0:08 This is the GPL Podcast from goforbuttlive.com. 0:17 You know, I think there is some shenanigans happening in the goalie community. 0:21 Are you going to speak on that? 0:24 You know, I got a ride with Goalie Nation, but... 0:27 I do make mistakes, I love it. 0:32 And so I had to train for this marathon. 0:38 You know, a good recruiting tip is like, where can I get a good drink around here? 0:43 This is a 10.8% beer, tanker, hopper. 0:50 Lots of loaf of bread. 0:56 Now, here's Jupiter and Vegoe. 1:06 Good evening, and welcome to the GPL Podcast, episode number 229. 1:14 Well, Veegs, not quite the weekend we thought it was gonna be, but still not terrible. 1:22 It's always probably good for Minnesota when they don't play very well and come out of the weekend with four points. 1:29 I didn't think the Gophers played very well on either night, but the skill rose to the top on that one. 1:37 So, good result for them. 1:39 It was a good result. 1:41 So we've got a new guest joining us this week on the GPL Podcast. 1:45 We ran into him last year when he visited us at Mariucci, making his trip over from Michigan. 1:51 We have Connor Earegood from the Michigan Daily. 1:53 Let's bring him in. 1:54 Connor, first off, nice to meet you. 1:57 And hello from Minnesota. 1:58 How's it going? 2:00 It's going really well. 2:01 Like I said, you made the trip last year and we were glad to have you and I'm glad to have you on the show this week. 2:08 Yeah, thanks for having me. 2:09 I appreciate it. 2:10 Well, we appreciate you coming on with us. 2:15 Vegoe and I have talked about this. 2:20 Michigan, not quite having the season we thought they would. 2:24 They're pairwise, still pretty good. 2:27 And they got a couple of games in hand and the team's ahead of them in the Big Ten standings. 2:32 But it's not quite the season we thought it was going to be for Michigan, is it, Connor? 2:37 No, and especially after last season, right? 2:40 I mean, if you believe that tournament champions are Big Ten champions, obviously had a really successful season. 2:47 What, there were two or three points outside at first place, if I'm remembering right, it's a long time ago, even though it's a year. 2:56 No, it's definitely been a little bit of a... 2:59 I don't want to call it outright a disappointing season for them, just because they had so many guys leave. 3:04 You have Maddie Beniers leave, Brisson, Power, so many star NHL talents that you can't really replace that with freshmen. 3:12 So it was going to be a little bit of a down year. 3:14 But being, what, fifth place in the Big Ten, even with games at hand, that's not a Michigan Hockey outcome that you can really expect. 3:23 And Veegs, we didn't really see that coming either. 3:27 Well, maybe we were hinting at it in our season preview. 3:30 We didn't think they would be first, and you didn't think they would be in second. 3:34 You picked Notre Dame in second. 3:36 But you know, Michigan was kind of the next tier there, weren't they? 3:39 I was putting them below Ohio State in my tier of the conference. 3:43 Them fighting words. 3:44 Because I thought Michigan was going to struggle with the coaching staff turmoil and a new coach in charge. 3:51 I just think you can't really dismiss that as an issue for Michigan. 3:57 And they had players who really controlled the pace last year with veneers and power. 4:03 And I think they're struggling without that consistency. 4:06 Because we've seen with the Gophers, if you're inconsistent and your best players are inconsistent, it's hard to be successful. 4:14 That is true. 4:15 That is true. 4:16 Well, let's get into this weekend's games, Veegs, before we get more in-depth with Michigan this weekend. 4:21 Minnesota goes into Notre Dame, where we picked a sweep this week. 4:24 They get a late last-minute tie from Lacombe Friday night, lose the extra point in the shootout, come back with a better game, a much better game Saturday night, where Notre Dame typically plays a better game. 4:40 So not a terrible weekend, but not the best result, I would say. 4:46 I wasn't really impressed with either night, to be honest. 4:50 I thought on Saturday, they got a couple of goals with their skilled players making skill plays at the right time, but they got out shot pretty heavily. 4:59 On Saturday, they gave up. 5:01 Closed, saved their bacon. 5:02 At least four breakaways, maybe more, if I was remembering the weekend correctly. 5:07 It was not successful hockey. 5:11 You can't do that weekend out and win a lot of games. 5:15 Luckily, Minnesota's good players made good plays at the right time. 5:19 I mean, that Cooley goal, I think that's something we're going to start to see when they're in a special team's advantage and he's got time and space. 5:27 He can just kind of hold and drag and change angles on goalies and put the puck in the net. 5:32 I mean, that was an absolute snipe from him. 5:36 And on the flip side, Connor, Michigan, it was an ugly Friday night. 5:41 Yes. 5:43 All credit in the world, right, to Ohio State. 5:46 Yes. 5:47 They're a good team. 5:48 Michigan just didn't show up that game. 5:50 You could kind of tell based on that first period, not their night. 5:55 And everyone in postgame, we talked to their captain, Nolan Moyle, Jacob Truscott, as well, and Michigan's coach Brandon Nerado. 6:03 And everyone kept repeating the term buy-in and just saying how unacceptable that effort was. 6:09 I think Jacob Truscott used the term embarrassing. 6:12 I hope I'm not misquoting there, but just we're not happy. 6:18 Michigan wasn't with the effort that night. 6:21 Obviously getting blown out by five goals in your home bar, and first time since 1999 that's happened. 6:26 Oh boy. 6:28 Not a good look. 6:30 Connor, one thing I noticed about the box score is all the power play goals for the Buckeyes. 6:35 What kind of penalties were the Wolverines taking? 6:38 And were they good penalties, bad penalties, selfish penalties? 6:42 What lazy penalties? 6:43 How would you describe them? 6:45 I'm a firm believer that there's usually not good penalties because you put yourself in the position to take them. 6:52 The only somewhat redeemable penalty I think was Luca Fantilli pushing someone down that had an empty net basically. 7:00 Eric Portillo gave up a really soft rebound kind of roll just to the right of the crease. 