All episodes Previous #21: Final Five Debacle, NCAA Tournament. Next #23: 2012-13 Season Preview Gopher Puck Live Podcast #22: Headed to the Frozen Four!!! Tue. Mar 27, 2012 Length 1:12:58 0:00 / 1:12:58 −30s +30s 1x 1.1x 1.25x Notes Transcript The Gophers are going to the Frozen Four in Tampa! We recap the West Regional and preview the Frozen Four. We also answer listener questions as well. 0:03 This is the Go4Puck Live Podcast, episode number 22, recorded Tuesday, March 27th, 2012. 0:21 They're out of their seats. 0:24 The kids are jumping for joy. 0:26 They're going to Florida. 0:32 Get out the Hawaiian shirts. 0:33 Here's a backhand shot just right. 0:36 Three seconds to go. 0:37 Buck up along the boards. 0:39 That's it! 0:40 Game over! 0:41 Dorfers are the West Regional Champions in the core of the bank. 0:50 And the celebration begins in St. 0:53 Paul. 0:54 Here come the Dorfers, three on two. 0:59 Oh my! 1:00 A cannon-inning shot from the right flank. 1:03 Eight feet inside the blue line. 1:11 And that was just fired right by Patton. 1:14 Now another try is right on goal in an effort by Lamerow. 1:18 Shoulder save for goaltender Kent Patterson. 1:22 Tipped up by McMillan. 1:23 And a huge left pad save for Patterson. 1:28 John Holler shoots and scores! 1:30 He was at the edge of the crease. 1:32 It was a pilot play goal to start the period. 1:35 And the Gophers go up 2-0. 2:08 What a dynamic rush by Smith. 2:11 Oh, yes. 2:22 Oh, he keeps going. 2:22 Here's a shot by Cohn, and he scores! 2:25 It trickles in off of Boyd. 2:27 He gets his first college goal on Minnesota, And now leads North Dakota 4-1. 2:34 Pondon got it right in front. 2:37 Travis Boyd was behind the defenseman. 2:39 Boy, is he happy. 2:41 Is there a grin on Travis Boyd's face to get number one? 2:45 Couldn't imagine a better way to get it than to do it in a playoff game against the University of North Dakota and give your team a three-goal lead. 2:54 How about that? 2:56 Minnesota keeps it along the boards. 2:58 North Dakota centers a backhand shot. 3:00 Right on by Parks. 3:01 And a huge save. 3:02 Pulling up the boards. 3:03 And here's Condon. 3:04 He's got a breakaway. 3:06 He scores! 3:09 Yeah, baby! 3:10 We're going to Florida! 3:11 Ha ha ha ha! 3:14 Whoo! 3:49 Love it. 3:50 Wally and Frank at their best. 3:53 Must thank Gopher Sports and Learfield for that audio. 3:56 It's just some great stuff. 3:58 Welcome to The Gopher Puck Live Podcast. 4:01 I am your host, Jupiter. 4:02 Little on the weather, so hopefully it won't sound too bad. 4:05 And of course, I'm joined here by Cardinal and Hamme. 4:09 Guys, we're going to the Frozen Four. 4:12 Are you jacked? 4:14 Absolutely. 4:15 All right, Cardinal. 4:16 Oh yeah, very much so. 4:19 All right, guys, beginning of the season, Grand Forks Herald had them picked, finished, fifth or sixth, whatever it was. 4:28 We had them fourth, fifth, third in air. 4:31 They're going to the Frozen Four. 4:33 Cardinal, your initial thoughts. 4:36 It's awesome. 4:37 I mean, it's kind of one of those things. 4:39 And one of the good things maybe about the last few years is the expectation bar definitely got lowered a little bit. 4:44 It wasn't as high as it was obviously coming off the two national championships in the early 2000s. 4:50 So yeah, I mean, it's tough to put into words. 4:53 You know, it's awesome that you can go to the Frozen Four, you eliminate North Dakota and you know, you couldn't really have it set up any better in terms of the way last weekend went to end their season and move on to Tampa. 5:04 So yeah, it's awesome. 5:05 And big time credit to Lucia for persevering and getting through all the assholes like me, saying he was done and she didn't have it any more and blah, blah, blah. 5:14 That's why he's a coach and I'm an emotional Rube. 5:16 And you know, it's nothing wrong with being an emotional Rube. 5:20 The team sucked. 5:21 That's right. 5:22 Well, yeah, they did. 5:23 But to his credit, they turned it around a big way and he made a gutsy decision to bring Mike Gensel back, which obviously had a huge impact on things. 5:29 And one year, I can't remember who it was recently, it was Johnny Poll with PA or whatever, and talking about, well, they bring Gensel back and they win the league title and now they're going to the Frozen Four. 5:39 So, maybe not a coincidence after all. 5:43 Hammy, a couple of weeks ago, they get killed by North Dakota. 5:48 Complete collapse, third period. 5:50 What are your thoughts on the reversal? 5:53 Well, I mean, I kind of, not to toot my own horn, but I kind of did say that I thought that this would happen. 5:59 I mean, I really believe, just from my own personal experience, I've been, of course not on this level, but, you know, I've been in that environment where you got your ass beat by, you know, your rival, and then you get a chat at them, basically, the day later, in this case, a week later, and, you know, I think you can't underestimate that. 6:18 I do understand why, like, Luchia, would be playing that whole, you know, revenge factor down and all that, because you kind of want it to be about the game, you don't want the players to get too emotional and all that kind of stuff. 6:31 But, you know, if it were a month later, you know, or the next season or something along those lines, I'd say, yeah, that whole revenge talk and, you know, getting, you know, some payback, that's all overrated. 6:43 But when you're talking the next week and it's in the NCAAs, I don't think it's overrated. 6:48 I do believe that those guys have a lot of pride. 6:51 And if you look at how they've performed this season, you know, they've done a pretty good job being resilient. 6:56 When they've lost a game, other than, you know, the Denver series, they've been pretty resilient all year. 7:00 So, I'm not entirely shocked by that. 7:03 You know, I quite honestly thought North Dakota would play a little tougher than they did. 7:08 But maybe they were just gassed because they had played three games at the, you know, WCHA Final Five. 7:14 And then you have, you know, the night before. 7:17 And the Gophers basically had one game and, you know, hadn't played in two weeks or whatever essentially. 7:23 So, I mean, you know, I think there's a combination of factors, but I'm not entirely surprised. 7:28 And I'm real happy and proud of the guys that they were resilient. 7:31 Well, let's take a look back at the whole regional, not just the North Dakota game. 7:35 Obviously, the Gophers kicked it off with a seven to three victory over Boston University. 7:41 Ryan, I was a bit nervous about that game, because obviously Boston University's got the history and they've got a goalie that's won a national title. 7:49 What did you think of that game? 7:51 Yeah, you know, we talked a little bit last week. 7:53 I was honestly maybe a little bit more nervous about that game just in terms of, you know, how they would come out. 7:58 And, you know, maybe, you know, the look-ahead factor to, you know, they knew at the time that, you know, not all likely to be playing North Dakota. 8:04 And then, you know, with obviously the North Dakota game happening before that, they for sure knew. 8:07 So, you know, like Lucia talked about, too, it probably helped that they were playing a team that, you know, traditionally is really good and, you know, in Boston University and not, you know, kind of a one-off like a union or somebody like that, where they might be really good this year, but traditionally they aren't that good. 8:21 So it might be easy for a group of guys to kind of overlook them. 8:23 But, yeah, you know, as the game got going, it was just, you know, it was not unwatchable, but it was close to that just with all the penalties. 8:30 And I know, you know, Frank Mazzacco tweeted after the second period that there had been more time play either shorthanded or four on four than they had, you know, in full strength and just a lot of back and forth. 8:40 And I mean, I see a little bit worried just because BU had really good special teams, just like the Gophers did. 8:44 So that may have played in their hands a little bit more than it played into the Gophers. 8:48 But, yeah, once the Keddie scored that goal in the third period and, you know, that pretty much iced it. 8:52 And yeah, it was a good hard fought game. 8:54 And I think it, you know, kind of prepared them pretty well for what was to come the following day. 8:59 Hammeh, what are your thoughts on the first game? 9:02 I mean, I think it was, you know, kind of just showed the kind of resiliency that they had all year. 9:08 I mean, they go up, they get tied, they go up, they get tied. 9:12 You know, I mean, you, you know, you could certainly make an argument that in past years they would have, you know, maybe folded a little bit because, you know, the other team wasn't just, you know, we weren't able to get that two goal lead or that, you know, I mean, especially after that North Dakota game, you kind of could say, well, you know, is this going to be the time in the game? 9:31 When they tied it 2-2, you could have been like, well, you know, is this where the Gophers are going to lose some momentum and, you know, feel the pressure or whatever? 9:39 But, you know, to their credit, they built that lead back up and, you know, they maintain it for the whole game. 9:44 And I just think it's great that they were able to kind of prove themselves after the prior week. 9:49 But yeah, it was a good game. 9:51 And I thought it was great to show, you know, usually you excited to see these NCAA games be a little bit lower scoring and, you know, maybe a little tighter checking and whatever. 10:00 And we certainly didn't see that from the Gophers side of things, at least this weekend. 10:06 And then on the other side of the bracket, we had Western Michigan and North Dakota playing each other, obviously. 10:10 And North Dakota, basically, you know, a 2-1 win. 10:13 You know, they got the empty net goal in there to make it 3-1. 10:17 I know that game was, I mean, we thought it could be tricky, but I don't know. 10:21 I thought North Dakota did not play that well, but I also think that Western Michigan was part of the reason they didn't play well. 10:29 They played really well defensively. 10:31 Cardinal? 10:32 Yeah, it was, you know, definitely a weird game. 10:34 And, you know, Western is a team that, obviously, you know, being a WCHA fan, you don't see a lot. 10:39 And it's kind of, I mean, you don't want to diminish them. 10:41 But, you know, if I'm flipping around on a Friday or Saturday night where the Gophers are off or whatever, I mean, I'm not going to gravitate necessarily towards a Western Michigan game. 10:47 But just in reading about it, you know, the week ahead, and obviously they had a really impressive run late in the season. 