0:07 This is the GPL Podcast from go4putzlive.com. 0:18 We just got finished! 0:22 That sounds kind of weird. 0:24 Kind of sounds weird. 0:30 Oh boy. 0:32 Dude making mistakes. 0:33 I love it. 0:37 Ha ha ha ha! 0:47 Are you going to speak on that? 0:52 Ha ha ha ha! 0:55 Now, here's Jupiter and Vigo. 1:03 Go. 1:04 Good evening and happy summer. 1:06 Welcome to a off season edition of the podcast, Veegs. 1:10 What do you think? 1:12 Yeah, we just got past the summer solstice. 1:14 We're getting closer to hockey season. 1:16 Every night now will be shorter as we await puck drop. 1:20 103 days. 1:21 That's till Gopher hockey starts. 1:24 So, well, the reason why we are here tonight is that we had the opportunity to get a current Gopher that is coming back for an extra season for the Gophers. 1:34 And yes, it's our favorite goalie, Justen Close. 1:38 Now bear with us here. 1:39 We know he's having a hard time hearing us at times, but there he is from his cabin. 1:46 What did you say? 1:47 Three hours north of your hometown? 1:51 Yeah, three hours north of Kindersley. 1:53 So straight up the road. 1:55 It's a quick drive, made it yesterday. 1:56 And yeah, we got a nice day today. 1:59 So the weather's pretty good. 2:00 So I'm happy to be here. 2:01 Oh boy. 2:02 Well, we thank you for coming on with us. 2:05 And of course we have to thank Dinkytown Athletes for setting this whole thing up for us. 2:10 You know, Dinkytown Athletes is a new NIL thing that you are participating in. 2:16 And yes, it's a brand new thing. 2:18 Maybe it won't be super lucrative for you, but you guys are the first. 2:23 And that's just the important thing. 2:24 You're the first ones to be part of this whole new Dinkytown Athletes thing. 2:32 Can you say that again? 2:33 Sorry, you cut out on me. 2:35 No, that's- 2:35 There you go. 2:35 Now you're good. 2:36 That's quite all right. 2:37 Well, you guys are the guinea pigs of Dinkytown Athletes. 2:42 You're the first. 2:44 That's a big deal. 2:46 Yeah, it was exciting when they reached out to me and said they wanted to help support me. 2:51 Obviously all the NIL stuff is pretty new. 2:54 And I think it's just finding our way into our program. 2:56 I know Cools and Snuggie have got a few things going too. 2:59 And I know a few guys had some stuff with NIL going last year, but I think Dinkytown Athletes, they just seemed like it would be a good way to coordinate some stuff and provide some content for our fans as well. 3:12 Veegs, what do you have for Mr. 3:14 Close here? 3:14 Probably the last time you saw him, it wasn't such a great thing, but here he is. 3:19 Yeah, I always think at the start of the season, you know, teams look to the end and it's such a hard journey to get there. 3:27 But you got to the game and now you've had a summer reflect. 3:32 What's summer been like for you guys as you guys all decide who wants to come back, you know, who wants another run at this thing? 3:40 Yeah, I think, you know, when the season was done, we all took a little breather there. 3:44 Obviously, when you push through the playoffs and you get to that spot, there's a lot that goes into it. 3:49 So just taking a step back and reflecting was important. 3:51 But I can't speak for the other guys. 3:54 You know, I'm speaking about Nelly and Brodzi. 3:58 What exactly was going through their minds. 4:00 But I think as the season went on and throughout the second half of the season, we were all kind of thinking, oh, maybe this isn't something we're ready to leave yet. 4:08 So luckily with the COVID year and the fifth year that we're able to come back and play for another season. 4:17 How quick did it take for you guys to kind of have that conversation that you wanted to come back and you wanted to stay in college? 4:28 Sorry, one more time. 4:30 I think all fans want a goalie that can tune out the media. 4:33 So this is probably a good sign for you, Justen, that you can't quite hear us clearly. 4:38 But how long did it take for you to decide after you took the breather? 4:43 Oh, I think it probably took, if this is what you're asking, which I think it's what you're asking, I think it probably took, I don't know, maybe two weeks, a week, two weeks. 4:52 You know, I think we got back and we relaxed for a week or two and then had some meetings with Bob. 4:59 He always runs exit meetings at the end of the year. 5:00 So I had a few discussions and it just seemed like the best course of action. 5:08 How, boy, everyone always says a failure is a good learning experience, but it's really tough, isn't it? 5:19 What are, if there are any positives came out of that, how the season ended for you? 5:27 Yeah, failure is definitely a brutal teacher, but, you know, experience is invaluable. 5:32 And I think, you know, last year we had a pretty young team and we found ways to win close games when we found ways to win down the stretch. 5:40 And obviously we come up a little short in that regard in the end. 5:43 But there was a lot that we were able to learn as far as working under pressure and working together and communicating as a team and learning how to win those close games and losing that one. 5:54 Obviously it sucked and it was something that we really wanted to get done. 5:56 But I think the experience that we gain and that will only help us going forward. 6:01 So, Justin, what's summer like for you now? 6:03 You're up at your cabin. 6:05 What's on the agenda for you up there and what are kind of the plans for your off season? 