0:03
This is The GPL Podcast, sponsored by Jerry Peters and First Class Mortgage.
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Our expertise, your peace of mind.
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Visit us at firstclassmortgage.com.
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Now, here's Joop and Vego.
0:37
Good evening, and welcome to the GPL Podcast, episode number 183.
0:45
Well, Veegs, no guests this week.
0:47
It's just you and I to talk about just some GopherPuck.
0:51
As I put on the live broadcast, one streak ends, another one begins, meaning, as Matsuko would say, sometimes someone's gonna punch us in the face or punch us in the nose, whatever.
1:05
And that happened at game one against the BADgers.
1:08
Yeah, I think we expected a good matchup with Wisconsin.
1:11
They have a lot of talent on their roster and it seemed like they're playing a little bit more competitive hockey.
1:17
I think the surprising thing out of that first game of the series was the strength of their goaltending.
1:24
I thought their goaltending played better than I expected it to be and kept them in the game.
1:30
There were a lot of rebounds available for GopherForwards to pounce on, but they just never were able to really find them and just couldn't close the gap.
1:43
Well, I had always been predicting sweep, couldn't do it.
1:51
I feel terrible about that.
1:53
I feel like I let everyone down, but you know how it is.
1:58
I, in the long run, I think I like the lessons learned that when another team brings it, like Wisconsin did Veegs, Wisconsin was busting their ass all weekend and it took a good, it took the Gophers kind of raise their game on game two to get a split in Wisconsin.
2:21
So here's where I'm gonna maybe go off the rails a little bit.
2:24
Go for it.
2:25
I don't think it was so much that they weren't playing well on the first game of the series, Saturday night.
2:36
I think what the issue was is they weren't working hard enough to get goals and that secondary scoring chances.
2:45
They got plenty of opportunities.
2:46
You know, their power play got a couple of chances.
2:50
Their penalty kill was pretty good on the weekend, but sometimes when you're in that game where you're not getting the bounces, you have to raise it to an even higher level and outplay the team you're playing.
3:01
You can't just match them and you can't just have to answer the bell.
3:04
You have to take it to another level and really just take control of the game and force your own luck.
3:10
Because I think you're going to get in games in college hockey that are going to be one goal games.
3:15
So you're going to have to get more effort than they're used to giving.
3:20
You know, you can't play with a lead all the time.
3:22
One of these times, you're going to get bounces against you.
3:25
Like on Sunday's game, Wisconsin hit a pipe pretty soon after Walker's goal.
3:31
And if that goes in, maybe Wisconsin gets a little more energy and gets a go-ahead goal, and the Gophers are in that same position where they just have to create just a little bit more.
3:41
So I don't think it was necessarily they didn't come to play, they didn't bring their effort.
3:45
I thought they actually played kind of okay on Saturday.
3:48
It's just sometimes you need a little bit more to get over the hump.
3:52
To finish the deal.
3:53
Yeah, to finish the deal, because you're going to be in games like that where you don't get the bounces.
3:58
You know, I also noticed as I was sitting there kind of as a fan, there was just even both nights, there was just some bounces where the net was wide open.
4:09
It would just bounce over a stick or just a Wisconsin player would check a stick real late or something like that.
4:16
It just seemed like the bounces weren't quite going their way, whereas I would say maybe early in the season, they had quite a few fortunate bounces.
4:26
Yeah, I think there may be a few fortunate bounces there, but you just also have to be in a position where you're just going to be like, I'm not going to let this puck bounce through me.
4:34
I'm not going to let my stick get lifted.
4:37
And you just have to really fight through it.
4:39
I think missing Scott Reedy maybe hurt them a little bit from that standpoint because he's one of those players where he can play a hard, dirty, tight game and create space for himself and not be moved.
4:53
I think some of the other players, they're still going through the motions on how to compete in a game like that.
4:58
And to win, especially as we look ahead to a potential NCAA Tournament run, you're going to have to create your own luck sometimes.
5:05
And I think that's kind of that next step.
5:07
I don't think it was they were checked out and got outplayed that much.
5:11
And like you mentioned earlier, the goaltending for Wisconsin was much better than we've seen the past few years.
5:18
He really played well.
5:20
He played well in the first shot, you know, and sometimes, you know, a decent goaltender, that's all you ask of them, is make that first save.
5:29
We'll clean up the rebounds.
5:30
We won't let players get second chances.
5:32
We'll clear the puck.
5:34
And he did that.
5:35
I think sometimes, you know, an elite top level goalie doesn't give up the rebounds.
5:41
And in the game, rebounds were there.
5:43
I asked the players.
5:45
Yeah, both sides.
5:46
I asked the players about that.
5:47
They're just like, we knew they were there.
5:49
We just needed to keep pounding them and keep finding pucks.
5:52
And I think that's a good lesson for them to go into this series with the Notre Dame coming up is rebounds are there if you shoot in the right spots.
6:01
So good lessons to get on film.
6:06
And we'll see what they take from it.
6:09
I was very encouraged to see Walker and McLaughlin start to play like they can play.
6:14
I kind of noticed it a little bit.
6:16
The first game, they were a little more engaged.
6:19
McLaughlin especially.
6:20
The second game, I thought Walker got more engaged.
6:23
Yeah, that's what I was going to roll into, McLaughlin and Walker, because they definitely have stepped up their game the last couple of games.
