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 Jupe and Vego. 0:37 Good evening, and welcome to The GPL Podcast, episode number 180. 0:44 Glad you're all joining us tonight, and we've got a new guest we've never had on before. 0:49 You know, we had a new guest on Wednesday, it was Pat McAleady, and he's leading us in to the one and only Wally Shaver. 0:55 Wally, thanks for joining us. 0:58 Hey, it's my pleasure. 0:59 Wasn't doing anything else except watching a football game, so why not? 1:03 I was watching a little bit of a football game. 1:06 Football games have become good napping for me now. 1:09 Yes, I agree. 1:10 That's how it is. 1:12 Well, we finally got you on the podcast. 1:15 I've been thinking about it for years, but I think this Zoom thing helps it. 1:19 Hey, just send somebody a link and boom, there they are. 1:22 Yeah. 1:23 It's the new way. 1:26 Hey, it's working for us. 1:28 I'm glad we have it, so we're glad to have you on. 1:32 But before we get into the hockey this weekend, Pat McAleady told us a little story on Wednesday, Wally, about a little incident that happened after a game, where you got stuck at a parking lot. 1:48 What did you do? 1:49 How did you get stuck at a parking lot? 1:51 Well, I just went in the wrong gate over at the TCF Bank and thought I could get out the maroon lot, but I couldn't, so I circled the wagons a couple of times, and finally figured out I got to go back out the same way I came in, and there's not a whole lot of options around that stadium anyways, but eventually I got out of there, and Frank and Mick had a pretty good laugh about it. 2:12 Oh, yeah. 2:14 Mick was like, oh, you got to make sure you ask him about that. 2:18 He was stuck in the parking lot. 2:22 I wasn't about to ram the gate. 2:24 I figured they'd have cameras there. 2:25 Oh, boy, you don't need that story hitting the ears. 2:27 No, I don't. 2:29 Wally Shaver breaks gating. 2:34 Well, Veegs, I know you didn't predict it, but we had another sweep this weekend against the Michigan State Spartans, Veegs. 2:43 That's a good deal. 2:45 Yeah, I think Sparty tried to turn into a game where goaltending and specialty teams were going to be the big factors, and Minnesota came out on top in both of those. 2:56 I'm a little surprised at how good the power play has been this year. 3:00 It just kind of goes to show when you get some defensemen up top who are very creative and comfortable changing positions. 3:06 You have a unit that is doing pretty well. 3:09 They're clicking at a pretty good pace, and I think one of the reasons they're doing so well is they are creating second and third chances. 3:16 You know, when they do miss a shot, if there is a rebound, they've been able to collect the puck and they get what essentially is extra outs, and if you give extra outs to a team like The Gophers, who have players like Sam Peranta, Scott Reedy in that net presence role, you're going to be really effective. 3:34 And Wally, one thing I like is that they're pitching a shutout so far on penalty kill. 3:40 Yeah, that's been a very pleasant surprise. 3:43 I think Bob and his staff are a little bit surprised. 3:46 It's been that good as well, but you know, you go back last year, you were experimenting with some new people in both power play and penalty kill situations after we graduated that big senior class from the previous year or so. 3:59 Now that these guys have had an opportunity to get used to what their roles are, that they've perfected it, and they're doing exceptionally well. 4:08 And they're not afraid to pressure teams, too, coming up through the neutral zone when they're shorthanded. 4:13 So it's forcing some errant passes and some easy dumps right back down at the other end, and you don't mind seeing the opposing team having to go 200 feet every time they got a power play. 4:23 And I think one of the keys to the penalty kill this year has been the way Bob's put his forwards on the ice. 4:30 You know, he's been starting a lot with Jackson Nelson or Ben Myers, and they have just been great in the faceoff circle. 4:38 And if you can start a power play by winning the draw and clearing the zone, that's going to help you a ton. 4:43 And then he counters with Walker and McLaughlin, you know, a couple speedy guys who are different and really can pressure the puck. 4:50 So, you get a power play unit that's maybe already had to go back and regroup, and now they get set up, maybe a little tired late in that first minute, and they're out there against Walker and McLaughlin, and now the pace is pretty high on the PK. 5:03 You know, that's a great recipe for success. 5:05 Well, it is, and it works great. 5:07 I mean, you can't look past to the job that Jack LaFontaine has done back in goal, because everybody always says, your best penalty killer's got to be your goalie. 5:17 And LaF is just stopping everything that's been thrown at him. 5:20 And he's just been superb back there so far this year, whether it's penalty kill or an even strength situation. 5:27 He's just almost unbeatable. 5:29 I can't imagine, I was telling Bob, I said, you know, but going into that last game, I never would have thought that I would see a team that has won five straight games and only given up five goals. 5:43 It's rare at any level of hockey to get a stretch put together like that. 5:48 And this team is just, you hate to say that they're hittin in all cylinders, but the reality is they are. 5:54 They're 6-0 and the other amazing thing with this team right now, in six games, they have never trailed a second. 6:05 They've been tied a couple of times, but never trailed in a hockey game. 6:08 And that's just amazing to me. 6:11 That may change this kind of thing again, but one thing that I did notice is that they really kind of did get outplayed there towards the end of that second game there, Veegs. 6:21 I mean, they did get the empty net goal, but throughout the game, you're always gonna get Michigan State's best game or any team's best game that second night after losing. 6:30 But Michigan State started really slow, even the second game finished much stronger. 6:36 I might be getting my years confused, but I believe last year Michigan State had a weekend at Mariucci where they just did not play very well. 6:45 And late in the series, I think I had a source down there said that locker room was very heated. 6:52 And their leaders said, we're not ending this weekend this way. 6:55 And they came out very determined and stole some points from Minnesota. 6:59 And what Michigan State has is they've got some great centers. 7:03 They dominated the faceoff circle on Saturday. 7:05 And I think that started to pay off a little bit as the night wore on. 7:09 And they controlled the puck a lot more. 7:11 I tried to get some of the players to say what had changed during the game. 7:15 And you get those vanilla answers. 