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Now, here's Jupe and Vego.
0:38
Good evening, and welcome to The GPL Podcast, episode number 172.
0:47
Well, Veegs, not a great weekend for the Gophers, not a great last two weekends for the Gophers.
0:54
A total of two points in the league, the last two weekends, when they pretty much were handed it, handed a title to them.
1:05
They had every opportunity to get the regular season title and they just couldn't get it done.
1:13
I wouldn't go quite so far as to say they were handed that opportunity at the title.
1:18
They had played pretty darn well since Christmas.
1:21
Yeah, they did, but I'm saying, you know, Friday night, you know, you've got Ohio State losing to Wisconsin.
1:26
Minnesota has every opportunity.
1:29
You know, all of a sudden, you know, worrying about tying Ohio State was gone.
1:35
All they had to do is just get points, get ahead of Penn State, and it just fell apart.
1:42
Let's just say the stars were aligning.
1:44
Okay, that's better.
1:46
Yes.
1:46
Everything was falling into place for them.
1:48
They just had to take care of their own business.
1:50
They had done all the work to put themselves in that position.
1:54
And the Penn State series, you know, I thought it was a better weekend than they've played against Penn State.
2:01
Maybe the last, you know, a couple of years, a couple of years, you know, Don's last two years and then Moscow last year, I thought they played better out there.
2:12
I thought on Friday against Michigan, they came out maybe a little tentative, but they cleaned it up after about the first five or 10 minutes and played a really good hockey game on Friday.
2:23
I thought they gave themselves a lot of puck possession.
2:27
You know, they were down early, but they had a lot of puck possession and they put up a lot of shots.
2:34
And I think the one thing that hurt them a little bit on Friday was they just almost had a refusal to stick to the script that Bob Motzko wants to run where they get lots of zone time, they string shifts together and they tire out the other team.
2:51
I felt like they had a lot of one-and-done type opportunities and a lot of shots on Strauss Mann that were pretty easy for him to freeze and end the opportunity.
3:00
And I think that bit him in the rear in the end and why they were chasing the game.
3:06
Well, Mann was pretty darn good.
3:08
He did stop over 50 pucks.
3:11
Well, he was solid.
3:12
I heard from someone this month that one of the ways you got to score goals is you got to get the puck across the center line of the ice and make the goalie move and get shots off quickly.
3:24
And I don't think Minnesota did that at all.
3:27
And I know that's something that their coaches are stressing them is to get goaltenders moving laterally and put pucks on that quickly.
3:34
When you do that, very rarely are goalies able to handle the puck cleanly.
3:38
But when you're going up against a tender like Strauss Mann and he sees the puck coming, there's not going to be very many juicy rebounds and it's going to be hard to beat them.
3:48
And another thing is that, you know, I noticed that Friday night and Saturday, boy, did they just, are they aiming for Mann's gut because they're all, I mean, yes, maybe Mann is in good position and the pucks just happened to hit him in the gut, but there was quite a few Veegs that were right in the belly.
4:06
Well, I think they're hitting him square because he's square to the shooter.
4:09
He's square to the puck and he's a solid goalie who doesn't give up bad rebounds.
4:14
And you have players who are maybe just trying to put the puck on that, but there's putting the puck on that and there's putting pucks on that with a purpose.
4:23
And I just think that's maybe that next level thinking as a player.
4:27
I think we saw it on the McManus goal a little bit where he is cleaning up some trash and putting in an easier shot than some of the other players who aren't, or I guess it wasn't McManus who had that one.
4:40
But it was a shot where it went off man and there's a rebound there for someone to put it back and you need more of that.
4:46
You need guys to make plays like that to give yourself a chance against a good goalie.
4:52
So obviously, less guys who don't notice things as much, we see him hitting them in the gut.
4:57
But for me, if you're doing that, he's obviously good positionally and like you said, maybe smarter type of plays, smarter shots.
5:04
Shoot it low, make him have to play the puck or deflect the puck off the side.
5:09
It's a lot harder for him to stop the puck when it's very low up to the ice, and compared to when it's up off the ice.
5:16
It's two, three feet off the ice, his body is there, his glove is there.
5:20
Down low, it seems like he might have a good chance.
5:22
He might stop it with a stick, but he might not smother it wide away, and it could be a rebound there.
5:28
Yeah, you see a lot of shooters in the NHL, they're aiming for that spot about 14, 15 inches off the ice towards the pipes.
5:37
When you can put the pucks there, it's really hard for a goalie to freeze the puck.
5:41
He's either going to kick out a leg at it, and it could be loose or it's going to go on the corner, or it could scramble a little bit, and you get second chance opportunities.
5:50
I look at some of the guys on the Gopher roster, like Nathan Burke, Brandon McManus, they get goals from those kinds of plays, where there's loose pucks around the net.
6:02
They make their money around the net on plays like that, and there just hasn't really been a dedication to that game.
6:11
I think Bob Motzko talked this week, you can't have guys swinging for the fences every opportunity they have the puck on their stick.
6:19
And I think they have a couple of players like Sammy Walker, they get in that mindset that the only way they're going to score goals is by getting a rush, beating a bunch of players, and then putting one by the goalie on a deag or a great play.
6:32
The majority of goals in college hockey aren't scored that way.
6:35
The majority of the goals in college hockey are off of chaos.
6:39
And so if you're not going to get rush scoring opportunities, like Minnesota didn't get against Michigan and probably won't get this weekend against Notre Dame, you need to find other ways to create offense.
