0:03 This is The Gopher Puck Live Podcast, episode number 18, recorded Tuesday, February 28th, 2012. 0:20 Welcome to this week's GPL Podcast. 0:22 I am your host, Jupiter, and of course I'm joined by Hammeh and Cardinal. 0:26 I hope all is well with you two tonight. 0:29 Doing well. 0:30 Absolutely. 0:31 That's great. 0:32 Well, it was a big weekend sweep for the boys in Maroon and Gold this past weekend in Omaha. 0:38 Games weren't easy, but that's kind of to be expected this time of year. 0:42 You're always gonna have teams that are desperate, are gonna play desperate, but huge weekend, wasn't it Cardinal? 0:49 It was. 0:52 The thought was going in the last few weeks here, at least for me, if they could have went four and two over the last six games, they'd be in a pretty good position to win the McNaughton. 0:59 They're obviously off to a really good start considering they've gotten four and oh so far. 1:04 I thought maybe the Omaha games might be a little bit higher scoring just because I thought the Gophers might be able to put up a few more. 1:10 Omaha is a pretty tough team at home. 1:12 I think I saw somewhere on Twitter, maybe from the official Twitter feed that the last time Omaha was swept at home was in like January of 2008. 1:20 So it's definitely been a while and it's not an easy place to do it. 1:23 Well, for regular season that is. 1:24 Regular season, okay. 1:25 Because of course, they were swept by Midget. 1:29 But that's not quite the feat. 1:31 Yeah, it's not an easy trip and Omaha, they're fighting for home ice and more importantly with the pairwise, they have a huge hill to climb even before being swept by the Gophers. 1:40 So yeah, it was a couple of huge road wins and especially after the most recent road trip to Denver obviously didn't go all the way the Gophers wanted it to. 1:48 So it was nice to show they can do it on the road and they'll be in the twin cities the rest of the way unless there's a trip to Florida in their future. 1:55 So it's all good for the Gophs. 1:58 Yeah, I mean, for me, when I look at the series, considering what was on the line, you know, trying to keep that two point lead for the WCHA and then trying to maintain their place in the pairwise rankings for NCAAs and the fact that UNO is, you know, fighting for home ice and they're trying to at least keep their, whatever slim potential hopes for the NCAAs alive, you know, to go on the road. 2:23 I mean, it's not easy to sweep on the road as it is, but then to have all that kind of riding on the series, you know, I really think that that was a, you know, it was big. 2:31 I was very happy with how the team performed, given all, when we've seen so many times in the past where, you know, you, the Gophers have an important series on the road and you're just like, God, I hope they can, you know, just do enough, do something. 2:45 And, you know, for me, I picked them as a split this last, I mean, split would have been fine with me. 2:49 I figured, well, as long as we're tied with UMD, you know, coming out of the weekend, I like our chances in the final weekend. 2:55 But, you know, to come out of it with a sweep, that's certainly a pleasant surprise. 3:00 I'm very happy with the guys. 3:02 Well, let's take a look at the weekend. 3:04 Friday night, three to two win. 3:07 Obviously, a little known scorer, Mr. 3:10 Jake Parenteau, was the hero. 3:12 What is going on with that? 3:13 He hasn't done anything all year long, and now he's Mr. 3:16 Hero. 3:17 Yeah, I mean, he hadn't scored, but he's a guy who's always been pretty solid in his own end, and like Lucio said, it's pretty obvious. 3:24 I mean, that's why he's on the team. 3:26 But he's kind of showed some signs, maybe not necessarily with shooting, but I can think of at least three or four where he's made some 100 foot passes, tape to tape, and he's a guy that I've kind of come to love. 3:36 He's kind of like the guys who are underdogs, and obviously he came in as not Mr. 3:41 Highly Recruited or NHL Drafted or anything like that, but I mean, he's been maybe their most consistent defenseman, and granted, he's on the five, six pairing, so he's not generally out there against the other team's big guns, which definitely helps how you perceive him, and he's not going out there against the crystal line for North Dakota or anything like that. 3:58 But he's been solid, and yeah, I mean, it's stereotypical or whatever cliche, but it is sweet to see a guy like that who's worked hard and become one of the team's top defensemen, in my opinion, get roared with a huge goal, and yeah, it was awesome. 4:14 Well, I think the thing that people need to remember with Parenteau is that he actually had a pretty good season his final year in junior hockey. 4:22 I mean, he had 47 points and 55 games in any NHL, and granted, it's not the USHL, and he was a 20-year-old player in that league and so on and so forth, but nonetheless, I mean, he's obviously got some offense to his game. 4:37 He just hasn't really shown it in college, and he's not really being asked to play that kind of a role in college either. 4:42 So as long as he's playing solid defense, I think that most Gopher fans will be happy, but certainly, you know, for a reward standpoint, it was really great to see him rewarded with such a key goal for the season. 4:53 So we had the big overtime win Friday night, three to two. 4:57 Saturday night, a little bit different. 4:59 Once they got up, I'm not sure how they got up, because it seems like they were outplayed pretty well at times, but they still came out with the win, which I think was a huge win that Saturday night. 5:13 Well, I mean, from my standpoint, I mean, you kind of have to figure after a tough overtime loss, the other home teams are going to come out with some energy, especially with the larger crowd that Saturday night had. 5:24 And you know, Blaze is going to have his team. 5:27 Generally, they're going to be pretty ready to play. 5:29 And of course, we talked about, you know, Cardinal mentioned how they hadn't been swept at least regular season wise in quite a while. 5:35 And so you kind of have to expect that they're going to come out strong. 5:37 And yeah, for me, the key was, you know, when we responded to that first goal early on with all scoring that goal. 5:44 And where did that come from, by the way? 5:46 Yeah. 5:49 Yeah, I mean, I mean, I mean, I was going to mention, I mean, this it was sort of in a nutshell, I think is so important for the Gophers in terms of their future is that we know we're going to get some scoring from the Bukestad line. 6:00 I mean, that's pretty much most games going to be a given. 6:03 But it's like this weekend, if you look at what the keys were, I mean, you're getting goals from an alt or a parento. 6:09 You got one from warning. 6:10 I mean, you know, when you start getting guys, defensemen or some of those second or third line guys chipping in goals, that's when the Gophers are really at their best. 6:18 And, you know, it's a nice sign to see, especially on the road. 6:21 And hopefully it's something that we can count on moving forward. 6:24 Cardinal. 6:25 Oh, I was just going to ask you, Cardinal, what about Bukestead getting banged up on Saturday night? 6:31 You concerned about that at all? 6:32 Yeah, I mean, I definitely was at the time just because, you know, he had, though, you know, they're pretty tight to the vest with injuries, but he hurt his shoulder or whatever it was. 6:40 And it was, you know, missin practice time right before the World Juniors. 6:43 And, you know, he went up there and played. 6:44 But anytime you see a guy, you know, the guy who hit him, that Turjan is huge. 6:47 And obviously to knock Bukestead off his skates, you're going to have to be a pretty big kid. 6:50 So with concussions and all that kind of stuff, you always get worried when you see a guy get hit. 6:54 And it doesn't, you know, it's not a knee or something where it's really obvious what it is. 6:58 But, you know, Luchiyan with PA Today pretty much, you know, made it sound like it wasn't going to be an issue. 7:03 And I guess after hearing that, I'd be shocked if he didn't play this weekend. 7:06 And so that's obviously huge news, because that's one of the biggest things the rest of the way is they need to stay healthy. 7:11 And obviously a guy like Bukestead, you won't be able to lose. 7:14 But, you know, the other thing, too, from Saturday night was, you know, Rao getting a couple of goals. 7:19 And, you know, like Hammey said, it's obviously good to have, you know, some of the other guys chipping in. 7:23 But at the same time, if that top line goes cold for a weekend, you know, this team, you know, just like any team where, you know, you have a really high end top line, whether it's North Dakota or Duluth or on down the list. 7:33 I mean, if that line doesn't show up in crunch time, it's going to be tough to win games and to get Rao rolling again. 7:38 And, you know, obviously Bukestead missed a little bit of time there in the third period. 7:41 But I thought Budish played well. 7:43 So some of those guys and, you know, the Halla and Hanson line, it seems like those guys are good for at least one pretty solid game each weekend here the last month or so. 7:50 And they've kind of got it ramped back up to closer to where it was at the start of the year versus kind of that, you know, December, January where, you know, the team swooned a little bit. 7:58 And I think not directly attributed to Halla and Hanson, but like we've talked about before, I mean, those two guys are key. 8:03 And if those guys are going, it makes a world of difference with this team. 8:06 So, yeah, it's secondary scoring, the power play was good, and Patterson was solid all weekend. 