0:08 This is The GPL Podcast from gopherpucklive.com. 0:26 Now, live from the frozen floor in Tampa Bay, here's Jupiter and Vego. 0:40 Good evening, and welcome to The GPL Podcast, episode number 239, live from Amalie Arena. 0:48 I'm here with Mike Grimm, joining us real quickly here. 0:51 Hello. 0:51 And of course, Todd Milewski from Wisconsin State Journal. 0:54 Grammar, I know you've been jumping on the hockey bandwagon recently. 0:59 I just met you a couple of weeks ago, but we've kind of gone back and forth on Twitter for a while. 1:03 Yeah. 1:03 Yeah. 1:03 And how are you liking this hockey thing? 1:06 Well, I'm not going to take over the voice. 1:09 No, nobody would want that. 1:11 They would not want me trying to describe hockey. 1:12 They have enough trouble following basketball and football when I do those games. 1:16 But I have gotten on the bandwagon for a guy that grew up in the state of Iowa and did sportscast for nine years. 1:23 They never gave one hockey score in nine years. 1:27 And then moved to St. 1:27 Louis and went to a few blues games and covered that dressing room. 1:31 And now, now, yeah, I'm fully on the bandwagon. 1:35 It really is a fun sport. 1:37 And, you know, when the schedule fits, I hit my YouTube channel once you get a bug. 1:42 It kind of and Todd, you're back on hockey for a little bit. 1:51 We're happy to have you. 1:53 We're going to have you anyway, because we knew you'd come down because you're coming. 1:56 You're hovering. 1:57 You're covering for USCHO this week. 2:00 Yep. 2:00 Since they kind of took you off of hockey. 2:02 Oh, they didn't. 2:04 The state journal. 2:05 Well, that's what I meant. 2:06 The state journal. 2:06 I don't want to get those lines. 2:08 Oh, definitely different entities there. 2:10 Definitely. 2:11 And then we're like, oh, we'll just have you on to be fun. 2:13 But then some actual news out of Madison happened. 2:16 A little bit. 2:17 You get a new coach. 2:18 You lose a coach, Granada. 2:19 We kind of knew that was coming. 2:21 Yes. 2:22 And now you stole the Mankato coach. 2:30 I saw someone, I forget who it was, tweeting that the one of us that Mike Hastings had is no longer. 2:38 That's revoked. 2:39 Right. 2:40 That card has been pulled. 2:43 Yeah, I thought it was a really good hire by Wisconsin. 2:46 I mean, it's one of those that you look at what's happened around the Big Ten lately. 2:53 I mean, obviously we see two teams here. 2:57 The three players in the Hobie Hattrick. 3:01 Last year Adam Nightingale going to Michigan State and him shaking some things up. 3:06 And you've seen that going into this year in the transfer portal and wherever they've gone. 3:11 And, you know, Wisconsin has to keep up. 3:15 They kind of do. 3:16 And I think they made a move this week and last week to put them in that conversation to keep up. 3:24 Now, you know, we all thought seven years ago that Tony Granato was going to be a sure thing didn't turn out. 3:31 So there is I think there's a little bit of hesitation of like, okay, let's see what happens on the ice. 3:38 But everything we know about Mike Hastings is that that's that's going to be a team that's going to that's going to come. 3:45 I'm looking forward to it because he's a fun, great guy. 3:48 He was at Minnesota for a year of VEGES and yes, VEGOE is here. 3:52 You're not Tampa yet VEGES, but you will be here soon. 3:55 Tomorrow morning. 3:56 Tomorrow morning I'll be in Tampa. 3:57 So leaving here about 6 a.m. 4:00 So looking forward to getting there. 4:02 It's really what he told you. 4:03 What do you think about the Hastings hire their VEGES? 4:06 I think he was the best coach on the market that wasn't at a big, big school. 4:11 He's done a lot of really nice things in Mankato. 4:14 They are in much better shape than when he started coaching there. 4:17 But you're getting a coach that knows how to recruit. 4:20 He knows how to develop and he knows how to retain players. 4:23 And I think those have been some of the issues that have been impacting Wisconsin. 4:27 They've been recruiting kids that come to college too soon. 4:31 They never really developed to their full potential in college. 4:34 And they just had that mercenary sense. 4:36 They're getting ready to go to the NHL and they never were winners in college. 4:40 And that's what you need in Madison. 4:42 And Mike Hastings makes the Big Ten a lot better. 4:46 You can't really say any different than that. 4:49 Now the question becomes if he gets it rolling there, and it's a great job, right? 4:52 I mean, you can win there for sure. 4:55 You know, it's one of the top, what would you rank it? 4:57 It's a top four or five job in the country, probably, right? 4:59 Well, in terms of the kind of resources, the kind of money that they're paying there, about 700K base. 5:05 700 start, yeah. 5:06 There you go. 5:07 If they get it rolling, they'll get 17,000 there, 18,000. 5:11 So, the question becomes if Michigan State continues to improve. 5:13 We got Michigan and Minnesota here. 5:14 Who finishes seventh every year? 5:16 Or who's sixth? 5:17 Isn't that the question when the Big Ten started? 5:19 Yeah. 5:19 Somebody's going to have to finish, well, then it was sixth. 5:21 Yeah. 5:22 Who's going to be the one that finishes sixth? 5:23 Well, at first it was Penn State, right? 5:26 They did once. 5:27 Once. 5:27 And they did good. 5:28 And the first 10 years of the Big Ten, Penn State finished last once. 5:32 Well, Veegs, we've been saying for a long time here, we need a good Wisconsin in the Big Ten for it to be successful. 5:39 And this will definitely do it. 5:40 Wisconsin's got a lot of talent that's committed there already for Mike Hastings. 5:44 If he just fills in the pieces with some older players who can fill out a depth lineup, they're going to be dangerous pretty quick. 5:53 All right. 5:53 Well, and now what happens in Mankato, Todd? 5:56 I mean, it feels like a job where you're either looking at a USHL head coach getting a chance or a college assistant who's been hanging around, maybe looking for an opportunity. 6:11 The one that comes to mind for me that fits a little bit of both of those is Luke Strand. 6:17 Okay. 6:17 He used to be at Wisconsin as an assistant, now at Ohio State, coached Sioux City in the USHL. 6:28 He's been looking for a head coaching job. 6:30 I would keep an eye on that. 6:32 I think he'll want to be involved in it. 6:35 I don't know that it eventually will go to him, but I think he'll be a name that should be in that conversation. 6:41 And there's a few guys that are like that. 6:44 Yeah. 6:44 I've heard some people saying Patoni, and I'm like, I think he needs a couple more years up there to learn. 