7:18 They played harder, they skated harder, they competed more. 7:21 That's a little bit of it. 7:22 But I think Michigan State tightened up their defense a little bit. 7:25 I think they didn't let Minnesota get started in the transition very well. 7:30 And the game just tightened up. 7:32 And Laffer had quite the battle on his hands in the third period. 7:36 One thing we've talked about this year, Wally, is that, you know, towards the end of the game, similar to this Michigan State game, you start thinking, uh-oh, here they come. 7:44 They're going to tie it, maybe lose the game, oh boy. 7:48 But this year's team seems to really kind of keep it together much better than you'd seen in previous years. 7:55 Yeah, and I think that third period on the second game against Michigan State, it was really the last five or six minutes we saw the really big push from Michigan State. 8:06 But what impressed me most about the Gophers' play in that is, you know, here's still a really pretty young team, and yet they were able to protect the three-to-two lead for a pretty good chunk of that hockey game. 8:19 And they had done that in every game so far, where they've really batted down the hatches on a good job and are keeping teams pretty much on the perimeter. 8:28 I mean, you guys see the shot charts where other teams are getting their shots from, and it's just amazing, the number of shots that the opponents are taking that are from the boards or the outside perimeter or back at the point. 8:41 Those are always low-percentage shots, and if you can keep doing that, it really bodes well for a successful season. 8:49 Can I hit up a Twitter question here? 8:52 I saw this earlier. 8:55 Oh, here we go. 8:57 Hockey Fan 2020, I would like to hear from you guys. 9:01 Comment on the play of Faber and Kester. 9:04 I know you're a big fan of them, Veegs. 9:07 Yeah. 9:08 Faber has transitioned to college hockey exceptionally well. 9:12 You hear US National Team Development Program coach say, he's the best defender he's ever coached. 9:18 They put him in these international tournaments against forwards who are supposed to be first-round picks, and he just locks him down. 9:25 You hear that and you go, okay, well, let's see what he does when he gets to college hockey and you're playing against 22, 23-year-olds, and he's just stepped right in, and his skating is so good, his gap control is so good, and he exits the zone just as well as any of the other defensemen on the team. 9:41 It's been fun to watch. 9:42 Castor, I think, has a little bit more of a learning curve over what kind of mistakes and risk he can take on at this level, but he definitely has the skill and the talent. 9:52 You know why Toronto was interested in getting him. 9:55 And, Wally, you know, you see Matsuko putting both of those guys out there in high pressure situations as well. 10:00 He trusts those guys. 10:02 Yeah, that's the big thing. 10:04 As a coaching staff, you have to have trust in these guys. 10:07 I think what's another great asset for this program is having an undergrad assistant coach like Paul Martin, who played 14 years in the National Hockey League. 10:17 He's able to teach these guys just some little wee things that he had learned along the line of playing professional hockey for so many years. 10:25 I think now we're seeing some of those things come in to fruition. 10:29 I think we'll see a lot more of that as not only this season progresses, but the careers of those two guys here at the university. 10:37 But I agree with you, Vegs. 10:39 The play of Kester and Faber has been a pleasant surprise. 10:43 I mean, they fit right in to this program. 10:46 And the skating ability that Brock Faber has is just insane. 10:51 He can go latterly. 10:53 He can circle back into his own like Ryan Johnson has been known to do. 10:57 And still make that perfect play and elude some traffic. 10:59 And I think he's almost a cinch to make the US World Junior team. 11:05 But at any rate, it's just fun to watch these guys come in and be so successful early on. 11:12 But they're both really good puck movers and they make smart decisions. 11:16 And I think that's what's made this a stronger team on the defense. 11:20 It's just they've got that offensive capability to transition and get right back up ice and create scoring chances. 11:28 And I think that the confidence they have to move with the play, not just move the puck to the forwards and then all of a sudden, you get that separation between the D and the forwards. 11:37 They're able to move the puck and join the play, so they rush with four. 11:41 And when you attack an offensive zone with four players, you are way more effective than just sending your three forwards. 11:48 Yeah, I've got to catch myself sometimes calling the game, because all of a sudden, you see two defensemen down behind the other team's goal. 11:53 It's like, hey, who's minding the bar back here right now? 11:58 Well, how is that going at TCF this past weekend, as you're trying to keep track of all that and the monitors? 12:04 I know a couple of times, I feel like Nevers and Castor kind of can have the same skating style, and the numbers are pretty close, and you're just kind of like, who is that again? 12:14 Yeah. 12:15 How was your vision? 12:18 Well, it's different when you're calling off of a TV monitor, but I tell you, the people at the TCF Bank Stadium, the staff up there that run the control room, and Dan Robotham with Gopher Sports Properties and Learfield has done a phenomenal job on getting the broadcast signals that are coming back from the other schools into us. 12:40 And then we've got, Frank and I have like a 55-inch monitor in front of us. 12:45 We're at separate tables, so we're positioned about eight feet apart, but we've got our own monitors. 12:51 And then we've got a great big screen there as well. 12:54 But besides the regular game camera that we're looking at, there's also two smaller boxes, kind of like Zoom here on the side, on one side of the screen. 13:03 So it gives you kind of a corner shot view, which helps for seeing line changes, because sometimes when you're following a game camera, you don't see the line change if you're watching on TV. 13:14 Well, this gives us that capability to see it. 13:17 And then it's got the ribbon right down at the bottom, so we know what the penalty times are, what the game clock time is. 13:22 And it's a fantastic setup. 13:24 It worked really, really well for our first goal with the Michigan State Series. 13:29 And it's probably going to vary a little bit from arena to arena, but so far, what Michigan State sent back to us for our control room was phenomenal. 13:40 We had a little bit of audio thing the opening night, but we were able to separate PA announcements from on-ice microphones. 13:49 So that was a big help. 13:50 Which you captured a little too well a couple of times. 13:53 Yeah. 13:55 A couple of f-bombs. 13:56 Well, when there's nobody in the stands too, there's sounds that get picked up now that normally wouldn't. 14:04 Hopefully, no one gets in trouble for that because it's just one of those things. 14:08 Well, I can't see how anybody get in trouble. 