0:07
This is The GPL Podcast from gopherpucklive.com.
0:16
This podcast is sponsored by Jerry Peters and First Class Mortgage.
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Visit us at firstclassmortgage.com.
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Now, let's start the show with your hosts, Jupiter and Vegoe.
0:39
Good evening, and welcome to The GPL Podcast.
0:43
Back for another week on episode 196.
0:47
You can see Vegoe and I are trying some new software.
0:49
Hopefully, this is gonna be working for all of you.
0:52
And we've got comments going already in our chat, so it's very exciting.
0:56
But we have all these people in the chat, Veegs.
0:58
I wonder what they're waiting for.
1:01
You know, it's probably not us this week.
1:03
Probably not us.
1:04
They're waiting for the one and only Pat Micheletti, and there he is.
1:10
I'm back.
1:11
You guys hit me back.
1:13
I was waiting for that.
1:15
You know, the last time, well, the only time I was on you guys, I'm like, geez, you know, I wonder if they're going to call me back.
1:23
But I'm back.
1:24
I'm back, guys.
1:26
You are back, and we're glad to have you back.
1:28
You know, we like how outspoken you are, and we need outspokenness for Gopher Hockey.
1:35
We need we need more advocates like you out there in the media supporting our Gopher Hockey team.
1:40
So we're really glad to have you.
1:43
Veegs, let's start off with you.
1:46
A decent weekend for the Gophers against Mercyhurst.
1:49
Offensively looked good.
1:52
Defensively, need some work.
1:55
Yeah, I just think the cohesiveness of the team was missing the opening weekend.
2:00
I think the Gophers kind of tended to get pretty individual and get in transition and that's where a lot of their offense came from.
2:08
That's not going to be sustainable long term, but it allowed them to escape a weekend with an Atlantic hockey team where if you drop that one, it really can impact you in the pairwise.
2:18
So their talent and individual skill allowed them to escape.
2:23
And also, the stats don't look great for Jack LaFontaine, but I thought he played well when they needed him in the third period.
2:30
You know, he played at a high level when they needed him.
2:33
And without him in nets, you know, they probably drop one of these.
2:36
And Motsko even mentioned that this weekend, Pat, is that without LaFontaine, he was kind of their best player this weekend, might have been a lot closer.
2:44
Yeah.
2:45
And the way I look at it too is, yeah, it's unfortunate that they missed the Alaska series.
2:52
And you knew that, and they should know this every weekend, is that they're going to get the other team's best or hardest.
3:02
And when you just practice against your guys, you know, it's not full speed.
3:08
It's, you know, you have a little bit more time, you have a little bit more space.
3:13
And I think Minnesota's offense is driven by their defense when they can go up the ice together, when they can get that fourth guy in, and all of a sudden, the other team has to, you know, they have to drop back a little bit more.
3:30
It opens the ice up.
3:31
And that was, in my opinion, non-existent.
3:35
They'd make a pass and stand.
3:38
And, you know, and then they weren't crisp.
3:40
And then they weren't up the zone together.
3:44
But you know what?
3:45
It was the first weekend.
3:47
The good thing was they showed what they can do up front.
3:50
You know, when they had 12 goals on the weekend.
3:55
I don't care who you're playing.
3:57
That's pretty darn good.
3:59
It is darn good.
4:00
And Veegs, offense was definitely not an issue this weekend.
4:05
I mean, you know, they got a lot of players go in.
4:07
They got some of the freshmen going.
4:09
Nies had a pair of goals.
4:12
So all around, offensively looked good.
4:16
Yeah.
4:16
And I want to get back to that power play that looked pretty good.
4:19
I thought the Nies power play unit looked really good.
4:23
You notice on Saturday, they took almost the full two minutes to get after it.
4:29
And, you know, they changed the D, but they got the goal on the power play.
4:33
That unit looks like one that could be really effective for them this year.
4:38
And I'm looking forward to see if Bob sticks with them and maybe kind of labels them almost the number one unit.
4:44
But at the same time, you know, you thought though, the Walker Brudzinski-McGloffin line, that's probably the best they've looked the earliest in the season ever.
4:53
I think they just look way more comfortable.
4:56
I'm going to jump in only because in between periods, we interviewed McGlofflin, right?
5:04
And they didn't have a very good first period in that second game.
5:09
And I kind of gave it to them a little bit.
5:13
I said, you're a senior now, right?
5:14
Yep, I'm a senior.
5:16
I'm like, you know, you've got a lot of talented forwards.
5:20
And it just seemed to me like you guys were waiting for someone else to take charge.
5:28
Am I close on that?
5:30
I said, yeah, you know what?
5:31
I'm one of those guys.
5:33
I've got to be better.
5:34
You know, you're right.
5:36
You know, I got to go out in this period and play harder and lead more.
5:41
And, you know, I thought that line was really good, you know, the rest of the game.
5:48
VEG, you talk about the power play and how bad it was at the end of the season last year.
5:55
So seeing quite a few goals in the power play, first weekend, obviously, the speed limit goes up this week, was very nice to see.
6:04
It was good, and it's something that Bob's talked about a lot.
6:07
You know, he's trying to figure out, you know, which guys he's going to give the ice time to.
6:11
And, you know, I thought Nevers looked good as a bumper for them.