6:51 It's closer to home, but... 6:54 Yeah, that is kind of up in the middle of nowhere. 6:56 Yeah. 6:58 Yeah, I don't know that that's enough of a move to... 7:00 Yeah... 7:01 . 7:01 making a move, I guess. 7:04 Not wrong there. 7:05 Grammar, what are you guys doing? 7:07 I noticed you were down here with Wally Schaver earlier doing some of your podcast stuff. 7:11 We'll have... 7:12 I'm hopefully posting soon. 7:14 I talked to Wally and talked to him about the Gophers in the season, and Wally's the best, right? 7:19 Yes. 7:19 And then talked about the Hobie because he's got some busy... 7:23 He's delegated a little more of that duty. 7:24 He has. 7:26 He's got the busy week here in addition to the play-by-play, which we of course hope is two games while he's here. 7:32 So he'll be on the podcast, which hopefully goes live, The Gopher Podcast at TalkNorth. 7:37 We've got Jess Meyers also on for a while. 7:41 Jess is everywhere. 7:41 We've had him here multiple times. 7:44 I could use a mean word to describe him, but it wouldn't be politically correct, you know? 7:48 But yeah, he'll kind of like the way you're thinking about it. 7:53 He makes himself available. 7:54 Let's just put it that way if you know what I'm saying. 7:57 But I think people will enjoy it. 7:59 Talking about, you know, and it's cool. 8:00 Here we are, you know, sitting here, set up a couple of microphones just like we are here on this one. 8:06 And you know, poor Grimmer here. 8:08 All of a sudden he's recording some pre-recorded stuff and boom, the music goes. 8:12 He's like, well, so much for that. 8:14 We were hoping that they would stop me. 8:16 You'll hear some work. 8:17 They're working out there. 8:18 Yeah, they're making noise and beeps here and there, but they were blasting music earlier. 8:21 So that wasn't good. 8:22 But luckily, you got it done. 8:24 I did. 8:25 So tomorrow you'll hear the Golden Gopher daily update as well, which you got to see the magic happen. 8:29 Yep. 8:30 You don't want to see how that sausage is made, do you? 8:32 It wasn't as impressive as you thought. 8:34 But there you go. 8:35 So, yeah, luckily, no arena music was playing when that was going. 8:40 Well, I know you have to go, but I thought it would be nice for you to come by and visit with us. 8:44 I feel like being on this podcast, it's kind of like an arrival here. 8:50 Start seeing more of the arena. 8:51 It watches you in the superstar. 8:52 It does, doesn't it? 8:53 No question. 8:55 We appreciate you coming on. 8:57 Yeah, thank you. 8:57 Live production here. 8:59 Live production on my hand to Mike, and then the real hockey talk can start. 9:03 I wouldn't call it real hockey. 9:04 Once I get out of here. 9:05 We appreciate you coming on, man. 9:07 Sounds good. 9:07 See you. 9:08 All right. 9:11 What a five tool player that Mike Grimm is becoming. 9:14 I'm just adding another tool to his arsenal. 9:19 Glad I'm on board. 9:20 So Veegs, what's going on back in the cities? 9:22 You about ready to come down here? 9:25 I'm about ready to come down. 9:27 It's getting cold. 9:28 You went cancer in yesterday with fallenness, weren't you? 9:31 Yeah. 9:32 I think with all the people traveling, they went down to AAA. 9:35 They called me up. 9:37 I pitch hit for the 6 o'clock hour and then talked a little college hockey with them. 9:41 Cover a lot of topics. 9:43 So it was fun to be on with fallenness. 9:45 He said that you take too many shots at him, just like everybody else. 9:49 Everybody takes shots with him. 9:50 But you know, and I love that he called me out on it because that's just the fun we have. 9:56 It's kind of good nature ribbing. 9:57 At least I hope it's good natured ribbing with fallenness. 10:00 What is he? 10:03 I think he was OK. 10:03 I mean, he invited me on the show. 10:06 I think we're good there. 10:08 I think there's a size seven is my compensation eventually coming from fallenness for coming on the show. 10:13 So I'm looking forward to that. 10:17 Todd, you know, we know that Wisconsin, your newspaper kind of took you off the beat. 10:25 But I tell you, we were watching those regionals the first night and the Big Ten just blew up. 10:31 And then all of a sudden, you came through and you wrote a nice article about the stats and how this is just kind of really out of line. 10:39 So for one thing, it was just like, oh my God, it's like Todd's back here. 10:43 And then I found out you're coming here. 10:45 So it's nice to have you back and actually back on the podcast because you got to stay up there on so many times. 10:50 I missed one. 10:51 You did miss one. 10:52 I felt really bad because you asked if I, when I think you were in Nebraska. 10:58 I was at, well, there was a week where I was going to Nebraska, but I was at, there was a game at Penn State Men's Basketball. 11:04 Okay. 11:04 Played at Penn State. 11:06 And it was, it was an eight o'clock or it was a nine o'clock Eastern start. 11:10 So if it had started earlier, I totally would have gotten done and jumped off at least for overtime. 11:15 Yeah. 11:17 But yeah, I was working until well past. 11:19 You guys were done that night. 11:21 Yeah. 11:22 But I mean, not only felt bad because I missed that, but I also missed the series at the goal. 11:27 So I was sitting there as a fan and I'm in forever. 11:30 It's a puck was dropped. 11:31 I took a picture. 11:32 I wasn't up as high as you, but I'm like in honor of Mr. 11:35 Milewski. 11:36 Thank you. 11:37 Since you weren't there. 11:39 Oh, and now we're down here in Florida. 11:41 It's gorgeous down here. 11:42 People, I don't know why you're not here. 11:46 Veegs, I think this is a great frozen floor. 11:50 I mean, you've got Quinnipiac who's been really strong these last seven to ten years, really moving up. 11:57 And this is her second time in Tampa. 11:59 You've got Michigan, Powerhouse, Boston University, Powerhouse, Minnesota, Powerhouse. 12:04 This is going to be a good frozen floor. 12:07 Yeah, I think when you look at the college brackets, you sometimes hope that you get the chalk finished, so you get to see the teams that have played the best during the regular season, played out at the end of the frozen floor. 12:18 For whatever reason, it's kind of rarely happened in college hockey. 12:22 There's usually a couple of upsets where teams fall, but I think this year, for whatever reason, the top teams are really the top teams. 12:30 I mean, you look at how Minnesota finished ahead of everybody in the Big Ten. 12:35 You look at Quinnipiac, they finished way ahead. 12:38 BU was great in Hockey East, and then Michigan, it's just probably one of the most talented teams in the country. 