0:14
This is The GPL Podcast, part of the Pulltab Sports family.
0:22
You're younger than my dad.
0:28
My dad's 56.
0:36
Wow, we just got finished.
0:39
That sounds kind of weird.
0:43
Kind of sounds weird, sounds like 99.
0:46
And Eric, on the flip side, I bet you just love those defensive games.
0:54
Yeah, if I'm playing, I was the same as you two.
0:57
You're about to fall asleep on Saturday.
1:02
Now, here's Jupiter and Vegoe.
1:12
Good evening, and welcome to The GPL Podcast, episode number 250.
1:19
Veegs, we made it, 250, that's a nice number.
1:22
Well done, it's all thanks to you and your organizing abilities and getting us awesome guests throughout the season.
1:29
It's been a fun journey.
1:32
Glad to be part of the Pulltab Sports family this year.
1:35
It's been real fun to be a part of it.
1:37
It is, it has been real fun.
1:38
And who else are we going to have on our 250th episode?
1:44
Pat Micheletti, let's bring him right on in here.
1:47
Pat Micheletti, thanks for joining us on this big show.
1:52
Congratulations, 250.
1:55
You know, we could do more shows, but you know, obviously we're a weekly show.
1:59
A lot of shows have a lot more show, a lot of podcasts, a lot more shows, but being weekly at 250 episodes during the season, that's little, this is our 13th year.
2:10
That's awesome, congratulations.
2:11
You both should be commended.
2:13
I think I've been part of four or five, something like that, but always, always.
2:20
I've got it listed somewhere.
2:21
Always happy to join and very honored to be part of your 250th show.
2:28
And on at an earlier hour.
2:33
It took a while to get to this.
2:37
I only gained an hour.
2:39
I was hoping for two, but so the next time it might even, I might even hound you guys more.
2:47
I was a little delayed tonight.
2:50
I had a 530 ice time, and then I had a 645 ice time.
2:57
Then I had to prepare the flow.
2:58
I'm playing, I have to get my violin.
3:03
Seriously.
3:06
I've been at the hockey rink a lot today because I was also at availability today at 3 o'clock to catch a little practice.
3:12
True.
3:12
Okay, so hold on.
3:14
Pat, how long have your kids been out of the house?
3:17
A long time, 10 years.
3:20
There you go.
3:26
My kids did okay back in the day, except for the one time one of my daughters thought making fish during a podcast would be a good idea and all of a sudden the smoke detectors started going off.
3:40
During the live show, that's live.
3:44
It's memorable.
3:45
It's memorable, I'll tell you that.
3:47
Well, guys, we got some hockey to talk about here.
3:51
Veegs split with Notre Dame.
3:58
Not ideal.
3:59
I'm not really happy with the start.
4:00
It could damage them at the end of the year.
4:03
I know Pat's got some different feelings on it, but let's get your initial feelings on this past weekend against Notre Dame.
4:10
I think one of the issues with this year's Gophers team is not that they're putting out inconsistent effort or they're not generating scoring chances.
4:20
They're not flashing their talent.
4:22
It's these lapses in concentration that we're seeing from them.
4:26
They are in the area, but they're not covering their check, preventing them from scoring.
4:32
They are in the right spot, but they're not ready for physical contact to win a battle or they're possessing the puck and they're just arriving too early to the play that could be a scoring chance.
4:45
So, that's been an issue and when you play a team like Notre Dame and you're not sharp and you're giving away those chances, it's hard to win the game.
4:55
Pat, I was noticing a lot that weekend.
4:59
Especially on Friday, one and done was a big thing.
5:03
I look at it like this.
5:09
I'll go back to last year.
5:11
At the start of the year, you knew this team and you knew how they were going to play.
5:17
Based on Faber, Johnson, Lacombe, they're D-Corp.
5:23
And so, they're not there this year.
5:29
And neither is Nice, neither is Cooley.
5:31
Okay, we get that.
5:34
So for me, I'm not worried about what they're doing now, so much as them going through this and learning and maturing through these games.
5:52
Yes, you would love to see the wins.
5:54
I don't think they've played poorly.
5:56
I think, as Vig said, it's a lapse here and a lapse there.
6:02
And what do I attribute that to?
6:05
That's guys that are in bigger roles this year than they were a year ago when they weren't counted on to be the guys.
6:16
They were the secondary guys.
6:18
And now they get handed the keys.
6:22
And it takes time.
6:25
I don't care who you are.
6:26
I don't care how good you are, how talented you are.
6:29
Mentally, it takes time to understand that the keys have been given to you.
6:37
Now you have to drive the car and drive it well all the time.
6:43
And so I think they're learning that.
6:46
And, you know, I think we're going to see a different team play more consistently once we hit January.
7:01
That would be ideal, wouldn't it, Veegs?
7:05
Just to kind of piggyback off of that, you know, I was reading this athletic article this week about the most improved prospect in every NHL team's pipeline.
7:17
And Ryan Johnson was one of the guys mentioned as being super surprising, being able to step right into Buffalo's lineup and play top four minutes.
7:26
Actually top pair at times.
7:29
And I think one of the differences is those guys make the right play, take the right risk, you know, are so calm in tough situations that they're able to play at that next level because they're so consistent.
7:43
Mabrock Faber, you know, he's not a surprise to anybody how consistent he is.
7:48
He knows that if you don't make a hard pass in the NHL, there's going to be a stick in the lane.
7:54
So you have to be on your game in every play.
7:58
And the guys for Minnesota right now don't have that experience, don't have that scaffolding in place to protect them.
8:06
So they're going through these growing pains of learning how dialed in you have to be in college hockey because there's so much parity.
8:13
Every team's got good players who played good structure.