6:15
I thought Hugen looked good as a bumper.
6:17
That's usually been a spot on this power play where the Gophers have struggled.
6:21
They haven't had guys who look comfortable in that position.
6:24
Maybe they have a couple who are good.
6:26
You know, one thing I'm looking for down the line here is somebody can shoot on the flanks.
6:31
You know, we're still seeing a lot of catch, step, shoot, catch, try to shoot through a screen.
6:37
You know, I think they're going to need a big one-timer threat on either the flanks or up top for this power play to stay consistent throughout the year.
6:45
And Pat, who would have thought Mr.
6:47
Nevers showing up big this weekend?
6:49
Well, you know what, he had one goal all of last year.
6:53
And what did he get to this weekend?
6:55
He did.
6:55
He did a three-game goal-scoring streak, Pat.
6:57
He did.
6:58
He scored a lot.
6:59
You know, listen, we talk about it all the time.
7:03
People, you know, you're highly touted.
7:06
You come in.
7:07
And you know, you're the big man on campus now.
7:10
And you know, la-di-da-di-da-di-da.
7:14
And then all of a sudden, you play a game.
7:17
And people don't understand how big a step it is.
7:22
I don't care if it's from high school to junior, you know, and then junior to college.
7:29
It takes some time to get your lay of the land, for the game to slow down, to understand and figure out, hey, what's going to work for me?
7:39
And I think, you know, we're starting to see that.
7:42
You know, he'll probably have some bumps in the road.
7:45
But, you know, really impressive first game.
7:49
You know, another good player I really liked.
7:51
And I thought, shiny entire weekend with Mr.
7:53
Brodsinski, Vegs.
7:56
Thoughts, good weekend for him.
7:58
Yeah, you know, he came to The Gophers as a true freshman.
8:01
So he didn't have that time to acclimate like Pat was just talking about.
8:04
And that's so important.
8:05
And I think he also felt a lot of pressure to produce because he was jumping to play with Walker McLaughlin quite a bit when he first joined the team.
8:14
You know, there's a fair amount of pressure produced when you've got guys like that.
8:17
And now Brudzicki's talked about how he's just a little more confident this year, you know, actually taking the time to have his head up to see how much space he has.
8:27
Yeah.
8:27
Make a make a legit play.
8:29
And he's got the shot if he's if he's confident.
8:32
I think the last couple of years he's, you know, hit the glass a little too often.
8:36
Maybe this year if he can pick his head up and find his space, he'll be able to pick his spots a little bit better.
8:42
We can't forget who he is, what he is and who he's not.
8:45
Right.
8:45
He's not going to get up and down the ice at a high rate of speed.
8:51
He's a really smart player.
8:54
And he's got to realize he's a goal scorer.
8:57
He's a goal scorer.
8:59
And he's got to remember that the goal he scored on Saturday night, not a lot of people are going to be able to do.
9:05
I mean, that was highlight reel.
9:08
You know, he beats the guy, but he got in the right spot and then made the move to the net, and had the, you know what impressed me, had the patience to hold the puck.
9:19
And a lot of guys are not going to do that.
9:22
That tells me right there, that kid is a goal scorer and knows how to do it.
9:28
I do have to pour a little water on that, Pat.
9:29
I asked him about that goal today.
9:31
He said, I kind of mishandled it just a little bit.
9:34
But luckily, it came back to me, and I had the confidence and the patience this year to actually bury it.
9:41
I heard my dad ringing my ear, put it bar down, put it up high, and luckily, that was there.
9:48
But I think he is feeling it a little bit more this year.
9:50
Nonetheless, he can really shoot it, and he knows where the net is.
9:55
And he's going to be counting down to score some goals.
10:01
Well, you know, who else is counting on is McLaughlin?
10:05
Pat, it took him a while to get scoring last year.
10:08
Yeah.
10:08
And he scored the first weekend.
10:10
You know, Walker scored.
10:11
It was just good to get kind of all, even the veterans going right off the bat.
10:17
I don't think not scoring bothers McLaughlin as much as it would other people.
10:27
And I say that is that he's such a loosey goosey guy, you know.
10:32
It's like, okay, I'm out on an outdoor rink and I'm just, I'm playing.
10:40
And when he wasn't scoring a year ago, it's not like he was playing poorly, in my opinion.
10:48
You know, a lot of that has to do with your center man, you know, the whole line, right?
10:54
And, but yes, he looks really, really good early, early in the first two games.
11:03
He definitely does.
11:04
And really, for me, Veegs, the bottom line is they won both games.
11:10
And pairwise, an end of the season thing, they won both games.
11:15
And I think they learned some lessons.
11:17
Purvix was talking this week about how one thing they saw a lot in film is how connected they have to stay to be within their structure and succeed.
11:28
And a lot of times, the players would get back in transition to their defensive zone, and they would get back to the house, but then they would just be too quick to try to get back into offensive mode.
11:39
The puck totally hadn't been won yet.
11:42
The defenseman didn't handle it cleanly or something like that.
11:44
And then they get separated.
11:46
And we've seen that to this program the last couple of years.
11:49
That's when they start playing poorly, is when they get stretched between the D and the forwards for whatever reason, and all of a sudden, they're making 80 foot passes instead of 50 footers.
11:58
All the time.