7:07 I forget who from Ohio State had a chance to shoot it, Luca Fantilli just bowled him over and they scored right on that power play. 7:14 So kind of delayed fate basically, but didn't change the outcome. 7:19 Any offensive zone penalties that just kill you? 7:23 Nothing that was out of the ordinary because they take so many penalties as a team, partially because they play so fast and then get trapped and then end up having to chase and prevent a rush. 7:35 Sometimes illegal hits, it's like they see the numbers and they decide they want to hit those instead of a clean body check. 7:43 So sometimes that's a little frustrating I think for that team. 7:47 But it's also freshman mistakes when you have guys like Rugger McGroarty that kind of plays inside the lines usually, but can kind of test the boundaries here and there. 7:57 Marcus Stopp is a sophomore, but he can tend to throw it around, although he hasn't really, I don't think, taken many penalties this season. 8:03 I think the worst penalty of the weekend actually came in Michigan's win. 8:07 Ethan Edwards put a hit on Joe Dunlap from Ohio State. 8:11 I just led with the elbow. 8:13 You didn't have a clean angle on him at all and just ended up knocking Dunlap's helmet off, which was a little bit concerning. 8:20 He got up okay. 8:22 I don't think any lasting damage from that. 8:25 But when you have guys that have been around, you can't be that undisciplined. 8:29 I don't know if it's emblematic of, I mean, you guys mentioned the coaching turnover, right? 8:35 You can't really dismiss that. 8:36 I don't know if it's based on the coaches because they've obviously spread their message and tried to enforce that. 8:42 I think it's more, the onus for that goes on the players to actually absorb the lessons and really not be undisciplined like that. 8:51 Everything's a choice. 8:52 You're just making the wrong one. 8:54 Oh, I see this question from the birthday boy himself, Eric Breivor. 8:58 Any remaining fallout from the Mell situation? 9:00 Is it truly over? 9:02 So I'll be diplomatic about how I answer this because there's probably going to be some upcoming coverage about this situation. 9:11 I don't want to tease anything because I can't promise when and if it will come out. 9:17 But he has been around two games at Yost. 9:21 It's called like the Champions Box or something. 9:23 It's the little private boxes. 9:26 However, like Michigan has tried, I believe, at least as far as we've been explained to you by spokespersons and by folks inside athletics, tried to cut ties, obviously, because when you have a, I'll say, disgraced coach like that who has this reputation, like that's not exactly someone you want around your program. 9:47 I don't think he's really absorbed that and realized the situation. 9:51 But he's been around two games. 9:54 That's obviously something that when there's issues of intimidation and retaliation against players and staff, detailed in the report, not exactly something that's a good situation to put people in. 10:09 Somebody definitely leaked that report. 10:12 Yeah, I mean, somebody definitely leaked and said, we want this to get out because, you know, maybe I don't know who it is. 10:20 I don't care. 10:21 We want this out so people know. 10:23 Well, when you have a report like that, that it's a damning report, right? 10:28 I mean, there's there's stuff in it that Michigan hasn't investigated that I don't understand how they haven't. 10:33 And frankly, it's negligent by the Athletics Department to leave those unresolved. 10:37 I'm thinking of retaliation against Straus Mann. 10:40 I'm thinking of some of the if anyone follows the Michigan Tech Hockey Guide, this wasn't listed in the report, but making players play through injuries. 10:50 I feel like those are issues that you should investigate and really push into and figure out what's fact, what's fiction. 10:57 If not in terms of prosecuting the guy, like figuring out if he did it or not. 11:01 So if he didn't, you clear his name in that regard. 11:05 Mel deserves that. 11:07 Everyone does. 11:07 That's kind of how justice as a system works. 11:12 But just leaving those open and leaving that on Ward Manuel, the Athletics Director's desk for three months without making a coaching decision. 11:21 I think that was the goofiest thing, don't you think, Veegs? 11:24 It was like there was a time where technically he wasn't under contract. 11:29 It was nothing was happening, Veegs. 11:31 We were all wondering what's going on. 11:35 Yeah, I think if Connor spends more time following college athletics, you will learn that when these investigations happen, they are very narrow in scope. 11:46 They're only investigating one issue. 11:48 They're not going to discover one and start pursuing that corridor. 11:53 They're going to stick to the one they've been charged with. 11:55 Unlike politics. 11:56 It's going to be done by these neutral parties, these law firms who are going to do these investigations so that they're not subject to Freedom of Information Act requests. 12:09 Everything where the university is going to be involved reviewing this kind of documentation, it will be like eyes only. 12:15 It won't be emailed. 12:17 They'll limit their liability with that. 12:20 And it all falls down on the athletic director to make a decision, usually in athletics. 12:25 And if a regent doesn't like it or doesn't like the direction of the university, they tend to leak these things. 12:31 We've had some of those issues at the University of Minnesota with a lot of different things over the last decade. 12:37 And it's usually there's a regent who's unhappy and doesn't feel like their voice is being heard. 12:41 And this is how they do it. 12:43 Yeah. 12:45 And Michigan, for its part, like obviously with the scope of the investigation, it's interesting. 12:50 The report itself and its conclusion are in when it was winding down. 12:55 I don't know if it's directly the conclusions subsection, but recommended opening a new investigation under a different standard practice guide policy for protection against retaliation and basically said, like, we can't do anything here, but look here and use this investigation as your scope. 13:13 And as far as we know, as far as anyone's told us through some sources, Michigan has not opened up a new investigation. 