8:11 So, yeah, I guess there's not, I mean, like we talked about, anytime you get a sweep, you can kind of nitpick here and there if you really want to. 8:17 But honestly, I don't think there's a lot you can point to this past weekend. 8:20 I mean, maybe the second power play unit, which was abysmal thanks to a certain defenseman not being there and a certain guy in its place. 8:27 But other than that, I don't think there's too much you can really critique. 8:30 I was really happy with the way the defense kind of shut down Omaha in the third period Saturday night. 8:38 I mean, they were getting chances, but everything was to the outside. 8:41 They were blocking shots. 8:42 It was kind of this continuation of what we've been talking about this year, this team defense that they've been playing. 8:48 Well, yeah, and I thought Omaha would come out. 8:50 I mean, they're down three to one. 8:52 They're facing a home sweep. 8:53 I thought they would come out guns blazing. 8:55 And the Gophers were absolutely bottling them up, up until that shorthanded goal that Matt White scored. 9:01 And then after that, that kind of gave Omaha a life that they certainly did not have. 9:05 And I thought for sure they would, like I said. 9:07 So yeah, I mean, the Gophers came out and they played an awesome period up until that point. 9:11 And then they played back on their heels a little bit. 9:13 And Omaha had a little bit of juice. 9:14 And obviously, they almost tied it up a few times. 9:17 But yeah, like you said, I was impressed with the defensive effort as well. 9:21 Any final thoughts on the weekend, Hammeh? 9:25 Well, I have to admit, I kind of loved when Blaise yanked the goalie on Saturday, because it was just like... 9:31 I mean, you know, if there's ever... 9:33 I mean, you could predict that kind of thing, I suppose. 9:35 But to me, it was just like, I would never want to play for that guy. 9:39 I mean, you know, as far as if you're a goalie, at least, you know what I mean? 9:41 It's just like, you just don't know when you're going to get yanked. 9:44 And, you know, the first goal maybe was a little soft, but I didn't think Raoul's goal was all that particularly bad. 9:49 And he yanks the guy. 9:50 And I'm just like, man, that's just like how he was with North Dakota. 9:54 So, you know, and I saw Cardinal mentioned it on Twitter as well. 9:58 So, I mean, you know, from that standpoint, I thought that was pretty entertaining. 10:04 Duluth sweeps this weekend, Minnesota sweeps. 10:07 Minnesota still leads by two points. 10:12 Both teams have locked up the buys for the final five if they need to, but it's still really anybody's championship this weekend. 10:21 I mean, Wisconsin's playing a little bit better. 10:24 You never know. 10:25 It's a rivalry game. 10:28 Do you think Duluth has any chance of catching the Gophers? 10:34 Well, I mean, I figured we'd talk about that a little bit later. 10:37 Well, I just thought I'd talk about it. 10:38 Well, I mean, you know, for me, from what I believe, that St. 10:43 Cloud's played, they've been up and down a little bit, but they've played a little better, and they're kind of pesky at home, and certainly, I think they've been kind of a thorn in UMD's side at times over the years, and, you know, I think that they're still a part of most St. 10:57 Cloud fans, and certainly, probably their players and whatever think that, despite last year's national title, they probably, and some of them, still feel like they're on, you know, relatively equal ground to UMD, and I think that, you know, from their standpoint, it's going to be a big series, because I think that they'll want to, you know, kind of prove themselves, and, you know, they're not 100% out of the home ice race, and they're probably a long shot at this point, but I do think that they're going to be pretty pesky, and it will not surprise me if St. 11:27 Cloud takes, you know, a point or two out of that series, and so, I don't know. 11:33 I guess we'll see, you know, but it's going to be interesting. 11:35 Well, that whole middle of the pack is two points apart. 11:38 We got CC in Omaha at 27, Michigan Tech at 26, and St. 11:43 Cloud State right there at 25, and obviously St. 11:46 Cloud is playing Duluth. 11:48 I believe Tech is playing CC. 11:50 Omaha is playing Denver. 11:51 I mean, it's not going to be settled until Saturday night. 11:56 No, and real quick back to the whole Duluth-St. 11:58 Cloud thing. 11:59 Anecdotally, it feels like the Duluth has really struggled in St. 12:02 Cloud. 12:02 I'm just in college hockey stats kind of rifling back. 12:05 I believe the last time they won in St. 12:07 Cloud, now granted they don't play them every single year like we used to, but the teams used to play each other seemingly every year home and away. 12:13 But the last time they won there was in 2007, and that was the first game of that awesome three-game playoff series. 12:19 They went triple OT on Sunday night in St. 12:21 Cloud, and ended up winning that series. 12:23 Duluth went one and four against at St. 12:26 Cloud that year, and that was their only win since. 12:28 So it has been a place where Duluth has struggled now. 12:31 This Duluth team is a hell of a lot better than what they've typically offered the last five or six years, which that stretch kind of accounts for. 12:38 But yeah, St. 12:38 Cloud's got a lot on the line, and they're going to be motivated to get home ice, and they've got the goaltending, and I think they might be able to score with Duluth. 12:46 So I think it's going to be an entertaining brand of hockey for sure, and obviously from a Gopher standpoint, you're pulling for St. 12:52 Cloud, not only to upend Duluth to help the Gophers out if we should need the help, if we stumble against the Badgers, but also from a Paralyze standpoint, it's beneficial if St. 13:01 Cloud remains a team under consideration, and they're 26 right now, and they're two games under 500. 13:06 So St. 13:07 Cloud needs to do pretty well the rest of the way, and that would obviously help the Gophers out since the Gophers did very well against St. 13:12 Cloud this year. 13:13 Well, speaking of St. 13:14 Cloud, they went up to Michigan Tech last weekend and ended up splitting with the Huskies. 13:20 Obviously, that didn't really help much in the standings. 13:23 Everyone's still bottled up now. 13:26 Well, I mean, that's the thing. 13:27 I mean, that's why I was so happy with the Gophers' results, because of the fact that everybody is sort of just fighting it out. 13:35 I mean, very few series last weekend really didn't have some relatively strong meaning to the placings in the league. 13:42 I mean, I think maybe even only the Wisconsin and Bemidji series didn't really have a hell of a lot as far as the league goes. 13:51 But in terms of everything else, I was like... 13:54 I'm not surprised that Tech has been pesky at home and certainly St. 13:58 Cloud, they've played, I think, better. 14:00 And I guess we'll have to see how it goes this weekend. 14:04 But I think that it was a nice series for both teams in some respects. 14:09 Yeah, and I think, right now, obviously, the Gophers and Duluth are going to finish 1-2. 14:14 But I think right now, the top four teams, the North Dakota, Denver, Duluth and Minnesota, I think you could kind of put all the names in a hat and draw one out and you'd be pretty happy if you had to go to war with that team the rest of the way. 14:24 I think they're all playing pretty good hockey right now. 14:26 But I think you can kind of say the same for the next four teams too. 14:28 I mean, with CC, Omaha Tech and St. 14:31 Cloud, it feels like they always split against each other. 14:33 And obviously, CC is a team that was probably predicted to do the best out of that group, but their goal-tending has kind of failed them. 14:40 Same goes for Omaha. 14:41 We saw that last weekend. 14:42 It wasn't nearly as strong as it needs to be. 14:44 And Tech's been pesky all year and gives St. 14:47 Cloud a ton of credit. 14:48 I mean, they've hung in there with just a ton of injuries, and they're starting to get a little bit healthier. 14:52 But LeBlanc is obviously the key guy, and he's not going to be back this year. 14:55 But yeah, that whole middle of the pack, and that's going to be huge. 14:58 Those teams are going to end up playing each other for the most part, potentially in the first round as well. 15:03 So yeah, it's going to be a very interesting weekend to see how it all shakes out, come Saturday night. 15:08 Well, CC put up a fight Friday night, but Saturday night they were taken out. 15:13 But Bulldog still got the sweep. 15:17 Yeah, I mean, CC does seem like a team that, you know, they're dinged up, and I think that there's, I get the impression that they're wearing down a little bit. 15:27 And to be honest with you, when I look at who might finish in the top half, you don't have home ice, if I were at a bottom half team, you know, that might be the one team that really might be not too afraid of going to their rank. 15:40 And, you know, so I don't know if they'll end up in sixth and who will end up in seventh or what. 15:44 I don't know any of that, of course, but, you know, if I'm a St. 15:47 Cloud or whatever, you know, teams in that range, you know, I wouldn't be afraid of going to Colorado Springs. 15:53 I think that, you know, it wouldn't surprise me if it's, you know, some team upsets them out there in the first round, because they just don't seem like they're on top of their game. 16:04 Yeah, and give credit to Duluth. 16:06 I mean, they, you know, they're obviously have things pretty much iced away. 16:09 I mean, they're going to make the NCAA Tournament and they have the top two locked up. 16:11 But, I mean, they're going to give the Gophers a push here at the end. 16:14 And yeah, I mean, CC is a team that's fighting for everything. 