10:52 And, you know, it's a team that had been definitely on the rise, and their coach left to be the assistant for the Red Wings, and then they replaced him with Andy Murray. 10:59 So, you know, a guy with NHL experience, and obviously I think it was his kid that went to North Dakota or nephew or whatever it was. 11:05 But, you know, definitely good bloodlines and that whole thing. 11:07 And, you know, somebody who's pretty well established and he had him play well. 11:11 I mean, they were, you know, kind of up against it and that, you know, you could see they didn't have a lot of offensive firepower. 11:15 And if they were going to win, you know, it would have to be a 2-1, 3-2 type of game. 11:19 And, you know, they held close and, you know, they had to, you know, tighten the third period. 11:23 And I'm sure if you, you know, ask Western, they'd take that every time where they're in it with a chance to, you know, tie it at some point and hopefully, you know, force the suit to make a mistake. 11:31 But, yeah, you know, in the end, it's just North Dakota had a little bit more firepower up front. 11:35 I think that was the difference in the game. 11:36 Anything surprise you in that game, Hammeh? 11:41 In terms of, I thought it would be a little more lower scoring and, you know, that's kind of how it ended up being. 11:47 You know, North Dakota got a few bounces that were advantageous and, you know, that's kind of sometimes all you really need in those, in NCAA games, obviously, when you're a one and done situation, all it takes is a bounce here or there and the next thing you know, the game's over and your season's over. 12:01 So it kind of went the way I expected. 12:03 Okay. 12:04 Well, then obviously, North Dakota, Minnesota rematch, 5-2 final for Minnesota. 12:11 There are a lot of strange things that kind of happened in that game, like a goal from Travis or from Boyd. 12:17 What's the deal with Boyd? 12:18 He finally got on the board, I mean. 12:20 Yeah. 12:21 Well, I mean, I guess better late than never. 12:24 And if you're going to get them, you know, what better time. 12:26 You're right. 12:26 Good time to get the goal. 12:28 Yeah. 12:28 You know, I mean, you're going to kind of need those kinds of performances at this time of the year. 12:34 I mean, you sort of expect when you get to these really high level game. 12:38 I know the whole talk is, you know, your best players have to play their best games at the most important times. 12:43 But, you know, I think a lot of times when I think back to, you know, the Gophers of past years where they were real successful in NCAAs, you know, there were guys like Weibel scoring, you know. 12:55 I mean, you had guys that were kind of pitching in that, you know, maybe weren't necessarily the frontline guys that were scoring big goals. 13:02 And so to see, you know, guys like Saketi and Boyd scoring goals in real key moments in the game, I think that that certainly is a nice sign as we move forward to the Frozen Four because that's what we're probably going to need. 13:17 You know, if we're going to end up winning the whole thing, we'll need more of those contributions. 13:20 Well, it seems like some guys also kind of got off to Schneider, don't you think, Cardinal? 13:24 I mean, Matson scored for the first time in a long time. 13:27 Marshall had a nice blast on a set up from Budish. 13:30 It was good to kind of get these third liners and defensemen going. 13:35 Well, yeah, and we had talked about it for how long, where scoring had been an issue for this team, and especially the second half of the year. 13:40 I mean, yeah, early in the year, they put up ten at Duluth on the two games that weekend and were kind of ringing up goals. 13:46 And the biggest difference probably, I mean, yeah, maybe Raoul and Buks said those two kind of cooled off in the middle of the season. 13:51 But that third line, and we had touched on it last week, where those guys had kind of fallen off. 13:57 And Connett and Matson in particular, I mean, they're always going to be great penalty killers. 14:01 They're going to give you hard minutes, and they'll probably keep the puck in the other teams end. 14:04 But they weren't scoring like they had at some of the points earlier in the season. 14:08 And again, I don't know whose idea it was, but putting Chavis Boyd up there got those guys going in a big way. 14:13 And you look at this weekend, I think that's a reason for optimism. 14:17 It's not like they had to grind out a couple 2-1 wins or something, kind of like they've done all year, which there's nothing wrong with that. 14:23 But going against Boston College, it's going to be a pretty big mountain to climb if you're only going to be able to score a couple goals. 14:28 So I think scoring 10 non-empty net goals this past weekend bodes pretty well for the offense, heading against another big time defensive team. 14:37 I think it's kind of the common thread of all the frozen four teams is that there's big time goaltenders and none bigger than what Boston College is going to roll out. 14:45 But with the way the forwards went, especially getting like you guys touched on, the depth scoring that this team had kind of gotten away from here maybe the last month and a half, like I said, I think that bodes fairly well for next weekend. 14:56 So what do you guys think about Patterson's role this weekend? 15:00 Obviously, you have a ton of goals against North Dakota. 15:02 Obviously, we don't think a lot of them were his fault. 15:05 But I think the fact that they didn't give up too many goals and he looked pretty good, it's got to bode well for the Frozen Four Hammy. 15:15 Well, yeah, I mean, I thought in particular in the North Dakota game early on, he made a couple of real key saves. 15:21 I can't remember who it was that. 15:22 It was where he made that kind of toe save off of a tip or whatever. 15:26 Yeah, I mean, that was when it was still 0-0 and that was a huge save. 15:30 And I think that the one I look back on the weekend, I think, and you can probably say this for a lot of Gopher games, when they get up early and they kind of build that momentum and confidence, even if the game eventually gets tied later in the game, I think they generally, throughout most of the season, have been successful in those games. 15:50 And so the times that I remember them generally struggling has been when they were kind of down early on and they kind of had to fight back. 15:57 And I think that's probably, you're going to see that with most teams, of course, but I think in particular, given the circumstances of the prior week, it was important to get off to a good start and to see him make some big saves. 16:09 You know, like I said, in that North Dakota game in particular, I think it was huge. 16:12 Well, I also think that, I don't think he really gave up any bad goals at all. 16:16 I mean, even tough goals. 16:19 I mean, you think about the Crystal goal, and it takes a weird bounce off the stanchion, bounces over a player's stick, and Crystal just turns and shoots. 16:26 And I thought the Lameroo goal towards the end was also a lot of traffic out front. 16:30 So Cardinal, I think he looked pretty good overall. 16:35 Yeah, he was kinda, you didn't notice him a lot this weekend. 16:37 Yeah, that's exactly what I'm thinking of, yeah. 16:40 Yeah, I mean, especially in the second period of the Sioux game, the North Dakota only had the two shots, but in the third period, they played pretty well. 16:46 I mean, North Dakota came at the Gophers hard, which again, you'd expect them to do. 16:50 Obviously, there are seasons on the line, and they had to have a pretty big effort, but I was there in fan mode on Sunday, so I didn't have the detailed box for it. 16:58 It seemed like the Gophers blocked a hell of a lot of shots in the third period. 17:01 A lot of guys taking them right to the gut, right 10, 15 feet in front of the net, but they had the one that hit the pipe, I think, that Simpson laced in there. 17:09 But other than that, he wasn't giving up a lot of rebounds either, and not that he's notorious for that, like Briggs or somebody like that, who he had a lot of success, but there was definitely flaws. 17:18 But I think a lot of pucks, especially against North Dakota, when they came in, he was able to freeze it, and that's huge. 17:24 You got guys, North Dakota's obviously strong down low with Nelson and Corbin Knight and guys like that, that can give some of the smaller defensemen a little bit of an issue. 17:32 So if you're not kicking out rebounds, I think that's huge. 17:35 And you heard Lucia, I think it was on his radio show on Monday night, talk to say, that's gonna be a pretty key thing for next weekend with how hard Boston College goes to the Nets. 17:43 So hopefully again, that bodes well for the Gophers. 17:46 Well, besides playing well defensively, I also like that they didn't, until the very end, maybe the last five minutes or so, after they got their fifth goal, they were in full-on mode the whole game. 17:57 They didn't really shut down offensively until those after the Condon goal. 18:02 And I think that was a real positive. 18:03 And even when they did have to shut down the offense, they really did close them down, Hammey. 18:09 I mean, there was, like you said, Cardinal, there were blocking shots everywhere. 18:14 Yeah, I mean, I think that, I mean, that was the thing that I was always concerned about going into this weekend, is you can't, you, I mean, I think it's natural, maybe when you know that if you lose a game, it's not going to be the end of the season. 18:29 Maybe you can kind of mentally let up, even in a final five game, maybe you can kind of take that attitude. 18:34 But you get to this time of the year, you just absolutely have to keep the hammer down. 18:39 And I think that maybe that was probably, I'm sure that was drilled into their head throughout the week. 18:44 I mean, they experienced that, what can happen the week before. 18:47 But especially in these games, you can't blame anybody for trying to run up the score, trying to put the hammer down and keep scoring goals, no matter what the score is, because you're like, hey, this is a game that if we lose, we're done, so we kind of keep playing that way. 19:05 And I think that that's just generally the attitude you have to have moving forward. 19:09 You can't be taking that kind of conservative, football-prevent-defense type of an attitude. 19:16 You kind of have to keep the hammer down. 19:19 That's the way it should be, and hopefully that's how they're going to be playing moving forward. 19:24 Well, let's take a look at some of the other regions. 19:27 Let's go over to the East Regional. 19:29 We had Union taking out Michigan State 3-1, bit of a controversial non-goal call there. 