6:12 Well, I got home about two weeks ago, so it's been nice to spend some time with my family. 6:15 And I've been up here at the cabin quite a bit. 6:18 I love to fish, so it's been nice to get on the water. 6:20 And we've got some pretty good weather so far. 6:21 So I got two weeks left here and then I'll be back in the city and getting back to work, getting on the ice and getting ready for next season. 6:28 So I'm going to enjoy these last two weeks while I can. 6:30 And then what I'm looking forward to getting back to the city for sure. 6:34 What kind of fishing are you doing? 6:35 Walleye, pike, muskie? 6:38 What's up there? 6:38 Bass? 6:41 Say it again. 6:42 What kind of fishery are you hitting up there? 6:45 Walleye, pike? 6:47 There's pike and walleye, but we call them jackfish and pickerel here. 6:51 So a little bit different lingo, but they're the same fish. 6:54 What are they biting on right now? 6:58 Everybody else is hooked, but mine. 7:02 No, I've been fishing with jigs a little bit, jigs and leeches, and they seem to be doing all right. 7:07 So my grandma likes to throw a spoon out there, and she seems to catch more than I do. 7:10 So maybe that's what I'll try tonight. 7:12 Go, Grandma. 7:14 There's a lot of changes coming to Mariucci while you guys have your off season. 7:22 Rank is smaller. 7:23 Lines are different. 7:25 Corners are different, but not NHL. 7:28 You know, you spend an entire career getting used to an international Olympic-sized rank, and now you have this hybrid you have to get used to. 7:37 How will that be for you? 7:38 Is this just a couple days adjustment, or how will that be? 7:45 I don't expect it to be much of an adjustment. 7:47 I think there's a few other ranks in the Big Ten, even, that are like that. 7:50 I'm pretty sure Notre Dame is a hybrid sheet. 7:54 Wisconsin might be. 7:56 Correct me if I'm wrong on that. 7:57 I think they're a little bit bigger. 8:00 And, you know, years past, we've never had any trouble going from the big sheet to the smaller sheets when we play at Ohio State or Penn State when we play on NHL sheets. 8:08 So, you know, you hear some guys talk about angles and things like that being different, but the game's still played within the dots. 8:13 So, not too much changes in that regard. 8:16 But it'll be interesting to get in there in the fall and we'll have a different look and feel to it for sure. 8:23 Do you get kind of any inside looks at what's happening to the rink or are you just kind of waiting like the rest of us? 8:29 I'm just kind of waiting. 8:31 Like I said, I've been here for a few weeks and I didn't even check it out when I was back there last. 8:35 I'm trying to think the last time I saw it. 8:36 It was a big cloud of dust when I poked my head in there. 8:41 There's a lot of construction going on. 8:43 They're making some progress. 8:44 So it'll be neat to see it when we get back. 8:46 But no, I got no clue what it even looks like. 8:49 Veegs and I did a podcast with Tom Betti from JLG Architects at Mary G about a month ago. 8:57 I got to see some behind the scenes things and Craig Flohr showed us around a bit. 9:02 It's gonna be very nice. 9:04 Veegs, we got to sit in those nice new luxury seats, which is very nice. 9:10 Yeah, in the southwest corner, they've got these big leather recliners. 9:13 So as you do your skates, you know, between whistles or TV timeouts, you'll see people in these big lounge chairs taking out the game in the southwest corner. 9:21 So it should be interesting. 9:23 Hopefully they don't recline them too much. 9:25 That means we're not doing our job. 9:30 Now, we also know that since the rink's being fixed, the pegs in the goal are being fixed. 9:36 So somebody like Portillo can't kick them off. 9:40 A running joke that Craig Floor told us, they came this close to sending those pegs off to Michigan for Portillo to have. 9:53 Funny, you didn't seem to have a problem keeping the nets on their moorings this past couple of years. 9:59 Yeah, I don't know if that has something to do with maybe 40 pounds of weight between me and him or what the difference was, but I'm not going to accuse anyone of cheating. 10:07 I know that's probably a frustrating thing. 10:09 I'm sure there's, well, there's probably 10,000 people in the rink that night that thought he was cheating. 10:13 I don't know. 10:14 I can't call it. 10:14 You'll have to have him on your podcast and try and figure it out. 10:18 Well, I've never had any problems with that, but yeah, I don't know. 10:22 Maybe I'll try and work that into my repertoire next season, but it sounds like Flores is going to make it hard on me. 10:27 I think he will. 10:28 He will. 10:28 Gully Nation sticking together, just like Shearhorn. 10:31 Justin won't give up another goalie. 10:34 I'm not sure what he was doing. 10:35 I'm not going to blame him, but I won't say that I'm not going to defend him either. 10:39 Well, we can defend him a bit because we know that there was actual issues with that side of the arena. 10:48 And like any smart person would do, if you know there's issues, take advantage of it. 10:53 It's only, you're only going to have 10,000 people yelling at you. 10:56 That's just how it goes. 11:01 So Justen, fifth year, what does that look like for you? 11:03 You know, academics, school, the whole process of getting ready for an extra season. 11:10 What's that look like for you this fall? 11:15 What will things look like for me this fall? 11:17 Yeah, for academics and just what are you looking to get out of this year? 11:22 My grad program was sports management. 