0:07
This is The GPL Podcast from go4pucklive.com.
0:17
You know, I think there's some shenanigans happening in the goalie community.
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Are you gonna speak on that?
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In the goalie community?
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You know, I gotta ride with goalie mission, but...
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Oh, boy.
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Duke making mistakes.
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Love it.
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And so, I had to train for this marathon.
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But the Big Ten's a bad contest.
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That's a joke.
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If this gets clipped, that's a joke.
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Oh, no, no.
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Now, here's Jupiter and Vegoe.
1:05
GPL Podcast, episode number 237.
1:10
Well, Veegs is on vacation this week.
1:13
He's in Washington, DC., so we're going to bring in two other guys that have helped out so many times.
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Drew Cove, Nate Wells.
1:20
There they are.
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Hello, gentlemen.
1:22
How's it going?
1:25
It's going good.
1:26
And look at that, Nate.
1:27
Look at that jersey.
1:28
Yeah, I came underdressed.
1:29
I was going to say you have the, you got the visual element now, so I had to dress the part.
1:36
Yeah, it's very nice.
1:39
How goes it on the East Coast there, Nate?
1:42
East Coast is good.
1:44
Life's treating me well.
1:44
It was 60 degrees today.
1:46
Kind of that nice part.
1:48
We're just talking right now.
1:53
We've had two and a half inches of snow all winter.
1:56
Yeah, it's been a weird winter.
1:57
It has been a really weird one.
2:00
I was back in Minnesota at the end of February for my dad's birthday.
2:03
And that was the first time that I'd seen a bunch of snow like all winter.
2:06
And it felt really weird.
2:08
I just didn't know what to do with myself.
2:09
And it was and it really has been an odd winter in that area to have so little snow.
2:16
Yeah, we just keep being too warm or like it's about 35, 38 degrees.
2:21
And we'll get that like an inch of rain.
2:23
So like, you know, if it was a little cooler, it would be about a foot of snow or something.
2:26
But yeah, it's pretty much I mean, we're at spring officially now.
2:30
And we're at NCAA Tournament time.
2:34
So I mean, winter is over.
2:35
It's coming to an end.
2:36
It is.
2:37
And then Drew, you're stuck with me in the cold.
2:39
Yep.
2:39
Nope.
2:40
It's I feel like we got two inches just this week rains or snow.
2:44
So it's thankfully it rained yesterday.
2:47
But that's yeah, I was listening to that last night.
2:50
It was kind of strange.
2:51
All right, guys.
2:52
Well, NCAA Tournament time, my favorite weekend of the year time.
2:56
But before we need to get to that, we have some Big Ten and other championships that happened this past weekend.
3:04
Drew, the Gophers did it again.
3:07
They couldn't finish it out at home against Michigan.
3:10
Yeah, I really thought they could do it this year.
3:12
It was it seemed like, you know what?
3:15
These guys came back, they had the bad taste in their mouth from the year before.
3:18
But it just didn't end up right.
3:21
I mean, you saw it was 2-2 after the after the first two periods.
3:25
And you said, I mean, this Gopher team all year, it feels like if they're down or tied, it hasn't really felt like there's not a lead they can overcome against any team.
3:35
And it just really felt like, OK, no, it seemed like a lot of people weren't worried or didn't have a reason to be worried.
3:41
And then you see the greatest goal you've ever seen.
3:44
And I'm still holding to that.
3:46
That is that was the coolest goal I've ever seen.
3:48
I don't know if I'll ever see a goal cooler than that my entire life.
3:51
That was that was amazing.
3:53
And.
3:53
It just it felt like it was like, you know, it felt like it was going to be like, OK, the Gophers are going to win that one.
3:59
Like, that was such a cool goal.
4:01
It blew the lid off the place.
4:03
And it felt like it just it made you feel like, OK, this is like Gophers are going to win this and like that's going to.
4:09
But 18 minutes left of the period and Michigan comes back a little bit.
4:14
And it wasn't one of the games that Justin Close stole for you.
4:17
But I think it was overall like a pretty decently played game.
4:21
Gophers had a few lulls in there at times and sometimes for extended periods of time, but that they still held in it after playing one game and like however many like one game in two weeks up until then.
4:35
It was I thought it was.
4:36
And like Bob said, it's like he said, it was good to play a competitive team right then and just didn't end up the way that they wanted to again.
4:45
Well, Nate, what did your what did your thoughts after that game this past weekend?
4:48
It was a championship caliber game between two championship caliber teams at the end of it.
4:54
I mean, yeah, but Bob said about playing a top team, you really expect Michigan to be there again at the end of the year and really just shows the the high end talent that both teams have.
5:05
Do you think at this point, Rep Pitlick is kind of wondering what he can do to score something and like raise the roof off of Marriott Arena and not have it like all of a sudden quickly go awry because I mean he had the the stick toss North Dakota and they go and score three times quickly.
5:20
He has the number one place sports center, gives Minnesota the lead and that one goes away.
5:25
And Drew kind of touched on it for me, the disappointing part of that game is something that you really haven't seen from Minnesota too much this year is losing is losing a lead in the third period.
5:36
The Gophers have just been really resilient.
5:38
They're able to kind of come back from any deficit.
5:42
But then so is Michigan and so it's what makes those matchups when both teams are healthy and full strength, so entertaining to watch where they're able to counter one another.
5:51
I mentioned on Twitter that when they're watching it, I'm like, I could watch a best of seven of these just because watching the two teams counter one another, go back and forth and seeing it over a series would be so much fun.
6:03
And you even get it just from period to period in these games.
6:06
So I think it's a good learning lesson for Minnesota, especially entering the tournament.
6:11
And where you know that one loss sends you home and ends your season.
6:16
But at the end of the day, yeah, it was a little disappointing to see Minnesota not lift that second hardware.
6:22
And Drew, what I really thought was kind of what really killed them was that second period when they had those two quick goals against.
6:28
And it just seemed like the Gophers even looked lost at that moment.
6:33
Yeah, they definitely were on their heels and it looked like they needed to they needed some spark of life.
6:38
And it looked like Nice and or Cooley were trying to give it like they always do, but it just it it didn't really work.
6:45
And they they were they they went from being in the first period super strong on the puck and really good at just keeping possession like into the zone and even just in like shift changes.