19:36 On the other side, we had Miami and Massachusetts Lowell, where Lowell jumped out to the lead. 19:42 Miami roared back, tied it. 19:44 Lowell wins in overtime. 19:46 And finally, Union takes out Lowell 4-2. 19:49 Do you guys have any thoughts on that whole region? 19:54 Hmm. 19:55 I really didn't see a heck of a lot of those games in particular for that region. 20:00 I can't say that I'm too surprised. 20:01 I was a little surprised at the way that Miami kind of played, I mean, in terms of early in that game, I mean, they certainly made a nice comeback and everything, but they didn't seem really prepared. 20:13 And I don't know, I know that Miami's sort of been up and down when it came to the NCAAs. 20:17 Sometimes they get to the Frozen 4 and everything, but they've sort of been like a hackstall's teams where they're, you know, they'll do some, have some success, but they really haven't gotten over the hump. 20:26 And that, you know, it's kind of a, I think the way that they've generally been, they've gotten to some Frozen 4s, but yeah, and that game in particular, they just didn't look ready to play early on. 20:36 Cardinal, what did you think about the Derek Shepard call of taking that goal away from Michigan State? 20:42 Yeah, I mean, it's kind of a par for the course, right? 20:45 You know, it's, I mean, if there's going to be a controversy in terms of officiating in the, but I guess, you know, to the WCHA officials' credit, I mean, we complain about them all year, but then as soon as we get to a regional and have ECAC officials and there's whistles every two minutes, then we kind of, you know, so it's kind of one of those things as a fan, you're going to bitch about it either way. 21:03 But yeah, I mean, that was obviously a tough call. 21:06 And you know, in a game that was, you know, a tight game like that, I mean, it's not like it was a seven to six type game or whatever. 21:12 I mean, yeah, it was a difficult call for Michigan State. 21:15 But, you know, again, I'm kind of like Hammy. 21:17 I wasn't too focused on that bracket just in terms of what it was on. 21:21 I mean, the only game really there I watched a ton of was the UMass-Low Miami game on Friday night, I think it was. 21:25 And yeah, it's too bad for Miami. 21:27 I mean, they got awful for two periods and then they turned it on. 21:30 And, you know, I thought they, you know, probably were the one team there that had the firepower to take down Union. 21:35 But if you don't play for two-thirds of the game against a, you know, again, UMass-Low, they're not great. 21:40 But, you know, they're a solid enough team where you get down 3-0. 21:43 It's going to be tough to come back. 21:44 And to their credit, they pushed it to overtime. 21:46 But obviously lost. 21:47 And yeah, I mean, Union keeps on rolling again. 21:50 It's just a weird thing. 21:52 It's not a team many of us really know a lot about. 21:54 But, you know, here they are in the frozen forest. 21:56 So credit to them. 21:58 Well, let's move on to the Midwest regional where Cornell took out the number two seed in Michigan, three to two in overtime. 22:05 We had Denver losing to Ferris, two to one. 22:09 And then Ferris defeating Cornell, two to one, to make it to the frozen four. 22:14 Any quick thoughts on that one? 22:17 Well, I mean, I thought that it was interesting watching Michigan lose that game. 22:22 I mean, I... 22:22 Oh darn. 22:23 Yeah, I mean, I kind of... 22:26 I actually thought they'd come out of that bracket. 22:28 But you know, it just goes to show you sometimes those results can be rather unpredictable when you get to this. 22:33 And you know, Denver, what can you say? 22:35 I mean, they were dinged up and certainly you didn't know who was going to be doing what, you know, who's going to actually be seeing the ice. 22:43 And you know, they've been inconsistent all year despite all that talent they've had. 22:49 And so I guess I can't say I'm entirely shocked that they lost that game. 22:54 Ryan, Michigan, Michigan taken out. 22:58 That kind of messed up a lot of brackets. 23:00 It did. 23:01 And you know, you talk about teams that get favorable draws. 23:03 And this is in the sleight of Duluth. 23:04 But you know, I mean, that was a big part of what happened last year. 23:06 They got sent out east and, you know, got a pretty soft region. 23:09 They were able to take advantage of it, which again, a lot of teams don't. 23:12 I always see North Dakota go out east and lose to Yale the one year. 23:15 And they lost New Hampshire, I think, the other year. 23:17 So not everyone could take advantage of it. 23:19 But yeah, I mean, big time credit to Ferris State. 23:22 I mean, they got a favorable draw in that. 23:24 They played a Denver team that was pretty tired and beat up, and they were able to win that game. 23:28 And yeah, with Cornell, I mean, that's always the worry is that, again, as a WCHA fan, you don't see him a ton, but you can pretty much guarantee they're going to have a really good goalie. 23:38 And Andy Iles is just that. 23:39 And he kind of stood in his head there for stretches and kind of unfortunate way for Michigan to go out. 23:45 But again, now as a fan of a team that's in the Frozen Four, I'd much rather play anyone else in that bracket aside from Michigan. 23:52 So as it turns out, it worked out OK. 23:54 But yeah, you know, again, Ferris State, it's a team that you don't know a ton about. 23:58 But just in looking at everything kind of, I mean, a lot of juniors and seniors, and they're not a lot of 22 year old seniors. 24:04 I mean, it's definitely an older team with a lot of, you know, 23, 24, 25 year old kids. 24:09 And that's how they do it. 24:10 And, you know, so credit to them. 24:12 That's their formula. 24:13 And this year was successful and they're in the Frozen Four. 24:16 And finally, the North East are in regional. 24:19 Boston College taking out Air Force, two to nothing, a little surprise score there, I think. 24:25 Maine jumps out to a lead on Duluth, and Duluth storms back and beats them 5-2. 24:30 And then, of course, you know, Boston College shuts out Duluth in the final four to nothing. 24:35 Hammy, did you see any of those games? 24:38 Yeah, I mean, I didn't see really too much of the BC Air Force game. 24:42 So I can't really say too much about that. 24:43 The only thing that I find interesting about that is Saratore was in town after they lost and apparently was out with Lucia after the Gophers won on Sunday night. 24:54 And I'm sure that they had a nice conversation about, you know, Boston College strength and weaknesses and all that kind of good stuff. 25:00 So I'm sure Lucia got a little bit of a, you know, a scouting report of sorts from a coach who had just played them. 25:06 So that probably won't hurt the Gophers moving forward. 25:09 As far as the Duluth goes, I mean, you know, I kind of thought that Maine was going to give them trouble. 25:14 And when I saw that they were up to nothing, I'm like, yeah, this is kind of how I thought it might be. 25:18 But you have to give credit to Duluth. 25:20 You know, like they've kind of been a pretty good team all year, as far as comebacks go, and to storm back and win that game certainly is impressive. 25:27 And, you know, in the final, you kind of have to go with BC. 25:31 I mean, I think that we all called BC last week. 25:34 I don't remember for sure, but I know that I did. 25:36 But you kind of have to give them the nod, the way they had been playing and certainly being, you know, pretty much, you know, near home. 25:43 And, you know, it's not a huge surprise that they'd win that game. 25:47 And, you know, I give Duluth a lot of credit. 25:49 I tip my hat to them as far as what they've done here in the last year or so. 25:53 And I certainly won't miss the likes of Jack Connelly and JT Brown. 25:57 I know drunk hockey guys certainly will, but I certainly will not. 26:01 Those guys are real good players, especially Connelly. 26:03 I mean, he's been a great four-year player and, you know, one of the best we've seen in the WCHA and probably in the last 10 years, certainly, and it won't be sad to see him go, but I'm sure he'll have a good, at least a pretty good chance at a good pro career. 26:15 But yeah, that's nothing too surprising that came out of that bracket. 26:21 Yeah, and, you know, with Duluth and, you know, watch, you know, was able to get to the bar after the game on Sunday night to watch a good chunk of the, you know, Duluth-BC game. 26:30 And even though it was 2-0, and you kind of knew Duluth was going to make a charge. 26:33 And that, I mean, I know Kenny Ryder, it's Gopher fans have kind of given him crap over the years. 26:37 And, you know, but he won a national title. 26:39 So just like Adam Houser and on the list. 26:42 But that goal he gave up to start the third period from that, you know, this little lob shot from the boards. 26:47 I honestly, I thought Duluth had it in him. 26:49 And they played really well that third period. 26:50 I mean, that Parker Mellner made a lot of big saves and Duluth had so many point blank chances. 26:55 But I think just, you know, there's such a big difference between 2-0 and 3-0. 26:59 And, you know, I think it could have been 2-0 in Duluth, meaning they had power plays up and down that third period. 27:04 And just so many, again, point blank chances for guys like JT. 27:08 Brown and Alexic and Seidel and these guys that, you know, have buried it all year and for whatever reason, I mean, a lot of it, you know, again, is going to go to Boston College. 27:15 Their decor and goaltending is outstanding. 27:16 But, yeah, I thought Duluth would make a charge. 27:19 They definitely, you know, played good in that third period. 27:21 But, you know, I think, like I said, that third goal that was really soft is kind of the backbreaker. 27:26 Going back to the Maine-Duluth game, did any of you guys see the replay of Maine's second goal? 27:34 Ah, you probably have to refresh my memory. 27:37 I didn't see it myself, but it was explained to me that the Maine goal was knocked off, clearly knocked off its pegs. 27:45 Oh, okay. 27:46 But Maine had the puck. 27:50 There was no whistle, so they kept skating up the ice, and it pretty much felt like that the Duluth players thought, the play had stopped, the game had stopped. 27:58 They went down the score and went up two to nothing. 28:00 And apparently, there's some obscure rule that I had never heard of, that if your net is knocked off and you have the puck, play continues. 28:08 Have any of you guys ever seen that or heard of anything like that? 28:12 I've seen it, I want to say, somewhere recently, and it might be, it might have been at the NHL level in one of my beloved Philadelphia Flyer games, but it's something I have seen recently. 