0:16
This is The GPL Podcast from gopherpucklive.com.
0:38
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0:50
Now, here's Joop and Vego.
0:52
Here we go.
1:03
To of little.
1:04
Good evening, and welcome to the GPL Podcast, episode number 220.
1:12
Well, Veegs, I'm keeping my fingers crossed right now because I've had some major internet connection problems, but you can see me and hear me all right, can't you?
1:21
You're looking great, just like the college hockey season.
1:23
We're underway, and what a week we have coming up.
1:27
What a week, of course it is.
1:28
It's North Dakota week, and what happens when we have North Dakota week, Veegs?
1:32
We get one of the best writers in college hockey to join us.
1:36
Well, let's bring them on, Brad Schlossman from the Grand Forks Herald.
1:40
There he is, Brad, how are you doing?
1:42
Good evening, guys, doing all right.
1:46
Glad you could join us again.
1:48
I think this is like time on, so we think of you as a regular now.
1:54
If we had robes, we'd give you one.
1:57
That means the teams are playing regularly, I guess.
2:01
Well, I heard Mr.
2:02
Berry actually talking about, you know, we've got one year left on the contract and then need some renewal, don't we?
2:08
Yeah, yeah.
2:09
Next year, they play in North Dakota on October 20th and 21st, I believe it is.
2:16
You got it there, folks.
2:18
And then the year after, they will not play that year.
2:23
North Dakota is basically set.
2:26
They have two games left to fill and I'm sure it's going to be a two-game buy.
2:30
They're going to bring in someone for two and be done.
2:33
And then I think they'll look at the year after for restarting the contract.
2:39
It sounded the vibes I got.
2:41
Both parties seemed interested in signing a new deal.
2:47
But you know, kind of sounds like a no-brainer, huh, Veegs?
2:51
Yeah, Bob said today that they had to take a year off because of complications, but they want to get this series back on the books going forward because it's such a great atmosphere when these two programs play each other and the fans are what make it the series that it is.
3:06
I expect to see a lot of green coming down to the Twin Cities this weekend.
3:10
Well one difference is Veegs is it won't be Thanksgiving weekend where the students are just not there.
3:18
Yeah, I think this will be the first time in like six years where the students should should fill up the building for this series at Minnesota.
3:27
So I know that's going to provide a lot of the atmosphere and I've heard rumors that they might be trying to get as many students into the building as possible.
3:35
Oh boy, if that ends up like the Michigan game last year, you're going to have a lot of students without a place to sit or they'll just have to stand somewhere.
3:47
Well, they'll figure out ways to fill them in.
3:49
We've seen plenty of empty seats in Marriott Arena over the last decade, so I think when the students are there, they totally make a difference in the building and I think the players on the ice will enjoy it more.
4:01
Well, let's pick up on what happened the last time each team played last weekend, Brad.
4:07
Quinnipiac came in to North Dakota and skated to a 5-5 tie.
4:12
North Dakota did get an extra quote unquote point, but didn't really count if you think of the pairwise in the long run.
4:18
And then a 6-2 loss to Quinnipiac.
4:21
Was that surprising to you?
4:22
A lot of the weekend was.
4:27
First of all, I thought it was going to be really low scoring.
4:29
Quinnipiac's a really good defensive team.
4:31
They don't allow many chances.
4:33
Their shots on goal allowed the last year and a half is extremely low.
4:40
And so I think last year they were 26-1 when scoring the first goal of the game.
4:46
So usually they score the first one and it's over.
4:49
North Dakota allows the first, second and third on Friday.
4:52
And so you're thinking this is the last team you want to get buried against.
4:57
And they came all the way back, actually took the lead in that game.
5:00
So they threw 43 shots on goal.
5:03
That was the most Quinnipiac's allowed in over a decade.
5:06
It just, you know, you usually don't see that.
5:09
That was really surprising.
5:11
And then the next night, it was a little bit more of what you expect from Quinnipiac.
5:16
It was North Dakota had a lot tougher time generating chances.
5:20
They were really good in the neutral zone.
5:22
Things piled up at the end.
5:24
And, you know, as a whole, North Dakota doesn't allow 11 goals on a weekend very often.
5:28
So this is not a team you project to have a lot of defensive struggles.
5:34
They have a pretty good decor.
5:35
They have enough veteran forwards to where, you know, if I was going to say what is going to challenge this team, allowing goals wouldn't be high on the list, but clearly they have a lot to clean up.
5:47
And maybe early in the year, that's not a huge shock that teams have things to clean up.
5:53
You know, I do know one thing.
5:55
I know Bob Motzko would say, you know, it's early in the season.
5:59
We know where North Dakota is going to be come January, similar to where he wants his Gophers to be.
6:06
Is there anything that really concerned you?
6:08
Or do you think it is just some growing pains?
6:10
I think there has to be a larger sample size to sit there and say, you know, I think this is going to become an issue.
6:17
I just, you know, and you know, I think Quinnipiac is one of the best teams in the country.
6:22
I had them as my preseason number one overall.
6:25
I actually had Quinnipiac in Minnesota one, two overall my preseason ranking.
6:29
So North Dakota is going to get really good challenges right off the bat and kind of find out where they are.
6:36
And I think that can be a good thing, just you, there are going to be things exposed in your game when you play really good teams and then you have time to fix them and go forward with some adjustments you make.
6:49
I think the makeup of this team is pretty good though.
6:51
So I didn't sit there and watch the one series and think this team's in for a long season.
6:56
I, you know, if had Quinnipiac come in and outshot them 45 to 15, I think that would be more alarming.
7:04
I'd say, oh, you know, I didn't leave that game saying, you know, they just can't hang with this team.
7:10
It was more of a, there are issues, but they're fixable issues.
7:14
It wasn't that they were completely outclassed.
7:18
And if we go back a couple of weeks, we know that Minnesota had a bye last week at Veegs, but a 4-1 win at home against Minnesota State, head down to Minnesota State and took the loss three to two.
7:30
What are your thoughts on those games?
7:32
I thought both nights, Minnesota had strong starts.