8:15
Well, maybe except for Michigan, but everybody else plays good structure and you have to be on your game.
8:22
Well, you know, I'll give you a perfect example.
8:25
Ryan Chesley, I thought last year was phenomenal, absolutely phenomenal.
8:32
And why?
8:33
Because he used his legs.
8:36
And I mean, he can skate like the wind and he got involved in the play.
8:40
And at times last year, I thought, man, he's playing the best out of all of them.
8:46
This year, you know, not that he's played poorly.
8:50
I think he had a...
8:52
He's one of those guys I'm talking about that is just, you know, he's playing a lot of minutes.
9:00
And I think he's trying to figure out how to use those minutes.
9:07
And, you know, do I conserve a little bit of energy?
9:11
Do I slow things down a little bit?
9:15
Do I have to, you know, be more cognizant in my own end?
9:22
But we're seeing glimpses now a little bit every weekend.
9:27
The goal he scored against Notre Dame, you know, makes a great move.
9:31
Granted, the guy didn't have a stick, but he recognized it and he beat him and he went top shelf and, you know, ignited the Gophers.
9:40
Right?
9:42
So I think we're slowly starting to see, you know, a little bit more of that out of him and that he's starting to understand that he can still do those things with his legs and still play a lot of minutes and still defend.
10:00
You know, he had a tough one on Friday night, but, you know, you're not going to be perfect out there.
10:07
But that's just one example of guys that I think are going to grow and understand and really be pretty darn good the second half.
10:21
So, Veegs, Split Weekend, you know, elsewhere, you know, we had actually Michigan State, Sweet Wisconsin, you had Penn State and Michigan Split.
10:35
It's not too late to catch up.
10:41
But they do have some work to do.
10:44
Yeah, yeah, yeah, they do.
10:46
I mean, hey, look at this.
10:48
You're 100% correct.
10:49
Go ahead, Veegs, but I'll let you go first.
10:52
Well, I just think you look at the Big Ten.
10:54
There's basically four segments of play.
10:57
Minnesota has got a pretty tough segment where they play Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Michigan.
11:04
I think when you look at the end of the year, there's a good chance that those three teams are in the top half of the league.
11:11
You look at the players or the teams they have coming up, Michigan State, Penn State, Ohio State, those might be the bottom three teams.
11:20
I mean, Michigan State's doing well right now.
11:22
They're at the top, but I think they're young.
11:24
And when Minnesota played them last year, they were successful, but they hadn't really been tested or gone through any tough times yet.
11:31
So I think if you take the teams they've just played, the last three, and the teams are going to play, I think you're going to see a difference in the Big Ten.
11:39
So you're saying that this next section is pretty darn important.
11:43
It's super important.
11:45
You look at the Gophers, they're 13th in the pairwise right now.
11:48
It starts to matter around Thanksgiving.
11:52
If you're putting yourself towards the back half of the teens, you're going to have a hard time climbing up throughout the year.
11:59
If you're at the top, you're in pretty good shape.
12:02
You can take a few lumps along the way and still be okay.
12:05
But Minnesota needs to win these games coming up.
12:08
I thought their second game against Notre Dame was super important, and they answered the bell.
12:13
That first 10 minutes of that game, the first three times through all four lines, they came hard, heavy.
12:21
It was probably the hardest, most physical I've seen them play.
12:25
They were ready for contact, and they were ready to win puck battles.
12:29
They lost it a little bit at the end of the first, and the most important thing is they found it again in the second and then closed out the game with their skill.
12:38
So, Pat, you're less worried.
12:40
I am a little less worried because, first of all, I think the league is really, really good this year.
12:47
Well, call it what you want.
12:50
I think one through six are good.
12:55
I don't think Ohio State is very good, and, you know, they lost a lot of guys.
13:00
I think what's going to happen is you're going to see, and we're seeing it already, Wisconsin sweeps Minnesota, Michigan State sweeps Wisconsin.
13:11
I think you're going to see teams beating up on each other all year.
13:15
I do agree, you know, this stretch is important.
13:19
You know, I think this weekend is a critical weekend.
13:23
Just, you know, get back up closer to Michigan State, Penn State.
13:28
You know, I can never figure Penn State out, whether they're good, bad, indifferent.
13:33
They play a different style.
13:35
I don't know, you know, but they, you know, they somehow find ways to win.
13:44
And, you know, as I mentioned, I don't think Ohio State is all that much.
13:49
I think it's going to be a down year overall for them.
13:52
So what I think is, I think a lot of these teams are going to, you know, you're probably going to see a lot of splits.
13:59
You know, everyone's going to beat up on each other.
14:01
It's going to be tight.
14:03
It doesn't look good.
14:04
Remember last year, remember last year, Michigan was at the bottom of the league for quite some time, right?
14:11
And then all of a sudden, they, you know, they end up winning the conference championship, finished second in the league, you know.
14:21
So too early for me to worry, but I understand Veegs' point.
14:27
Veegs, I noticed you caught at the end of today's media availability.
14:31
You asked Bob what he was thankful for.
14:35
And what he knew and you didn't know is that he had just signed a contract extension for another two seasons.
14:41
And that was kind of released later on today.
14:45
Thoughts about the extension for Mr.
14:47
Motsko?
14:49
Bob is one of the best coaches in college hockey.
14:52
He proves it recruiting, and he's proved it by going to back to back frozen fours.
14:58
I know there are a lot of Gopher fans out there who want that championship.
15:03
When Bob's behind your bench, he's going to give you a chance to get one every year.
15:08
There aren't going to be long lulls where there's not going to be talent coming to Minnesota.
15:13
Good players want to play for Bob because he plays a fun style hockey.