12:44 So when you put these four into the end of the season tournament, it's going to be just outstanding hockey for everybody. 12:50 And I think one of the things about this Frozen 4 that's great is all the teams have a lot of talent and they're offensive players. 12:59 You know, I think Quinnipiac maybe is the most defensive of the four, but they still have been known to put up some scoring. 13:05 So it should be great hockey for the fans. 13:08 Todd, what have you been writing about? 13:09 What have you been looking at? 13:11 Or what was your kind of whole thought process is coming down here to cover this? 13:14 Well, I've been coming down here as part of USCHO for now. 13:18 I think this is 24th in a row. 13:21 Nice. 13:23 So there was never a question whether I was going to be here. 13:25 Okay. 13:26 Okay. 13:27 If in the... 13:28 I guess if basketball would have gone first. 13:30 Well, no. 13:30 We planned this out because basketball ended Monday, right? 13:34 I mean, that was the National Championship game. 13:36 So even if they in the strange world of possibilities where a men's... 13:43 basketball would have still been playing into Monday, hop a flight from Houston to Tampa to be here. 13:49 It wasn't going to happen, but if it was going to happen, I was going to be here anyway. 13:56 But I was just thinking when Vegas was talking about it and you were talking about the quality of the field, I mean, this is always what we hope for at this level. 14:06 We don't always get it. 14:07 True. 14:10 We don't always get the games that we hope for either. 14:13 I mean, I remember last year the Michigan-Denver game, I think, delivered what we thought that should have been. 14:21 Maybe not necessarily from the Michigan standpoint, where some of their best players weren't that good, that semifinal game, and that's one of the reasons why they ended up in overtime and losing. 14:34 But, you just hope that you see the best of the teams when you get around to this point, because this is when, you know, you get into buildings like this, you get into NHL buildings, this is when you should be putting your best product out there. 14:52 You know, we know the TV ratings haven't been great for the Frozen 4 over the years. 14:59 Well, they've also stopped putting the final game on the main network as well. 15:02 I don't know how much that means in reality though, because ESPN and ESPN2 both go to the same number of houses. 15:09 Pretty much, yeah. 15:11 You don't get one without the other. 15:12 Correct. 15:15 If you're talking like FS1, FS2, yeah, you gotta be a bit different. 15:19 Yeah. 15:20 And something like that. 15:20 But, I don't take that as the slight that, I know some people still do that, it's on ESPN2 and ESPN2 used to be the alternate channel, The Deuce, right? 15:32 Sort of, now it's News and You. 15:34 Shuttle everything off. 15:35 I mean, we should be glad it's not on You, because that's almost right up the alley for it. 15:40 I mean, obviously a lot of the regional games were on You, News, and Twice. 15:45 When, I think the semi-finals were on ESPNU, at least one year, I remember, and that was a problem, because not everyone gets that channel. 15:57 But, yeah, I just have my fingers crossed that these games turn out to be the good ones that we think they're going to be. 16:06 Because it doesn't always happen that way. 16:08 No, it doesn't. 16:09 We've set up, we've put some games up here, it's like this is going to be awesome, and they turn out to be done. 16:16 Well, Veegs, how about this Quinnipiac, Michigan game tomorrow night? 16:20 Excuse me, they have to wait for the Gophers and BU to finish. 16:22 It's a little fluid on the time. 16:24 I actually think people complain about some of the timing. 16:27 I love that we're playing the early game, but Quinnipiac probably is a good team, or at least a team that can stop Michigan, can't they? 16:38 Yeah, I think so. 16:39 Obviously, Quinnipiac has Peretz in goal, and he has been a high, high level goal tender for Quinnipiac for a long time. 16:47 He's got a lot of experience. 16:49 I don't know if he's going to see the quality of shots that he's going to see against Michigan and whoever they would play in the final, if they get to the final. 16:58 I think that's a very different situation for a goal tender. 17:01 You know, it's one of the reasons why I was always a little skeptical of how good Dryden McKay was, because for much of his career, he saw teams that couldn't get good scoring chances against him. 17:12 I think Peretz is kind of in that same environment where he's a little sheltered and has great numbers. 17:18 You know, I've heard Rand Pecknell talk about how well he's a great goalie. 17:22 He does a great job with what he sees. 17:24 You know, he's only going to get 20 shots a game. 17:26 Well, he stops 19 of them or 18 of them. 17:29 I think it's going to be a tougher test for him against Michigan. 17:32 And I think that's the biggest question mark for me going into this game, because last year when Quinnipiac was in the regionals, I think they got blitzed by Western Michigan, maybe like like seven or eight goals. 17:45 And that was a high powered Western Michigan team. 17:47 So I think now going up against Michigan, that's something Quinnipiac doesn't see very often. 17:54 Well, Quinnipiac last year was played Michigan in the regional final and got the doors blown off. 18:03 But I think it was five to one at one point, and Quinnipiac came back to make it five four, if I'm remembering right. 18:10 I think you're right. 18:11 Then there was the whole thing where Portillo had the pad issue. 18:15 Oh, oh, yes. 18:16 Went over to the bench after the fourth goal, I think it was. 18:19 And this season, a rule went into the book about avoiding those kind of things. 18:26 Basically out of that situation, Michigan kind of turned it around after that and won. 18:31 But yeah, we don't know whether Quinnipiac can play with that style. 18:40 So they have to do everything they can to avoid letting the game go with that. 18:45 Well, Veegs, one thing Michigan has done in this postseason at the end of the season as well is, and I think Cappy was even talking about Big Ten Network earlier this week, they've become much more disciplined. 18:56 Their penalty minutes have been cut in half or even lower. 19:00 So they have really played that game that actually Cappy has been talking about. 19:04 Their inconsistency has been because of this discipline area, and they're doing much better right now. 19:10 Yeah, I think that was the biggest surprise in the Big Ten Championship, is how disciplined Michigan played. 