7:35
I think when you play a series like Minnesota did against the Mavericks, you worry about the four-check and the pressure that the Minnesota State is able to apply.
7:44
And if the Mavericks get up on you and you start playing from behind, you know, that's a really challenging situation, but I thought Minnesota came out well both nights on Friday.
7:54
Obviously, I think the tide turned pretty quick in Minnesota's favor.
7:58
You know, Jimmy Snuggerud had a night to remember for freshmen getting the hat trick with three goals with lots of explosive offensive plays.
8:08
And you just saw a Minnesota team that was really in control the whole time.
8:12
I remember looking up at the shots on goal about midway through the second, and I feel like Mankato might have had single digit shots.
8:20
And that was kind of typical of both nights.
8:23
I think the difference on Saturday was that Minnesota State started to make a few plays when they had opportunities, and Minnesota really got passive.
8:35
I didn't think they were aggressive making plays on the opportunities that were there for them.
8:41
And they weren't under relentless pressure, but they just weren't making a positive impact on the game, and maybe almost satisfied that they won the night before.
8:50
And I think that's a good lesson for them in these matchups that, hey, you win that first game, the second one's going to be even harder.
8:57
So you have to capitalize on your opportunities.
9:00
And when you have a young team like Minnesota, you know, that's maybe something they have to go through.
9:04
You know, one thing I noticed, I was sitting with Alex Michaletti right down there in Mankato, big Minnesota State guy.
9:13
We both thought the first two periods in Mankato were rather boring, Veegs.
9:19
I mean, they did the five minute power play, which nothing happened for Minnesota.
9:24
But you know, it just seems like nothing really picked up till the third and we started seeing some hits and some action.
9:30
It just it was a rather blah for the first two periods.
9:35
And I think that was maybe Minnesota, they took their foot off the gas and they weren't looking for offenses as much as maybe they needed to.
9:42
And the other part was, you know, that's what Minnesota State wants to do.
9:46
So maybe they were controlling some line matchups and just frustrating Minnesota a little bit.
9:51
And I think one of the things that hurt Minnesota on Saturday is their shifts got too long for some guys and their lines started to get split apart here and there.
10:01
Like you would see the centers stay out for 90 seconds, you know, almost minute 40.
10:07
And when that happens and they get out there with a different set of wings, now the next line kind of has a weird shift and then the next line has a weird shift.
10:16
And then they have that long power play of five minutes where they didn't really get a lot going and people are maybe trying to look for offense that's not there.
10:25
That's a sign of a team that's maybe not ready for the season and they need those experience or remind them, hey, College Hockey is hard.
10:32
You got to take shifts under a minute.
10:35
You got to sometimes go to your ground game and sometimes an ugly goal is what you need.
10:41
You know, I'm looking at both Minnesota State and Quinnipiac guys and, you know, tough schedule early in the season, but their conference schedules are quite a bit lighter.
10:55
Are those the type of teams that might not be able to, you know, kind of keep that strong type of play going throughout the season?
11:03
I mean, Brad, what do you think of Quinnipiac?
11:05
I mean, not the greatest conference.
11:10
Yeah, no, I, you know, I think Harvard's really good in that league.
11:15
But outside of that, you know, Cornell will probably finish his third.
11:19
We'll see where they're at.
11:20
I think they played Duluth in a week or two.
11:23
But yeah, no, I think they're going to be right at the top of the rankings all year long and they're going to go through and that's the question.
11:32
What happens when you come to the NCAA tournament, right?
11:37
In last year, you know, it didn't go great for Quinnipiac.
11:42
They did beat St.
11:42
Cloud State, but they gave up a ton in that game.
11:47
You know, if David Horanek plays in that game, St.
11:51
Cloud State probably wins.
11:54
Then of course, they get behind 4-0 against Michigan and so, you know, did it hurt them not being able to continue playing that schedule?
12:05
But, you know, Minnesota State, they were great in the tournament, so it didn't seem to affect them at all.
12:11
And I do think the CCHA is getting better, yes, it is.
12:15
Yeah.
12:15
I mean, Northern, I think is pretty good.
12:17
I think Bowling Green is going to be a solid team this year.
12:20
I think Bemidji State is going to be a tough out.
12:23
You know, Michigan Tech, we'll see where they're at.
12:26
They have a lot of turnover, but, you know, I think there are teams there that can really test you.
12:32
But I think it's definitely hurt them in the past.
12:34
I mean, we've seen Minnesota State really struggle in the NCAA tournament only until recently.
12:40
And I think we've seen some of the ECAC teams struggle a little bit when they get in the tournament.
12:44
I do think it's because the speed limit in the Big Ten by the end of the year is pretty high.
12:49
It sometimes takes the Big Ten teams a little while to get going because they are typically younger.
12:54
And I think the NCHC, you know, by the time they get to the end of their season, they are very battle tested.
13:01
I think that's probably been part of the reason the NCHC teams have done so well in the tournament.
13:06
The league's been so deep that I think teams get used to, if you have an average to below average weekend, you're going to lose.
13:14
Like the seventh place team in the league is, who is it this year?
13:20
Is it Omaha?
13:21
Is it Western?
13:23
You know, you're facing a team that's going to be pretty legit.
13:28
And I think that has helped them come tournament time, that these teams are just so used to having to put the pedal down every game or they're going to lose.
13:39
And it's not something where I'm nearly not concerned about any of the NCHC teams, Veegs.
13:44
I mean, look at Denver.
13:46
They went and got swept last week, but they're going to be really strong by the end of the year.
13:53
Yeah.
13:53
I don't think there's any question those teams will find their stride.
13:57
It is a little surprising to see them struggle in October so far.
14:01
Typically I don't think it's been a trend for NCHC.
14:04
They usually have done really well at the start of the year.
14:06
So something to watch because it will impact the pairwise because in the past couple years, the NCHC does so well in those non-conference games that it almost boosts everybody in the conference up in the pairwise.
14:18
And so then they get some better matchups in the tournament.
14:20
So I think it's critical for them to get some wins here to kind of negate that.