6:49
Now speaking specifically of Friday night, they are down one nothing and going into the third period, Michigan goes up to nothing.
6:57
The encouraging thing for me is I would say past teams, the last five years, the game was over.
7:06
They're not coming back.
7:08
But they get one.
7:09
They get the other goal on a long five-minute major.
7:14
But they didn't give up.
7:16
They got back into the game.
7:17
Yes, they lose the extra point in the shootout.
7:19
But for me, of all the little things that haven't happened over these past two years, to me, that's encouraging.
7:27
Well, I think that's a sign that the team is believing.
7:31
They're bought in.
7:32
And I think that's something that's been a common theme the last year and a half is this team doesn't give up when they're behind and they're able to generate offense and we've been pretty hard on the power play, but they got a goal at the right time on Friday.
7:47
And that point was a big point for them.
7:49
It kept a lot of things in play heading into Saturday.
7:52
It did, you know, if they would have gotten that extra one, maybe a little better.
7:58
But that's just how it goes.
7:59
But, you know, I just keep thinking, you know, teams have passed, they've lost three points right away, they would fold after going down to nothing in the third.
8:09
So for me, that was encouraging, even though the end result was only one point.
8:16
Yeah, and that's what you have to look at as a team and as a fan.
8:21
You know, if you're watching the Gophers, they're in it.
8:25
I think all these games, the second half, they haven't really had a stinker.
8:29
Like they had a bunch of them in the first half of the year.
8:32
I mean, that North Dakota game, one of those Penn State games, the game against Minnesota Duluth, you know, just really poor games, you know, bad puck management, lots of turnovers, lots of guys being individuals out there.
8:47
We haven't seen many like that in the second half.
8:50
And I think part of it is they've gotten better goaltending.
8:52
I was kind of digging around for some stats on the goaltending and how good it's been.
8:58
And if you look at LaFontaine, he's got a 927 save percentage and a 2.37 goals against average since Christmas.
9:08
Jared Moe hasn't played as much, but he's got a 945 save percentage and a 1.54 goals against average.
9:16
Those are encouraging numbers.
9:18
And a lot of it, I think, is the teams playing better in front of them.
9:22
But it gives you a chance to win games.
9:25
Is it going to be LaFontaine from here on out, you think?
9:29
I kind of think that's the way he's positioned this team.
9:32
It'd be a shock if he wasn't in net.
9:35
I know that there's a little bit of a flu bug or something.
9:38
That's a 24-hour type deal going on the team.
9:43
It's not COVID-19.
9:45
But it's a 24-hour bug that's hit a couple guys.
9:48
I know Gordon and Raboyne got it earlier in the week.
9:52
And they're just trying to do what they can to keep guys from catching it.
9:56
But that's the only way I think LaFontaine's not in that is if he catches it.
10:02
So the one thing you mentioned or kind of went to a bit earlier was someone trying to do too much.
10:07
Walker comes to mind.
10:09
We've heard this earlier this week that Moscow kind of sat down with them and said, you need to chill a little bit and not take it all in your back.
10:18
But another thing I've noticed too is I've seen Sample Ranta kind of going back into his type of walled environment as well where he's holding onto the puck a little too long.
10:33
Are you concerned about that?
10:35
The one thing about Sample that is different than Walker, Sample is strong enough on his skates where he doesn't usually turn it over.
10:45
I think the problem with Sammy is he comes through the neutral zone, he sees four guys at the blue line, he's like, all right, I'm going to take that on.
10:54
Sample is a little bit different.
10:55
He gets his high gear going and he gets around one guy and then he's not quite sure what to do with the puck next.
11:03
I think that's kind of his next step as a hockey player is figuring out, okay, no one's going to take the puck from me, now what?
11:10
And is it finding his line mates?
11:12
Is it putting the pucks into dangerous situation around the net?
11:16
I think that's what he's got to learn because I think we've seen in his game, he's having a hard time finding ways to get shots off that are effective in those situations.
11:27
He's really strong in the puck, he's just got to figure out that next step.
11:32
Well, we did see some encouraging things this weekend against Michigan.
11:37
Obviously, not the results that we wanted.
11:43
Going into the weekend, Minnesota could have finished from first, or could have finished first, all the way down through fifth, I believe.
11:52
Friday night, first is out of the reach, and now they're just kind of hoping for second.
11:58
But they could have tied for first, still.
11:59
They could have, yes, they could have tied for first.
12:01
That would have been a league title, yes, you are correct.
12:04
They would have been the second seed to Penn State.
12:08
It ended up having a bunch of teams tied, Minnesota, Ohio State, and Michigan, all tied with the same amount of points because of the way the tiebreakers work.
12:15
It's all about number of wins and like that.
12:18
So Ohio State takes that second spot, Michigan third, Minnesota fourth, and then it was down to the last minute too with Notre Dame because the Badgers did come through and got that extra point and prevented Notre Dame from taking away home ice from Minnesota.
12:37
So that means Notre Dame is coming here this weekend.
12:40
So not quite the finish we thought coming into the weekend, but it's hard to complain with home ice either way.
12:48
Yeah, I think that's really important for this Gopher team is it looks like Bob Motzko wants to stack the deck with his team and put his top two lines together that have been so effective down the stretch.
12:59
And he's just going to live and die with that, I think, till the end of the season because they need that little extra scoring, get to three, put them over the hump.
13:08
So playing on home ice against Notre Dame, that should be a big help to them.