14:11 I mean, Glenn used to swear on the air, so I mean. 14:15 I know, I had to put a rap on a couple of times. 14:22 But all in all, it was a pretty good experience then. 14:25 Yeah, yeah, it was. 14:27 I did have some experience calling games off a TV back in the, and this goes way back into the 1994 Winter Olympics. 14:34 Oh, jeez. 14:36 Yeah, I was hired by Mike Diamond, incidentally, who was the president of Fox Sports North. 14:42 But back in those days, he was working for Prime Sports Colorado. 14:47 And that's before all these sports networks became Fox property. 14:51 But Rupert Murdoch had bought in the Fox network and was starting to put together a big conglomerate of all these regional sports networks across the United States. 15:02 And then he did the same thing over in Asia. 15:05 And he had 30 countries in Asia with 36 million homes. 15:09 Again, this is back in 1994. 15:12 And he wanted to bring the Winter Olympics to them. 15:14 Well, the Olympics that year were played in the Lillehammer, Norway. 15:18 So, out of the blue one day, Diamond gives me a phone call. 15:22 He says, geez, would you be interested in going over and doing the Winter Olympics? 15:26 I said, oh yeah, it sounds great. 15:28 Well, he says, there's one exception. 15:30 We can't get into the Olympic Village because all the media writes and everything has been settled. 15:35 So what we've done is we've rented studio and a production house in London, England. 15:41 So you got to go to London and then you'll be working off of a TV monitor. 15:46 Well, a little British TV monitor like that, you know. 15:51 You don't wear a headset. 15:53 Like, I've got my microphone here. 15:55 You got your microphone. 15:56 You got this little lip thing here. 15:57 You put it up there and you're broadcasting like this, watching a tiny monitor. 16:03 And he asked me if I knew anybody that would like to be a color commentator. 16:06 I said, well, yeah, I know a guy that just got fired from the New Jersey Devils, Herb Brooks. 16:11 He might be interested. 16:12 He's got a little background. 16:13 So I called up Herbie and said, hey, Herbie, you want to go to London and be my roommate for about three and a half weeks and we can cover the Winter Olympics. 16:21 So we went over there and just had a blast and only had to do a game about every every two days. 16:26 Oh, jeez. 16:28 That's a really good gig, actually. 16:30 It was a really good gig. 16:33 I suppose, you know, back then, you know, it's not like TV monters are just tiny little things. 16:37 But now you can have these huge screens where you can actually see and you get the high definition. 16:42 I can't imagine what it was been like back then. 16:45 Just your basic analog signal. 16:47 I think we took it down off of satellite. 16:49 We had feeds coming in. 16:52 I remember a guy that used to work in this market, Mike Woodley, was over there. 16:57 He was he was calling it for CBS radio. 17:00 So I'd give him a call every day and just try to get the scoops from a guy that's hands on in the Olympic Village to find out what was going on. 17:09 It worked out pretty good. 17:10 It was a unique experience and something I'm very proud I had the opportunity to do. 17:16 Another question. 17:17 Of course, we're going to get this from Tim Hapke. 17:20 He wants to know, how's Wally's dad doing up in Canada? 17:23 How's old Al doing? 17:25 Al's doing great. 17:27 We moved him into an assisted living place back in March. 17:30 It was just after everything got shut down with pandemic. 17:33 But my mom had passed away about a year and a half ago, the previous August. 17:38 And he wanted to live alone for a while and just see how that worked out. 17:43 But he got tired of living in his condo and decided to put that up for sale. 17:47 And we got that closed out here this past summer. 17:51 But back in March, he moved into an assisted living place. 17:53 And for a guy that's 93 years of age, he's doing well. 18:00 He doesn't need every day attention, but they bring him one meal a day and the others he fixes for himself. 18:06 So he's got all the care there. 18:08 But he really misses us. 18:11 My wife and I usually go up there to see him for Christmas. 18:13 But with the restrictions in Canada, I mean, you have to have a two week quarantine in a hotel room all by yourself before you can visit anybody. 18:22 And now that he's in an assisted living place too, it probably would be pretty tough to get in there. 18:28 But so we'll just wait till the vaccines come out and hopefully this thing gets settled down here in the near future and we'll get a chance to get up there after hockey season to see him again. 18:39 But yeah, all in all, he's doing great. 18:41 For an old fart, he's doing great. 18:43 Well, yeah, the funny thing is, you know, FSN was covering the games on TV this weekend and they did a story on the 1976 Gopher hockey team. 18:52 And it was narrated by your dad, it was that old video they would have put together. 18:56 And there we are, we hear Al's voice, you know, just saying, talking about the season, the last few games and the games against, you know, Michigan Tech and things like that. 19:05 So it was kind of a nice reminder because we hadn't heard his voice in a while. 19:10 And all of a sudden they're doing the 1976, you know, year tape that he narrated. 19:15 So yeah, it was good to hear it. 19:18 Good to hear. 19:19 He enjoyed INHL playoffs when they came back on in the summer. 19:22 So it gave him something to watch because obviously as we all know, there was nothing going on there for a few months. 19:29 Is he pretty adept at FaceTime or Zoom or anything like that to give you any feedback? 19:34 No. 19:35 In fact, when he moved out of the condo and assisted living, he didn't want his computer or anything anymore. 19:40 Basically, he just played solitaire on it. 19:43 Maybe he answered a few emails, but no, he really wasn't into Zoom or Alexis or any of these kind of modern modems that we use nowadays. 19:53 But we wish he would. 19:54 But, you know, it's, hey, he's 93 years old. 19:57 He's not picking up new technology. 20:00 You know, I couldn't get my mother to do any of that stuff. 20:03 You know, I have a grandfather that's 96 who lives by himself in his home still. 20:07 He's like, I don't need any of that stuff. 20:08 Let's get it away from me. 20:10 Yeah. 20:10 Okay. 20:11 Just you do you and that's all it matters. 20:14 I'm pretty impressed with how well my dad handles all this technology. 20:18 I think he likes the texting more than calling because, you know, you don't have to worry about hearing issues or the reception. 20:24 You can text pretty easily and he's pretty sharp with it. 20:27 So it's been a good way for him to stay connected with his grandkids. 20:31 And the holidays are challenging, but it's better than just a phone call, I think. 20:37 And hopefully Donald's watching right now. 20:39 Hi, Donald. 20:42 Why no big Al isn't he? 20:45 That's okay. 20:46 That's okay. 20:46 We're just a little college hockey podcast. 20:50 We don't really matter. 