6:31
And so much so that, you know, Matzko was saying he really likes that they finally...
6:36
Well, he even said today, you know, it's not that they were playing bad.
6:40
We just needed them to score.
6:41
They were doing a lot of the other things.
6:44
But now we just need that, you know, okay, guys, you're doing great.
6:47
Now we need you to put the puck in the net.
6:48
And they've kind of started doing that.
6:51
Yeah, they're starting to do that.
6:52
I think McLaughlin's got a couple of tips and things where he's around the net.
6:56
He can be a real pest to play against.
6:58
You know, when he's engaged and he's into the game and he's not getting into little fights with players, but he's actually sticking to productive hockey, he's a nat out there and can be difficult.
7:10
And I think one of the things that they did, especially well in the second game, is back pressure.
7:15
And they could create some transition opportunities and that's where they really shine.
7:20
I mean, you look at them on the penalty kill, how hard they are to play against, because usually they start with Nelson and Myers and then they go into McLaughlin and Walker and their speed just puts so much pressure on the other team that they can create turnovers.
7:37
Now, the thing is, you got to get your turnover and then you got to go.
7:40
I asked Blake McLaughlin about that today.
7:42
It's like, what's the key to getting transition?
7:44
It's like, you know, if the D haven't gapped up yet and you can create a turnover and get some pace, you've put them into a really bad situation.
7:54
They've got to decide, do I gap up to close the gap so you don't have tons of time once you get the entry?
8:00
Do they sit back and let you get a clean entry and have time and space to make a play on the rush?
8:06
You know, that's the challenge against those guys when they're really going.
8:11
One thing that was also brought up at the media session today was, you know, Moscow was talking about his fourth line, which we don't really call it that, but he's really, for one thing, he really loves Cullen Munson.
8:24
He loves his 110% that he gives on every shift.
8:29
But, you know, the combo of Munson and Jackson Nelson, he was really praising that group.
8:36
Well, I think Jackson Nelson has really grown this year as a reliable player, and I think he'll make any line work when he's on the ice.
8:44
He's got such length that it's difficult to get to the center of the ice, and he's a good skater.
8:49
He can get up and down the rink.
8:51
He's been really good on draws.
8:52
I think the problem is sometimes when you have lower lines with less talented players, if they lose a draw in their defensive zone and they're out against a skilled opponent, it can really put you on your heels.
9:04
You get tired, start chasing the puck, lose your structure, bad things can happen.
9:09
I think with him, he can win a lot of face-offs and get you going in the right direction, especially with the defenseman that Minnesota has on their blue line.
9:17
And that's kind of what Musco was saying today.
9:20
He says, I love putting those guys out against the other team's top line.
9:24
I know they're going to do well.
9:26
They're going to keep pressure on that line, defensively and offensively.
9:30
And then doing that could cause, you know, better matchups for them.
9:34
You know, when all of a sudden, you know, maybe that third or fourth line comes out for the other team.
9:39
And also now you have the mismatch because you know that your fourth line is not a liability, whereas other teams, your third and fourth line could be a liability.
9:49
Sometimes they're worried about that.
9:50
Hearing that from a coach where he doesn't care about the line matchups.
9:54
I would almost want him to say, you know, if the other team wants to do that to us, then I intentionally, as a coach, want to put my first line against your fourth line and see how that goes.
10:05
Because from my perspective, some of the nights where he's been trying to figure out how to use Walker and Mulholland and get them going, I would like to see them out against another team's fourth line.
10:16
Because the speed and pressure that they can put on an unskilled line is a difference maker.
10:22
And that could really get them going.
10:23
And I've seen that a couple nights where they'll start with the Meyers line and then go into the Reedy line and then go into the Walker line.
10:31
And I think that's a nice thing to try to get those guys going.
10:35
Because I think some of those other players, they can kind of play against anybody.
10:39
They play a little heavier game.
10:40
But I think that Walker and Mulholland line can really take advantage of a mismatch if the other team is going to give it to you.
10:46
Do we know what happened to Reedy?
10:48
We don't.
10:49
It's been very...
10:51
He played the first game, didn't he?
10:53
Yeah.
10:54
He was really quiet, though.
10:55
Maybe that's why he went out during that game and I didn't notice it.
10:59
Yeah, I think he played through the end.
11:01
And some people were saying, you know, maybe he's stretching his back or something.
11:05
Something maybe came up, upper body thing.
11:08
But it's been real quiet from you.
11:10
It's interesting.
11:12
I was listening to Mizako in the postgame with Moscow.
11:16
And he's like, you know, what I really like about you, Bob, is you never short answer us.
11:20
You always give us a good, long answer.
11:22
And then just seconds later, because I'm trying to time up the radio postgame with the media availability.
11:27
Yep.
11:28
Moscow gets asked by Jess, you know, any update on reading Moscow?
11:34
I was like, you just short answered Jess.
11:36
I mean, if there's somebody in our media scrums who's going to get short answered, I think it's going to be Jess.
11:41
Are you crazy?
11:43
Those two get after each other pretty good sometimes.
11:47
It's all good fun, though.
11:48
It is.
11:49
Well, I just kind of wanted to mention, for those of you who may be listening to the podcast, we record this usually on Wednesday nights around 930.
11:58
One thing we've always done is done some type of live broadcast, whether it was just audio for many years.
