0:07 This is The GPL Podcast from gopherpucklive.com. 0:16 I think Mo gets pulled one of the games. 0:19 Oh my goodness. 0:20 Who are you? 0:23 Oh boy. 0:27 And so, I had to train for this marathon. 0:37 So right away, my confidence is, it's doing really, really, really well before that. 0:42 And then Don goes, can anybody on the ice take a penalty shot? 0:48 And the referee goes, no, it has to be Ramsey. 0:50 And I'm like, okay, there's shot two to the confidence. 0:53 That's great. 0:55 Now, here's Jupiter and Vegoe. 1:03 Good evening and welcome to the GPL Podcast, episode number 227. 1:12 Well, Veegs, we're back at it after a month off, which I always hate, but here we are. 1:17 I might have needed the winter break. 1:20 So I'm finally back to almost full health. 1:23 And I've enjoyed the World Juniors. 1:26 It's too bad about the US tonight, but I'm looking forward to a Big Gopher Hockey Series in St. 1:31 Cloud. 1:32 It's going to be fun. 1:33 If you guys didn't notice, we have a new beginning there. 1:36 A fun clip from last year when I may have drank a little too much, but also part of that clip as our guest today is Mr. 1:46 Drew Cove. 1:47 Let's bring him in here. 1:48 Drew, how are you doing, kid? 1:50 Hey, doing great. 1:53 Maybe a little bit later on in the show, we'll get you to break that out again. 1:57 Who knows? 1:58 I forgot about that clip. 2:00 I don't have any larceny left, so it's all gone. 2:03 Too bad. 2:04 I do have a full bottle of Jay Carver though. 2:06 Hey, Jay Carver, if you want to sponsor us, that'd be great. 2:12 There we go. 2:14 Okay, well, we'll get to the juniors in a bit, but Vegs, the Gophers did finish on a great note with a sweep of the Badgers. 2:24 Kind of poked fun with that little clip in the intro that they were going to pull Mo, which they did the first night. 2:30 Second night kind of started similar, and they didn't pull Mo. 2:35 They actually pulled whoever else the goalie was and put Mo in. 2:39 But good weekend for the Gophers until maybe the last part of the Saturday game. 2:46 But hey, they got through it, and that's all we really cared about. 2:50 Yeah, I think they just kind of took their foot off the gas a little bit at the end of the series. 2:55 I mean, they'd gotten off to such a good start in that game. 2:58 You know, and they played really well, and their scores scored when they had the opportunities. 3:03 I think that's one of the things with this Minnesota team is they just have a lot of talented players up front who can put the puck in the net. 3:11 And so when they're playing well, you know, Minnesota is going to be a tough team to beat. 3:16 And I think that Wisconsin series was just what they needed, headed in the break, you know, it kind of put them clear of everybody in the Big Ten race and sent a message that this team knows how to play hockey. 3:27 Well, Veegs, you know, you weren't predicting that kind of result, though. 3:31 I mean, the 7-1 game coming off right out of the bat and Mo getting pulled, obviously I made fun of it in the intro there. 3:38 We didn't really see that coming. 3:40 I know you didn't. 3:42 Yeah, I mean, Todd Molesky said, you know, the Badgers came into that weekend wanting some revenge. 3:49 And I believe that. 3:51 And, you know, sometimes we hear press clippings can be like rat poisoning to a really good team. 3:56 Well, it might have been like sniffing snouts to the Gophers for that weekend because they came out and did not make very many mistakes. 4:04 And I think they really took advantage of it and didn't allow Wisconsin to really get a chance in the weekend either night. 4:12 You know, especially on that Saturday game, you expect the opponent after getting worked the night before to come out and play a little bit more, a little bit better effort. 4:21 I don't think we saw any of that from Wisconsin. 4:24 Not until late. 4:25 Not until late. 4:26 And I think that's because Minnesota had kind of taken the foot off the gas. 4:29 It wasn't so much that Wisconsin stepped up the pressure or anything. 4:34 So, Drew, let's get your thoughts on the series against Wisconsin. 4:39 Yeah, I mean, it was a pretty entertaining series, obviously, when you want that many goals from the Gophers' standpoint. 4:45 And you kind of worry. 4:47 I mean, like you said, you do worry about like, okay, is it going to be kind of a letdown? 4:51 And they had that problem, you know, against Arizona State. 4:54 Bob was not happy with the way they played. 4:56 And obviously, it bit them at the last one. 5:00 But then they kind of had that big showing against Michigan State. 5:04 But I think that Wisconsin series, you know, it was just, it was a really good series, at least starting on the first night. 5:11 I think this Saturday, obviously, it got out to the 2-0 lead at the start. 5:14 You say, oh, boy, this could go south. 5:16 I mean, it was going south quickly. 5:18 And then they kind of go out for that outburst with the stramal penalty. 5:24 And they explode for all those goals. 5:27 And then just nothing the rest of the game. 5:29 And I think it kind of has been the MO of some of this Gophers team. 5:34 It's just like not necessarily the full 60 minutes, but with the offensive explosion guys, you can just bang them off like nothing. 5:40 And then just kind of not even just coast the rest of the game, but you can kind of just rest that you have a three, four goal lead. 5:49 The fans got culvers, and you're ready to go. 5:53 Well, Veegs, it was just that, though. 5:54 It's just like boom, boom, boom. 5:56 The goals were happening. 5:59 I was in between the benches in the second period, one of those, I think both games, actually. 6:04 And just a bunch of goals came at once. 6:06 It was crazy there. 6:08 I leaned over to Jeff Wenzel, the trainer. 6:10 I'm like, what is happening? 6:12 Because yes, Wisconsin is down this year, but it just seems like, like you said, Minnesota just had their foot on their neck at the time, and it just kept working for them. 6:24 Well, I think Minnesota's got a lot of guys who can really finish right now. 6:28 I mean, there's a lot of guys who can shoot the puck. 6:30 You know, Rhett Pitlick has really turned things around since he got in the doghouse a little bit for throwing the stick into the stands. 6:38 You know, I thought he was pressing his game for a little bit after that in response, but he's really turned it up the last couple of weeks. 6:46 I thought he looked good in the exhibition games as well. 6:48 He's just got a lot of energy and jumped to his game right now. 6:52 Bradzinski, I think, has found the right line mates. 6:54 You know, I thought last year when he was playing with Walker McLaughlin, that was just not a good fit for him. 7:01 He is a player that plays well in structure and with guys who hold on to the puck and possess the puck. 7:07 When he was playing with Walker McLaughlin, it was just pure chaos all the time. 7:11 And that can be good on the rush, but once you get in the offensive zone, that's a bad fit for him. 7:17 Now he's got a better fit. 7:18 And then we've got the young guys like Cooley and Snuggerrud really finding their stride with Knives, and that's probably one of the most dangerous lines in college hockey right now. 7:29 Definitely, definitely. 