13:22 Granted, with what's happening with the football team right now, they have a bigger fish to fry. 13:29 You know, that's really not a bad thing for the hockey team right now. 13:34 It's like, over here, look what we've got going on over here, we got football problems. 13:37 And I think the hockey area is kind of like, this is probably a good time for this. 13:42 Maybe the list will just kind of go away, right, Veegs? 13:45 Hopefully just go away. 13:47 It never does. 13:47 But you kind of hope that with such a big university and football is king, football could really drown out a lot of the things. 13:57 It can drown out a lot of things. 13:59 But I think if the Athletic Department pays attention to what's happening to the hockey program, I think they would see Michigan Hockey has not been as successful this year as they could be. 14:09 And a lot of that falls on the coaching staff. 14:11 And I believe it's still an interim head coaching position. 14:14 So maybe they'll make a different decision at the end of the year. 14:18 I know Bill McCall was originally seen as maybe a coach in waiting at Michigan. 14:23 And maybe his ties to Mel Pearson muddied that. 14:25 But maybe after a year, that changes. 14:28 But it's hard to say. 14:30 I think the big difference between Michigan and Minnesota right now is Minnesota's players, even when they don't have their A game, they're not feeding the other team's offense. 14:40 They're not making mistakes. 14:41 They're not taking lots of penalties. 14:43 And they're able to pull out weekends like they did at Notre Dame, where their skilled players come through. 14:48 I think Michigan's kind of in the opposite place. 14:50 They don't have the steady players to pull through in these games. 14:53 I believe they've split every series in the Big Ten so far, except for their getting swept by Minnesota at Yost. 15:01 Which was a goofy thing because a lot of players were out. 15:04 I know, I remember seeing some of your tweets about that, Connor. 15:07 You're kind of surprised the game was played at all. 15:08 But I think that's just obviously nothing we can control. 15:14 And it was a goofy thing. 15:17 We even said on the podcast that was a blessing for Minnesota in disguise to be able to go to Yost and to play with some of their players out. 15:24 And Minnesota has the players out, but it wasn't the same. 15:26 Like the top goalie in the Big Ten right now, Justin Close. 15:29 Yeah, true, true. 15:32 Well, I kind of want to go on goalies because Portillo, he's had a great career. 15:39 This year, I think he's struggling quite a bit more, letting in some softer goals. 15:44 But it's also not just him. 15:46 It's also like a combination of the team in front of him not playing as well team defensively. 15:52 Oh, absolutely. 15:54 I think any defensive core that loses guys like Nick Meikenberg and Owen Power, if they don't regress, sign that coach to like a 15-year contract because he's doing something right. 16:06 No, they've had good contributors. 16:08 Ethan Edwards has taken some steps. 16:10 Seamus Casey has been incredible, at least from an offensive production standpoint. 16:14 Sometimes makes some goofy freshman mistakes in his own end, especially in the corners. 16:19 But someone that's been reliable, they really, really need more out of Luke Hughes in terms of offense. 16:26 He's kind of been the king of the secondary assist here and there and has been really looking for the offense, but he obviously hasn't been his, what, 17 goals last season. 16:34 He's not been on pace for that. 16:36 Granted, you can't expect that out of a D-man, I feel like. 16:40 But like you said, it's like also who's with him. 16:43 Yeah, exactly. 16:44 He's got some great players with you. 16:45 It allows you more flexibility to shine. 16:49 And another thing, Veegs, they kind of know Luke Hughes. 16:53 They're going to cover him a little differently now. 16:56 Well, I just think it's a different situation for him coming back after last year with so much success and trying to push to build on it. 17:06 If anyone remembers Jackson LeCombs' first half of the year after being an All-American, he really, really struggled. 17:13 And he wasn't producing the points. 17:15 He was giving up a lot of chances against. 17:17 And he went home over winter break and kind of had to refocus. 17:21 And he came back in the second half of the year, and it was just like he was back to normal. 17:25 And he just realized that when you're playing defense in a tough schedule like Minnesota and Michigan play, you can't force the game to happen. 17:34 Everybody's too good out there, and they know who you are, and they're going to keep an eye on you. 17:38 So you have to wait for your moments and then execute. 17:42 And that's what LeCombs has been doing this year. 17:44 He's been picking his spots really well when he comes in the zone. 17:48 He's picking his spots when he gets rid of the puck. 17:51 He's doing a better job about bailing the blue line. 17:53 And I think that's just the maturity that comes with the veteran blue line core of Minnesota. 17:59 They understand how to make an impact on a game. 18:02 And he also got to play a little forward in that game at Michigan, too. 18:06 Just two shifts, and one of them worked out pretty well. 18:09 It did. 18:10 But he didn't know what to do on the breakout in the D-Zone, which was kind of funny. 18:17 It is what it is. 18:17 It's fun. 18:18 So guys, this week, a big kind of a boost just happened to Minnesota Hockey, not Minnesota, the school, the state, a $75 million donation for St. 18:31 Thomas to build a multipurpose arena with hockey and basketball. 18:37 We have always talked about growing the game, and this is just good all around. 18:42 I mean, you look at the old days, Michigan had like 71 teams, and Minnesota had two for the longest time. 18:48 And now it just keeps growing and growing, and this is a great step for St. 18:53 Thomas. 18:54 Yeah, it's really going to put them on the map as a contender for players in the state. 18:59 Anytime you have a donor who is willing to invest as much as the Anderson family has with St. 19:04 Thomas, that's definitely going to help an institution. 