16:16 And, you know, Duluth took care of them. 16:18 And, you know, the overtime win on Friday night. 16:20 And for Duluth to get JT Brown back, I know when that injury happened, it was, you know, as I was with college hockey, it seems like injuries are kept pretty close to the vest and nobody really knew how long it could be. 16:29 And it seemed like it could have been a hell of a lot worse. 16:31 So fortunately for Duluth, he's back in the mix and, you know, he's probably one of the four or five best forwards in the WCHA. 16:37 So to get him back for these final few weekends, obviously a pretty big boost to their team. 16:43 What I think might have been the shocker of the weekend, the Badgers won two games on the road at Bemidji. 16:50 Any of you guys see that coming after how bad they've played on the road and how well Bemidji's played at home this year? 16:57 Well, I mean, you know, I don't know maybe if Bemidji had a bit of a let down after the Gopher Series because that's probably for them mentally on some levels, some of their most important series of the year because, you know, I mean, it's the Gophers and for them that that kind of stuff is very meaningful, even if it's, you know, on the road for them. 17:17 But nonetheless, you kind of have to wonder if there maybe is a little bit of a let down. 17:21 But, you know, you have to give Wisconsin credit too. 17:24 They played well. 17:25 I saw a little bit of one of the games and, you know, it didn't really seem like, you know, Bemidji was really even in that particular game. 17:32 I thought Wisconsin played pretty well. 17:34 So I, you know, maybe you have to give them some credit. 17:37 They haven't been very good on the road this year, but, you know, certainly they were last weekend. 17:43 Yeah. 17:43 And it's weird with Bemidji. 17:44 I mean, when they were playing the Gophers a few weekends ago, it was, you know, kind of one of those things where, you know, they had just swept CC and kind of look out for them. 17:51 And, you know, the one caveat we kind of threw out there was, well, they've been really good at home, bad on the road. 17:55 So it wasn't a huge shock that the Gophers took care of them with relative ease. 17:59 But then, yeah, to see Wisconsin, like you said, Jupe, a team that has not done well at all on the road this year to go into a place like Bemidji. 18:06 But, you know, like I said, give Wisconsin a lot of credit. 18:09 I mean, that's a team where they get swept at home by St. 18:11 Cloud in really ugly fashion. 18:13 And that was coming on the heels of being swept in North Dakota. 18:16 And they could have easily packed it in. 18:17 But, you know, they played Denver pretty tough and got a split with them at home. 18:21 And then to go to Bemidji and sweep. 18:22 So, they're playing decent right now. 18:24 And hopefully, for the Gophers, it will be a good test this weekend. 18:27 You know, whoever the Gophers end up playing next weekend in the first round of the playoffs, that's not going to be, at least, I hope it's not going to be a, you know, big time playoff atmosphere, you know, that kind of thing. 18:36 So this will be kind of a good test to hopefully lead into the final five. 18:40 The Gophers are fortunate enough to make it there. 18:42 And yeah, to play a rival at home with a lot on the line, it should be interesting. 18:46 Finally, we have the Sioux splitting with Denver at Denver. 18:51 I saw quite a bit of the Friday night game on it, was it NBC Sports Network. 18:57 I thought the Sioux looked really good Friday night. 18:59 They were just playing really well, shutting down Denver pretty well. 19:03 Opposite was, happened on Saturday. 19:06 What's going on there, Hammeh? 19:09 You got me, I mean, ever since that Gopher series. 19:13 And granted, the Gophers kind of blew that Saturday game in Denver. 19:16 I mean, that was one they probably should have won. 19:19 But we took the bad penalty late, and then we lost an OT. 19:23 But Denver's been real up and down. 19:24 And boy, did they look crappy on Friday night. 19:27 I mean, I don't know. 19:29 I mean, there's a party of, it's one of those questions where you're like, well, was it the Sioux were so good, or was it that Denver was just that bad? 19:38 And it's kind of, I think, a little bit of a combination because Denver looked terrible that night. 19:43 And they didn't look anything like the team that the Gophers faced at least two weeks prior to that on that Friday night. 19:50 And so I was very surprised by that. 19:53 I'm not surprised by the result. 19:54 I mean, I picked a split in a series, but I was very surprised at how poorly Denver played. 20:00 I'm granted, they made it close very late, but nonetheless, they did not play well that night. 20:06 Yeah. 20:06 And on Saturday, I got to see a fair amount of that as well. 20:09 This with kudos, by the way, to FSN for picking that up and putting it on the alternate channel, the Roots Sports feed out of Denver. 20:15 Definitely not something that they had to do necessarily, but that was a nice move by them. 20:19 But yeah, I mean, in Denver, we saw it against the Gophers, where if you put Denver on the power play, I mean, they even without Zucker in the lineup against the Gophers, they can roll out a pretty impressive group. 20:28 And, you know, well, like you kid running the point and the Shore Brothers and then you add Zucker back in the mix. 20:34 Obviously, he's back in playing now and, you know, you give them seven power plays like the North Dakota, like North Dakota did on Saturday night, Denver catches him three times. 20:41 And that's obviously the difference in the game. 20:43 So yeah, I mean, North Dakota, again, they had another, I forget which one of the kids went out. 20:48 They played a little bit shorthanded on Saturday and they're pretty much down to no extra bodies at this point with all the injuries they've had. 20:54 But, you know, their top line is, you know, arguably the best in the league. 20:58 And, you know, their defense is running into shape and, like we said, every week, I mean, it's, you know, as a gopher fan, you hate to see it. 21:04 But they've been the best team in the league since that Minnesota series in early November. 21:08 And, you know, they got Minnesota State this weekend. 21:10 So they should probably have some momentum. 21:12 We have the end of the playoffs. 21:14 Definitely. 21:15 They're playing well as usual. 21:16 So people need to watch out for them. 21:20 Well, we've been getting a bunch of questions via Twitter. 21:22 So I figured I'll just kick them off here and read a couple of them off. 21:26 We've got our buddy Goon from up there in Goon's blog at North Dakota. 21:30 Question on the officiating. 21:33 No way. 21:34 Oh, I know. 21:37 Well, he had to expect that, I guess. 21:40 Question on the officiating. 21:41 Do you think it will only get worse as teams are leaving for the Big Ten and the National Conference? 21:49 Will the quality get worse than it is this season? 21:52 Well, I mean, I think for sure that the rest are going to start targeting North Dakota. 21:57 You know, pretty much the team that precipitated all this after the Big Ten, you know, in North Dakota and Denver kind of spearheaded the National. 22:03 And yeah, I mean, I think for sure that they're going to start targeting North Dakota specifically. 22:07 And I mean, North Dakota has gotten away with a lot the last, you know, X amount of years. 22:11 But I think they're going to start really cracking down on them and trying to screw them over even more. 22:16 I'm all on board for that. 22:18 No, you know, for me, I, you know, we saw this, just even this weekend, you know, that hit on Bukestead. 22:25 I mean, it was kind of a head shot, you know, to this, you know, to this back. 22:29 And the guy gets two minutes, you know? 22:31 I mean, I don't know what in God's name is a fricking major, what's not. 22:37 I don't have a clue. 22:38 I mean, to me, that was no worse or no better, you know, than what Rao did. 22:43 I mean, granted it was late and, you know, this one was more towards what the puck around, but nonetheless, it's still, I don't know what's a major anymore. 22:51 I just don't have a clue what's going on with the refs and what their reasoning is for a lot of the stuff. 22:56 And so, you know, I mean, they mentioned on the broadcast, you know, if Rao is going to take, you know, a major in the rest of the game, and then he gets suspended the next game after that, and then a hit like that gets just basically two minutes and nothing more, it's like, you know, where, I don't know. 23:13 I mean, so for me, I just get frustrated because of the lack of consistency. 23:16 I mean, and it, I don't know if it's been worse or not, but I just think the more you, you put that kind of judgment call stuff in the ref's hands, the more frustrating it gets. 23:26 So I guess we'll see. 23:28 One thing I think is just frustrating as well is it's not just the inconsistent calls. 23:33 It's the stupid players. 23:36 I mean, they keep doing these check from behind, these hits, hits to the head. 23:40 It seems like the players are not learning it either. 23:46 There were three guys kicked out Saturday night, wasn't there, in Denver? 23:50 Yeah. 23:51 I think that's right. 23:52 But again, those Denver, North Dakota, I mean, that's- 23:55 Yeah, that's true. 23:56 But I mean, nobody- 23:57 No, I agree with you. 23:58 But I'm just saying that A, that's a physical series. 24:01 But B, I just think there's so much more talk of it now, mainly because at the NHL level, there's so much more talk of concussions and suspensions and the whole deal with Crosby. 24:10 I think that has trickled down to the college game and you've seen it the last few years with the contact of the head penalties and more enforcement on it. 24:17 I just think there's so much more talk of it that it really magnifies it when it actually happens. 