7:30 Brevver talking about here. 7:33 The Strammo penalty, right results, wrong call. 7:37 Even in the replay, we could tell you that... 7:40 Oh, I'm forgetting him. 7:43 Faber? 7:44 Faber, yeah. 7:45 Just kind of pulled him in. 7:49 And I understand why the coach worked, because obviously it goes from basically Wisconsin winning the game at the time to Minnesota. 8:00 They get a goal of like 0.1 second left. 8:03 I mean, they got something really late, didn't they, Drew? 8:06 It seemed like it was, I think, right at the buzzer. 8:08 Wasn't it Middlestad? 8:10 Yeah. 8:11 It was right in the middle. 8:12 It was like, no, it was Middlestad. 8:14 It was like 0.01. 8:16 Yeah. 8:16 It was that close. 8:17 And it made it 4-2, I believe. 8:19 And that was just the one that was like, you couldn't believe it. 8:21 You couldn't believe it. 8:22 And then that one finally came in. 8:23 It's like, what the? 8:24 Like, this is just, it was, yeah, it was just the most miracle period you've ever seen. 8:28 It was just weird. 8:31 Well, it was crazy. 8:33 And then, you know, so we get to sweep. 8:35 VEGES, with some help, they've got a nice bit of padding in the Big Ten standings right now. 8:43 Yeah, I mean, that's where we kind of expected Minnesota to be. 8:47 I'm a little surprised at the rest of the conference being so wishy-washy, you know, with Michigan and Ohio State not really living up to expectations that I had. 8:58 Notre Dame. 8:59 Notre Dame as well. 9:00 And then Michigan State being kind of the upstart team. 9:04 And, you know, in Penn State, you know, what's going on with them? 9:08 So I think there's a lot of other teams in the conference that have a lot of question marks, whereas Minnesota has very, very few. 9:15 I think, Drew, I think a lot of it with Minnesota is just keeping their heads in the game. 9:23 Yeah, I mean, it's a team that we've seen obviously has a lot of depth, especially I think on the back end. 9:29 And like they can play without some of those big guys. 9:33 And it looks like, I don't know, we'll probably talk about it a little later on when the World Junior guys will actually make it back. 9:40 But they have so much talent at a lot of different levels that it's just like, all right, just stay in it because you do have the talent to beat them on talent alone. 9:49 I think that's a quote from a long time ago, right? 9:53 I mean, it's just a matter of realizing that they can do it and staying in focus that say, okay, we've got all these guys who can take shots. 10:01 We've got a steadying presence. 10:03 I mean, I think Jackson Nelson has been really invaluable for kind of his steadying presence in the middle so far this year. 10:08 And like Vegue mentioned, Bryce Prudzinski, I think he finally has found that shot that we've been waiting for for a really long time. 10:16 And he just needs that extra second to kind of pick it, I think. 10:19 And then bam, it's one of the best. 10:22 And I think it always seems to like if the Gophers are doing well, they need one more or they need some kind of just really steadying presence. 10:30 Mason Nevers is there for a goal. 10:32 And it just seems like it's happened a couple of times. 10:35 And I mean, this is talking about guys that are certainly not near the top of the lineup. 10:41 And I mean, not near the top of the lineup in terms of because you just have the Logan Cooleys, the Jimmy Snuggeroods and the Matthew Nyes of the world. 10:50 It's a team that knows that they should be able to do really, really great things. 10:55 And I think they really did realize that after the Arizona State Series and kind of rattling off those four wins against Michigan State and Wisconsin, just to say, you know what, we can't afford to lose these kind of games, especially when it's only going to get a lot tougher here down the stretch. 11:11 You are going to be playing other BigTen teams that are going to be getting better because they're going to learn who they are. 11:17 And there's a lot of freshmen getting older and understanding the college game. 11:21 But it's just a team that really needs to stay focused and realize that this is the opportunity that the Gophers haven't had since 2012, since 2003. 11:35 It's a stacked lineup that deserves to go, on talent-wise, deserves to go places. 11:42 And they just got to make sure that they stay nose to the grindstone every single night. 11:47 Veegs, does it still kind of come back to that? 11:50 Personally, I think I've kind of agreed with you that if they do play that defensive style, just play smart defensively, the offense just comes from that. 12:01 And when they're playing very disciplined defensively, that's the kind of game I know you want to see, isn't that right? 12:10 Well, it's the most steady game. 12:14 As long as you're not giving the other team offense, a team like Minnesota is going to win a lot of games. 12:20 And that's usually what happens when players are pressing, they're looking to jump into the rush all the time. 12:26 They don't have enough talent maybe to score when the time presents itself. 12:32 And so they're pressing all the time. 12:34 And that's where you start to make mistakes and you give away hockey games. 12:38 I think when we've seen Minnesota lose this year, I feel like they've kind of given away the game. 12:43 It's not that they got outplayed. 12:45 Yeah, it's not like they got outplayed outplayed, but they gave the other team enough where they put themselves in a hole and couldn't recover. 12:53 I think the biggest thing that I'm seeing with this team that I like is they've got players who can put time on the puck. 13:00 You know, you got guys like Matthew Nyes, who can just go into a corner and hold the puck and hold the puck, draw attention and allow his line mates to flourish. 13:09 Jackson Nelson, same skill set. 13:12 Big body, can go in the corner, win battles, hold on the puck a long time, create space for his lineup. 13:18 Aaron Hublin, same kind of deal. 13:20 And then you look at all the defensemen, all those defensemen can go win pucks in the corners. 13:25 You know, I think that's the strength of this team, is they've got guys who can be poised on the puck and protected. 13:31 So Vagues, they go into the break, successfully they got a nice lead in the Big Ten. 13:37 A couple of exhibitions here, while we were on break, a 3-2 win over the U18 team, a 2-1 close win in Bemidji just a couple of days ago, where they looked completely bored in that game. 13:53 The US game was a bit different. 13:56 Well, I thought the exhibitions, I thought they played pretty soundly. 14:00 You know, we talk about not giving away much to the other team. 14:04 I thought they did that pretty well in both games. 14:07 I don't know how many people watched the Bemidji game. 14:10 It was low scoring, low shots. 14:12 But at the same time, I think we saw Bemidji blocking a lot of shots. 14:16 Like they were selling out to play defense. 