13:12
It's pretty crazy to me that 2nd through 6th in the Big Ten is separated by three points, one win.
13:19
I mean, that's amazing to me.
13:21
I mean, how much did that happen in the WCHA?
13:24
Old school days.
13:25
I don't remember it being like that.
13:27
No, I mean, even look at the NCHC this year.
13:30
You know, North Dakota has kind of run away with it a little bit in Duluth.
13:34
You know, they're 10, 13 points clear of the third place team.
13:39
You know, most of the teams that lead this year were trying to fight for home ice.
13:42
They had no shot at the league title.
13:44
Big Ten flipped around.
13:46
Definitely.
13:47
Well, one thing you mentioned last week on the podcast was you mentioned that it looks like the season ticket prices were going to be going down in cost.
13:57
Well, the price of tickets is not so much, but the donations and the different zone prices are going down.
14:02
And then the next day, they announced quite a reduction to the donation across, well, almost across the board.
14:09
You know, something stayed the same because they didn't have donation.
14:12
But talk about that, Vegas.
14:15
It's a much better, cheaper product coming into next season.
14:19
Well, I think when you look at the single game prices that are being sold, it takes into account that scholarship seeding cost when they're pricing those.
14:29
So it's built into the price of the tickets a little bit.
14:32
It's just in Minnesota, you can still claim that as a deduction.
14:35
I know a lot of people say businesses can't, but you can if you're donating to the school.
14:41
But it's a move by Mark Coyle and this athletic department to try to make a gesture of the fans.
14:48
I mean, they've been reducing tickets for Gopher Hockey just about every year here.
14:53
And we've seen the numbers dip quite a bit down from the 7,600 people in a waiting list, now down to around 4,600.
15:03
And when you have that dip, if you have some issues going on, it's really hard to fill the building.
15:09
And so I think this is a move by Gopher Sports to try and get that number going back up again.
15:16
Because I think as we're going to see this weekend, when you don't have your season ticket holders planning on coming to games, it's going to be really hard to fill Mariusci.
15:25
Those 10,000 seats stand out under the lighting.
15:29
And I think there's going to be a lot of photo opportunities for people who want to take shots of the program this weekend.
15:37
Yeah, it's, I don't know how many ticks are officially sold, Veegs.
15:42
But it's looking like another Michigan situation from last year in that first round of the playoffs, which is not good.
15:50
No, it's not good.
15:51
I mean, for the Michigan game last year, both announced numbers were under 2,000.
15:57
The scan numbers were about 1,500 to 1,600.
16:01
I think it's going to be a little bit better than that, because season ticket holders were able to elect in their season ticket package, include the playoff tickets if they wanted to.
16:11
It's not the default option and they didn't have to.
16:15
So it wasn't built into the price, but they could add them.
16:18
And if they hadn't, they had an option here at the end of the year to get into games for 15 bucks a ticket, which to me seems like a pretty good price for a Division I college hockey playoff game.
16:30
I mean, 15 bucks a ticket, if you're at Center Ice, that is a damn good deal if you ask me.
16:36
I don't think you can go to the high school tournament for 15 bucks.
16:39
No, not even close.
16:40
Maybe not even Class A.
16:42
Oh, wow, that's kind of a shot.
16:46
No, but people are complaining, oh, well, I don't like the cost.
16:49
I'm like, come on, 15 bucks a ticket.
16:51
And the other tickets start at 20 bucks for the non-season ticket holders.
16:59
And like Frozen 4 Champs is saying in the chat, but people still complain.
17:03
They got their beer, they got rid of their coach, they're reducing the prices of tickets.
17:10
Pretty good schedule this year.
17:13
Yeah, you know, North Dakota, Minnesota, Duluth, they had St.
17:17
Cloud and Bemidji for the Classic.
17:19
Minnesota State was around, they didn't get to play them, but maybe that's a good thing.
17:23
You know, it's unfortunate that Colorado College isn't as good as we thought they were going to be this year, but hopefully they'll be better next year because they are coming to Mariucci next year.
17:31
And I'm really glad to see that because Colorado College is one of my favorite teams in the WCHA to play back in the day.
17:40
So I'm really glad that they're back on the schedule.
17:43
Like to see Denver maybe eventually too here as well.
17:47
But we know that CC is coming in next season.
17:50
We're not sure if there's a Mariucci Classic.
17:52
I know there might be some other schools coming in.
17:56
We're not sure yet.
17:56
Nothing's official yet.
17:57
But next year might not be as strong as this year.
18:02
But the prices are down.
18:04
And the team is going to be celebrating their 100th season next year of Veegs.
18:07
And I think it could be a special season next year.
18:12
Well, and I think the way this team has grown over the year, you know, if they can stay focused on what they're trying to do as a team and work together and string those shifts together, they're going to be in really good shape.
18:25
Because I don't think we've seen a single game here the second half where they've struggled to get the puck and struggled to break out.
18:32
You know, the defensemen have been really strong.
18:35
I think Jackson Lecombe and Ryan Johnson and Matt Stoddicker, those are players that should really contribute in a big way next year.
18:43
Got to think the power play is going to be better next year.
18:47
I don't know.
18:47
Lots of scoring throughout the entire lineup.
18:51
It can't get any, well, I guess it could get worse, you know, percentage wise.
18:55
But this has got to be one of the lows for Minnesota all time.
19:01
It's been rough.
19:02
I mean, they've come through with a couple of goals here and there.