19:07 I was always wondering where they were going to put this building and having it on campus I think should be great for their student body. 19:14 It's going to be a mess for traffic. 19:16 That's not a great area to get four or five thousand people in and out of every night, but they'll figure it out. 19:22 And I think they're going to start winning some recruiting battles here pretty soon. 19:27 I think Rico's had a tough time getting that program started. 19:30 This is certainly going to help. 19:34 And Connor, growing hockey, no matter where it is, we've got Augustana coming up next year, and it keeps growing for us college hockey fans. 19:45 Yeah. 19:47 I know a lot of folks in Michigan, we're really excited. 19:50 And Lindenwood played its third and fourth D1 games against Michigan, right? 19:57 Because they played Minnesota first week. 19:58 Played Minnesota first, yeah. 20:00 So seeing the growth recently, is it Stonehill as well? 20:05 Stonehill is coming, yep. 20:06 Stonehill is coming. 20:08 There's quite a bit of growth, obviously hoping it's going to be sustained, right? 20:13 Because you can build teams, but in order to maintain them and keep them, I feel like is with college athletics the important part, because then you have guys who commit for four or five years, and depending on eligibility, want to end up playing for a program. 20:27 And then if your program disappears, they're without home. 20:32 That's what happened to Noah West, the backup goaltender for Michigan, actually played for Robert Morris, and then those teams got cut after the 2020-2021 season. 20:42 So he was basically out of a job and had to find someone. 20:45 Thankfully, his coach, Mike Corbett, had a relationship with Bill McCult, got him in touch, and Michigan needed a goalie, so it worked out for him. 20:54 But obviously, you don't want to see that repeated. 20:56 So when you have donors like St. 20:58 Thomas does that will invest in those facilities, it kind of shows you there's a little bit of a long-term longevity there that's going to pay off for them. 21:06 It's not quite the craziness in college hockey that Mr. 21:09 Pagula did at Penn State, though, because that just literally took college hockey and went like this. 21:16 It did shake it up because of the Big Ten implications. 21:19 But this gift to St. 21:21 Thomas that the Andersons have given, not only are they paying $75 million for this rink, but they've done their previous rec center. 21:29 They've done some other buildings on campus. 21:31 I think this family has given almost like $170 million to St. 21:35 Thomas. 21:36 And that's just an amazing number. 21:38 I was looking back at some of the biggest donors to go for athletics. 21:42 And you're seeing like McNamara, Pinkney McNamara donated like $15 million and split it between athletics and liberal arts. 21:52 And we look at the Lindahls who paid money for the Athlete Village. 21:57 You know, those numbers are more in that $10 to $15 million, which is still a very significant gift. 22:03 It's just not $150, $175 million. 22:07 Yeah, it's lucky to have those kind of donors academically and for sports. 22:13 Because really you cannot get a hockey program going, Veegs, without a big donation these days. 22:18 It's just really tough. 22:20 And I don't think St. 22:21 Thomas is done with where they're at right now. 22:24 I think their donors envision them as part of that Catholic seven, maybe a Catholic eight, you know, the Villanova type schools, Marquette, you know, that class of school. 22:36 And maybe they're eyeing themselves as more of like a Boston college type school. 22:41 And they're definitely on the projection to get to that point. 22:45 Well, maybe it'll get us a junior tournament, Veegs, because we're hearing that Minnesota might put in a bid for 2026. 22:54 And Connor, you must love the junior tournament, too, because obviously Michigan sends a ton of players, and it's just the best tournament anywhere. 23:00 We would love to have it come to the C's. 23:03 It's starting to look like they might put in a bid, Veegs. 23:06 Would St. 23:07 Thomas be part of that? 23:09 It's really hard to say who would put in bids. 23:11 I know Minnesota has been kind of coy about their involvement, but it would make a lot of sense to have a lot of different buildings in the state of hockey involved in a bit if they're going to do it. 23:21 And maybe they have the medal games at Excel and just kind of spread the love around the state like they did, I think, back in 1980. 23:29 You know, they played games in Mankato, St. 23:32 Paul, Duluth, all over the place, Met Center. 23:36 So maybe we'll see something like that again. 23:38 We just got to get in on it, Connor. 23:39 The Canadians are just hogging it too much. 23:42 I mean, I went to Buffalo a couple of times, but it's just, I would love to see it here, in the states again. 23:48 I'd love to see it in Detroit, specifically. 23:50 Bingo, another great place. 23:52 You guys got a great new arena now, too. 23:54 It's Little Caesars. 23:55 Yeah, great if they start winning in it. 23:59 That's a whole different story. 24:01 No, Detroit sports need to break through here soon. 24:05 Otherwise, I'm going to go crazy. 24:07 No, I think the problem with Detroit is like you need that second site. 24:12 And I don't like you could do Grand Rapids. 24:15 I don't know if Plymouth being a USA Hockey Hub, if that would make a whole lot of sense, because I feel like you'd need a paint job at least in order to make it fair to anyone. 24:25 But, you know, second site. 24:28 But yeah, you could do it in the Twin Cities. 24:30 I would still like to see it spread out more. 24:32 Like Vigo said, Mankato's got a big enough arena, St. 24:36 Cloud, even Duluth. 24:39 And then, you know, you'd spread it out a little bit. 24:41 I mean, that would work pretty great. 24:43 Yeah, I think you could definitely have like double headers at a couple different rinks in the area. 24:49 Everything's pretty close to each other. 24:51 And it'd be fantastic for college hockey barns. 24:54 I think this last World Junior showed how nice it can be if you have that smaller 10,000 seat arena or smaller for these types of games because you get atmosphere. 25:05 You know, when you go into the NHL building and there's only 8,000 people or so there, it just feels flat. 25:11 And so I'm hoping this comes to be and we get to see World Junior in Minnesota in 2026. 