24:25 It's not going to get better or worse, I don't think. 24:27 It's just that, again, it's just a controversial topic at all levels of hockey. 24:32 When it happens at the WCHA, when the officiating is arguably worse at this level than anywhere else, I think all fans across the board can agree with that who watch NHL or other college ones or whatever, it's just not going to be good and it's something that as fans we're all going to have to put up with for a few more, another year and a half or a year and a quarter or whatever it is. 24:51 Then we'll see how things transpire once Big Ten and the National emerge and see what happens from there. 24:59 Well, to piggyback a little bit on that, some of it is player stupidity in some respects. 25:06 One that really comes to mind, I watched the replays of the game tonight. 25:10 You know, as much as I love how he plays sometimes, Rao, the penalty where Bukstad got tripped, and Rao looked directly at the referee, saw that he had his arm raised, so he knew they were getting a penalty, and at the minute that the UNO guy touched it, the whistle was going to be blown, and yet he still takes a shot at the UNO player in the corner. 25:32 Of course, it was offsetting penalties, but nonetheless, it's stuff like that. 25:36 It's like, guys, you know, that's the kind of crap that you have to just knock it off, especially in this time of the year when everything is so important. 25:44 That's the kind of crap you can't do. 25:45 And, you know, so I really hope that, you know, the coaches, you know, sit down with, like, you know, a Rao or whoever it is that, you know, makes plays like that. 25:53 And just as like, hey, look, you know, I understand that you want to set a tone and whatever, but that's the kind of crap you have to knock off. 26:01 And, I mean, I've been critical of other teams' players, but, you know, Rao kind of deserves it a little bit in that case. 26:07 And, you know, I just hope that those guys learn from that. 26:09 And it's only going to get worse. 26:11 You know, when they get to the NCAA Tournament and they're getting refs from other leagues, it seems to be a little bit stricter. 26:17 And the Gophers seem to take a lot of penalties in the past in the NCAA Tournament from lack of discipline. 26:24 Well, yeah, and that's the thing you always have to worry about as well, you know. 26:29 You don't know, I mean, they're not used to how other league referees, you know, are going to call it. 26:33 And sometimes, you know, other leagues are going to call it tighter. 26:36 I mean, we've seen that kind of stuff in the past, like you mentioned. 26:38 So, yeah, I mean, you really have to buckle down. 26:41 And, you know, of course, when you get to these kinds of important games, you don't want to be giving the other team man advantage and opportunities. 26:47 So, of course, playing smart is going to be a big part of it. 26:51 Got a question from BW4MN, AKA Brandon. 26:58 What do the Gophers need to do to get a number one seat in the NCAA Tournament? 27:03 Final Five and WCHA Champs? 27:05 I mean, do they need to get both of that to maybe squeak out a number one seat? 27:10 Yeah, I mean, I'm not... 27:11 I mean, I have a pretty good handle on the pair-wise, I think, but I mean, right now, they're in seventh, and there's only... 27:17 I mean, there's probably a handful of teams that they just flat out can't pass due to their bad non-conference records. 27:22 So, I mean, I guess you never know. 27:24 I mean, if some of the teams ahead of them, you know, completely crap the bed here the next few weeks, and, you know, if a Ferris State or Michigan, you know, the CCHA playoffs are a little bit more drawn out. 27:33 So, if those teams don't even make it to their, you know, the conference final deal, Jolos Arena or whatever, maybe they'd have an outside shot at sneaking into that fourth spot. 27:41 But I mean, it seems like Boston College and Duluth are going to be tough to pass. 27:44 I mean, if the Gophers can play Duluth and beat them head to head, I mean, that's probably the only way they're going to flip that comparison. 27:49 And so again, I'm not super learning on it, but it seems like the Gophers have to, you know, probably not lose until maybe the final five championship game to have a shot at it. 27:58 It feels like that could be kind of in the ballpark of what they need to do. 28:02 Yeah, I mean, I'm a complete idiot when it comes to that stuff. 28:05 So I have no idea. 28:07 I mean, I'm just being honest. 28:09 You know, I don't really pay a hell of a lot of attention to that stuff. 28:11 I'm just like, well, let's just win games and whatever happens, happens. 28:15 And, you know, I mentioned on GPL, there's a part of me that thinks that the seeding stuff can be a little overrated because, you know, you're going to be playing pretty good teams. 28:24 I mean, at least three of the four games, you know, to win the title, you're going to be playing some good teams. 28:29 And, you know, I think when you have a pretty deep squad, like the Gophers kind of have, you know, the whole line matchup stuff tends to be a little overrated. 28:37 I mean, so I just think it's, you know, let's just play some good hockey and have the, you know, going into the NCAAs on a high note. 28:46 And if it happens to be that we sneak in and get a one seed, that, you know, that's great. 28:50 But, you know, if we don't, so be it. 28:52 Yeah. 28:53 And just kind of looking, going through the grid here on USCHO, I mean, the Gophers, the comparison against Duluth, right now Duluth is winning at three to two. 29:00 I mean, the Gophers have two points due to the head to head, but Duluth wins all the other ones. 29:04 So, you know, obviously Gophers would have a shot there, especially if they play them again and beat them, like I said. 29:09 But, you know, Boston College, Michigan and Ferris State, the Gophers are 0 and 3 in those comparisons. 29:14 So that's three teams that, in all likelihood, it's impossible for them to jump. 29:18 So it seems like the highest they could probably get is number four. 29:21 And again, that probably have to, if Duluth didn't play well the next few weeks and the Gophers did and or the Gophers played Duluth head to head and beat them seems like would probably be the only way they'd be able to get one of those number one seeds. 29:32 And speaking of uscho.com and the pairwise, we're going to have the guy behind that whole site and the pairwise on with us next week. 29:41 Tim Bruhle created the pairwise years ago. 29:44 He runs all of the uscho.com and he'll be with us next week to give us a little insight of what's going to happen and what needs to happen for different teams to either get into the tournament or maybe like you said, try to get Minnesota up in the ranking. 30:01 So he'll be on with us next week. 30:02 So it'll be interesting to hear what he has to say. 30:07 Hammy, people have been tweeting. 30:09 Do you have any questions for us? 30:12 Yeah, man, I got plenty of them here. 30:14 Sorry, my Twitter just went haywire for a second. 30:18 I noticed you were retweeting some. 30:20 Yeah, well, one of them was asked by, what is it, JJ. 30:24 Kreitzer? 30:25 I don't know. 30:25 Anyways, who is the one player that you feel has underperformed all year, other than Hull, of course, because everybody knows that. 30:33 You love him. 30:34 He couched that because he knew that I was going to say that one. 30:37 So what do you guys think? 30:39 Underperformed? 30:43 You know, I don't know. 30:44 What do you think, Cardinal? 30:46 Yeah, that's a tough question. 30:48 I mean, everyone's played fairly steady this year. 30:50 I mean, we complain about Hull at times, but, you know, that's just been kind of the thing. 30:55 Yeah, I mean, when you're, you know, you're in first place in the league, I mean, there's only so much you complain about, can complain about. 31:01 I don't know if there's one guy that, you know, you can really point to and say, you know, oh, man, he's really let the team down. 31:07 I mean, you know, Seth Ambrose with eight points and, you know, he's taken a lot of penalties. 31:11 And I guess you kind of figured that might be a tough transition just because bigger guys tend to take a little bit of time. 31:17 And, you know, with so many other highly skilled guys, you know, he kind of got that chance for the first half playing on the third line. 31:23 But this kind of bounced around since then. 31:25 And I mean, again, he's a freshman. 31:27 His expectations aren't that high. 31:29 I mean, I think of all the guys coming back that, you know, I mean, I think Nick Larson played really well before the wrist injury. 31:34 And now, you know, again, I think he's going to give him a nice addition to the third or fourth line. 31:38 We'll see how that shakes out. 31:39 But if he's healthy, I mean, I think he's going to play the rest of the way. 31:41 And I mean, Serratore has been in and out a little bit the last few weeks, but again, what were the expectations? 31:47 So again, I guess, aside from the freshmen, I don't know if there's anyone you can really point to aside from the aforementioned number 12 that you can really be all that critical of. 31:57 But really, I mean, there's no one person to go to like on the message board or wherever that people have been picking on this year. 32:03 Did I like Chris Harrington or David Fisher? 32:05 Harrington, I mean, there's always been someone, seems like every year or every kind of two year cycle that somebody picks on. 32:13 And, I mean, even when they had successful teams that were picking on somebody, it's been quiet on that front this year. 32:19 And I guess just, you know, people were so used to losing the last couple of years, it's been better that they've been winning. 