14:18 It may have been an exhibition game. 14:20 And some people might have been confused that it was going to be an exhibition game. 14:23 But it was. 14:24 Drew, I'm looking at you. 14:25 It was an exhibition. 14:28 One week I think it is, one week I think it isn't. 14:31 Why in the heck would they be playing Bemidji in the middle of the season? 14:35 But it didn't seem like that when you watch the game. 14:37 Both teams were engaged. 14:39 There was some physicality to it. 14:41 You know, there was a good crowd for that one, too. 14:43 I think a lot of Gopher fans made the trip to Bemidji for it. 14:49 There was a youth tournament there. 14:50 And there must have been a lot of city teams. 14:52 Because when Nelson scored with just over a minute left, the place erupted. 14:58 I don't recall Bemidji being that loud for a Gopher game. 15:03 So I'm thinking a lot of those kids were all, what did they say, 800 kids? 15:07 I believe the broadcast said 800 kids of teams of all over were playing there that weekend. 15:13 And they were given tickets. 15:14 And when that goal happened, I was like, wow, that's not normal. 15:21 But like you said, Bemidji considered that a statement game from themselves. 15:27 And I will fully admit that goal that was taken away from them was bogus. 15:33 That was a goal. 15:36 I know there's a rule. 15:38 We can't see the puck, but there's also going to be... 15:40 You know where it is. 15:41 Yeah, there's got to be some common sense there. 15:43 And I was not a fan of that call at all. 15:47 So luckily, it was an exhibition. 15:49 Doesn't matter. 15:50 But still, if that happened in a playoff or something like that, Veegs, the rules do technically say that, don't they? 16:00 Yeah. 16:00 I mean, you've got to see it on review. 16:02 I mean, if they called it a goal on the ice, that's a different situation, I think. 16:06 Correct. 16:07 But, you know, when they waved it off and said it was a save, you know, Bartis Gavage's glove goes into the net. 16:14 You know the puck's in there. 16:15 Glove comes out. 16:16 He's like, yep, I got the puck. 16:18 You would know that it had to be over the line. 16:20 And so they did get lucky. 16:22 But I thought Minnesota played pretty well. 16:24 The thing that impressed me the most, I think, was their penalty kill looked good both games. 16:30 Now that was a concern for me with this team right now, is their penalty kill hasn't been great. 16:36 Minnesota's one of the least penalized teams in college hockey. 16:39 And so they haven't been tested, especially down the stretch there in the Big Ten. 16:43 But will Schmidt make sure that he had that? 16:44 He had like two or three penalties over the last couple of games. 16:48 Those elbows are a little bit higher on a six foot five guy. 16:51 True. 16:52 But I'm like, you're not really playing yourself into any playing time when you're at the box. 16:56 But like you said, it gave him a chance to kill some penalties. 17:00 Drew, what was your thought about the exhibitions? 17:02 Yeah, I think it's just it's good to get those games. 17:06 I mean, have at least a couple, because usually it does seem like they only play the one against the under 18 team. 17:12 And then they just go right back into into real games. 17:14 But I think it's good to play against a real competitive opponent. 17:18 And not that not that Bemidji is kind of near the near the very top of the standings this year. 17:22 But I think they I think it's a good it was a good test to kind of get these guys back ready and shake the rust off to get ready for some games that do mean something. 17:33 Just to take the few weeks that they did have off to say, all right, we're back in shape and we're not just jumping in to have a really lackluster first period against St. 17:42 Cloud or first two periods or even first game against St. 17:45 Cloud. 17:47 Brever is telling us the Bemidji is leading the CCHA right now. 17:51 Drew. 18:00 Right. 18:01 I think this is a good model for the Gophers going forward though. 18:04 Break is to get that U18 exhibition in during this time and then play like a Bemidji or a St. 18:12 Thomas or maybe a St. 18:14 Cloud. 18:15 Someone else that's a rival in state but still be an exhibition when you know you're going to be missing two, three, four, five players for the World Juniors. 18:25 With Minnesota, I mean, there's a lot of World Junior candidates coming in in the next couple of classes here. 18:30 So it's good to plan ahead, I think, for them. 18:34 Veegs, you know, I saw on Twitter, actually somebody sent it to me since I have a certain Twitter block. 18:41 So apparently, Bob is afraid to play St. 18:45 Cloud anymore, doesn't have anything scheduled. 18:47 The end of it, end of the contract is coming up and it's supposed to be a contract every year. 18:53 They're supposed to play every year. 18:54 That's part of the contract, right? 18:56 You can't play every in-state team every single year. 19:00 You have to make some choices and rotate teams through. 19:03 And that's just the reality of being at Minnesota. 19:07 And Bob heard that Twitter person because he addressed it on his radio show this week. 19:12 So what did he say? 19:13 He said, I hear this from opposing fan bases that they think we don't want to play their teams. 19:18 And he's like, it's not just Minnesota, it's the other schools as well. 19:22 They want breaks from playing Minnesota every year and teams are going to rotate through. 19:26 Bob still wants to get that Hockey East or ECAC Road Trip, Home and Home kind of series happening on the calendar at some point, too. 19:36 And so they are going to be playing Minnesota Duluth again. 19:39 I think we're going to keep seeing them play in North Dakota. 19:42 That's such an important rivalry. 19:44 We know they'll be a year off at least on that. 19:46 So yeah, they're going to play in Minnesota State again in a series. 19:51 And I'm guessing they're going to be in Augustana, too. 19:53 I mean, to get Augustana kind of established, and he's my assistant coach, great kid, you know, I'm guessing there's going to be a home and away with that, too. 20:01 You can't keep everyone happy. 20:04 Exactly. 20:05 And Minnesota wants to have the home games, too, because they got to fill Mary G. 20:09 Arena to pay for those upgrades that they have coming, you know, to the rink. 20:13 And that's just the reality of things. 20:16 You're not going to do even home and homes with everybody. 20:19 What are we hearing? 20:20 It has been very quiet with contracts. 20:22 I know you kind of went through a couple of years ago and found a bunch of contracts and you could see, hey, we're going to buy this, we're going to buy that. 20:29 Some of them fell apart, like the CC thing. 20:31 We went CC and they never came back. 20:35 What's happening? 20:36 It's been very quiet. 20:37 We have a page, but it's getting kind of outdated on GPO. 20:40 Yeah, I think the covid years, you know, really impacted the scheduling, how that was going to work. 20:46 There's been some kind of shake ups with potentially having another member of the Big Ten get announced. 20:53 So Minnesota was being told to hold off scheduling some of those non-conference games, thinking that maybe the Big Ten is going to go to the 28 game schedule. 