0:03 This is The GPL Podcast, sponsored by Jerry Peters and First Class Mortgage. 0:08 Our expertise, your peace of mind. 0:10 Visit us at firstclassmortgage.com. 0:24 Now, here's Jupiter and Vegoe. 0:37 Good evening, and welcome to The GPL Podcast, episode number 179. 0:44 Getting close to 200 VEGs, it's nice. 0:48 Well done, well done. 0:49 You do all the work, like Pat was saying, we just talk. 0:53 Pat, what do you mean, Pat? 0:55 Yeah, we got Pat Micheletti on the podcast this week. 0:59 Pat, thanks for joining us. 1:01 Well, it's my pleasure, guys, for my first time. 1:06 Yes, your first time. 1:07 We want to talk about the past three, four years, been waiting. 1:13 The call came and I answered. 1:17 It's great to join you guys. 1:19 Well, when we started doing the Zoom thing, I thought it was going to be better for having guests on. 1:24 So you better have them just people, it's just easier and not to outdo you, but this is your first time and on Sunday, we're getting Wally Shaver on the podcast as well. 1:37 I'll pray for you. 1:41 Well, you know, it's okay if Wally drops an F-bomb because this is a podcast. 1:48 All right. 1:48 Go ahead. 1:50 I like to poke fun at Wally and all in good nature, but ask him about after the first Penn State game on Thursday evening, how was getting out of the parking lot? 2:06 Okay. 2:07 Ask him about that. 2:09 Oh, was the card thing not working and wouldn't let him out? 2:14 George, you should just ask him. 2:16 I don't know. 2:17 I think he was in there. 2:19 I asked him quite frankly if he stayed overnight, to be quite honest, and he may have. 2:26 He said he got out, I don't know, if he walked home or left his car. 2:30 I don't know. 2:31 So you're going to have to ask him. 2:32 Frank, come help me. 2:34 Frank, come help me. 2:35 That's exactly. 2:37 I got a text from Frank saying, you're not going to believe it. 2:40 I said, yup, I believe it. 2:42 I believe it. 2:44 Well, Frank is a veteran of the show. 2:45 We had him on podcast. 2:47 He has been on eight times. 2:49 He was on podcast number two, our first guest over on the podcast. 2:53 Back in 2010, I believe it was. 2:57 Frank is definitely a veteran of the podcast. 2:59 Now we're getting the rest of you cool people on. 3:01 Yeah. 3:01 Well, I tell you what, there's not many better than Frank. 3:05 I can tell you that much. 3:07 Yeah. 3:07 He's been a great guest for us. 3:08 I mean, he's always rock solid. 3:12 He also brings that broadcast feeling for everybody, which is really nice. 3:16 Next time, he doesn't know how to make spaghetti sauce, but I'm trying to help him and he knows it. 3:26 But we'll keep working on him. 3:28 Shots fired. 3:29 You might want to mention that to him the next time you have him on. 3:32 I'm all full of fun stuff tonight, guys. 3:34 Hey, we're here to get you riled up. 3:37 It's more fun that way. 3:39 It's way more fun that way. 3:40 But what's fun, Veegs? 3:42 This team is undefeated so far. 3:45 4-0, pretty solid start. 3:48 I see a bunch of questions coming in from Twitter and in the chat. 3:53 I'm feeling pretty good about this team. 3:54 How are you feeling about it so far? 3:57 I don't want to pump the brakes too much, but they have played two of the more inexperienced teams that they'll face on their schedule. 4:06 I think it matched up perfectly for Bob's team to get their feet wet. 4:10 He's got returning depth through center, first line through fourth line. 4:16 He's got guys he can count on to go out and win draws. 4:19 That's why they're one of the top faceoff teams in the country right now. 4:23 The defensemen have come along faster than I expected. 4:27 Brock Faber has just stepped right in to being a college player, and you can count on him every night for 20 minutes, and he's going to deliver. 4:35 And the goaltending has just been spectacular. 4:39 LaFontaine's had a couple issues where he's gone for a little walkabout to play the puck, and he had one soft one that got through him, but he's only let in four goals in four games. 4:48 And his save percentage is 961, so he's been dialed in, and he's a confident guy. 4:53 He doesn't let things like that shake his confidence, and he's ready to make the next save. 4:58 So when you look at those three things, this team's delivering. 5:02 You know, the thing that, you know, he started off with, Pat, was, you know, maybe these are the lesser teams, but boy, the last four to five years, the lesser teams Minnesota has played, they've just struggled. 5:14 They haven't just gotten the job done many times. 5:19 Yeah, you know, you know, for me, listen, early in the year, you need to gain confidence. 5:26 You need to develop that swagger. 5:31 I, you know, I saw a bunch of the guys before the first game, and you know what, there was a different, there was a different feeling that I got just from their mannerisms, you know, and just the way they, you know, the way they kind of felt about themselves. 5:51 And, you know, I don't care who you're playing. 5:55 You got to get off to a good start and feel good about yourself. 5:58 And, you know, there's a lot of things that they got to get better at. 6:04 But, you know, from what I saw in the first four games, and I mentioned this on the air, and something that we have not seen since Nate Schmidt, Mikey Riley, and that's guys who can get the puck and make one pass, tape to tape, and get the puck out of the zone. 6:25 Or beat a guy and get the puck out of the zone themselves. 6:31 And when you can do that, that's going to take pressure off your own end. 6:36 It's going to get you up the ice quick. 6:40 It's going to improve the pace of the game. 6:42 And I think that to me, I thought that was the biggest difference I've seen in the last, God, five, six years. 6:53 It's a huge deal. 6:54 And by the way, I see Frank has joined the chat in YouTube. 6:57 And he says, Pat looks better than he does on radio. 7:04 Yeah. 7:04 Thank you. 7:07 It's good that Frank's listening. 7:08 We're glad you're listening. 7:11 Well, Veegs, it's not like this team didn't come out on skates this weekend. 7:15 We did have a little bit of injury problem. 7:19 Yep. 7:19 Brandon McManus picked up a knock. 7:21 He had a collision with the Ohio State player at the end of the second period. 7:24 I listened to the radio crew pretty frequently as I sync it up with the TV broadcast. 7:30 They spotted it right away that he went off the ice. 7:33 It's something that's hard when you're watching on TV to pick up those things. 7:38 When you're live in the arena, it's much easier to notice that stuff, see a guy go to the bench and go down the tunnel. 7:44 That's one of the reasons why I like listening to the radio guys when there's a TV broadcast because they can be taking a different perspective than everybody else. 7:52 Watching for that, McManus didn't come back for the third period. 7:56 And then the post game, Moscow showed that it wasn't good news, but not bad news. 8:03 And then this week, he said he doesn't expect him to play in the Michigan State Series, but maybe for Michigan, definitely after Christmas. 8:11 And based on what I'm seeing on Instagram, McManus made the trip out to Michigan, we think. 8:18 So he's an important player for this team. 8:20 He's a player that really gives a lot of confidence, I think, to Walker McLaughlin. 