11:59
All the time.
12:00
And so that mindset is going to be so critical for them, especially as they go forward into this next little stretch here at games.
12:06
Yeah, which brings me back to, you know, their D was kind of out of sync.
12:11
And I'm not going to blame it.
12:12
I'm not going to blame it all on the D, because, you know, you just pointed out, Vegs got, you know, forwards leaving the zone too early.
12:19
Well, I'm not going to make that pass, or I'm going to try to make that pass, and then it gets intercepted, or, you know, it's just, you know, it's the rhythm.
12:27
It's the repetition of doing it.
12:29
Once they get there, and they will get there.
12:33
Faber, Kester, you know, Johnson, Lacombe, Lacombe didn't have a great weekend by any stretch of the imagination.
12:43
He's probably the first to admit it.
12:46
But, they will get better.
12:48
And, when they do, you know, they're going to be awfully, awfully scary.
12:57
One play in particular stood out to me in the first period of the Saturday game against Mercyhurst.
13:02
You saw a moment where the Walker line was really taking it to Mercyhurst in the offensive zone.
13:09
And, Ben Brinkman saw kind of like a, maybe like a 30-70 puck in the slot.
13:15
And, he thought, I really probably shouldn't go for this one.
13:19
And, he bailed and he played, you know, like a two-on-one, two-on-two rush coming back to his end.
13:25
And, it was the right play.
13:27
You know, when you're so excited to get in the college hockey and game action set of fans, you're like, I want to take that chance.
13:32
I'm going all in.
13:33
But, he played it smart and brought it back into his own end.
13:36
The problem was, when the Fords came back, they were ready to leave right away.
13:41
They got trapped in their zone for like a two-minute shift, put him down two-nothing, and I think that's what got the alarm bells going.
13:48
Okay, we got to find a better way to play.
13:50
Yeah, exactly.
13:51
Exactly.
13:52
And, you know, I mean, listen, what was the score going into the third?
13:58
They were down a goal?
14:00
It was 2-2.
14:01
2-2.
14:01
Yeah, it was tied.
14:02
Yeah.
14:03
And, you know, I mean, at that point, Mercyhurst is thinking, hey, what a period, what a game.
14:10
And, you know, Minnesota found what they needed to find, you know, getting 3 in the third.
14:18
But, yeah, you know, I think they're just really happy to have this weekend, this past weekend over with, you know, get a taste of it, and, you know, because they're going to have a tough one this weekend.
14:33
Yeah, because the speed limit definitely goes up this weekend.
14:35
Yeah.
14:37
Well, Pat, you're going to be a busy bee this year, aren't you?
14:41
You've got TV on Fox 9 Plus.
14:44
You're also moving to some, do some Big Ten Network stuff, aren't you, this season?
14:48
Yes.
14:49
Yes.
14:51
Really looking forward to it.
14:53
I'm going to be doing a couple features each week on Minnesota, and, you know, we're going to try to have as much fun with those as we can, and then waiting for my game schedule.
15:06
So, yeah, it's going to be, it's going to be fun.
15:12
Yeah, it seems like a few people are already excited.
15:14
Pat on BTN, yes.
15:17
Thank you.
15:18
Eric Brewer is excited.
15:19
He wants to hear you on BTN.
15:21
Thank you, Eric.
15:22
So that will definitely be fun.
15:25
You know, I talked to you a little bit before the show.
15:29
One of the very important things in your life is organ donation.
15:34
You had a transplant several years ago and you're a big advocate for it.
15:38
And, you know, I'm sure a lot of people have to, make sure you check that donor box when you get your license renewal.
15:45
I just wanted to talk about it because it is such a big thing for you.
15:49
Well, it is.
15:50
You know, I, listen, I, you know, and my kidney problem was caused from overuse of motrin and overuse of motrin over the years of playing.
16:02
You know, I've had 18 surgeries, right?
16:06
14 on my knees and, you know, my hips and the whole deal.
16:12
And, you know, you just, that was a simple thing for me to do is, well, just to take some motrin, right?
16:18
And lo and behold, I found out my kidneys were failing.
16:22
And, you know, there's right now, there's over 100,000 people on the waiting list.
16:30
I was, you know, I was really, really fortunate that, you know, my brother came through for me and was a match, but not everybody is, you know, has an easy time of finding one.
16:44
And I just, you know, I encourage people, they can always get a hold of me if there's any questions about the surgery and, you know, what the donor has to go through.
16:55
And my brother's very healthy and happy.
17:00
And he told me after the surgery, not a greater feeling in the world than donating his kidney to me.
17:08
And, you know, obviously I'm forever grateful to him.
17:12
And so are we.
17:13
We're glad we still have you around.
17:17
Some aren't, but, yeah.
17:21
I mean, it was probably, was it fairly dire for you or did you just kind of get lucky where it didn't get too bad for you?
17:28
It was getting to that point.
17:30
Okay.
17:31
Where, you know, I hadn't gone on dialysis yet.
17:34
That would have been the next step.
17:36
And, you know, but you just, you know, it was, I had to wait probably a year and it was a very stressful year because, you know, you find out that your brother's a match, but then he's got to be pretty much completely healthy before they allow him to donate the kidney.
18:00
And then I had to go through a long series of tests.