19:15 And it's not just penalties too, it's playing above the puck. 19:18 Yeah, and that was always something about Michigan the last few years that you've noticed and you kind of say that's holding them back, is they don't pay enough attention to that and they get into that race horse hockey. 19:29 And I think that's something we've seen Minnesota get better at, under Bob Otsco, and we've seen the Gophers actually be the team lately that's been taking more penalties than their opponents. 19:40 So a little bit of that issue is popping up for them. 19:42 But for Michigan, when they cut down the penalties, they're able to play with a little bit more continuity, and they've been tough down the stretch. 19:49 I think they've only got four losses since the break. 19:53 That's pretty impressive for that group. 19:55 I mean, they're the youngest team in the country. 19:57 Minnesota is right behind them as the second youngest. 20:00 So something to watch there. 20:02 Definitely something to watch. 20:04 Who do you like in that game? 20:06 I still like Michigan. 20:07 Yep. 20:08 I don't... 20:11 I think they can... 20:13 They don't want to get behind, though. 20:15 If they have a bad start, they could be in trouble. 20:17 But I don't think they will either. 20:20 I don't think they will either. 20:21 But I go back to that game last year where we saw Michigan's big players. 20:28 I don't know if it was the situation, the spotlight, whatever, did not happen. 20:34 And so if that happens again, boy, I don't know if they overcome a one-nothing to one deficit. 20:48 If it gets in a third period like that, because that's not the kind of game they want to play. 20:52 They did against Penn State. 20:54 They played it. 20:54 They did it pretty well. 20:55 But it's not what they want to do. 20:57 And when you get into the situation where it's, you know, you're in these spotlight games, I think that changes some of the mentality. 21:09 Veegs, I like Michigan as well. 21:11 But I do think this is a frozen four where nobody would be surprised if Quinnipiac wins. 21:17 And actually, nobody would be surprised if Boston University wins. 21:21 It's a really good field. 21:22 So yes, we have our favorites and whatnot, but that's what we love about this sport. 21:28 Anything can really happen. 21:29 And so where are you leaning on this game? 21:32 I'm leaning towards Michigan. 21:34 You know, the Big Ten has been so strong this year. 21:36 And I think Quinnipiac hasn't seen that kind of schedule. 21:40 And it's always kind of a shock, I think, for teams when they see the kind of pace that the elite, elite teams can have, especially in transition offensively. 21:49 And it can take an adjustment period. 21:51 And Michigan's shown they've got guys who can score. 21:55 And I think there's going to be enough space for them early to get an early lead. 21:59 And it could get away from Quinnipiac. 22:03 Wow. 22:05 So you got Michigan on one side. 22:08 We'll get to Minnesota in a minute. 22:09 But Beaks, are you going to be playing some golf on Friday? 22:13 That's right. 22:15 We're teaming up with John King. 22:17 We found a course to get to. 22:20 So it's a little bit out of town, but not too far. 22:23 So that'll be a fun Friday morning. 22:26 It's on the Palm Harbor area, because that's where I'll be. 22:28 You're not going to be over there, are you? 22:30 I'm not exactly up to speed on my Florida geography yet. 22:34 I'm still in Minnesota. 22:35 I've seen it on the Google, but we'll see. 22:38 It should be a blast. 22:39 I'm looking forward to it a lot. 22:42 All right, Beaks. 22:43 Minnesota, Boston University. 22:46 Legendary teams meeting at the Frozen Four. 22:49 Early game. 22:50 I love that early game. 22:51 I think the players love it's early game. 22:53 The coaches love it's early game. 22:55 Some of the fans didn't. 22:56 But Beaks, here we go. 22:59 Here we go. 23:00 In honor of talking about the hometown team. 23:03 We're looking after a side of the monitor. 23:05 It's an old Bourbon County from 2011. 23:09 It's been sitting down waiting for the right moment. 23:12 I think this is the right moment. 23:13 I mean to see the season this team's had, regardless of what happens tomorrow late afternoon, it's a joy. 23:21 Cheers. 23:22 Beer of the week. 23:23 A little earlier than usual. 23:25 Yeah. 23:25 We're not doing overtime tonight. 23:26 They're going to be kicking us out of here because we're only open for so long. 23:30 Nice beer of the week, Beaks. 23:31 Nice way to be prepared for that. 23:33 I'm impressed. 23:34 Yeah. 23:34 Well, it's one of my priorities for the week. 23:38 I started thinking on Thursday morning as like, what am I going to open next week? 23:42 So I had to figure this one out. 23:46 Anyway, I'm looking forward to this game. 23:48 I watched some of the BU games from the regional that Cappy was commentating on, and it's an impressive team. 23:55 They've got a good combination of big players, physical guys, and they've got some smaller skill guys, and they've got great goaltending. 24:04 I think one of the issues I think for Boston University is that they've played their top D Hudson 30 minutes a night a lot of the year, and he's not exactly a big defenseman. 24:17 So if they try to do that against Minnesota, I'm interested to see how that's going to play out, because Minnesota has figured out how to play heavy, chip pucks behind the D, put lots of pressure on the defense on puck retrievals, and that's going to add up over a long night. 24:34 What are you thinking? 24:35 You've been down here, you saw all the media, you saw some practice today. 24:38 What are your thoughts? 24:39 I'm thinking that I don't know that there's... 24:45 Well, the one thing that stood out, I wanted to mention this before I forgot it. 24:49 I thought I heard Bob Box go say in his press conference that BU is the team to beat in the tournament. 24:57 Now, we've seen this before, right? 24:59 Where coaches try to deflect it. 25:03 We're the top overall team. 25:05 No, no, they're the favorite. 25:07 Please, someone else take this from us. 25:09 The pressure is all on us, so it's easier for them. 25:12 So, I thought that was an interesting... 25:17 Obviously, there's a lot of... 25:18 That's so Bob. 25:19 Yeah, absolutely. 25:20 There's obviously a lot of respect for what BU has, and the talent they put out there. 25:24 I mean, Hudson, his brother, the Hudson brothers, Fensori, I think, is a really good player. 25:35 It comes down to me to be a... 25:40 I think your top end versus... 25:43 Minnesota's top end versus BU's top end, Minnesota should win that matchup. 25:47 And I think that's enough to get them through. 