8:25 You know, just his attitude to the game helps, I think, those guys stay relaxed and stay with it and not get frustrated. 8:32 And I think he adds a lot to the power play. 8:34 He's just kind of a slick guy who takes advantage of space. 8:39 And I, yeah, I, I, and you know, the one thing, and I think, you know, Frank and I were talking, you know, early in the Penn State game, first, first, first second shift of the game, he came down, and there was no question in his mind, he was going to shoot the puck. 8:56 And, you know, instead of looking and trying, you know, and, and he has the ability, as we saw, with the, with a couple of his goals, he can shoot the puck. 9:06 And he's got to get the mindset that he has to score. 9:11 Okay? 9:12 And, you know, you, listen, I, I, you know, I tell guys all the time, you know what, you got to be selfish. 9:19 If you want to, if, if you, if you shoot the puck well, and you are a goal scorer, then you can't, you can't worry. 9:27 I mean, your job is to score goals. 9:30 And I think, I think he has the ability to, you know, he only had nine a year ago, 17, I think, the year before. 9:38 I mean, this guy should get to 20 in a normal season. 9:42 Now, this isn't a normal season, but, but, you know, he has that ability, and he's older, and he's been around. 9:49 He knows the league, and it's time for him. 9:52 You know, if Minnesota is going to go anywhere, guys, you know, yes, love the young players, and, you know, love the depth, love the strength up the middle, but, you know, they're older guys, you know, Reedy and McManus, Sample Rampta, you know, guys like that are really going to have to, you know, step up. 10:12 Walker is another one, you know, and I think, I think he's got more in him. 10:19 At least, I hope he does. 10:20 But, you know, those are the guys that are really going to have to, you know, carry the mail. 10:27 And that's kind of what we've talked about so far this season, is those guys, those sophomores to juniors and what have you, the freshmen to sophomores, really need to pick it up. 10:38 And, you know, Matzko talked about that. 10:40 He said, hey, we need those guys to step up another 10, 15 goals, or whatever it may be. 10:46 But we need them to step up another level, Veegs. 10:49 Yeah, I mean, you're looking for these guys to be consistent, point-of-game players. 10:53 When you're going to be an elite team, you need guys who can be in the score sheet almost every night. 10:58 I think Scott Reedy of this group might be the most consistent guy. 11:03 Been their best player, been their best player. 11:05 He generates offense in the zone every game. 11:08 A lot of these other guys, they depend on rush scoring. 11:12 When you're playing against a good sound team like they're going to face in Michigan State, there's not going to be a lot of rush opportunities for your speedy, skilled guys to generate offense. 11:22 You need guys who can score with possession in the zone or on the power play. 11:27 You need guys who can possess the puck, take it to the net, draw penalties as they battle in the corner and win pucks. 11:34 Scott Reedy right now is really doing a nice job of that. 11:37 We need some of these other forwards to start seeing that and emulating that in the game. 11:43 Sample Ranta, he is one of the most tremendous athletes on the roster, but there's another level there for him to hit production-wise. 11:51 Well, I'm glad you brought up the word another level because it kind of correlates. 11:59 Would you make that jump, okay, from a sophomore to a junior? 12:04 And all of a sudden, you're being counted on, right? 12:11 And it takes a while for that light switch to go, okay, if we're going to win, I've got to produce, not just tonight, but every night. 12:27 And I'll take you back to when I was a freshman, I had on our team, we had Bukestead, Butzi Erickson, Steve Griffith. 12:41 They were our guys. 12:42 They knew it. 12:43 They knew that if they didn't produce every night, we weren't going to win. 12:48 I mean, you know, yeah, we had a good team and, you know, other guys chip in, but chipping in is different than carrying the mail every night. 12:55 And it takes, you know, it's got to click upstairs where you, you know, say, okay, I get it now. 13:04 Okay. 13:05 I know tonight I can't take, I can't take a shift off. 13:09 I can't take a night off. 13:10 I can't take a period off. 13:12 I've got to be that guy. 13:14 And, you know, you know it as a player once you, you know, start to, you know, understand a little bit more. 13:24 And I think, I see it in Reedy right now. 13:27 I mean, I, you know, I think he's been terrific and I think he's wanted it. 13:33 And, you know, and it's shown in the way he's playing. 13:38 Well, you know, Veegs, you kind of mentioned it earlier, you know, how the radio team, at least this past weekend, got to see more of the ice because the TV are broadcasting by looking at a screen. 13:51 This weekend, it kind of will switch hands here, won't it, Pat? 13:55 I don't know if you're, are you calling this weekend? 13:58 No, I'm not. 13:59 I will only be working the home games. 14:01 So even though the guys are going to be calling the game from TCF Stadium, they will do those and I'll just work the live home games. 14:12 Gotcha, and that makes sense. 14:15 I do feel for them though, because now it's going to be, all of a sudden, Wally's calling the game and his vision just went from this huge thing to this. 14:24 And Vegas talks about how he loves listening to the radio broadcast and how they could just see the wider things because now the television broadcast has this same kind of tunnel vision. 14:34 It's going to be tricky this weekend for Wally and Frank to kind of bring the game to us, don't you think? 14:42 Well, you know, I think, you know, both of those guys are pros. 14:45 They've been doing it a long time, you know, listen, of course, it's going to be a change, but I think by, you know, 10 minutes in, they'll kind of get their feel and, you know, should be another good broadcast. 15:02 And I think one of the things is they get a lot of history with the program, the players, the coaches, and those conversations, while they're less frequent this year, still start to come together. 15:14 You get a pulse of the team, and you find out what the coaches are thinking as they head into the series. 15:18 I know Michigan State, from things I've read on their side, you know, they're looking to be real physical with Minnesota. 15:25 They're going to try to slow the Gophers down, and I think Bob's a little worried about that. 15:29 He mentioned that after one of the early series here as they came to a close. 15:34 He said, you know, it's nice to play these games at Mariucci. 15:37 We'll see how our young guys do on a smaller rink against a physical team, and that's what we're going to see this week. 15:44 Yeah, but you know what? 15:45 That's where you grow. 15:46 You know, that's where you grow as a team, and you kind of find out what kind of character you have, and, you know, who can I play in these tough situations, right? 15:57 I mean, you got guys, look it, you got guys fighting for spots still. 