18:04
I was at the Mayo O for probably about a week, not inpatient, but, you know, every day for tests.
18:11
And finally, I got the approval to get the kidney.
18:15
And, you know, it was just, it was a long process, but, you know, knock on what it's turned out well, and it's been well.
18:24
Well, we're certainly glad that it did turn out well because we get to have you on the show now.
18:29
But you know what?
18:30
You know, you're a huge advocate for it.
18:32
And it doesn't matter what service or whatever people you work for or do this for.
18:39
You can go to bethematch.com, things like that, that everybody can do, the donor on your license, things like that.
18:47
Can't recommend that more, and I guess you're probably the same way, Pat.
18:51
Oh yeah, 100%.
18:52
Yep.
18:52
And again, anyone, if anybody has any questions, they can always DM me, contact me anyway, and I'd love to talk to them.
19:02
Yes.
19:03
Well, folks, you can see we've got a new format with this podcast, and we see you making comments in the chat on either YouTube or Facebook.
19:15
So if any of you have questions for Pat or for the rest of us, just make sure you just let us know.
19:21
I see the things going by.
19:23
We can bring it up on screen and we can talk about it.
19:25
So if anyone has questions, just start throwing it at us.
19:28
Awesome, but first we need to hear from our sponsor.
19:32
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First Class Mortgage is an Equal Housing Lender.
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And of course, we always thank Jerry for sponsoring The GPL Podcast.
20:39
I've already got a question here.
20:41
Is Pat calling the game on Saturday?
20:43
Well, of course you are, Pat, aren't you?
20:44
Yes.
20:45
Yes.
20:46
It'll be on Fox 9 Plus, Jim Rich and I.
20:49
And I believe Mark Parrish is going to join us for that game also.
20:55
So five o'clock.
20:57
Yeah, I just put it up on our screen there.
20:59
For those of you watching live, you know, we got 7 p.m.
21:02
game on Valley Sports North.
21:04
And will you be doing any radio for on Friday night?
21:07
I will.
21:08
That's good.
21:09
I'll be doing Gopher Radio on Friday.
21:13
And then join the television on Saturday.
21:18
You're such a trader, Pat.
21:19
Because we do the game.
21:21
You know, when I do the game, I, you know, call it like I see it for either team.
21:26
So it's going to be fun.
21:28
It's going to be a great atmosphere up in St.
21:31
Cloud.
21:31
It will be.
21:33
I usually try to listen to the pregame, even when I'm in the press box.
21:38
And I just want to know, have you gotten any flack from your comparisons of this year's Gopher roster to maybe one from 1979 yet?
21:47
You heard that.
21:50
I have not yet.
21:51
Not yet.
21:52
Not yet.
21:53
Okay.
21:53
But I, you know what?
21:56
I honestly, when I look at the talent on this team, right?
22:01
Now obviously there's a long way to go.
22:06
But I see the speed.
22:10
I see the size.
22:12
I see the depth and I see the goaltender.
22:16
And I could put names to players, but I don't think that's fair right now.
22:20
But, you know, this, this, this has the makings of, of being one of the better teams should they continue to progress like I think they're going to.
22:32
Pat, do you remember on those teams kind of going through a weekend, like we just saw, you know, where the expectations and the talent level are so high that they make, you know, a getaway to Dinkytown and their brain for the weekend and still get away with it?
22:48
Oh, oh yes, do I ever.
22:52
And I do because I was fortunate enough to be in the locker room for some of Herbie's rants.
23:01
And they were not pretty.
23:04
They were not pretty.
23:06
You know, they, I, please, I have to jog the memory of what series and when and how.
23:14
But there were times.
23:17
I remember, in fact, my brother Don told me this.
23:21
He said the first day of practice, the first words out of Herbie's mouth were, we are going to win the national championship.
23:29
So he put that onus on them on day one.
23:33
And, you know, he probably knew that they were going to be bumps in the road.
23:38
And listen, Minnesota will stumble a little bit this year.
23:42
Every team does.
23:45
No one will go undefeated.
23:47
But it's how, it's what you learn from those losses and how you rebound and how short a mind you have.
23:56
You know, memory, I should say, in terms of what happened.
24:01
And to realize who you are, what you can be, how good you can be.
24:05
And, you know, that's why, you know, we can look on paper right now, guys, right?
24:11
And who are you going to look at?
24:12
You're going to look at Minnesota.
24:13
You're going to look at Michigan.
24:14
You're going to look at St.
24:17
Cloud because they have 23 of 27 guys coming back.
24:21
You know, and there's others, okay?
24:25
And, but that doesn't matter.
24:28
You know, that doesn't matter.
24:30
It's, you know, what's up here mentally, and what you're thinking, and what your belief is, and are you intimidated or not intimidated?
24:44
Are you not afraid to win?
24:46
Are you not afraid to take it to that next level?
24:49
And that's what a lot of teams have a hard time with.
24:54
So it's not necessarily about the amount of talent that you have.
24:57
It's, you know, where your leadership is, and you know, where everybody's at, in my opinion.
25:06
Well, we've got some questions from the people in the chat here, so let's bring up one here.
25:09
We've got Corey asking, Pat, Gophers are playing an older team this weekend, and a great one at that.
25:14
What are your thoughts on two and three years of juniors before hitting campus?