6:55
But in the second it it was just it was really soft on retrievals, really soft on keeping the puck.
7:01
And it just didn't seem it looked like they they were they were just lost at that point.
7:07
I don't know.
7:07
But it did not.
7:09
Yeah, it just didn't it didn't look like the same team in the second period there after those couple of goals, at least for a little while.
7:17
And then obviously, they kind of come back with some energy in the third.
7:19
But yeah, that second period was a bit of a just kind of just kind of soft on on getting on keeping the puck and going to get the puck even in their own defensive zone.
7:28
It just looked like you see it ring around the board just forever because it was, you know, big ice last time we're going to be able to say that.
7:34
But just it went forever.
7:35
And then even even like I think Brock Fabers and Ryan Johnson's just kind of like not getting to the puck fast enough.
7:41
And then it turned into an offensive possession for Michigan and just didn't really didn't give the do themselves any favors in that period.
7:48
They kind of regained the lead.
7:49
You know, we got a question from Corey here or comment last half of the game, Gophers like gassed concerning.
7:55
Lacombe was brutal and looked like he should not have played.
7:59
You know, I did notice Lacombe didn't seem quite his self.
8:03
Obviously, he's coming back from injury.
8:04
People were saying that the favor didn't look himself either.
8:07
That kind of leads to what you were saying there that, you know, maybe he was not getting to pucks.
8:12
Maybe Johnson wasn't getting to pucks.
8:14
What do you think of those thoughts on about Corey there, Drew?
8:18
Yeah, I mean, yeah, you could definitely tell Lacombe was a bit slower.
8:24
And you do wonder that Brock Faber playing and like maybe playing as much as he needed to for that kind of game.
8:30
If it was any other game, I think even if it was like the semifinal, I think he would probably would have played like a little bit less.
8:36
But yeah, I mean, those guys are going to have to be on.
8:39
So hopefully they've been getting their rest this week and kind of just rest.
8:44
Just getting ready back into full game shape because yeah, it's kind of the first week back for Lacombe.
8:54
Yeah, it was a little sketchy at times compared to how good they've been.
8:57
Yes, because they've been all world all season and just like that meant that it's noticeable when they're a little bit off their game.
9:04
What do you think, Nate?
9:05
Yeah, and it's noticeable when you're going against a Michigan team that has the firepower that they are and a team that there's only a few teams that have that that can match Minnesota in the offensive firepower and have those top lines and give the challenge to the Gophers blue line.
9:24
But at the same time, you're probably going to end up playing those teams if you can advance to the NCAA tournament.
9:29
So I think the experience is going to be great for Minnesota.
9:32
I mean, you have four games they're going to be against four extremely, extremely good teams.
9:39
It's tough to end anybody's season, especially the last 16 teams who were in the NCAA tournament.
9:43
They've earned it.
9:45
It's either they've earned it throughout the entire season or they're hot at the right time.
9:50
And they are teams that know how to win postseason games.
9:57
What do you think about the format of the tournament?
10:01
A lot of leagues have gone to this format now except for a select few.
10:08
We know Moscow doesn't like it, Nate.
10:10
But I'm guessing it's not the best.
10:15
As Veegs has said all year long, it's probably not the best for the league itself to not play as many games at the end of the season.
10:22
It's not.
10:23
And it either would be great to have a three week tournament where the second week of the semifinals is also best of three.
10:30
And then there's just one championship game or it's moved and condensed into a two week final where the final four are in the highest seed.
10:39
You have three games there, which obviously, I mean, it's been pretty much the motive.
10:45
It's pretty much the regular college hockey postseason tournament, which you see a lot of themes.
10:50
I mean, that's basically like the frozen face off the old WCHA Final Five.
10:55
So for me, that's I think that'd be the perfect thing.
10:56
And obviously, the Big Ten doesn't do it because Wisconsin, Ohio State don't have control of their buildings this time of year.
11:02
And it's the reason why they initially did the neutral site tournaments that I think I was the only one who ever showed up to them.
11:08
I think I went the first year.
11:12
I was there with I think there were about four Gophers.
11:16
Big mistake was there, I think.
11:18
It was a mean big mistake.
11:19
We're like there in Detroit.
11:22
If I recall correctly, you took a bus, didn't you?
11:29
I did the bus to Detroit, you have Chicago through to Detroit.
11:32
I mean, if you ever fly Minneapolis to Detroit, it's really expensive because it's just two Delta hubs.
11:38
Exactly.
11:39
But yeah, I did that.
11:41
Stayed with some friends.
11:43
Went down to the Joe and enjoyed it.
11:45
Although I didn't really enjoy that 2017 one where I was covering for the Strib.
11:50
And it was Penn State, Wisconsin going to keep going to double overtime.
11:54
And the thing was with that, I don't know if you guys remember this, but it was if Penn State won, Minnesota was a one seed.
12:00
If Wisconsin won, Minnesota was a two seed.
12:03
So I was just writing about three different stories on Deadline.
12:07
I had a notebook.
12:09
I realized afterwards while talking, it was your friend of the show, Jack Ramsey, the notebook was on.
12:15
And it was one of those things where I'm just like end game and want to be able to send this.
12:20
Don't miss Deadline and of course, Deadline passed.
12:23
That's the one thing about hockey.
12:25
You just keep going and going and going.
12:27
It's not going to end.
12:29
It was one of those things like everyone in the building is like, this is the great.
12:31
This is so great.
12:32
This is great hockey.
12:33
This is so fantastic.
12:34
And then me and Todd Molesky are just like, and Deadline.
12:37
Deadline.
12:42
But I drew, you know, Nate's suggesting that maybe that second semifinal is a two out of three.
12:49
I kind of like that.
12:51
If they can get another team in the league and prevent a buy.
12:55
Yeah, I think the buy is definitely the issue.
12:57
That sounds like it, obviously, Bob's kind of gone with it being obviously, it's kind of hard to have a complaint as the one seed.
13:05
But yeah, you do have to take a lot of time off, especially after you've been playing consecutively for so long.
13:12
Two games on a weekend for the entire since October.
13:16
It's it is a weird shift, especially when you're supposed to be ramping up and playing like really intense hockey and just kind of playing.
13:24
And like, yeah, it's just it's weird to kind of do that, play a couple of games, play scrimmage, wait, wait a few weeks, and then jump into into actually competitive tournament games where the teams they're they're playing against were playing to make the tournament.