12:04
But this year we're doing the YouTube thing where we're streaming live.
12:08
So people can go watch us on YouTube as we record.
12:12
We've got like 28 people right now watching us live.
12:17
So if you want to participate in the podcast, this is your way to do it.
12:21
Just come on, watch us on YouTube.
12:23
You know, when we tweet it out or just follow us on our YouTube channel.
12:28
If you subscribe, you'll get notified when we're live and even when we post other videos.
12:32
And then you can, you know, when we're sitting here recording our podcast, you can ask us questions and give us your thoughts and just throw your ideas at us, what you want us to discuss.
12:42
So make sure if, you know, if you're listening live or you're listening on recording, give us a try and watch us live.
12:49
You know, it's something we've been doing for a long time, but I'm just kind of reiterating it, Veegs.
12:54
Yeah, I know Eric's in the chat right now asking if he thought Motsko made a mistake pulling Laffer with a couple, you know, minutes to go in the game.
13:03
And a power play.
13:05
And a power play.
13:06
I know you were one of the guys, I think, that criticized it live, maybe on Twitter.
13:11
I don't remember.
13:13
No, it was either you or Chris.
13:15
Was Chris on the GPL?
13:17
No, it was me on the feed the other night.
13:18
That was you.
13:22
I didn't drink that night.
13:23
Maybe.
13:23
It's just old.
13:24
I'm forgetting.
13:25
Okay.
13:25
You made a critique, but I personally liked the move.
13:30
If you're out there on the power play and the other goalie has been giving up rebounds all night, having that extra attacker in that situation is what you want.
13:40
Because you know that the rebounds are going to be there, and that you have the opportunity to put one of those back.
13:45
It's probably the easiest way to score in hockey, is a rebound where the goalie is out of position and you're uncovered.
13:52
If you have two extra players out there, you should have two guys free to jump pucks on rebounds, and they should be uncovered, no stick on them.
14:02
It's the easiest play in hockey, just jump a loose puck and fire it home to an empty net.
14:07
So I like having the extra player out there.
14:10
The problem is you have a freshman defenseman, caster who's tired maybe and just misplays a puck and it goes the other way and you lose the game.
14:19
Maybe if you have a more veteran player out there who's not tired, he makes the smart play, maintains possession of the zone, you keep going.
14:27
But I like that play.
14:29
Do you like to do it for the whole time?
14:31
I mean, they could have, you know, because, oh boy, what was it?
14:34
When did the penalty happen?
14:35
About 40 seconds, you know, 240 or something?
14:37
Yeah.
14:38
I can't remember.
14:40
Maybe the first minute, keep it even or keep it one man plus, and then maybe play your guy.
14:47
Obviously, you know, hindsight is 20-20, so it's...
14:51
I like making that decision when you have possession and maybe you're out against a tired penalty kill and you get that extra pressure.
14:59
I like it in that situation.
15:01
Sometimes I like it, especially if you had like a six on three.
15:04
I like having three extra players out there for that kind of situation because you can just...
15:09
you can force the penalty kill into a situation where they're outgunned.
15:14
And if the pucks are going to be there, you want those extra players.
15:18
Let's set up a Twitter question.
15:20
Hockey Fan 2020.
15:23
Had a great year there, Hockey Fan.
15:25
Can't you pick a better...
15:26
Maybe change it to 2021 or something.
15:29
I know this could all change due to COVID.
15:31
How do you guys see the NCAA tourney playing out for hockey?
15:35
Top 16 in the polls make the tourney.
15:37
Conference winners with auto bid.
15:40
Love to hear your thoughts.
15:41
Great show.
15:42
Keep up the work.
15:43
Thanks for the praise.
15:49
We may not know for a while.
15:51
And they may even leave it up to the league.
15:54
So you say, hey, do you want your auto bid to your playoff champion, regular season champion?
15:59
Is it going to be a smoky room like it was in the past?
16:01
But maybe there's no smoking now.
16:03
But it's really hard to speculate right now because we just don't have any idea what's going to happen there.
16:10
I just hope I get invited to the Zoom call.
16:16
Fly on the wall.
16:18
Yeah, fly on the wall.
16:19
Maybe Don will invite me.
16:21
But I think we'll see.
16:22
Hey, Don likes you.
16:23
Dude, you didn't rip on him as much as the rest of us.
16:27
It's the hair.
16:28
He respects the hair.
16:29
Yeah, you are.
16:30
Look at it.
16:31
If you're listening, you can't see.
16:32
But Vegoe's flow is starting to come in pretty good.
16:35
I've seen it much longer.
16:36
It has been longer, but I think it's in good shape right now.
16:39
Got some great photos when it was down to here at one of the WCHA Final Fives years ago.
16:45
Maybe a little too long at that point.
16:47
But I've been repping the Dapper Wolf haircut, and it's a good gig, so I enjoy it.
16:53
But I think we'll see the automatic qualifiers from each of the leagues get in.
16:57
I think there's going to be conference tournaments for all the leagues.
17:01
They'll figure out a way to get that guy, that team in there.
17:05
And then the rest, I think the coaches are just going to figure it out.
17:09
They're going to look at who are the best teams.
17:13
I think we know that most years.
17:15
It helps to have the pairwise numbers, because it's a lot of fun for us to try to figure out the scenarios.
17:20
On the last night of the tournament.
