draft, Goli single drafted. 53:56 No, yeah. 53:57 So I don't know. 53:58 So this is, I don't know. 54:00 I don't think the Gophers have ever had to. 54:04 Do you? 54:05 I don't. 54:05 I don't think so. 54:08 You remember Veegs? 54:10 I don't. 54:12 Did we lose Veegs? 54:14 No, I'm trying to think who Frazee might have played with. 54:18 Because Frazee was a drafted goalie, but he was under a little bit of pressure. 54:22 And I feel like they might have brought in some other guys who were drafted. 54:25 I was just looking at the Denver team, and Menino wasn't drafted. 54:29 He was a heck of a goalie for Denver, but he wasn't a drafted goalie. 54:33 So maybe that 05 Denver team didn't have two drafted goalies. 54:38 He was no send away Wallenamo. 54:41 I've got great names there. 54:47 Wallenamo is on Twitter, too, and he will still interact with fans if you call him out. 54:55 How old is he now, do you think? 54:58 He's older than me. 54:59 He's probably in his late 40s, early 50s. 55:01 He's got to be. 55:03 Early 50s? 55:03 Oh God, that scares me. 55:07 Or maybe he's around. 55:09 You know what? 55:09 I don't know. 55:10 Everything is foggy for me. 55:11 I just remember how much fun he was. 55:14 That's all. 55:15 Oh, he was right. 55:16 He was just a character. 55:17 He was out having fun. 55:18 He was a crazy goalie and he flaunted it. 55:22 He's like, bring it on. 55:24 So that's why I always enjoyed him. 55:27 All right. 55:28 Well, we got to wrap it up here. 55:29 We've been talking for a long time on this podcast. 55:31 Frank, thanks for coming on. 55:32 You're the seven time champ here. 55:35 My pleasure. 55:36 This was fun. 55:37 This is right. 55:38 It's always fun. 55:39 I'm going through my old rosters now. 55:40 So, we have like a post-show party here now. 55:42 Yeah, we do. 55:43 Frank, I hate to break it to you. 55:45 Kangas and Patterson were both drafted boys. 55:48 Oh. 55:49 There you go on a gopher team. 55:51 Couldn't get my... 55:53 You got numbers or you just got names? 55:55 You got like rounds? 55:58 Fifth round for Kangas, fourth round for Patterson. 56:01 So, Moen and, you know, LaFontaine, higher picks maybe. 56:07 Well, there you go, Frank. 56:08 We got your answer. 56:09 Bingo. 56:09 Leave it to Veegs. 56:10 He's the man. 56:11 Leave it to Veegs. 56:12 That's got the makings for a great TV show. 56:16 Leave it to Veegs. 56:17 Leave it to Veegs. 56:19 Now, you're really dating yourself there, Frank. 56:22 Ward. 56:26 Don't be hard on the beaver. 56:29 Well, thanks, Frank. 56:30 We always enjoy having you on. 56:32 Remember, you can follow Frank at MazzPuck on Twitter and, you know, tweet at him during games. 56:38 He loves it. 56:39 Oh, that's pressure. 56:41 But give it a try. 56:43 If I'm conscious, I'll find it. 56:45 There you go. 56:46 Veegs, what are you working on at the Athletic? 56:47 You got anything cooking in the hopper right now? 56:50 Still got some stuff cooking, maybe for Thanksgiving weekend, and I won't scoop myself. 56:54 Yeah. 56:54 We know you don't want to scoop yourself. 56:55 You don't want to give anyone else a tip-off, but look for that in Thanksgiving. 57:00 So you can always follow Veegs at eVego on Twitter. 57:05 That's going to do it for this episode of the GPL Podcast. 57:08 I want to thank Frank Mazzocco for coming on again. 57:11 It's always great to have him on. 57:12 And you can always follow him, like I said, at MazzPuck on Twitter. 57:16 Now, we'll be back next week to recap this Michigan Series and preview Penn State. 57:23 For those of you listening live, stay tuned for overtime. 57:25 For the rest of you, have a good evening.