15:17
He plays aggressive.
15:18
He plays with offense.
15:19
He coaches the players up.
15:21
He lets them develop.
15:22
You know, you look at some of the young players that have come through Minnesota the last couple of years, they get top six minutes, power play minutes right away.
15:30
You know, he gives them a chance.
15:32
And it's not like Minnesota plays an easy schedule.
15:35
They're always playing difficult teams early in the year and he still gives them that opportunity to develop.
15:41
And I think that separates him from a lot of coaches in big time athletics.
15:45
And it's a big plus for Minnesota.
15:47
He has the ability, you know, just being around the team since Bob has been here and even beforehand, he has the ability to really build a cohesive group.
16:01
I mean, those guys, those guys, you know, if a guy's not in line up, you know, yeah, I'm out tonight, but, you know, go Gophers.
16:10
They're together.
16:11
You know, it's a really, really tight-knit group.
16:14
And you got to, you have to have that.
16:17
And, you know, somehow, you know, with his staff, too.
16:21
I mean, he's got a good staff that, you know, plays a big part in that.
16:27
But Bob does a really, really good job at keeping these guys together and focused.
16:33
And, you know, he picks his spots when he gets mad.
16:38
And it's not that often, you know.
16:42
And so, yeah, I agree with you.
16:45
He does a terrific job.
16:47
And congrats to Bob.
16:49
Friday night, by the way, was one of those nights when Bob was really frustrated with his team.
16:54
Because he had seen them all week practice to prepare for Notre Dame and then did not see them execute it on Friday night.
17:02
Really peeved him.
17:03
You know, I saw practice last week and they were practicing line change.
17:06
They were practicing faceoff intensity.
17:09
They were practicing defensive zone switches.
17:11
Those are all the things you need to do for Notre Dame.
17:14
And they were doing it.
17:15
And then they just had a couple lapses.
17:17
At the same time, they came back out the next night and performed.
17:21
And that's being in the big moment and understanding it.
17:25
And you can do it in practice until you're blue in the face, right?
17:29
And it's no pressure, no nothing.
17:32
You get the game and you get the crowd and you get the band and all of a sudden you freeze.
17:39
And that's happened three times against Notre Dame on Friday.
17:47
And then they couldn't get one past Bischel in that second period.
17:49
I was shooting him 17 to 4.
17:51
And Bischel was fabulous this weekend.
17:57
Well, I've got a couple topics I wanted to get into.
18:01
Slow starts, players, pairwise, a couple of those things.
18:04
But one thing we need to do first, Veegs, is talk about one of our sponsors.
18:08
Unreal now is...
18:12
Well, they're doing a cool little release of some golf stuff coming up on Friday.
18:16
I did see that coming up.
18:17
So they're doing a lot of fresh stuff.
18:21
Yeah, I mean, they're a local company.
18:23
Mike Lee Jordan, white bear-like guy, you know, one of us.
18:27
And he started this company with $300 in his bank account.
18:30
And he's crafting stuff for the athlete.
18:32
He's looking to leave a legacy.
18:33
And you just look at all these cool drops he's doing with local sports teams.
18:38
It's fun to see.
18:39
Sign up for that stuff.
18:40
You get the emails, get the text.
18:42
You can get after it quick because they don't produce a ton of stuff.
18:45
They make everything kind of limited in these drops.
18:48
And then they donate 10 percent or more of all their profits to the local community.
18:52
So it's a cool thing.
18:54
It's like our own local Under Armour Nike right in our backyard.
18:58
Visit unreal.co.
19:00
That's a code, not a com.
19:01
And use the promo code pulltab15 for 15 percent off your order.
19:06
Definitely use the code.
19:07
It gets you that nice discount off of everything.
19:12
Watch for some golf stuff being released on Black Friday.
19:15
I noticed they had a little Shooter McGavin teaser video today, Veegs.
19:20
So that was pretty cool.
19:24
So that's Unreal, one of our great sponsors, but also we've got our guys Duke Cannon, who I know you love and I love for our fabulous, fabulous hair.
19:37
And many other products, but I've used the hair products.
19:40
Yeah, one weapon your hair care arsenal should be, Duke Cannon.
19:43
You know, get some Styly Punny.
19:45
You know, do the Mr.
19:46
Miyagi, get it rubbed in real good and hot, and then just work it in.
19:50
I think the wet hair is the best to work it in.
19:53
You know, dry hair, you might do a little different product, both that grooming clay, styling putty, you really want to work it in there.
19:58
And so whether it's that or News Anchor thick hair, give you a little bit more structure to your game, some flow.
20:06
Go for it at dukecannon.com, Target, or even your local hardware store.
20:11
I noticed they have some soaps out and they have like a brick of coal to give to that person on your naughty list.
20:18
So if you're looking for something to, you know, give someone who hasn't, you know, treated you very well this year, look for that big ass bar of coal soap.
20:26
I saw the sweet potato one today in one of their videos online.
20:31
Very original.
20:32
Looks like put little marshmallows on top.
20:36
Some original advertising.
20:37
They were doing a great job.
20:38
So get out there and get your Duke Cannon hair stuff and all the other stuff they have as well.
20:44
All right, we need to bring Pat back in here.
20:48
There he is.
20:50
So we talked about the slow start as a team.
20:57
Veegs, I think we kind of had a slow start for somebody who we thought would be a big deal.
21:03
I think Oliver Moore has been a little quiet the last three, four weeks.
21:10
I think what's going on in his game is he needs to find a few more tricks to bring to the rink.
21:17
He's a guy who has relied on his elite world class speed.
21:22
We know he is faster than McDavid was at this age.
21:26
They've timed it with the laser timers.
21:28
He is fast.