16:01 You know, you look at that right side. 16:03 You know, he's trying to find the right combination with Reedy and Ranta, and, you know, he's had Walker and McLaughlin together, and, you know, he's trying to find the right fit, and, you know, you know, I hate to say these are tryouts, but, you know, guys are, you know, guys are getting the opportunity, and everyone is getting a fair shake at it. 16:23 You know, you see Purbeck's going from the second line to the fourth line or the extra forward, and Brodzinski starts at the top line, then he drops, and, you know, and it wasn't by, it wasn't because of the way they played. 16:37 It was just, you know, Bob's trying to find that right formula. 16:41 And, you know, I think it's a brilliant move, because you've got to find a guy. 16:48 See, for me, I always look at lines as two guys, and then a third, and with no disrespect to the third guy, who ends up being probably the most important guy on your line. 17:01 You know, the guy who is going to go in the corner, do that dirty work, be able to get you the puck where you want it. 17:08 You know, little things like that, that really connect a line and make them work. 17:16 Ben Myers comes to mind right when you said that to me. 17:19 Yeah. 17:20 I think Ben Myers and Sorensen have been a pair. 17:23 Like, they peed off each other. 17:25 Their style has been great together. 17:29 You know, each line brings a little bit different, you know, a little bit something different to it. 17:33 And, you know, you got Myers and Sorensen who bang and crash. 17:38 And, you know, I mean, really kind of ignite everybody. 17:42 And, you know, you've got you got Reedy, who's just a horse, you know, and you can't move them. 17:48 And Ranta, you know, at times he looks like, what are you doing in this league? 17:53 You are in the wrong league, my friend. 17:55 You should be one league up, you know. 17:57 And Sample still has a lot to learn about, you know, the game and where to be and how to navigate. 18:02 And, you know, gets off on the wrong highway sometimes, or wrong exit. 18:07 But, you know, I mean, they all bring a little bit something different, which is what you need on a team, actually. 18:15 Well, I think looking back, I remember Eric Holla being kind of like that. 18:19 You know, a lot of skill, a lot of speed, but he just didn't know how to navigate himself on the ice. 18:24 And then as he got older, all of a sudden it started to click. 18:27 Instead of skating himself across the finish line, he skated to the finish line. 18:32 Right. 18:33 He just made a lot more plays. 18:35 And I think it takes a little bit of time, especially Ranta transitioning from Europe to the, you know, American style. 18:41 Yeah, I'll give you Sammy Walker too. 18:43 Sammy, you know, I get frustrated because the talent is immense. 18:50 And, but he's got, in my opinion, just from watching him, he's got to learn how to navigate in and out of traffic, how to stay away from traffic, how to get into traffic, how to use his speed. 19:06 He's so fast, but for a defender, in my opinion, simply my opinion, you know, I, a lot of people probably think I'm wrong, but, you know, he's easy to defend if you know he's coming, okay? 19:23 And, and, and you can gauge how you're going to angle them. 19:26 And, you know, things like that. 19:28 And in my opinion, if he would slow down a little bit, you know, speed up a little bit, not use the same speed all the time, I think, I think he'd be really effective. 19:38 And, you know what, he's still learning, but, you know, he has the ability to, to, you know, ignite a team too. 19:48 You know, all of this just makes me more exciting, because, you know, a lot of these kids have so much room to get better. 19:55 That's what makes me excited, because you know the skill is there, it's just putting it all together. 19:58 And that's what's got me excited about this team this year, is that we kind of haven't had that in a while. 20:04 We haven't. 20:05 And, you know, you look at, you look at their, you know, up the middle. 20:10 If you are strong up the middle, you got a pretty darn good team. 20:14 And, you know, one guy we haven't talked about is Jackson Nelson. 20:18 I mean, this kid, all right, doesn't know the talent that he has yet. 20:23 And, you know, he can skate. 20:25 He's big. 20:26 He's strong. 20:27 He can shoot the puck. 20:29 You know, I think he's got to get to a point where he trusts himself. 20:34 Because, listen, he has the ability, like Aranta does, to just blow by a guy or, or, or fend a guy off because he's so strong that, you know, but, but, but, listen, he knows his role. 20:51 He's playing on the fourth line. 20:52 The fourth line has been really good. 20:55 I don't know what, V, how many did he have? 20:57 Did three goals, something like that. 20:59 But not only that, you know, he's a good penalty killer. 21:02 And when you, when you don't have to use your top guys, your scorers killing penalties all the time, and he can go out there and do that, boy, you know, that really helps a team. 21:13 And it keeps everybody, keeps everybody in the game too. 21:17 Yeah, I think that hurt them last year. 21:18 Sometimes they get into these games where they'd start taking penalties and then they lead on Myers so heavily. 21:25 They lean on Walker so heavily and they're spending all their energy killing penalties. 21:29 Nelson is just that prototypical size and skill and face off strength that you need for a penalty killer. 21:36 And if he can fill that role this year, you know, maybe they'll be able to feed him more onto his plate as he gets older and more experienced. 21:44 So I want to... 21:45 Oh, go ahead. 21:45 Go ahead. 21:46 Go ahead. 21:47 No, go ahead. 21:47 Well, I was going to say we've got some Twitter questions I want to get to here. 21:51 Because quite a few of them from earlier today were kind of all along the same lines. 21:55 We got Big Mistake saying, I'm curious how the players are adjusting to almost no fans. 22:00 You know, what are the challenges and maybe the benefits of this may bring to the game? 22:04 And, you know, then I saw another tweet. 22:06 Where was it? 22:07 Yeah. 22:10 Here we go. 22:12 Tim Simplot, another, you know, big fan with no fans in the stands. 22:16 How much difference is there in the road games versus the home games? 22:19 And, Pat, we are seeing this. 22:22 The road teams are doing very well right now because they're not going into hostile territory. 22:26 You know, you look at Notre Dame, went into Michigan, took care of them this weekend. 22:31 You know, Michigan just went into Happy Valley or Hockey Valley tonight and won. 22:36 It's been all over the place. 22:37 Minnesota's kind of held, you know, held court okay. 22:40 But I see this as a, you know, much better even for teams to come in and win on the road. 22:46 And the road teams are doing very well. 22:48 Yeah. 22:49 You know, there's advantages, disadvantages. 22:51 You know, one, being at home, you know your own rank, you feel good. 22:54 It's like being, you know, it's like being in your, in your, you know, in your living room, right? 22:58 You know it and you're comfortable and all that. 23:01 I will tell you this. 23:04 I don't care what anybody says. 23:05 It is really, really hard to play in front of an empty stadium because you have to individually, right? 