28:22 And I can't remember if it was college or a game I was at. 28:25 I don't know, it's a weird deal, but again, I didn't see that happen this week, and I read about it, I think on Twitter, I saw it kind of in passing in the regionals, there's so many games going on, you kind of get lost in the shuffle. 28:34 But as you described it again, I definitely, it's something I've seen. 28:37 And when I saw it, I mean, it made sense to me, but again, it's not something I'd seen a lot. 28:43 So it was surprising, but yet when I kind of thought it out, it's like, okay, I kind of get where they're going with that, just to keep the play moving. 28:49 And it's one of those things where if it burns your team, you're super pissed about it. 28:53 But if it goes in your favor, you're like, oh yeah, that's great, right? 28:55 So did you see the replay of it? 28:58 I did not know. 28:59 Yeah, I didn't see it either. 29:00 For some reason, I don't remember, but I do remember hearing afterwards kind of the explanation that they gave on television. 29:08 And I absolutely think it's the right call to make because you could hypothetically say, okay, if the other team goes on a breakaway, you could just shove your net off and what that's automatically going to kill the play in the game. 29:20 I mean, to me, that's the right call to make, that you shouldn't have a team benefiting. 29:26 I mean, it depends, of course, how the net came off, too, of course. 29:30 I don't know that. 29:31 I don't know. 29:32 I don't remember seeing how that actually happened, if it was through incidental contact or what happened as far as how it came off. 29:41 But I do think it's the right call to make. 29:44 You shouldn't punish a team if they're on a rush the other direction to suddenly blow the game dead just because of something that happened at the end of the rink that's not their fault necessarily. 29:55 So yeah, I think that's the right call to make. 29:58 All right, well before we move on to the Frozen 4, I'm just going to go through a bunch of Twitter questions that I've seen here. 30:06 We got Emoby asking, what happened to Bukestead during the last few games? 30:13 Didn't look like he did much in either game. 30:17 And I would say I would kind of agree with him. 30:20 Has Bukestead recovered from his injury or whatever happened to him? 30:25 Because I think he just hasn't been quite there at the last few weeks. 30:30 Yeah, I know Ryan and I were talking a little bit about this on Twitter. 30:36 I would be surprised. 30:37 He definitely doesn't seem quite as active as he was. 30:41 And I think that you could look at how he was in the first half compared to the second half. 30:45 And he hasn't been quite as dominant as he was early on in the season. 30:50 And I know that we talked about the World Juniors. 30:53 You know, he had that little injury right before that. 30:55 And I heard that that was going to be something that would probably linger throughout the rest of the season, that he could play with it. 31:01 It was just depending upon how much of a tolerance he could to handle that kind of stuff. 31:06 And of course, we saw what happened. 31:08 You know, he got dinged up against UNO. 31:10 And, you know, I don't know that he is 100 percent right now. 31:14 I mean, he still has been had his effective moments, but he certainly hasn't been, you know, as dominant. 31:19 I mean, you kind of look at, like, Brock Nelson certainly has, you know, he came on pretty strong in the second half. 31:26 And I say to myself, well, I don't think it's because one guy is suddenly getting better than the other guy. 31:31 I think it's because one guy is probably dinged up and maybe we don't know, you know, typically coaches kind of keep them under wraps. 31:38 I just think that he's a little dinged up personally. 31:40 Yeah, I'm right there with Hammy. 31:42 I mean, it seems like since the, you know, in Omaha where he got, you know, that big hit at the end of the second period of the Saturday night game, didn't play the third, and he missed the Friday night Wisconsin game, came back on Saturday. 31:53 But yeah, since then, he's kind of, you know, he just hasn't been the same self. 31:56 I mean, he seemed like kind of once or twice a week, and he'd pull that inside out move where he'd go on a defenseman kind of like Vanek did in the regionals against Ferris State, Mercyhurst back in the day. 32:05 It seems like he kind of had that move down, and it seemed like the power play kind of ran through him as opposed to, you know, Nate Schmidt in Hollow, where it's kind of going now. 32:13 And, you know, there's just so many instances in the start of the year where you just see him, you know, whistle shots into the top of the net, or even, you know, put him out the glass. 32:20 But just because, you know, he shot so many times, and he always tries to pick the top corner, and obviously had a lot of success doing it. 32:25 But now, you know, in the last month or whatever, you don't see him shooting a lot. 32:30 But I did think he looked really good in the third period on Sunday. 32:33 I mean, I think that was probably his best period he's had in maybe a month. 32:36 And, you know, that's the classic case of if it's kind of a season-long thing and whatever, that, you know, getting a few extra days off here could definitely help him, you know, get ready for probably the biggest game of his college career next Thursday. 32:48 Yeah, he's definitely been off a little bit. 32:50 Yeah, and I think it's, yeah, like Ryan said, it's definitely not going to hurt to have, you know, a good extra three or four days before, you know, you normally have to play. 32:58 So he'll get that little extra rest. 33:00 I'm sure that'll help matters as well. 33:02 Drunk Hockey guy wondering what time the dogs play. 33:06 They don't. 33:08 Zach Wohl asking, will the Drew Shore signing have an effect on the way the Panthers hander Bukestead? 33:17 Well, another thing that Ryan and I talked about offline. 33:20 Okay. 33:23 I have gone back and forth on it personally. 33:26 At first, I'm like, yeah, he's pretty much a lock to go. 33:29 And then you kind of start to hear that, well, you know, he kind of might want to stay, and it sounds like his family kind of would prefer that he stays. 33:40 You know, I usually tend to lean towards, well, what does the NHL team want? 33:43 But I've seen where, you know, they've, I know their GM is a talent, I think. 33:49 You know, he said he's not the pressuring type. 33:52 So if the guy wants to stay, whether that's true or not, you know, whether that's just media fodder, I don't know. 33:57 But, you know, I really don't know what to say at this point. 34:02 I think he'll have a decision to make, certainly. 34:04 I think they'll certainly take him if they want him. 34:06 You know, if he wants to go, I should say. 34:09 And I don't know. 34:11 Ryan, I probably would say a little differently. 34:13 I have no idea. 34:15 Yeah, you know, it's a tough deal. 34:17 And, you know, you look at Florida and it's a weird team and that they completely blew up the roster, you know, this past season. 34:23 And now all these new guys and, you know, just pull up their, you know, kind of their cap thing and cap geek. 34:28 And it seems like a lot of those guys are back next year. 34:31 And I think, you know, in terms of prospects, I mean, they've obviously had a lot of high picks the last few years and, you know, with Drew Shore signing and then, you know, another kid, Jonathan Hubertot, who plays in the Quebec League. 34:41 And he was a kid who had something like he almost made their team out of camp this season. 34:45 And he's kind of like Buke said, where he's a, you know, he was the, I think the third or fourth pick in the draft this past summer. 34:51 So, I mean, he's obviously big time as well. 34:53 And, you know, again, he stayed back there to kind of fill out and he plays for St. 34:57 John's up there and they're the defending champs up there for the Memorial Cup. 35:00 So he sounds like he's a kid that's definitely going to sign, too. 35:04 So, I mean, I don't know. 35:05 I mean, you can only sign so many of these guys at once. 35:07 I mean, do you want an entire influx one year? 35:09 And, you know, a couple of them are probably going to make the team. 35:12 But, you know, and then another few are going to go to the minors. 35:14 So, you know, again, I don't know. 35:16 It's like Hammy said, it's one of those things where you're going to, you know, the longer it drags out, you're going to hear things one way or another. 35:21 And you're going to try to argue it. 35:22 Well, you know, it might do him some good to stay personally. 35:26 This isn't just as a Gopher fan. 35:27 I think it would. 35:28 He's the classic case of, it can't hurt for him to stay another year. 35:31 I mean, he accelerated his studies. 35:34 He's definitely put on some weight and some muscle, but he's still not, you know, a thick body or anything like that. 35:40 So, and especially with, you know, the shoulder injury and if that, or if it is a shoulder again around the world junior time, I think that was pretty public that it was something around the shoulder. 35:48 You know, if there's an offseason surgery to be had, and then, you know, you got to rehab that. 35:52 So, I don't know. 35:53 I think, again, I think he's the case where he should definitely stay. 35:55 But, you know, you've seen it too many times over the years where you start to hear people on a board say, oh, I talked to so and so and I think he's going to stay. 36:02 And they end up leaving. 36:03 So, again, I think as a Gopher fan, you pretty much have to assume he's going to go. 36:07 And if for some reason he ends up staying, then that's fantastic news. 36:10 And it makes Nexter's team just that much better. 36:13 You know, and the other thing I point out is that it's not apples to apples when you're talking about Drew Shor and Nick Bukestad. 36:19 I mean, Shor, you know, he's already 21. 36:22 He's been in college three years. 36:25 So, you know, Panthers probably didn't want him to get to his senior year and possibly have to risk losing him. 36:30 That's good. 36:31 You know, Bukestad hasn't even turned 20 yet. 36:33 He's only been in college two years. 36:35 So the Panthers still have his, you know, draft rights for a couple more years. 36:39 So it's now not exactly apples to apples. 36:42 And they probably can take a little more patient approach with Bukestad if they want to. 36:45 Yeah. 36:46 And, you know, the one more thing to add to is, you know, this offseason is going to be, you know, kind of weird, I think, you know, with the NHL. 36:51 And especially once their season ends with the Collective Bargaining Agreement, I mean, that's up in September. 