21:29
He's explosive.
21:30
But when you get to college hockey, the defensemen know that and they're going to play that gap and they're going to give you a little more space.
21:37
You have to figure out how to manipulate that space and manipulate the defender to create some scoring chances for yourself.
21:44
And I think he's having a little bit of trouble bringing that to the ice.
21:48
And it's forcing him to press.
21:50
You start seeing him do things with the puck as he crosses the blue line that he probably hasn't done before because he's trying to figure out how can I get on the score sheet.
21:59
And so it's going to be a big challenge for him to elevate his hockey IQ and figure out how to create scoring at the college level because he's shown the speed.
22:09
He's shown the skill.
22:10
It's just that brain has to catch up and figure out how to make it happen.
22:14
What do you think, Pat?
22:15
I thought you had a good start.
22:19
I have thoughts on Oliver Moore.
22:24
He's a freshman and every level that you go up, there's an adjustment period.
22:31
His speed got him going early and I think he surprised the heck out of a lot of defensemen, whether you've seen him play before or not.
22:42
I think his speed was electrifying, right?
22:45
Still is, always will be.
22:48
I think you're right, Vegoe, is that he's got to learn the game a little bit more and I think he will actually be a better player when he doesn't handle the puck as much.
23:02
I think he really needs to use his line mates better.
23:06
Let them handle the puck a little bit more.
23:09
Use your asset, your speed, get behind the D.
23:12
Let him go after pucks.
23:17
I think he's not brainy enough yet to make that Logan Cooley type play where he can hold onto it and just delay, delay, delay because everything is one speed for him.
23:33
I would really love to see him, because he can accelerate so fast.
23:40
I'd like to see him slow it down, maybe go medium, maybe go fast.
23:45
I'd like to see him use that maybe all in one sequence.
23:49
Change it up a bit.
23:51
Change your speed.
23:55
If I'm a defenseman, and the way Oliver Moore is playing now, I know exactly how to play him.
24:03
I just need to pace with him.
24:06
But if he comes up and just gives a little hesitation, that's going to make the defenseman think.
24:13
And as soon as that defenseman thinks, you know this, Veegs, because he'll stop or do something, that split second is all Oliver Moore would need to get by that D.
24:26
Just a split second.
24:27
So, you know, that's from him on a rush.
24:34
When he's carrying it on a rush, you know, he's got to recognize, you know, how many defenders are back?
24:44
What am I going to do?
24:46
Where are my line mates?
24:48
Should I cut across the blue line?
24:50
Should I try to take a deep and know that, you know, I've got a third guy coming in?
24:58
It's more reading, you know, reading the play and reacting.
25:03
And if, you know, once he develops that part of his game, it will be scary to watch because he, you know, all the tools are there.
25:16
That makes sense?
25:17
I've got a couple more because this is kind of a fun topic about player development and how players get better.
25:24
And if you look back at Matthew Nye's time in the USHL, he really struggled at Tri-City.
25:30
He went through about half of the year where he was struggling to score.
25:34
He was struggling to contribute and his game was really lost.
25:38
And he had to go through that there in the USHL.
25:42
And he bounced back from it and he developed and he had a super strong second half.
25:47
And when he came to campus as a freshman and I saw him be able to change speeds and accelerate out of close contact, you're like, oh my gosh, I've never seen a big man at Minnesota with that kind of manipulation and able to come out of battles with pucks and create dangerous chances.
26:06
And so Oliver Moore has got to figure that out because he's probably never gone through this before.
26:10
Here's what I did.
26:14
Granted, we didn't have the sophistication that they do now with the video and all that.
26:21
But that being said, I never, ever watched myself play.
26:27
I always watched the players on the other team.
26:32
Who were the defensemen that I were going up against that weekend?
26:37
Was he a good skater?
26:45
Was he slow?
26:47
Which way did he have a tough time turning over?
26:51
Crossing over?
27:02
Should I throw it in Chris Cheliossos or Pat Ethier's corner?
27:07
He's going to win that battle, but there's someone else, right?
27:12
And to everyone listening, that sounds so simple, but some of these players, they get to the next level, and they're not thinking about that because they've always been able to beat the player they're facing one on one with one move or one trick or speed or their best attribute.
27:27
It's not always about that.
27:28
It's figuring out where the soft spots are.
27:31
And it's a leap for guys with their hockey IQ.
27:36
And during warmups, honestly, I hardly ever warmed up during warmups.
27:40
I'd get on my knees and I'd watch them shoot pucks at their goalie.
27:45
And I'd see, you know what?
27:48
Guys keep shooting there, they keep missing there, keep missing, he keeps missing it.
27:53
So, hmm, you know what?
27:55
If I get a chance, I'm going to go lower left or upper right or wherever if I get the chance.
28:02
You know, if I get an open shot on them, that's where I'm going to go.
28:06
So, you know, you got to kind of, you got to think the game, you know, a majority of it, in my opinion, with this game of hockey, is how smart you are.
28:18
And how you can, you know, whether, you know, how you can outsmart your opponent, your, the individual, whoever it is, the goaltender, and meet them.
28:33
I also have a note here from UVX.
28:35
FairWise number 13.
28:39
That is always a concern.
28:42
No, no, no, because at the end of the season, all games matter, don't they, Veegs?
28:48
When they put it all together, all games do matter.
28:52
And Minnesota is in an okay spot.
28:56
They just have to capitalize in this next stretch in the Big Ten here with these six games to get themselves in the top half of the league.
29:04
So if that's winning four out of six points the next three weekends, that puts them in a good spot.
29:10
When they get into those next games with CC and Robert Morris, if they're still in this 10 to 13 spot, they cannot lose to Robert Morris.