25:49 I don't think this is one that's going to be a runaway kind of four-goal lead in the first period kind of game. 25:56 This is going to be one you're going to have to earn in the third. 25:59 But I feel like Minnesota's top players are enough to do that against BU's top players. 26:05 And Veegs, you know, you talk about Hudson and he's playing, what did you say, 30 minutes a game recently. 26:12 Don't they only play 5D as well? 26:16 Yeah, I mean, I mean, they're a very top heavy team on how they develop their ice time and portion it out. 26:22 But you could do that a little more in NCAA playoffs because of the timeouts and the TV time. 26:26 So it's a little little easier. 26:28 But obviously in Minnesota, they played seven defensemen for a majority of season, obviously barring some injuries the last month or so. 26:35 They went down to six and Fish came in and played played great. 26:39 So Minnesota's depth there is pretty nice. 26:44 But, you know, Boston can, you know, in a one game thing with those long TV timeouts, that might be an area that they might not be penalized as much against. 26:55 It's not going to be as big of a factor as it would be every weekend. 26:59 But I do think it's just something to watch. 27:02 You know, Matthew Nye has played his almost season high in the regional plane, 23 minutes the other weekend. 27:11 And that's a lot for a forward. 27:13 So for Adida to go over 30 minutes, you know, Brock Faber did that a lot last year, but he's a bigger player. 27:21 He's able to handle contact better. 27:23 So if you're going to play those heavy minutes and you're going to handle all the contact, I think it's going to be a struggle. 27:30 OK, well, I like it then. 27:32 I like it. 27:32 Well, what are your thoughts on the actual game? 27:35 What? 27:36 OK, what does Boston University need to do to be successful? 27:40 Well, I think they've got to hold on to the puck when they're out there against the Cooley, Dines, Stuggerwood line and make them play defense and play keep away. 27:48 And I've seen BU do that, playing on the perimeter, you know, trading pucks with scissors plays and rotating players through the zone to maintain possession of the puck. 27:57 They're going to have to do that against Minnesota, I think. 28:00 And the key for them is when they do get transition chances, they need to commit and go in their D. 28:06 Even if they're fatigued, they've got to jump into the rush and make those four on three type chances and try to outman the Gophers to the net. 28:15 Because I think that's one thing the Gophers have gotten in trouble sometimes is in transition. 28:20 They don't pick up the man all the way to the net. 28:24 So I think for BU to be in this game, that's something they have to take advantage of. 28:28 And then when they get power play opportunities, I think they've got to make sure they win the face off and get Minnesota in a tough situation. 28:36 Because Minnesota has really only played four forward penalty killers down the stretch here. 28:40 So I think that's something for BU where they really got to capitalize when they get those chances. 28:46 Todd, Mr. 28:48 Nyes, last couple weeks, Big Zilch on the points. 28:54 He was, in fact, he was, you know, the little calm goal and, you know, to get them up 3-1 in the regional was good. 29:02 Veegs, you said he would have been fighting some illnesses, but... 29:05 He's had a couple, I guess, series of them. 29:07 Yeah. 29:08 Was that just one? 29:10 If he wakes up, it could be a totally different team, because he basically, you know, you're on a line that's the biggest line in the country and nothing for the entire regional. 29:19 And that's someone who is a difference maker. 29:22 I don't know if all of a sudden he gets a couple of points in the first period. 29:26 It's like off they go. 29:27 It could be game over in that instance, yes. 29:30 It feels like that's the thing that, you know, if that, if Cooley gets one, if Knives gets one, if Snugger gets one, if Snugger gets one, if something like that happens early, it's like BU starts to think, oh, here these guys go. 29:42 And so that to me is a sign to look for, is that if, if, if that line, if Minnesota's big guys get something done early, that could make it a long night for people. 29:54 And I think that's a, what you've got to hope those guys do. 29:59 Maybe it's not a goal. 30:00 Maybe they don't, they don't score right away. 30:02 But if they have a shift, whether they pin VU down for 45 seconds in their end, something like that, I think that's a good sign for Minnesota. 30:11 Because, I mean, we know that there's going to be, you know, the waves of, the groups are going to come into waves. 30:21 But if that big one does it and sets the tone, I think that's, that's going to make a difference. 30:29 Veegs, this is the time of year when other players tend to step up. 30:34 You've got Mr. 30:34 Brodzinski had four goals. 30:37 I guess he probably kind of made up for nice scoring in the regional. 30:41 But this is the time when senior upperclassmen, it's time for them to lead. 30:50 Yeah, and I think that line of Nelson, Nevers and Brodzinski has been a leading line for Minnesota. 30:57 And they've played possession hockey, they've played smart hockey, they win a lot of face-offs, they grind on the other teams. 31:06 And Bryce is the recipient of that solid play. 31:11 You know, he knows where to be. 31:13 You know, on some of his goals, if he's too tight to the net, he doesn't have a time to shoot because there can be a player can get to him and block the shot or get in his way or play the body. 31:23 He knows how to find the right spaces. 31:26 And I think when you play with guys like Nevers and Nelson, they create space for you. 31:31 And Bryce is really starting to find his groove there. 31:34 And I think that is a little bit of the chemistry thing and just comfortable. 31:38 And those guys have talked all season about how they're all friends off the rink, so they can be really hard on each other on the bench. 31:46 And nobody are. 31:47 Yes. 31:48 It's like nobody has hard feelings because they can vocalize to each other what they're expecting and what they want. 31:54 And that's a maturity that I think is really important for Minnesota. 31:58 It's really foggy in here, by the way. 32:01 You guys look great. 32:02 Well, that's OK. 32:03 They just they just jacked up all the lights on us. 32:05 But it's like there's literally haze, like a fog in here. 32:10 A light show or something that they're setting up. 32:12 Oh, they got lasers and everything ready to go forward tomorrow. 32:16 It's going to be fun. 32:17 So I'm thinking you're picking Minnesota. 