11:24 So hopefully with the sports side of things, there's some more interesting classes that I can look into and student athlete comes first. 11:32 So I'm looking forward to taking some of those classes in the fall. 11:37 Are there any culinary classes that you can take at school? 11:41 I've heard from sources that you are a pretty good cook. 11:44 And that was the reason why everyone decided to come back is they could have another year of your cooking. 11:49 Yeah, I work the barbecue a little bit, but I learned most of that stuff on YouTube. 11:57 I don't think I've ever taken a class or anything, but just nothing better than sitting outside. 12:02 And the end product is usually pretty good, too. 12:03 So that's a reward. 12:04 It's my motivation. 12:05 Do you have go-to's for barbecuing and cooking that everybody enjoys? 12:11 Well, living with Nelly, we get lots of beef from his farm down in Magnolia. 12:15 We have steaks flying around. 12:17 Nice! 12:18 We spent lots of time up on the deck doing steaks, and they usually turn out good. 12:23 What's your technique? 12:24 Are you a reverse sear guy? 12:26 Are you like a slow temp off heat and then on high heat? 12:30 What do you like to do? 12:31 With steaks, I like to get them, you know, do them hot and fast. 12:34 But Nelly's steaks are so thick that it's more like hot and medium fast. 12:37 So I like charring that outside and getting some smoke on them, but then keeping them pretty rare on the inside. 12:42 So hot and quick. 12:45 Are there any sides that go with these steaks? 12:47 Or is it just like protein, you know, Atkins diet where you guys just eat meat? 12:52 Depends if anybody made it to the grocery store. 12:54 Nobody made a grocery run, it's just meat. 12:56 Sometimes we can find our way maybe to some corn or some mac and cheese or Brussels sprouts too. 13:01 We're big on Brussels sprouts in the house. 13:03 Well, how do you make the Brussels? 13:05 How do you make the Brussels? 13:06 I actually like to throw them in the oven and mix them up with some onions and almonds and then a little honey on top. 13:14 That honey kind of caramelizes. 13:16 Tastes pretty good. 13:20 Give it a try. 13:21 Vegs, this Friday, Vegs, you're always putting on Instagram Pizza Friday or something like that. 13:26 How about something different? 13:27 A little Brussels sprouts this time, Vegs? 13:29 Yeah, I'll do my Brussels. 13:30 I do like olive oil, balsamic, and maybe a little bit of spice like chili flakes. 13:36 And then broil them like real hot so they get that char, that sear. 13:41 That's kind of my go-to. 13:42 I have to do it on the parchment paper, though. 13:44 Otherwise, it's too messy to clean up because of the balsamic. 13:49 I'm not on dishes. 13:50 That was always Comer's job. 13:52 Oh, there. 13:53 Well, you need a new guy now. 13:55 Comer's gone. 13:56 Do you have a recruit for the house? 13:59 Do you have a recruit for the house to fill a spot? 14:01 We'll have to find a new sucker. 14:02 I don't know. 14:03 Maybe we'll find a friend. 14:04 Oh, a new sucker. 14:05 I like that. 14:06 I'm probably pretty good doing the dishes. 14:09 There you go. 14:11 I like the thought of that. 14:13 I like that. 14:14 So we've got another big season coming up. 14:17 You've obviously got a lot of your fellow teammates coming back, youngsters, older guys like you, got some good talent coming in, and you just happen to have a Frozen Four in St. 14:33 Paul this coming year. 14:36 Obviously, a lot of things need to come together, but it looks very promising for this next season. 14:42 Yeah, we're definitely excited about who we've got coming back, and we're excited about who we've got coming in, too. 14:48 Like I said, we had a pretty young team. 14:49 We had a lot of freshmen last year, and another year of experience under their belt, and from everything I've heard about the new guys coming in, they got a lot of talent, and I'm sure they're going to fit in just fine. 15:00 We're pretty excited that the Frozen Four is in St. 15:02 Paul this year. 15:02 Obviously, that's our goal, to get there and to make some damage, do some damage while we're there. 15:07 It'll be a long season to get there, but we're looking forward to the challenge. 15:12 Yeah, obviously St. 15:16 Paul's great. 15:17 Tampa didn't turn out so well for the team, but I must say, and Vegoe was there as well, I was there, that is a really good Frozen Four destination that should probably be in the rotation every three to four years. 15:33 What do you think of Tampa and how well of a job they do? 15:36 Uh-oh, might have cut out. 15:42 He's tuning you out, Jupe. 15:43 You're asking about Frozen Fours and stuff. 15:45 Players are taught not to listen to that stuff. 15:49 Did you enjoy Tampa, Justen? 15:51 Was it a good experience for you? 15:53 Yeah, it was awesome down there. 15:56 The weather was great, and just to see how well our fans traveled was awesome. 16:00 I mean, the rink was pretty filled with Minnesota jerseys, and I know a lot of us had friends and family that were able to come down to and enjoy that atmosphere with us. 16:09 And yeah, it was a great... 16:12 Tackle your sentiment. 16:13 Yeah, it was a great spot to have the Frozen Four. 16:15 They'll have to get it back in a few years for sure. 16:19 Veegs, you got anything else for Mr. 16:22 Close before we let him go? 16:23 Well, Dinkytown Athletes has given me a pop quiz that they have made popular with their football and basketball players. 