25:18 I hope so, too. 25:19 I just want it in the United States again. 25:23 And, you know, Buffalo's nice, but really it's just because... 25:25 Detroit is, too, like right across the border. 25:28 You're going to let way too many damn Canadians in if that happens. 25:31 And in my opinion, too, like I don't... 25:34 Detroit's a hockey town, right? 25:36 But that's obviously faded because the Red Wings haven't been relevant since, what, 2013? 25:40 I mean, I'm not going to count three years of extending a playoff streak as relevancy. 25:45 They've been in some dire times. 25:47 Us Wings fans have been hurting. 25:49 So I don't know if it would get that draw, right? 25:52 Like, Minnesota, you put it anywhere, there's going to be people in the stands. 25:56 Versus Michigan, you'd have to have it really strategically located, especially that B site. 26:02 You'd have to have it planned out. 26:03 But Veegs, I think they would really need to get the wild fans on board, though, too. 26:08 Because, you know, it might not be a big sell, you know, in St. 26:14 Cloud. 26:14 It might not. 26:15 I don't know. 26:15 But I don't know. 26:18 It's difficult to say, Veegs. 26:19 I seem to remember doing okay when I was in North Dakota. 26:23 They did pretty well attracting fans for that, and it was way up there. 26:26 Well, it also helped that Ovechkin was there and Crosby was there. 26:32 We didn't really know Ovechkin and Crosby were quite who they were going to be back then. 26:36 We were hearing about Crosby. 26:38 Crosby for sure. 26:39 Crosby, yeah. 26:40 You're telling me that Cole Iserman isn't going to draw as much attention in the next couple of World Juniors? 26:47 You know, there are players coming. 26:49 Connor Bredard, you never know who's going to be coming along. 26:51 That's fair. 26:53 Yeah. 26:53 This Fantili guy. 26:54 I don't know. 26:57 I haven't seen him play in person yet. 26:58 I don't know how good he is. 27:00 Looking forward to that this weekend. 27:02 Well, let's get to that then. 27:04 Michigan, come into town. 27:06 It's always fun. 27:07 You know, Connor, I will say, besides North Dakota, playing Michigan is always my favorite games. 27:13 Going back to the 90s when they were playing those college hockey showcases, it was always up and down hockey, great scoring, not much, so much on the defensive side. 27:26 But it was just the really fun game. 27:28 So besides North Dakota, Michigan was always my favorite rivalry. 27:34 Yeah, I guess I'll speak to that. 27:36 I know a lot of Michigan fans are appreciative of that rivalry. 27:39 It's the Haleager Mariucci Trophy as well. 27:43 It seems to be a hot topic for... 27:46 You didn't lose it, did you? 27:48 Oh, they didn't. 27:49 No, it's in the coach's office. 27:51 Trust me, considering the former director of hockey ops for Michigan, he wasn't going to lose it. 27:57 Eric Vegoe, Michigan, bring back the traveling trophy back to Minneapolis right now that Mel is out. 28:05 It might honestly be beneficial that certain people aren't on that staff anymore because it might not come back in one piece. 28:12 I know you guys know what I'm talking about. 28:14 I'm not going to say the silent part out loud here. 28:16 It's not as you guys want it to be. 28:20 It's your problem. 28:22 But Veegs, it's going to be a fun weekend no matter what because Michigan plays the style of hockey that Minnesota wants to play. 28:31 Yeah. 28:31 Ryan Johnson was talking about that in availability today that he's looking forward to this weekend because it's a chance for the best on best to go up against each other and have some hockey where there's rushes back and forth. 28:45 I think Minnesota and Michigan both play a style where they want to get up and go north right away. 28:50 And that's going to be fun to see on the ice this weekend. 28:53 I know Minnesota was doing lots of full ice rushes, one-on-ones, two-on-twos to prep for this weekend because they know their players are going to get opportunities to get on the fly here. 29:05 And it'll be interesting to see how Brock Faber, Jackson Lacombe, Ryan Chesley, Mike Kester handle that kind of hockey and how much guys like Matthew Nyes, Logan Cooley take advantage of the opportunities they're going to get because just based on the track record we've seen with the Minnesota Fords, they're going to put some pressure on Michigan when they get the chance. 29:31 All right, Connor, what does Michigan need to do to be successful this weekend? 29:35 And what would you consider a successful weekend? 29:39 A successful weekend is a split at this point for that team, especially against Minnesota. 29:44 Minnesota is legit, has depth that Michigan frankly doesn't have. 29:50 I think Michigan needs three things. 29:53 A, they need Eric Portillo to play like last season Eric Portillo. 29:57 He showed flashes that against Ohio State, the team didn't play in front of him. 30:01 He's had some shaky performances, notably early in the season. 30:07 I think if he would have been able to play Penn State, I think he would have gotten it together. 30:11 He's always thrived against Penn State. 30:14 Last season, he had some pretty good performances out there. 30:16 Granted, it's a whole different Nittany Lions squad this year in terms of how they've been able to compete and really buy into their system. 30:24 So I think Portillo, A, needs to be on his A game. 30:28 I think the second, they really need Adam Fantilli to find a scoring touch. 30:32 He wasn't super noticeable against Ohio State, not in Adam Fantilli ways. 30:38 His confidence seems to be, I don't want to speak for him, it seems to be a little bit dampened because of what happened with him getting put on the fourth line with Canada because he was playing a whole different position, playing wing instead of center. 30:49 You got to think this is a kid that's played center his whole life because he's been the best on the ice since he's, probably since he learned to skate the way he plays. 30:59 So his belief in himself I think needs to be heightened and then that will translate onto the ice. 31:05 And I think third, Michigan needs to avoid freshman mistakes. 31:10 You need to make sure that their passes are crisp, make sure they're not turning it over. 31:14 The Gophers off the rush will hurt Michigan. 