36:56 And I don't know, I mean, it's kind of a weird deal. 36:58 I mean, you saw it with, like, the NFL, you know, a year ago where their CBA ended right after the season. 37:03 So there wasn't, like, an entire offseason that could happen before it ended. 37:06 So it'll be interesting to see how NHL teams kind of conduct their business this summer, knowing that, I mean, there's probably going to be pretty big time changes with, you know, you've seen the players take a pretty big hit in both the NBA and the NFL in the last Collective Bargaining Agreements. 37:20 And you have to think the NHL is heading down that path as well. 37:23 And, you know, there'll be all sorts of changes from whether you can send guys to the minors to bury their cap numbers and, you know, all that stuff is going to be discussed, especially with Donald Feer heading up the NHLPA. 37:34 I mean, it's going to be exactly. 37:36 So again, it's a weird thing. 37:38 I mean, you don't know how much NHL teams, I mean, I'm sure they're going to have kind of an idea on what's going to change and what's not. 37:43 But I mean, is it going to get to a point where they're going to try to sign guys in June because it's looking bad or they're not going to want to? 37:49 So again, it's a unique offseason from a college perspective in that the CBA could change and it could change a great deal. 37:55 Now, whether or not the college part of that changes or not, who knows, but obviously it's all connected and especially the financial part of it. 38:02 So just something to keep an eye on as this offseason rolls on. 38:05 Yeah, and the other thing that I think as far as a college standpoint goes, I think that whole loophole that we saw, like some guys use after playing one year, they get drafted and they play a year juniors and then they have three years of college and then withdraw from school. 38:20 Like, was it Gregoire last year? 38:22 I can't remember who it was. 38:24 But, you know, they're talking about possibly closing that loophole. 38:28 So, you know, somebody like, say, a Danny Christo, you know, he has that opportunity as does Justin Schultz. 38:35 You know, those guys, you know, are they going to want to have to toy with that stuff next year? 38:40 You know, that kind of something they have to throw into the equation. 38:43 If that's not going to be there anymore, that might push up decisions like theirs to actually leaving. 38:48 Another question via Twitter. 38:51 Andrew Weiss asks, how does Taylor Matson rank among recently passed Gopher captains in your guys' opinions? 39:01 That was tough to say. 39:02 Taylor Matson. 39:05 For me, I mean, I think, you know, when you look at captains, you kind of have to look at what's the team, you know, how do they play? 39:11 You know, what do they take on? 39:13 You know, I think they usually take on the characteristics of the leadership. 39:16 I'm not talking necessarily the coaches, but, you know, who's the leaders on the team? 39:20 And you can't have to give the Gophers credit. 39:22 You know, everything I've heard is that, you know, he was obviously a leader in offseason workouts and, you know, really pushed things as far as the players go. 39:30 And the team has been very resilient this year. 39:33 And, you know, Matson is just I think he's a real quality kid. 39:37 He's had to fight through some injuries. 39:38 And, you know, I think that when I look back on past Gopher captains, the ones that you really remember are the teams that had some real good success and had a lot of character on them. 39:47 I mean, you know, the Grant Patonis and the Leopolds and the Poles. 39:51 And, you know, those are the guys you remember. 39:52 Granted, some of that's because of the titles. 39:54 But nonetheless, you know, those are the guys you tend to remember. 39:58 And I, you know, I think that he's definitely one of the better ones that, you know, I've seen come along in a little while. 40:04 Yeah, I'll totally agree. 40:05 I mean, you know, it's yeah, it's one of those things. 40:07 Well, it's easy to say it now because they only made the Frozen Four. 40:09 But, you know, I think Madsen is a guy and, you know, this isn't to say other guys haven't cared. 40:14 But I mean, I think he truly cares. 40:15 And, you know, if you look back, you know, since, you know, the early 2000s, some of the guys, you know, some of my favorite captains, you know, maybe not the high end name guys, but, you know, like Mikey Vannelly. 40:25 I mean, there's a guy, I saw him there this weekend. 40:27 He cares like he is a guy who bleeds maroon and gold. 40:29 And, you know, that's obviously a pretty key element to being a captain is, you know, some guys you just get it basically in name only because you've kind of stuck around and by default it kind of has to be you. 40:39 And I think we've seen that, you know, over the years here. 40:42 But that's definitely not the case this time around. 40:44 I know gophersports.com people can go read the story about Madsen and the offseason training and forget the name of the drill they do before the start of the year where they're running the steps at Mariucci and then they have to run around the lap at the top. 40:55 And he just blew away. 40:57 I think Chris Chukko had the record for all time. 40:59 And, you know, Madsen beat about like 30 seconds and his heart rate was up to like 220 beats a minute. 41:05 I mean, just some insane stuff in terms of how hard he worked this off season and, you know, the other thing like Hammy said too is how he said to fight through the injury stuff. 41:12 And, you know, like Don LeChia said, this is the first playoff games or this year has been the first playoff games he's actually got to partake in just because, you know, it's been, you know, the injury bugs bit him at the wrong time. 41:22 So between all that and, you know, how hard he works on the ice, I mean, they're going to miss him as much as they're going to miss anybody next season. 41:29 And that includes a guy like Nick Buick said, if he goes, because, I mean, you look at what Matson does, just the little stuff and, I mean, how hard he worked this weekend. 41:36 I mean, in the third period, I mean, every board battle, Lewis Puck, I mean, there was nobody that went harder, won most of them, went at anybody. 41:44 I mean, the kid has just worked so hard. 41:46 And I'll be surprised if he's not, if he can stay healthy, he'll find his way into the NHL. 41:50 It might take a little while, but with how hard he works, I mean, you can't tell me he's not going to be a great, you know, third or fourth line guy that, again, is not going to score, but, you know, just does all the little things. 41:59 So, yeah, I love him and, you know, hopefully he has success next weekend and down the road as well. 42:05 I think the other thing you have to remember with him is, you know, he is a lower line guy. 42:08 So, they're really, you know, he isn't a powder that he doesn't have the first, you know, line minutes and the top power play and all that stuff. 42:16 He just does his job. 42:17 And it's kind of like if the captain has that kind of an attitude, it's hard for the other guys to really whine if they don't have the, you know, the prime opportunities. 42:26 So that's a good characteristic. 42:28 He scored this weekend, so hopefully he can do more of that in the coming game. 42:34 We've got a few more Twitter questions, but they're kind of Frozen 4 related. 42:38 So let's move to the Frozen 4. 42:40 I got here, let me have one. 42:42 Oh, you got one? 42:42 Go ahead. 42:44 I got Vikings TD asking what the goalie situation will be next year. 42:48 Granted, we're looking at the Frozen 4 yet, but he's like, will Wilcox be number one? 42:53 Will Lucia rotate on weekends? 42:57 We've seen none of these guys. 42:59 Yeah, the thing I would say, I was actually talking to somebody who was a scout about this, and he says that Chabrowski is one of the hardest working guys that he's ever been around and that he really believes that the Gophers, this is not my words, this is his words, will not miss much of a beat with him being the number one guy rather than replacing Patterson. 43:25 Now, I don't know. 43:26 I'm not saying that, but that's what I was told, and I'm like, okay, because I haven't seen a kid play since, I think, high school, so I can't say. 43:35 But certainly, that's high praise, and I'm sure they'll rotate early on simply because they want to see when the battle for the number one job as the season goes on, but certainly, that's high praise. 43:49 Yeah, and I forget, might have had the same conversation this weekend with some folks. 43:54 Goaltending is such a crapshoot. 43:57 I mean, you look at the National Championship game last year, perfect example of Kenny Ryder versus Sean Hunwick. 44:04 I was watching a video that Michigan posted on their Twitter feed today of Red Barons and kind of recapping the season and he's like, well, you see what a good judge of goalies I am, because I never thought Sean Hunwick would amount to anything. 44:14 I thought he would be a third string guy and look what happened to him. 44:18 I mean, now he's a Hobie finalist, I think, or in the mix, whatever, and one of the best goalies in the nation put up sick numbers. 44:24 I think the key, and Ohammy has talked about this before, is no 18-year-old goalies. 44:28 I mean, get guys, and we're obviously not going to have that Chabrowski between his junior play and then obviously transferring from CC, so he's got some age on him. 44:37 Same thing with Will Cox, again, he's kind of young, but he's a pretty decent prospect and he's got the full USHL season under his belt. 44:44 But you look at some of the guys that have flamed out and guys like Frazee where you come in at a young age and you're just not ready to handle it. 44:50 But yeah, it sounds weird and obviously, there'll be probably a little bit of a transition period. 44:55 But with how good the defense potentially could be next year and that obviously having Mike Jensel to coach them, but then they have such a good group this year. 45:03 Then you add to it a guy like Mike Riley and Brady Shea, two pretty big time recruits in terms of defensemen. 45:09 I don't think there's going to be huge issues. 45:11 Maybe you want to have the Patterson that can steal a game necessarily early on. 45:14 But I think between Chabrowski and Wilcox and the defensive corps in front of them, I don't think there will be a huge drop off in terms of the Gophers' defense or anything like that. 45:24 Well, and Chabrowski is going to be 22 next November. 45:27 Love it. 45:28 Yeah, he's not exactly a youngster, so he'll be ready. 45:31 Speaking of the Michigan goalie, did you guys see the overtime winning goal for Michigan and Cornell? 