25:21
Here to stay or limit freshman start age.
25:24
I mean, we know Don Lucia a few years ago kind of wanted to limit how old these freshmen were, but St.
25:31
Cloud is not too much older than Minnesota.
25:34
No, I'd have to look at the ages, look at the years that they're there.
25:39
But you know what?
25:41
We are where we are, and so I don't think we'll see anything changing, to be quite honest.
25:49
You know, it just, you know, Minnesota, you know, the Minnesotas, the Michigan's, the Wisconsin's, you know, probably the North Dakotas are in a situation where they're getting or going after the number one draft picks, right?
26:10
And so sometimes you have to say, you know what?
26:16
You have no choice but to take them early or, you know, you'd like a guy to stay another year in junior, but you can't risk it or the player doesn't want to or the team that drafted them doesn't want them there.
26:30
So there's a lot of factors that go in, but, you know, it doesn't affect every team in the country.
26:35
It, you know, it affects quite a few.
26:39
And then what happens, you see, like Mankato, for example, all right, they have a system down where they know what they're getting.
26:52
They know the players that they're recruiting.
26:56
They know that they're going to be there for two years.
26:59
They know they're going to get bigger, stronger and faster, and learn the game a little bit more and be a little bit more mature.
27:05
So you got, you know, every team recruits differently.
27:11
And, you know, sometimes you get a younger team and, you know, and you hope that talent is good enough to beat that older, mature team.
27:22
And, you know, that's what's great about college hockey, right?
27:27
All right, Veegs, I'm going to throw this one your way.
27:29
Our boy, Chris Ekas, one of the writers on GPL, the Gophers seem to like, they're both physically and take almost no penalties.
27:38
I haven't seen any college team walk that line better than Moscow's teams the past few years.
27:43
What is it about the system that allows them to do that?
27:45
You know, not taking so many penalties.
27:48
I think it's partially the discipline that Bob has with his team.
27:53
You know, if you're the one in the offensive zone taking penalties, or if you're taking stick penalties coming through the neutral zone, Bob's going to let you know about it, and he's going to tell the media about it.
28:05
You know, he's pretty upfront.
28:06
He is not okay with his teams taking penalties.
28:09
And the other part is the Gophers are a great skating team.
28:13
When you're a great skating team and you play the way Bob wants you to play, you don't take a lot of penalties.
28:19
So I think those two things working together are a reason why you can be physical, but you don't end up in the box too much.
28:25
Don't tell Bob I said this, though.
28:28
Bob loves the power play.
28:30
He's a power play specialist, too.
28:32
You know, Bob, I mean, he loves the power play.
28:35
So I think he tells his guys, too, you know, let's get on that.
28:39
Let's get on the power play a little bit.
28:46
Yeah, he loves that power play.
28:47
There's no doubt about that.
28:49
He didn't love it last year.
28:51
No.
28:53
When it's executed properly.
28:55
Right.
28:55
Yeah.
28:56
Oh, Steve Larson bringing something up pretty legitimate here.
28:59
What are Pat's thoughts that the Gophers can get over the hill, or I would say over the hump, and start beating some of those Minnesota teams this year?
29:08
Well, you know what?
29:13
That's a really good question.
29:17
Different styles of play, I think, are a factor.
29:21
And, you know, let's go back to Minnesota State in that tournament game a year ago.
29:28
I thought they played right into their hands, and I didn't, you know, you want to talk about discipline.
29:35
I don't think they were disciplined enough to change their style of play, which they needed to do.
29:44
I thought they got lulled to sleep, and I think Mankato just kept looking at the clock, saying, okay, good, let's keep it rolling.
29:53
And then finally at the end, they, you know, they got a little bit more aggressive.
29:57
But, you know, listen, Nick, we're blessed with really good teams in this state, and just because we are Minnesota, that doesn't mean you're gonna win.
30:08
You gotta go out and do it.
30:10
And so, you know, another big test this weekend.
30:15
Veegs, it is much more difficult these days for a Minnesota team to do well, because just like Pat said, the game has grown so much.
30:23
We have a lot of Minnesota teams.
30:25
But it does get to a point, Veegs, where they need to start winning some of these games against the Minnesota schools.
30:32
Well, I think the biggest problem in these games against the in-state rivals is Minnesota almost wants it too much.
30:38
The players want to make an impact so badly that they get away from their structure, and they allow other teams to capitalize and counter that, and then they lose control of the game, and then they're chasing, and then they're forced to do even more individual things.
30:52
We saw that in the Minnesota state game in the tournament.
30:56
They played right in the Mavericks hands.
30:58
That was exactly the way the Mavericks wanted the Gophers to play, and the Gophers did it for them.
31:02
Hopefully, you have a roster that has enough experience where they don't fall into that trap, and they stick to their game plan.
31:09
I thought for a stretch there, Minnesota had hit that level, where they would be able to shake out of that kind of rut that they got into in the Minnesota State game, but obviously, they didn't.
31:20
And this is another chance for them.
31:23
You know, as we're talking about older players and draft picks and balancing that, that's part of the reason you need guys who've been through the battles, so that they have the experience, so when that starts to happen on your bench, those are the voices that are saying, hey, get your heads out of Dinkytown.
31:40
We're at Marriottshire Arena.