32:26 Well, I think part of it also is, I think the defensemen, usually when they make mistakes, it ends up in the back of the net. 32:32 So that's the ones that the fans tend to focus on the most. 32:36 And so even this year, I mean, you see comments once in a while about Marshall, or you see comments once in a while about Helgeson, or of course I've mentioned Hall a few times. 32:44 And so those are the ones you tend to see a little bit more as the defensive players. 32:51 I see a question here from Athletes No. 32:53 45. 32:54 I think, what would you say is the biggest reason for the Gophers turnaround this year? 33:02 And personally, I would say, obviously, players maturing. 33:07 But as we've talked about the entire season, it seems like Gensolo has really brought a new fire to the team and got them playing really good team defense. 33:16 Well, that's the thing for me. 33:17 I mean, you look at the stats, you know, they don't really lie. 33:20 I mean, you know, you're talking about a team that gives up just barely over two goals a game. 33:25 And, you know, that's a big part. 33:28 Of course, you know, we've increased our scoring a bit, you know, and the young guys have stepped in and, you know, guys like Rao and some of the sophomores have stepped up in their plays. 33:35 So that's certainly going to help matters. 33:37 But to me, the key is that, you know, the overall team defense and everybody buying into the team defense, you know. 33:43 I mean, it's not just the blue liners, but it's the guys up, you know, up front, you know, who are back checking and certainly making a strong effort in that regard. 33:51 So and of course, Patterson has played well throughout most of the season. 33:54 So you combine all that. 33:56 And, yeah, I definitely think it's just the mentality that maybe Gensel brought back to the team that was missing in the prior years. 34:02 Yeah, I mean, I think definitely, you know, the team defense. 34:04 But if you look, I mean, the last few years of the team's leading scorers, you know, let's see, where is it in here? 34:10 So last year, I mean, Cephas leads the team with 29 points and, you know, Hopeful had 13 goals, and that's what leads the team. 34:16 And then the year before that, Hopeful has 14 goals. 34:19 They only have two guys with double digit goals, nobody with more than 29 points. 34:23 So it's definitely a combination of things. 34:26 And, you know, they have a top line that's scary and legit. 34:29 And, you know, guys that are scoring, you know, Beeps has got 23 goals and a handful of guys with double digit numbers. 34:35 That's just something we haven't seen. 34:36 So it's kind of a chicken and the egg thing. 34:38 I mean, it's obviously easier to play defense when you know you have guys in front of you that are going to be able to score. 34:42 And, you know, so it goes both ways. 34:44 But, yeah, I mean, without a doubt, if you had to point to one thing, it's the fact that, you know, this team locks it down defensively. 34:49 And even though they don't have that all American type on the blue line, they certainly have an all American caliber goaltender. 34:55 And, you know, the kind of the sum of the whole is greater than the parts when it comes to the defense. 34:59 And, you know, I think you obviously have to point to coaching when that's the case. 35:03 On the lighter side, Human Touch is asking via Twitter, please list the ramifications for the Final Five and St. 35:11 Patty's Day coinciding in St. 35:14 Paul. 35:15 Well, I probably wouldn't be the best one to ask. 35:17 That'd be Cardinal and probably Fire Helmet Guy and Drunk Hockey Guy. 35:22 And those guys would probably be the best ones to answer such questions. 35:26 Yeah, I mean, it's going to be a shit show, right? 35:28 Because it's on a Saturday, which I think helps because in past years when it's... 35:33 Great, now I got to go back and edit the shit out too. 35:36 Well, now you got to do it twice, sorry. 35:38 I'm sorry. 35:39 Oh, damn it. 35:41 But I mean, honestly, like it's a legit thing. 35:43 We've talked about it because, you know, if it's on a Thursday or Friday, you have the people working and the game, you know, it's tough to get out of work and get down there super early. 35:51 So it's almost better that if it is going to coincide with one of the final five dates, it is on a Saturday because then most people, it's easier to get down there early for work and you don't have the working class folks down there, the usual Monday through Friday, nine to five slabs like myself that are taking up parking spaces and everything else. 36:07 So and it also hopefully, obviously, you want the Gophers to be there, but it is one of those things with Gopher fans who can't get tickets at Mariucci or whatever, and it brings out the worst in them, sometimes the St. 36:19 Patrick's Day and the boozing, and it's the only game they go to a year and they get the liquid courage. 36:24 I think that kind of gives some Gopher fans a bad rap down there, but there will definitely be more booze flowing, and it will be tougher to get into the bars and that whole deal. 36:31 So it will be a little bit crappy. 36:32 I mean, it's always better when that doesn't happen. 36:34 The two don't coincide since obviously each holiday, quote unquote, whether it's you look at the final five as a holiday like a lot of people do or St. 36:41 Patrick's Day, they definitely don't need each other to make it fun. 36:44 But yeah, hopefully, the Gophers are still standing, come St. 36:47 Patrick's Day and then no matter what, it'll be a good day. 36:50 Well, it'll be what, like beer darts? 36:52 And you guys will be out in the parking lot drinking and all that kind of good stuff, right? 36:56 Oh yeah, we'll have the tailgate fired up. 36:58 And yeah, I've been designated to create the playlist. 37:01 So there'll be a lot of the Top Gun soundtrack and there'll be some good stuff in there. 37:06 So yeah, if anyone- 37:07 Cardinals country clump, let me ask. 37:09 No, no, no, there'll be one or two country songs. 37:12 I get that that's not what the majority like and that country is not really tailgating music for hockey. 37:16 So no, it'll be a lot of like 90s rap and that kind of stuff. 37:20 It'll be good. 37:20 You'll like it. 37:22 Joe likes hockey, wants to know what's your favorite beer, guys? 37:26 Oh, God, I know. 37:29 I don't know that I have a favorite one. 37:30 Yeah, I mean, I had my favorite beer. 37:32 I had up with glasses of wine tonight, but I mean, I didn't I don't know. 37:35 I don't even know. 37:36 I don't have a good answer for that one. 37:39 Coors Light, year round. 37:41 Well, again, I'm not highbrow, but I will say that probably my favorite is Sam Adams Summer Ale, but that is a seasonal obviously by the name, so not that readily available. 37:51 So when year round Coors Light, but in the months of June, July, August, or whatever it is, it'll be Sam Adams. 37:58 I like some of the fall seasonals with like the pumpkin spice beers and whatever. 38:02 So I'll go with that. 38:05 Gin and tonic, gin and tonic. 38:07 Yeah, I got one from our friend Chuck Schwartz. 38:11 Mr. 38:11 Wisconsin fan. 38:13 Is there a line Lucia will match up with Zangerlees' unit, or will the Gophers simply roll through their lines? 38:21 I would assume it'll be the Cotman and Madsen pair. 38:23 I mean, you saw those guys and, you know, Saketti's been on the wing and he's been okay. 38:27 But I don't know, nothing against Nico, but I wouldn't mind if there was somebody else in that spot, whether it's Nick Larson or somebody else rolls in there here over the final few weeks. 38:37 But I mean, you know, Cotner and Madsen are, you know, obviously have the speed and the strength and, you know, they're the team's top penalty killers. 38:44 And you saw those guys matched up a lot against Omaha's top line last week. 38:47 So, you know, with the Gophers having the final change, I mean, it's, college is a little bit different. 38:52 You know, in the NHL, obviously you see it a lot more where teams match lines in college, it is rolling more. 38:57 So I don't know, I guess it's 50-50. 38:59 Lucia, sometimes he does it, sometimes he does. 39:02 So, but if you, if anyone did, I mean, it would be the, you know, put Condon and Matson out there to lock horns with those guys and kind of see what else, what else happens with the other lines. 39:11 Yep, I agree 100% with that. 39:13 If I was going to guess, if we were going to try to match up lines, I'm not saying we're going to, but if that was going to be the plan, I would definitely say that it would be the Matson-Condon line, because those guys are, you know, some of the best penalty killers on the team and some of the best, you know, Condon is a very good two-way forward, but you know, you know, Matson is very good defensively. 39:31 So that would be my guess as well. 39:33 So we take a look at this week, guys. 39:36 Okay, I guess I'm not going to miss out on some of these questions. 39:39 There's quite a few, both. 39:42 Well, I requested it, so I guess some of these people took the... 39:45 Well, let's catch a few more questions a little bit here. 39:48 Let's get into this week's stuff. 39:51 UNO at home with Denver, obviously these teams are... 39:56 Let me see here. 39:57 They are... 39:59 Yeah, they can't catch each other, obviously. 40:01 But Denver needs to get at least one win or at least one point to stay ahead of North Dakota. 40:08 So what do you guys think about this? 40:12 Well, I mean, we obviously have a pretty good feel for both teams since we played them recently. 40:16 And, you know, I honestly don't know entirely what to expect. 40:20 I mean, UNO has been just so inconsistent all year long. 40:23 And I mean, with the goalie stuff, it's... 40:26 you know, who knows who's going to be playing and if he's going to be playing well or not. 40:30 And, you know, I think Denver on paper certainly has more talent. 