20:51 Well, we got a bunch of other things to get into, but before we do that, we need to hear from our sponsor. 20:58 Hey, fellow GPLers. 20:59 This is Jerry Peters from First Class Mortgage. 21:02 Interest rates are near all time lows and property values are on the rise. 21:07 Lower your interest rate and remove monthly PMI at the same time to save thousands of dollars, or use the equity in your home for debt consolidation and home improvement. 21:16 The housing market is still hot, so make sure you're prepared by getting a pre-approval letter from me before you start shopping. 21:23 Mention you heard about me on The GPL Podcast and receive a $300 closing cost credit. 21:28 Some restrictions do apply. 21:30 Call me today at 612-940-3291 or visit firstclassmortgage.com to fill out a free online application. 21:39 My NMLS number is 480-200, first class mortgages is 322-842. 21:46 This is not an offer to lock in to an interest rate agreement under Minnesota law. 21:50 First class mortgage is an equal housing lender. 21:54 And of course, we always like to thank Jerry for sponsoring us. 21:59 That's always great to have. 22:03 V, so we got some questions in chat. 22:06 Yeah, it looks like we've got a couple. 22:09 What do we got? 22:10 I know Brent Hoeven's asking, is this team a little more mature? 22:16 Are they showing a little bit more growth as a team? 22:18 I know from my perspective, Bob's talked about there's been times where the bench is getting frustrated and negative thoughts are being voiced on the bench, but there's enough leadership on this team that shuts that down right away. 22:32 And I get the sense that this team has a lot of positivity to it and has a lot of maturity and isn't letting themselves get in the rut of getting down on themselves or complaining about the refs or worrying about bounces that didn't go their way. 22:47 And we've seen a team that's been pretty resilient. 22:49 They've got off to fast starts in the first period. 22:52 Second period last year was a huge problem for this program. 22:55 They would fall behind in a lot of games and really shoot themselves in the foot. 22:59 And I don't think we're seeing that this year. 23:03 No, I agree. 23:04 I think this is a team that's different. 23:06 There's a few more upperclassmen on this team than we had last year. 23:10 You know, a year ago we only had three seniors that played on a regular basis. 23:14 So this year we've got five out there and they're really contributing. 23:18 Guys like Scott Reedy and Brandon McManus are having just tremendous years. 23:24 Cullen Munson is finally getting an opportunity to play on a regular basis. 23:27 And I tell you that fourth line that he's on with Jackson Nelson and Jack Purbix, they're just a delight to watch. 23:35 You go back to that first game against Michigan State and Frank and I had commented on it a couple of times, but I think maybe all but one shift in that game for that fourth line, the play was in the Michigan State zone. 23:49 They were creating some scoring chances. 23:51 They did get a goal out of the weekend, but they're just dogged determination and they keep teams bottled up in their own zone and that is so effective when you can put a fourth line out there on a regular basis, you know, just rotating your lines through. 24:05 And that's what coach has been able to do. 24:07 And these guys are contributing and that's part of that leadership that you're, you guys were talking about. 24:14 Well, I think one thing we see with this team at the end of these games is every once while there's a chip and change shift where they just throw it in, get to the bench, new troops out there. 24:23 But I think most of the time you're seeing lines that are mature enough and smart enough to get it in the zone and cover for other guys to change. 24:32 Or they change in such a way as that you're not just going right back on defense and to close out a game. 24:37 I think that's so crucial to be able to have that skill set and mentality. 24:42 Yeah, I agree, Veegs, and I think it's part of the process of doing what a lot of people refer to as the little things, but it's things like that. 24:51 Maybe you're at the end of your shift, one guy will dump it down, and maybe he goes in as a soft four-check, but allows the other four guys to get off the ice, get some fresh legs out there, then that last guy can get his butt off and get the fresh five out there. 25:06 So it's little things like that that make a big difference in how far you go. 25:10 Because like you say, so often we used to see it where, yeah, it's time for a change. 25:15 Maybe you lose a puck at the opposing team's blue line. 25:17 Next thing you know, they're coming back the other direction. 25:20 You get tired bodies out there, and it's hard to get out. 25:23 But what I've been so impressed with this year so far, with this Gopher team, is how methodically and efficiently they move the puck out of their zone and turn it into an attack. 25:36 It's fun to watch. 25:36 It just creates all kinds of opportunities. 25:38 It's definitely fun to watch. 25:40 Another question from the YouTube chat. 25:42 We've got John Candels asking, how much star power has lost this series due to the World Juniors and Vs? 25:49 It's a lot. 25:51 It's a lot. 25:52 I think all three of the defensemen from the Gophers are going to make the World Junior team. 25:57 They're all playing at such a high level. 26:00 Not a lot of returning talent on that World Junior roster either. 26:04 And then from Michigan, I think they're losing five of their top six scores. 26:10 So we're losing defense and they're losing offense. 26:12 I don't know how many of those players are going to stick with the team, but they're going to miss the series against Minnesota. 26:17 So they're going to lose some firepower up front. 26:19 Minnesota, I think, is going to lose some of their transition ability with all those defensemen going. 26:24 I know Bob's been trying to work Stucker back in the lineup. 26:28 He's trying to get fish. 26:29 Some opportunities maybe after they kill a penalty where the top players for the other team are going to have to rest for a little bit, and he can get his feet wet. 26:37 But they're going to get thrown into the fire these next two games. 26:41 Yeah, Fish had some decent ice time, and in Stucker getting back in the lineup, he picked up two assists in the first game against Michigan State. 26:49 So he was seeing regular duty. 26:52 I'm sure he will again. 26:54 I'm not sure if Ben Brinkman, who was out injured for the two games against Michigan State, will be back yet. 26:59 He, along with Brandon McManus, are both nursing leg injuries. 27:04 So whether either one can make it back for Michigan, I don't know at this point. 27:09 But it's going to give other guys an opportunity. 27:12 A guy like a Sam Rossini, I don't know who all is going to be in the lineup, but Sam hasn't played a game yet this year. 27:18 So there's an opportunity to get in there and prove your worth, and hopefully stay in the lineup. 