29:21
No.
29:22
CC you can split with because they're in NCHC.
29:24
Minnesota already has a winning record with the Dillignore.
29:27
They still deserve to be in the tournament.
29:32
So there.
29:34
So when you're Minnesota, though, you want to be a one seed.
29:39
No doubt.
29:40
So they've got some work to do to get there.
29:43
Yeah.
29:45
Let's talk in January.
29:46
I'm Mr.
29:50
Positive.
29:51
You can be positive.
29:52
I've looked at pairwise over the last 20 years, and if you're out of the tournament at New Year's, it's hard to get into it.
30:01
Oh, no doubt.
30:02
If you're in the top 13 at New Year's, you have like a 70% chance of making the tournament.
30:10
And if you're not, you better go on a heck of a run in the second half.
30:15
Yeah, I don't disagree.
30:17
And that's kind of why I'm on Twitter.
30:19
I was giving you a hard time.
30:21
You can't win a championship in November, but you can certainly put yourself in a position to make it a lot more difficult.
30:29
Get in the tournament.
30:32
Bob's pretty good at getting in the tournament.
30:35
Well, I believe one of the regionals is in Sioux Falls, Vicks.
30:40
Yes.
30:41
So if North Dakota stay is good, they're going to be number one seed.
30:45
They're going to be there no matter what.
30:47
If Minnesota can get up to number one seed, they could avoid the North Dakota thing, which I think they'd probably prefer to do.
30:55
Maybe they want to do that.
30:56
I don't know.
30:58
I just think it's tricky.
31:00
And then they get sent out east, because everything seems to be out east these days.
31:04
Yeah, I don't know where they are.
31:06
St.
31:06
Louis?
31:07
Minnesota and North Dakota.
31:09
Is it at Marystown?
31:11
I thought there was one maybe in the St.
31:15
Louis area this year.
31:16
You're just going to make it hard on us, aren't you?
31:21
He's getting his Google on.
31:23
So, Maryland Heights, Missouri, Linda Winslow Hosts, Providence, Rhode Island, Sioux Falls, Springfield, Massachusetts.
31:30
No Allentown.
31:33
No.
31:34
And the host this time in Sioux Falls, it's Nebraska, Omaha.
31:39
Is it really?
31:41
I would have a hard time seeing North Dakota not go there if they're a one team.
31:46
True.
31:46
But if Minnesota was ahead of them, so if Minnesota was like two or three and North Dakota was four, they might.
31:53
Minnesota travels pretty well.
31:57
They'd probably deserve that near regional.
31:59
So something to fight for.
32:02
So Minnesota, North Dakota, Michigan and BU will be in the Frozen Four.
32:06
I like that.
32:12
Holy blue bloods, Batman.
32:15
Certainly feels like it this year.
32:17
I mean, you look at all the big name teams, they all have big recruits.
32:21
COVID, they've done pretty well with the transfer portal.
32:25
There are a lot of good teams in college hockey.
32:27
And that's why I think you're seeing number one get there and lose.
32:30
Because they're playing good teams.
32:32
The top ten is really good.
32:34
I think, honestly, I think you could see out of the top ten teams, each of them at some point potentially being, you know, number one, number two in the country.
32:46
I think it's going to, everyone's beat each other.
32:49
And, you know, there's a lot of teams that, listen, Notre Dame's a good team.
32:55
That freshman group that they have is really good.
32:58
And they've got a good goaltender.
33:00
They're solid on D.
33:01
They play Jeff Jackson-style hockey.
33:04
They're going to be awfully, awfully hard to beat.
33:06
That was a tough series, you know.
33:11
And then, you know, Wisconsin, they're playing hard.
33:15
I don't know how they're going to be in a month and a half.
33:17
You know, we'll see how they grow.
33:20
Michigan State, young, freshman, goaltender.
33:23
How are they going to be next month?
33:25
That's why I say, you know, I get where the Gophers are now, but I also understand that there's going to be some, how did we lose that game with a lot of teams?
33:37
How did we lose, how did we get swept at home to these guys?
33:42
You know, when we were, you know, so that's why I have hope.
33:49
Well, when we were talking about the Moscow extension, we were talking about how the young players, they're not being held back and told to play safe.
33:58
They're being told to touch the stove and get better.
34:01
So the team right now is not nearly as good as the team that's going to be out on the ice in February and March.
34:07
Correct.
34:08
They are going to be at a different level.
34:10
And that's because of the coaching and the development that this program emphasizes.
34:18
It's about understanding and accepting and feeling comfortable.
34:21
And, you know, I think, as I said, I think a lot of the guys are like, well, is he going to do it or is he going to do it?
34:31
Wait, they handed the keys to me.
34:34
I got to go out there.
34:36
And I got to show, you know, tell the next line, follow us.
34:41
And then the next line's got to do it.
34:43
And, you know, Minnesota got into a rhythm last year where, boom, one line, second line, third line, and they were going.
34:50
They were, you know, they'd go.
34:51
And it was a well-oiled machine.
34:55
And right now, I just think that, you know, that lapse may occur by one line just having a bad shift.
35:03
And then, you know, then it leads to being out there for two and a half minutes and allowing Notre Dame to make a line change and then score a goal.
35:11
You know, so it's some of that that will rectify itself in time, you know, especially with the attitude that these guys have.
35:24
And Veegs, that is something you've been talking about for several years here, connecting shifts.
35:30
When Minnesota doesn't connect shifts, the next shift, not these one-and-dones and everything, all of that, it makes a big difference.
35:39
And that's what happened to the Nelson line with Chesley on Saturday with that two-and-a-half-minute shift where they got hemmed in and they just got tired.