31:18 It's not a team like even Ohio State where you can give up some rush chances and get away with them. 31:24 Minnesota is going to cash in if they get enough opportunities. 31:28 And Michigan's been very sloppy with that. 31:30 Just because guys will throw a puck lazily around the boards or try to make an extra pass here and there, defensemen will play up too far. 31:38 It's those little technical mistakes. 31:42 They just haven't figured out yet being such a young team. 31:46 But Veegs, that's what we love about college hockey. 31:49 It's the mistakes that make it so exciting. 31:52 Definitely. 31:53 And I think as college hockey is going through post-COVID and you have all these teams with these super veteran rosters where you have graduate players and seniors who are 25, 26 years old, it allows those coaches to squeeze the game. 32:11 And it's less exciting. 32:13 Flip side, this is a weekend where lots of young talent will be on the ice. 32:17 So we'll see some mistakes because we'll see players trying to make plays because they have that skill and that's what they want to show. 32:24 And the coaching staffs for both these programs understand that that these players are not just coming here to lock down, play defense and try to squeak out three two wins on the way to an NCAA berth and then just roll the dice. 32:37 These are teams that want to get up and down the ice, outscore their opponents 5-2 and get better. 32:43 So I think for Minnesota, I'd really like to see them get back to their four checking game. 32:49 The last two weekends, I felt like they've been late. 32:53 Players will be coming into the zone. 32:55 They'll basically skate themselves into a dead end by the hash marks. 32:59 And they'll lose their ability to get the puck deep with any momentum to get the four check going. 33:04 And they've lost their ability to move the puck to a teammate either in the high slot or driving the net. 33:09 So Minnesota has to make better decisions with crossing the blue line, putting some pressure, getting that four check going. 33:15 I know that's something that they probably should have done more against Notre Dame and they didn't. 33:21 And it resulted them getting their rushes and basically being one and done. 33:25 You know, they do a hope pass across the middle, come out the other way. 33:29 Notre Dame's offense gets started, Gophers play defense. 33:33 So I'd look for that. 33:34 The other thing is the penalty kill did pretty well on Saturday for Minnesota. 33:39 But at times they do chase the puck below the dots into the corners. 33:44 They need to just stay in their position and protect closer in front of the net. 33:50 He gets in trouble when the puck moves across the road through the slot. 33:54 You know, he's a smaller goalie, so he can't really get across, like some of the bigger goalies like Portillo sometimes can make these post to post moves and make fantastic saves. 34:05 Closer's got to rely more on positioning and playing the puck and making his reads. 34:10 So I think those two things, those are things I'm looking for. 34:13 Otherwise, it should be a great weekend. 34:16 I'm kind of with you, Connor. 34:18 I think this weekend is all on Portillo. 34:21 I don't want to put so much pressure on the kid, but you know, we were sitting in the Gopher Press Box when I believe you guys were playing Michigan State, and there was a couple bad goals in that game. 34:34 And we're just like, what is happening? 34:38 He cannot do that. 34:42 But the thing is, we all know he could steal a weekend easily. 34:46 Yeah. 34:46 And I think so he's really that he could have just a little off or he could be perfectly on. 34:53 I think the whole weekend depends on him. 34:55 Yeah. 34:55 And they've had games like that. 34:58 Even the loss to Ohio State, like Ohio State could have put up a 10-pack. 35:02 They were playing so well. 35:04 And Portillo made, God, he had to make four or five saves that probably should have gone in, whether it was, I think Ohio State had a couple of breakaways that he ended up saving, if I'm remembering right, a couple times they'd just throw it across the crease and see if someone could tip it in and he'd somehow come up with a weird acrobatic, like got his stick on it or got the edge of his pad. 35:27 He's so, I don't want to call it cerebral because it's more luck than instinct, I feel like sometimes, but like he's just good at being lucky and you got to be good to be lucky. 35:38 So if he turns that on, that means good things for Michigan, but it's like rolling the dice, man. 35:47 Every once while you'll see these big goalies, they get so mechanical with their positioning and their save selections that they leave little holes and little gaps in their set for the save. 36:00 And I just wonder if that's what's happening with Partillo is that he's just focusing on his mechanics, he's not trusting his reads and his instincts. 36:07 Because we talked to Justin Coles the other day about like, what's going on? 36:10 Like you're having a great season, you're top of the Big Ten and save percentage goals against. 36:15 And he's just like, you know, I'm not thinking I'm going to let the puck in when they come down the ice. 36:20 I'm trusting my read and I'm playing on instinct. 36:22 I'm being aggressive. 36:24 And I think that's just a great mindset for any goalie to have. 36:27 And when you have that little doubt in your mind, and you're just kind of going through the motions and trusting your technique, but not really trusting your instinct, that's when you can get into trouble. 36:37 And you just need some games and shots to get it back. 36:40 It's really hard to get that back in practice, because it is such a mental thing to get through. 36:46 I don't know, Wild fans saw that with Darcy Kemper. 36:48 You know, he was such a mental challenge goalie with the Wild, and then he goes the avalanche and he wins the Stanley Cup. 36:55 You know, so it's hard to predict the goaltending stuff, but I think that is a huge key this weekend for Michigan. 37:03 Is Portillo back or is he still struggling? 37:07 Interesting. 37:08 Very interesting. 37:09 Like I said, I think he's the key. 37:13 Otherwise, if Portillo is not on, it could get ugly. 37:20 Which I don't want to see. 37:24 Many, many years ago, there was a game like that at Minnesota Play Michigan at Mary Uchee. 