13:40
And the Gophers obviously had not as much to play for, especially this year.
13:45
But yeah, it's just it's a it's a work in progress.
13:49
I think it's better than it used to be in terms of popularity, fan engagement, obviously.
13:54
But I don't I don't I would be opposed to the the best of three second round.
13:59
But yeah, it just gets to that point.
14:01
Then you say, oh, well, then why do we only play one game in the championship?
14:05
Or how about the championship, Nate?
14:07
The championship best two out of three.
14:11
Oh, my.
14:11
Can you imagine the imagine the paralyze going back and forth for the combinations?
14:17
It's like, oh, well, it's like, well, I mean, that's a nice get in if it goes three games.
14:22
I mean, you talk about, you know, you know, wanting to see a big seven game series or something like that.
14:28
But that would kind of really give you that feeling of, you know, potential three weeks in a row.
14:34
You're playing two to three games.
14:36
It would be it would be fantastic.
14:38
I mean, I would they might have they might have started early.
14:40
Like they'd have to, you know, might have to go Thursday, Friday, Saturday.
14:43
Yeah, but like nine games in like 16 or 17 days.
14:46
That's a yeah, it is that fine line.
14:50
It's better than zero games that Penn State has played.
14:54
They'll have 19 days off.
14:56
That is the tough thing with the three week system.
14:58
Yeah, because you knew either Penn State or Ohio State was going to have two weeks off.
15:02
Minnesota could have played one game in a three week stretch.
15:05
Michigan Tech is entering the tournament.
15:07
They didn't play last weekend at all.
15:08
They lost to Northern Michigan in the CCHA semifinal.
15:13
So there's certainly the pros and cons to the different styles.
15:17
I kind of wonder though if you have that, just having the semifinals and finals in that same weekend where you're guaranteed to have four teams.
15:24
So for the most part, your top teams who are going to make the tournament should be there.
15:29
It should not be missing an extra week.
15:31
As opposed to, I mean, for the Big Ten, basically everyone besides, I mean, Ohio State missed a week, was off that last week.
15:38
You only have two teams that are going to be playing the championship weekend.
15:43
So it is a bit of a tough draw though.
15:46
I think for the Big Ten, it's certainly something to look into.
15:50
Well, the thing is Quinnipiac lost Friday night, so Minnesota automatically didn't matter what the result was on Saturday, got the number one seed, the number one overall seed, I should say.
16:02
And let's take a look at the tournament here, guys.
16:04
We'll get the, bring this up here.
16:06
I got the Fargo region, the one Minnesota is the number one against Canisius.
16:10
We saw that coming just when Canisius won their championship.
16:14
I know you guys talked about this on your podcast earlier this, on Sunday, Drew.
16:20
St.
16:21
Cloud of Minnesota State, sounds like they could have switched a couple other teams, but really, like St.
16:27
Cloud and Harvard were just extremely close.
16:30
You couldn't blame them for putting St.
16:32
Cloud here.
16:33
Yeah, within a few percentage points.
16:35
Like a lot of people say, too, the travel does factor into it, and especially when you have a school.
16:41
Three teams took a bus.
16:45
Yeah, yeah.
16:46
For St.
16:47
Cloud, you're going to like not having to fly to make a connection to Bridgeport, Connecticut or something.
16:53
It's going to be a little bit better for them, I think, for their fan base and traveling, if they can afford the marked up North Dakota fan tickets.
17:03
We'll see how that works.
17:04
But yeah, I think like Vig said on Twitter, region of death, right?
17:10
I think a lot of people said that.
17:13
It's all the demons that the Gophers want slash need to face all in one.
17:19
I'm sure we'll talk more about that, but yeah.
17:23
I mean, that's a heck of a first round matchup with a lot of in-state eyeballs on that game for sure.
17:31
And really, Nate, I think people are probably just more mad that only one Minnesota team can possibly make the Frozen Four.
17:41
People love Minnesota teams, Minnesota teams playing one another.
17:46
But I want to at least take a step back and let's appreciate the fact that St.
17:50
Cloud State and Minnesota State make a region of death in the NCAA tournament.
17:54
Like five years ago, if we said that, I think we would all laugh about it.
17:59
That's true.
18:00
Region of death, Big Ten is the best hockey conference.
18:03
Pets' heads are falling off.
18:08
Minnesota State, who until three years ago did not win an NCAA tournament game and found increasingly crazy ways to lose NCAA tournament games.
18:18
And St.
18:18
Cloud State, who had the same thing earlier in their history, and four and five years ago lost as the number one overall seed in back-to-back years.
18:26
So it's kind of funny on that end that this is the case, but also I get it.
18:31
It's two teams that Minnesota, that really get up for Minnesota.
18:36
And the Gophers strength, one of their big strengths this season is teams need to make adjustments against the Gophers.
18:41
It takes them a while to figure the Gophers out.
18:44
There's something like 13-4 in one this season in the opening game of the series.
18:51
And I think really, I think St.
18:52
Cloud State is one of the few teams that kind of sell them in that first game where the goalie kind of stole it.
18:56
But really just the Gophers play well against new teams.
19:02
You know, I think to slay the demons though, Holy Cross would have needed to make this.
19:11
Oh man, the hockey gods, they couldn't give it that one.
19:13
They were a seven seed in Atlantic Hockey, which Atlantic Hockey just beat up on one another each year, like this entire season.
19:19
They were the seven overall seed, they beat the number one, they beat number two.
19:23
And Kinesis was four.
19:25
And basically in February, they were in eighth in the final spot of Atlantic Hockey and kind of got hot right in the middle of February.
19:34
They put everything together.
19:36
It's a team that has a lot of grad transfers and used the portal well, so maybe kind of took a bit to gel that identity.
19:42
I heard they had someone that's older than me on that team.
19:45
There's a 26-year-old on Kinesis.
19:49
Drew, you got like one more year of people being older than you in college hockey.
19:52
I didn't think that was still possible.
19:59
Well, I think it just would have been fun if it was Holy Cross.
20:01
And then Minnesota State were to beat St.
20:04
Cloud.
20:05
So you'd have that really old demon, Holy Cross, and then you've got the last two year demons.
20:11
That could still possibly happen.
20:14
But I think you guys are right though.