31:42
Let's go play the way we need to play.
31:44
Yeah, Veegs, you brought up a great point.
31:46
Yeah, that they want it too much.
31:50
Now, I'll take you back to a time where, and I'm sorry, you have to go to when I played, but there was only one Minnesota team playing at the time.
32:01
That was UMD.
32:03
But when we played UMD, it wasn't like, oh, we got to go and beat them.
32:09
You almost have to look at it like it's another game on your schedule.
32:14
And of course, you're going there to win.
32:18
Because I think when you try too hard, you do things out of the norm, right?
32:27
You try to beat a guy when you should pass, you try to get in too close, you try to get too cute, you know, all that, all that stuff.
32:35
Instead of just saying, hey, it's another game, all right?
32:39
It's, you know, big crowd, yep, different color jersey, yep.
32:42
Okay, let's go beat them.
32:45
Instead of, oh, it's St.
32:47
Cloud, it's Bemidji, it's UMD.
32:52
You know, those programs have greatly improved.
32:56
And obviously, right, five teams go into the tournament a year ago, and that's wonderful for the state of Minnesota.
33:05
But you can't look at it as, oh man, you know, because then you start getting nervous, you're not yourself, and you know, you don't play the way your team should be playing.
33:19
Definitely, definitely.
33:21
Well, I noticed that Brian Deutch is tweeting out from the University account that Minnesota has 18 former Gophers on NHL rosters this season.
33:32
We got John Doherty from Facebook asking, which former Gopher will have the best year in the NHL?
33:38
Let's start with you, Veegs.
33:39
What do you think?
33:40
Well, I'm hoping it's Alex Goligoski.
33:43
Clearly.
33:46
You know, I don't know.
33:47
I'm probably most interested in seeing how Sampo does with the Avalanche.
33:51
I think we had Pat on about this time a year ago.
33:55
And one of the questions was, who's got the best skill set to play in the NHL?
34:01
And I went right to Sampo.
34:03
His size, his speed, the way he's learned to use his shot and use those skills effectively within a team has grown so much since he came to Minnesota.
34:15
And I'm just excited to see how he fits in with the Avs.
34:18
You know, he's on that second power play unit.
34:21
When you crack that for the Avs coming right out of college, that shows that you did the work and you left at the right time.
34:28
You know, I thought like when he came here, obviously he had to learn the college game, right?
34:35
And we saw, I mean, we saw the improvement that he made.
34:39
I thought that they were going to send him down to the American League for a little bit, but you know, he played in the playoffs one game or two games last year and didn't look out of place.
34:49
Must have had a great camp, but you're right.
34:52
You know, I'm really excited to see what he can do because he's with a group.
34:56
You know, when you're with, I always tell players to try to get to a good organization, a team that's loaded, because then when you get your chance, you're going to be playing with great players.
35:08
You don't want to go to a team that's not very good.
35:13
And you know, they struggle, they lose, they block.
35:16
He has an opportunity to really stick with that team and really help them.
35:23
To answer the question, Blake Wheeler, you know.
35:28
That's what the chat is saying too.
35:29
They're like Blake Wheeler.
35:31
You know, you're in and you're out.
35:33
He's such a pro.
35:34
He's such a good guy.
35:37
You want to see him succeed.
35:39
He is your ultimate team player.
35:42
And you know what, I think he gets overlooked a little bit.
35:46
I don't know if that's because of Winnipeg or whatever.
35:50
But you know, to me, he's a surefire lock to make the Olympic team.
35:55
If he's not, I'd be shocked.
35:58
But he should be on it.
35:59
And so yeah, I'm going with him.
36:02
You know, one thing I really love about the NHL these days, compared to your days, Pat, is the college hockey player is much more successful these days.
36:12
Back in the day, there were not many kids going through college into the pros.
36:17
There were, but not like there is now.
36:19
I mean, you look at right now, 18 Minnesotans from the Gophers.
36:23
You know, you hear North Dakota's got 16.
36:25
I mean, college is a very much successful place to start your NHL career these days compared to 30 years ago.
36:34
Coaching.
36:36
I mean, honestly, I mean, taking nothing away from the coaches of yesteryear, but the development of, you know, did we have systems?
36:51
Yeah, but we didn't have systems.
36:53
You know, was it, you know, every zone, every, you know, they teach so much now to these players.
37:03
And, you know, obviously the players are better too.
37:07
I mean, they are.
37:09
The high-enders are still the high-enders, but your second, third and fourth line are all better.
37:17
They're all better.
37:19
And that makes it more competitive.
37:21
And, you know, I just, you know, and there's so much video in the game now.
37:26
And there's so much teaching of the game to a fault almost.
37:33
I think some guys really need it.
37:35
And then I think there's guys that are just god-given players that you need to let go.
37:41
I've had that conversation with a number of coaches and, you know, a coach telling me, well, you know, I say, that guy can just flat out score.
37:51
Yeah, but he doesn't play a 200-foot game.
37:55
And I'm like, big deal.
37:57
You know, what's he do for you?
37:59
What do you want him to do?
38:00
Well, score.
38:02
But I also want to be a 200-foot player.
38:04
So it's more they're developing the whole player, you know, not just part of them.
38:10
And, you know, that's why I think we're seeing so many players.