16:31 And so I think for the record, we have to get your opinion on these and hopefully the audio holds up. 16:37 Are you ready, Justen? 16:38 Pop quiz? 16:38 Pop quiz. 16:39 Yeah, I'm ready. 16:40 Let's do it. 16:41 Digital or paper class notes? 16:44 Paper. 16:45 TV series or movies? 16:48 Movies. 16:49 Winter or Summer Olympics? 16:51 Winter. 16:54 Earbud or over-the-ear headphones? 16:56 Earbuds. 16:58 High or low socks? 17:00 Low. 17:02 Flip-flops or slides? 17:05 Slides. 17:06 When it comes to pizza, squares or triangles? 17:09 Triangles. 17:11 Chicken wings, bones or boneless? 17:14 Bones. 17:15 All day. 17:16 Food definite, blue cheese or ranch? 17:19 Ranch. 17:21 Tacos, hard or soft? 17:23 Hard. 17:25 Is milk with cereal a soup? 17:31 In my youth, it was an addiction, but we'll call it soup. 17:35 No, we won't call it soup. 17:36 It's just cereal. 17:38 Morning person or night owl? 17:40 Morning person. 17:41 Cats or dogs? 17:43 Dogs. 17:44 Okay, we got to complete the saying question. 17:47 Duck, duck. 17:47 Duck. 17:49 Goose. 17:51 It ain't gray duck, it's goose. 17:54 Pronunciation, gif or jif? 17:59 Like peanut butter? 18:02 Like the image, like the computer. 18:04 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, gif. 18:07 Toilet paper roll over or under? 18:11 Over. 18:12 Definitely, duh. 18:14 Favorite color maroon or gold? 18:18 Maroon. 18:20 Anything else you'd like to say to the fans to close out your pop quiz? 18:24 No, no, just thanks for having me on. 18:26 I appreciate that. 18:27 I thought that was pretty solid, Justen. 18:29 I thought that was a good list. 18:30 Of course he's going to say goose. 18:31 He's not from Minnesota. 18:34 We're weird here. 18:36 We are weird here. 18:37 That's why we say gray duck. 18:39 We're weird. 18:40 Yeah, I know. 18:41 And we embrace it. 18:42 Just embrace it. 18:43 There's been a lot of stuff that have opened my eyes down in that state. 18:48 Justen, I've got one more pop quiz question. 18:52 I do a GPL Beverage of the Week, and some people like different things. 18:58 I've got a BioSteel. 19:00 I'm on board with the NHL playoffs. 19:02 What's your favorite sports drink? 19:05 What's your go-to? 19:08 If you're really parched. 19:12 Probably a Body Armor. 19:13 Is there a flavor you go to? 19:16 No, I don't think I know any of the flavors. 19:18 Whatever one I see, I grab. 19:19 But yeah, I like those probably. 19:22 Alright. 19:23 Hey, well, thanks for joining us, Justen, from your cabin north of the Arctic Circle. 19:30 We just appreciate you coming on. 19:31 We obviously got to thank Dinkytown Athletes for setting this whole thing up for us. 19:37 I want to say before Justen goes, the Gopher fans, the GPLers who donated for that May donation marathon, donated thousands of dollars for Dinkytown Athletes to become members. 19:50 So big kudos to the GPLers for doing that. 19:53 And big thanks to Dinkytown Athletes for getting Justen for us. 19:57 So thank you for coming on, Justen. 20:00 Yeah, thanks for having me on, guys. 20:02 Enjoy your night. 20:03 Thank you. 20:06 Veegs, drinking the good stuff there. 20:10 What you drinking? 20:11 Yeah, just a little BioSteel sports drink. 20:13 I don't know, white freeze flavor. 20:15 I'm trying to cool off. 20:16 It's been warm. 20:18 My golf game has been cold. 20:19 So you got to figure it out. 20:22 Got to figure it out. 20:23 I had some hot salsa tonight with my tacos. 20:25 It was great. 20:27 I tried some of that salsa that we were given. 20:32 Yeah, not bad. 20:32 I think I need to try it with something else besides just tortilla chips. 20:36 So yeah, I loved different kinds of salsa on just hard and soft shell tacos. 20:42 Just giving you the tomato and all that extra flavor. 20:46 That's key. 20:48 That would be good. 20:49 So how is the off season going for you? 20:51 This is obviously an unknown territory for us. 20:54 We've been, there's been a lot going on. 20:56 Obviously Close is one of the big cogs in the wheel that came back. 21:01 You know, we heard, you know, Snuggerud right away. 21:04 Then we got Cooley, we've got Nelson. 21:08 And then we got Brodzinski. 21:10 This is a big deal. 21:13 This is a really big deal. 21:14 I mean, they've got so much experience coming back up front, down the middle that this team, they're going to be a favorite right from the start. 21:24 And I think they were kind of a favorite right from the start last year too. 21:27 So going through that experience about how to handle that pressure and not look right to the end of the year, I think is going to be so key with this group. 21:36 The one thing for me is just figuring out how to replace the high end defenseman. 21:41 And I don't doubt the crew they have coming back. 21:44 I think we saw Mike Kester show a lot of offensive flair last year. 21:48 I think he can fill a lot of that void from the talent that's leaving. 21:52 And it sounds like the guys they have coming in are good fits for this program. 21:56 I think having the depth now up front should help them. 21:59 Because they've got so many centers who come back, knowing how to play that position in college hockey. 22:05 It gives them a huge advantage. 22:09 Very interesting. 22:12 You know, we kind of heard Cooley say that some of the Arizona situation might have influenced him on his decision. 22:22 It kind of sounds like he was going to come back anyway, but maybe he's kind of maybe nudging Arizona that they need to do better. 