45:38 To help the save. 45:39 That was one heck of a save. 45:41 And his, not defensive, but his forward, lack of back check just killed him because that was a great save in overtime. 45:50 Yeah, that's how it is, you know. 45:52 At this time of year, everybody's got to hustle back. 45:55 I've never felt bad for a goalie before. 45:58 Except that situation. 45:59 But he showed a ton of class by taking the puck over and bringing it to the Cornell bench for them to have. 46:07 So that was a pretty class move by him. 46:11 All right, guys, here we go. 46:13 Frozen 4, about a week and a half away. 46:17 We've got Ferris State taking on Union. 46:20 Obviously, everyone's going to say, oh, these, you know, never heard of these teams, blah, blah, blah. 46:24 Both teams won their leagues. 46:26 They're not pushovers. 46:28 I mean, Ferris State to win the CCHA over a team like Michigan or over a team like Miami and upstart Western Michigan is no slouch of an achievement. 46:38 And obviously, Union winning in the ECAC. 46:43 We might not think of that as good, but they're definitely a rising team. 46:47 Let's get your thoughts on that matchup, guys. 46:53 Go ahead, Ryan. 46:54 Well, I mean, again, it's you're kind of not shooting blank here, but I mean, it's it's tough because, you know, you haven't seen either team play a lot. 47:00 But what do you mean? 47:01 We saw them all last year in the Mariucci Classic. 47:04 Oh, yeah. 47:05 Those are riveting games where I think the Gophers, what? 47:07 Lost and tie. 47:08 I think we lost to Union and tied Ferris State. 47:10 But that was then that out there. 47:12 I know. 47:13 But I mean, I think you have to favor Union in that. 47:15 I mean, you look at Ferris State and, you know, they don't maybe, you know, again, they're an older team for sure. 47:21 And, you know, they had a pretty nice second half of the season. 47:24 But, you know, again, just looking at the schedule, I mean, they didn't play a bunch of powerhouses. 47:27 I mean, Colgate in Alaska, you know, they played Ohio State and Notre Dame in the back half, but those teams were abysmal during the second half of the season. 47:35 And, you know, Bowling Green, and then they, you know, didn't fare very well against Western Michigan. 47:39 And then they, you know, lose two out of three at home to Bowling Green and, you know, maybe a blessing in disguise and missing the CCHA tournament. 47:46 And so, you know, again, they took advantage of their soft schedule. 47:49 But, you know, I think that's something you have to take into account. 47:52 And, you know, Union, again, I mean, it's one of those things where you kind of want to discount them. 47:57 But, you know, they made it all this way. 47:59 And, you know, they have obviously offensively, defensively, they're sound up and down. 48:04 And, yes, I think, you know, again, without having seen either team play a ton, I'd probably give Union the edge in the matchup. 48:12 Yeah, I don't, honestly, for me, I mean, kind of same way with Cardinal, it's not like I've saw these teams a bundle of times. 48:18 And the thing that you kind of have to look at, I mean, I look at strength of schedule, and Union had actually the weakest of the four teams for strength of schedule. 48:26 So, they're like middle of the pack, like 36th in NCAA. 48:31 And so, you kind of say to yourself, okay, well, some of the success scheduling related. 48:37 But the one, I think the thing that I had noticed, I saw this on Twitter as well, that all four teams are in the top eight in defensive as far as goals against. 48:48 And so, they're all very good defensively. 48:52 You kind of have to say to yourself, well, what's going to be, and then you have offensively. 48:55 I mean, I know that Minnesota and Union and BC, they're all in the top six. 49:02 And so, they're good scoring teams as well. 49:06 So you kind of say, well, how does all this work its way out? 49:10 And I would probably tend to lean with Union simply because I think that they've played real well all year. 49:15 And Ferris has been, I think, obviously in a better league this year. 49:21 And so maybe they're a little more tested. 49:23 So you don't really know how that might play out. 49:25 But I would probably lean towards Union in that game. 49:28 And that brings us to the other side of the bracket. 49:32 And of course, Minnesota taking on number one overall seed, Boston College, for the right to go to the national title game. 49:41 Boy, Boston's rolling 17 straight. 49:43 And doing that with a hockey schedule is not easy. 49:47 These guys are rolling. 49:49 But, you never know. 49:53 Let's get your guys' thoughts. 49:54 Hammy, let's kick it off. 49:56 Well, you know, it's one of those things where, I mean, look, I'm picking the Gophers. 50:02 I'm riding the train all the way to the championship. 50:05 So I'm not going to pick against them. 50:08 You know, I'm not going to pick against them. 50:10 Certainly I know that BC, you know, they certainly are definitely capable of beating the Gophers. 50:16 So it's not going to be a big shock. 50:18 And of course, they're going to be the favorite. 50:20 And I'll be honest with you, to me, that's kind of, I kind of like that role for us in that game. 50:23 I kind of like the fact that we're going into it as, you know, an underdog and, you know, BC is on this big role. 50:30 Because the way I look at it, the pressure is kind of on them. 50:32 I mean, yeah, you kind of overrate that a little bit in the frozen four because the pressure is on everybody, so to speak. 50:37 But, you know, for BC, I think that they're more used to being there. 50:41 So they have a little bit of advantage in that sense. 50:43 But at the same time, it's kind of like, you know, when you're a first time team in a sense that none of these Gopher players have been there before, you know, you're just kind of there and you're just like, all right, let's just do what we can. 50:55 You know, it's kind of like you're youthful in a sense, and you don't really maybe have that pressure feeling that maybe a team that's been there, you know, a couple times maybe faces because they know that, hey, you know, this is a big pressure pack situation. 51:08 And BC's experience, I mean, in all the categories, you kind of say, well, they got the advantage. 51:14 But in a way, like I said, that's kind of an advantageous place to be psychologically for the Gophers because it's like, okay, you know, we're the underdog. 51:22 Let's just, you know, put our best game out there and let the chips fall where they may. 51:26 And I really believe, I mean, the Gophers have the capability of beating anybody. 51:30 And that includes BC. 51:31 Whether they'll do it or not, I don't know. 51:33 But they have the goal-tending. 51:35 And I think that that's always a major factor. 51:37 You know, they have, Patterson's capable of, you know, putting up a great game. 51:41 And so in these one game situations, you never know. 51:44 But I'll pick the Gophers. 51:47 Yeah. 51:47 And, you know, you look at the matchup, and I think the teams are, you know, fairly even in most spots. 51:52 I mean, goal-tending, obviously, you know, the BC, the Parker-Millner's maybe got a little bit better numbers. 51:57 But I think you could, anyone could really take anybody over Kent Patterson decisively. 52:02 It might be kind of even with them. 52:03 But, you know, both goalies are obviously sound. 52:05 And up front, I mean, BC, the depth is always, you know, a thing for them. 52:09 You know, they're never a one line team. 52:11 And, you know, they might have, you know, the best forward in the game in Chris Crider. 52:15 I mean, that kid, you know, he sounds like he's going to go pretty much straight from BC to the Rangers and be maybe even a top six forward for one of the best teams in the NHL as soon as their season is done. 52:24 So, you know, he's big time and they have the Johnny Godot. 52:28 I think it is the kid who, you know, which he had talked about it again in his show where he's committed to Northeastern and then their coach got fired. 52:34 And so he ended up at BC and he's got 20 some goals as a freshman. 52:37 But, you know, if the Gophers can get the same kind of play out of that third line that they did at the regional, they're going to match up three lines with them well. 52:44 And I can't imagine with the TV timeouts that the fourth lines are going to be much of a factor in the game. 52:50 I mean, obviously killing penalties and stuff like that, but probably not going to get a lot of plays. 52:54 So, you know, I think what we saw coming out of the regional for Boston College is how good their blue line is. 53:00 And, you know, that's one of the areas where they probably do have the edge and that they have some more star power back there and some pretty good size. 53:07 And it's, you know, it's going to make it tough on the Gophers when they're going to the net. 53:10 So, you know, I think it's going to be a really even game. 53:13 And I'm with Hammeh. 53:14 I think, you know, when a one game shot where the Gophers are the underdog and, you know, they're playing good hockey right now. 53:19 And again, I think the leadership is strong. 53:21 And, yeah, I see no reason why the Gophers can't go down there and pull the upset. 53:25 Will they do it? 53:25 Again, I don't know. 53:26 I don't know if I'm going to make that pick yet. 53:27 I might have to. 53:28 That's the thing. 53:29 Last week, I picked early. 53:30 On Monday, I know in the regional thing, I sent an email to some people and I picked the Gophers. 53:34 Then by the podcast, in the middle of the week, I talked myself out of it. 53:37 And then after Lucia talked, after BU, after that game, and he kind of explained it, I was on board and I told my wife, when we sat down for the game, like, I think we're going to win. 53:46 This is what I got. 53:46 So I'm going to ride the wave. 53:48 As of now, I think I am on the Gopher bandwagon in that game. 53:50 You can call it Homer's and whatever, but I think they can do it. 53:53 You know, the best team doesn't win that often in college hockey. 53:56 And, you know, BC, if it's a seven game series, they would absolutely beat the Gophers. 54:00 But I think in one game with the underdog role and how the Gophers are playing right now, I think they'll give BC everything they want. 54:07 Yeah, and that's the thing that people seem to forget it. 54:10 How many times have we really seen the best team win it in NCAA hockey? 54:17 You know, you can see, yeah, it happens, but not that often. 54:20 Right. 54:21 I mean, I just think that you can make that argument that the best team doesn't always win. 54:30 I mean, that's Red Baron's favorite saying every year in NCAAs. 