38:15
And the pro teams, they, you know what?
38:18
They can hide their guy in college knowing that he's with a good coach, knowing that, you know, every program is pretty darn good and they don't have to pay him right away.
38:30
And Ves, you know, one thing I just, that makes me want to watch the NHL more is seeing all these college players, you know, playing.
38:37
I mean, you see them playing these other teams, Ves, and all of a sudden you see them in the NHL.
38:42
And I tend to root more for the college hockey player than the other players.
38:47
Yeah, I do too.
38:48
It's a lot of fun to see, you know, the first goal scored the NHL season, two of them by college players.
38:53
Right.
38:53
You know, it kind of warms the heart.
38:55
And I think if you look at the number of players playing in the NHL this year by country, if you had Minnesota as a country, I think Minnesota is fourth or fifth on the list.
39:07
Right.
39:08
Like, if you could just take the Minnesota players by themselves and consider them a country, you know, they'd be up there with the best of them.
39:16
No doubt about it.
39:17
Wow.
39:18
All right, guys, we need to get into this weekend.
39:20
A big matchup.
39:22
You know, St.
39:23
Cloud just split with Mankato, down on Mankato.
39:26
Great series.
39:27
You witnessed one of those games, Pat, I know that.
39:31
And boy, Veegs, speed limit goes up.
39:36
It's going to be a fun weekend.
39:38
I'm looking forward to it.
39:39
It's going to be a great weekend.
39:41
You know, St.
39:41
Cloud is one of those teams.
39:43
I wasn't sure what was going to happen when Brett Larson took over.
39:47
I thought that, you know, some of the people that they had in the recruiting pipeline for the Huskies were starting to come over to Minnesota.
39:54
I thought maybe things would be empty.
39:55
He wasn't going to take guys from Duluth, but he has just done a phenomenal job with his roster, and it's a veteran roster this year.
40:03
I think they only have one freshman forward playing, one freshman defenseman playing, you know, their experience, and they had some guys come back, you know, Easton coming back for them.
40:13
You know, they're going to be tough this weekend, and the speed limit's going to be very, very high.
40:18
You're not going to be able to leave your brain anywhere but on the ice for this one.
40:22
Yeah, and, you know, I don't want to temper anybody's enthusiasm, because it is going to be a great series.
40:31
And to me, because we're still in October, right?
40:36
We're in October.
40:38
It's a breaking-rate series.
40:40
It is.
40:41
It really, truly is.
40:44
Yes, both teams will find out where they are, what, you know, what they need to work on.
40:49
But I will tell you, we will see two different teams in three months.
40:54
No doubt about it.
40:56
They'll both be well-oiled.
40:59
They'll both know what their go-tos are to win, what their formula is.
41:08
But it's going to be a really good series.
41:10
You know, if you want me to handicap it, I'll handicap it.
41:15
St.
41:15
Cloud's got a skate.
41:19
If you look at them, they don't have a star on their team.
41:23
They have a bunch of really good players and a bunch of guys who work hard.
41:31
When they're not skating, when they're not forechecking, when they're not buzzing, as Brett Larson says to me, we go in, we know they're not the biggest team in the world.
41:40
They don't knock anybody down, but they jab you and they jab you and they jab you and they jab you.
41:48
And then by the end of the game, they're still going, the other team's slowing down.
41:53
And that's when they really are effective.
41:58
Really good power play.
42:00
They're goaltending last weekend.
42:03
In all of the years that I've been doing it, David Rennick was spectacular in the net for him.
42:11
And you know what?
42:13
He was great for him in the playoffs a year ago.
42:16
But you know, he has a tendency to be up and down.
42:19
If he plays really well, it's going to be a low scoring series and a really, really good series.
42:26
Veegs, what does Minnesota need to do to be successful this weekend?
42:32
I think they've got to stay connected.
42:34
I think you want to play a structured game against St.
42:38
Cloud because the Gophers have so many young players that they have in key roles who haven't been through a game like this ever before.
42:45
It's going to be their first exposure to that.
42:48
And the number one thing you want to do is not give it away.
42:52
You want to extend the game.
42:54
You want to play smart.
42:55
You don't want to turn the puck over at the blue lines in this one because, you know, they've got a lot of speed, yeah.
43:02
Yeah, they're going to be at premium.
43:04
And then, you know, play to your skill.
43:06
Play within your structure.
43:08
And then when you have a chance to make a play, use your skill because this Gopher roster, all four lines have skilled players on it.
43:15
There isn't a plugger line on this team.
43:17
All four lines can play and all the players can score if they have the opportunity.
43:23
You know, this is a team where I could see a 10 to 15 goal score on every single line.
43:28
Yeah, I think, listen, we all know in their own end, they weren't great, the breakouts weren't clean and all that kind of stuff.
43:40
It's going to be imperative for them to get, for their D to get their feet moving, for them to make that crisp pass, for them to jump up in the play, to be a little bit more active.
43:54
If Minnesota's D are not active, then it's going to be, I don't want to say a struggle, but it's going to be a lot more difficult to win a game.
44:04
It's going to be a lot tighter than they might think.
44:10
So, you know, again, I think it all starts with their decor.
44:16
But you got to be active at the right times.
44:18
Right.