23:16 And now you're talking 21 guys of all having that same focus, getting your focus and staying in it, keeping your line mates together, making sure they're ready because you get one guy on a line who's am maybe lollygagging a little bit and throws everything off. 23:35 And so I don't think it's easy for those guys at all. 23:39 I thought they handled it well. 23:41 I thought the pace of play was really good. 23:43 It got a little sloppy in part of the, I think the third period of the first night against Penn State was not very good for both teams and, you know, and you slow down and, you know, just, and that's where you really, your hometown fans really give you a boost because when you're, you know, when you need something and you hear them screaming, it gets you pumped up. 24:12 There's nothing like it, you know, nothing. 24:15 And so, but, you know, I think they're adjusting well. 24:19 I think Bob talked about after the first weekend that there's so much pent-up energy to play that series, especially the two teams that are playing each other. 24:28 It was pretty easy for the players to get up and have the energy and maintain it. 24:33 But he said as the Ohio State Series went on, you know, there was gut check time, you know, you have a lull in your play, the home team doesn't get that boost that they usually get. 24:43 They've got to find it within themselves. 24:45 And so as hockey season is pretty long, as the games go on, you know, trying to sustain your own energy can be challenging. 24:54 So in a game where maybe at home you don't have it, but the fans kind of get you that extra juice, that's not going to be there this year. 25:01 You're going to have to find it on your own bench. 25:02 And Bob has talked a little bit about, you know, on the bench when things aren't going the right way and guys are kind of maybe bitching and moaning a little bit on the bench. 25:11 There are leaders on the bench who are saying, hey, cut it out. 25:14 Let's focus. 25:15 And that's an important sign. 25:17 Because you're not letting negativity get on your bench. 25:20 You're maintaining that positive energy. 25:21 And I think, I don't know for sure, but I think in some of these past Gopher teams that haven't been successful, that's been allowed to happen. 25:32 Yep. 25:32 And that negativity can take over a locker room and be really poison. 25:37 No doubt about it. 25:39 No doubt about it. 25:41 And, you know, and that's why, you know, this winning helps because, you know, it just once you win, you get a taste of it. 25:50 You get greedy. 25:52 You get, you know, you don't feel like you're going to lose. 25:56 And, you know, and now, you know, it can be tricky because you just don't win games. 26:03 You have to, you know, I mean, no one just says that you're going to win. 26:08 You have to go earn it and do it. 26:09 And but they feel like they can't. 26:12 And, you know, right now, that's a good thing. 26:14 And, you know, there's probably going to be a bump in the road or two. 26:18 But, you know, as long as they feel good about themselves, you know, that's positive. 26:25 Well, that's a good sign. 26:27 That's all I care about. 26:29 We got more Twitter questions. 26:31 We got I see a bunch of chat. 26:32 Let's go. 26:33 I know. 26:33 I got a bunch of chat people asking. 26:34 But first, we need to hear from our sponsor. 26:38 Hey, fellow GPLers. 26:40 This is Jerry Peters from First Class Mortgage. 26:43 Interest rates are near all time lows and property values are on the rise. 26:47 Lower your interest rate and remove monthly PMI at the same time to save thousands of dollars. 26:52 Or use the equity in your home for debt consolidation and home improvement. 26:56 The housing market is still hot, so make sure you're prepared by getting a pre-approval letter from me before you start shopping. 27:04 Mention you heard about me on The GPL Podcast and receive a $300 closing cost credit. 27:08 Some restrictions do apply. 27:10 Call me today at 612-940-3291 or visit firstclassmortgage.com to fill out a free online application. 27:20 My NMLS number is 480-200. 27:23 First class mortgage is 322-842. 27:26 This is not an offer to lock into an interest rate agreement under Minnesota law. 27:30 First class mortgage is an equal housing lender. 27:35 Let's give Jerry a call, GPL-ers. 27:38 Come on. 27:39 Well, you know, I want to get back to Twitter real quick because a one, Alex Micheletti, is asking, most improved gopher so far? 27:51 Most improved. 27:53 Well, that I'm going to go right back to Scott Reedy, okay? 27:58 Because I see, you know, I watched him last year and, you know, there were times where I'm like, come on, take that next step. 28:08 You know, you can beat this guy. 28:10 No one's going to move you in front of the net. 28:12 No one's going to stop you from coming out of the corner. 28:14 And this year, I just, I think he's in better shape. 28:19 I think he's, I don't want to say faster, but skating stronger and he's finishing, you know? 28:30 And so I think not only is he most, they're most improved, but I also think he's been their best player. 28:38 You're muted, Vig, so like she busted you. 28:43 He's healthy too, this year. 28:44 I mean, I remember last year before he got dinged up, he's like, I haven't had a year since I was maybe a sophomore, where I didn't have something that really held me down. 28:56 And last year, he was pretty healthy. 28:58 And this off season, he was healthy. 29:00 And it shows, you know, he's a mature senior, a 6'2, 210 pound forward, who led the team in scoring last year. 29:09 You don't see too many of those come back for a senior year in the Big Ten and he's showing it. 29:14 And you say, well, why, you know, why is he, why do you call him, you know, leading scorer? 29:18 Why do you call him the most improved player? 29:20 Because his play is better, you know? 29:24 To me, I think he'll play the next level. 29:27 If you ask me that last year, I'm like, eh, you know, American League, you know, probably. 29:34 But I think, I think he's really improved enough or, you know, if he continues on and, you know, is consistent, Gophers are lucky to have him back. 29:46 Tim Hapke says, which one player in this team has the brightest NHL future? 29:51 Well, you probably all think Reedy does, but hey, Vegoe, what other player besides Reedy has a bright NHL future? 29:59 I'll take it this way. 30:01 If I were to look at the player with the most potential to be like a top six NHL player, you know, who has the skill to maybe get to that ceiling, it'd be Sample Ranta. 30:12 I mean, he does things on the ice that few players can do at that size and speed and skill and shooting. 30:20 As he starts to put the pieces together, he's got a high ceiling. 30:24 I don't think we've seen the total package with him yet. 30:30 I think of all the players, he's got the most potential. 30:33 Okay, I'm gonna give you three. 30:35 I'm gonna give you three. 30:36 Okay. 30:37 And they all will not be with the Gophers against Michigan. 30:41 Oh. 30:42 Okay. 30:45 I think Johnson, I think Lacombe, and I think Faber. 30:50 Well, I hope they're back next year, put it that way. 30:55 But you know, the sleeper guy I'm gonna throw in there is Ben Myers. 31:01 I think a lot of NHL teams love him now. 31:05 I think a lot of them want to sign him at the end of last year, just so he doesn't show more than what he is right now. 31:19 He wins draws, he plays both ends of the ice, he can score a little bit, and he's a sleeper. 31:27 But I love the 3D. 31:30 I think Benny Meyers has got just almost surefire bottom of the lineup NHL skill. 