22:34 Could be, but you look at the moves they're making right now, they're all long term cost cutting moves that Arizona is making. 22:41 So I think it's hard for a player to get excited about jumping into that too soon, especially for someone who's enjoyed college as much as Logan Cooley did last year. 22:51 He had lots of positive things to say about pretty much everything except the academics. 22:57 I would say he's probably not a bookworm, but he got through it and can enjoy this season coming up. 23:05 And with him coming back with the experience and showing the compete level that he did last year, I don't think there's a lot of concern about his game developing in college. 23:18 The one bit of news, I think since our last podcast, is Bartosz Skiewicz did decide to go back to the USHL. 23:25 I think there was probably some question, you know, which USHL team would give him a spot after him not playing for so long. 23:33 We didn't get to it with Justin, but I think one of the amazing things about his story is how he was able to not play games for a while and then just jump into the fire and be productive. 23:44 I think that's a very uncommon trait for goalies, and I think Bartosz Skiewicz needs to play more to give himself a chance at playing somewhere else next year, whether it's Minnesota or somewhere else. 23:56 Yeah, I just, you know, we had to kind of tiptoe around because he was having a hard time hearing us, Justen Close, but I think it worked out pretty well, so glad we got to have him on. 24:08 And you know, probably that might not be a comfortable conversation because they had technically four goalies on the roster for a couple weeks there, Veegs, because Ari is supposed to be coming. 24:22 You know, we haven't seen anything official, really, have we? 24:26 I mean, we haven't seen any freshman stuff on him, or I can't remember the other person, but... 24:33 Oliver Moore and Max Rudd have had some stuff coming up on the soldiers for the Gophers. 24:37 Renzel just did today as well. 24:39 Yep, Renzel. 24:39 That's how you spell them. 24:40 Pronounce it Renzel? 24:41 Renzel? 24:43 We will find out soon enough. 24:48 Sometimes I'm like, Bob, I'm like, I'm not ready to talk about all these guys until they make it to campus and play in the game. 24:54 And then I'll be a little more comfortable. 24:57 I mean, what I can see from his game is he's a good offensive player, big, lots of length. 25:02 You know, it's always the competition that changes when you come to college, you know, harder, you know, the time and space is obviously less. 25:10 And sometimes bigger guys, you know, they have to control their footwork a little bit, especially in front of the net, because those guys are used to always be on the right side because they're quick enough to get in the right spot. 25:22 Now, when they get to college against bigger, stronger, faster, quicker, higher hockey IQ guys, they might be found on the wrong side of the puck more often. 25:29 So seeing that transition for him, I think will be important. 25:33 Axel Begley, kind of a late ad, you know, when we kind of heard more of a final thing with Mr. 25:41 Johnson signing with Buffalo, but he was kind of in the wings there. 25:46 It wasn't really someone on our radar as much, I would say. 25:50 Yeah, I think they had to have sort of backup plans for these guys just in case they had someone come back or leave. 25:58 I think that was the situation with Brian Johnson making his decision late. 26:02 They wanted to have another player ready, but it's not going to be a high profile guy when you're waiting to fill spots that late. 26:08 I know they had situations like that the year before where they had players kind of earmarked saying, hey, you know, we might be an option for you as a 20 year old. 26:18 You know, if you can wait long, we have to hear back from our defense members still making decisions. 26:23 And some of those guys have gone on to other schools and maybe better fits. 26:27 But I think that happens in college hockey because, you know, you're so limited with your roster and what you can do. 26:33 Well, the team is certainly going to be older average age next year. 26:38 You know, with so many, you know, people returning, you know, with Nelson Brudzinski and Close coming back, that does help the average age of the team helps them get older. 26:52 One thing that Matsuko has been trying to do for years. 26:57 Well, I think the one thing Matsuko has kind of maybe changed a little bit with that get older, if he could redo it, get more experience. 27:04 He wants his players coming to college who have done, you know, that two years post high school hockey, whether it's juniors or USNDTP or something where players come where they've played seasons of 60, 70 games so that when they get to college, they've got that experience and maybe have experienced some hardships or slumps in their games. 27:26 You know, when Matthew Nives went to Tri-City, he struggled for a couple months and was maybe pressing his game. 27:33 But ultimately, he found it in the second half. 27:35 And I think that makes him a better player down the line for when he does go through struggles where the puck's not going to the net, he's not getting points to find other ways to make an impact in the game. 27:45 And I know a lot of people are hard on Nives in the playoffs for not scoring a lot of points, but he was very productive. 27:51 He was providing Cooley and Snuggerud scoring chances. 