17:22
But we usually know who the teams that deserve to get in are.
17:26
And maybe the pairwise helps us get there.
17:29
But you can look at Hockey East, NCHC, BigTen, WCHA, ECAC.
17:35
You know who the best teams are in those leagues, usually by the end of the year.
17:39
It helps if you're trying to figure out does the NCHC really deserve four teams.
17:45
You're not going to know that this year.
17:46
And I don't think the other leagues will let them get four teams in, despite Josh Fenton kind of trying to campaign for something like that, where you look at the history.
17:55
I think they'll get three.
17:57
The big question is the BigTen.
17:59
Could they get three?
18:01
Could they get two?
18:02
That's where it comes in because ECAC obviously doesn't have very many teams to put forth this year.
18:07
And it's also looking like the regionals might be sticking at the regionals.
18:13
Maybe.
18:14
That's what Schlossman was saying earlier this week.
18:17
It looks like it's going to be at Shields and Fargo.
18:20
That's what he's hoping.
18:23
We'll see what happens.
18:24
I could see them consolidating to super regional sites or something like that, but it's really hard to know what they're going to do.
18:31
This would be the perfect year to do an on-campus best of three first round, but that won't happen.
18:37
It'll be fun though.
18:40
Total go two game series?
18:41
I don't know if I'd go so far as the old school, which might have been the worst with the mini game.
18:48
If it was, yes, I would not like that, but I do like the best of three on a campus site for the first round.
18:54
That would be a lot of fun.
18:56
The chatters are liking your flow there, Veegs.
18:58
Motay, Elite Hockey Flow.
19:02
Appreciate it.
19:02
Thank you.
19:04
There you go.
19:09
Gotta have the auto bids for crappy conferences.
19:11
I mean, AIC, I can't even say it, did beat St.
19:16
Cloud.
19:17
That's coming from Brent, Mr.
19:19
Brithoven himself.
19:20
They did, and the team that comes out of Atlanta Hockey at the end of the year, they're going to be a gritty, old veteran squad that's playing well, and that's not an easy out for a talented, fancy pants team.
19:33
And it's not, it's not going to be an easy out.
19:37
There are no easy outs in college hockey at the end of the year.
19:39
If you can get out of your conference tournament, you're going to be tough to beat.
19:43
And you're going to have to have a game where the team says, all right, we're going to play hard-nosed hockey.
19:50
We're going to play percentage hockey.
19:51
We're going to take pucks to the net.
19:52
We're going to look for rebounds.
19:53
We're going to stay out of the box.
19:55
And if you don't do that, you're going to get beat.
19:59
You know, a couple of guys mentioned, BU has only played two games this year.
20:05
They're really struggling out East Vegas.
20:07
They just are.
20:10
And it could hurt those big traditional programs like a BU.
20:15
Yeah, I don't know if you can get in that situation, like where Ohio State only played six games and still got through in college hockey if you've only played 12 games.
20:26
I don't think that's enough of a resume to clearly identify if you're in that top 16.
20:33
It's a lot trickier, I think, unless you go undefeated maybe in hockey East, in your BC or BU.
20:43
It's a goofy year.
20:44
We just have to adjust on the fly.
20:45
And that's what teams have been doing.
20:46
You see it in the NCHC.
20:47
They've, you know, pushed out some series this weekend, you know, just a couple days, nothing too major.
20:54
The women's hockey team, especially in the WCHA, it's been all over the place.
20:59
But, you know, speaking of the women, both the women and the men now, ranked number one for the first time at the same time since 2014.
21:09
Minnesota ruling college hockey leagues.
21:12
It's fun to see, isn't it?
21:14
Love to see it.
21:16
And I believe the Saturday game for Wisconsin and Minnesota women is going to be on FSN.
21:24
Well, that would be great.
21:26
I heard one of them is going to be on FSN, so it might be right before the Minnesota Notre Dame game this weekend.
21:33
So it's just nice that hockey is back.
21:37
Like we were talking before the show, it's like NHL is back on.
21:41
We've got something to watch now.
21:43
I was kind of going back and forth with Schlossman a little bit today, saying, hey, now North Dakota has played every day of the week, and as of this week, when we played on a Saturday, we have now officially played on every seven days of the week.
21:58
Oh, here the traditional is like Friday, Saturday, Friday.
22:02
I think it's been kind of refreshing with nothing else going on.
22:04
It's been nice on a Monday night.
22:08
I've got to go for hockey I can watch.
22:11
It hasn't bothered me so much, especially since the NHL isn't playing.
22:14
And then funny, you know, it's the NHL starts playing now.
22:18
We've got a Thursday, Friday series next week.
22:22
Then it's all Friday, Saturday, the rest of the season, at least, you know, you know, barring no delays.
22:29
I can't complain with the schedule this year, Veegs.
22:31
I can't complain with it because it's a pandemic.
22:34
We can't go to the arena.
22:37
It's a little more tolerable when it's on TV, but when the games are at Marriott Arena, 3M at Marriott Arena, it's nice to have it on a Friday and Saturday, and I totally respect that and get it.
22:50
I don't mind having some of the things around the holidays be moved around, you know, to fit TV slots and maybe get extra eyes on a game, like when they tried the North Dakota game on Thanksgiving.
23:03
I thought that was kind of a fun little thing for them to try to allow college hockey to maybe shine a spotlight on that one.