40:34 So I kind of expect it to at a minimum be a split. 40:39 And I think that Denver is more likely of the two teams to come out with more points. 40:43 And, you know, I thought the one thing when I watched UNO last weekend, you know, with the Gophers, they're very, of course, skilled up front, you know, but they seem, you know, they have big guys in the defensive unit, but they sort of seem to lack a little bit of mobility and, you know, some of the puck movement from the, you know, defensive group. 41:02 So I kind of wonder if maybe if Denver can get the four check going, you know, if they'll be rolling on UNO. 41:07 So it'll be interesting, but I guess right now I'd go with the split. 41:11 Yeah, I mean, Denver took three or four from him earlier this year, but that was when Omaha's goaltending was in complete turmoil, whereas now it's, you know, it's decent. 41:19 But, you know, we saw who knows the plays and what he's going to do. 41:22 I thought Massa played pretty well this weekend, but obviously he got the hook on Saturday night. 41:26 But, yeah, I mean, Omaha's got two wins in their last nine, and, you know, a lot of those were on the road, granted, and they're typically a better team at home. 41:34 So, yeah, I mean, I would assume that a split here, I think Denver's probably a little bit deeper up front. 41:38 The top lines kind of cancel each other out. 41:41 But I think Denver might have a little bit there. 41:42 And, again, to have a guy like Lolegia on the back end for Denver, I mean, that makes such a difference. 41:47 And you see him, you know, against the Gophers, but the same thing against North Dakota. 41:50 I mean, a kid like that, you know, controlling the power play and that can be the difference in a pretty even game like this. 41:58 Well, what could be the biggest series besides Minnesota this weekend is UMD heading to St. 42:03 Cloud. 42:04 No home and home. 42:05 They're both in St. 42:06 Cloud this time. 42:08 Yeah, and like I touched on earlier, we talked about it a little bit. 42:11 It's been a place where Duluth hasn't had a hell of a lot of success. 42:14 Like I said earlier, I think one wins since 07 or something like that. 42:17 And, you know, St. 42:18 Cloud backs it against the Wall. 42:20 I mean, they're a team that's going to have to win the final five if they're going to make the NCAA tournament. 42:23 But, you know, they've been solid here the last little while. 42:26 I mean, they got swept by the Gophers. 42:27 But aside from that, I mean, they've managed to get points, I mean, pretty much every weekend, dating back to December, I believe. 42:33 So, you know, again, I don't see a sweep either way here. 42:37 And, you know, from the Gopher perspective, you want to pull for St. 42:39 Cloud hard this weekend for a variety of reasons we touched on earlier. 42:42 And yeah, I mean, Duluth, they swept to Colorado College. 42:45 But prior to that, they've been scuffing a little bit. 42:47 And, you know, they lost that point to Mankato. 42:49 So if I had to go on a prediction, I would say maybe three points for Duluth. 42:53 But again, it wouldn't shock me if St. 42:55 Cloud is able to take a win from them. 42:58 Yeah, I'm going to go with a split in a series, simply because I think that St. 43:04 Cloud does look at this as an important series, especially now that Duluth has got a national title under their belt. 43:09 And, you know, I think that, like I mentioned earlier, I think that on some levels, their fans still feel like, you know, we're still on equal footing. 43:18 You know, even though, of course, you know, Duluth's got a lot more history and trophies in their, you know, trophy case. 43:25 I just think that that's the mentality. 43:27 I get the feeling from St. 43:28 Cloud fans. 43:28 I think that they want to prove that, you know, and they're going to be, of course, conference mates in the future. 43:33 And, you know, they're getting a little healthier. 43:37 And St. 43:38 Cloud, you know, Mike Lee, I mean, you don't know what you're going to get with him sometimes, but I think that they've got enough offense and enough goaltending where it won't shock me if they take one of those games. 43:48 Okay, Mankato heading to North Dakota. 43:53 Cardinal. 43:54 Well, Mankato, they've been a pretty tough team. 43:56 You know, they're another one of those that's kind of was banged up the first half of the year, and they've gotten healthy. 44:00 And, you know, they've got, you know, maybe just kind of glancing out of here, maybe not a winning record, but they've done pretty well recently. 44:06 And, you know, they most recently lost some tight against Duluth at home and then had last weekend off. 44:11 And, you know, it's going to be a tough series when, you know, Mankato goes up there. 44:15 They're not afraid of North Dakota and they've had some pretty physical battles over the years. 44:19 But, you know, all that being said, Mankato, a good team and, you know, this could be a preview of a first round matchup too, I think, if things kind of fall the right way or wrong way, depending on how you look at it. 44:28 But with, you know, the way North Dakota has been rolling, and I think they're, you know, right on the pairwise bubble right now. 44:33 So, you know, they have plenty of motivation, not that they would have needed any otherwise, but I would expect maybe North Dakota to take it to them one night and the next night to, or the other night, whichever one it's going to be, to be a little bit closer, but, you know, I'd be pretty surprised if North Dakota didn't take four points from them. 44:50 This is from my friend Goon. 44:52 I think that Mankato is just going to kick the crap out of UND in Grand Forks. 44:58 I think it's not even going to be close. 44:59 My prediction is eight nothing for Mankato the first night and like 11-0 second night. 45:05 Wow, Goon must be down on his team. 45:08 Geez. 45:08 No, I don't know. 45:10 I'm just kidding. 45:11 I know that Mankato has actually played North Dakota. 45:14 They've been pretty pesky from what I remember in the past. 45:18 And so, I'm sure it's going to be a hard fought series. 45:20 And I think Mankato has got enough offense that they can make it interesting, especially, I mean, you saw what happened when they played Duluth that second game. 45:29 I mean, Duluth probably had that game in hand, but they tied them late. 45:33 And I just think that you can't rest on your laurels, so to speak, against Mankato. 45:40 So, I think that, I do believe that North Dakota will sweep that series, but you know, you can't take Mankato lightly if you're a Sioux fan. 45:48 Goon seems to have gotten a little laugh out of that. 45:53 An interesting series, Michigan Tech heading to Colorado Springs. 45:57 One point apart with these two teams. 45:59 Tech has a chance to be a, to get home ice, if they can play well against CEC this weekend. 46:05 I mean, when's the last time that Tech had home ice? 46:08 I mean, have they ever had home ice since this format has begun? 46:14 I mean, check the history books. 46:18 They've obviously been to the final five a few times, but those have always been upsets. 46:23 So what do you think about this series? 46:26 My feeling is, I mean, it will more than likely probably be a split. 46:31 I'm not convinced with either. 46:32 I mean, you know, Tech can be pesky. 46:35 Colorado College, I don't know what to think of them. 46:38 They've been really just inconsistent. 46:39 I know some of it's injury related and whatever, but, you know, I really don't think that there's going to be a hell of a lot of change in the standings between these two. 46:48 I just have a feeling that's going to end up being a split. 46:50 And, you know, if I were, like I said earlier, if I were one of those teams kind of in that, you know, seven, eight range, whatever it might be, I would not be afraid to go to Colorado College in the first round to play them on the road. 47:03 I think that they're, to me, in my opinion, the one team that looks right for the picking as far as an upset in the first round. 47:11 And so I don't know what to say, but I think it's probably going to be a split. 47:15 Yeah, I tend to agree with that. 47:16 I mean, CC has kind of gone off the rails from here. 47:19 They have one win in their last, what is it, six, seven games. 47:21 And it seems like, you know, the goaltending has really fallen off since the Gopher series. 47:25 And, you know, it was really good that series. 47:28 And now, you know, Howell is kind of back in the mix. 47:30 And if you're not getting goaltending this time of year, you're in a lot of trouble. 47:33 And, you know, but at the same time, you know, we have the big sheet out there and CC's definitely got more skill up front. 47:38 So, you know, we'll see how Tech's able to adjust to that. 47:41 So, yeah, I mean, I would just like Howie said, I would assume this one will end in a split as well. 47:46 Um, I don't know. 47:48 I think that Tech, if they even get one win, they could still sneak in and get a top six spot. 47:55 I mean, Denver could sweep Omaha and that's all they would need. 47:58 Just one win on the weekend and they're in that six spot. 48:01 So we could have history this weekend with Tech. 48:06 I'd pull for them. 48:07 Yeah, yeah. 48:08 I actually kind of wouldn't mind seeing them get rewarded for the season they've had, so I wouldn't be upset if they got that. 48:14 I mean, it's been quite a turnaround and it's good to see their program at least appearing to be on the rise. 48:21 Anyone care about Bemidji heading to Anchorage? 48:24 Not truly, but I would probably say that Bemidji's going to... 48:28 Bemidji with the sweep. 48:30 You think so? 48:31 Really? 