27:25 Jared Klein wants to know, does anyone know when the Big Ten will release the rest of their schedule? 27:29 And Jared, we just don't know. 27:33 I mean, you know, we had Moscow in his weekly availability this week. 27:37 We even talked about this on the last podcast, Veegs, that he's like, well, I'm hearing it's this week, but they told me it was going to happen three weeks ago. 27:45 So if the coach doesn't know, the coach might have an idea, but there's just nothing happening yet, Veegs. 27:51 Yeah, they're going to be playing games. 27:54 Oh, yeah. 27:54 There's just complications with media and travel schedules and just trying to make sure you get off on the right foot. 28:02 I'm sure Wisconsin would like all their players to be healthy by the time play starts up again, so they don't have to postpone any games. 28:09 And you just don't know. 28:11 But I do think this kind of philosophy of putting four games kind of close together and reducing the travel for the teams is probably a good idea for giving them a chance to finish the season, because once the players know they have games and they're in their routine, it's a lot easier for them to stay focused. 28:29 If they have long breaks where they don't know what's coming next, that opens things up a little bit. 28:35 I always used to think that sometimes Gopher's slow starts on Friday nights is because maybe their Wednesdays and Thursdays weren't as disciplined. 28:43 But Friday night you get into your routine, and then you come into your Saturday game, you're in your routine, you know, then you're ready to play. 28:50 So I like the four games in a short stretch. 28:53 Wally, I know you've got the whole schedule for January. 28:56 You're just holding it back, aren't you? 28:59 No, we were hoping we would have it last week, too, because we're all trying to plan. 29:03 But normally, this is the time of year when things shut down for semester break and final exams anyway. 29:10 So there's really no difference there. 29:13 But obviously, the Mariucci Classic, which usually happens right at the end of December, isn't going to happen this year. 29:20 And it'll be a January start sometime for renewing games. 29:25 I think the one critical thing that we've had happen so far within the Big Ten Conference is no games have been postponed. 29:33 You look out east. 29:35 Knocking on wood. 29:36 I'm knocking on wood on that. 29:38 We went into this weekend, well, the series of the Michigan State, only 34 of 61 D1 teams had played games. 29:46 Nine had canceled their seasons, and that left another, what, 19, 20 teams still looking to play their first games. 29:53 Since then, obviously, a couple have over the course of this weekend here, but COVID has just really hampered all sports. 30:00 But so far, the Big Ten has done an admiral job of not only following COVID protocols within their athletic departments, but doing all the testing with the kids and making sure people are healthy. 30:14 And if they're not, there's a 21-day period that they have to sit out. 30:18 Are there going to be some cases down the pipeline here? 30:21 I'm sure there's going to be. 30:23 We know there's going to be a rash of cases coming up here over the next two and three weeks after Thanksgiving. 30:30 And we just got to hope that a lot of these athletes take care of themselves and stay away from a lot of other people, keep their get-togethers just within themselves, wear masks, wash hands, you know, the stuff that's recommended. 30:44 Especially when you look at, you know, Gopher football. 30:46 I mean, what was it? 30:47 Forty-six people between players and staff came down with COVID here. 30:51 I mean, I don't know how it avoided the hockey team, but... 30:56 Well, the one thing that they're separate, though... 30:58 Yeah, but the one thing there is, Vegoe, is like, we can kind of figure out maybe a few of them have had it, but we also don't know that maybe some of these players had it in the summer or early fall. 31:08 We don't really know, obviously, they're not going to release that information. 31:11 Moscow said he had it. 31:14 I mean, there's a lot of unknowns here. 31:17 Yeah, he said he's had it and he's had one positive case in season this year. 31:21 So fans can do that if they want to guess. 31:25 But for Thanksgiving, they didn't let the players go home and have Thanksgiving with their families. 31:31 He kept them in game mode with their teammates. 31:35 He's mentioned that people who do get COVID at the U, that he's heard, it's not coming from teammates at practice. 31:41 It's coming from having people over to your apartment or your dorm room, or getting an Uber ride or sharing a car somewhere. 31:49 That's where they're tracking the cases back to. 31:52 It's not a lot of stuff between the team until this big Gopher football outbreak happened, but I think as long as players have games and have their schedule and are in that bubble hockey mode, they're not going to have the official bubble. 32:06 But the players are taking on a lot of responsibility. 32:10 Yeah, Bob was saying that when he came down with COVID in the summer, we were talking about it on a radio show last week. 32:17 He said he didn't catch it from Gopher, from the University of Minnesota or the Gopher hockey program. 32:23 He was actually at one of his kids' functions over the course of summer. 32:26 And he got pretty sick. 32:27 He said he just really felt bad for like two straight weeks before things cleared up and he was getting back to some realm of normalcy. 32:37 It's nothing you want to mess with. 32:39 Oh yeah, we've talked about that too. 32:41 It's like, you know, some people aren't going to feel a thing. 32:44 Some people are going to get really sick. 32:46 It's just that's what that's what's been so scary about this whole COVID thing. 32:50 Everyone is that is is reacting differently. 32:52 I mean, you look, there are some hundred year old lady who's had it twice already. 32:57 And she's fine. 33:02 That's it's just a big unknown right now. 33:04 We just, I mean, you looked at, you know, Wisconsin just when they're playing Arizona State, weren't they short like four or five guys at least? 33:11 Yeah, they had to put a couple of defensemen at wings on their fourth line. 33:14 Yeah. 33:15 And just try to get them out there to spell players when they could. 33:19 That's a difficult thing to do in college hockey. 33:21 The rosters aren't very big. 33:23 So if you have the virus get through your team, the way the conferences are holding everybody accountable with their protocols, you're going to miss games if you have it get in your room. 33:33 So the players know that they've got a lot of responsibility on their shoulders if they want to have a season. 33:38 And as long as people keep catching the virus, it's still going to be out there. 33:44 So the faster we get rid of it with a vaccine and people taking care of themselves, the less time we have to deal with it. 33:52 And Wally, the coach even said, it's up to the players. 