20:19
I do like this draw because I think it helps Minnesota no matter what, Drew.
20:24
Yeah, I mean, I think it's good for the Gophers to get some of this competitive, some of this big competition in because obviously like it or not, I think there are a lot of really competitive.
20:36
I think a lot of the other regions are obviously very competitive.
20:39
I think obviously the Denver region is very, very tough.
20:45
But I got to say, Minnesota getting past these two teams, granted they get past Kinesius and like we've seen in the past for Bob and his history and the Gophers history, albeit a while ago, it's not a complete given and it's hockey.
21:03
Given they get past Kinesius, whoever they face in that is going to be a really tough game.
21:09
I think it's going to mean a lot to the Gopher players that did both, like they lost to both these teams this year.
21:16
They lost against St.
21:17
Cloud and I think at the time the Gophers were playing really, really well.
21:21
That was the start of a really good streak for them.
21:22
I think through the end of the season before that kind of in that lull where that was with that Wisconsin series in Madison.
21:29
But then it's going to be a really tough series.
21:32
And I think if or not serious, but I think the championship game, given they make it there, is going to set them up really, really well for whoever they face in the Frozen Four because there could be some weaker teams in the that make the Frozen Four than I mean that don't play Minnesota as well as the Mavericks and the Huskies.
21:53
Well, let's let's quickly go through the other regions.
21:55
We have the other what people think is the, you know, death region, Denver, Cornell, Boston University, Western Michigan.
22:05
What do you think, Nate?
22:06
I really like that first matchup of Denver and Cornell.
22:10
It fascinates me so much because you have been defending national champions, a team that plays really well and has most of that, has a good portion of the core back from that championship team going against a Cornell team that may historically not perform well in the NCAA tournament, but also matches up very well with the Pioneers.
22:31
Kind of seems like Denver's Achilles' heel of season has been going against very defensive teams with very good goal-tending.
22:39
And also Denver is coming in with some injuries.
22:42
They're banged up a bit.
22:43
Magnus Corona missed some time at the end of the year.
22:47
He also left the NCHC frozen face last semifinal.
22:52
So I'm really kind of curious to see how this one goes.
22:55
I think if it were a healthy Denver, it would be an easier call, but this is a role that really intrigues me.
23:02
Actually, same thing with BU Western Michigan.
23:04
They're two teams that are really just kind of offensive, and I run to see just some crazy, crazy offensive score in the NCAA tournament.
23:12
You don't see that too often.
23:13
It's always these nice defensive battles because no one wants to make a mistake.
23:18
What do you think of this region, Nate?
23:20
Or Drew, sorry?
23:21
I mean, I like Denver out of it, for sure, but I do think that Boston University Western Michigan match is going to be a pretty fun one.
23:29
And like you said, I mean, I've seen some, just some highlights about Boston University in recent weeks, but man, even if they're playing a close game, it does seem like they do have a lot of, a lot of jump and a lot of electricity.
23:41
So, I mean, it should be a really fun read.
23:43
And I do think this is, this is a really, this is super tough up and down the board.
23:47
I mean, the defending national champions at number four, I mean, the fourth number one seed.
23:54
And then, I mean, it's just, it is kind of a tough, it's a tough look because Western, like Western's shown that they can, they can be really, really tough this time of year.
24:04
And I just, it is, I mean, the Gophers are obviously where they are, but I think they'd be, this would be a really tough one for them to be into.
24:15
It is, those seeds are also kind of misnomers because Cornell, I mean, Western Michigan lost to CC in the NCHC first round.
24:23
Before that, they were pretty much a little bit higher.
24:25
They're on the higher end of that tier, that 6 to 12 tier.
24:28
Cornell, if they won ECAC this weekend, they would have been a 2 seed.
24:33
So there's very thin lines between 7, 8, 12, 13.
24:39
That's kind of the thing we're kind of seeing with all these teams.
24:43
I mean, with the team, we have the Minnesota State and you have the St.
24:46
Cloud States move to Fargo, where the other options, either way, Minnesota gets past Canisius, they're facing tough teams regardless.
24:56
There are no easy teams in this bracket.
24:59
I mean, Canisius technically is about 15, 20 teams less in the pairwise than anybody else.
25:08
But still, they won Atlantic Hockey.
25:10
They're able to shut out.
25:12
They're able to find ways to win a conference tournament.
25:15
There are no easy teams this time of year.
25:18
All right, moving on to Allentown.
25:21
Honestly, I would have loved to have seen, you know, somehow Western Michigan swapped and put into this group.
25:31
Just to keep them getting with Michigan somewhere.
25:33
That would have been so nice.
25:34
Quinnipiac, join Hockey East and just don't tell anyone.
25:37
That'd be perfect.
25:41
Everyone's saying Michigan in a cakewalk here.
25:45
I think the biggest team in trouble here is Penn State, even though they're the home team, because like we've mentioned earlier, they haven't played in almost three weeks.
25:54
They have not been playing well since the first of the year.
25:58
I think Tech is going to cause them a lot of problems, Drew.
26:03
Yeah, I think just pulling on my...
26:06
Yeah, I have Tech winning this game.
26:07
Yeah, Penn State has not been inspiring year down the stretch, especially when the Gophers played them.
26:13
I'm sure everybody watching this and listening to this, too, Penn State did not look inspired, and they didn't look ready to be on the same level of the Gophers when they played them.
26:28
But at the time, too, the Gophers were trying to rebound and play some really good hockey into the end of the year.
26:34
But I do think Michigan Tech is a really strong force, and I don't think this will be that great of a game, to be completely honest.
26:43
I do think Michigan Tech wins it, so an all-Michigan regional final.
26:47
But it would be cool to see, I don't know, because I know Veegs isn't saying a lot, that this Michigan team has, when you can find their weaknesses and find them making mistakes, you could beat them.
27:01
And yeah, it wouldn't be, that'd be funny to see Minnesota play such a complete game, both of them play such a complete game in the Big Ten Championship and then have them lose to Tech in the final.
27:14
And Nate, maybe it's something where if Penn State could survive after not playing so long and got through that game, they have had the formula this season to take out Michigan.
27:25
So that maybe is what they need to do, just like, hey, let's just try to survive a couple periods of this game as we're getting our lungs back, let's play really defensive, which they don't do, and maybe sneak one out so they can get up against Michigan.