14:26
Yeah, last weekend was a bad weekend for the league.
14:28
You know, it was, you know, North Dakota got the tie in loss against Quinnipiac.
14:33
Denver lost a pair.
14:35
Minnesota Duluth got swept.
14:38
You know, Colorado College went out to St.
14:40
Lawrence and got swept.
14:42
You know, from top to bottom, it wasn't, you know, St.
14:45
Cloud State swept Wisconsin, but top to bottom, it was not a good weekend for the NCHC.
14:50
And we haven't seen a lot of those in the last, you know, nine years.
14:55
Vig, speaking of Colorado College, is that contract ever going to get fulfilled or is that pretty much gone?
15:01
Are they going to come back to Mariucci?
15:03
Do we know?
15:04
We don't think they're coming back on any contract that's out there right now.
15:09
I know that Bob does want to get back to going out to Colorado, maybe doing a game at Denver and a game at CC at some point.
15:17
He likes getting out there, but we'll see what happens.
15:21
You know, with turnover and coaching staff, you never know how they're going to do their non-conference scheduling because this part of the year is critical for every team to do well.
15:31
Yep.
15:34
Of course it is.
15:36
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17:12
Alright, let's open up some questions here.
17:14
I see one question from Corey V.
17:17
Jackson Blake, best forward on UND by Christmas or even sooner?
17:22
What do you think Brad?
17:26
It's tough to place him ahead of Reese Gabor.
17:32
Just because Gabor is so much more accomplished.
17:36
That being said, Blake is really, really skilled.
17:40
He's probably more skilled than Gabor.
17:44
But Gabor can really shoot the puck and make things happen.
17:47
And he can skate.
17:47
So I'd have a tough time saying he's definitely going to be better than Reese Gabor.
17:53
But he is elite.
17:58
He's one of the guys that fans like coming to watch because he can pull you out of your seat.
18:03
He's the exciting type of player who can go through a guy.
18:06
He's unpredictable.
18:08
He's got a little bit of Evan Trupp in him for a long time.
18:13
North Dakota fans that remember him.
18:14
So I'd have a tough time saying he's going to be better than Gabor.
18:20
But he certainly is an electric college player.
18:25
Veegs, it does bring it down to one thing is that we are all getting older very fast.
18:30
Because it wasn't that long ago that his dad Jason was playing for the North Dakota Fighting Suit.
18:39
Yeah, it's funny to think about that.
18:42
I've been seeing a lot of Bantam rosters coming out and I'm seeing a lot of familiar names.
18:48
The Crowleys and Spears are having their kids that are starting to come up the ranks and play for their associations.
18:55
So it's always an age check to see those names out there.
18:59
Like a snugger root.
19:02
Yes.
19:05
I think the Gopher freshman class is a confident one.
19:08
I don't know if Brad has seen much of the Gophers so far this year, but these freshmen are confident.
19:16
Typically have Minnesota freshmen, they come and they're kind of getting their feet wet and they're trying to, you know, pass the puck to the upperclassmen to get on their good side.
19:25
Not these guys.
19:26
They are all shooters, they are all aggressive and they're all pretty physical.
19:30
Yeah, no, I think it's probably lends to the fact that they played at the NTDP.
19:36
You know, I don't know if a ton of their guys were there in the past, but these guys have all played college teams and that team had a really good record against college teams last year.
19:45
They beat like half of them or more than half, so it probably feels to them like they've already done this.
19:50
They maybe in certain ways feel like sophomores, but you know, Snuggeroot and Cooley certainly had a pretty glowing record against college teams.
20:04
Definitely.
20:05
I see this question by Ben Larson.
20:07
Did Jess's retweet about University of Texas Hockey?
20:12
You think they're going to go D1?
20:13
Oh, I don't know if they're going to go D1, but those are some sweet looking jerseys, Veegs.
20:17
Yeah, those club teams in the south often get a pretty nice jersey.
20:21
You can look at some of the Oklahoma ones and the UCLA and the USC and the Oregon ones.
20:27
Some of the club teams are very well funded when it comes to jersey selections.
20:33
I don't know if we'll ever see that kind of expansion to college hockey, but you know, Brad, you know, the last 10 years, we kind of lost some teams, but it's been the recent last couple years, we've added some back.
20:51
It's been quite the transition, you know, would not just the leagues, but just teams existing.
20:57
It has been.
20:57
It's been an interesting ride.
20:59
You know, I think had the pandemic not happened, we could chance Illinois would be a thing.
21:04
You know, they were very, very close.
21:06
Oh, come on.
21:07
They would tease in us for years.
21:10
I think they were real close.
21:13
You know, I think, you know, Navy's been, you know, a team that's been definitely interested in joining the D1 ranks.
21:23
And I think that would be a really intriguing school to add D1.
21:27
But it's very fun to sit here and speculate on which teams should add D1, because we could probably name like 40 of them that we think should.
21:36
I'm going to cover North Dakota playing in Las Vegas next week.
21:40
So I'm sure after I get back, I'll be saying you and LV needs a team too.
21:44
Well, I think with any of these schools, the biggest thing is a donor, you know, like ASU, Penn State.
21:50
They got these big donors or a school that really wants to make a mark like Lindenwood.
21:55
And I think one of the things that's happening in hockey across the United States is tremendous growth.
22:02
And I think as that growth happens and you know the demographics that hockey attracts, you might just have someone who said I had a great experience with my kid coming up through hockey and I want more of it in colleges and they might step forward and fund a program.
22:18
I think we're going to see more expansion rather than less than the next 15, 20 years.
22:24
What did I see?
22:24
I might have been last week or the week before.
22:26
Was it the Georgia Bulldogs Club team or something like that?
22:31
They had like 2000 people at the game.
22:34
Yeah, it was a crazy thing.
22:37
Yeah.
22:39
That makes you think.
22:43
It'd be great to see an SEC, but I think that's a long way off.
22:50
Brad, do you think there are going to be any more changes with some of these leagues here?
22:53
I mean, you know, Arizona State coming in, Augustana, you know, locally, I think they're going to the CCHA.