31:38 He will compete and he will not let you down any night. 31:41 I don't know if he's got the brightest future, but he might have the most solid future. 31:46 Like what you see with him is what you're going to get. 31:49 Fair enough, yeah. 31:51 You know, you trust him. 31:53 You know, you trust him. 31:55 And I tell you what, on the NHL, you know, if you're a third or fourth-liner, you know, you can be, you're right, he probably won't be a top six guy, but he could play for a long time. 32:10 All right. 32:10 We got a Ted Schmakey asking, Pat, any hard feelings against Chris Cellios? 32:17 Yeah, I do. 32:21 No, I tell you what, what a player, what a pro. 32:26 Yes. 32:27 And if you don't know the story, I'll tell you. 32:31 Let's hear it. 32:32 My freshman year, right? 32:34 Somehow I got on the power play, and our defenseman shot it from the point, from the right side. 32:43 I was on the left side, right? 32:44 On the pipe. 32:46 And our D missed the net, and it came carrying out to me right in front. 32:52 And I just tapped it in, right? 32:54 On the road in Dane County before, you know, 8600 people, and I showboat might be a nice way to, you know, right in front of Chelyos. 33:08 He was not happy. 33:10 And later on in the game, we had the puck in the Badger's zone, and they cleared it out, and everyone is skating towards the Gopher net. 33:22 And the rest were all looking one way. 33:26 Every player was looking one way. 33:28 Chelyos was behind me. 33:29 He tomahawk me right in the back of the leg. 33:33 And I, it's like I got shot. 33:36 And I fell, I couldn't get off the ice. 33:38 I couldn't, I, my leg, my foot was dead. 33:42 And, you know, they obviously had to help me off the ice and whatever. 33:46 And I was in, I was out for three months, my, or two and a half months of my freshman year with drop foot. 33:54 You know, just the, he damaged the nerve, didn't sever it. 33:59 He just, it was so swollen that, yeah, and that was, that was not fun. 34:07 But, you know, Shelley and I got to be good friends over the years. 34:11 You know, I did different camps and so forth. 34:14 But, you know, he was, you know, he was, you know, all star, great player. 34:19 He was a Wisconsin hack. 34:21 Come on, just say it. 34:24 Always fun to beat the Badgers. 34:27 I would agree with that, you know, that it's something about them in North Dakota that, boy, it's always fun. 34:35 Sometimes one team is way better than the other, but it seems like it's always close. 34:40 I've got many clips of both Frank and Wally, you know, calling, you know, North Dakota games and whatnot. 34:48 And, you know, Wally saying, what a bunch of cheap hoes heads and things like that. 34:56 It's what, it's the only thing that I, you know, I really haven't liked about this Big Ten thing is that we've lost North Dakota, where the game meant more. 35:07 I mean, yes, we played them non-conference, but it's not the same as playing them for points and things like that. 35:15 Yeah, and back in the day, and back in the day, there weren't a ton of Minnesota kids that went there. 35:22 I mean, the majority of there, especially when I was there at the U. 35:27 And, you know, there's an awful lot of bad blood, awful lot. 35:34 And we had some awfully rough games with them. 35:38 And, you know, and they were really good. 35:41 They were really good my freshman year. 35:44 And then the WCHA turned a little bit in terms of who were the top teams. 35:51 You know, all of a sudden, Duluth got really good. 35:54 And, you know, for three years, our biggest rivalries were really Wisconsin and UMD. 36:02 And, you know, and North Dakota was, you know, just in third in that category. 36:10 And to be honest, Pat, I really think it took off more with North Dakota during the 90s and 2000s. 36:17 Oh, without a doubt. 36:17 When Minnesota was on television. 36:19 I mean, you know, everyone said they kind of had their own network going for a long time, where they were the team in town and people saw these games. 36:29 It wasn't just going to the games, you know, they saw them on TV. 36:32 They saw everything. 36:33 And I think that's what just brought that rivalry up even more, more than Wisconsin at the time. 36:40 Well, yeah, and they were better. 36:42 They were better than Wisconsin probably at that time. 36:45 And, you know, when, you know, and I don't know how, because I'm not around during the week as much. 36:52 You know, back then, you know, we had The Star Tribune, the Pioneer Press, The Daily, the, you know, every paper going. 37:03 And, you know, there were articles during the week and there was radio and you know, the bad blood was building up all during the week until you got to Friday, you know, and then you get to Friday night. 37:18 And, you know, so, you know, there's a lot of build up, a lot of build up going into the series like that. 37:26 But, you know, you start looking now, V, if you look on the flip side, we need a healthy Wisconsin team. 37:32 They've been down for quite a bit. 37:34 We need Wisconsin to be back up there and to have that bad blood going again, don't we? 37:41 Yeah, you certainly need other rivals in your conference to be successful nationally. 37:46 And you've seen Wisconsin have all these high draft picks come into their program, and we haven't necessarily seen a ton of results from that yet. 37:56 Nothing. 37:56 He's trying to find the right formula for how to make them successful. 37:59 He's gone really young and really talented, and that's fun to see, but it hasn't led to a lot of success on the ice. 38:06 Michigan, on the other hand, I think they're on this trajectory of going up. 38:10 You look at the talent they have that we won't see playing against the Gophers, but they're a program on the rise, and you're going to see that rivalry really start to escalate, I think. 38:21 Well, you know, listen, Tony Granato was a fierce rival of mine during our playing days, and Tony's a good coach. 38:33 I'm going to take nothing away from him. 38:35 I don't like his philosophy, and I'll tell him that to his face. 38:42 Because, listen, the guys that play at this level, the higher end guys, right, are going to make it to the next level. 38:52 They are. 38:54 But when you go to a school, you're playing for that school. 38:59 You're not playing for the Minnesota Wild, or the Montreal Canadiens, or whoever. 39:06 And what Tony likes to do is, you know, and maybe he's changed a little bit in that perspective, but he'll tell the guys, you know, I'm here to get you ready for the NHL. 39:20 And what he should be saying is, you guys are here to win a national championship, and focus on that. 39:27 Don't be worried about your contract at the end of the year. 39:32 And I think that's a problem that they've had. 39:36 And, you know, unless that changes, I don't think their chemistry, their culture will change into a team that says, hey, we're committed. 