27:40
Yeah, that's exactly it.
27:41
Every time I watch Penn State play Michigan, it looks like other than Minnesota, they're the team that's kind of figured them out the best.
27:47
They can't fully play their style against Michigan, but they've learned to be able to win the game.
27:55
They had one where they ended up blowing a lead at Ann Arbor, the one where he scored four goals, but they were the better team for the vast majority of that game.
28:07
When they're in state college earlier in the season, they won and I think they're the better team in the game that they lost.
28:12
It's three of the four, I thought Penn State outplayed Michigan or just were able at least to play with them.
28:18
What really makes that Penn State-Michigan Tech game really just stick out for me, honestly, that's the one I'm kind of interested in more than any other of the first round matchups.
28:27
I guess maybe besides St.
28:28
Cloud State, Minnesota State, what come from Minnesota, that game is going to obviously pique some interest.
28:35
But it's that Penn State, they have the offense, they have a bit of the home crowd.
28:40
They're in a building that they are very familiar with.
28:44
They've been off, but so has Michigan Tech.
28:46
Then Michigan Tech has one of the top goalies in the nation, Blake Pietala, they are defensive.
28:54
They have some NCAA tournament experience from last year and see how much that makes a difference.
29:00
It's really been interesting to watch, see this bracket and realize just how many teams return with NCAA tournament experience.
29:07
You have all four frozen four teams.
29:09
You have six of the last eight from last season.
29:11
So you have teams that know how to win in the NCAA tournament.
29:16
And it's kind of really interesting to see how that matchup goes.
29:19
I almost kind of feel Michigan Tech is a tougher matchup for Penn State on that end.
29:25
And then finally, we'll get a quick look here.
29:27
Quinnipiac and Merrimack, Harvard and Ohio State in Bridgeport on Friday.
29:34
I actually have Harvard coming out of this bracket on the MNCAA bracket.
29:42
And Ty, you have them winning this.
29:44
You have him making the frozen four.
29:45
I have them coming out of this bracket.
29:51
I do as well.
29:51
So you're not a Quinnipiac believer, both not Quinnipiac believers.
29:58
I really like the bracket for Quinnipiac, but Harvard has more ways to win.
30:04
That Harvard-Ohio State matchup should be really fun.
30:06
It will be, yes.
30:08
Yeah, it should be.
30:09
Ohio State has shown that they can make kind of those offensive teams just struggle and kind of lose away.
30:16
I mean, they beat the Gophers that first time pretty handily.
30:18
They beat Michigan.
30:21
But I just I like Harvard's death.
30:24
They looked really good in the NCAA tournament before that Denver third period in the National Championship game.
30:29
I thought they gave Mankato their biggest scare last year and just kind of throughout the season.
30:35
I'm just I've had them packed as a dark horse to just kind of make some noise in the tournament.
30:39
I can see them putting together two really good games.
30:41
I can see honestly, I can see all four of those teams in that region put together two really good games.
30:49
I just feel for Quinnipiac, they need to be able to play their game.
30:54
They need to be leading.
30:56
They need to be able to do that.
30:59
And it's tough to put together two games like that against two top teams.
31:03
But they're at the play to advance to Tampa.
31:06
Interestingly enough, Drew, in that bracket on the MNCAA bracket, I have Harvard losing to Minnesota in the title game.
31:17
Really?
31:18
See, I asked that question.
31:20
A rematch of 1989.
31:24
Oh, man.
31:25
See, but I asked that question.
31:26
But that's why I also called that bracket GPL is terrible at picking games.
31:31
Okay.
31:32
But see, I have Ohio State coming out of this side of the bracket.
31:35
Nothing wrong with that.
31:39
I have them beating Harvard.
31:40
I have them beating Panipiac.
31:41
Sorry, Merrimack, but I do.
31:44
Nate, you mentioned Dark Horse for Harvard.
31:47
For some reason, I mean, Ohio State's been really sneaky good the last couple of years.
31:51
And I think Dolbash is good, and he can make plays and make good saves when he really, really needs to.
32:02
And I think that could just keep this Ohio State team in.
32:05
And that might be my one reach pick, I think, throughout most of my bracket is just Ohio State beating Harvard one.
32:12
Because, I mean, you can beat Harvard, you can beat Quinnipiac, I think, at that point.
32:16
And, yeah, a lot of a lot of us, I think, on this side of the on this side of the country that are are not Quinnipiac believers, especially.
32:24
But it's yeah, I do think the Western hockey will showcase itself and Ohio State.
32:30
And here's the thing, though, Nate and Drew, we're all wrong.
32:35
We're we nobody ever gets a perfect bracket.
32:38
We love this tournament because it's crazy.
32:41
Weird things happen.
32:43
We have upsets.
32:44
There's always typically almost every season, a number one gets seed, gets beat by a number four every year since 2006.
32:51
Yeah, it's just it's just crazy.
32:55
And I'm glad to be wrong because it doesn't really mean much.
32:58
It just means that the sport we love is just that awesome.
33:04
Which number one do you think is going to which one number one do you think is going to?
33:07
Here's the entire tournament here.
33:10
Oh, which number one loses right off the bat?
33:13
Since 2006, I mean, one's got to happen.
33:17
If anything of those, I think Cornell has the best opportunity or the best chance.
33:26
But as we've seen, weirder things have happened.
33:32
But that's my best guess.
33:35
What do you think, Nate?
33:37
I would say Quinnipiac and Denver are probably the two to kind of look out for.
33:42
I mean, Michigan, Colgate beat Quinnipiac and Harvard, so they beat two NCAA teams to win ECAC last weekend.
33:50
That's not an easy feat.
33:53
And Kinesis, I mean, as we've seen, I should point out Kinesis beating Minnesota would basically be the real life version of what everyone assumes Holy Cross was.
34:05
They were our 20th pairwise.
34:06
They were very close to making the NCAA tournament as an at-large.
34:09
Minnesota was the two overall because they lost that crazy 8-7 WCHA game at St.
34:15
Cloud State.
34:17
Wisconsin was the number one because the CHA still existed.
34:21
And they played Bemidji.
34:22
And they played Bemidji.
34:23
And they didn't leave the state of Wisconsin with that championship.
34:26
But this actually would be the biggest upset by pairwise ranking.