23:11
I don't mind things like that every once in a while, but I think, you know, hopefully next year we get back into the Friday-Saturday routine like we have coming up for the rest of the year.
23:21
It will be nice to get back to normal.
23:22
And like I said, the NHL is starting, so I won't be as bored, but the hockey and obviously the Wilds starting up tomorrow night.
23:29
They're playing, what is it, a 54-game season, something close to that?
23:34
Somewhere around there, 54-56 maybe.
23:36
And they're having COVID issues as well.
23:40
What is it?
23:40
It seems like half the Dallas Stars are out with COVID.
23:45
So NBA is having issues.
23:49
When they were all locked down just a couple months ago, they did an excellent job.
23:53
Both leagues were just off the charts good.
23:58
But now, boy, it's going to be a tricky road for those two leagues.
24:03
There's so much community spread right now with this virus that it's difficult, I think, for these teams to get by if they have people who aren't disciplined.
24:15
And even if they are disciplined, there's still ways for them to get the virus and not know.
24:21
And then you get an outbreak on a team and they're going to have to pause.
24:24
And I know with college hockey, I don't know how the NCHC is going to figure out how to schedule their full schedule if these outbreaks keep happening.
24:35
And they're going to have to start truncating it at some point.
24:37
You know, the Big Ten is built in that extra week.
24:39
But all it takes is a couple of series and then all of a sudden one week is not enough.
24:44
Right.
24:44
Exactly.
24:45
So I think we should be counting ourselves lucky to see as much Gopher hockey as we've seen so far this season.
24:52
And maybe, you know, the team has got some herd immunity to it that might protect it as the season goes on.
24:59
But we'll see.
25:01
Well, before we get into a few more questions from the chatters and one from Twitter, we need to hear from our sponsor.
25:10
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25:11
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25:14
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25:35
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25:42
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25:51
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25:55
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26:02
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26:07
All right.
26:07
Of course, we thank Jerry for continuing to sponsor the podcast.
26:13
I'm seeing a bunch of questions here in the chat.
26:15
But let's first get over to another Twitter question.
26:18
We like to hit those first.
26:19
Tim Hapke, he's always asking questions.
26:21
And he's like, what are the requirements to be a grad assistant?
26:24
Do they need to take a certain number of classes?
26:27
Could it be for a master's degree as well?
26:30
He votes for Thomas Vanek to come on as the next grad assistant next year.
26:36
Maybe he might have seen the video posted from the media availability today.
26:41
They're talking about Paul Martin in the fall was taking four or five classes.
26:45
Wasn't there as much.
26:46
Now he's taking one.
26:47
He's there more.
26:49
He loves having Paul there.
26:50
Him and Raboyne are like this, real close, but working well together.
26:54
And he was even saying, I wish we could keep him for another year.
26:59
I guess that's meaning that Paul is kind of really actually finishing up his schooling and it'll be time to move on.
27:04
So do you know much about that whole how all that works, Veegs?
27:08
I believe you have to be an undergrad student to qualify for this program.
27:13
So I don't think Paul can pursue a master's degree and still be a assistant coach this way.
27:20
But I know it's been bandied about that Vanek would be a potential fit as a grad assistant.
27:26
He hasn't graduated from college yet.
27:28
He's probably got quite a bit of schooling left.
27:30
Yeah, probably does.
27:31
So probably would have to get into that.
27:33
I know Martin's just got the one class right now.
27:36
So that's probably an ideal situation for him to help out with the team and manage one class.
27:45
Because four and five classes and trying to do all the stuff that's involved with coaching is pretty complicated, especially everything else that's going on in life these days.
27:55
Yeah.
27:56
I think it is a good partnership, you know.
27:58
Rabs is a pretty high strung individual, very intense.
28:02
Paul is definitely not that.
28:04
Mr.
28:04
Chill.
28:05
He is a pretty chill dude.
28:08
And I'm sure he's easy for some of the players to gravitate to, as Matzko was talking about during availability today.
28:14
And he just probably has a different perspective on everything, whereas Rabs is pretty focused on penalty kill and positioning and footwork and stick.
28:25
You know, Paul is a little more free flowing on things.
28:27
Let me see.
28:30
Brian in the live chat.
28:32
Any predictions on a frozen four?
28:33
Minnesota, BC, St.
28:35
Cloud, North Dakota perhaps?
28:37
Those are the four top teams in the polls right now.
28:43
I don't think that's a bad selection there you got, Brian.
28:47
Boy, wouldn't that be fun?
28:51
And I noticed a couple others saying, hey, maybe even Wisconsin sneaks in there because they're a good team as well.
28:57
And they've got the talent, especially the young talent to do it.
29:01
It's just like we've kind of said the last couple years, they just haven't been able to quite get it together.
29:05
But boy, they're on the rise as well.
29:08
I mean, what are some other teams you could see getting to the frozen four?
29:11
However, this NCAA thing turns out?
29:14
I mean, I could definitely see Michigan getting there with as much firepower as they have now.
29:19
They haven't really put it together though.
29:21
Yeah.
29:21
I mean, they're kind of, you know, they're like 500 right now.
29:26
They need to really kick it up and start winning some games.
29:31
I think it's difficult right now with all those things around World Juniors and getting your team organized for a team like that to be on the rails.