33:56 It's up to you. 33:57 If you want to play, you got to be smart. 33:59 That's just how he just flat out said that. 34:02 Yeah, it's the same case with everybody. 34:04 You just got to take the precautions. 34:07 I do. 34:08 I don't want to get this. 34:11 Well, nobody does. 34:13 So Wally, obviously, you're calling the games from here. 34:16 You're not seeing the players as much. 34:17 Are you kind of missing that kind of interaction? 34:21 A lot of times, you guys fly with the team. 34:23 Are you kind of missing some of that background and getting to know the players as you would normally do? 34:29 Yeah, that's been the toughest part. 34:31 It's like even when we do Zoom calls with Bob, I mean, he just smiles because he can finally see us just on the video. 34:39 But you really miss that interaction. 34:43 Working with guys like Boomer, our guy that puts the whole program together in the video coaching and the assistant coaches, we don't get a chance to really get with Ben Gordon and Garrett Raboin at all. 34:55 And when we're on the road, we go out a lot with the staff and go out to eat together and have a beverage afterwards. 35:04 And you miss all that. 35:06 And you see the players because we're staying in the same hotel. 35:08 We're staying on the same floors with them. 35:10 And the guys have said the same thing. 35:13 They miss seeing us as well. 35:14 But I'd rather see them safe and be able to play the game and be able to conduct their studies appropriately as well. 35:23 So, if they're taking care of themselves and doing all the right things, that's good, you know. 35:28 They know we're here. 35:29 We know they're there. 35:30 And as long as everybody is safe, we can get a hockey season in. 35:35 Well, I'm hoping we all get to meet after the games too and yell at what's on the TVs at Maxwell's cuz. 35:42 They've been closed since March. 35:45 I did get some blue door takeout the other day. 35:48 And that warmed my heart to get a blue sea and some smoky bandit fries is much needed. 35:58 Well, we got a big series coming up, guys. 36:00 Heading to Michigan. 36:03 It's gonna be odd cuz we obviously we talked about Michigan's down there. 36:07 Five of the top six scorers. 36:08 They've got a young. 36:09 They had a young team that will actually probably be a little older this weekend. 36:14 With those those youngsters gone. 36:15 But we've got our youngsters gone on defense. 36:19 What do you expect? 36:20 Veegs, it's just you don't know. 36:24 Yeah, we don't know. 36:24 I was gonna be expecting Brinkman and Castor to be playing a lot of minutes, but I don't think that's gonna happen if Brinkman isn't fully healthy. 36:33 I almost think that's one of the reasons they might have held them out of the Michigan State Series is give him a chance to get back to 100% and then maybe you can play him in the Michigan Series cuz he would definitely come in handy for those two games. 36:47 It will be interesting to see how everybody else steps up for the opportunity. 36:51 Stukker, great on offense, it's looked really good on the power play, hasn't really had to defend much. 36:57 I think Bob's been cautious about how he puts him out there for ice time. 37:02 It's gonna be hard to hide anybody against Michigan. 37:05 They could dress 70, but I don't think you can really hide anyone out there. 37:09 Up front, I'm interested to see how Sammy Walker and Blake McLaughlin play. 37:14 They have another level to hit. 37:16 I think when they're effective, Walker can change the game with his speed, creating turnovers and getting in transition. 37:23 I haven't seen enough of that this year. 37:25 Blake McLaughlin, he takes advantage when he creates second chances and chaos in the offensive zone. 37:31 Haven't seen a lot of possession out of that line this year. 37:35 That's what I'll be looking for this weekend or this week. 37:40 It's hard with this schedule. 37:41 Those Tuesday, Wednesday games. 37:47 I've stopped referring to Friday and Saturday. 37:49 I try to go game one, game two. 37:51 It's easier that way. 37:52 It's been throwing me all off. 37:55 I was trying to get my stuff done on Saturday afternoon. 37:58 I got to get... 37:58 Oh wait, I don't need to get home for hockey. 38:02 It's just all messed up. 38:04 Yeah, it is. 38:05 I'll be really curious to see... 38:08 You know, we talk about Gophers playing four games in six days to open up the season. 38:12 This stretch here is four games in seven days. 38:15 These guys normally don't do that. 38:18 But the guys, everybody to me has been saying, oh, we just want to play games. 38:22 You know, we don't mind not having practices. 38:24 We don't mind a compressed schedule like this. 38:28 It's just we want to get out there and play some games. 38:31 But the NCHC, I mean, they're all in a pod down there in Omaha, but they're gonna end up playing a game every other day, 10 games in 20 days for each of those teams. 38:42 I'll be really curious to see once that pod session is over with, you know, how beat up or how tired are these teams after playing that kind of a schedule? 38:54 That's even more games than an NHL schedule. 38:56 Yeah. 38:56 I think it's so difficult in that league because you don't have the practice time. 39:01 I think that's one of the things about college hockey that makes it as competitive and there's so much parity in the NCAAs is because teams can prepare for each other, get sound systems and that level just jumps to a much more complicated, difficult game to break open. 39:18 And so maybe we'll see some of the games where teams can score nine goals like we saw this past weekend. 39:24 You know, that's going to happen because you don't have all the time to prepare that I know college coaches take advantage of. 39:33 Well, I'm just looking forward to midweek hockey. 39:38 Yeah, it'll be fun. 39:40 It's I'm looking forward to it. 39:41 I mean, once you get the schedule finally going and getting some games going, you realize how bad you missed the sport, you know, and that's what I'm looking forward to is just to keep this ball rolling. 39:53 Well, one thing I was, it was kind of interesting, I was listening to you guys, I'm not sure if you did this on the first game, but the second game, you actually picked up Deutche's Zoom and were, you know, listening to the player interviews at the end of the game. 40:06 You wouldn't have had that opportunity before. 40:08 No, you're right. 40:09 In the past, we would not have. 40:11 We could have set up some, a different system audio-wise to put microphones down there and do that. 40:19 But now, with everything Zoom, it's giving us some new technical challenges, not only just putting road games on that we can see in our TCF Bank control room up there, but just you can start doing some of these things of bringing in, getting some player comments after game, which we weren't able to do in the past. 40:39 And it's kind of a work in progress, but it's been a fun challenge and it certainly has restructured our format a little bit on what we can do, because the other thing the Big Ten did was to shorten those intermissions from 16 minutes down to 12. 