27:56 He was the one doing the hard work to create those chances. 27:59 Now, Cooley and Snuggerud didn't convert on all those opportunities. 28:03 But I think all the scouting community people saw all the positive things that Nives was doing. 28:08 And I think if you go through a career where you don't experience slumps, you maybe don't get that perspective. 28:16 Yeah, it's going to be an interesting few months. 28:19 You know, tomorrow night, it's the draft tomorrow night, right? 28:24 Thursday, I think. 28:25 Thursday. 28:26 Something like that. 28:28 Depending on when you're listening. 28:29 If someone listens to this on Wednesday, it'll be tomorrow night. 28:32 Where do you think Oliver Moore is going to go in the draft? 28:36 I mean, they're saying at least top 10 now, aren't they? 28:40 Could be higher. 28:40 I've seen them as high as four. 28:42 There you go. 28:43 You know, it all depends on who likes his skill set the most. 28:47 He's the most electric skater in the draft, according to the scouts. 28:51 And he was able to put up points along the way. 28:54 Maybe he doesn't have the high IQ or power play skills that some of the other guys do in the draft. 28:59 But his skating ability makes him a very safe pick as someone who's going to be able to compete as a professional down the line because he skates so well. 29:08 Dwight, do they put him with Cooley and Snuggeroo? 29:12 Who's going to be able to keep up with Cooley and more? 29:16 And just sheer speed and skating ability? 29:21 Will Snuggeroo be able to keep up with him? 29:25 It'll be a challenge. 29:28 But you would like to have that option in your line up. 29:30 Okay, Josh is right. 29:31 You were right. 29:32 I'm wrong. 29:33 I don't know. 29:33 I just, I don't, I think I saw there was something about Gopher Twitter a little while ago saying, hey, 24 hours is something. 29:42 I've got a 10-year baseball game to coach tomorrow night. 29:44 I'm very focused on tomorrow. 29:48 Please tell me your parents are great parents for your league. 29:53 Or do you have some of those parents that basically just ran out? 30:03 Yes. 30:05 Jess Meyer's article. 30:07 Wow. 30:09 I haven't been run out of my coaching positions yet on certain things. 30:14 I've seen coaches run off that I've worked with, and I was an assistant with them, and I didn't coach anymore at those spots. 30:21 And there's always a perception that something different is going to be better, especially when things aren't going well for certain kids. 30:30 But there's a lot of power in the kid to fix those things along the way. 30:35 And I think it sends a tough message when the parents are doing it for their kids, when the kid may not even be that concerned about it. 30:44 They kind of know where they stand. 30:46 They know how much they invest in the sport. 30:50 They know where they stand for the most part. 30:51 It's the parents that sometimes don't. 30:54 And I think that's the issue in new sports these days that are really challenging coaches, officials, organizations. 31:02 And it's a super big challenge. 31:03 And I just think that it's difficult for these parents. 31:07 They invest so much time and money into their kids to get to where they are that when it doesn't meet the parents expectations, the parent maybe feels like they screwed up along the way. 31:18 Like they didn't do something well enough to get their kids set up for success. 31:22 And rather than accept that situation, they're going to try to blame someone else. 31:28 And so just having real realistic expectations is huge for families, I think in athletics. 31:37 It's a mess. 31:39 That whole Larry Olam thing. 31:41 Yeah, he probably didn't do himself a favor with that kind of snarky email. 31:46 But he got him to the championship game. 31:50 Four or five losses on the season. 31:52 He's not up for it. 31:55 Really? 31:56 That's just... 32:01 I don't know what to say about that, Veegs. 32:03 I mean, you know, we've heard of parents being kind of bad in college hockey. 32:07 It seems like the higher up you go, the less power they get. 32:10 But the problem is they have so much power in that time when they're, you know, becoming a good athlete. 32:18 And that's... 32:21 And that's a time when it's not a straight line of development either. 32:25 It's peaks and valleys as people try to get better and improve. 32:30 And I know you said failure earlier. 32:32 Well, it's failing. 32:33 You know, you got to deal with failing sometimes. 32:36 But the key is to try again and learn from it and maybe have a success down the line. 32:42 It's certainly a challenge in youth athletics, and I wish there was an easy solution to it. 32:48 I do think that sometimes dealing with parents, Larry messed up by having one-on-one conversations and one-on-one emails back and forth. 32:58 You know, as a coach, you go through all the sexual misconduct training and it teaches your coaches that, you know, to avoid these kinds of situations, you can't have these one-on-one meetings. 33:09 You always have to have these third parties involved to prevent any situations of misunderstanding. 33:16 You got to have these multiple perspectives. 33:18 Maybe with parents, that's going to be the next training we go through. 33:21 Don't have a one-on-one meeting with a parent. 33:23 Always have a neutral party there to be an impartial observer because you got to watch out for those parents just like you have to watch out for those predators. 