23:03
There's got to be more shuffling coming, isn't there?
23:05
I think so.
23:06
I don't think it's going to be as dramatic as it was 10 years ago.
23:11
But I think there is shuffling to be had.
23:14
You know, Arizona State, they've done everything now.
23:19
I kind of talked to both this with Adam Olden this week.
23:22
They've had success.
23:25
Now they have a really nice new rink.
23:29
They have things going pretty well down there.
23:32
I don't know what more they can do to be attractive to a conference.
23:36
I think that is going to happen at some point.
23:39
The NCHC has kind of been in this spot where things have been going really well for the NCHC.
23:45
And I think when they come back to the meetings, they all say, well, why are we changing something?
23:49
Things are going really well.
23:51
What are we doing risking screwing up what we have?
23:55
And I think that's one of the reasons they've decided to stand firm here.
24:00
The other one, of course, is Arizona State's arena situation was not tenable until they built this new rank.
24:08
And then once they got the shovel in the ground, which I thought was going to be OK, once they get this going, things might start happening.
24:14
Well, then COVID hits, and these conferences and commissioners and athletic directors, they're just trying to get to the next day.
24:22
They're just trying to get the games played the next weekend, rescheduling games, worrying about expansion is the last thing on their mind and things like that.
24:31
They just are trying to live day to day.
24:33
And now we've kind of gotten through that a little bit.
24:35
And so now I think the door is open again now to some talks.
24:42
The other one in the NCHC, I don't think Chris Bergeron has made it a huge secret that he would like to see Miami aligned more with the schools that are in their geographical area.
24:55
I think he would like to see them go to the CCHA.
24:58
Right now, there is a massive buyout to leave the NCHC.
25:05
Miami, I cannot see paying the buyout.
25:10
So, if there is realignment, I think it would probably have to be a situation where the NCHC says, look, we understand, we'll waive the buyout, we'll bring this team in, or we'll cut down the buyout from where it's at.
25:22
Because if they don't, that's a large dollar amount to swallow for the school.
25:30
But I think there is an interest there.
25:33
People have speculated Western going with them.
25:37
I don't think Western has any interest in leaving the NCHC though.
25:41
Now they're successful.
25:43
Things have gone well for them.
25:44
I think they like it there.
25:46
I think Andy Murray liked it.
25:47
I think Pat Frischweiler likes it in the league.
25:53
That maybe throws a wrench in what could happen.
25:56
But yes, I think there are some dominoes that will fall.
26:02
I don't think it will be as dramatic as 2011 slash 2013.
26:08
I think the one thing about ASU though is they're not exactly a like-minded school with the rest of the current NCHC.
26:15
It's a Pac-12 school.
26:17
There's a lot of other things happening there.
26:20
Most of the schools in the NCHC, hockey is a pretty big deal to each institution.
26:25
I think that's one of the reasons why the NCHC works as well as it does.
26:29
It's at the forethought of all their athletic directors.
26:32
They have a commissioner who is very engaged with the league, with the media, with everything that's happening.
26:38
And so I don't know if you see that same kind of commitment at a school like ASU.
26:43
Even though they've done great getting a building and raising their profile, I think it's just a different fit.
26:50
So that's just a different perspective on it.
26:53
What about some of these outliers, Brad, like the Alaska schools?
26:58
They're in a tough spot.
27:01
You know, especially Anchorage.
27:03
They're not playing at Sullivan Arena anymore.
27:05
I don't even know what the arena they're playing at is called.
27:10
You know what really hurt them was when they built their new arena, they didn't make it for hockey.
27:14
They have a basketball, volleyball arena.
27:17
They can't put hockey in there.
27:21
And that really was a tough spot for the hockey program to be in.
27:26
So, you know, I just don't know what happens there.
27:29
You know, Fairbanks seems to be committed.
27:31
They're finding games to play.
27:36
But that one is a really tough one because, you know, who's going to go play up there?
27:44
That's going to be a challenge.
27:46
Some teams will take their exemptions and go play up there.
27:49
And they're doing it.
27:51
But I don't know what happens there.
27:55
And this is where it might happen again, Beegs, where we might have some subtraction.
28:01
It's just because of the geography.
28:04
Could be, but also, you know, as schools recover from COVID, college hockey coaches like to play extra games.
28:11
True.
28:11
So they like having that exemption ability, if their AD is OK, cutting the check to get up there.
28:17
So that's one way to keep them going.
28:20
Is that, you know, any kind of independent, you have to have a super good season to even be considered for the NCAA tournament.
28:28
I mean, really, you have to be part of a conference in order just to recruit it, almost it seems like.
28:38
Arizona State's been the outlier.
28:39
They've been able to do it.
28:40
They went to the NCAA tournament once.
28:42
In the pandemic year, they were going to be in.
28:51
They were locked into that tournament.
28:53
But they can also dangle the carrot that, hey, when you come here, you can come here in January.
28:57
And some hockey coaches say, no, that's not a bad idea.
29:01
Let's go to Arizona instead of, do you want to come to Fairbanks at this time?
29:10
And they look at the flights and everything.
29:12
Arizona is not a really difficult place to get to for commercial flights either.
29:18
Fairbanks, it's a process getting up there.
29:20
It's an extra hour time change.
29:22
And I think some coaches are leery about it.
29:26
I don't know.
29:27
It's not easy to get to Penn State either, Veegs.
29:31
Well, they don't travel anywhere, obviously.
29:35
They play most of their non-conference games at their arena.
29:38
So it must be a pretty tasty contract to go play Penn State.
29:42
But obviously, the Big Ten is pretty stuck here, Veegs.
29:46
I mean, maybe they had Illinois.
29:50
Maybe some things change when some of those Pac-10 schools come over.
29:55
Well, I mean, the Big Ten wants another team somehow.
30:01
I mean, all the coaches have made that clear.
30:03
They hate having the seven.
30:04
It kind of throws everything off for scheduling during the conference season, throws off their league tournament at the end of the year.
30:12
It's just how long can they wait for another Big Ten institution to come up with a program?