19:05
That one on Friday night was pretty big.
19:09
But then again, the next night, they go over two in their chances, and it just doesn't look like it's going anywhere.
19:15
So it's almost like they're scoring despite their struggles sometimes.
19:20
But what can you say?
19:22
In the power play, of course, it was a goal from Robbie Stuckers shot, who's gotten a lot of heat from GPL this season.
19:30
Well, they need something to bitch about, Veegs.
19:33
They do.
19:34
They've got plenty of things that they like to go after.
19:38
Well, we're going to get into a...
19:40
I see a bunch of questions on Twitter from the last few days.
19:43
We're going to talk about flight risks, recruiting, and get into some of the games this weekend, besides Minnesota.
19:49
But before that, let's hear from our sponsor.
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Of course, thanks to Jerry Peters for sponsoring the podcast for the second half of the season.
21:00
We definitely appreciate it.
21:03
Every week, use the hashtag GPL Podcast with your question or topic and we'll try to get to it.
21:10
A couple days ago, Ted sent a couple longer questions, but let's get into that and says, hi guys, hopefully the Gophers win too this weekend and continue.
21:20
And he kind of gets it, if the funding makes it for the rink modification, would you like to see the student section down onto the glass, more present in the game, maybe banging on the glass and whatnot?
21:31
Personally, Veegs, I would like to see that, but we know in the past, anybody just makes any kind of pounding on the glass and they're almost kicked out, which is unfortunate.
21:41
But you see this at other schools, students right on the glass, making noise, just pounding on it.
21:48
It's one thing I think is missed, or a missed opportunity at Mariucci.
21:53
It is probably a little bit of a missed opportunity because of where the Zamboni comes out and the way the locker rooms are positioned.
22:00
I think it would make it tricky to do too much there to figure that out, because they do want to have the Zambonis be able to get to both ranks.
22:09
And so that's just kind of a unique feature of Mariucci and Ritter.
22:12
But I would like to see them lined up along the zone where the opposing team has to defend.
22:19
I think that would be kind of fun.
22:21
It might be a little bit challenging for them to figure out how they would do that.
22:27
But I do think Minnesota responded to one time the student sections were divided at two ends of the rink.
22:33
They put them all in one.
22:35
I think that's been an improvement.
22:37
But it is a different building when those students show up.
22:41
And if they don't show up this weekend, it will be noticed very, very visibly.
22:48
And the one thing, you know, they're not changing the ends of the rink.
22:50
The ends of the rink are still going to be the same distance.
22:52
It's going to be the width of the rink.
22:54
And right now, there's kind of, you know, there's handicapped seating on kind of one end and where some people stand a little bit, you know, some of the medical personnel and whatnot.
23:05
And then the other end is it's a kind of a path to get around to the penalty box.
23:10
I guess in theory, they could rearrange some things there and allow some students down there on the glass.
23:15
I would love to see that, but, well, I don't know what it is, but it seems like the security and the university just doesn't want the kids to have too much fun.
23:30
I mean, they got a security guy down there all the time giving them a hard time.
23:35
And, you know, you don't see that out of the rinks.
23:37
You go to Duluth.
23:38
You go anywhere else.
23:40
I mean, you look, just, you know, look at Penn State.
23:42
They are right on the glass.
23:43
They got their signs.
23:44
They're ready to go.
23:47
And at Mariucci, it is kind of like the no-fun place.
23:51
Well, you know, sometimes that isn't like a university policy.
23:54
That's just the guy who's been doing it for 50 years.
23:57
That's the way he's going to do it.
23:59
He does look a little crabby down in the corner.
24:01
They can get a little crabby.
24:04
But you can have good, clean fun in college, right?
24:07
Nothing has to be too crazy.
24:08
You can have clean fun.
24:09
But I think it would be great if they were on Long Beach Glass.
24:12
So we would both love to see that, Ted.
24:15
What is his other question?
24:17
He's like, well, he thought that he would be, you know, when they're going to rearrange the drink, maybe possibly change to have the benches on opposite sides.
24:26
What do you think of that?
24:26
That's unconventional, but we do see it at Michigan State and at Notre Dame.
24:32
And old marriage used to be like that.
24:34
You set the benches across from each other.
24:37
I mean, I like that set up for rinks.
24:40
I don't think too much thought was probably put into it for this one.
24:43
It's kind of fun when they're across from each other and you get the long penalty box skate for the visiting team.
24:49
But I just don't think we'll see that kind of change happen.
24:53
No, with the concrete and everything, they kind of already have kind of areas kind of bunkered out, I would say.
25:01
But I do think we'll see the rink shrink here not next year but the year after.
25:07
I think that project is coming faster.
25:10
Minnesota is being a little more aggressive in how they launch projects.
25:14
They used to have to have 80% of the funding before they'd let a shovel hit the ground.
25:19
Now they're letting them kick off with a little bit less money in hand.
25:23
So I think as long as the alumni are happy and things are moving along, the money will be there for them to make that update next year.
25:33
A hockey fan was asking earlier today, on the topic of flight risks, who do you think is NHL ready?
25:39
I honestly don't see any ready for the next level, at least right now, according to hockey fan.
25:44
What do you think?
25:46
Yeah, I don't think there's a player on the roster right now that's ready to step right into league.
25:50
My only real flight risk for Minnesota would probably be Sample Ranta, just because of his skill set.
25:58
I think he could step into the AHL and play a very similar game.