37:31 It was one of those college hockey showcases. 37:34 Minnesota put up eight on them, had two short-handed goals on the same chip or something like that. 37:40 And it just got on. 37:40 I'm like, this isn't the rivalry I'm used to. 37:45 So I want to see some fun games this weekend. 37:47 I want to see some scoring weeks because the scoring has been down for Minnesota for a couple weeks here. 37:53 They haven't gotten anything really back since the break. 37:56 Well, I think they've just been rusty. 37:58 We've seen them make great individual plays to score their goals, but you're not seeing great possession, long stretches of pressure, connected shifts, which is what Minnesota needs to do to be successful. 38:12 They are going to probably be without Luke Middlestadt this weekend, who picked up an injury at Notre Dame. 38:17 I know they're waiting on some x-rays to kind of see what the situation was there with him. 38:22 I think they'll probably keep them out this weekend, just to be cautionary. 38:26 So I don't know if that means we might see Carl Fish in the lineup or not, or what they'll do with their extra skater. 38:34 I've liked the way Charlie Strobel's been playing. 38:37 Maybe they play Middlestadt and Strobel for a weekend, as those two have been rotating in and out. 38:43 And I think they add a nice forechecking element for Minnesota, which is what the coaching staff is looking for. 38:49 So you think they'd reward that kind of play, but we'll see what the staff wants to do there. 38:56 All right, Colin, let's get your predictions on the weekend. 38:58 What are the points? 38:59 Who gets what? 39:06 I think, okay, this is tough because I think the first game is going to decide it. 39:10 I think if Minnesota wins the first game, because like Michigan just likes to drop every opener, I think it'll be an even three and three split. 39:21 That's what my gut's telling me. 39:22 But I think if Michigan wins the first, I think they'll get at least four out of the six. 39:26 Because I think if they get that confidence and Portillo is feeling it, if Adam Fantilli can get something going, and I know this week he's going to play with Dylan Duke and Gavin Brinley is going to be his right wing instead of Samo Skavage, I think if he can kind of get that score going and they get two lines rolling, I think that could spell some really good things for Michigan. 39:47 But I think that first game is going to decide if three or four. 39:52 Okay, Veegs, big crowd Friday night. 39:54 They're sold out. 39:56 And as long as the students show up, I hope they do because it just makes such a big difference. 40:01 It could be quite the atmosphere, but what happened on the ice? 40:06 Well, class is back in session, I believe, for the University of Minnesota. 40:09 So the players are back in their routine. 40:12 Hopefully the fans are back in their routine as well. 40:14 We see a good atmosphere because that makes the game better for everybody. 40:18 I really think this is a weekend where Minnesota's talent gets to shine. 40:21 These are not teams that are going to sit back and play defense. 40:24 They're going to take chances. 40:26 I think it's almost easier for Minnesota to get up for a weekend like this. 40:30 Because they know the stars on the other side of the ice. 40:33 And I think it's always easier to get your game going when you know you're playing against a quality team. 40:38 I feel like Minnesota's consistency is going to shine this weekend. 40:42 They're going to get the six points. 40:43 I just don't see the consistency in Michigan's puck possession and their blue line and the way they're defending right now. 40:51 And Minnesota's first power play is clicking. 40:54 And it's not necessarily because they're moving the puck rate, but they've got so much talent on that group. 40:59 And I see that being a little bit of deficiency for the Wolverines. 41:04 I see an overtime victory Friday night, a bigger victory Saturday. 41:08 So Minnesota takes five out of six. 41:13 Of course, we're going to be homers here. 41:16 That's what we do. 41:16 You know what's interesting is I was looking at some of the ratings in college hockey and one of them is strength of schedule. 41:27 And I just think this is fascinating. 41:29 Number one, strength of schedule, Notre Dame. 41:32 Number two, Minnesota. 41:34 Number three, Michigan State. 41:36 Number four, Michigan. 41:38 Number seven, Penn State. 41:39 Even with them playing all their cupcakes, there's seven. 41:42 Eight, Ohio State. 41:43 Ten, Wisconsin. 41:45 So four strength of schedule. 41:47 Big Ten teams are all in the top ten, which is just amazing to me. 41:52 And I think that means that the teams coming out of the Big Ten are in a great position to get number one seeds in the NCAA tournament. 42:00 I know Bob dismissed that with the media this week. 42:04 It's too early to look at pairways. 42:05 It's too early to look at seedings. 42:07 I think this is exactly the right time to look at seedings. 42:10 And this is a huge weekend towards deciding who gets that number one seed. 42:14 Hey, hey, hey, but the NCHC is the toughest conference in college hockey. 42:19 Hey, they're on top until they're not. 42:22 They're on top until they're not. 42:24 Yeah, that's fair. 42:25 And, you know, we have talked about it at length over the years that the Big Ten happened at the wrong time, because when it happened, Michigan was way down. 42:34 Wisconsin was way down. 42:37 Michigan State hasn't won a Big Ten playoff game yet in 10 seasons. 42:44 I would bet some money that this season they break that. 42:48 But wouldn't it be funny if they didn't? 42:52 I don't believe it when we see it. 42:53 With all the recruits they land in. 42:55 But you just look at the historical team. 42:58 That's why Minnesota won what, three or four in a row league titles? 43:04 The other teams were down. 43:06 It was just bad timing all around. 43:10 Well, I think it's an interesting year to look at the NCAA tournament bids because of the three regionals basically being out east. 43:18 And the western regional being in Fargo. 