30:19
ASU would be a very good fit for the Big Ten.
30:23
I just don't see it happening.
30:25
You know, the one thing I'm sure you guys have heard it repeatedly, but a really big deal is the academic profiles of the schools.
30:37
And I believe the Big Ten has only added two affiliate members ever.
30:43
You could correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe it's Johns Hopkins for lacrosse and Notre Dame for hockey.
30:49
Johns Hopkins and Notre Dame have distinct academic profiles.
30:55
So every time someone's even people have speculated in the past, like North Dakota is going to go to Big Ten for hockey, I'm like Johns Hopkins and Notre Dame.
31:05
These are monster academic institutions.
31:08
And as much as it would add to have a hockey school like that in that league, that's not the way the presidents look at it.
31:17
So that's why I don't see Arizona State going there.
31:21
And it has nothing to do with what the hockey coaches feel.
31:24
They might all love Arizona State in the league.
31:26
Oh, yeah.
31:27
One of the presidents.
31:28
And that's who makes the ultimate decision.
31:36
Just a lot of interesting talk there.
31:38
I'm enjoying that.
31:40
But we need to get into this weekend, guys.
31:42
North Dakota heading into Mariucci Arena.
31:47
Veegs.
31:48
We're going to have a packed house.
31:50
Could have another record crowd on hand this weekend.
31:53
Probably likely Saturday.
31:56
Under 100 tickets left for that game or under.
32:00
Under 30, I think now.
32:01
It's just the single scattered tickets right now.
32:06
So and then we've seen the student section last couple of years is ten times what it used to be in noise and showing up.
32:18
That'll be a little different compared to a couple of years ago when North Dakota came in and just wiped Minnesota off the map.
32:26
Yeah, I remember being really surprised at the crowd the last few times.
32:30
There's a lot of North Dakota fans.
32:33
There's a lot of no shows.
32:35
I think if we look back at the scanned ticket data, there are 2000 people that had tickets that couldn't find their way to the rink for the games.
32:43
And it really showed in the atmosphere and the ice and the games weren't especially close as Minnesota got really outclassed.
32:51
I think the first night played a little bit better than next, but just weren't really in it and competitive.
32:55
I think we're going to see a much better series this weekend as Minnesota really just has one of the best defensive cores in college hockey history, perhaps.
33:07
I mean, it's a really deep group.
33:09
And I think that allows them to withstand a lot of pressure.
33:13
I think the big question for me is how does Minnesota play up front?
33:18
You know, what kind of game can the centers bring to this series?
33:21
Because I think they kind of disappeared a little bit against Minnesota State.
33:25
And the Mavericks really muscled up on Cooley in that series.
33:29
And so we'll see how he adjusts going up against the Fighting Hawks.
33:37
All right.
33:38
What do you think, Brad?
33:40
Yeah, I think it will be a lot different.
33:42
I was looking back at some numbers from the last time they played.
33:46
And I think the year before Minnesota missed the NCAA tournament, and they were like 5, 6 and 3 heading into that game against North Dakota.
33:56
So I don't know if there was a sense.
34:00
And North Dakota was rolling, I think, at that point.
34:03
They were really playing well.
34:04
Yeah, Corey V says in chat, they were like 10, 1 and 2.
34:11
So I think there were some Minnesota fans that said, you know, let's just stay home and enjoy our Thanksgiving Day Turkey.
34:18
And, you know, I don't think it was highly anticipated.
34:24
And from the North Dakota end, I think they said, you know what?
34:27
Look, this team is playing really well.
34:29
Let's have Thanksgiving in the cities.
34:31
And so they went down there.
34:33
And now, you know, Minnesota has had a couple of good years behind them.
34:38
This is an anticipated team.
34:40
So I feel like from the Minnesota side, the anticipation is significantly different than where the team was heading into the last time.
34:49
So it'll be a great atmosphere in there.
34:52
North Dakota has not played a road game this year yet.
34:56
So this is going to be their first road game period.
35:00
So I think that is going to be a challenge to go on the road and play in this atmosphere.
35:06
You know, I don't know if a lot of the guys on the team have played in a ton of raucous atmospheres at college because two years ago, everyone was playing in front of nobody.
35:19
Last year, there were still some coming back from COVID.
35:25
And so I think this could be a new experience for them just with some full crowds and anticipation for this rivalry series.
35:38
Well, I know I'm excited.
35:40
You know, that Michigan game last year, though it didn't turn out well for Minnesota, the crowd was crazy.
35:47
It was loud.
35:48
It'll be that crowded this weekend, except there'll be a lot more green there no matter what people say.
35:53
And it's going to be noisy on both ends, which I just love.
35:59
Yeah, I mean, that Michigan game, even though it didn't turn out well, like the pregame atmosphere was really good.
36:05
You know, this student section shows up for warmups, which has kind of been an issue for student sections at Minnesota in the past.
36:13
They had two thousand people there or three thousand before they even, like you said, before they even came out.
36:19
Yeah, it felt like in, you know, the pre-COVID years, the student section was trying to show up for puck drop.
36:24
Now they show up early, which really changes things for them.
36:28
Because I think that was one thing that Minnesota always saw when they went to UND, when they went to Minnesota Duluth, when they went to St.
36:36
Cloud, you know, those opposing fan bases, that's what they did.
36:39
And so to have Minnesota have that now at home is kind of exciting.
36:44
You know, the thing for me is to see how does Minnesota grow from the last weekend's Minnesota State?
36:50
You know, I think they're having some issues with continuity.
36:53
I think Matthew Nyes has gotten off to a little bit of a slow start.
36:56
You know, he can really dominate play along the wall, but he doesn't seem to be meshing with anybody.
37:02
So there's some wonderings, you know, who does he play with this week?
37:06
Does he play with Cooley and Sagerud as Moscow tries to look for some magic on his lines?
37:12
And then what does that do to the rest of the lineup?
37:14
Because if they do do that, I think it kind of makes things a little unbalanced for Minnesota.
37:20
And we've been talking about their depth.
37:22
And what does that look like?