29:41
And now that we're in the second half, our teams are in their usual schedules of a game every weekend.
29:46
That's going to give Mel Pearson a lot of time to teach those young forwards how to play disciplined hockey.
29:52
Because as you get in the Big Ten, like Minnesota is going to see this weekend with Notre Dame, you have to play positionally sound hockey to be successful.
30:01
And when you have young forwards like that who like to take chances and play offense, they don't always see that side of the game until you can really show it to them in video and you can see a lot of growth in the second half for a team like that.
30:15
But you look at this past weekend, you know, at home, Michigan State comes into Michigan and was it nine different scorers, nine goals, goalie gets two assists on the night.
30:31
Whoa, and then the next night they lose at MUN.
30:36
So Michigan, you know, they really, they've got to get some consistency before they think about moving up.
30:41
Yeah, but we've seen that out of Michigan State before.
30:45
When they played the Gophers and had a tough first night, they come ready to play the next night.
30:50
They get the message, you know, college hockey players can flip switches like that.
30:53
These are young kids.
30:55
You know, it's easy to see a 9-0 game.
30:59
That's embarrassing.
31:01
It is.
31:02
Minnesota last year against North Dakota.
31:04
Got absolutely run out of the building.
31:06
And the next night played better.
31:09
It can happen.
31:10
It can happen.
31:12
They're also saying, don't forget about Duluth.
31:16
I don't think anyone's going to forget about Duluth.
31:17
They're the two-time national champion.
31:20
They were coming on again last year.
31:24
Don't sleep on those bulldogs.
31:27
It feels to me that unless North Dakota, Duluth and St.
31:29
Cloud fall apart, those look like the three teams from the NCHC.
31:33
I mean, maybe we could see another team from that league rise up and steal a spot or maybe get a fourth spot.
31:42
But those three programs, they've earned it over the last couple of years.
31:46
Mote, what about Man Stinko?
31:48
I mean, Mike Hastings has built up a lot of cred the last couple of years.
31:55
I thought they probably had their best chance to win the NCAA Tournament game last year.
31:59
I feel bad for the guy.
32:00
You know, he had guys come back.
32:03
He had a productive team.
32:05
They were in a good position.
32:07
Maybe they learned something from their really collapse against Providence when they gave up three goals in what, five minutes?
32:14
You know, you learn from that and maybe move forward.
32:18
But it's hard to know how many schools the WCHA can get in.
32:22
You know, Bowling Green looks like they're the team that's got the best record right now.
32:27
But it's hard.
32:32
That whole league is a mess right now.
32:34
They were having a little more COVID problems than the rest.
32:40
Yeah, Bowling Green was doing well, and then they split with Bemidji last weekend or something like that.
32:44
And that's, the WCHA is a big question mark right now.
32:50
It just is.
32:52
Oh, we don't know how good the WCHA is because we don't have the interconference games to really judge, are they deserving of more than one team?
33:03
Which sometimes in Minnesota State plays this schedule they have, they can show their book of business as Mike Hastings like to call it, and you go, wow, they held their own against the big time teams.
33:14
Maybe they deserve a shot.
33:15
We don't have that this year.
33:18
Sorry.
33:21
Your book of business is C Corps or something.
33:25
Your book of business is, you know, you've lost two teams in your league.
33:33
Is Huntsville playing this year?
33:36
I'm pretty sure they are, right?
33:39
I haven't heard anything from them, I guess.
33:43
Big's going to get on the Google and look it up.
33:45
I just haven't heard much from Huntsville.
33:47
I mean, we've heard about, you know, hey, they've got some donors about trying to keep the program going, even though they're not in the league next year.
33:53
But I guess I haven't heard if they're actually playing this year.
33:56
You gotta let me know in the show prep what we're going to get into.
33:59
I don't study a lot of DTJ hockey.
34:00
That's what I like about the show.
34:02
I just kind of go on the fly.
34:03
I used to take all these notes and things like that, and I never follow up.
34:06
I'm like, we'll just fake it.
34:09
Brent Hoeven says they're playing.
34:11
Yep, they're 2-5 and 1.
34:12
So I don't think they're doing too great.
34:15
So eight games, though.
34:16
That's good.
34:18
Bowling Green, they've got their 14 games played.
34:20
That puts them ahead of the WCHA, I guess.
34:24
They had fans, Tim Hackey says.
34:28
Got to get revenue somehow.
34:29
Cam Talbot can't pay the entire freight for them.
34:32
Although we heard they got a...
34:34
No, Brent, I'm saying they lost two teams this year because the Alaska schools aren't playing this year, because of COVID.
34:41
Obviously, they're kicking out three teams as forming their own new league, but the Alaska teams are starting playing this year, which would have been their last year on the WCHA anyway.
34:52
So, Notre Dame coming to town, Veegs.
34:56
Low-scoring affairs, close games.
34:58
It's what we always see with Notre Dame, no matter if it's here, there or anywhere.
35:03
McLaughlin was saying this afternoon that, you know, he's had some good memories and he's had some bad memories, but the bad memory, when he was in the box, controversial call, overtime penalty, that one still hurts the most.
35:19
But one thing I do like about that is that, you know, he remembers that.
35:23
That's still in the, I mean, that was a couple of seasons ago.
35:25
And that's still in his mind.
35:27
It's those kind of things that can build a rivalry.