32:21 But why Minnesota Viges? 32:23 What? 32:25 What's something that you you would like to see happen that we're not thinking about? 32:29 Maybe maybe a Hougland has a big night or something like that. 32:34 What's well, it's possible that, you know, Hougland and Pitlick have been showing a lot of good connections together. 32:39 You know, at the start of the season, you know, Pitlick was put with Cooley and Sagerud for a while, thinking that three really high energy, high skill guys would fit well together. 32:50 And that ended up not be in the case. 32:52 They needed a Matthew and Ise to play with, I think, to really unlock their potential, because it's that big body. 32:58 Now, when you put Pitlick with Hougland, Hougland isn't a big, big body, but he plays big. 33:04 And having a player like Pitlick on his line gives him someone to win pucks and get pucks to, that I think is really dangerous. 33:13 And then you figure out, you know, is Brody Lamb going to be on that line, or is it going to be Connor Kurth? 33:17 You know, those are guys who can play some energy. 33:19 So, I think that line could be really important for Minnesota in this series, especially because I think they're going to rely on their depth. 33:27 And maybe not four lines of depth, but probably three lines of depth against BU and whoever they would face down the line. 33:33 I missed the media availability earlier in the practice. 33:36 Do we know anything about Kurth? 33:37 Did you hear anything? 33:39 I did not hear that. 33:41 Bigs, have you heard anything about Kurth? 33:42 It's been a little quiet. 33:44 Kurth skated. 33:45 Now, of course, I wasn't there either. 33:47 I was out there. 33:48 If it's a high ankle sprain, like some people have hypothesized, you have a lower body injury, you have a skate that's locked in that boot, you go into the wall, it bends your ankle higher up than most people are used to. 34:04 I actually had a high ankle sprain in high school, and it set me back for about six weeks. 34:09 Yes, you can go out there and skate, and yes, you can go out and do some things, and stick handle and shoot, but you're not going to be as explosive as you want to be. 34:19 Maybe this is just show. 34:20 Bob's lied to us before about or joke to us. 34:24 I've got the clip of Bob talking about BU being the favorite. 34:27 We'll get to that in a second. 34:28 I can show that to everybody, because I wasn't there either, and they just uploaded these to the press box, so I can see it for the first time with you. 34:38 But I would be surprised if they would put him in the lineup, especially with BU. 34:43 They're a pretty speedy team, and whoever they place in the final, it's going to be a high-intensity game. 34:48 That's probably an unfair environment to put him in too. 34:51 So yes, he's on the ice. 34:52 Yes, he's skating. 34:54 But I wasn't there to see how effective he was. 34:58 All right, Todd, what are your thoughts on the game? 35:00 Who do you like? 35:01 Because you're more of a neutral person. 35:04 I picked the Gophers way back when I picked my bracket, and I'm not changing it now, because I think they're the best team here. 35:16 I mean, that's just the way I've looked at it. 35:22 I don't know that that, of course, means anything when you get into a one-game thing, right? 35:26 What you've done for six months and 40 whatever games, throw it out the window. 35:35 But I mean, one thing we haven't talked about is the goaltending, too. 35:38 It's a pretty good, on both sides, it's a couple of pretty good guys and goal with experience with, and, you know, who knew we were going to be saying that about Justin Close last year. 35:51 But very true. 35:53 With frozen for experience, Camesso is a really well thought of goalie, right? 36:02 I mean, they won eight straight games as well. 36:05 Nine, yeah. 36:06 And he's got two shutouts in there and like a 938, same percentage in the last night. 36:11 So, I mean, he's holding up his end of the bargain too. 36:19 I always think of these games as being at least more about goaltending than normal. 36:27 And I don't know that that's going to be the case this year because of all of the offensive firepower that's out there. 36:35 So, I don't, the goalie battle might be a wash-in, honestly. 36:43 I still like the Gophers because of the top end guys being, like I said before, at least a little bit better than the top end guys that you can throw on. 36:54 And maybe the depth makes a difference. 36:56 I don't know. 36:57 Maybe being a more veteran team in terms of, you know, games played in college means something. 37:05 But at this point in the season, I really don't think so. 37:08 I don't think you get into this situation without having, you know, just throw out the fact that you've got freshmen. 37:18 Yeah, they're not really freshmen. 37:19 I just don't feel like that's much of a thing at this point of the year. 37:24 So you got Minnesota. 37:25 I'm of course taking Minnesota because that's what we're here for. 37:28 We're here to have fun. 37:31 I think this could be the Logan Cooley, even more of a breakout Bigs. 37:38 He's just been getting better and better. 37:40 Was he's, is it 13 or 14 straight games with a point? 37:44 He's getting hot when you need him to. 37:46 And then all of a sudden he's got alignment there. 37:48 It's got a little quiet. 37:49 If Nice does anything, I think they're going to be very difficult to stop. 37:52 So, I'm putting them through to the championship game. 37:56 I'm guessing you are too. 37:58 Yep. 37:58 I'm putting them through as well. 38:00 And the one thing about Nice is I'm trying to get some information from the Gopher Athletic staff about their advanced stats. 38:10 But while he doesn't have any points necessarily in the score sheet, he is contributing to the goals that they're scoring. 38:16 It's not like he's just... 38:17 His physical presence has been there, yeah. 38:19 His physical presence is there, creating screens, winning pucks, applying pressure, extending zone time. 38:25 Those things haven't disappeared. 38:26 Maybe his touch around the net just hasn't been there because his line mates are scoring on their shots and there's no rebounds there to be had. 38:34 But I don't think Nice is playing poorly, just not as a high level as maybe some people would expect, because that line is still going. 38:42 But I've got Minnesota. 38:43 But let's go to Bob and from the availability today, see what he had to say. 38:49 See if I can figure this out. 38:54 Oh my gosh. 38:56 Do you need some help there, Vakes? 38:59 I have to update my system preferences somehow. 39:02 Yeah. 39:03 Was it audio or is it? 39:05 Yeah, it's the video from the... 39:07 Oh, the video. 