37:23
Because they do need scoring in multiple lines.
37:27
And we haven't seen that really so far.
37:31
One thing, Brad, that North Dakota will bring is a goalie who is familiar with playing Minnesota.
37:38
Yeah, Drew DeRidder's played at Mariucci five times.
37:43
He started four games there.
37:47
So he will have an idea of what it's like to play there.
37:52
I'm guessing the experience around the game will be a little bit different than when some of those last place Michigan State teams are coming in.
38:00
But he will at least have some familiarity with the rink and maybe some of the angles from the Olympic rink and everything there.
38:12
So yeah, I would assume he's going to start.
38:15
North Dakota has equally split their goalie starts so far, two and two.
38:20
But Drew DeRidder has started more games at Mariucci than Jacob Helston has started road games in his college career.
38:29
So I think that would be a really challenging place to put him in.
38:33
And I think that's one of the reasons you go get a fifth-year senior like DeRidder because he's been around and seen a lot of things.
38:41
I do imagine he has not seen as many odd man rushes in those previous starts as he'll see this weekend if he plays.
38:48
I think this game will be a little more back and forth as all the players try to make their mark in this game.
38:54
Oh, but that's what makes it fun, Veegs.
38:56
That's exactly what makes it fun.
38:58
This is kind of like one of those World Junior games, you know, where the teams are just so excited to play, they can't help themselves, but try to create offense.
39:06
And sometimes that leads to transition the other way, which is what makes this weekend so much fun.
39:11
Racehorse hockey is the best, though, Brad.
39:13
I mean, as someone reporting at the games, you love to see it because it's just so exciting, because then you feel the energy of the fans and the way everything's just moving.
39:24
I love some racehorse hockey, and that's something we've seen a lot between these two teams.
39:28
You know, I keep a live box score during the games with all the goal descriptions and everything.
39:35
There are times when I say, can you please stop scoring just for like six minutes?
39:40
Like, I need to catch up.
39:41
Like, the Quinnipiac game last week and in the second period, I was hoping there were going to be no goals for a little bit.
39:49
So I'm kind of dialed in on my work, and sometimes I'm, you know, can you please stop for just a little bit?
39:54
But I do anticipate this could be a very entertaining game for the fans.
40:00
Both teams have some high-end offensive guys that can generate offense quickly.
40:08
So it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.
40:11
But I, you know, I would anticipate, like you said, it's setting up for a lot of scoring chances for these two teams.
40:20
But then that kind of brings back one thing though, Veegs.
40:22
You know, Minnesota's got a strong defense.
40:26
But will that matter?
40:27
I mean, a lot of times it's just kind of how the games go.
40:31
Well, it feels like sometimes when Minnesota gets in trouble, it's because they get turnovers at the blue lines.
40:38
Or someone is cycling the puck and makes the wrong move too high in the zone and leaves everybody else exposed.
40:45
You know, I think that's the times that Minnesota gets in trouble.
40:50
And maybe if there's a team hunting for offense, that's where those things can happen and the defensive strength gets nullified.
40:56
Now, I don't think Minnesota is going to get hemmed in in their defensive zone for long periods of time.
41:02
I think we saw Minnesota State do that maybe once or twice during the weekend.
41:07
But mostly it was, I thought, Minnesota mistakes that allowed the Mavericks to create offense.
41:12
And that's the same thing that happened in the second Lyndon Wood game.
41:15
You had people starting to chase the game a little bit too much rather than letting it come to them.
41:19
And that's what got them in trouble.
41:22
Brad, is that what you saw coming out of North Dakota last weekend?
41:24
Is like they're playing a Quinnipiac team that they know is talented and there are points to be had and they got themselves in trouble?
41:33
Well, I watched some of the clips of the Lyndon Wood game and I felt there were times, you know, all these guys play summer hockey and in summer hockey, there's not really a lot of hitting.
41:46
The forwards kind of play D, the D play forward.
41:49
They just, you know, it's a lot of freelancing.
41:52
And a few of the clips, it was like these guys are still playing summer hockey.
41:56
Like the D are just jumping whenever, you know, leaving guys back.
42:00
And, you know, I thought maybe there's some of that that needs to get out of North Dakota's game as far as you got to cover guys in the slot.
42:09
You can't leave a guy wide open in the slot.
42:12
You know, some of the Quinnipiac guys made really good shots on their goals, like quick releases to the corner of the net.
42:19
But you can't leave a guy open.
42:22
You got to cover them.
42:23
You got to do a better job tying up sticks.
42:25
They had what, like three tip goals, a couple of them from 15 feet out.
42:29
You know, I think sometimes, you know, North Dakota does a better job tying up sticks and making it more difficult to get those tips.
42:36
So I think there's a little bit of early season hockey when I've seen some of these, watched some teams play.
42:44
And that's probably not super strange when you're a week or two into the year that you're going to have some of that summer hockey still around.
42:52
So.
42:54
Yeah, I've seen a marriage of the coaches making a point that just because you're near a check doesn't mean that player is covered and can't create offense.
43:03
So you've seen a little bit more intensity in the coaching staff with battles, you know, in front of the net and in space, you know, maybe delaying the puck coming in to encourage those battles to go for a little bit for positioning just to get everybody ready for a series like they have coming up.
43:22
All right.
43:23
Well, let's hear your predictions on the weekend then, gentlemen.
43:27
We'll start with you, Brad.
43:29
What do you think is going to happen?
43:30
I mean, I think the split is like a safe pick.
43:37
If you look at these teams' series, there haven't been tons of sweeps over the years.
43:45
Maybe a tie and a win for someone will be a good pick.
43:48
There have been plenty of those, but just flat out sweeps either way.
43:53
They haven't been really all that common.
43:58
The last game I saw North Dakota play, they weren't great.
44:00
They made a lot of mistakes.
44:02
So that's kind of in the back of my mind as I make the pick.
44:05
But that being said, I still think they're a pretty good team.
44:11
And I'm going to take the safe way out of this and just say a split.
44:16
I know it's boring.
44:16
No, not at all because it happens all the time.