26:03
He's such a strong skater and a strong body that I can see a team like Colorado wanting to get their hands on him sooner.
26:11
I think that would be a bit of a mistake.
26:13
I don't really believe in going to the next level until you're dominating the level you're at.
26:18
I think we saw that with Casey Middlestad a little bit.
26:21
It is his struggle to the NHL happened.
26:24
He's back in the AHL now and it looks like he's going to be there for the rest of the year, through their playoff run.
26:29
He's having some success in Rochester, but the NHL is a tough league.
26:35
I once heard a coach say, when you go in the NHL and you're stepping on the ice, it's not Smirnoff and Sturtz coming over the boards.
26:43
It's Malkin and Kessel or Crosby.
26:47
Those are some dangerous players you're going up against who are strong men.
26:51
And it's a big difference from college hockey to the NHL.
26:54
And I don't think some players respect how difficult it is to make that jump.
26:59
And they don't see the holes in their game that need to be addressed.
27:03
And so I just don't think it's the right move for anybody on this roster to make the leap.
27:08
You could always see a goaltender maybe go somewhere if they get an opportunity to play in the NHL.
27:14
If a team promises them that chance, sometimes they're goalies, that's hard to pass up.
27:19
But I don't see any skaters who would really make the leap.
27:23
Especially a guy like Sammy Walker or Blake McLaughlin, those are probably the two higher players.
27:28
They're just not ready yet.
27:29
Hockey fan also asked, we kind of touched on attendance though, we think it's going to be low.
27:33
But do you think the state hockey will lead to an empty Mariucci?
27:37
And a lot of people were trying to say that last year.
27:40
Yes, state hockey tends to have an effect on Mariucci for the, for attendance.
27:47
But we saw in years past, back in the WCHA, they were still getting 5,000 or 6,000 at least for those games.
27:55
And so I don't think that has anything to do with it.
27:59
No, I think your season ticket holders who bought the seats, they're going to show up.
28:04
I know somebody was coming after me today asking why there aren't any tickets on StubHub.
28:09
Well, it's because the people who bought these tickets really intended on using them.
28:13
And most of them are going to be at the game.
28:16
You don't have these people who have tickets and then change their mind.
28:19
Yeah.
28:20
Oh, our boy Tim Hapkey always asking questions.
28:23
Does Reedy play on the wing this weekend or Bob put him at center to balance the lines out?
28:29
He also says, where has Ranta disappeared to?
28:33
Well, I think Reedy is going to stay at wing with Sammy and Blake.
28:38
Those three have been really good together.
28:40
I think when they have Reedy on the ice, the puck moves a little bit more.
28:43
I think when there's other players on the ice, for whatever reason, if it's Brudzinski, if it's Burke, I don't think the puck moves as much.
28:52
I think Reedy holds up play and maybe looks for players a little bit more.
28:56
Whereas when you have a guy like Burke, he's looking to get the pucks to the net or chip it deep.
29:01
He's not as much of a playmaker.
29:03
In Brudzinski, he's looking to shoot.
29:05
And so there's not going to be a lot of puck movement there.
29:08
So I think Reedy is that kind of player for them and could be a good fit.
29:12
And I think Ranta, I think he's just going through a tough time where he's trying to find some continuity and figuring out how to take that next level.
29:20
And I think teams probably are focusing on him a little bit more and just trying to keep him to the outside.
29:26
And he's just got to break through there and move the puck a little bit.
29:29
He's got to take some notes from Reedy, I think.
29:31
Well, we were just talking about flight risks and I noticed that Dennis in the chat says flight or transfer risk.
29:37
And I was thinking maybe about two or three weeks ago that we were thinking Mr.
29:41
Burke might be a transfer risk because he was in a deep dark place, wasn't doing anything.
29:47
His game's really improved, so I think that's getting to be more off the table than it may have been.
29:54
Yeah, I think if there's a transfer risk, we're probably looking at like a depth defenseman.
30:00
Sam Racini hasn't seen the ice much, Matt Demmon hasn't seen the ice much.
30:05
It's hard to know what they're thinking.
30:08
I saw Racini in a red jersey this week playing forward because he's helping out the team.
30:14
He seems like a good team guy, but you never know.
30:17
Sometimes these guys, they just want to go play somewhere.
30:20
And for them, if they're not going to get a look at Minnesota, there's always a MIAC school or maybe a lower level team that might give them a chance.
30:28
Or Phillips going to Penn State.
30:30
Yeah, exactly.
30:32
He's got a Big Ten championship ring now.
30:34
He does.
30:35
Vonner asked, the last two weekends were a big chance for the Gophers to either win the conference or greatly improve their NCAA chances.
30:44
And they kind of laid a couple of legs.
30:46
Give me a reason to believe this weekend will be different.
30:49
And before you answer that, V, they were right in the thick of it.
30:55
But that Friday, that Saturday night loss just dropped them right out.
31:00
Well, I think the Saturday night loss was huge for dropping them out.
31:03
But I don't think it would have helped them that much had they won.
31:07
I didn't see this.
31:08
Well, they wouldn't have dropped above 11 or 12.
31:11
Yeah, pairwise, they still would have needed to come away with some wins here in the first weekend of the Big Ten tournament.
31:17
You know, there is nothing that they could have done last weekend or the weekend before that would have sealed up an at large bid.
31:24
It maybe would have put them on the bubble.
31:26
But this team needs to win hockey games to make the tournament at the end.