39:08 I don't see the video uploaded. 39:09 So live programming here, folks. 39:11 This is how it is. 39:12 Maybe we can get to it at the end. 39:14 We'll see what I can do. 39:15 Well, we've made our picks. 39:19 Do you have a Hobie vote? 39:21 I don't this year. 39:23 But you have in the past. 39:24 I have in the past. 39:24 Who would you have voted for? 39:28 I think Fancy Hilly. 39:29 I think he's going to win myself. 39:31 I think he's going to win. 39:37 And, you know, I only got to see him really on TV this year. 39:43 But to me, there wasn't someone who had as much of a presence as he did for his team and just could change the way a game was going just by being out there. 40:02 And maybe not even scoring. 40:03 Maybe it's, you know, just by getting out there, getting a shot, keeping the puck in the other end. 40:09 And maybe they scored two shifts later. 40:17 I don't think there was someone on his level this year. 40:21 I don't have a problem with that at all. 40:23 I think there are some people close. 40:24 Mr. 40:25 Cooley was close. 40:27 Yes, and it could be even a thing, Veegs, where, you know, give it to Fantilly and then you've got a Michigan Minnesota final and maybe the maybe the Minnesota boys are a little ticked off. 40:39 It could be. 40:40 I mean, I definitely think that they got the right three for the hat trick. 40:44 And well, I think nines would be my pick. 40:48 I was surprised Minnesota got two, to be honest. 40:50 I was surprised, but I think when you're the number one team at the start of the season, you're the number one team at the end of the season. 40:57 You played the second toughest strength of schedule, and you won your league, which has nine of the top ten teams in strength of the schedule, and you won your league by basically six and a third games. 41:10 That means you must have some pretty good players on your team. 41:13 And I think Minnesota has intentionally spread out some of the scoring opportunities among their players, and ice time, and power play time, and penalty kill time, to maybe hold back some of their stats. 41:27 Whereas I think a team like Michigan, they are nowhere close to where they are right now if they don't have Fantilly. 41:34 He is their everything. 41:37 He generates a lot of scoring chances, and it's a lot of it by himself. 41:41 I know they have Luke Hughes on that team. 41:44 He has maybe had a bit of a step back from his freshman year. 41:47 He's not as good or consistent and takes a lot of chances. 41:51 I think that's the difference. 41:53 If you looked at the scoring chances given up by Fantilly in Michigan, it's a lot higher than the chances that Cooley and Ize are giving up. 42:03 Who's your pick to win it though? 42:08 It's really hard to know not being on the committee and hearing the discussion. 42:14 I would imagine Fantilly wins it just because so many people who vote for these awards do it on stats. 42:21 I heard Brad Schlossman say it's a statistical award. 42:24 I think those statistics are difficult when you have these different schedules and these different ice time allocations among all the players. 42:32 It's really hard for me to compare stats for these teams. 42:35 I mean, Brock Faber, if he played 30 minutes a night and played all the power play time, who's to say he isn't the highest scoring defenseman in college hockey? 42:44 They take away that ice time and they give it to Lacombe. 42:47 They play seven defensemen. 42:49 So all those defensemen have lower stats individually. 42:53 Coming into this tournament as a group, they're the highest scoring decor, and they've got to be one of the highest scoring decors in the country, but they divide it up. 43:02 Well, just look at Hudson out of Boston University. 43:05 How much ice time he gets, Veegs. 43:06 I mean, he played 30 minutes, but I'm guessing he's been averaging probably 20 to 25 minutes, hasn't he? 43:12 I mean, that helps with points, especially if you're an offensive guy. 43:17 Yeah, it definitely helps with the points, you know. 43:20 So you think Ventilly, I think Ventilly as well, obviously, we'd prefer a Minnesota choice. 43:26 That would be great. 43:27 I actually had Rob Stauber, former Gopher goalie who won the Hovey-Baker, sitting in front of me with his family on our flight down. 43:34 So a lot of big wigs kind of coming down for this one, Veegs. 43:39 I mean, Stauber and Louie Nanny is down here with Meisich and Jim Boo. 43:47 Mr. 43:47 Leopold is coming out. 43:48 A lot of alumni are going to be around and they're going to be at a lot of the Gopher fan events too. 43:52 Yes. 43:53 If you're a Gopher fan, you're in Tampa or if you're a college hockey fan, you're in Tampa. 43:56 If you go to the Gopher events, you're going to see a lot of their alums from that 2002-2003 era in Tampa. 44:03 They're just as excited to get out of the cold weather in Minnesota as you are. 44:07 Yeah, it didn't need much of an excuse, right? 44:11 I would agree. 44:12 It is very nice down here and it's been a fun time. 44:15 You think you got that video base or not? 44:19 It's more complicated than I thought to share my screen. 44:23 You could have just uploaded the video clips too. 44:26 It's a 5.7 gigabyte file. 44:29 Maybe not. 44:32 It's all good because the NCAA wants to put a high quality file out there. 44:37 Yeah, no, it's all good. 44:38 It's all good. 44:40 So final thoughts, we've got Michigan, we've got Minnesota. 44:46 That would make for a fun championship game, Todd. 44:49 You know what? 44:50 I think anybody making it would be fun because this is a fun field with all the four teams. 44:54 And I mean, I try not to get into what I'm making my bracket before the tournament starts, get into what I want to see. 45:02 But I feel like I probably kind of did because I had Minnesota, Michigan. 45:05 Oh, and it's who says no to seeing that for the national championship game, right? 45:11 I mean, maybe five other conferences do true for us out in the Midwest and Big Ten country. 45:18 That's as good as it's going to get. 45:20 And if it comes up, we just hope that it matches the hype because there will be a lot of hype for Minnesota, Michigan, if it turns out to be that way, given not just, you know, they were one and two in the conference and everything, given the games that they played, the substantial games they played, the Big Ten championships last two seasons. 45:43 But not facing each other in the tournament where it's do or die now. 45:46 Right. 