54:34 And I think that there's certainly a lot of validity to that. 54:36 And so, I think that you can't count any team out. 54:40 The Gophers certainly have the firepower, the goaltending. 54:44 They have good defensive coaching and players. 54:47 They've showed it all year long defensively as a team. 54:50 So, I think it's going to be a great game. 54:52 I mean, I think that there's no doubt that whoever wins that game is going to be the favorite in the final. 54:57 And so, it's going to be, it'll be fun. 54:59 And, you know, whatever happens, I'm not going to feel one bit bad about it. 55:03 As long as the players give it their all, you know, that's all I can ask. 55:06 And it's been a great year no matter what happens. 55:09 And I certainly want to win the title. 55:10 Don't get me wrong. 55:11 But, you know, it's been great. 55:13 And I'm glad that the players get this opportunity to put their final games, at least for the seniors, on this kind of a platform. 55:21 You know, I kind of feel the same way. 55:24 You know, I'm actually going, traveling, to my first Frozen 4. 55:28 I went last year, but obviously that's a local one. 55:31 And I'm not too worried if they win or lose the game. 55:36 I'm looking more big picture overall. 55:38 And right now, you know, Minnesota is back. 55:42 They're back in the Frozen 4. 55:43 They're back on top of college hockey where they should be. 55:47 You know, they're not going to be winning every year, but they're relevant again. 55:50 And I think that's the most important overall thing from this season. 55:56 Winning the league, getting to the Frozen 4, just getting back to Minnesota hockey. 56:03 Well, that's kind of the same attitude I have. 56:05 That's what I was trying to convey is that, you know, it's been a great year. 56:09 And to me, what's been most important, I mean, yeah, we certainly all hope and pray that they win the title. 56:15 Don't get me wrong. 56:16 But at a minimum, it shows that, okay, things are kind of back to the way they should be. 56:23 Things are where we want them to be and where they're expected to be. 56:27 With the coaching and with the recruiting pipeline and all that kind of stuff, you're like, okay, you know, we can feel good again. 56:34 We don't have to dwell on some of the things that we had the last few years. 56:38 We were like, oh, God, you know, are there going to be any changes? 56:41 And, you know, is this going to be this way for how long? 56:44 And when are we going to see some results? 56:46 And, you know, finally, we kind of saw that, okay, things are back on track and this is the way it should be. 56:52 And I think that that's going to be the way it's going to be moving forward, you know, for the next, you know, foreseeable future. 56:59 Yeah, no, I totally agree. 57:00 I mean, it's awesome that they're all getting in and you see it, you know, obviously, you know, college hockey and college football are not identical, but you see some traditional powers and you kind of teeter for a little bit. 57:09 And you can only do it for so long and then you worry about, you know, kind of hitting the downslope for an extended period of time and not just a, you know, two or three year window. 57:16 And, you know, I think it was pretty critical this year with, you know, a pretty strong senior class and Ken Patterson that, you know, this is kind of the year where they needed to write it. 57:23 And especially when Gensler ended up coming back, you know, that was, you know, so many people. 57:27 And, you know, I guess I was in that boat too, where it's like, get rid of John Hill, what the hell he sucks. 57:32 And, you know, if that once had been the answer, then you're kind of running out of things, you know, it's like, well, what's going to fix this? 57:37 You know, like, I mean, I guess I didn't think Hill was as big of a problem, maybe as everyone did at one point, but it's tough to argue it now. 57:43 I mean, I know there's a lot of variables, but yeah, I mean, it's awesome that, you know, they're back and, you know, again, there's no reason, like Hammy said, I mean, recruiting has been awesome this year on paper, and, you know, who knows how it's all going to pan out when all these kids end up here, but yeah, it's nothing but positivity right now, and, you know, it's, I hope the team doesn't have this attitude, but, you know, as a fan, I mean, I think the rest of the way, it's just house money, and whatever damage you can do down there is awesome, but, you know, if they end up, you know, losing to BC, I think they can, you know, hang their heads high, and it was a hell of a good year, and lots to build on moving forward. 58:14 Got a prediction from our favorite UND goon himself, Eric Burton. 58:20 He says BC 5-1 over Minnesota. 58:23 No, no, they're playing Minnesota, not North Dakota. 58:25 That's usually the BC North Dakota frozen four score. 58:29 I kid, I kid. 58:30 I kid, I kid. 58:32 Yeah, I mean, I could see why, you know, I don't think that it's going to be that wide of a margin. 58:39 I would be real surprised if it's not a one-goal game or maybe a two-goal game with an empty net or late, you know. 58:45 I really don't think it's going to be one of those games where one team is just running over the other one. 58:52 I have a hard time seeing that. 58:53 I mean, you can't rule anything out, you know, but I just have a hard time believing that that's going to happen. 59:00 Yeah, I think not that I've broken down the tape or whatever, but I mean, just watching BC a handful of times this year and kind of knowing the Gophers pretty well. 59:08 I think the key to the game is going to be how Minnesota's defense handles Boston College coming at them, because BC attacks, they're going to send two four checkers, they're not going to lay back, and they go for decor, and a handful of guys back there have to take their fair share of penalties and turning the puck over, and that's going to be tough. 59:26 The Gophers, they have a chance to get it out, they need to get it out, and they cannot afford to let BC run circles around them because guys like Hall and Helgeson, they're going to end up taking the hooking penalties and the high-sticking and the stuff that, and it comes with being a defenseman and trying to be physical and all that, but I think if the Gophers can get the puck out well and not get pinned in their own end, you don't want to give BC a ton of power plays with the skill they have. 59:48 So I think if the Gopher D-Core can handle their speed and be efficient with that, and the Gophers definitely have the bodies back there that can move the puck well enough. 59:56 Can they execute it? 59:57 We'll see, but Marshall and Schmidt and Hall at times, those guys can move the puck pretty well out of their own ends, so I think that's going to be key more than anything. 1:00:06 Well, and the other thing you have to remember is Gophers, I think our friends at UND kind of taught them a lesson at the right time, that you got to learn how to counterpunch in these games. 1:00:16 You got to learn how to be resilient. 1:00:19 And, you know, I mean, we did a good job from game to game, but within the timeframe of a game where you're, you know, you take a few shots, the other team gets their momentum, you know, you're going to have to learn, you know, how to rebound and be able to handle that mentally. 1:00:35 And I think we showed last weekend that we can do that, especially against BU. 1:00:39 And so I really have a good feeling, you know, as far as the Gophers moving forward against BC in that sense. 1:00:46 Andrew Soderquist asks via Twitter, what line or matchup is key for the Minnesota BC game? 1:00:56 Ryan? 1:00:57 Well, I mean, I think, you know, you've seen it with Lucia. 1:01:00 I mean, he's not a big fan of this line's going to go against whomever. 1:01:04 And, you know, even less is that's going to be the case, even less in this game, just because, you know, he's not going to have the luxury to match lines. 1:01:10 I mean, you can do it on the fly, whatever. 1:01:12 But, you know, much like the North Dakota game, Boston College is going to get the last change. 1:01:16 But, you know, just hearing him on his radio show, I think he's not big on that, especially going into this game. 1:01:21 And, you know, again, it seems like Boston College, I mean, you look, you know, their top guys are pretty spread out amongst their top three lines. 1:01:28 I mean, you know, Crider is obviously their big horse. 1:01:30 And, you know, Kevin Hay is a good player. 1:01:32 That's the one, you know, kind of their second line, if you will. 1:01:34 But, again, they're pretty spread out. 1:01:36 I mean, they have kind of two horses on each line and then a third guy to kind of get in there and muck it up, it looks like. 1:01:41 So I don't think, you know, maybe what Boston College may want to match with the Gophers. 1:01:45 I don't know enough about BC and if they have one of their lines, that's a lot better defensively than another. 1:01:49 But, you know, I would assume Luchias is going to roll the top three lines heavily and sprinkle on the fourth line here and there. 1:01:56 But yeah, I don't think there's going to be a lot of line matching from a Gopher perspective. 1:02:01 Yeah, I, you know, it's hard to tell from that standpoint. 1:02:04 I mean, that's something that the coaches obviously have to break down the video to decide on. 1:02:08 But for me, you know, I think that the key is going to be the second and third lines, you know. 1:02:14 I mean, if we get some offense from those lines, you know, we've seen it all year long. 1:02:19 That's usually when the Gophers are at their best. 1:02:21 And if we get some, you know, goals from the, you know, the Condons and the Howlers and, you know, players like that, I mean, you know, Jake Hanson, I feel pretty good about the Gophers' chances. 1:02:33 You kind of expect that that top line is going to get a goal or two in a game. 1:02:37 And if you start getting some additional, you know, offensive output from some of those second and third line guys, and, you know, you really like your chances. 1:02:44 So we'll see how it goes. 1:02:45 But I would say that, you know, it's going to be some of those unsung guys that, you know, maybe rise to the occasion that will, you know, hopefully tip the scales for the Gophers. 1:02:53 So you guys think Minnesota is going to beat Boston College. 1:02:57 Will they finish it up and take out Union and or Ferris? 1:03:01 Ryan, final thoughts on it? 1:03:05 Absolutely. 1:03:05 I mean, I think it helps with the day off, to be honest. 1:03:09 I mean, I think that will help the Gophers kind of recalibrate a little bit. 1:03:12 I mean, you know, get a little sun. 1:03:14 Well, but, you know, they're human too. 1:03:15 I mean, they're everyone. 1:03:16 I mean, not everyone, whatever. 