21:03 And so you can't overbook yourself because of that. 21:05 And so I think they've held off doing that. 21:08 We've seen some athletic director changes at St. 21:11 Cloud in Duluth that impact these scheduling agreements. 21:14 You know, you got to figure out those relationships and what people want to do. 21:17 There are, of course, new coaches at all these schools. 21:20 You got to figure that part out. 21:22 So I think just be patient. 21:24 You know, Minnesota is going to be playing St. 21:26 Thomas here. 21:27 They are going to be playing Minnesota State. 21:28 They are going to be playing Duluth. 21:30 They are going to be playing North Dakota. 21:31 So figure it out in your head. 21:33 Probably Augustana is probably that fifth non-conference team for next year. 21:38 But we'll see. 21:38 Cross and keep things open for the UCLA and USC series. 21:42 God, I hope so. 21:43 Those are some awesome uniforms. 21:45 That would be so much fun. 21:47 That would be. 21:47 Those UCLA jerseys are, their whole uniform is nice. 21:52 Very nice. 21:54 All right, Drew, let's get to it. 21:58 US, Canada, just a few minutes ago. 22:00 As I said before we started, I don't know why it seems like international organizations need to have rules that are just different than the rest of kind of leagues and things like that. 22:18 Two goals called back on Team US, not saying they'd win, but boy, that just killed them. 22:26 Not saying it was rigged, but no, it was definitely disappointing for the US team, especially with all that talent. 22:38 I mean, with the Gopher focus, it's hard not to really be excited as a Gopher fan for all the people out there to see Cooley and Snuggeroot on the same line. 22:47 It's a line that is just lighting up the score sheet every night. 22:51 Obviously, Cooley gets out to that first goal and Snuggeroot had a couple of really good chances. 22:58 Oh man. 22:59 That came back to haunt them, didn't it, Veegs? 23:02 It did, but I liked it at the time. 23:04 I liked it, too, you're on the road, play it up. 23:12 What do you think about the calls, guys? 23:14 Ready for a high level of hockey. 23:16 The calls, though, what do you think? 23:18 Drew? 23:18 I think the first one was complete BS. 23:23 There's no interference. 23:24 That would not be called interference in any other league. 23:27 I didn't like the second one more than the first one. 23:33 I think the stick somehow just got weirdly in the way. 23:36 I didn't really see how the second one happened. 23:39 But yeah, I don't think both of them were interference. 23:43 I thought I understood the rule as puck was in the crease, he can be there. 23:49 I don't know. 23:50 Maybe we've got a little too much in on him, but I don't know. 23:54 Obviously the ref thought different, but it's a close call. 23:59 Well, I just think that the standard of the crease stuff is so much different in international hockey than in every other league in the world that it seems foreign to us. 24:11 I still thought the first one was a sure thing goal. 24:14 You know, that's what you do in front of the Nes. 24:16 You get the puck and you wrap it around and you make a big boy hockey play. 24:20 So I was surprised to see that one waved off. 24:23 The second one, you know, that stick coming in weird, you know, I don't know. 24:27 I don't know the rule that well on that kind of stuff, because that stick kind of went in there weird anyway. 24:33 It wasn't like someone threw it like if someone throws a stick into the crease, that's that's a clear no goal. 24:37 But this one was a little weird. 24:40 But unfortunate, I mean, it definitely changes the the flow of the game to have those things called back. 24:45 And I thought the US was pressing a lot, almost all tournament in some of their tight games. 24:52 I don't know if their blue line rose to the challenge. 24:56 I was expecting a little bit more from Hughes. 24:59 And he just kind of disappointed for me in this tournament. 25:03 I think he's had and he's kind of disappointed this year at Michigan. 25:06 He's not the guy he was last year. 25:09 And I think it's just he's pressing too much. 25:11 You know, he's he's not Quinn Hughes with the puck. 25:14 You know, Quinn Hughes, when he was on the puck, he was super, super dynamic. 25:19 He was always dangerous. 25:20 And he had this sixth sense of where he could take a snapshot of the ice and know where the open spaces were and what passing lanes were going to be. 25:28 And I just don't think the same thing is happening for for Luke. 25:33 So I know he had a lot of success last year, but I think that Michigan team was a little bit different and isolated him so he could be more productive. 25:40 I think he's more exposed this year and having to do things himself. 25:44 And it's leading to more mistakes. 25:47 And Chesley, I do not believe, hit the ice at all, Drew. 25:52 I saw him on the bench, but I don't think he was, excuse me, out there at all. 25:55 Yeah, I didn't really notice him. 25:57 But yeah, I mean, I think valuable for the Gophers. 26:01 I think no chance to really get hurt. 26:03 I think he's definitely. 26:04 Well, they got to play tomorrow. 26:05 I want to hear your guys' thoughts on Chesley, too. 26:07 I've been impressed by him kind of in every more and more. 26:10 Just kind of shocked to be like, oh, wow, this like almost thin. 26:14 I mean, he looks like he looks like as thin as Chas Lucius did sometimes. 26:18 And it's just like, man, you're you're just like a real sometimes you just look like a real like a like a board. 26:23 And then but I mean, it's I think he's I think he's played some pretty good hockey for the Gophers here and obviously pressing and being relied upon pretty well. 26:33 But I don't know. 26:34 What are your guys' thoughts on Chesley this year? 26:40 Go ahead, Biggs. 26:41 I I sense that there was a big, you know, discussion coming from you there. 26:45 But I think Chesley and Middlestep both have really impressed me this year as their players who can play through contact. 26:54 And I think in a game like the US just played against Canada, you need to have defensemen who play through contact. 27:00 You need to have guys who can go into battles along the walls, expect to get hit and make plays. 27:06 And that's I thought something that the US was missing today. 27:10 And I just can't understand why Chesley isn't a bigger part of the US outlook. 27:16 He's played in the development program. 27:18 He's relied upon as a matchup defender for the program in the past. 27:23 And so that was really surprising to me that they didn't see more ice, especially in these games. 27:28 I think it's one of those things you get into a tournament and you kind of get into a rhythm of what you expect to have happen. 27:35 And they just didn't have a plan B with how to handle their lineup. 27:39 And so, you know, when you've got guys who are playing in the best blue line core in the country, regular shifts, and then they go to this World Junior Tournament against younger players, and they don't get that kind of role, really surprising for me. 27:53 And maybe something with the coaching staff that's there. 