35:29
And that's kind of what we talked about this afternoon with the media, is that, you know, is this Notre Dame team starting to become a good rival of Minnesota?
35:38
Well, they've got enough players with Minnesota ties as well.
35:41
And the brand new ones.
35:43
Yeah.
35:43
And the new one in Jake Boltman, who is in the lineup, you know, in the top four defensemen for the Irish.
35:49
You know, he's a talented player, hard, hard player to go up against, physical guy.
35:55
It'll be interesting to see if he's got any, you know, grudges towards Minnesota, since he didn't have a spot in the program and wanted to play college hockey sooner than later.
36:10
So it'll be fun to see him in the lineup.
36:14
I'm sure he's looking forward to it, but it should be a good matchup.
36:19
There's a lot of Notre Dame alums in Minnesota.
36:22
They're very proud.
36:24
Donald will be wearing his Notre Dame jersey this weekend.
36:27
Jacket.
36:28
He'll have his letter jacket on.
36:31
Maybe he'll watch Rudy sometime this week, get excited for it.
36:36
But I think it is a good series.
36:38
The only thing with Notre Dame is they do play that defensive style that's complicated to play against.
36:44
I think I heard one of the Gopher assistant coaches once go, why would you go to Notre Dame?
36:49
They don't let you try to score goals.
36:51
Wouldn't you like to do that at Minnesota?
36:53
We play offense here.
36:54
So it's a battle of styles that I think requires some discipline out of Minnesota.
37:00
And I feel like there's enough experience now in the roster where they can hold their own against Notre Dame.
37:09
I don't think they turn the puck over a lot at the Blue Lines.
37:12
We haven't had that discussion a lot this year where you go, gosh, stop turning the puck over at the Blue Lines.
37:18
They are much more disciplined when they don't have numbers, putting the puck deep and retrieving it and getting on the forecheck.
37:25
And they're putting it in the right spots too.
37:28
So that makes me think they're not just doing it because they think that's what they're supposed to do.
37:33
It's part of the game plan and they're following through it.
37:36
And now someone has mentioned this in the chat earlier, how Wisconsin is really pressuring us.
37:42
A little more than other teams.
37:45
Notre Dame is going to see this.
37:47
Oh, so it doesn't play so well when you pressure them.
37:49
Maybe they try to do the same thing.
37:52
Will we see that?
37:55
Or maybe just Wisconsin was just being over aggressive.
38:00
How do you feel about that?
38:02
I think a little bit of that is Wisconsin being over aggressive.
38:05
I think that's the style that they like to play, especially on the penalty kill.
38:09
They want to try to apply pressure when they can.
38:12
And if you're not on time to apply pressure, you pull back.
38:16
I think Notre Dame very rarely will they apply pressure right from the get go.
38:21
And I think sometimes that makes it easier for Minnesota to play against them because they have the time to set up and regroup with the puck and gain some speed.
38:30
It's just you have to know how to put the puck deep and apply pressure and disguise it so you're not too predictable.
38:38
Because if you're predictable on where you're putting the puck, Notre Dame will just leak a guy back to get there quick, and they'll be coming back and you'll have that rock fight that Bob talked about last year where you're just putting it back, they put it in your end, you put it back, they put it in your end, and that's not fun to watch.
38:55
And one thing too is that, you know, one thing that Wisconsin brought is that they've got a couple superstars on offense.
39:01
You make a mistake, they make you pay for it.
39:03
We saw that directly when Lacombe lost the puck to Mr.
39:08
Caulfield and wasn't more than, you know, 15 seconds later the puck was in the back of the net.
39:17
I don't know if Notre Dame's got that kind of superstar that can really cause those kind of issues.
39:24
But it was something that Wisconsin did exploit this past weekend.
39:28
Yeah, I thought Wisconsin did pretty well applying the pressure when they had the opportunities.
39:32
Cole Caulfield is obviously a different level, you know, score.
39:36
And he does look like a more complete player than he's been in the past.
39:40
He's a little heavier on things and finds space a little bit better.
39:44
I think sometimes you get these talented players, sometimes they cheat at the start line.
39:50
And that means they have to slow down for the finish line and it allows everybody else to catch up.
39:55
If you're a fast, talented player, you want to back up that start line as far back as you can so that you don't have to slow down.
40:04
You know, you want to be able to say, all right, let's do a real 100 meter race.
40:08
I don't want to make this an 80 meter race and then I wait for you.
40:12
You want that to be full speed to the end.
40:15
And he's starting to get that now.
40:16
And I think one of the things I noticed in the second game against Wisconsin is that when Minnesota does a better job of staying with their check coming into their own zone, when there is a transition, they're able to get going and separate from their check as they transition from defense to offense.
40:36
And I think sometimes in the ASU series and the first night against Wisconsin, that wasn't there.
40:41
You had players kind of floating around the zone, not really tight to their check.
40:44
So when there was a turnover, it's less clear where you can go to get to open ice, if that makes sense.
40:52
And so offense definitely comes from defense.
40:56
If you're in the right spot on defense, it's a lot clearer where you need to go to find space.
41:01
If you're kind of already in space and not covering anybody, it's hard to get going.
41:06
Like you kind of have to wait for space to develop.
41:09
And so I think that's one of the things that they're seeing in film is that, all right, let's be with our check and let's separate when we need to get going.
41:22
Time for prediction.