35:47
And they had two chances where if a guy just makes a hard, heavy play, he gets out.
35:57
Or there's a loose puck in the corner.
35:59
There's a loose puck in the corner.
36:01
Chesley just digs down and says, OK, 20 more seconds of effort, wins the battle, and he can just chip it off the glass or send it down and get a break.
36:10
And that's what Bob talked about after the game.
36:12
It's like, hey, sometimes you just need the reminder that this is college hockey and it's going to be hard.
36:18
And what I really liked was later in the game, the middle stat Clark line was out there, and they just made smart possession play after possession play.
36:28
And it led right into the Nelson line getting a goal.
36:31
And I was just like, thank you.
36:34
That is what a coach loves to see.
36:37
It's like, okay, Notre Dame did it to us.
36:38
We can do it to them.
36:40
And if Minnesota can get that mindset, where it's not just about winning one-on-one battles or scoring points, if it's winning a shift with possession and building momentum, this team can get dangerous.
36:53
Because this team isn't a nice, coolly, snugger, one-line team.
36:56
This is going to have to be a depth scoring team.
36:59
And they have to learn to play that way and win games like they did on Saturday.
37:03
And we as fans of the team, it's so easy to get spoiled from what we saw a year ago and just expect it to be normal.
37:18
And it's not.
37:19
It's a new year.
37:21
It's some different players, some different roles, all of that different style.
37:31
Look at last year.
37:35
How many times, literally every shift, either Johnson or Lacombe were down at the goal line, right?
37:43
Making a play.
37:44
And they were cycling.
37:45
All five guys cycling.
37:48
This year, we haven't seen the defensemen sneak it up much yet.
37:52
I think we will.
37:55
You know, by the way, Luke Middlestead has been phenomenal.
37:59
I will just say that.
38:01
I want to get that so I don't forget.
38:04
I think so, right?
38:07
I don't know.
38:07
I think he has been.
38:08
But I think you'll see more involvement now with the defensemen as we move along.
38:15
And we'll start to see a better forecheck, a more sustained forecheck.
38:19
And I think you'll see more things happen.
38:23
Offensively as we move along.
38:28
All right.
38:29
Well, I want to get to a couple more of our sponsors here.
38:32
We're going to hear from Ferda now.
38:34
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39:27
Notice John King is narrating that one.
39:30
It was great stuff from Kinger, who was our guest next week.
39:34
So make sure you tune in next week for that.
39:36
We also need to talk about our Chill Boys, Veegs.
39:39
Chill Boys, always got that 15% off.
39:45
Pulltab, 15.
39:47
It's always great.
39:48
I've loaded a new video, so I'm going to play it here.
39:50
But I just ordered some more this week, so I've got more coming.
39:56
It's going to be fun stuff, Veegs.
39:58
I think they're in great fabric.
40:01
So here's a slightly different commercial for Chill Boys.
40:07
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40:10
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40:15
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40:26
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40:32
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40:36
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40:37
And like we said, Bamboo Boxers and Briefs, chillboys.com used the promo code PULLTAB15 for 15% off, VEGS.
40:48
We're loving this relationship with Chill Boys and all of our sponsors that PULLTAB has brought in this year.
40:53
It's been a fun, new experience for us.
40:57
Yeah, it's fun.
40:57
Like all the groups that they work with are local, tied to Minnesota.
41:01
I mean, I know somebody in our chat was saying, oh, it's White Bear Lake.
41:04
It's like, it's not just White Bear Lake, it's one Minnesota.
41:07
And so I think supporting local is always awesome.
41:11
So it's fun to work with everybody in the PULLTAB Sports family.
41:15
I'm going to bring Pat back in here.
41:17
There he is.
41:19
I wanted to talk about one thing before we get into Michigan State.
41:24
Pat, last weekend, Mikey Kester got beat up on Saturday night.
41:32
I happened to be between the benches in the second period when he went off twice.
41:38
There was, his face was in pain.
41:41
I thought for sure, yeah, maybe he can finish the game, but I wasn't sure he's going to be able to play the next day because you know how it is, you wake up the next day, and you're popping Advil and you're in pain.
41:53
What a trooper.
41:54
He came out and played so well, and his assist on Pitlick's goal was just calm and cool and just, how about a weekend that kid had from up and down, beat up to Mr.
42:09
Success at the end?
42:10
You know, he's got such a great attitude.
42:13
He's such a great kid.
42:15
You know, he wanted to come back, and boy, it's a godsend to have him back there just to help with those other younger guys who are taking on the larger roles now.
42:28
But you're right, after he first got hurt, I thought, oh, no, no, no, not the least.
42:35
And I saw him go down the tunnel, and he was writhing in pain, and he started walking it off, or like, you know, good, good, good.
42:46
And then he came back, comes out the next shift, right?
42:50
And he gets cross-checked right in the lower back, drew a penalty, and he was in so much pain then.
42:58
I don't know if it was more or less, but you know, but you know what?
43:04
That's what a captain does.
43:06
You know, he just, you know, he kind of like, okay guys, look at me.
43:11
You know, look at me.
43:12
And yeah, I was, and the play he made on the pit goal was, you know, terrific.
43:21
Just waited the perfect amount of time, got it in the goal scorer's hand, and you know, put it away.
43:29
Well, I think one of the things with that play is that Kester, like we were talking about with Oliver Moore, he knows how to manipulate space and time.
43:38
He knows how to slow it down, change a passing angle, and create an offensive play that's not there if you just go, go, go.
43:46
He knows when to calm the game, when to speed it up, when to pass the puck, when to throw it at the net.
43:53
Mike Kester's hockey IQ is his number one skill, and maybe his toughness is his number two skill right now.