27:56 It's more of an Eastern staff this time than some of the ones in the past, where there's a lot of Western coaches. 28:02 Maybe they're making a statement there. 28:04 Chesley scores the game winning goal in the National Championship game from the point against Quinnipiac. 28:11 You think Quinnipiac is going to get there, huh? 28:13 It would be a good story, wouldn't it? 28:19 Someone's got to timestamp that and just pull it back. 28:22 Someone's got to, someone on the YouTube feed or something. 28:24 We'll see. 28:24 I'll save that video right there. 28:26 How do you like me now, Rand? 28:30 It will text you right when it happens. 28:31 Be like, no way. 28:32 Yeah, you'll send us that. 28:33 You'll send us the catch-up picture. 28:35 If that happens, I will be on the ice celebrating, guys. 28:39 Because if they go to Tampa, I'm going. 28:44 I got a place to stay so I can go save some money. 28:48 So yeah, that would be awesome. 28:52 All right. 28:53 What else we got? 28:54 Okay. 28:55 This was brought up on Twitter this evening. 28:58 And I believe, Veegs, we've talked about this in the past. 29:00 Why can't the World Juniors be in the Twin Cities in Minnesota? 29:07 We had it up in the Grand Forks, Thief River Falls a long time ago, 15, whatever, years ago. 29:15 Why can't they do it here? 29:17 I mean, we've got arenas here that could handle it. 29:20 The championship game was at a 10,000, or the game tonight was at a 10,000 seat arena. 29:25 They've got Mariucci. 29:26 They've got the X. 29:28 They've got St. 29:28 Cloud. 29:29 They got Makedo. 29:29 They got Duluth. 29:30 I mean, they've got arenas here. 29:33 And they may even have St. 29:35 Thomas by the next time, by the time they could do this again. 29:40 What is the deal? 29:43 I think the deal is obviously Excel doesn't want to give up the dates and dedicate their building at this time of year. 29:51 They've got The Wild going tonight, and they want to have that continue. 29:56 But I said once, Mariucci, can you mute yourself? 30:00 Oh, my God. 30:03 I think once Mariucci makes the conversion to a smaller rank, maybe it opens up the possibility that a Mariucci ridder could be a big part of a bid. 30:12 But I think it would be really cool if they could do a World Junior Tournament and have games at Minnesota, at St. 30:19 Thomas, at Duluth, at Minnesota State, at St. 30:22 Cloud. 30:23 And you could really feature the state of hockey. 30:26 And I think that would be awesome if they could get everybody to figure it out. 30:29 Because everything's drivable, as long as you don't have a storm like we just had. 30:34 But it would be an amazing thing for the state of hockey to do. 30:39 I just don't understand why they don't try. 30:41 I mean, the X could do it. 30:43 We don't want to give up dates, blah, blah, blah. 30:45 I mean, hello. 30:47 You're getting a lot of pub if you have a final at the X. 30:53 Well, when they built the Trier rink, I was like, why couldn't they have made that just a little bit bigger for seating so that you could have like a relegation game at Tria? 31:04 You know, it would make a lot of sense to me. 31:06 You know, the NHL does have that mandated holiday break now, so it could fit in. 31:12 But I agree with you. 31:14 It makes too much sense to me. 31:16 I mean, Buffalo's done it the most recent, I believe, right? 31:21 Yeah, because they built that Harbor Center complex for the Sabres and it's apparently really nice. 31:26 And they had the outdoor game at the same time. 31:29 Yep, careful. 31:31 Shouldn't be drinking straight Jay Carver out of that thing. 31:34 No, I just went down the windpipe there and I was just like, ah, all right, I already got some. 31:39 Corey Vee, thanks. 31:41 Classic moment. 31:42 Juke choking on live video. 31:47 But with that World Junior stuff, you know, it's like, I think the exact same like something at Mariucci and Ritter would be seems like almost just too good, like just for how close they are. 32:01 I was curious. 32:03 I was like, I don't know what they'll think. 32:05 Like Mariucci is like not either not fully Olympic or fully NHL. 32:10 Like what would they, what do they want to do? 32:12 Do they want to have tea? 32:13 Because obviously they were concerned about the ice tonight in Halifax after everyone was saying how good it was in Moncton and then in Halifax, it wasn't great. 32:21 And they were scraping it for a bit. 32:23 But you say like if a team plays the whole tournament at Ritter and then they come to play a championship game or like a semifinal game at Mariucci, like what kind of conversation do you get? 32:34 But I don't know. 32:35 Maybe you have the two, a bunch of groups at Mariucci-Ritter, then you play the semifinals and the finals at the X. 32:42 Or maybe, you know, maybe even throw ice at the Target Center if they have a refrigeration system that works right. 32:47 I don't know. 32:48 I personally, no thanks. 32:51 But just some way to maybe mitigate the Xs, like maybe that's a compromise that could work. 32:57 If it's Twin City specific, just to mitigate the X getting rid of dates, just take out two days for them and then have the rest at Mariucci-Ritter and then shows up to kind of premiere college rinks, I think, in both the women and the men's game. 33:12 Because obviously, Ritter is just a spectacular arena to watch a hockey game in. 33:15 Same with Mariucci. 33:18 And there's plenty, like I said, there's plenty arenas. 33:20 St. 33:20 Cloud, there's Mankato, there's Duluth. 33:24 There's places to play, Veegs. 33:26 And it just, let's go to Canada every other year. 33:34 So exciting that they get the home ice every other year, or even more. 33:37 It is. 33:39 I did like that they were in the smaller building for this year's tournament, where you had a packed building for more games. 33:45 I thought the atmosphere was pretty good. 33:47 After a couple years of lackluster crowds for the World Juniors, where Hockey Canada obviously priced the tickets way too high. 33:55 And that's part of my fear. 33:57 If you do something at Excel, you start pricing out these packed buildings. 34:01 That's why these college rings would be perfect, I think, for the World Juniors. 34:06 Yeah, and hopefully you don't risk running the, I mean, early Big Ten, any Big Ten tournament days, I guess, kind of running into the whole upper bowl and most of the lower bowl being kind of empty. 34:19 What if it's the, I don't know, the Czechs versus the Finns in the semifinal, the X? 34:27 Yeah, but it's that way in Canada, though, too. 34:30 Yeah, we saw plenty of Canadians there for the Sweden Czech game earlier today. 34:36 So you just sell it. 34:38 Yeah, but well, because those tickets are already sold too. 34:40 So it's, I don't know, it's just something people have been talking about. 34:45 I keep wondering the same thing. 34:46 It's been a while. 34:47 I mean, they had the Buffalo one wasn't that long ago, but I don't know. 34:53 So, you know, I did see Matt Morrisets on Facebook here. 34:59 If US plays tomorrow, does that mean the five Gophers will actually four, there's five players, you know, that play this weekend. 