44:21
I don't think they can sweep Minnesota.
44:24
I think Minnesota is too good.
44:26
But I also think North Dakota is going to be a pretty good team this year too.
44:31
I think these are both these teams top five preseason nationally.
44:35
And so far nothing has happened this year to make me second guess that at this point.
44:42
And really, Brad, I can't wait to see Minnesota State, Quinnipiac, North Dakota and Minnesota come the year, end of the year.
44:51
They've really grown and kind of, you know, I think those are good teams.
44:55
Yeah.
44:56
Make a great frozen for right there.
44:58
It would.
44:59
Yeah.
44:59
I think those are four of the top six.
45:02
I think I have Mankato six maybe.
45:04
I'm trying to think who else I have up there.
45:07
I had Denver up there.
45:09
Denver is kind of like Minnesota.
45:11
They had they have all their a lot of their guys on the blue line back.
45:15
They have their goalie back.
45:17
They have really good players up front.
45:18
But they also lost a lot of really good players up front.
45:21
So it might take some time up there.
45:25
They just don't have, you know, Logan Cooley, you know, as the freshman coming in.
45:30
They have good players and they're going to be there, but maybe not quite as quickly as Cooley.
45:35
And for Minnesota Veegs, you know, they just they ended up being, you know, their last game was a loss, but they moved up to the number one spot when Denver got swept.
45:44
Just kind of the way how things worked out.
45:46
But how do you feel they do this weekend?
45:48
I mean, it was Brad talking about a win and a tie for Minnesota as being probably a pick that's safer than a sweep.
45:58
And I kind of agree with him on that mindset because I just don't know if Minnesota's depth at center is there yet.
46:06
I think Aaron Heughlin is still trying to find his spot on the ice and how to make an impact on the game at that position.
46:13
I still worry sometimes about Minnesota's goaltending.
46:17
It can be very solid, but it also can get put under pressure.
46:21
And I think when you play a team like North Dakota that's going to get chances, they can really expose what's there.
46:29
And I think Closer is a solid goalie, but I don't think he's a goalie that wins games at this point.
46:35
He's got to show a little bit more.
46:37
So I'm seeing a win for Minnesota on Friday and then a tie on Saturday.
46:43
I could see maybe a tighter, lower scoring game on Saturday after the teams get some strong coaching from their staffs during the video session that morning.
46:53
It might be uncomfortable for both teams after this one because I think there's a lot of excitement that's going to be on the ice on Friday.
47:00
I think it's going to be an outstanding atmosphere.
47:03
Two super talented teams.
47:05
I think Minnesota's power play is looking good.
47:07
We don't know yet what their penalty kill is going to look like.
47:10
Bob joked that he's trying to find penalty killers and it's going to take reps.
47:14
I just hope we don't see a lot of reps this weekend.
47:17
So we'll see.
47:18
Minnesota is usually one of the least penalized teams in the country under Bob.
47:22
So I would imagine we'll see that continue this weekend.
47:25
So limited special teams play would be good for five on five racehorse hockey.
47:32
I'm with you on the prediction there, Veegs.
47:34
A win and a tie for Minnesota is kind of what I'm thinking as well.
47:39
I'm not going to go all homer and say sweep for Minnesota because I think you're right.
47:43
It's just it's too early to predict either of these teams, honestly.
47:50
It is.
47:51
Yeah, I mean, I think Saturday we could see like a 3-3 tie where both teams are unhappy with some of the goals they gave up.
47:57
You know, it could be one of those kind of nights.
48:00
Well, that's a few years ago.
48:02
I think it was the first series back after their hiatus was in Mariucci and they played that crazy 5-5 tie.
48:11
And then the next night it was really low scoring.
48:13
I remember Minnesota won, but I think I mean, there weren't a lot of goals.
48:17
It might have been like a 2-1 game, I want to say.
48:19
So I could totally see a weekend like that.
48:25
What are you working on this for this weekend, Brad, for the paper?
48:30
Well, first I wrote a story on a feature on Tyler Clavin.
48:35
He's a guy who has a lot of modern defenseman qualities to him.
48:42
He can skate, he can just hammer a puck from the blue line.
48:45
But the thing that's intriguing about him is he's one of the guys who still has the old school.
48:50
He can just flatten guys and be really physical.
48:56
It can change games with some of his big hits.
49:00
And it can change games if he takes penalties.
49:03
Last year in the Friday game against Minnesota, Gophers go up 3-1.
49:09
North Dakota gets one back and all of a sudden major penalty.
49:14
And it was in the third period and there goes half the time you have to catch up.
49:21
So he's a guy that's trying to find ways to stay physical without taking big penalties.
49:28
So he could be a guy that impacts the game this weekend.
49:34
I think I came up with six guys who I think could have big impacts on the game, three on each team.
49:40
Probably not a huge shocker on the people I chose.
49:43
But Snuggerood's been shooting the puck a lot on the power play.
49:49
I noticed they like getting it to him in the left circle.
49:53
Cooley can do a lot of things.
49:55
He can shoot, skate.
49:57
He's on the other circle.
49:59
One thing I found interesting, I was looking at some advanced stats.
50:02
Matthew Nyes, he's not missed a shot wide yet this entire year.
50:08
He's shot the puck 18 times.
50:11
17 have been on net and one was blocked.
50:14
So he is getting pucks to the net.
50:16
They're just probably not going in at the rate that he would like to.
50:21
Most guys would take two goals before games.
50:24
He can obviously really impact games.
50:27
He's one of the guys on the team that can bring a physical element to for them.
50:30
The other guys I listed, Reese Gaber, did I list Gaber?
50:37
No, I didn't.
50:38
I did list Jackson Blake.
50:41
He's a Twin Cities guy.
50:44
Going back, he's got the extra time and space on the big sheet, even though I don't think he really needs it.
50:48
He's the guy that creates it out of anywhere.
50:50
Then the other guy I wrote was Ethan Fresh.
50:53
He was the defensive defenseman of the year in the NCHC last year.
50:58
He's going to get a lot of tough assignments this week.