41:24
Notre Dame, always low scoring series.
41:27
I'm thinking I'm picking sweep.
41:30
Shocking.
41:32
But I do think, you know, Minnesota plays a little different game that they have been playing the last couple of years.
41:37
They're more pressuring.
41:38
They're following.
41:39
Like you said, they're they're following and they're following their checks.
41:42
They're doing they're just doing things better.
41:43
So I don't think every game is going to be a one game.
41:45
I think we might get one of these games this weekend.
41:47
It's maybe a two or three goal win.
41:50
Not what we're used to, but I'm just predicting something a little different just to throw a monkey wrench in their face.
42:01
I mean, I feel like it's hard to play Notre Dame's style at Mariucci.
42:07
I think it can be tricky to do that.
42:09
You know, you get on the wider rink, the bigger corners, it's harder to play that choking style.
42:18
Especially, I don't see this as being one of Notre Dame's strongest rosters.
42:23
You know, they don't have the high-end talents that they've had a couple of years ago, you know, where they can control the game with veteran centers who can win draws and make you defend all night.
42:35
I don't think they have a team like that this year.
42:37
And they're not a solid goal either.
42:39
They're not a solid goal.
42:40
I think Pivanka is a good 1C.
42:43
He's a good player for them, but he's not an elite 1C like we've seen from them in the past, where he'll go out and take every key face off and be expected to win 70% of them.
42:53
But I do have a feeling one of these games is going to go to OT.
42:59
That's just the feeling I have.
43:02
And that's kind of an up-in-the-air piece.
43:06
I think Gophers get 5 points this weekend.
43:09
5 points.
43:10
5 points, not 6.
43:12
5.
43:13
Mote had the drum roll goal and he was waiting for you there.
43:17
Yeah, I just don't see Notre Dame being able to pull off a win, but I think they can force them to go to OT maybe.
43:25
It's going to be a sweep, man.
43:26
It's going to be a sweep.
43:27
All right.
43:28
Well, I think it's important for Notre Dame to stay out of the box against Minnesota.
43:33
Their penalty kill is not very good this year.
43:35
And Minnesota's is really good.
43:38
And Minnesota's is really good.
43:39
And their power play is better than average.
43:42
I would not mind a special teams battle this weekend.
43:45
We'll see what happens.
43:46
We have seen a couple of undisciplined penalties from the Gophers this season.
43:50
Not a lot, but they have been taking a few bad penalties.
43:56
He's got a couple of them.
43:57
Yeah.
43:58
He's got a couple of them.
43:59
Bratsinski's got a couple.
44:00
Purbecks has a couple.
44:03
I know McLaughlin's had some in the past.
44:06
That's going to be important for them this weekend, is to maybe spur Notre Dame to take some penalties, but stay out of the box yourself.
44:16
You working on anything these days?
44:19
You know, I'm working on my family.
44:21
You know, this pandemic's tough on families with young kids.
44:26
You know, my kids have been doing some distance learning and things like that.
44:29
You've already done it all.
44:30
You might as well do that, man.
44:32
Yeah.
44:32
So I'm looking to have some stuff out this season.
44:36
We'll see.
44:36
You know, it all kind of depends how the next couple weeks goes with schooling and family and all that stuff.
44:43
I'm starting to get a lot of good content together, and I've got a couple ideas that we'll see soon.
44:50
And hopefully they give you the keys back at the Athletic, man.
44:53
We'll see.
44:54
Because, you know, it would be nice if Minnesota keeps winning.
44:59
You know, it's a shame that this is a COVID season because I think this is kind of the time where also we'd start seeing the crowds coming back because this is more of a winning team.
45:08
And, jeez.
45:09
And you know what else is a good thing?
45:11
The BADgers being back.
45:12
I'm just going to keep saying it.
45:14
A good BADger team is good for Minnesota and good for...
45:17
It's good for Minnesota.
45:18
It just is.
45:20
If you have a good Michigan, a good Wisconsin, and a good Minnesota, you're going to have a good Big Ten.
45:25
You know, if those three programs can all get their feet under them and start running and playing in NCAA tournaments, I think this conference can hang in there and be viable.
45:37
And I think that maybe Pearson and Granado are maybe getting an idea of how to do that.
45:44
Because Bob definitely does.
45:46
He's got a good roster right now.
45:48
And I think the key for Minnesota recruiting-wise is going to be to keep finding defensemen, like the ones they have in the pipeline.
45:57
You know, they've got Chelsea and Middlestadt coming down the line here, but they're going to have to keep finding those guys.
46:05
That's what makes this team hum.
46:07
It definitely does.
46:09
Well, remember, you can always follow Vegoe, at eVegoe on Twitter and obviously GopherPuckLive on Twitter as well, because no one wants to follow my personal account.
46:18
I'm just, I'm not that interesting.
46:21
But that's really going to do it for this podcast.
46:23
You got anything else, Veegs?
46:24
Because I don't.
46:26
Enjoy the games, Wyken.
46:27
Every game is a gift.
46:29
Boy, that is the truth, because you just never know when things will end.
46:36
Well, we will be back next week for, you know, and recap this Notre Dame series and preview another series with Arizona State coming back into town.
46:45
For those of you watching live on YouTube, stay tuned for some overtime.
46:49
For the rest of you, we'll be back next Wednesday for another GPL Podcast.
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