35:05 The team won't be available to play against St. 35:07 Cloud this weekend. 35:08 Please say yes. 35:11 Veegs, we've kind of seen in the past that Motsco has kind of left it up to the players. 35:15 I know when they came back from the Olympics, they traveled way further. 35:19 And some of them got there within hours. 35:20 I wonder, you know, they played, some of them played. 35:26 Yeah, I thought that. 35:26 I remember hearing that like Knys and Myers were ready for IVs to get ready for the game out there. 35:32 You know, so that's one thing. 35:33 But Bob said on his radio show, it's kind of up to the players. 35:37 Yeah, he expects that they will be in the lineup. 35:40 You know, these guys want to play this series against St. 35:43 Cloud. 35:43 So I think he expects all of them to be available unless something weird happens. 35:48 He hopes that, you know, Ryan Lindgren didn't get his bag back from World Juniors one year. 35:53 One year, Ryan Lindgren came back like on a deathbed after being sick. 35:57 He came back sick as a dog. 35:58 That was, and we were talking to him and he looked like he was 20 pounds lighter. 36:03 It was just, that was bizarre. 36:05 Yeah, so you never know. 36:06 But I would expect them all to play. 36:09 You know, these guys are hockey players. 36:10 That's what they want to do. 36:11 The Gophers do have a high. 36:13 And it's why it was moved out too. 36:14 It's why it's a Saturday, Sunday series. 36:17 Yeah. 36:17 And then they've got to buy it coming up in February. 36:19 So I think they'll keep their nose to the grindstone here. 36:22 You know, a lot of the players this month pretty much focus on hockey. 36:26 You know, there's not as much schoolwork happening. 36:29 So it's an intense time to get through this next stretch of games. 36:34 I was mentioning on Twitter, Drew, I think Cooley and Snugger are going to come back and that Cooley, Snugger and Nye's line are just going to dominate. 36:43 I mean, like Veegs was saying earlier, I mean, Matthew Nye's is so good with the puck and just getting possession. 36:50 It can just kind of let those guys just get into the zone, get into their spots, pass it around to them, and then they'll do something magical like they always do every shift. 36:58 I was saying this earlier this year. 37:01 I think it's just like, it is like appointment, like viewing when they're on the ice. 37:06 It's like, remember when Luis Arias came, not to turn this into a baseball podcast, remember when Luis Arias had that bat against the Yankees like two years ago, and everyone freaked out because it was a really cool at bat, and then everyone's like, oh, I got to watch the twins to see Luis Arias, like step up to the plate four times. 37:23 It's worth it to watch Gopher Hockey just to watch those three on the ice for a third of the game, because it's, when they're in the offensive zone, anything can happen. 37:32 And it's just, it's something that I think Gopher fans really need to like, appreciate while they got it, because this is a very fun line. 37:42 And it's not often you can score at will as much as they do. 37:47 So it's a good question. 37:51 I mean, look at the top of the points. 37:55 Look who's standing at the top, I think with 27 points and 20 games. 38:00 For those of you listening, a question from Tim Hapke here. 38:04 Is Snuggie playing himself into a one and done type of season? 38:09 Veegs? 38:11 I would personally be surprised if he's a one and done type player, just based on the organization that drafted him. 38:17 I don't know if he would be that kind of guy who would go right to the NHL. 38:22 And I don't think he's the type of player that wants to be a one and done kind of guy. 38:27 So it's definitely going to be an option for him. 38:31 He's gotten an NHL catch and release shot, and he is able to take that puck from anywhere and put it on that hard. 38:38 I was listening to Mark Andre Fleury talk with John King and Ryan Carter this past week about players in the NHL and specifically Ovechkin, about how he gets pucks off. 38:51 Mark Andre Fleury basically said that it doesn't need to be in his wheelhouse for it to be a hard shot from him. 38:57 It could be behind him. 38:58 It could be in his feet. 39:00 It could be way out in front. 39:01 He's still getting a lot of velocity on the shot, and it's going to be a tough save. 39:05 You feel the same way with Snuggerud. 39:07 It doesn't take a great pass for him to get a good scoring chance, and that's a skill that's hard to teach. 39:14 So, Veegs, what are you looking for for the rest of the season? 39:17 As in, what do you think, what do you want to see happen for the Gophers to be successful? 39:26 We know who's been successful so far, and I'm kind of pushing it towards a few players that we think could probably pick up their game. 39:37 I think I'd like to see Hugelin progress a little bit more. 39:40 He's getting good scoring chances. 39:43 He's a productive player. 39:44 He possesses the puck, but there's just that little bit more to his game that you're expecting, and I thought it was interesting. 39:51 I was watching the Babindji game. 39:53 We saw Nyes, Hugelin and Pitlick together in the third period, and I don't know if that's just Bob experimenting for this weekend when he's not sure what he's going to have in Cooley and Snuggerud coming back from the World Juniors, and maybe he's going to mix things up a little bit. 40:11 Who knows? 40:12 But I think there's something there in Hugelin's game to unlock, and I don't quite know what it is yet. 40:18 You know, we saw that with Jackson Nelson a lot in the previous couple of years where you saw a player who was possessing the puck getting chances, but just not scoring like you'd expect a player who's that dominant in possession to be. 40:33 So that's one thing I'm looking for. 40:35 And then the other thing for me is penalty killing depth. 40:37 You know, you can't just skate your players into the ground. 40:40 So you got to find some more guys who can kill penalties. 40:42 We know the defensemen can, but we just don't know what the forwards are. 40:46 Drew, same question. 40:48 What would you like to see that you're not seeing? 40:50 I mean, I want to see more Charlie Strobel. 40:56 I think I really like it when he's... 40:58 It seems like it really... 40:59 I get there's not a lot of room for him in the lineup all the time. 41:03 But I mean, seeing a guy like that play, it just seems like he's always got a real motor to him and a real head of steam. 41:10 And maybe that's not always the greatest thing, and he's got to learn to play at this level. 41:15 And maybe this isn't the season to kind of jump in and just say, hey, go figure it out. 41:20 But I'd like to see him get some more regular time to kind of see what energy he can bring. 41:26 And especially kind of just ignite that. 41:29 Yeah, it's just a fun, he's a fun guy to watch. 41:33 And he's a guy that I've wanted to, when you see him on the ice, I think, what does he play? 41:38 Mostly just a game a weekend, but maybe on a Saturday too. 41:41 And I think it's fun to see a guy like that kind of thrive. 