31:30
Give them a reason to believe that will be different this weekend.
31:34
I think one reason to believe it will be different is Notre Dame plays a style that's usually a little more hands off, a little more passive.
31:44
They're waiting for you to make mistakes.
31:46
They're waiting to go on the power play.
31:49
They're not going to be in your face like some of these other teams that give Minnesota problems.
31:54
When we look at teams like Michigan, they're going to skate with you a little bit, and they're going to try to create scoring chances.
32:00
Penn State, that's a high-volume game.
32:03
Lots of shots, lots of rushes, lots of loose pucks, lots of one-on-one battles.
32:07
You have to be on your A game for that.
32:09
And Minnesota, for whatever reason, the last three years, that has not been their style that works for them.
32:17
Notre Dame doesn't play that way, so it should be a different game, and I think it allows their skill to shine through a little bit.
32:22
And to close up the Twitter questions for this week, we've got our boy Skyy Malaw wanting to know, what's the best jersey in the high school hockey tournament right now?
32:32
What's your choice, Veegs?
32:35
I mean, those Blake jerseys look pretty nice.
32:38
I'm sure they spent some good money on those.
32:41
Yeah.
32:42
I haven't seen a lot of the games.
32:43
I've only seen some of the night games, so I can't really judge every one, so.
32:48
Yeah.
32:48
I miss the Thunderhawks not being there.
32:50
I like those.
32:52
The big orange machine.
32:53
Yeah.
32:53
I do like the orange.
32:55
Well, Delano had the orange last night.
32:57
It's not bad.
32:59
That was a good game until the end, and then it just fell apart on him.
33:02
Just totally collapsed.
33:03
It was strange.
33:06
All right, Veegs.
33:06
Well, I know one thing you wanted to talk about was recruiting.
33:09
We don't have hammy here anymore to get all that little inside stuff, but I'm guessing you start to have some sources now, aren't you?
33:17
Here and there.
33:18
You know, you hear some things and know what's going on.
33:21
We know that Bob's been looking for a goalie here for a couple of weeks.
33:24
They had Jackson Stobber on campus for an official visit, but he decided to go to Providence, I believe.
33:31
So instead, they've gone to a player from Cedar Rapids, originally from Pittsburgh, Gino.
33:38
I think it's Pichora.
33:41
I have no idea.
33:42
Yeah, no idea.
33:43
But he's a growing goalie.
33:45
He turned 17 this month, which I think is a little early for getting a goalie.
33:52
But you never know.
33:53
He's got to keep up his end and then Minnesota can keep up their end for a scholarship offer.
33:58
But that's probably the youngest goalie commit I've seen in quite some time for Minnesota.
34:04
Yeah, but maybe you have to go back to Frazee for a goalie that's committed that young.
34:11
Holiday.
34:14
Well, he never ended up here.
34:15
He never ended up here, but he was recruited.
34:17
I mean, he was recruited young, wasn't he?
34:21
Could be.
34:21
I mean, none of the goalies on the current roster, obviously were young commits.
34:26
But it's usually a position where you want to see some track record and junior hockey.
34:32
And this guy's only played nine games in the USHL.
34:36
I think there's a strong connection to Bobby Geppert, who is a goalie from Cedar Rapids, who played for Bob at St.
34:42
Cloud State.
34:43
He recommended him, and they're going to roll the dice maybe.
34:47
And we also got to think too, Mo is a freshman, Close is a freshman.
34:55
I'm thinking once LaFontaine goes on, they'll pick up a third guy just as a practice guy.
35:00
But I think they might be pretty decent, at least in that department, at least for scholarship type of guys.
35:06
So maybe he is trying to think of who's going to replace Mo and Close down the line.
35:11
Three years or something like that.
35:14
Yeah, you have to hope that's what they're thinking.
35:16
I would like them to see goalies play at least two years in the USHL.
35:21
Maybe there's an interim guy that they get in.
35:23
Maybe they technically registered close or something like that, but we'll see.
35:30
So, we have an interesting weekend of games besides Minnesota Notre Dame.
35:35
We've got Wisconsin who's kind of picked it up lately, heading back to Ohio State where they did very well next weekend.
35:45
And I'm thinking that Ohio State might be in a little trouble here, Veegs.
35:52
Yeah, it's a tough matchup.
35:53
Ohio State's not had a great second half.
35:56
They've gone from one of those teams that thought they had enough in the bank to a team that probably needs to have a good weekend here to get in the top ten of the pairwise.
36:05
So, it's a struggle to see what's going to happen here.
36:09
I know they've gotten a little inconsistent goal-tending this second half of the year, ever since Napier had that injury.
36:15
You know, he hasn't been as sharp.
36:18
And, you know, Wisconsin, they're a hungry team with lots of talent, lots of first-round picks, so it should be a fun series.
36:25
You know, they did win the season series against the Buckeyes.
36:28
And that's just it, Veegs.
36:30
They have the skill.
36:32
They played very well against top ten teams this year.
36:35
I mean, better than most.
36:38
And it is a thing where, hey, Wisconsin could come in here and cause a lot of damage to a lot of teams that are in that bubble like Ohio State.
36:46
So, you know, they might not have had a good overall season.
36:50
They ended up last in the league, but that's not a last place quality team.
36:57
No, and it's a team that can score goals.
36:58
It's just they've given up a ton and they've gotten pretty poor goal-tending on the whole year.
37:04
You know, I don't think they've figured it out in that.
37:07
And they've certainly done it by scoring lots of goals.