43:20 And it looks like North Dakota is on the bubble right now. 43:24 But I really think you want to get that number one overall seed. 43:28 Because if you get like the three or four, and North Dakota makes it as thirteen, you're playing North Dakota in Fargo. 43:36 Which is not, I mean it's going to be a great atmosphere. 43:39 It's going to be a great atmosphere. 43:41 But it's not what you'd prefer probably. 43:45 So I think it's really important for teams who are looking ahead is to take advantage of the opportunities they have on their schedule. 43:52 And Penn State's going to be in Allentown no matter what. 43:56 Oh yeah. 43:57 They're the host of that regional, so they'll be in the Allentown regional. 44:02 Yeah, good point. 44:04 So those seedings are going to be tricky. 44:06 I'm guessing Minnesota or the like, or even Denver or somebody, they're going to be way out east, similar to other seasons. 44:17 And Eastern schools will be the lesser seeds out there, Beaks. 44:23 Yeah, but it's interesting. 44:25 The number one overall seed is going to play Atlantic Hockey. 44:28 True. 44:29 Two overall seed is probably going to play the CCHA Champion, which maybe could be Minnesota State. 44:35 So that's going to be an interesting game as well. 44:37 Yeah. 44:40 That's why I love college hockey, guys. 44:43 Our teams are rivals, but boy, we're still fans at heart. 44:52 I mean, you've got it, Connor. 44:53 You're covering it. 44:54 It's hard not to be a fan of the sport when you're covering it, aren't you? 44:58 No, college hockey is the best collegiate sport, in my opinion. 45:03 I love men's and women's hoops, love the football atmosphere, but it's something about the connection between a fan base and its team that it's just different about college hockey. 45:16 Maybe it's the smaller student sections, maybe it's because it's a more niche sport. 45:20 Something about it, it's just the energy is a lot better. 45:25 Go ahead, Beak. 45:26 How many billings have you been to, and what are some of your favorite moments on the road? 45:31 I think that's one of the great things about them. 45:32 I have to list these off. 45:34 One of the great things about the Michigan Daily is they send you guys on the road. 45:37 They do a lot of games. 45:39 Except he's not coming to Mariucci. 45:41 He's already been. 45:43 Twice. 45:43 True. 45:43 Twice. 45:44 We got to send the rookies. 45:46 No. 45:48 Bendy Yost, Lawson, great atmosphere. 45:53 Taffy Abel up in the UP, fantastic barn. 45:57 The Foghorn is ridiculous. 46:00 I'm trying to piece together last season. 46:03 Mariucci. 46:07 County Island Town, I guess. 46:09 And TD Garden. 46:10 Those aren't really college hockey barns. 46:14 What other road games? 46:19 Notre Dame last season. 46:23 I'd like to get to Notre Dame. 46:24 Regula. 46:26 Yeah, I think that. 46:29 Oh, and Schottenstein OSU. 46:32 I think that's it because Michigan decided to host everyone last season. 46:36 And this season, the schedule just didn't align. 46:39 So I got to go out to the Cole Center in Wisconsin. 46:41 I know. 46:43 We'll make that happen. 46:44 I think that's the only Big Ten barn I haven't been to. 46:47 And actually this weekend, covering Friday, but Saturday, I've got tickets. 46:52 I always try to get to at least one game of season as a fan. 46:56 Just keep the fandom going, you know, and just forget about getting the photo or getting this, you know, covering, just enjoy the game. 47:08 So I'm going to the Saturday, Michigan game, and then I'm going to Cole Center for the weekend for the first time in 16 years. 47:16 So I'm looking forward to that. 47:19 A few of us have been talking in the stats crew and others that we want to go to Yost next year. 47:27 And that would be fun. 47:28 Just road trips, and I've never been there. 47:32 I think it'd be fun to go. 47:34 No, next season would be fun at Yost. 47:39 I could recommend that one, I think. 47:43 So Connor, what are you working on right now? 47:45 Are you working on anything hockey since you're not coming this weekend, or are you covering some hockey stuff? 47:50 Well, some Keaton Pearson fans might be intrigued. 47:54 I'm going to write a feature about him to go out tomorrow. 47:58 Well, probably 1 a.m. 47:59 Friday when we publish, but tomorrow according to the schedule here. 48:04 I'm kind of writing about him and his role, how it's changed at Michigan. 48:08 Obviously, he's been a huge glue guy for them. 48:11 Elevated the games as some pretty fantastic defensemen. 48:14 So he's sort of looking into that. 48:16 He still has his fifth year available. 48:18 I don't know if he'll get that. 48:20 I don't know why Michigan would say no, because they don't really have any D men coming in as recruits. 48:24 But they've made stranger decisions. 48:26 So working on that, working on a piece about NIL for international athletes, which is a problem, because when they have a student visa, they can't make money. 48:39 So Adam Fantilly has made $0 in NIL. 48:42 Eric Portillo $0. 48:45 Owen Power, Kent Johnson, Goose Egg. 48:49 Interesting. 48:50 We might have to get into some of that in overtime here. 48:52 I'd like to hear a little more about that. 48:56 That's kind of interesting. 48:58 Well, Connor, thank you for coming on. 49:00 It's nice to have you on. 49:01 Thanks for having me. 49:02 On the show this week. 49:04 If we play Michigan later on down the road, we might have to have you on again. 49:07 Yeah, I'd be interested. 49:10 I could bring in, if I'm in the newsroom, that's where I'm at now, one of the auxiliary rooms. 49:15 Maybe I have some other guys from the beat come on. 49:17 Yeah, anytime. 49:19 Anytime. 49:20 We appreciate it. 49:21 Vs, you got any last words for this weekend? 49:23 Just hoping the students show up. 49:25 Hope the students show up. 49:27 I know Ryan Johnson talked a lot today about developing his offensive game. 49:31 We saw that the other night in South Bend. 49:35 So we'll look for that again with the Michigan series. 49:39 All right. 49:39 All right. 49:40 Well, you know, that's going to do it for the GPL Podcast. 49:44 We'll be back next week to wrap up this series with Michigan and preview Michigan State as they come into Mariucci. 49:52 Of course, again, we thank Connor for coming on the show. 49:55 For those of you watching live, stay tuned for a little bit of overtime. 50:00 For the rest of you, we'll see you next week on the GPL Podcast.