41:47 And he just seems like he's, I mean, I feel like we throw the term around, the program guy around a lot, or at least Don used to a lot, but it seems like he's that kind of guy. 41:58 And he'll be around a while. 42:00 And it'll just be fun to see a guy like that get going and to help this potentially magical season along any further to get some more depth, just kind of support from some of those guys that are in the lineup every night. 42:18 All right, guys, huge weekend. 42:20 Home at home series with highly ranked St. 42:23 Cloud State. 42:27 Let's hear what you think, Veegs. 42:29 We're just gonna assume these players are gonna be back. 42:31 Maybe they won't all be in the same spots as they were before, because like you said, Moscow's got a plan, but boy, what a great matchup to kick off the second half of the season. 42:42 Yeah, and based on the ticket sales that we're seeing for Mariucci, the atmosphere should be electric if the students show up. 42:49 Yes. 42:50 I think that's gonna be really key for the weekend is students showing up. 42:54 You can guarantee that, you know, the St. 42:56 Cloud students will be there because that's what they live for, is that husky hockey program and to say woo, but we'll see what happens with this Gopher fan base. 43:07 It's not always been consistent they show up for this type of game. 43:10 Yeah, so we'll see. 43:12 I think what they played them was last year and it was early in the year and the fans just didn't show up and it was disappointing and it just kind of impacted the play on the ice. 43:22 So I think that's a big factor. 43:25 I am a little surprised how well St. 43:27 Cloud has played this year. 43:29 Really? 43:29 I did not expect this. 43:30 I thought they would be good, but not 14 and 4, you know, top of the pair-wise good. 43:36 So that's a little surprising to me, you know, credit to their coaching staff for figuring it out and getting it done there. 43:43 I was not expecting that the pipeline for them to be this full. 43:48 And so I think the COVID years probably helped them a little bit as they retained a little bit more upperclassmen to balance out their roster. 43:56 But I'm expecting tough hockey this weekend, I think we'll see both teams physically engaged and I worry a little bit about the Gopher penalty kill against St. 44:05 Cloud. 44:07 So I think that could be concerning for me. 44:10 And I think we'll see the home teams win each night this weekend. 44:13 How about that Cruikshank guy Drew, is he going to cause trouble for the Gophers? 44:19 Yeah, I mean, he's probably in his right position now. 44:22 He's on the list. 44:23 I mean, they got three goals, three guys with 10 goals or more. 44:27 And it's just they're able to lately this team has scored at a really high pace. 44:32 And yeah, because I think I'd share the penalty kill aspect for the Gophers. 44:36 It's just this St. 44:37 Cloud team can really score. 44:40 I mean, I think I look what they did to North Dakota. 44:42 I watched some of that series a few weekends ago and that comeback. 44:47 And I can't remember if it was the first or second game. 44:49 Yeah, both. 44:49 I guess both nights there. 44:51 It was just it was kind of wild. 44:53 And especially you say, man, when they have to face the Gophers, that's going to be I I'm not not trying to discredit the Gophers defensive core or anything or just in close. 45:02 But it's that's going to be tough for anybody. 45:06 You can score that much on North Dakota, even in a in a downish year for North Dakota. 45:11 I think it's going to be it's going to be a real tough series, especially offensively or defensively for the Gophers. 45:17 But, yeah, I mean, Crookshank's really thriving and I mean that after kind of that disappointing year last year and you kind of wanted him to be just kept wanting more from him last year in terms of what we got. 45:29 But you obviously found a home at St. 45:32 Cloud and making the most of it for their for a pretty high ranking so far and a really good season. 45:37 I'm wondering if we'll get the same referees up in St. 45:39 Cloud as we did last year, Biggs, and we all know that McLaughlin take down in overtime cost them the game when Walker scored in overtime. 45:53 Yeah, I can't imagine they'll get the series again. 45:56 I would think the refing crew would be a little bit different this time. 45:58 I still hold true that someone might have gone down a little easier than they should have. 46:05 Yeah, not quite a dive. 46:07 You got to keep playing though. 46:09 You got to keep playing. 46:13 Another thing that's happened, I think since last podcast is Mr. 46:19 Walker has made his NHL debut, Veegs. 46:24 Where's he playing, by the way? 46:25 Is he playing down the middle? 46:28 No, no, he's not. 46:30 No, he's not because when he did play wing last year, they beat up on North Dakota, too, at North Dakota. 46:39 Didn't they? 46:40 It's weird. 46:41 It's like that speed is better on the wing. 46:43 Yeah, I know. 46:47 I love it that people give us both a hard time because we said it, he was disappointing last year in his position. 46:56 He just didn't play well. 46:57 Well, you documented it. 46:59 He had one point on the power play the entire season because, well, you felt he wasn't used correctly and it's just bearing out that you were exactly right and there's nothing wrong with being right there. 47:15 It's just... 47:16 Yeah, Veegs, why don't you want a good Edina boy like Sammy Ross? 47:23 No, he's obviously a wintry Edina but he doesn't have that Edina kind of glow to him, Veegs. 47:33 He's like a blue collar type player when he's played the right way. 47:37 When he plays the right way and the Sammy Walker that you're seeing play professional hockey is the Sammy Walker we saw his freshman year. 47:46 He is hounding pucks. 47:49 He is using his speed. 47:51 He is harassing the other team. 47:54 He is using his speed to get in transition. 47:56 He's not floating and looping and being out of position. 48:00 He is using all of his abilities and he even got a fight in the AHL which apparently is one of the reasons why Bill Guerin said, okay, you're ready to get called up to the NHL because you're going to stand up for yourself. 48:14 And that's also kind of a little note to Marco Rossi, stand up for yourself. 48:22 Be physical, initiate conflict, be a prick out there sometimes. 48:29 You need that as a hockey player. 48:30 You know, I once had a hockey coach tell me, he's like, it's okay to be a little truculent. 48:35 It's okay to be sent to the principal's office every once in a while. 48:38 That's part of being a hockey player, you're going to get in those conflicts. 48:41 You just got to figure out, you know, which side of the line to step up to, you know, and I'm happy that Walker's doing it. 48:48 I know some people think that I'm, you know, a mean person for going after him last year, but I was going after him because he was the captain of the team and he showed all his potential and he was wasting it. 49:01 And I don't know if it was because of the chemistry of the locker room and the team, you know, the team really likes Sammy Walker. 