39:48 We're committed to winning, you know. 39:51 Pat, I wanted to throw one thing at you here. 39:54 Obviously, we have a lot of fans still angry about the Big Ten and what happened to the WCHA. 40:02 On this show, we've kind of said, you know, it's done. 40:04 You either are a fan of the Gophers or, you know, whatever, support the team. 40:09 But one thing I do think that really did hurt the Big Ten was when it opened up, you know, you had a young, you had a freshman team in Penn State, you had a Wisconsin way down, you had a Michigan way down. 40:23 I think that really hurt the league at first because, you know, if you come into a new league and you've got a strong Michigan, you got a strong Wisconsin, you got a strong Minnesota, I think the excitement level would have been much higher, but they just kind of came in on a little bit of a whimper. 40:40 Well, you know, I look at it like this. 40:44 You know, I think people, you know, I never thought the league is bad. 40:50 I never thought, you know, I never, you know, I think the hockey's been good. 40:56 But I think the perception and the thought just like, you know, we're mad, we're just mad. 41:02 And then the NCHC gets formed. 41:04 And they say, you know, they hype it and hype it and hype it. 41:07 You know, you talk to anybody, oh, it's the best league in the world. 41:10 Well, you know, I don't think it's the best league in the world. 41:12 I, you know, best league in college hockey. 41:14 It's a good league. 41:16 The top four teams in the league are really good. 41:18 The bottom four teams in that league would have a hard time in the Big Ten. 41:24 There's no doubt in my mind. 41:26 You know, I've seen every team. 41:27 I, you know, I know the depth of the depth that some of these teams have. 41:33 It's a good league. 41:34 It's a competitive and they, but they hype it. 41:36 They hype it so much where, you know, no matter if you've seen the league or not, everyone thinks it's the best. 41:47 So I think the Big Ten will get the respect as we move forward a little bit. 41:55 The teams are really good. 41:57 You know, Ohio State's got a, you know, they're young, but they got a good team. 42:01 Michigan's good. 42:02 I mean, you got, and you got parity in the league, which I think is good. 42:07 But I will tell you this, and I am upset. 42:10 Okay? 42:13 I think the powers that be need to be smarter in hockey. 42:17 I, you know, we're going to have six division one teams in the state next year. 42:24 There's no reason in my mind why they shouldn't be playing each other. 42:31 If you want growth, if you want stadiums filled, if you want youth hockey players to aspire to stay in the state and play for one of these teams, you know, I just, it bothers me because we're smarter than that. 42:52 We're not college football. 42:54 We're not college basketball. 42:57 We're college hockey. 42:58 And I just think we need to be smart about it. 43:05 There's my two cents. 43:06 I got it off my chest. 43:10 Well, V, I mean, he's definitely got a point. 43:14 You know what? 43:14 We need to be playing St. 43:15 Thomas right off the bat, don't you think? 43:18 Darn right. 43:20 I mean, it's so simple. 43:23 Caveman would do it, right? 43:24 I mean, yes. 43:25 You want to grow a regional game, you grow your regional teams. 43:29 You know, Hockey East, those schools are right next to each other. 43:33 It's all built in. 43:35 They stick together. 43:36 ECAC, like schools, they all stick together. 43:39 But everybody else, it's just uncomfortable. 43:42 And it hasn't been good for growing the game. 43:45 As much as... 43:47 Here's my point too. 43:49 You know, you got the Big Ten Network. 43:51 Yeah, well, I get the Big Ten Network. 43:53 Then you know what? 43:55 You sit down with the Big Ten Network and say, you know what? 43:58 Some of the games aren't very exciting or they're not, but you're going to get to see Minnesota and St. 44:07 Thomas. 44:08 Minnesota, UMD, whoever it is, right? 44:11 You can still have hockey. 44:14 You can have a Big Ten team. 44:16 And it just so happens the other team might not be a Big Ten team. 44:21 Who cares? 44:22 Work it out. 44:24 You know, I just think, can you imagine the rivalry between St. 44:30 Thomas and Minnesota? 44:32 St. 44:33 Thomas, Mankato. 44:36 St. 44:36 Thomas, St. 44:36 Cloud, UMD, St. 44:39 Thomas. 44:41 Every building would be packed every weekend, right? 44:46 Every weekend. 44:46 Yeah. 44:49 You know, you've got plenty of TV opportunities here to cover the games. 44:57 I just think it'd be great. 44:58 But you know what? 45:00 I'm just me. 45:03 Josh Fenton's done a good job with his league. 45:05 You know, the top teams in their league, they've done a good job. 45:09 Yeah. 45:09 Hey, I'm not knocking it. 45:11 I'm not knocking Josh Fenton. 45:13 You know, I'm not knocking, you know, but, but you know what? 45:19 The powers that beat the NCAA should figure it out, in my opinion. 45:28 And, you know, and here's the deal. 45:32 I talked to, you know, all these coaches, right? 45:35 All the state school coaches, all that, you know, do you think Miami of Ohio really, and Western Michigan really want to be in the NCHC and have to fly to Duluth and, and St. 45:47 Cloud and blah, blah, blah, you know? 45:49 No, they don't. 45:50 They want to be in the CCHA like it used to be and bus and have the rivalries and get, and guess what? 45:59 Those teams, guys, you know, when North Dakota goes to Miami of Ohio, the Miami of Ohio fans, they're like, whatever, you know? 46:11 But when Western goes there or Bowling Green goes there, you know, that's a rivalry. 46:20 And, you know, I just, it's my feelings. 46:26 And that's why we have you on the show. 46:28 Yeah. 46:30 For good or bad, I don't know. 46:32 And it's, yes, it's unfortunate because, you know, I could see a league, you know, with all the Minnesota schools, North Dakota, Wisconsin, that would be quite the league. 46:43 I mean, that's an 18 team league right there. 46:47 It would be unbelievable. 46:50 But we're going to be stuck with the Big Ten. 46:55 And good or bad, you know, we'll see how long, maybe it doesn't last. 46:59 Maybe someday down the road, the NCAA says, hey, we need to think about this in a different way. 47:05 We'll have to wait and see. 47:07 But, you know, speaking of Big Ten, do you think the ASU is a little test this year with them playing all these non-conference games? 47:16 Do you think there would be a good ad to the Big Ten if they can't get a school like Northwestern or Illinois added? 47:27 ASU would be a good fit for the Big Ten network. 47:32 Okay. 47:32 I'll leave it at that. 47:35 Veegs, I think they'd be good for... 47:37 That's what I think... 47:38 . 47:38 for those of us who used to travel. 47:40 I think, you know, that's the footprint. 47:46 That's the footprint right there, you know. 47:48 And you've got teams in the west. 47:50 You've got Denver. 47:51 You've got Colorado College. 47:53 You've got Air Force. 47:54 You've got Arizona State. 47:57 You got Huntsville not that far away, who, by the way, is, you know, going to need a league next year. 48:05 You know, I just think that we could do things a little bit smarter and do it right. 48:14 But to answer your question, yeah, I think ASU will be part of the Big Ten next year. 48:20 Yeah. 48:22 I think a deal is probably already in place. 48:25 Their building is going to be done. 48:29 And, you know, and like I said, they fit the market. 48:32 And, you know, Buddy Powers has built a pretty good program. 48:40 So why not? 48:42 Veegs, let's take the podcast road. 48:44 Let's head to Arizona. 48:46 Yeah, I would like to go to Arizona once they get their new rink built. 48:50 Maybe they can put it around the waste management open. 48:52 Maybe we can get some golfing rounds at TPC Scottsdale on the docket. 