43:59
Yeah, you don't have to play 100 miles an hour all the time, because, you know, it doesn't work.
44:05
You know, it doesn't work, and you're dead on.
44:08
You know, he just waited and waited.
44:10
The D moved his leg just a little bit.
44:12
Boom, right between it, and, you know, Pitlick got there, and, you know, it was simple, right?
44:18
And the big key to it is I'm sure Mike Kester scanned the ice and realized he didn't have a ton of back pressure, and so he had the time to do that.
44:27
You know, scanning the ice is such an important skill for a hockey player to learn and know where people are.
44:34
You know, Pat was talking about count the number of guys in front of you, now you know if you can go.
44:38
Scan the ice, count the guys behind you, know how many are trying to catch you.
44:42
Mike Kester, I guarantee you, has that map of the rink in his head.
44:46
Yes, no doubt, no doubt.
44:48
And, you know, and if I'm visual there, too, you know, I maybe would have cheated a little bit more because the goaltender has got to know if a guy is coming down, too, right?
45:01
And, you know, I don't know if he would have been able to get over there and make the save, but, you know, that's all part of the thinking part of the game.
45:09
Some guys have it, some guys takes a little bit longer, some guys never get it.
45:20
For both of you, has Pitlick awakened?
45:24
Well, can I go first?
45:26
Oh, go for it.
45:33
I want to see it every weekend.
45:36
I want to see him score every weekend because he has the ability to do that.
45:44
Sometimes he gets sample rent on us, where he'll just turn and go in the corner and turn and not be by the net.
45:54
And then there's times where he makes the exact perfect play.
46:00
And he has...
46:01
and when he does that, when he takes the right route, when he slows it down a hair and doesn't stick handle trying to break a world record and how many times he goes back and forth, when he slows it down a little bit, he can be really effective.
46:24
I thought he was their best forward the other night, Saturday night.
46:28
You know, aside from the goal, just his energy and his awareness.
46:33
And you know what?
46:35
We didn't have a four-check going.
46:36
I'm going to get our four-check going, was the attitude that he had.
46:40
And I thought he was really, really good.
46:43
But we've seen in the past where it's okay, good for a game or two, five off.
46:52
And if he can bring that consistency every night, that's going to be a big key for Minnesota.
46:58
Before, Veegs, you talk about Pitlick here.
47:01
I saw this comment from Patrick Sullivan.
47:03
Tell Pat, have a great Thanksgiving.
47:06
And the reason why I bring up this one is that this Patrick Sullivan here is the son of a guy who's been on my website for 20 years.
47:17
And he has told us that he named his son, Patrick Sullivan, after Pat the Rat, Hugh.
47:26
I'm not kidding.
47:27
He used to even call his little kid, when he came to escape with us, just a little kid, he's now married.
47:38
They call them the Rat, Pat the Rat.
47:41
And our friend Sean Sullivan, his father, named him after you because you were his favorite player.
47:47
Well, I'm very flattered and humbled by that.
47:51
Thank you.
47:52
So I just had, I saw Pat was in there, and I had to bring that comment up.
47:57
He said, from a fellow rat.
48:00
All right, Bees, back on topic.
48:05
He has been causing trouble, havoc, all season, but we kind of thought if he could get scoring, that could just, it could launch him.
48:13
Yeah, I always think Rett's confidence can kind of go up and down a little bit throughout the weekend.
48:20
And for him to get on the score sheet is going to be great for him.
48:22
He is probably Minnesota's most active, aggressive player.
48:27
He is not going to sit back and just watch the game.
48:30
He is always going to be aggressive.
48:32
He is always going to be attacking on the penalty kill.
48:36
When he comes out for that second shift, look out, because he is going to make things happen and be aggressive.
48:42
The one thing with him that I would like to see improve is he has got to stop putting pucks south.
48:49
A lot of times he will come north up the rink and he will make some kind of move to create space, and he will put pucks south back towards his own net and not quite be aware of what is going on in the rink.
49:03
He does not have that Mike Kester mental map of the rink where everybody is all the time, so he's just got to be a little bit more sure of those situations because when he's being aggressive, he's one of the most dynamic players in college hockey and it's fun to watch.
49:20
It really is.
49:21
He's got to cut out the south stuff and just be northeast-west.
49:28
You know, you get, at least as a former player, you see guys out there and you see things that you could never do.
49:41
And it's like, okay, now, if I can just get them to do this or have this mentality, oh my gosh.
49:56
But because he is, he is so talented, you know, as are others.
50:02
But man, you know, you just, you hope that, you know, it clicks and it really all, because when it comes together completely for him, watch out.
50:14
I mean, he can be that good.
50:16
When we're talking about Oliver Moore, I mean, able to add more tricks to his bag.
50:22
Rett's got all the tricks.
50:24
Rett has all the tricks in the bag and he can execute them.
50:27
He's just got to figure out when to use each trick.
50:29
Exactly.
50:30
Yes.
50:31
Yes, he can execute.
50:32
It's fun to watch him.
50:34
I love watching him on the rink.
50:35
Yep, exactly.
50:37
Michigan State, Veegs, they come into town quite a few points ahead of the Gophers right now.
50:47
In first place in the Big Ten, good for them.
50:49
They're young.
50:50
I don't think they're going to stay there.
50:51
But hey, they started hot last year as well.
50:54
Maybe they're more for real this year.
50:57
Yeah, I mean, when you sweep Wisconsin, that's quite the statement because Wisconsin is playing pretty well.
51:02
You know, Mike Hastings brought part of the Mankato State Mavericks to the Cole Center and they are a tough team to beat.
51:10
And Michigan State pulled off two big ones, which is a surprise to me.
51:14
I didn't think I saw that coming last weekend.