37:11
It'll be fun to see.
37:13
I wouldn't put it out of question that either Wisconsin or Michigan State could win next weekend, which would be nice if the Gophers got out too, because that means one of those two schools would go to Hockey Valley.
37:27
Well, I actually have thoughts on that because I am not as afraid to go to Hockey Valley this time.
37:36
Really?
37:36
Yeah, I'm not, because they played them there well last time.
37:42
It's a one game deal, and by the time that game happens, Penn State will not have played a game in about three weeks.
37:52
How bad is their schedule for the end of the year?
37:57
You've got to schedule somebody.
37:59
Obviously, they didn't know they're going to win the title when you're scheduling, so you're probably thinking, we're going to be playing that first weekend, which I think really would have helped them, but to not have a team like Arizona State or just something, an exhibition or something like that, but they haven't played a game since they played Minnesota.
38:16
And I'm not sure when this semifinal will be.
38:19
I'm guessing it would be a Saturday night, so that would be like a full three weeks since they played a game.
38:25
Yeah, that's a long time between games, and whoever goes there should get an advantage there to take advantage because there will be opportunities to score early in the game.
38:36
And that's why I wasn't as afraid.
38:38
If the Seeds Above Us don't lose and it goes how it's supposed to go, I wasn't as concerned because just for that reason, if Penn State was playing, I would definitely be concerned.
38:50
But I think just the circumstances right now, I think if things hold in the standings and Minnesota wins and then goes to Penn State, I can think of, you go and win that game.
39:05
Boy, I think that's a boost for this team and this program at this time.
39:09
So that's why I guess I just haven't been so worried about it.
39:14
Yeah, I think that would be a nice monkey off their back if they were able to go to Penn State, get the win and move on because that would be, you can see it in the players before Penn State Week that they were very focused on knowing that they were playing at a place where they had not performed.
39:32
And it was a big weekend for them.
39:33
And thinking beyond that, if there was an upset in front of us and Minnesota had to go to let's say either Michigan or Ohio State, then Penn State is getting their game in.
39:46
Maybe they lose, you never know.
39:49
But I would rather play Penn State that first in the semifinal than in the final at Penn State.
39:57
I think, you know, once they get a game in the belt, that will really help them.
39:59
But the three weeks off, I think, like you said, whoever goes to Hockey Valley next weekend, I think has a really good chance of getting an upset.
40:10
That's true.
40:10
Anyone can win the Big Ten right now.
40:12
I don't think there's any teams that are truly dominant.
40:15
You know, even the good teams, you know, don't have dominant scoring lines.
40:20
So I think it's wide open and it should be fun hockey.
40:23
And then we got Michigan State going into Michigan.
40:25
Big rivalry there.
40:28
You know, Michigan's played a lot better lately, obviously, as we've seen.
40:31
They've been playing almost lights out since the first of the year, except for a few hiccups.
40:38
But you never know with Michigan State if they could get a hot goalie too.
40:42
And they might sneak out of there.
40:43
So it's going to be an interesting weekend outside of Mariucci.
40:48
Yeah, as Bob has been fond of saying this week, Michigan State and Michigan are tough teams because they've got seniors who have been through college hockey and know how to play these tight games and are comfortable playing them.
41:01
As much as Bob has chided the local media all season for following the youth narrative, he's probably brought it up more than anyone.
41:09
And he's talked about it quite a bit, how young they are and how experienced teams like Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State are, and that's the difference.
41:17
We'll see if they've learned anything because there's not much time left to grow up.
41:23
Well, looking in the Mixler chat, Vonder just said, hey, they got to get through Notre Dame first.
41:27
And we definitely know that's true, but we're just kind of projecting forward, hoping for a good weekend.
41:33
I see Dennis asking, what are the refs assigned to our game?
41:35
I have no idea.
41:38
A lot of times, that's kept pretty secret.
41:42
So we'll have to see.
41:43
But Notre Dame coming in this weekend, the games are on TV.
41:47
Friday night it will be on Fox Sports 2, FS2, Saturday night on FSN Plus, I believe, and then back on FS2 on Sunday at 6, if necessary.
42:03
It was Saturday night.
42:04
People were already complaining about TV vegs, and what they don't realize is that Minnesota is the only team in the Big Ten that gets TV this weekend.
42:13
That's because they're the only team that consistently gets viewers.
42:17
Bingo.
42:17
You know, it's not because we're complaining about it.
42:19
You know, the U does a lot to make sure the games are on TV, and they have enough of a following where it matters.
42:26
And so, you know, as much as we focused on attendance and things like that throughout the year, they're still top five in the country for attendance.
42:34
And I bet you they're top three for TV market as well.
42:39
So it may not be the glory days, but they still draw a lot of eyes.
42:43
I think TV is still got to be tops.
42:46
Yeah, it's up there.
42:48
We don't ever get those numbers, not like in the past, but it's got to be tops.
42:52
And as we have seen in some of the ratings of the NCAA tournament, even recently, even though Minnesota hasn't won recently, in those regional games, the ratings for the Minnesota, whoever they play, are always the top ones.
43:06
Yeah.
43:07
And then alternatively, when there are hockey games on national markets where they'll show up in those top 50 type things, unless it's Minnesota, they don't hit those.
43:19
So when you're seeing the Notre Dame games on NBC Sports Network, or when you're seeing Michigan, Ohio State on Fox, those games aren't even doing good enough numbers to crack the top 50 or 100 for those nights.