48:59 We do a podcast from there. 49:00 I'd like that. 49:01 I'll join you. 49:03 That will be my next podcast. 49:04 Yeah, that sounds good. 49:06 I think it might just be a temporary fit. 49:10 I don't know. 49:11 Who knows what's going to happen with college athletics after this pandemic? 49:15 How schools meet their budgets and figure things out. 49:19 Hockey is a very regional sport. 49:21 It's difficult to pour money into it if it doesn't work. 49:26 I hope ASU is successful with their new building that they got approved last month and we'll see. 49:33 Well, let's talk about the upcoming games, guys. 49:36 Minnesota is doing their Michigan trip this week. 49:41 Obviously, these games are bunched together, but heading into Monterey and playing a little Michigan State here, Veegs finally play on a normal rink, standard rink, things are changing there. 49:53 I think they've been playing in the past season is pretty good on these size rinks, but still it's Michigan State. 50:01 We have, we kind of up and down with them. 50:04 I mean, over, I would say the last 25 years, it's been really just very steady up and down with Michigan State. 50:12 Yeah. 50:12 With them, they've had that KHL line, well, it seems like for a while, and that was something that Minnesota knew it was coming and still couldn't stop. 50:21 I think part of that was the defensemen that Minnesota had weren't as capable hockey IQ to see them come on the ice, play smarter, keep them from getting dangerous scoring chances, and it just would bite them every time. 50:39 I think this team has played well the last couple of years on NHL sized rinks. 50:45 This will be their first opportunity this year, but it's a roster that's built for a smaller rink game. 50:50 They've got size, they've got great transition. 50:54 It should translate to Monorena. 50:56 I think the one thing about this matchup is, they're not playing an inexperienced team. 51:00 Michigan State has a lot of depth down the middle. 51:04 It's going to be a tough matchup for them, and it's not a game that they can sleep through because Minnesota's been really good so far, not making critical mistakes at the blue lines, not making critical mistakes on the breakout. 51:17 It's going to be dialed up a little bit this weekend. 51:22 That's the key, isn't it, Pat? 51:23 I mean, we've had defensemen that just really haven't been able to move the puck and get out of trouble, and now they do. 51:29 I think that really helps on a weekend like this. 51:32 Well, I tell you, again, and I haven't even mentioned Kester yet, who's been really, really good also. 51:41 But when you're playing Minnesota, and Dan and Cole is a good coach, but when you're playing Minnesota, you better be disciplined defensively. 51:53 Because what Minnesota, Veegs, both you guys watched, Minnesota's defensemen are not afraid to jump up in the play. 52:03 They're not afraid to take it down low. 52:07 I think they've been disciplined with their forwards covering for the deep. 52:12 But I tell you what, when Faber or Lacombe, mostly Lacombe and Johnson, when they beat that first guy, they beat the first defender in the offensive zone, then you can get scrambled eggs defensively. 52:30 If you start running around, that's where Minnesota can hurt you. 52:34 And so again, I think the key will be Minnesota's defense and how they get the puck out, how they handle the puck, and if they do, I think they'll be in good shape. 52:49 Veegs, what does Michigan State need to do? 52:53 Well, I think they need to play a boring game. 52:55 I think they're going to need to slow the game down. 52:58 I think they're going to need to clog the neutral zone. 53:00 I think this is a team that just can't take too many chances. 53:05 They're going to need to rely on maybe a face-off play to create some traffic and a quick goal that way. 53:10 They've been really good in the draw, too. 53:13 And it's a team that maybe if they can get their power play going, maybe that's a special team's battle that they can win. 53:21 Minnesota's power play has had a couple flashes where you're going, OK, I see what's there and the potential to have guys be creative, stress the killers by changing positions, and move the puck quickly. 53:37 I think we saw Scott Reedy have a wide open chance because the penalty kill got so confused working against the Gophers that they lost their shape. 53:45 But Michigan State's very structured. 53:47 I think that's a game that they would want to play. 53:52 Yeah, and I'm glad you brought up the neutral zone. 53:56 And that's where Minnesota, I think, has the ability. 54:00 Well, I'll put it this way. 54:03 They're so much better on the back end this year that they don't have to get it and just dump it. 54:09 You know, or get over their own blue line and get rid of the puck right away. 54:15 They have guys who can skate the puck. 54:16 And you know, you can break up that neutral zone when you got four guys coming at you. 54:23 Right? 54:24 And then all of a sudden, I mean, you notice, you know, I point out to Frank during the game, I'm like, look at Ohio State's D. 54:32 You know, one of, you know, I don't care who's carrying the puck, either a forward or a D, but they're coming at you with speed. 54:40 You know, you can't stand up. 54:41 You got to back up a little bit. 54:43 And that's where Minnesota created more room for each other, you know, for themselves. 54:48 And, you know, I think that could be another big key going into the weekend. 54:53 But, Pat, one thing I will also say is that I have seen that, you know, when they don't have the option and they do dump the puck in, that the four checkers are doing a much better job this season getting on that defenseman and causing havoc. 55:07 Yeah. 55:07 This is something they have really improved on this season. 55:12 Well, how many times last year, guys, did we see them dump the puck in, right? 55:16 They dump it in a corner and there would be no one going there. 55:22 You're like, okay, why did you throw it there? 55:25 Did you just dump it to dump it or was there a purpose? 55:30 You give the opposing team the time to get back, take a look, make a pass, and boom, they'd be out of the zone. 55:39 You're like, well, another missed opportunity to get a four check going. 55:46 That's a great point you bring up because it's been much better this year. 55:53 Veegs, your thoughts? 55:55 We have talked about this before, but I just love the four check game Minnesota is putting on this year. 56:01 Yeah. 56:01 I think we've seen a couple of games where the first couple of shifts, the puck placement on dumps hasn't been perfect. 56:10 They do throw it into a spot where there's no four checker. 56:13 And it almost seems like they figure it out on the bench or the guys just get in the flow of the game and then they get on it. 56:20 And teams look slow when they don't anticipate the play. 56:23 Right. 56:24 You can anticipate where the puck is going to be and you're all on the same page. 56:28 You look faster. 