45:47 And you know, the strange thing is if that's what it ended up being, you know, the atmosphere at Mariucci and those two championship games, it won't be anything like that here because this is so much bigger, it won't be quite the same. 45:59 The crowd is neutral or, you know, just kind of here for a bit. 46:03 Todd, I feel like it's going to be quite the crowd from Minnesota in Amalie. 46:09 Just based on just the social media, it could be a lot like Fargo where it felt like there were a lot of Minnesota fans there who bought up tickets and made the investment to go. 46:20 You know, Bob has said all years, like Gopher fans just need a reason to come back. 46:24 They've always been there. 46:26 Yes. 46:26 It looks like they're back. 46:27 There's a lot of people who paid big money for tickets in Fargo. 46:31 I think you have the same thing happening with people going to Tampa. 46:34 Yeah. 46:35 Fargo you could drive through a lot easier than Tampa. 46:37 But that's what I did. 46:38 I drove up that Saturday morning for it. 46:40 Well, you had Sun Country adding like three or four additional flights to get fans there. 46:45 So that's like an additional five or six hundred people on top of what was expected. 46:49 Right. 46:50 Yep. 46:51 Yep. 46:53 And a generous person sent me a message Wednesday night saying, I've got a center ice ticket. 47:00 Section 117, about 20 rows up. 47:03 Do you want it for free? 47:04 I'm like, yes. 47:06 So my girlfriend, Barb, who came down with us is going to be able to go to the game and have some really great seats. 47:12 So this person was more than generous to, I mean, that's some great seats right down there. 47:18 I was sitting down there for practice and I was like, yeah, that's a good place to watch. 47:22 So she'll be able to come and enjoy the games. 47:24 And then if they make it for Saturday, we're going to get the family that lives down here, are going to get tickets and come to that. 47:31 And they're going to learn about some college hockey too, because they're big actually lightning fans. 47:35 So I mean, it would be great having been to a lot of these. 47:39 It would be great to have an atmosphere like that in a building like this, because that's the thing that sometimes feels like it's missing. 47:47 I mean, the only thing would be different if it was in Detroit or if it was in St. 47:51 Paul. 47:51 Because that you expect it, right? 47:53 Oh, yes. 47:55 Those are the areas where it's natural. 47:58 Here, you don't have the natural local college hockey connections, right? 48:03 And so it's felt like so it was well, last time I was here was North Dakota. 48:08 So obviously there was there was a lot of plenty of North Dakota fans. 48:11 Yes. 48:11 So that made for an atmosphere. 48:13 But in 2012, it was it was OK. 48:17 BC and Minnesota State Championship game. 48:21 Yeah, I don't remember that one feeling like there was much of anything in the bowl here. 48:27 It was pretty tame for and for a championship game. 48:29 You want there to be, you know, some kind of atmosphere, some kind of, you know, just anticipation in the building and people ready to get out of their seats. 48:39 And I mean, I remember both of those games pretty well, but I don't remember it for, you know, necessarily what it felt like in the building. 48:48 Yeah. 48:50 It's going to be fun, Veegs, and we're looking forward to you coming down tomorrow. 48:53 I can't wait to be there. 48:56 It should be outstanding weekend. 48:58 I've been looking forward to it for a while now. 48:59 So I'm just glad that they got here and glad to see all the people in college hockey congregating in Tampa. 49:07 I'm jealous of all the things that have already been happening. 49:10 I can't wait to join it. 49:12 It's going to be a lot of fun. 49:13 And we're hoping to do a post-game broadcast, probably not from up here, down in the bowl somewhere. 49:21 We'll try to do something. 49:23 It might be noisy, but it's kind of noisy down there. 49:25 Yeah, but you know, a five, ten minute quick thing that Veegs and I will probably do. 49:30 We'll try to do that after the game tomorrow, after probably while the other game is going on. 49:37 And we'll have to see. 49:38 But Veegs, what do you think? 49:41 This live thing, it worked out pretty well. 49:42 You could hear us OK. 49:44 And we looked OK. 49:44 I hope the lighting is not the greatest, but worked out pretty well. 49:48 Worked out great. 49:49 Thanks for setting it up. 49:51 And I hope everybody does well. 49:54 Well, then that's going to do it. 49:56 Thank you, Todd. 49:57 It's great to have you on again. 49:59 Good to be on more than anyone else on this podcast. 50:01 We're always grateful to have you on. 50:03 That's scary that I've been on more than anyone. 50:06 Well, once we found you, we had our badger guy. 50:09 But we don't need you anymore. 50:10 Todd, you're pretty good. 50:11 You're a pretty good guest. 50:13 I don't know that that doesn't want to know over here. 50:15 But some Twitter people blew up the other day. 50:17 What do you have in Wisconsin? 50:18 I'm like, it has nothing to do with Wisconsin hockey. 50:21 It has to do with you're down here covering the entire scene. 50:25 Todd's a true journalist. 50:26 If I was here covering Wisconsin hockey, I wouldn't have been here very much in those 24 tournaments. 50:33 What do you mean this is hosted by Wisconsin? 50:35 Yeah, they're right there on the boards. 50:37 Yeah. 50:37 Oh, sit by in the motion W right there by the blue line. 50:41 Yeah, there is a little W down there. 50:43 Wow. 50:43 There used to be a last time before they started putting the logos, the team logos on the ice, the host used to get their logo on the ice. 50:50 The last time around made people like, why is Wisconsin's logo, this is 2016. 50:57 I think Robert Morris had it once even or something like that. 51:00 In Pittsburgh, Robert Morris and there was once, there was Navy, the DC in 09. 51:06 Wow. 51:07 The Navy logo I believe was on the ice even though they absolutely have to go from one hockey team. 51:13 Any other final thoughts, Veegs? 51:16 Everybody just try to have fun. 51:17 This is a fun part of the year. 51:19 Don't get stressed. 51:21 Just enjoy it. 51:23 All right. 51:23 Think about the talent we're going to see. 51:28 We always think like, well, this Frozen 4 is going to have the most talent ever. 51:32 This is going to be pretty good for guys who will be going to the NHL out of this, maybe directly out of this event the next few days. 51:42 Well, we'll hope to catch you after the game on Thursday evening. 51:46 But other than that, we're good to go. 51:47 You're done live from Amalie Arena in Tampa Bay. 51:51 We'll see you after the game Thursday or else the closing episode next Wednesday night. 51:57 So thanks for joining us. 51:58 Good night folks.