44:18
I once made a joke about a player who I thought would steal a car with no gas, just to steal a car.
44:24
You can't do that.
44:26
No, no, I agree 100% with that.
44:29
There's no question.
44:30
And that's there again, right?
44:32
It's having the right focus, having the right mindset.
44:35
And, you know, and they will make those guys are good.
44:40
They've done it.
44:41
All right.
44:41
It's not like this is new to them.
44:44
Did we or did we not see this last year?
44:47
Right.
44:48
We did.
44:49
And so that mindset has got to kind of click a little bit more, you know, heading into this weekend.
44:57
It's kind of like just play smart.
44:59
You don't have to make the big play.
45:00
Just, I mean, Veegs, you've been talking about that forever.
45:03
Play smart.
45:03
You're in trouble.
45:04
Chip it up off the boards when you're in the D.
45:06
It's just, sometimes it's just the simple things that can make this team successful, Veegs.
45:11
Yeah.
45:11
It's hit singles and doubles.
45:13
It's like, don't swing for the fences every time because, you know, this isn't baseball where you're just trying to hit home runs.
45:19
You know, it doesn't work that way.
45:21
Yeah.
45:21
And, you know, and listen, you know, you mentioned Brett Larson and his staff.
45:25
They're really a really well-coached team and they focus on details.
45:32
And, you know, they rarely beat themselves, okay?
45:39
You know, they're positionally really, really sound, you know, at least from what I've seen this year and, you know, what they carried on from what they did a year ago.
45:50
So it's going to be fun.
45:51
Hey, listen, it's going to be a great series.
45:55
I think the fans are really going to enjoy it.
45:59
And again, it's, you know, I caution it's October.
46:05
But, you know, it's great.
46:07
It's going to be really fun.
46:09
All right, Veegs, let's get your prediction right now.
46:12
What do you think?
46:13
I think the teams at home win this weekend.
46:15
I feel like Minnesota has enough firepower, or even if they make a few mistakes, you know, they'll be able to erase some of them.
46:22
I just think, you know, St.
46:24
Cloud, when they maybe have some matchup control at home, will be able to control the game a little bit better and take advantage of things.
46:33
Pat, what's your prediction?
46:34
Well, I'm going to say a split also, but I'm going to go the opposite.
46:38
Ooh, I like that.
46:39
I do, because honestly, I think Minnesota needs to play in the road, and I think they'll be a little bit more loose on the road in terms of tension and stress.
46:57
I think they'll love that environment, and I think they'll get a little bit more fired up to play on the road.
47:04
So you know what?
47:05
I'm going to go St.
47:05
Cloud and then Minnesota.
47:08
You kind of stole my thunder.
47:09
That's what I was going to predict.
47:10
You know, the road teams are going to win this weekend.
47:15
Now watch, one team will sweep, and we'll all be happy or sad.
47:22
Either way, we will see these two teams fighting for a national title this year.
47:29
Again, I made my prediction early, and I said, we will see five teams again in the national tournament.
47:38
How about that?
47:39
We will, we will.
47:42
Wow, I like that.
47:42
Look at that Pat Provincial poll, and one through five.
47:46
You don't like it.
47:47
One through four, it could be anywhere.
47:49
One through four could be anywhere.
47:50
It could change.
47:51
You know, it doesn't matter what I do with my poll.
47:53
I'm gonna get yelled at, right?
47:56
And that's the beauty of it.
47:57
That's the beauty of it.
47:59
You know what?
48:01
And that's what I love about it, guys, is that the passion of the college hockey fan is incredible.
48:13
The love for your own team is incredible.
48:16
And the hate, I hate to use the word hatred, but you know what I mean.
48:22
Hatred in a good way for the opposition is incredible.
48:28
And you know why?
48:29
We didn't have that, oh, I don't know, I don't know how many years back, in terms of we know we're good, right?
48:38
We know we're good.
48:40
Bemidji, we know we're good.
48:42
UMD, we know we're good.
48:44
Mankato, St.
48:45
Cloud, and soon to be St.
48:47
Thomas getting there.
48:48
But every team knows that they're good.
48:51
And that's what makes it so much fun to be at the rink.
48:57
Well, thanks for joining us on the podcast, Pat.
48:59
We're so glad.
49:00
Thanks for having me.
49:02
Listen, I was really, really nervous that I was not gonna get asked.
49:07
Well, can you hang around?
49:08
Can you hang around a little bit for some overtime?
49:11
Twist my arm.
49:12
Yeah, I will.
49:14
Only if you invite me back again before the weekend's over.
49:17
We will do that.
49:18
We've got quite a few openings that, you know, once it turns 2022.
49:21
So you hang around for a bit of overtime.
49:23
But we thank you for coming on the podcast.
49:25
We appreciate it.
49:25
We're gonna make you a regular.
49:27
So you're gonna have to put up with more of us, Pat.
49:31
No, I think I'm a handful for you guys.
49:36
Well, that's gonna do it for this GPL Podcast.
49:39
You know, obviously again, thank Pat for being on the show again.
49:43
And we're gonna have Bruce Siskie of UMD fame on the show next week.
49:48
He'll be a great guest.
49:49
For those of you currently watching live on YouTube and Facebook, stay tuned for a bit of overtime with Pat.
49:56
For the rest of you, thanks for listening.
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