34:33
Yeah, it's like four or five.
34:34
I think the RIT right now is the biggest one.
34:37
Really?
34:38
With the one.
34:38
And then Bemidji in 2009, I believe, is either the same or it's closer.
34:43
It's like one less.
34:45
They beat Notre Dame, but Notre Dame was the two overall.
34:48
All right, of those four, what do you think, Drew?
34:52
I'm just, yeah, not necessarily a Quinnipiac believer, so maybe Merrimack.
34:56
I don't know.
34:57
But I mean, yeah, you do have to say.
34:59
Watch it will be Michigan.
35:00
Yeah, I mean, it is tough to say that right now.
35:04
But like in the back of my mind, just something like for how bad they've been.
35:08
They've lost to some teams.
35:10
Just the consistency might not be there, but maybe this time of year, who knows?
35:13
But like, because they looked so good against the Gophers.
35:18
And I just wonder, is it going to fall off?
35:21
Is it going to hold?
35:21
Like how, what's it going to take for them to lose a step or to lose their focus?
35:26
I don't know, but yeah, but yeah, like we're back to the Kinesis thing too.
35:31
This would have to be the worst loss and go for history if that happens, right?
35:34
Oh, yes, it would be.
35:35
Yes.
35:36
Yeah.
35:37
Yes.
35:37
Given, given the history, given where the team is, given what the team is trying to accomplish.
35:41
Oh, yes, it would.
35:43
Given most of us kind of hand wave the season just because like we knew we'd, they'd get, they'd have to get back to the tournament.
35:49
It's like, I mean, that was kind of the goal, right?
35:51
All the guys coming back.
35:52
It's like, all right, make it to the Big Ten championship game one and then make it to the tournament and make it to get a national championship.
35:58
Yeah.
35:59
Yeah.
36:00
I have, so I don't know how you guys fill out your brackets, but when I do mine, I just always try to think of which team has the most ways to win, which team kind of has the experience, which team matches up well with the half the death, which team has a goaltender who can steal a game.
36:17
And that's always kind of the way I just try to do with my bracket to figure out, hey, like this team is very good.
36:21
Because we always see very good teams, maybe they have an off night, or they're able to be, their top line is being able to be stymied, or just a goalie steals a game.
36:31
And it happens in a one game series in single elimination.
36:34
And obviously, it doesn't happen all the time.
36:37
But how much has your educated guesses, how well has it done for you?
36:44
So that's the thing, I was about to get to that.
36:47
It's either really good or it's really bad.
36:49
I've won, the funny thing was, so I won two years in a row, almost based on St.
36:56
Cloud State being upset as the number one overall.
37:02
But I've also, in 2021, I had, I picked UMass to win that one as well.
37:10
I think my bracket was, like I won really easily, like the top half of it.
37:14
I think it was, I had Quinnipiac beating Minnesota State, and that was the only game like I'd missed in the top half.
37:22
And obviously, like the Gophers didn't beat that, didn't move on to the frozen four because of that.
37:28
But it's one of those things where like I either do really good or really bad, and there's no in between just based on the style.
37:35
How do you guys, how do you guys pick your brackets?
37:41
I definitely have a lot of bias in the game, into the teams that I've seen.
37:46
I think it goes both ways because I mean, seeing a lot of Penn State, I picked them to lose because they just have not looked good lately.
37:54
I've liked Ohio State the last couple of years, I think I picked them, but I mean, it is, yeah.
37:59
I think with, especially with the Minnesota bracket and the teams I've seen, I think, I mean, for your reason, Nate, I picked Minnesota State to beat St.
38:08
Cloud because of just, I think, like even though they barely got into the tournament, they barely won their tournament, they just, there's some kind of a different gear that they have and this is a sneaky way to win games this time of year.
38:20
And like, and they made a really good, two really good Minnesota teams look, look very pedestrian in the last couple of years.
38:28
I mean, they've ended their season, two games, they've outscored the Gophers nine to one.
38:32
That's, that's crazy.
38:34
And then I get they're not the same team, it's not Dryden McKay, but there's still something there with.
38:40
It's got to be in their head still, Drew.
38:42
It's got to be in their head.
38:44
Yeah.
38:44
But I mean, you got to think too, you got to give Mike Hastings a lot of credit.
38:47
He knows how to, how to, he's got the game plan to beat the Gophers and he's just got to do a good job of, I mean, he's already doing a good job.
38:54
His players just have to execute the job that he knows will work against the Gophers.
38:58
And it's just, it's just a matter of if it works or not.
39:02
And that's if they beat St.
39:03
Cloud, by the way.
39:05
This is always how it is.
39:06
But also, yeah, they've had crazy ways to win and like raise hardware.
39:11
They scored, they were down 2-0 with a few minutes left.
39:14
Scored twice against Northern Michigan.
39:16
Like they had a five on three.
39:18
They didn't score on that.
39:18
They scored twice, extra attacker, and go on to win in overtime.
39:24
The game that they won to get the MacDownton Cup, it was like disallowed goal by Michigan Tech.
39:33
Michigan Tech scores short-handed goal to tie it.
39:36
Minnesota State goes and scores on the power play to win.
39:39
This is all in a minute, minute and a half's time at the end of the game.
39:45
They know how to win crazy.
39:46
That's the NCAA tournament in a nutshell.
39:50
You're not going to have four humdrum games where you can lead from start to finish.
39:54
You need to be able to win crazy.
39:57
You need to be able to be like, hey, we're down to nothing.
39:59
Let's turn that gear and score and turn this game around.
40:03
And we've seen Minnesota do that a lot of times this year, but now we have to see if they can do that in the NCAA tournament.
40:10
Well, let's go back to that game.
40:13
Minnesota Canisius, guys.
40:17
I always have that fear in the back of my head.
40:21
You worry.
40:24
This team this year, this doesn't have me as much worried, but like you said, there's always a number one scene and it can always happen.
40:34
What does Minnesota need to do to not allow that to happen, Drew?
40:39
Boy, I mean, we touched a little bit on it already, but I think the defense needs to be stellar.
40:44
I think the top guys are going to need to be the top guys that they've been all year.
40:49
I don't have a reason to doubt that, and especially trying not to discount Canisius, but they are the number 41 pairwise team.