56:29 And I think that's what's happening with this year's team is they look faster because they're anticipating, they know where to put the puck and where to go. 56:38 And the thing with the defenseman, we always talk about that good first pass. 56:41 Yes. 56:42 Well, right now, they made the first pass and they follow it to join the rush. 56:46 And when you can transition quickly like that, and like Pat was saying, if you can get four on three attacking the blue line, you're going to be way more successful because one of your players out of those four can go get the puck if you have to dump it. 56:59 Or if a defender loses his footing, loses his gap, you've got two on one opportunities to attack the blue line. 57:06 And that's what we're seeing. 57:07 And how many times this year, guys, have we seen, and now it's early, it's only four games. 57:13 And I really try to keep an eye on it, was, you know, are we getting outmanned? 57:20 You know, is it two to their, two to our one? 57:23 Is it three to our two? 57:25 And that hasn't happened a lot, you know? 57:29 And if you have bodies, more often than not, you know, you give yourself a chance to come up with the puck. 57:39 And I think Minnesota has done a really good job in that area also. 57:44 And to that same point though, Pat, the times I have seen like a defenseman outmanned, he's taken that extra half second, thought about what he's going to do and makes a smart play. 57:56 Yeah. 57:57 Before, you'd see him throw it up the glass or it'd be a turnover or something like that. 58:01 It seems like, you know, when we do put ourselves in a bad situation, they're making the right decisions. 58:06 Now, we just need to see them continue that and, you know, we have tougher teams. 58:11 But, you know, all around, it just seems like everyone's just doing smarter things, you know, better back in the D, making the pass out of the zone, up the zone. 58:17 Like Vig said, not making a great pass, following the play up. 58:21 You know, the forecheck is everything is just that level. 58:24 But now we just need to keep doing that because, you know, we've seen flashes of this in the past couple of years, Veegs. 58:29 We just needed to continue and keep growing and keep getting better. 58:33 Well, I think the difference is we saw it against two quality coach Big Ten teams. 58:37 Yes. 58:38 It wasn't against like a Niagara. 58:41 No offense to Niagara. 58:42 They're a tough program at times, but it's not the same. 58:46 You know, this is a team where when you're facing well coached Penn State and Ohio State teams and you show this, that's the next level. 58:54 And I think Penn State and Ohio State were teams that outmanned Minnesota the past couple of years. 59:00 You know, you'd go into a fight with three players against five. 59:04 It wasn't a fair fight. 59:05 You can't win that way. 59:07 I definitely see what Pat's seen on the ice as well. 59:11 All right, let's get your predictions, guys. 59:13 Veegs, Michigan State on the road. 59:19 I think we're going to see one of these games go into OT. 59:22 OK, I think they're going to try to slow it down. 59:25 We've seen Minnesota struggle a little bit with scoring goals. 59:29 It isn't coming as easily as maybe their possession has been, what you would expect. 59:35 So I think we're going to see a tight 1-1 type game going to OT, and then who knows? 59:40 I wouldn't want to downplay the impact Losing McManus for this series will have, because he's a guy who can create points. 59:49 And I think maybe we're still a tentative there. 59:53 So I think Michigan steals an OT game maybe gets the extra point. 59:57 So you're thinking... 59:57 You're so negative. 59:59 You're so negative. 1:00:01 I'm never talking to you again. 1:00:02 Pragmatic, Pat. 1:00:03 Pragmatic. 1:00:04 And by the way, I can sweep every weekend on the road. 1:00:07 Here's what I'm telling you. 1:00:09 All right? 1:00:10 They will sweep Michigan State. 1:00:13 Boom. 1:00:13 And I'm not even going to give you a prediction on the Michigan series, because it's not a fair series. 1:00:23 We're going to be seeing two different teams than what we would normally see. 1:00:29 Michigan has got five guys that won't be playing, and Minnesota won't have their top 3D. 1:00:36 And you never know with COVID, too. 1:00:38 You could have another couple extra players out here and there. 1:00:40 You really could. 1:00:41 So I'm not even going to handicap that one. 1:00:44 But mark it down, Vegoe. 1:00:45 You got it? 1:00:49 I'd like to recall from last week when we had Cappy on the podcast that you two did predict kind of a split. 1:00:57 I did predict a sweep, and they did sweep. 1:00:59 So this week, I'm going to do it again. 1:01:01 Sweep. 1:01:03 Yeah. 1:01:03 I'm just going to... 1:01:05 I'm with Pat on this one. 1:01:06 I'm not always Mr. 1:01:07 Positivity. 1:01:08 Don't listen to him. 1:01:09 Don't listen to him. 1:01:12 I'm disappointed. 1:01:13 What do they say? 1:01:14 The hardest thing to do in college hockey is sweep. 1:01:17 What's the even harder thing to do? 1:01:19 Sweep on the road. 1:01:20 Hard sweep on the road. 1:01:22 And not this season, though. 1:01:24 But there's nothing better than sweeping on the road. 1:01:27 So they get the first one. 1:01:31 Yeah, that Michigan series, I have no idea what to think. 1:01:34 Michigan's probably losing their entire power play unit to the World Juniors. 1:01:38 Yeah, right. 1:01:39 And we're gonna see an interesting defensive group out there. 1:01:44 Robbie Stucker hasn't played yet. 1:01:45 He'll be back and available for the lineup. 1:01:48 Maybe we'll see Carl Fish, Rossini, Denman. 1:01:52 Guys who haven't really had an opportunity, they're gonna get an opportunity against a skilled team. 1:01:57 And we'll see what happens. 1:01:59 And I think that's good. 1:02:01 Because in the crazy year that we have, you're gonna need depth. 1:02:05 You're gonna throw guys out there in tough situations. 1:02:11 It only helps your team down the road because you don't win the national championship now. 1:02:16 But I do think Stadeker and Castor probably play about 30 minutes. 1:02:22 They're young. 1:02:24 They're young. 1:02:24 They're fine. 1:02:26 So roll 6D against Michigan State if you can. 1:02:30 Right. 1:02:31 They're fine. 1:02:32 Well, Pat, I can't thank you enough for coming on the podcast. 1:02:34 It's been great to have you on. 1:02:35 Well, thanks for having me. 1:02:36 God, I was wondering when I was going to get the call, but whatever. 1:02:41 I get it. 1:02:42 We needed the video too. 1:02:44 We incorporated the video this year and I think it's just better when we see you as well. 1:02:48 We can see all your animation. 1:02:51 Any time you need me, call me. 1:02:53 I'm good to go. 1:02:54 So thank you for having me. 1:02:56 Well, that's great that you're on. 1:02:57 For those of you watching live, we're going to have some overtime up next. 1:03:00 So this isn't over. 1:03:01 But for those of you listening live, we'll be back on Sunday with the next podcast. 1:03:08 We'll recap this weekend and we're going to have Wally Schaver. 1:03:13 It won't be as fun. 1:03:14 No, I think Wally's going to bring a lot today. 1:03:16 We just got to hope that Wally doesn't swear too much. 1:03:18 He might bring it on. 1:03:21 Don't forget to ask him. 1:03:23 Oh, the parking. 1:03:24 Definitely. 1:03:25 About his parking lot debacle. 1:03:26 All right? 1:03:28 So for those of you listening live, we're coming right back here with a bit of overtime. 1:03:32 For the rest of you, we'll hear you back on Sunday. 1:03:35 You'll hear us. 1:03:37 That's it. 1:03:38 That's it for us.