33:33 It's just, it's a mess. 33:35 It is a mess. 33:36 And we've heard it ourselves from the grapevine. 33:41 Even college hockey parents using their will and calling coaches directly and things like that. 33:54 I just... 33:55 That line is great though. 33:57 You get one call and you can tell me whatever that you want about hockey. 34:02 Second call, you're done. 34:11 I don't know, Veegs. 34:12 I don't know. 34:13 So, a little parent story in the don, quick. 34:16 I once heard a story of a player who was injured during the game. 34:22 And his parents came down to check out of him and make sure he was being taken care of the right way, wanted to talk to the trainers and stuff like that. 34:29 And I heard from a parent of another teammate who said, Dad, if I ever get hurt in the game and I see you down in the locker room talking to the trainers and the coaches about my injury, we're going to have problems. 34:42 Do not do that. 34:46 So, some players get it, some parents get it, others don't. 34:52 I've had some back and forth with some parents and you could tell which ones that get it and which ones don't. 34:59 So, what do you do? 35:03 Fun to see Jess Meyers on all the different stuff and his article being talked about, though. 35:08 You know what? 35:08 People need to know about this. 35:11 You know what? 35:13 Behavior like this needs to be called out. 35:17 And, yeah, Jess can't, he's not going to say whose parents it was because then it brings the kids into it, which he doesn't want to do. 35:26 I think that's a good idea. 35:27 But it's going to be for somebody, that team like Ornil, it's going to be for those parents to say, what the hell? 35:34 All their parents just screwed us over because we just lost a really good coach that led us to the title game. 35:39 Yeah, that was the only game they lost the second half of the year was that title game. 35:46 Give the guy a break. 35:48 Jess doing a great job there. 35:51 Stand by it, Jess. 35:52 We're with you on that one. 35:54 We give Jess a hard time all the time because he's one of our guys and we've known him for a long time. 36:00 But Jess is right on when it comes to this topic. 36:04 And I just, it's frustrating. 36:10 It is frustrating when you hear about it. 36:12 It's like, how could this still be going on? 36:15 And luckily, you know, like I said, Jess wrote it. 36:17 Their article got the stuff from Larry since he's known him for a long time. 36:24 And hopefully, it's at least a start of more change because it's needed. 36:31 For sure. 36:31 All right. 36:33 What else we got going on this summer, Veegs? 36:35 You think we're going to have any more shows? 36:37 I wonder if, hopefully nothing bad happens. 36:39 But this is odd to have a show. 36:43 The sun is still up for one thing. 36:45 And, you know, I was talking to Justen before he came on with us. 36:49 He's like, yeah, it's not going to sunset until like 11 o'clock here. 36:54 Lots of good fishing time for him. 36:56 He's three hours north of Kindersley. 37:02 I mean, everybody likes to everybody likes to go up north, even if you're already from up north. 37:07 You got to go further. 37:08 Oh boy, he's he's a lot further. 37:11 I'm glad we had him on. 37:12 Hopefully we can get some other people on coming down the line. 37:16 We'll have to wait and see. 37:17 I know we've got some, you know, got my little Pulltab Sports hat over here. 37:21 I don't know if I'm pointing the right one, depending on reflection or whatever, but we're hoping to get together with Pulltab this fall and do some things with them. 37:29 So that's kind of exciting, Veegs. 37:31 Yeah, for sure. 37:32 I like I like the jib of their flag there. 37:36 So cut of their jib. 37:37 Is that the same jib I referenced? 37:41 No. 37:42 But all I know is that that Crystal Axe thing was won by Minnesota late today. 37:49 Good for them. 37:50 Crystal Axe is in possession of Minnesota for it was obviously all for charity. 37:54 And, you know, Fleck was there and whatnot. 37:57 But I know Pulltab had a big deal with that. 37:59 So that was very cool. 38:03 Tim Hapke, any more additions to the squad this summer? 38:05 Another forward. 38:07 I think some of the question is Hendrickson, isn't it? 38:10 Is he coming? 38:11 Isn't he coming? 38:12 It looks like he's not right now. 38:14 I think there's not a non-zero chance that Cole Iserman could find his way to campus. 38:23 I don't think it's zero percent chance. 38:25 I think it's highly unlikely. 38:28 But they want to maybe keep that option open in case it were to be possible. 38:36 So again, it's like an axle-beg-leaf kind of situation. 38:40 It's like, you know, you're holding the spot. 38:42 You don't want to commit to it and then not make it possible. 38:45 So if it does, for whatever reason, become possible, you'd like to make that happen. 38:49 That's an amazing talent. 38:50 You'd love to have in your roster. 38:51 But if it doesn't work out, no big deal. 38:54 He's good developing another year with the Ann Arbor program. 38:58 So you think Hendrickson is solely based on that, you think? 39:02 No. 39:02 Are there other things? 39:03 I think Hendrickson would do a better job developing as a USHL first line player. 39:09 Anyway, he'll get more ice time, a bigger role. 39:12 Even if he came to Minnesota, there's so many forwards right now that would be ahead of him. 39:16 It would be a frustrating year. 39:18 I think it's smart for him to go. 39:20 I think it's two falls is where he's headed. 