40:58
And I think if there's a game to ease yourself back in to full game shape and to play really well, I mean, there's no better opportunity when you're playing in the tournament than to do it against a 16 seed.
41:11
So you got to think Brock Faber and Jackson LeCom are really going to be in tune to what they're doing and making sure that they're doing the right things to make sure that this team can just, they can keep them to the perimeter, not get any good shots, not get any real good offensive chances, and just be good at making breakouts, making smart plays and not trying to be, not trying to score eight on them, even though they could, but I don't think they can't go out with that mindset that, all right, this is just practice.
41:42
Like they have to keep the game settled down.
41:45
And I think Brock Faber is like leadership in terms of his calm ability so far this year and just kind of keeping focus.
41:53
That's going to be key to make sure that the Fords can do what they need to do.
41:57
Now, Nate, does Canisius just come out and try to lock it down as much as possible and maybe hope for a power play or something?
42:04
What should they be doing?
42:07
Yeah, they should pretty much be going in there knowing that they're going to lose the possession, they're going to lose possession.
42:14
They need to not be giving up second chances.
42:16
They need to be trying to keep Minnesota the outside.
42:18
When, for the most part, when the number one overall loses or when the Atlantic Hockey Team wins, whether it's against number one or the number two, it's almost always, they get out shot.
42:30
The goalie plays extremely well.
42:32
They don't allow rebounds.
42:33
They don't allow second chances.
42:35
They counter and take advantage of opportunities.
42:39
They get a lead.
42:40
They're able to maybe sit out a little bit and just clog up lanes and not allow the team that plays extremely well to just get any golden opportunities.
42:50
Feel that Minnesota is a team that knows how to create second and third chances.
42:55
We've seen a lot this year with their top two lines being able to do that and be able to draw penalties and create odd man opportunities.
43:04
With the NCAA tournament, it's always going to be teams not looking to make mistakes, trying to play a little bit more cautious.
43:13
But at the same time, yeah, if you're kinesis, you need to pick and choose those battles and find a way to get an odd man rush, kind of just create a counter and make the most of your few opportunities that you're going to get.
43:25
Barczewski, kinesis goalie has played extremely well down the stretch.
43:29
I mean, he showed up Holy Cross at the end.
43:32
In the Atlantic Hockey Championship, he's certainly been the spark plug for the Golden Griffins.
43:38
And you never know of goalies.
43:40
Yeah, it's one game.
43:42
It's not a series.
43:45
If it's a series, I would bet my house on Minnesota.
43:52
Not a chance I will ever do that for any team in a single elimination.
43:57
How many teams this year do you look at that pairwise from about like right beyond Alaska to about 22, 23 teams have just missed out.
44:06
How many of those lost are out there?
44:08
Because they lost to a team that's like 45, 50, 55.
44:12
Like Northeastern missed the NCAA tournament because they lost to Bentley and they lost to somebody else who was really down there.
44:22
Maybe it was Long Island.
44:26
But it's just, yes, like these are the teams, like the teams at the bottom are still able to beat top teams.
44:33
We see it every year, both the NCAA tournament and we see it throughout the regular season.
44:37
So yes, Kinesis is 41 in the pairwise.
44:41
Yes, they are 15, 20 teams worse than the next lowest team in the pairwise.
44:47
But yeah, they can win.
44:49
Don't get me wrong.
44:50
They can win.
44:51
Would I bet on them winning?
44:52
No.
44:53
Would I be surprised if they win?
44:55
No.
44:58
Drew, you know, Vegoe and I have talked all season.
45:01
When Minnesota stays patient, does what they're supposed to do, doesn't have to be flashy, just play solid defense and use that puck control, they could do that to anybody.
45:14
It's when they try to run and gun with other teams, like they try to do maybe with Michigan, that they could get bit.
45:20
But if they really stay at their game, they could prevent, you know, kinesias of having any hope if they wanted to.
45:29
Yeah, and I think that obviously starts with the top line.
45:32
I think Matthew Nyes can solely drain the life out of them in terms of just being a possession.
45:38
Like his ability to retrieve the puck in transition, like in the neutral zone, like his takeaway numbers have to be just off the charts because he's always back checking.
45:49
And that's one good thing about this Gophers team too, is that Logan Cooley back checks, Snuggeroo back checks, and you know what?
45:55
They don't need to.
45:57
Those guys shouldn't necessarily be expected to do it as well as they do, and they all do.
46:02
And I think it sets such a good example for the guys that are, the other younger guys that just aren't necessarily at that talent skill level yet.
46:10
But I think it sets a really good example up and down the line up that, okay, we're obviously the best line, the most offensively gifted line, I think, in the country.
46:19
But they still, that's how they make their chances by being really responsible, even when they don't have the puck, and just kind of...
46:27
You know, kind of going off that though, Drew, I think Nice gets mad when they don't have the puck.
46:33
That he becomes very aggressive going after it.
46:35
You know, if he's going back up the ice, he's very aggressive on the puck handler.
46:40
He goes after them.
46:41
And it's amazing how he can walk that line between not getting a holding penalty, getting a hooking, but he can still, he still finds ways to retrieve that puck.
46:53
And I think, obviously we've seen Logan Cooley do it before too, but yeah, we've seen Cooley get frustrated too, when sometimes when he gets muscled off, or just kind of gets hit really hard, kind of gets off the puck, and it kind of throws off the momentum there.
47:05
But I think it starts with that line, just being creative, being calm and creative, not kind of frantic, but when they get the chance and they take it and they have to, if it doesn't work, they can't let it get to them.
47:18
They just got to be, they just got to go, not go through the motions, but like just let the game play out and take their chances where they can and be responsible with it.
47:27
But I think Matthew Nyes has realized in his two years of college hockey that that responsibility is expected and I think of him and I think he's good at kind of making sure that his two slightly younger line mates are pretty aware of that as well.
47:44
Sophomore depression, crazy.
47:46
Drew, finally you're seeing the old man at 20.
47:49
Yeah.
47:54
Nate, let's just assume Minnesota moves on against Canisius.
48:00
What does Minnesota need to do against either St.
48:02
Cloud or Minnesota State to succeed and get to the Frozen Four?
48:06
They need to find a way to win a low-scoring game.
48:10
I expect it both ways no matter who wins between St.
48:15
Cloud State and Minnesota and assuming that Minnesota wins to advance.
48:20
Both teams have solid goaltending.