40:54 So we've got X number of commercial minutes we got in, so our feature segments have been dramatically reduced. 41:02 And even in the periods, if it's a BTN televised game, they take one 60 second break midway through the period. 41:10 Normally you'd have three breaks per period. 41:13 So these games are getting done in right around two hours. 41:17 We had the one game, one home game was an hour and 59 minutes. 41:22 You're rarely in the past ever saw a hockey game go that quick. 41:25 No, I remember running high school hockey tournaments at Drake Arena, and we were dying to get a game over in two hours so we could get the night done. 41:34 You know, you got to play four games. 41:36 You're just like, come on, guys, let's go. 41:38 Let's get that ice set and get everybody going so we can get out of here before midnight. 41:43 But these games are quick. 41:45 It's pretty fast paced. 41:46 I know it was an adjustment for Bob after the first weekend where he's going, boy, that one TV timeout period certainly makes a difference. 41:54 You got to have a little bit more depth in your lineup. 41:57 Yeah, you do. 41:58 And that's a great point, Veegs, because before, you know, you could rest guys in these one minute breaks. 42:02 And sometimes that's really all you needed. 42:05 That's why sometimes fourth lines on some teams didn't get a whole lot of game action in. 42:10 You had a chance to rest your top nine forwards and just circulate through those guys. 42:15 But it is a different game right now. 42:17 And it's a big adjustment for all these coaches from a strategic standpoint and a planning standpoint and how you're going to conduct your business. 42:25 And I think it puts the Gophers in great position with how well that fourth line's played. 42:30 You know, Bob talked about them maybe being his top line out of the weekend, bristling at a question that was phrased pointing them out as a fourth line. 42:39 He's like, well, they might be the fourth one on the line chart, but they played better than the others. 42:44 Was that a Jess Meyers question? 42:47 It could have been a Jess Meyers question. 42:49 Jess and Bob have been barring each other on the... 42:54 Just trying to create a goalie controversy. 42:59 How are you going to get Mo in there? 43:01 I'm like... 43:03 I mean, right now, Wally, if Jack's feeling great, you stick with him, don't you? 43:08 Well, yeah, and Bob really wanted in those first four games, he really did want to get Jared in there, but when you're sitting at a 1.0 goals against average and a 9-6-1 saves percentage, that leads the nation. 43:24 That's the best goalie in hockey. 43:26 So how can you make a change? 43:29 And you're winning games besides, so... 43:31 And then that's the big thing I like about this team, is you look at the goals for, which is around 3.2 goals per game they're getting right now, and goals against is around 1.1. 43:42 2.1 goals per game separation from goals for, goals against. 43:47 That is a really, really healthy separation. 43:51 And Minnesota has been able to keep that going right on through this first six games. 43:58 Fantastic. 43:59 And the best part is, and if we take a look here, there they are in first place, Bigs. 44:04 18 points, two games in hand over second place, Wisconsin. 44:09 Michigan had a couple of breakups, but it's looking pretty good so far in this first six games. 44:15 I mean, they're pitching a shutout. 44:18 Very clean. 44:18 You know, when you haven't trailed for a minute all season, that's the kind of standings you can get. 44:24 And you can play a goalie more frequently when he's not getting a lot of work. 44:28 He had a lot of work in the third period of the Michigan State game, game two. 44:32 But he's had a lot of games where he has not seen consistent pressure other than when they're out there killing penalties. 44:39 You know, it's smooth sailing for him. 44:41 And he's a pretty good in shape goalie. 44:44 So you don't have to worry about him, unlike some other goalies in the Big Ten. 44:47 Not to name names. 44:49 But I think Jack can handle it. 44:52 If you look at this, you know, if you're watching the video, you can see I've kind of limited the 15 fields that they have now, Wally. 44:59 What? 45:00 I know it's... 45:01 I've got regulation wins. 45:02 And then I have overtime slash shootout wins. 45:05 Because if you win a shootout or if you win an overtime, it's worth the same amount. 45:09 So I've kind of, I've taken away a couple columns there. 45:12 It still all adds up. 45:13 And that's all I care about. 45:14 Because when Deutsch sends out the stats and it's just got this column, this column, this column, I'm just going, stop. 45:23 It's getting out of control. 45:24 Yeah. 45:25 Well, I do like there's only three points available in a game. 45:28 I just think that's great. 45:29 Yes. 45:30 Yeah. 45:31 Yeah. 45:32 And I'm glad College Hockey too across the board, all six conferences went with the same overtime procedure going forward now. 45:42 It's going to jump right into a three on three overtime and then a shoot out afterwards. 45:47 So I like that consistency. 45:49 You don't have these different variances across the board from one league to the other. 45:54 So that's a good thing. 45:56 All right, Veegs. 45:57 Predictions on the week. 45:59 I always said predictions on the weekend. 46:00 Predictions on the Michigan series. 46:03 We're just used to weekends in College Hockey. 46:05 Maybe we can treat this week like a weekend and just have a great time and enjoy the Gophers sweeping Michigan. 46:11 Whoa. 46:12 I do think that with Michigan losing their power play, their best puck moving defensemen, who they rely on a lot. 46:19 You know, some teams, you know, when they have a key defenseman, he doesn't do quite as much as Cam York does for Michigan, but he does a lot for them. 46:26 He's quite their catalyst. 46:27 So without him, I think they're going to be missing a lot. 46:32 And I feel like Minnesota has enough depth right now where they can really take advantage of that. 46:36 Because just imagine losing half your lineup and having to face the Gophers who are going to play four lines. 46:43 Yeah, true. 46:43 And I don't think that. 46:45 And that's kind of the key, Wally. 46:46 You know, we are losing some defense, but upfront, it's very consistent. 46:51 Well, we got all our forwards, so that's the one big thing. 46:54 And Michigan does not. 46:56 Four of their five kids going to the junior tryout are forwards. 47:00 And a couple of these kids are going to be first round draft picks in the NHL draft next year. 47:05 They haven't even drafted yet. 47:06 So they're losing a lot of talent on the front end of their team. 47:10 So hopefully that will bode well for our guys. 47:15 I'm calling for a sweep, two leagues. 47:16 I got to stay on it. 47:17 I got to stay on the bandwagon. 47:21 I know Taylor and Brent in the YouTube chat are upset with me going sweep. 47:25 But the depth that Minnesota has is very impressive. 