39:23 I'll take your word on it. 39:26 I think if they were to fill a 15th forward, it would be somebody like Begley, a depth player that's big and physical and probably not a high talent who's looking for lots of ice time. 39:40 I'll just throw that out there. 39:41 This is a lot of speculation and a lot of reading into answers that I've gotten from people. 39:47 Yeah, and if you think I'm not cutting up that little clip I'm putting on social media. 39:51 It's not a non-zero chance. 39:54 Non-zero. 39:55 I love that way you say that though. 39:59 You got anything else to say? 40:00 Obviously, we had our last podcast. 40:03 It wasn't a live podcast. 40:04 It was about a lot of the changes at Mariucci. 40:06 So that was a pre-recorded. 40:07 So make sure you go back on YouTube and watch that or listen to us on podcast app, Google or Apple, whatever. 40:14 But you also wrote an article that kind of goes along with it. 40:17 So make sure people head over to GPL and check that out. 40:21 It's been a long time coming and it was cool to be over there, Veegs, and see all the dirt and dust that Justen Close was kind of mentioning there. 40:30 Yeah. 40:30 And I think the concrete will probably be poured in about two weeks. 40:36 And that's going to take some time to cure before they can finish all the work and put ice on it. 40:41 I think, you know, they would like as much time as possible for that concrete to cure before they have to mess with it. 40:48 But that's the big major step that's coming up. 40:52 It was like over a month for curing, complete curing, something along those lines. 40:58 So, you know, if you can get it at the end of this week, early July, you know, it's early August when... 41:05 But that's kind of where they were thinking they were going to be. 41:07 So, yeah, I think they're a little bit behind what they had planned, just, you know, everything taking a little bit longer for them. 41:13 But that's that's the next big step. 41:15 You know, they'll probably be at Ritter for quite a bit to warm up their year. 41:19 Less of an adjustment this year. 41:21 The schedule is starting to come together. 41:22 We saw Robert Morris was added to the schedule. 41:27 So I think that's pretty final right now in terms of non-conference opponents. 41:32 It is. 41:32 That's yeah, it's final in as we always kind of poke fun at. 41:36 We always get our schedule from other teams. 41:41 Wasn't always the case. 41:42 But last couple of years, the Big Ten schedule came out in August. 41:48 And it was like after the 20th of August type of lateness. 41:54 I saw Jess Myers poking fun at it again. 41:57 And I'm with them. 41:57 Yes, it stinks. 42:00 And I think it's going to be even more interesting this year, Veegs, because we know the TV situation is going to be different. 42:08 Get ready for it, people. 42:13 I mean, is Bally's even going to make it through the summer with the twins? 42:18 Is their next payment due July 1st? 42:21 Yeah, I think if they're like on a month to month. 42:23 Yeah, I think right now with how the team's doing. 42:27 So it's going to be a complicated situation. 42:30 BTN is going to be your friend. 42:31 I know that BTN Plus is going to be your friend. 42:34 Yeah, Digital Productions for the University of Minnesota won an award this off season for their production work. 42:41 So we might be getting more of that this year. 42:44 Eric Sheerhorn probably better get good contacts with the people who run that because they might need an analyst this year for that group. 42:51 I know last time they did one on the BTN Plus, it was just a one man show. 42:56 So they could probably be looking for a little extra help. 42:59 And there was a time a couple years ago he was going to be on and then ended up getting picked up at regular television. 43:05 So he was done and what have you. 43:08 So we'll see. 43:13 There's also some stuff coming up with the alumni. 43:15 I know they're working on some stuff. 43:18 And I'm hoping to have some alumni from around 20 years ago or so on the podcast coming up this fall. 43:30 Talking about all the stuff they're doing. 43:31 And they're really getting organized. 43:34 It's kind of nice that we're seeing a lot more alumni in Tampa or at Mariucci recently. 43:43 Well, I think the Tampa experience was good for everybody. 43:46 And everybody's just like, this is kind of fun to get together and watch this again and be with our teammates and have those memories flow in and maybe have a few barley pops afterwards and talking about more memories. 44:00 And when the team is winning, all the boats are coming up because everybody's having a good time with this right now. 44:06 And I don't see it stopping anytime soon. 44:08 Looking at the recruiting class coming in this year, the one next year, we're in the trajectory of this program right now. 44:16 All right. 44:16 You got anything else, Veegs? 44:18 Or you think we're good for now? 44:19 Maybe a little bit of overtime, you think? 44:21 No, I got a short overtime in me. 44:23 I got a non-biosteal drink ready. 44:28 We know people are waiting for it. 44:30 Well, that's going to do it for this special offseason GPL podcast. 44:34 Of course, we want to thank Justen Close and Dinkytown Athletes for arranging Justen to be on with us. 44:40 That was so much fun. 44:41 I'm not sure we'll have another one this summer. 44:43 We'll have to see. 44:44 We'll play it by ear. 44:46 But for those of you currently watching, stay tuned for a little bit of overtime. 44:50 For the rest of you, thanks for tuning in.