43:32
Yeah.
43:33
Matt is asking who's calling the games on FS2 and Frozen 4 has its chairman.
43:36
It is going to be Dan Kelly on Friday and on Sunday if they get to there.
43:41
I'm guessing it'll be Charlie.
43:43
I borrowed Charlie Beatty.
43:44
He's doing a lot of state tournament work, but I'm guessing he will be on the call Saturday for the FSN game.
43:51
So we'll have to see.
43:52
But what about the game here, Veegs?
43:56
I know you like the match up with Notre Dame, but at this time of year, special teams are huge.
44:04
And boy, we could really use some quality special teams this weekend, because as we saw last year in the semifinal, special teams ended up ending the Gophers season.
44:16
Yeah, I think the key is try to stay out of the box as much as you can.
44:21
You don't want to give Notre Dame one of those chances.
44:23
I don't think Notre Dame is a great power play, but somehow Nick Lieberman seems to have their number, whatever it is.
44:31
He doesn't score very often, but he comes through against the Gophers.
44:36
I feel like if he gets a chance to do that in front of family and friends and that Notre Dame following, which probably should draw a pretty good crowd in their area, they always seem to do well at Mary Chee.
44:47
I think that could be something to watch out for.
44:49
One of the things I'm looking for this weekend is how Minnesota does in the faceoff circle.
44:55
I know especially with Sammy Walker, it's been a focus for him to improve, but you'd like your centers to win 55 to 60 percent of their draws.
45:04
I don't think very many Gophers have come close to that most of the season.
45:09
They've tried to do some things, move in Reedy and Myers and other guys, McLaughlin into the circle to try to take draws, but it's been a weak point of this team and Notre Dame typically is very good in the faceoff circle.
45:23
The bottom line is that's really key with your power play.
45:27
When you're starting a power play, you lose a faceoff, it's down the other end.
45:32
You've already lost key zone time, and we've seen direct results of that.
45:38
Losing that faceoff in a power play and having to go chase the puck down.
45:43
I think their power play might be a little better if they could actually win offensive zone faceoffs.
45:49
Yeah, it's really key on the power play to start with the puck, and especially against a team like Notre Dame that doesn't give it away very easily.
45:56
If you're doing poorly in the draws, it's going to be a long night for you.
46:00
And I think for Minnesota, when they played them earlier in the year, they got exposed, but the second time around, they were much better on faceoffs.
46:07
And I know it's something they've been working on, but it's going to be a key this weekend.
46:13
So what are you thinking, Veegs?
46:15
Does this go to Sunday?
46:17
I think it definitely goes to Sunday.
46:19
Really?
46:19
You know, these teams are so close to each other.
46:22
We've seen the Big Ten, the standings have been so close.
46:25
I think we've seen a little bit of issues with Minnesota getting scoring, slow starts.
46:31
I think they're going to drop one of the first two games.
46:35
I think they pull it out in three.
46:36
I think whichever team wins on Friday, the other team wins on Saturday.
46:40
I think Minnesota sneaks away with it on Sunday night.
46:44
Well, that's positive.
46:48
Well, jeez, I'm going to say Minnesota in two and maybe an overtime win Saturday night in front of 1,800 people.
46:59
Yeah, 1,800.
47:00
I think my attendance is probably, I think announced will be 2,800, but I think we'll see about 2,200 in the Sands.
47:10
And not that there is really ever a thing called announced anymore because they stopped doing that a while ago.
47:16
Well, it's not 10,000 and it's nothing, right?
47:22
Definitely.
47:22
Well, what you got, obviously you just had that great article on The Athletic last week of the Nanny family.
47:30
I guess that was a very good article, by the way, Veegs.
47:34
Everyone loved it.
47:36
Anything else in the hopper right now?
47:38
We've got a little bit something on the development of Samparanta and Sammy Walker.
47:42
I think you can only look at this year as a development year for the Gophers.
47:47
I was thinking maybe a tourney bid was possible if all things went right.
47:53
I don't know if they have this year.
47:55
They've looked good the second half, but we've seen these players develop physically.
48:00
I think working with Cal Dietz will take them to another level in that shiny new weight room that they're going to get here pretty shortly.
48:09
Those guys are going to benefit from his knowledge.
48:13
You got a guy like Cal Dietz, he's built up this database of working with hockey players all the way back to Paul Martin.
48:21
He's learned a lot working with those guys, and he's got a lot of data that he applies to these players.
48:27
I've got an article that kind of talks about his process of identifying what players need to work on and why he's so effective at developing these players.
48:36
And a lot of times, these players are coming back in the summer and probably giving them even more data.
48:41
Oh, for sure.
48:41
I mean, he's got these NHL players that come back year after year, and he sees them progress not only from high school to college, but then as pros and what they need to maintain to be effective professional athletes.
48:55
Definitely.
48:56
Definitely.
48:57
Well, that's going to do it for this GPL Podcast this week.
49:02
We're going to be back next week no matter what, and I think we're going to keep doing some shows even if Minnesota is eliminated, just to kind of talk about the whole off season or whatever it may go.
49:13
So we're going to keep doing shows for quite a while here.
49:15
So, but be sure to come back next week.
49:18
We're just definitely going to recap whatever happens, and hopefully we'll be previewing a semi-final wherever it may be.
49:27
For those of you listening live, stay tuned for some overtime.
49:30
For the rest of you, we'll be back next week.
49:33
Thanks for listening.
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