47:29 Yeah. 47:30 And you look at a 6-0 start. 47:34 That's pretty impressive. 47:35 I mean, you're way up in the plus column right now. 47:39 And it almost gives you the feeling that you almost have a lock on first place right now because you played half the league. 47:48 You know Michigan is going to be a good team. 47:50 Wisconsin is an improved team. 47:52 I'm still not certain what Notre Dame has got to offer because they've suffered some setbacks already, but you know it'll be a tight defensive battle with them. 48:00 But boy, when you can start off and you've won three straight series and you don't have a blemish on your record, that's a great start. 48:09 That's a good happy feeling going into this break. 48:12 And you know what actually makes me look forward to, Veegs, is that when Michigan comes to Minnesota, everyone will be playing then. 48:19 Yeah. 48:19 And that's going to be fun. 48:20 That'll be great to watch. 48:22 I was kind of waiting for this series before I kind of gave, you know, what's the temperature of this team? 48:27 How hot are they going to be this year? 48:29 I was kind of circling this match up on my calendar. 48:32 And now that all the players are going off to the camp, you know, that kind of diminishes a little bit as a measuring stick. 48:38 But when you have a record like they're putting together, it definitely bodes well for the rest of the season. 48:45 I think it also gives the players a little bit more disciplined, knowing that they have such a big chance ahead of them this season, that you can hold players more accountable when you have a situation like this. 48:59 All right. 49:00 Well, Wally, thanks for coming on our podcast. 49:03 It's my pleasure. 49:04 It only took us 10 years to get you on. 49:08 Well, okay. 49:09 Don't wait another 10. 49:10 Yeah. 49:10 Well, to be honest, you know, it was Frank. 49:13 We blame Frank because Frank is like, you know, Wally doesn't even have a smartphone. 49:17 I don't know if he can do it. 49:20 Now that we see you on the zooms for everything, we go, well, see, Wally can do it. 49:24 He's got to figure it out. 49:25 Yeah. 49:25 I've got to figure it out. 49:27 Yeah. 49:27 And that's good. 49:28 Well, we appreciate you. 49:30 He had to go download a program for these new microphones. 49:33 I just plugged mine into the computer and it did it for me. 49:38 It was great. 49:39 Yeah, Frank is kind of, you know, when we used to do this all through Skype with Frank, and he'd have to figure it out every time. 49:47 He's been on the show more than anyone else, but he'd have to figure out the software every single time. 49:52 Now, what's my log in all this stuff? 49:55 So, Wally, do we get a coaches show this week? 49:59 Yes. 50:00 We will be recording tomorrow morning with coaches. 50:03 We usually do, and it'll be played back. 50:06 Those different time slots. 50:08 I'm not even sure what time it hits the market. 50:10 Probably 6 p.m. 50:11 and then hopefully... 50:12 6 p.m., yeah. 50:13 Well, then Deutsch was given 7.30, and then he tweeted that out, and it was all wrong. 50:17 Oh boy. 50:18 Okay. 50:19 I always look forward to the coaches show, because I think sometimes Bob forgets that when he's talking to you on the show, that it's actually going to be broadcast later. 50:28 And he always gives you guys a little something more than he'll give us at the availability. 50:33 He's got his guard up for that. 50:35 But with you, he just shoots the breeze and tells you a lot of info. 50:39 Yeah, but that's Bob. 50:42 He's the kind of guy that... 50:44 He reminds me so much of Herb Brooks. 50:46 They're just guys that you sit down at a bar and shoot the breeze with for an hour. 50:50 And that's the way he is. 50:53 He's that kind of down earth type of human being and loves his team, loves these kids. 51:00 And he's doing a great job. 51:02 He's put together fantastic staff that really works well together. 51:06 They enjoy each other's company and they share all the same thoughts and what they're doing. 51:12 And you can see it. 51:14 And it's taken a couple of years, I think, for that transition from the Don Lucia era to the Bob Motzko era. 51:20 But every coach has a little bit different style and he's making his imprint. 51:24 And now we're seeing the low-hanging fruit coming to fruition for this team. 51:30 So it's great to see. 51:31 And I think we're in for some really good years going forward with Gopher Hockey. 51:37 Well, Wally, what we do also need is a good rivalry in the Big Ten. 51:41 Obviously, Wisconsin, coming back, I could see a lot of guys in the chat, they want to get you upset so you start calling the other players hose heads again. 51:53 Yeah. 51:53 I miss those North Dakota games and Duluth. 51:59 But it'll come. 52:01 I think so, too. 52:02 And we've talked about this with Vs, I'm like, I love these Michigan games. 52:06 It might not be the same, but the Michigan could be a really good rivalry. 52:10 I've always loved these games with Michigan. 52:12 I think the big difference too with this league versus the old WCHA, there's just so many more guys that have been drafted because you're dealing with big time schools. 52:23 And that's not to say anything negative about some of these smaller schools, but when you've got an opportunity to get a lot of these kids that are draft choices and some high end talent, I think sometimes big schools do have an advantage that way. 52:37 And this is a good conference. 52:41 We sometimes lose too many players early to the professional ranks, but I think that speaks because of the talent level that we have here. 52:49 Veegs, are you working on anything this week? 52:52 Yeah, I'm putting together a little piece on Scott Reedy, who has really assert himself this year with the Gophers. 52:59 He's just a big, strong forward. 53:01 And in college hockey, when you have a senior forward like that, who knows how to play a possession game, knows how to create in-zone offense and can contribute like he does in the power play, you're going to be in great shape. 53:14 So, I've tracked down a few quotes about him over the last year and I'll be putting that together on GPL here on Tuesday. 53:21 We look forward to that, we always look forward to that, Veegs, it's nice. 53:25 Well, thank you, Wally, I'm just going to thank you again for being on the podcast. 53:28 We really appreciate you coming on the show. 53:31 Yeah, my pleasure. 53:32 All right. 53:33 Thank you very much for having me. 53:35 And that's going to do it for this GPL Podcast. 53:38 Obviously, we want to thank Wally Shaver for joining us and we'll be back sometime in early January. 53:44 You know, we just don't know yet. 53:46 Once we have a game schedule, it kind of allows us to figure out what the show schedule is going to be. 53:51 So we'll just have to wait and see. 53:53 For those of you listening live on YouTube, stay tuned for a little bit of overtime with Wally Shaver. 53:59 For the rest of you, have a great holiday season and we'll see you in 2021.