48:32 Yes, I do believe that. 48:33 I don't know. 48:34 I think Bemidji's... 48:35 It's the end of the season. 48:38 They've struggled recently. 48:40 And now they got to head thousands of miles up to Anchorage. 48:44 They probably won't see light most of the weekend. 48:46 I think it might be a tough weekend from up there. 48:49 Well, the way I look at it though is that they can catch Wisconsin and they have a real outside chance of... 48:56 I don't know what the tiebreaker is with St. 48:57 Cloud, but they could... 48:59 I mean, they could move up a spot or two and... 49:02 So, I mean, they have something to play for and let's face it, Anchorage doesn't. 49:07 They're brutal. 49:08 They're going to be last place and whoever wins the league outside of... 49:12 Between the Gophers and Duluth, that's where they're going to be. 49:15 So, I mean, they're more than likely their season's going to be over in two weeks. 49:19 I just think that Bemidji has a little bit more to play for. 49:21 Okay. 49:23 Yeah, not much else to add. 49:26 Again, what else is there to really say between the two... 49:28 You're not breaking down like third line matchups in this series or anything like that? 49:32 Look for Brad Homme. 49:33 He's going to have a huge weekend. 49:35 That's my prediction. 49:38 Well, obviously, it's the final weekend of the year and the Badgers are coming to town. 49:43 Looks like... 49:43 Let me see. 49:44 Let's look at the series. 49:46 Overall, Minnesota's leading the series 153, 84 and 20. 49:52 The last ten meetings have been right down the middle, though. 49:55 4-4 and 2 in the last ten meetings. 49:58 Looks like both games will be on ES... 50:00 Oh, not ESPN. 50:02 FSN Plus this weekend, so have fun finding it. 50:05 Or you might have a hard time finding it in HD, which I've heard some people having those kinds of problems. 50:12 Let's kick it off, Hamme. 50:13 What do you think? 50:15 Well, I mean, we kind of touched on earlier Wisconsin's road woes, you know. 50:20 Granted, they did sweep last weekend on the road against Bemidji, so you kind of have to give them credit for that. 50:24 But, you know, Wisconsin is decent offensively. 50:27 They're close to what I think, like three goals a game. 50:29 And, you know, but they really, the big problem it seems to be, you know, they haven't been their usual selves in terms of prior years, in terms of defense. 50:38 And they give up close to three goals a game. 50:41 Their penalty kill, statistically, is one of the worst in college hockey. 50:45 And, you know, and so this is a series of the Gophers to get some scoring opportunities, you know, in their first two or three lines. 50:51 And Wisconsin's goalies are relatively young. 50:54 You know, Rumpel's got decent numbers. 50:57 They're not great, you know, 2.7 goals against and 91 save percentage. 51:02 So, I mean, you know, they're, he's not bad. 51:05 But, you know, for me, the way I look at it, you know, I was looking at some of Wisconsin's statistics. 51:09 And I think it's very important for the Gophers to get off to a pretty good start. 51:14 They've been doing that in recent games for the most part. 51:17 Wisconsin's got a very poor record when they're tied or behind after the first period. 51:21 I think it was like eight wins, 14 losses, one tie, and, you know, in those games. 51:27 So, you know, it certainly would be the Gophers' advantage to get off to a good start in both games. 51:34 If they're focused and, you know, they play smart and with a lot of energy, I really believe that they should sweep the series. 51:41 You know, you never know what you're going to get in a rivalry series. 51:43 And I am kind of glad, to be honest, that they're playing, you know, one of their top two rivals in a series because I know that they're not going to sleepwalk their way through it and screw something up, you know, through a lack of effort. 51:53 I think that, you know, they'll bring, you know, their effort in a series like this. 51:58 So, I am predicting a sweep. 52:00 Hopefully, it will come to fruition. 52:03 Yeah, I mean, Hammy has pretty much touched on it. 52:05 You know, the Gophers definitely have the advantage, you know, pretty much in all areas. 52:08 I mean, on the blue line, maybe it's kind of even. 52:11 But again, I mean, you look at the numbers and, you know, how you want to look at it. 52:15 But, you know, in net, the Gophers have a huge edge and that kind of, you know, can kind of muddle things in terms of what you have on the defense. 52:21 Obviously, the Gophers don't have anyone like Schultz, but, you know, he's a game breaker. 52:25 And, you know, the same thing goes for Wisconsin's top line. 52:27 I mean, they definitely don't have the depth that the Gophers do. 52:30 And so, you know, could Wisconsin's, you know, top guys go off on one night and really make it tough on the Gophers? 52:36 Absolutely. 52:36 I mean, they do have the talent and they have been playing a little bit better. 52:39 But, you know, Wisconsin's been abysmal on the road short of, you know, what they did last weekend at Bemidji. 52:44 And, you know, I think for the Gophers, and Lucia touched on this with PA this weekend, it's, you know, you almost worry about them being a little bit too amped this weekend, especially Friday night, just given what's on the line and, you know, the fact that they can hang a banner this weekend. 52:57 And, you know, that's a big thing. 52:58 And, you know, you worry about them maybe being a little overanxious or whatever it is, especially against Wisconsin. 53:03 You get guys running around or getting out of position or taking penalties. 53:06 So, you know, like Lucia said, it's definitely cliche, but hopefully they just play their sound defensive game that they've done. 53:11 And, you know, hopefully they can get a lead too. 53:14 I mean, Wisconsin, they're maybe not the, you know, total trapping defensive minded team that they have been in the past. 53:19 But, you know, it's definitely going to be easier to play against a team like them if you can get out and, you know, put two quick goals up or something to that effect. 53:26 And again, with Sanger Lee and Barnes and Mersh on that top line, I mean, that's a legit top line. 53:30 And, you know, you're probably not going to be able to shut them down for the weekend. 53:34 But, you know, if you can kind of limit them or, you know, not let them go too crazy, you like to think that the Gophers, you know, the top three lines would be able to be a lot better than Wisconsin's top three lines if the top line for each team can negate each other or whatever. 53:46 So, yeah, I mean, I would, I'll say three points for the Gophers. 53:49 I think Wisconsin will make it tough on them one night, but it won't shock me at all if the Gophers came out and played one of their top series of the year, just again, just based on what's on the line for them. 53:59 Well, as Hammy requests, I'm picking a sweep. 54:04 It's going to be a two or three goal game both nights. 54:06 I'm just going with it. 54:07 Why not? 54:08 Big old sweep, they're going to take home the McNaughton Friday night. 54:12 They're going to hold on to it and they're not going to let Duluth have it. 54:15 Okay, so I've had this question posed to me by two different people now. 54:18 If the Gophers win on Friday night, do they present the trophy to them that night then or do they wait till Saturday to see what the end result is for the entire league? 54:32 I don't know. 54:33 I don't know either. 54:34 I've seen this question too. 54:35 I mean, obviously, if they win Friday night, you would think they would be able to, they're champs. 54:42 They would be. 54:43 Either at least they'll either be outright or they'll be tied. 54:46 So they'll be champs. 54:48 The other question I have heard is, obviously, if they win Friday night and lose Saturday and Duluth wins both games, they would also be co-champs. 54:57 Would they get to celebrate on St. 54:59 Cloud Ice? 55:00 I've heard different stories like typically they don't let teams or road teams celebrate the cup on road territory. 55:09 Anybody know? 55:10 Cardinal, do you have any insight on this? 55:12 Yeah. 55:12 I'm trying to think back. 55:13 I think Denver and CC might have tied for the league title a few years ago, but I can't, obviously, with the games not being on TV here or anything, it's tough to think back to what happened there. 55:23 I mean, I would assume for the Gophers on Friday night, I wonder if that comes down to Lucia and if he'd want them to have that moment with, obviously, still being, depending on what's going on in St. 55:32 Claude or what could happen on Saturday night, it could be kind of weird. 55:36 So I almost wonder if that comes down to just Lucia or the coaching staff kind of making that decision. 55:41 I would assume that if that's what it comes down to, that it would probably be a no-go and they'd wait till Saturday just to, because you don't want that kind of distraction or the kind of the finality of winning the league. 55:51 And then, oh, by the way, we got to come back and play a huge game Saturday night for pairwise implications and everything else. 55:56 So as cool as that moment would be on Friday night, if it gets to the point where Duluth wins and the Gophers win and the Gophers secure the tie. 56:03 Now, if Duluth somehow loses or ties or whatever and the Gophers win, then I'm all for it and reward the kids for playing hard and everything else and let them have that moment. 56:13 But again, I don't know. 56:14 I think it's, like you said, it wouldn't surprise me if it came down to each school or coaching staff or whatever in terms of how they want to handle that. 56:22 Well, the other thing to remember is that that Duluth St. 56:24 Cloud game starts a half an hour after the Gophers do. 56:29 So the Gophers are going to be more than likely that game is going to be finished by the time Duluth and St. 56:35 Cloud are still playing. 