51:01
I think they're going to want him on the ice as much as possible with Gopher's best players.
51:07
Offensively, he jumps in at smart times and if he gets a look, he's really good at picking corners.
51:14
But the matchups are going to be really interesting.
51:16
I wouldn't be surprised to see Minnesota go to that big line because it's at home.
51:22
Now all of a sudden, they can avoid the Sendon Hain and Jamernik line that North Dakota loves matching up against top teams.
51:30
If this is in Grand Forks, maybe you don't put those guys together because you know, guess what?
51:35
They're going to get Sendon Hain and Jamernik all the time.
51:39
Maybe Bob doesn't care.
51:40
But a lot of teams, when they have the one big line, I've seen them come in, they play in Grand Forks Friday.
51:47
Saturday, they say, no, we're getting them away from that line.
51:51
I think having last line change might lend to Bob putting those guys together because he can find matchups he wants with those guys.
52:01
Now, the interesting thing with Minnesota is Bob hasn't been a big line-matching kind of guy lately.
52:07
He's been rolling his guys.
52:09
The one matching that they'll do is they'll make sure that they put the defensive pairings out against the big players on the other teams.
52:16
You'll see Brock Faber play against the most talented offensive line on the other team more often than not because he can play 30 plus minutes a night if you need him to, so you don't really care about his ice time going up.
52:28
But with the forwards, he seems to roll his lines pretty regularly because he wants to get them in a rhythm more than caring about a matchup, at least until the third period.
52:43
Good stuff.
52:43
Veegs, are you going to be working on anything in the next coming weeks?
52:47
We do have something coming to GopherPuckLive on the changes that are happening at Mariucci.
52:52
So this is probably the last series here on the big sheet.
52:57
They'll be coming down to 89 feet of width here in the latest redesign.
53:02
And I'm trying to get some more insights on what kind of seeding changes could be coming.
53:08
Because it sounds like rig shrinks coming next summer.
53:12
But the seeding thing may come the next year.
53:15
Yep, because they'll do some seeding adjustments because they'll have to fill the space.
53:21
Premium seeds.
53:22
Yep, but there are other changes coming in Phase 2 at Mary G.
53:26
That'll update the concourse and maybe some premium areas throughout the bowl.
53:30
But that's still TBD.
53:32
This first phase though is approved and funded.
53:35
So enjoy the big sheet while you can this time, Brad.
53:39
You know, what was interesting is I was just looking at this this week that when Ralphing the Stead Arena was built in 01, they put an Olympic ice sheet as a practice rink there too.
53:51
And they were practicing on the Olympic sheet for more road series than at home because you had Minnesota, St.
53:59
Cloud, CC, Alaska, Anchorage, and then Wisconsin isn't a full 200, but it's close enough to where you practice up there.
54:10
Am I forgetting any?
54:12
And now we're eating down there.
54:14
Mankato was Olympic.
54:16
Yes, Mankato.
54:18
And now all of a sudden, Mankato shrunk there.
54:20
Minnesota is shrinking there.
54:22
CC got rid of theirs entirely and got a new arena.
54:26
Anchorage is no longer playing at their old Sullivan Arena.
54:30
And all of a sudden, Vegoe and I were talking earlier this week.
54:35
I think there's only four true Olympic arenas left in College Hockey.
54:40
Well, even at the Olympics, we've seen the IHC look for NHL-sized buildings.
54:46
You know, so it used to be prepare people for these events.
54:49
Now those committees want to play in NHL buildings because it's such a development path now that it didn't used to be.
54:56
So it's amazing to see in College Hockey.
54:59
Pro players on that ice, though, I think it could have been fun.
55:06
It's a different game.
55:07
I mean, it turns into much more of a possession game with those really skilled players and there's less hitting and the game becomes more of a strategic battle than the up and down, hard hitting, pucks to the net type action that we're used to.
55:21
And Mariucci will definitely be kind of an odd arena just because 89 feet, the circumference in the corners will be a little deeper, but they can't go full.
55:31
They can't quite go NHL.
55:33
It'll be more of a tight radius.
55:36
It'll be an odd place.
55:38
But it's an odd place now because those corners are huge.
55:45
Lucia moved the red line about 10 years ago, Veegs.
55:49
He moved it back so there wasn't as much room because behind the net it used to be just like 15 feet or something.
55:55
But the red line, it was something ridiculous like that.
56:01
I talked to some of the players about that this week.
56:05
I asked them, what's it like when you walk out on the ice there?
56:09
And everyone used the exact same word.
56:11
They were like, it's an ocean.
56:15
So it's definitely different.
56:21
We've played some old man pick up hockey out there.
56:24
It's even worse for us old, slow guys.
56:28
You can really escape into the corners and no one wants to chase you in there.
56:33
It benefits you sometimes and other parts it hurts you.
56:36
I think especially on special teams, power plays can get really out of sorts there because when you're on the wall and in the corners, you're really a long ways away.
56:47
It's going to be fun.
56:48
So look forward to that, Veegs, coming days and weeks.
56:53
Brad, thanks for coming on with us again.
56:58
We'll obviously have to get you on again next year, but after that, we'll see what happens with the games.
57:03
Yeah, and then we'll take a year off and maybe a year after that or two.
57:08
We'll see.
57:09
Time will tell.
57:10
But yeah, we know they got one more game, one more series next year.
57:14
And then the year after, they will not be playing in the regular season.
57:20
So well, if there's any playoff, potential playoff matchups, we'll get you back on because perfect.
57:26
You know, a regional or frozen for it, it'd be fun to get you back on.
57:30
So yeah, thanks for coming on with us.
57:32
We appreciate it.
57:33
Absolutely.
57:34
Thanks, guys.
57:35
Well, that's going to do it for this episode of the GPL Podcast.
57:39
We'll be back next week.
57:40
Recap the North Dakota series and preview the series of the Ohio State with our guest, Paul Caponegri.
57:47
For those of you currently watching live, stay tuned for a bit of overtime.
57:50
For the rest of you, we'll see you next time on The GPL Podcast.
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