49:08 Everybody respects him, you know, would taking him off the power of play impact the room? 49:12 Would it ruin his play? 49:14 Would it ruin his attitude? 49:15 Would it create conflicts? 49:17 I don't know. 49:18 Being a coach is more complicated than X's and O's and what you can see on tape, but I'm happy to see him doing well. 49:25 And I think we'll see him trying to be- 49:26 I think you just wish we would have seen it here because his career at Minnesota was very flat. 49:32 Well, you wish you would have seen it in the postseason. 49:35 You know, Walker in a postseason on the wing, being dangerous against Minnesota State, you can't trap him, you know. 49:43 He'll fly by those D's that are trying to pinch all the time. 49:46 And then all of a sudden you're going to rush the other way. 49:49 It would have been so much more fun to see that rather than see him get stretched out waiting for the puck and then giving away the center of the ice in the defensive zone. 49:58 So. 50:00 All right, guys, sorry to get sidetracked, but that overtime goal the last time they were in St. 50:04 Cloud just kind of reminded me of all the walkers stuff. 50:07 Let's get your predictions on the weekend, boys. 50:11 What happens this weekend, Drew? 50:14 What do you think? 50:16 I'm going to be safe. 50:17 I think it's going to be a split. 50:21 Early in the season, I was saying that for every Gopher series, and we kind of didn't really know if they could put the full weekend together with all that talent. 50:27 But then they started doing it again and it was easier to predict a few sweeps. 50:31 But I think this is obviously, I think the class of the Minnesota teams that they've played obviously, Minnesota State wasn't what they expected to be this year. 50:42 I think this is obviously, I think the premier in state matchup right now in terms of just how good these two teams are. 50:52 And having them play right now and kind of the last non-conference chance for the Gophers here before kind of just really getting into Big Ten play through the stretch is really good benchmark for them. 51:04 I think it's going to be a very important series to realize what they need at the, I mean, to come tournament time. 51:11 It's going to be, this is a team they could run into. 51:14 This is, it's going to be a heavy style of game that they're going to have to deal with and they're going to have to be able to beat if they want to make it to Tampa. 51:22 So it's, it's, I think it'll be a split, just, I bet, I, I don't know, maybe, maybe the home team wins each of them, but you know what? 51:32 It could flip too. 51:33 I just, I really have no idea, but I think either team's winning a game and it'll be a really close, hard fought, hard fought series. 51:42 So big Saturday night at the National Concrete Center, it's on CBS Sports Network. 51:47 I'm guessing Dave Starman will be done with his World Juniors, might be on that call and making his kind of yearly visit. 51:56 They're kicking off their national coverage for the NCHC Saturday. 51:59 So what happens? 52:04 Yeah, I think the home teams win both nights this weekend. 52:07 I really do think a veteran St. 52:09 Cloud team, you know, as you look at that roster, a lot of seniors, a lot of graduate players and, and they're performing for them. 52:16 So I think that presents a tough matchup for Minnesota. 52:20 And anytime Minnesota has had an off night, they've come back the next night sharper, more engaged, more disciplined. 52:26 So I wouldn't take too much out of us. 52:30 You know, the first night if the Gophers lose, I think they'll play well the next night. 52:34 But that's just the way I think it's going to go this weekend. 52:42 I'm going with it. 52:44 I'm predicting a GopherSweep. 52:48 Let's go, folks. 52:48 Well, that'll be good for their, that'll be good for their pairwise. 52:50 What about those Polaris jackets in the arena Saturday, according to Core EV? 52:54 Yeah, Polaris can suck it. 52:57 Sweep, bitches. 52:59 Just trying to get people going. 53:02 There you go. 53:03 I think this is important for pairwise, though. 53:04 You know, St. 53:05 Cloud being fifth, Gophers being first. 53:08 You know, a good weekend here is important to solidify a chance at a number one seed. 53:13 So I think there's a lot to play for. 53:16 Definitely. 53:17 And that's the only things we should worry about now. 53:19 Don't worry about the regular polls, folks. 53:22 They don't matter anymore. 53:23 It's all pairwise, all pairwise, all pairwise. 53:28 So there you go. 53:29 Drew, you've been a busy guy, less on the writing side, but you've been doing a lot of podcasts lately. 53:35 What you got coming up? 53:36 You did one this week, too, didn't you? 53:38 Yeah, I've recorded yesterday, gonna be released tomorrow morning. 53:41 But yeah, we just Minnesota focused college hockey. 53:44 So just kind of talking about little segments on every team. 53:48 And sometimes you forget if Minnesota's playing Bemidji in an exhibition or not. 53:55 And then you got Veegs calling you out for it. 53:57 Exactly, exactly. 53:59 Normally a very good podcast. 54:00 I enjoy catching up on the other Minnesota teams. 54:03 I don't follow them obviously as closely as I do the Gophers. 54:06 So especially when there's like a weekend come up here with St. 54:09 Cloud, it's a great show to listen to in addition to GopherPuckLive. 54:13 Oh, absolutely. 54:16 So yeah, watch for Drew on there. 54:18 And he says he's gonna be back at Mariucci fairly soon. 54:25 I'm thinking about it. 54:27 As my schedule begins to free up, I do have a lot of nights and weekend stuff kind of taking a lot of my time. 54:35 But never fear though, Drew did get to a game as a fan this year and that's how you keep it going. 54:40 That's how you keep your love for Gopher Hockey going. 54:42 Go to a game. 54:43 Exactly, I was there in my old MN Daily news pullover. 54:47 Just had to, can't close the yearbook, you know? 54:50 So had to do that. 54:53 Veegs, is The Donald gonna be there this weekend? 54:58 You know, I don't think so. 55:00 We'll see. 55:01 There's some complications there, but I think it's a good time for The Donald to attend. 55:06 He looks forward to these in-state games and should be good atmosphere. 55:10 So I don't think the tickles will go unused. 55:14 Well, that's good. 55:16 That's good. 55:17 You guys got anything else? 55:19 Are we good here? 55:20 I'm thirsty. 55:24 I think I'm gonna join you, Veegs. 55:27 Well, you know what that means, Veegs. 55:29 It's gonna have something for overtime. 55:32 Well, that's gonna do it for this episode of The GPL Podcast. 55:36 Thanks to Drew for joining us once again. 55:38 We'll be back next week to recap the series with St. 55:42 Cloud State. 55:43 And we move right back into Big Ten Play. 55:47 Our guest next week, former Gopher, Eric Scheerhorn. 55:51 So make sure you tune into that. 55:52 Look forward to having him. 55:54 For those of you currently watching live, stay tuned for some overtime. 55:57 For the rest of you, we'll see you next time on The GPL Podcast.