48:22
Both teams know how to play defensive hockey.
48:24
Both teams have NCAA tournament experience.
48:26
They know what to do to win this time of year.
48:29
I mean, you have Minnesota State who was in last year's National Championship game.
48:33
You have St.
48:34
Cloud State who was in it two years ago.
48:36
So I expect, and we've seen Minnesota win low-scoring games.
48:41
They're able to do it.
48:42
They're able to find multiple ways to win a game and take advantage and limit mistakes and go through other teams and be able to take advantage of mistakes that other teams make.
48:56
So, yeah, I would basically go with, they need to be able to win a low-scoring game.
49:01
And that's always a tough thing to say when touring the NCAA tournament after, what, two months of Big Ten, two, three months of Big Ten plays straight.
49:11
And St.
49:12
Clouds had some injury problems and, you know, and so is Mankato.
49:16
So that's part of the thinking this weekend.
49:21
Let's look at the full bracket again.
49:23
Let me see if I can get this to come up here.
49:26
There we go.
49:28
So my Frozen Four teams, I've got Minnesota coming out.
49:33
I've got Boston University.
49:35
I have Michigan and I have Harvard.
49:44
Drew, who do you have as your Frozen Four teams?
49:48
I've got a lot of favorites and one not favorite, but I've got the Gophers against the Pioneers.
49:54
And then I do have Michigan coming out facing Ohio State.
49:57
So a very Big Ten heavy Frozen Four.
50:00
Similar to my bracket actually.
50:01
Just swapped out Harvard on Ohio State.
50:04
It's basically a coincide game.
50:05
And honestly, the funny thing is that game, if you didn't switch the St.
50:09
Cloud State and Minnesota State matchup, that would have been the other game in the Minnesota region.
50:13
Yes, it would have been.
50:16
Nate, what are your four picks?
50:18
I have Minnesota, Western.
50:20
I think they come back from that loss to CC.
50:26
I have Harvard and then I have Michigan.
50:28
So we're kind of all on the same page there.
50:31
Who's your championship game, Nate?
50:35
I have the same one as you two.
50:37
Minnesota, Harvard.
50:39
Really?
50:43
Drew's like, you guys are crazy.
50:46
I don't know.
50:47
I don't think that's that crazy.
50:48
I think, I mean, that is an up in the air region for sure.
50:55
But I, as much as Michigan, I think can be lopsided here and there or have some streaky games.
51:01
I don't know.
51:01
Right now, it seems...
51:03
Steve with the revenge 34 years later on Harvard.
51:07
Boy, I mean, I have a rematch of the Big Ten championship game.
51:12
In the title game.
51:13
And boy, would that be...
51:14
That would be great.
51:14
Would that be fun?
51:15
Oh yes.
51:16
It'd be stressful.
51:17
I mean, for tons of Gopher fans, you'd be stressed out of your minds.
51:21
Boy, would that be fun.
51:22
Well, we're going to be stressed anyway, no matter who they play.
51:26
We're going to be stressed tomorrow night at this time.
51:28
Say, they're playing the 41st team in the Paralyze, and we're all talking about, man, this is going to be a stressful game.
51:34
I will be enough stressed tomorrow.
51:35
It's the NCAA tournament.
51:39
Before we wrap this up, I will always say, this is my favorite weekend of the year.
51:46
I'm going to say it until I'm dead.
51:48
Yes, championship weekend is great, but when it comes to one and dones, when we had the three day tournament, now it's a four day tournament on this weekend.
51:56
I just love this weekend.
51:58
It's my weekend I've always planned.
52:00
I'm going to Grand Forks Fargo on Saturday if they play.
52:06
But otherwise, I would be on my couch the entire weekend.
52:11
How much do you love this weekend, Drew?
52:14
It's a blast because it's a lot like the high school tournament, where it's kind of on all day.
52:21
You can kind of just tune in to a lot of games that you haven't necessarily seen.
52:25
I mean, I don't get to see a lot of the Eastern games just throughout the year.
52:31
With ESPN+, I do get to see...
52:33
I saw a lot of Yukon hockey this year, which was fun.
52:38
It's just a great time of year.
52:43
Like we've said the whole podcast, anything can happen.
52:46
I mean, while a lot of Gophers fans are going to be stressing at 8 p.m.
52:49
tomorrow because of the 16 vs.
52:52
the 1 and all the history that likes to conjure itself up, it's still a really fun weekend.
52:58
Because you're going to see some upsets.
53:00
You're going to see some games that you may be picked to go one way when it's not supposed to, and it does.
53:06
It's just a lot of fun.
53:08
College hockey is obviously super fast, super fun.
53:12
And yeah, it's just an amazing time of year.
53:15
Now watch, all the number ones will make the Frozen Four.
53:18
Hey, if that happens, it's something we haven't seen in a very long time.
53:22
We'd have to change the stat.
53:27
I feel like we're getting closer and closer to that year happening, though.
53:30
We're all for the number ones when the first round.
53:35
Yeah, it could easily be this year.
53:38
You know, easily not.
53:41
Yeah, no, no, no.
53:42
That's why we love this tournament.
53:46
Yes, this is why we love the tournament.
53:49
Well, thanks for coming on the podcast, guys.
53:51
It's always great to have you both on and seeing that Vegoe is likely bowling at the White House right now.
54:00
You can see his picture on Twitter.
54:02
The White House over.
54:03
Yeah, I know.
54:05
All right.
54:05
Well, we'll have to have to update us on how that goes along with Shearhorn's Pickleball.
54:14
But we appreciate you guys coming on.
54:16
It's great to have a couple co-hosts that Vegoe was out this week.
54:20
Happy to be here.
54:21
Always.
54:22
A lot of fun.
54:22
You guys gonna stick around for some overtime here?
54:25
Yeah, of course.
54:26
The sun's finally gone down.
54:27
It's finally dark.
54:28
It's so weird to have a podcast when it's still light out.
54:31
So weird, but we're gonna obviously thank Nate and Drew for coming on the podcast this week.
54:37
And maybe we'll see them again later on this season.
54:41
You just never know.
54:43
So that's gonna do it for this episode of the GPL Podcast.
54:45
For those of you watching, like me, stay tuned for the whole time.
54:49
For the rest of you, we'll catch you next time on the GPL Podcast.
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