1:03:17 But, you know, let's face it, there's two big time programs down there, and there are two programs making their first time appearance in the Frozen Four. 1:03:23 So, you know, they're I'm sure they're looking at the game against Boston College is huge. 1:03:27 But I think that day in between is to, you know, kind of get the coaching staff to refocus them and settle them down and make them realize, hey, you know, that wasn't the national championship. 1:03:35 We still have to beat a pretty good defensive team, whoever it's going to be. 1:03:39 But, yeah, I mean, I think if they can get past Boston College, I think the coaching staff has shown that they can get the guys refocused and, you know, kind of honed in and I don't think there's any reason why, again, if they can get past BC, why they can't take the whole thing. 1:03:53 Yeah, well, maybe Lucia should bust out the Herb Brooks speech against the Russians for BC. 1:04:01 Or maybe have Cal Dietz do it like he did this past Sunday. 1:04:03 Yeah, and then you win that game, and then, of course, you have to remember that the 1980 team didn't win the gold medal until they beat the, what was it, the Swedes or whoever it was in the, in the final game, so. 1:04:15 The Finns. 1:04:16 Yeah, the Finns, okay. 1:04:17 Well, I blocked that out of my memory on part finish, so. 1:04:21 But yeah, I mean, nonetheless, you know, maybe it's kind of one of those deals, but you know, you have to finish it off, and you know, if they're, I believe, whoever's gonna win that BC Minnesota game, I believe will win the title. 1:04:34 I mean, of course, you can't rule out goaltending being great, you know, and in those one game situations, and so we will have to see. 1:04:43 I don't like predicting championships. 1:04:45 That's just not my deal. 1:04:46 So I might kind of pull a cardinal on this one and say, we'll see how I feel the day of the game or whatever, but I like our chances. 1:04:55 If we beat BC, I like our chances in that final game, but I'm not gonna predict anything yet. 1:05:01 So I'll couch my prediction on that one. 1:05:04 Craig Kilmer says via Twitter, and we wouldn't have to play on Friday, thank God. 1:05:11 So there's always that. 1:05:15 I'm going with the Gophers, man. 1:05:17 I'm rubbing it up. 1:05:19 It's been an unbelievable season. 1:05:22 None of us saw this coming. 1:05:23 We saw improvement, but we didn't see this coming at all. 1:05:27 And it wouldn't kill me, obviously, if we lose, but I think the boys have it in them. 1:05:32 And shocking, all the guys here are picking the Gophers to win the national title. 1:05:37 Eat that, people. 1:05:40 Final thoughts, guys? 1:05:44 Are you going? 1:05:45 No, I won't be there, fortunately. 1:05:48 Colonel, you may go? 1:05:50 No, I don't know. 1:05:51 I mean, I'm trying to find ways, but the thing that, I mean, with the little guy, it kind of complicates it with Easter and got the newborn. 1:05:59 He's going to be meeting family for the first time a lot. 1:06:01 So as much as I'm sure the wife, again, she would let me, but there would be consequences, and I would feel kind of bad. 1:06:07 You would pay big time. 1:06:09 Now, if we end up winning in BPC and we play Ferris State or something, like, I mean, yeah, am I going to be on Expedia on Thursday night at 1030? 1:06:17 Yeah, like, I probably will. 1:06:18 Now, whether or not I get gutsy with it, who knows, but yeah, it's just, it's too tough with, you know, again, the Easter thing and the prices and everything else just makes it a little bit tough at the moment. 1:06:31 All right, well, if you guys don't have anything else, we're good to go. 1:06:36 Shameless self-promotion. 1:06:37 I will be with, in studio with Paul Allen tomorrow, so. 1:06:40 In studio, oh, tomorrow? 1:06:42 Yeah, so it's a little bit, a little bit early. 1:06:44 I don't know, I'm assuming we'll maybe do something next week as well. 1:06:47 It's kind of a weird deal. 1:06:48 I don't know what his schedule is. 1:06:49 A lot of off time this time of the year and whatever, but yeah, so for the people that listen to this between either live or listen to the podcast between now and then, a little college hockey talk for a couple of segments on KFAN at 9.53 or whatever their new segment thing is, so just before 10 o'clock on Wednesday. 1:07:08 Of course, they can follow you at Ryan Cardinal on Twitter if you allow them to. 1:07:13 There's too much spam. 1:07:14 I like when there's hot chicks sending me links, but it's too tempting. 1:07:18 They just appear. 1:07:19 It's not like email where they need to actually open it. 1:07:22 I don't even do that, but you see these things and it's like, one of these times I'm going to click it and then we get a virus. 1:07:27 It's a work computer and it's just going to go down to a bad area. 1:07:30 That's why I'm blocked. 1:07:31 People can click it and you can always accept it. 1:07:34 I accept everyone except if there's that Indian head in the logo. 1:07:37 I will not accept them. 1:07:38 Everyone else, we're good. 1:07:40 Hammy, we can always follow you on Hammy Hockey with all your recruiting stuff and what have you, correct? 1:07:47 Correct. 1:07:48 We're going to take a couple weeks off. 1:07:50 I mean, we've just previewed the Frozen Four. 1:07:53 We need to cool off. 1:07:55 We'll be back in two weeks to wrap up the 2011-2012 season and hopefully, we're talking about a national championship. 1:08:03 Who knows? 1:08:04 We'll just keep our fingers crossed. 1:08:06 Don't forget the riots. 1:08:08 Hey, don't riot people. 1:08:11 Don't be idiots. 1:08:14 I just hope that the Gopher Puck Live website stays up for once when it's getting hammered with traffic. 1:08:20 Now, you shut down registration, right? 1:08:22 Registration has been shut down for at least over a week, about a week and a half. 1:08:29 I made one exception today, but that was for a special person. 1:08:33 Patrick Royce will complain about how he... 1:08:36 If Royce could... 1:08:37 I'll keep my mouth shut. 1:08:43 Hopefully, the site will stay up. 1:08:44 I will try to monitor it as best as I can when I'm in Tampa. 1:08:50 What are you afraid of? 1:08:51 Like, it's going to be too much traffic or what? 1:08:53 Traffic issues, but funny thing is, we had tons of traffic on Monday and even later times on Sunday, and the site ran great. 1:09:03 I think my provider is just having little network issues, and sometimes it just sucks, so not much I can do. 1:09:11 Well, thanks, guys, for joining in. 1:09:13 Have fun in Tampa. 1:09:14 I will have fun in Tampa. 1:09:15 And we're going to close the show with a special rant that happened on the radio yesterday. 1:09:22 A guy named Double J on WTBX 93.9 FM radio out of Hibbing had a nice rant about UND. 1:09:34 I hope you enjoy it. 1:09:35 Thanks for listening in, guys. 1:09:37 I would like to offer my condolences to all the Fighting Sue fans in our listening audience. 1:09:42 Ouch. 1:09:43 Last night's 5-2 thumping at the hands of your arch rivals must have been tough to deal with. 1:09:47 You know, the team's season being finished at all. 1:09:50 I had the pleasure, and I do mean pleasure, of watching that tilt last night. 1:09:54 I know there aren't a ton of Gopher fans around here. 1:09:56 This is more Bulldog country. 1:09:57 And yes, I root for the UMD Hockey Squad, too, but I was born and raised a Gopher hockey fan. 1:10:02 I don't have a choice. 1:10:03 And that really doesn't matter, because whether you root Gopher, Bulldog, Beaver or Husky, I think we can all agree it's just plain fun watching Minnesota teams beat up on the Lesser Program to the Northwest. 1:10:13 Seriously, Sioux fans, you're pretty pathetic. 1:10:16 The only reason, and I do mean only reason, UMD has such a crazed fan base is this. 1:10:21 Have you ever been to Grand Forks, North Dakota? 1:10:23 I mean, on purpose? 1:10:25 Sure, people get blown there by accident all the time, but hopefully those 100 mile an hour winds gliding across the flat nothingness zipped you out of that wasteland just as fast as it brought you in. 1:10:34 God forbid anyone has to go there on purpose, either because you went to school there or even worse, your kids went to school there, meaning you have to visit them. 1:10:43 Besides the bright, shiny beacon of offensive mascot-ness that you call the Engelstedt Arena, there is nothing but dark, gray, oftentimes flooded sadness. 1:10:52 Yeah, your hockey arena is okay, but if you nestled that building in a real city, say a Duluth or Minneapolis downtown, trust me, it would just blend in. 1:11:00 Why am I being so hard on the UND fans? 1:11:03 Simple, you are the worst. 1:11:05 You are the Packer fans of college hockey. 1:11:07 Keep your molded, dead gopher tossing 5XL jersey wearing selves out of our state. 1:11:11 Quit trying to pretend you have any sort of pride in your hockey program. 1:11:15 What, you think North Dakota is some kind of hockey hotbed? 1:11:18 Really? 1:11:18 Get a lot of recruits out of no deck, do you? 1:11:20 You do realize that your roster, year after year, is comprised mainly of Minnesotans. 1:11:25 Minnesotans who weren't good enough, smart enough, or for legal reasons, able to play for one of our state schools. 1:11:31 Yeah, they are still good hockey players, just too bad they have to wear the green and black. 1:11:35 And now, to my friends and relatives from North Dakota, and I have many, please turn off your radios and our computers now, because this gets a little personal. 1:11:42 Because I'm tired of hearing from North Dakotans about how great a place North Dakota is to live, to raise a family, to spend eternity. 1:11:50 Haven't you heard? 1:11:51 We're one of the top states to find a job, to rear children, to enjoy a high quality of life. 1:11:56 Why is that again? 1:11:57 Because of your pristine and abundant lakes, your lush forests, your major metropolitan areas, your great skiing, your arts and culture? 1:12:04 No, it's because you struck oil. 1:12:05 Good for you. 1:12:06 Yeah, that's right. 1:12:07 We got all this oil now. 1:12:09 So we're better than you. 1:12:10 We've got so many jobs here and so much oil. 1:12:13 Yep, you're certainly recruiting the cream of the crop to move out and work on those oil fields. 1:12:17 Sounds like a decent law-abiding niche you've transplanted into your great state. 1:12:20 No criminals out there. 1:12:22 Nope, it's just one big crab boat fracking for oil. 1:12:26 When I think of the North Dakota oil boom, I just think of all the other amazing places in the world where they boast their oil production. 1:12:32 Places like Texas, Libya and the Middle East. 1:12:35 Yep, I wouldn't want to live in any of those places either. 1:12:37 You keep your oil, we'll keep our hockey players. 1:12:39 Let's just call it good. 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