56:36 So it might be a case where they're sitting around waiting to see what happens in that game. 56:42 Maybe then they celebrate. 56:45 It's happened before. 56:46 Yeah. 56:46 I mean, so that- 56:47 It happened. 56:47 I think it happened against Wisconsin, didn't it? 56:49 Yeah. 56:49 I don't know. 56:50 I think it happened once. 56:51 I remember something like that before. 56:52 So it could be one of those cases where they're sitting around for a half an hour or whatever just to see what happens in that particular game. 56:59 And if it so happens that St. 57:01 Cloud wins, you know, maybe they do do something that night. 57:04 I don't know. 57:05 Well, they're going to win it this weekend either way. 57:10 So that's just the way it's going to go. 57:12 I'm trying to be Mr. 57:13 Positive here. 57:14 That's all I'm trying to do. 57:16 Minnesota State of Hockey tweeted that Michigan Tech last had home ice in 1993, when they finished 4th in the WCHA. 57:26 93. 57:28 Everyone remembers that year, don't they? 57:31 That was back when Northern Michigan was in the league, right? 57:34 I believe. 57:35 It might have been there last year or close to it, wasn't it? 57:39 I don't know. 57:39 It was in around that range. 57:42 Did Tech leave for a couple of years or two and come back? 57:46 My brain is foggy. 57:47 Too much gin, I guess. 57:51 Hammeh, do you have any other questions you want to bring up that people have tweeted? 57:54 Let's see here. 57:57 I noticed Goon did straighten you out by saying, UND has won 8 straight against Mankato and are 14-1-1 in the last 16. 58:05 Okay. 58:06 Well, it's not like I'm studying my UND statistics every week, so I can't say. 58:14 I'll take his word for it. 58:15 But I just know that they were pesky at one point. 58:17 Maybe they're not any longer, but nonetheless. 58:23 Somebody did ask about the NCAAs and what are my thoughts or what are our thoughts about possibly being in the same regional as on North Dakota or Duluth or whatever it might be. 58:41 Actually, to piggyback on it, somebody else asked about the Final Five and is there a team that we should be concerned about being pesky or whatever. 58:51 I guess you could look at both of those questions being similar. 58:54 What do you guys think? 58:56 Well, for pesky teams, I still think it's Denver. 59:00 They've just been snake bit by this team for what, the last three or four years? 59:06 Well, actually, over Lucia's whole career, Denver just seems to beat us a lot. 59:12 That's a team I don't think they'd want to face in the Final Five or in a regional. 59:19 Yeah. 59:19 If you look how it's shaking out, I don't know. 59:22 Not that North Dakota is locked into the number four spot, but I don't see any of the teams behind them catching them. 59:28 They could definitely mathematically jump over Denver, but it would take Denver not doing very well at Omaha, where I think they're going to get at least a couple of points, which would lock them into third place. 59:38 So it looks like if the top seeds hold out and there's a lot of ifs and buts there, but you could get to a situation on Friday where you have Duluth and Denver in the afternoon, and the Gophers in North Dakota at night, which would be off the charts awesome, and I hope it happens. 59:54 I'd love to play North Dakota, but again, they've been the best team in the league for the last two, three months, and you kind of think at some point, the wheels might fall off with the injuries, and you look at the team and it's not the same type of loaded lineup that you're used to seeing with them the last couple of seasons, but the proof is there. 1:00:09 They've won a lot more games than they've lost, but again, I don't think there's any of these teams I'm super scared of. 1:00:15 I mean, Duluth obviously is their defending champs, and they're number one in the pairwise, and it's certainly looking like that there's a pretty good chance that Duluth is going to be the number one seed in St. 1:00:25 Paul, and the Gophers will be the number two seed. 1:00:27 And should that happen, again, my only fear with them, I could take losing to Duluth, but if that also means that drunk hockey guy would have crap talking on everybody in GPL would probably melt down at the amount of everything back and forth and blah, blah, blah. 1:00:41 But you have to quit kissing North Dakota's ass. 1:00:46 That's what's going to make the GPL melt down. 1:00:49 Well, I mean, I did pick them to win the league, and they're not going to do that. 1:00:52 I know, dude. 1:00:54 You're white-knuckling that pick, man. 1:00:56 I know, but you got to give them credit. 1:00:59 The injuries they've had and everything else, and to be as dangerous as any team in the league at the end of the year. 1:01:04 I don't have to give them any credit. 1:01:06 Okay. 1:01:07 Well, hey, I would love nothing more than to get another shot at them at the final five. 1:01:11 And they've ended our season a handful of times, and if we can hopefully get them there, it'd be sweet to knock them out, and hopefully that sends them on the outskirts of the Paralyze, and it effectively ends our season all of that, as cool as being in the NCA Tournament. 1:01:24 So, yeah, I mean, I guess it's, you know, especially if you play WCHA team, and especially if it's Duluth or North Dakota, I mean, it's awesome if you play them in the tournament, but it's either going to be really good or really bad, because in one team, the season's going to end, and the other one's going to move on, and the next step could be the Frozen Four. 1:01:41 So it's really high risk and really high reward. 1:01:44 Now, I agree. 1:01:45 I give North Dakota credit. 1:01:46 They have played much better than I expected them to back in the November, December range, so I do give them some credit. 1:01:53 And the other thing, if they're going to be a four seed, they're not going to be in St. 1:01:56 Paul, because more than likely, Duluth's going to be the one seed in that bracket, and they're going to avoid the inter-conference matchups, and so that probably means... 1:02:06 Yeah, but they could always move Duluth to... 1:02:09 Well, they could, but it depends upon, of course, where Duluth is as the number one seed. 1:02:15 I agree with you. 1:02:16 I see what you're saying. 1:02:16 I'm just saying that if Duluth is the number one seed in St. 1:02:21 Paul, they're going to obviously send North Dakota out east somewhere. 1:02:25 Well, I think regardless of what happens, everyone's excited. 1:02:29 The team, none of us expected the team to, you know, last weekend of the year, have a really, really good chance of winning the league title. 1:02:39 I mean, I remember you guys, we picked them, you know, middle of the pack, you know, was it 4th, 5th, you know, 6th even? 1:02:46 I think, yeah, I picked them 4th. 1:02:47 And to see that they're in 1st, they've been in 1st the entire season. 1:02:55 I think it's really positive. 1:02:56 I really think the team has started turning things around after these last four years. 1:03:00 So, you know, the fact that we're talking about, you know, semifinal matchups, you know, Friday night against the Sioux or whoever, I think that's a really great thing after what our team and our fans have had to suffer the last three or four years. 1:03:14 Well, that was the ironic thing for me. 1:03:16 Earlier in a week, Goon was giving me some grief about not giving North Dakota enough credit. 1:03:20 And I'm like, well, if anything, I underestimated my own team too much based on where they are in the standings now. 1:03:27 And I actually gave North Dakota the proper credit because I think I picked them like around 3rd place or something like that. 1:03:33 So, so there, Goon. 1:03:38 Well, I was going to try to get Chuck Schwartz on, you know, I saw him pop up on Skype for a second there, but then he disappeared. 1:03:44 So apparently he's just afraid of us or something. 1:03:46 No, I think he's probably celebrating their Gopher basketball losing in Madison, I think. 1:03:52 Oh, jeez. 1:03:53 Who cares? 1:03:53 It's basketball. 1:03:55 Fire tubby. 1:03:55 That's all I got to say. 1:03:57 I agree. 1:03:57 He's terrible. 1:03:59 Any other thoughts on this weekend, guys? 1:04:02 Nothing too much. 1:04:03 Just hope that we have our guys posing with the trophy one of those nights. 1:04:08 Will you be there this weekend, Hammeh? 1:04:10 I don't know for sure. 1:04:12 Come on. 1:04:15 I don't know. 1:04:15 We'll have to see. 1:04:16 I know I'll be at Mariachi tomorrow night more than likely to watch high school sections, but I don't know about this weekend. 1:04:22 We'll see. 1:04:22 Okay. 1:04:23 Cardinal, I'm sure you'll be there on Saturday in Rube mode, won't you? 1:04:27 Saturday is iffy with the youngster in tow. 1:04:30 It makes it a little bit tougher. 1:04:32 So kind of got to pick our spots. 1:04:34 So Friday for sure. 1:04:35 And then Saturday, we'll kind of see what ends up being on the line and proceed from there. 1:04:40 And I assume you'll be on with PA this week after the combines and not being on last week? 1:04:45 Yeah, that is my assumption. 1:04:47 I usually kind of get the word on Wednesday afternoon. 1:04:49 So, but yeah, I would assume so. 1:04:52 And of course you can follow Ryan at Ryan Cardinal on Twitter, and you can also follow Hammy on Twitter at Hammy Hockey. 1:05:00 Well, that does it for this week's GPL Podcast. 1:05:03 You know, we'll be back next week to review the Wisconsin Series and hopefully celebrate at McNaughton Cup and WCHA Champs. 1:05:12 And obviously we'll preview the WCHA Playoffs next week. 1:05:16 So make sure you tune into that. 1:05:18 Thanks for listening and we'll see you next week.