51:17
Fourteen straight over Michigan State.
51:20
Fourteen straight, Pat.
51:23
Yeah, here's a stat for you.
51:25
Are you ready?
51:28
Four guys that are new on the team, transfer guys.
51:33
Fifty-five points in twelve games combined.
51:39
Fifty-five points in twelve games out of the four transfers that came in.
51:46
That's a big difference for them.
51:48
Savage, the kid from Duluth, Howard, a defenseman, and somebody else.
51:57
Whatever.
51:58
Don't have his name in front of me.
52:00
But that's been a big difference.
52:03
And then they have some returning guys that were really young a year ago that are good players.
52:11
Russell, Dorwart, those guys are pretty good players.
52:17
They're not elite, but they're pretty good.
52:19
So they have more depth.
52:22
They have four freshman defensemen that they play.
52:25
And that will be something that I think Minnesota is going to have to attack this weekend.
52:34
I was having this conversation with one of the all-American defensemen at the UI.
52:40
I can't remember who.
52:42
And we were talking about putting pressure on a defenseman.
52:47
I said to him, I don't care.
52:51
It was Paul Martin.
52:53
And I said, Paulie, how did you like when a guy was coming on you?
52:58
I said, it was pretty tough, right?
52:59
Didn't matter how good you were.
53:01
He said, no.
53:02
You know, when I have time and space, yeah, I can make a pass.
53:05
But when the guy's right on me, awfully hard, awfully hard to make that first clean pass.
53:12
And so I think it's really, really important for Minnesota to, you know, get their four-check ruling on this team and let them know, hey, you know, you're playing us again.
53:23
And I don't care who you beat before, but you're playing us.
53:27
And so I think that's really key.
53:29
I think it's another key is their freshman goaltender.
53:34
Yeah, I was about to say that, yes.
53:36
All the accolades in the world, right?
53:38
But also a lot of pressure on them.
53:41
And so do I know if he's any good or not?
53:45
You know, I don't.
53:46
But, you know, I think it's important that you get in his face, you talk to him, you know, you let him know that it's not going to be an easy weekend.
53:57
You know, all the things like that.
53:59
You know, you got to play a little mind game with some of these players, too.
54:05
Can they get it to 16 straight over Michigan State?
54:09
What do you think?
54:10
I mean, 14 is, you know, I know our Gopher Hockey Stats guy, game notes, he's been amazing with stuff.
54:18
He says they had won 20 some odd straight, but it was literally almost 100 years ago against Michigan State.
54:25
Winning 14 straight over any team in this day and age is difficult.
54:33
Can they keep it going?
54:35
Well, I think you got to keep in mind, Michigan State's a completely different team this year than those previous 14 games.
54:42
They have a new coach.
54:43
You know, they drew four aces out of the deck in the transfer portal.
54:47
They've got a good hand right now.
54:49
And the key for Minnesota, I think is to not think about winning the 15th game in a row against Michigan State.
54:56
It's about playing like how they did on Saturday.
54:59
And if they can do that, I don't think Michigan State has had that crucible to handle that kind of game.
55:06
But if Minnesota plays like they did on Friday, where they have lapses, Michigan State's got a lot more talent this year.
55:15
I think it's going to be tricky for Minnesota to win too this weekend.
55:19
Okay, I think they're going to win too.
55:22
I think Michigan State is a team that is on the rise.
55:25
I think they're doing, you know, they're getting recruits there.
55:28
But let's not forget, they still have guys that don't know how to win there yet.
55:33
Yeah, they got a good record now.
55:35
And they, you know, they're coming up and they're feeling good.
55:38
But they still, I'm of the belief that it takes you time to learn how to win and learn how to win consistently and hold it.
55:47
And hold it.
55:48
And hold that winning edge and attitude.
55:53
That's my belief.
55:56
I think, I think Minnesota is going to sweep them this weekend.
56:01
That's what I'm going with.
56:04
I'm with you 100%.
56:06
Let's get this bandwagon going, folks.
56:12
The other weird thing about this weekend is it's a Friday Sunday.
56:18
People sometimes say I make too big a deal of this.
56:21
Playing at one o'clock on a Sunday afternoon, after a holiday weekend, is a challenge.
56:27
And sometimes this Minnesota team has not played well in those afternoon home games.
56:35
So I worry about that energy.
56:37
I could see a tight game that goes to overtime on Sunday.
56:43
And who wins?
56:44
Let's go.
56:46
Gophers win overtime.
56:48
They win overtime on Sunday.
56:50
Sweet for the Gophers.
56:54
Just for you, Pat.
56:56
Thank you, Eric.
57:00
Well, Pat, thanks for coming on our 250th episode.
57:05
We would have been starting right about now.
57:07
So we're getting you to bed at a more normal time tonight.
57:10
Yes.
57:10
You guys have done a wonderful job.
57:15
You're great supporters of the program.
57:18
We give each other grief once in a while.
57:20
Oh, gosh.
57:21
That's what hockey people do.
57:23
That's what we do.
57:26
I will see you both this weekend.
57:29
Congratulations again.
57:30
You should be very proud.
57:32
Well, thank you, Pat.
57:33
And thank you for joining us on this 250th episode.
57:36
Like Pat said, it's going to be a big weekend down at Mariucci.
57:42
We'll be back next week.
57:44
And joining us, the kinger himself, John King from Pulltab Sports.
57:49
It's going to be fun to have him on.
57:52
That's going to do it for the live show.
57:53
For the rest of us, we're going to have some overtime coming up, some drinks and some guests coming on as well.
58:00
So stay tuned for overtime.
58:03
And for the rest of you, we'll catch you next week on The GPL Podcast.
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