0:08 This is The GPL Podcast, part of the Pulltab Sports family. 0:17 Oh boy. 0:19 Duke making mistakes, I love it. 0:21 And so, I had to train for this marathon. 0:34 Triple, hey, stomped the same ball. 0:41 So, how was the flights in and out of Penn State last weekend? 0:57 Here's Jupiter and Vegoe. 1:05 Good evening, and welcome to The GPL Podcast, episode number 261. 1:14 Good evening, Veegs. 1:16 How are things with you? 1:17 You were a little under the weather this past weekend, I know, but how are you feeling? 1:21 Well, you know, life got really busy leading up to the playoffs, but we've made it. 1:25 We're here, playoff hockey, not quite the NCAAs like we're all waiting, waiting for, but Big Ten tournament means we're close. 1:34 Well, if we're going to talk Big Ten tournament, let's bring in our Big Ten guy, Paul Caponigri, joining us again. 1:42 Cappy, how's it going, man? 1:43 I mean, people must think I get paid a lot of money since you guys bring me on so often. 1:50 No, I'm doing good. 1:50 Yeah, it's March. 1:52 I mean, playoff time. 1:53 Let's do it. 1:53 You know, it's... 1:55 Well, one of the reasons... 1:56 And the weather is getting warmer. 1:58 It's like all the good... 1:59 One of the reasons we're having on is that you're calling the games this weekend with Dan Kelly on FS2. 2:04 Is that correct? 2:05 That is the correct rumor. 2:07 I think I started the rumor, so... 2:09 It's possible. 2:10 I better be right on that. 2:12 Yeah. 2:12 I'm excited at the gig. 2:13 So, yeah. 2:14 We're excited to have you. 2:15 Yeah. 2:15 I mean, every time Minnesota... 2:19 Well, this is kind of new, right? 2:20 Because the last time Minnesota wasn't getting a buy was back when Valleys was still... 2:26 FS North was still around and that's who would pick up the games. 2:30 BigTen, I think, the one time, well, you guys remember when me and Boster's were there and, you know, the raucous crowd of 600, maybe, 800. 2:42 But, yeah. 2:43 So, it's, you know, I think this is, like, maybe the second time where it's, you know, okay, we got Minnesota. 2:48 We're obviously going to, you know, air the Gophers game. 2:52 So, now I'm excited to get to Mariucci. 2:54 It's been a little bit a minute. 2:56 Well, we're always excited to have you. 2:58 And I definitely remember that weekend you and Vos just came. 3:01 That was a sweep, clean sweep, Michigan. 3:05 People forget that. 3:08 They will always remember your photo with you. 3:10 It was almost the, it was the beginning of Bob's, you know, it was turning it around and, you know, bringing everything back. 3:18 And, you know, this weekend, they've got a lot of tickets to sell. 3:22 I've been getting quite a few emails, Veegs. 3:25 It's still tough when it's spring break as well. 3:29 And with the state hockey tournament going on at Excel in Alderich, that also draws some attention. 3:36 But I think it'll be better than it was when there were that 500, 600 size crowd. 3:41 You know, the students were already on spring break for last weekend and they still came to the Michigan game. 3:46 I think there's a little bit of rivalry now between Penn State and Minnesota. 3:51 So I think it will be a decent crowd, but not a great one. 3:55 Let's hope so. 3:56 Well, let's talk about this past weekend, Vig's a split straight up split with Michigan. 4:01 Great Friday night, Saturday night. 4:05 They basically slept in Michigan, just took advantage of everything until the third period. 4:12 Yeah. 4:13 It felt like for me on Friday, the power play maybe bailed out Minnesota for the weekend. 4:19 And I don't know how great their power play looked, but it was very productive. 4:24 So that's kind of been a thing with Minnesota this year. 4:27 It's like, just because of the caliber player they're putting out there, they can be like a 25, 26% power play. 4:35 I think if they were really clicking, they could be more of a 30% plus power play, but we really haven't seen that this year. 4:42 So the keys for Minnesota's power play are gaining the zone, getting shots and creating chaos and letting their talent take over. 4:49 And that's what we saw on Friday against Michigan. 4:52 And then Saturday, when Minnesota gets disconnected, problems happen and they're just not good enough to play that style. 5:01 They need to find their identity and stick to it. 5:04 And when they don't, you know, against a good team, talented team like Michigan, Saturday happens. 5:10 And that's kind of the thing that's been this year, Veegs. 5:13 You know, we've been looking for consistency and they have been consistent, consistently up and down almost the entire season. 5:21 Yeah. 5:21 And that's the problem, I think, with this team, especially with as many young players, that's what you're going to get is inconsistency will be their consistent performance. 5:31 And the one line that really shined out this last weekend was the veteran line of Nelson Brudzinski, Nevers. 5:37 They seem to never go too far low. 5:40 And when they go high, like Nelson did this last weekend, you know, number one star of the week, great weekend for him. 5:46 They need that line to be productive, I think, to make a run. 5:50 And speaking of inconsistency, I'm sitting there getting ready for the game Friday night. 5:55 And Cappy, you're on TV in between periods. 5:58 You're like, did you guys, did you see that, that call on Ohio State? 6:03 Everyone has now, right? 6:08 I finally got to see it. 6:13 I don't know what's going on in this league, Cappy. 6:15 You know, we've been talking about it for a while here. 6:19 I honestly think the Penn State player, he just kind of was, he was getting, starting to get going. 6:24 He was going off the ice. 6:25 He was going to change. 6:27 And the other, he just ran into somebody, and he not only got a five, he got kicked out for the game. 6:34 Didn't he, Cappy? 6:35 He did. 6:37 And for me, it has nothing to do with Ohio State Penn State. 6:40 It could have been the orange team against the orange team. 6:42 It is what happened and what was called is just, it's just, I don't understand how can, and then you eject him. 6:51 Like it's just, what are we looking at? 6:54 Yeah. 6:55 What are we doing? 6:56 What are we doing? 6:57 What are we doing? 6:59 We don't know. 7:00 Like it's not, clearly it's not being called the same way by every referee. 7:06 So they're not, everyone's taking their own interpretation of the rule instead of trying to be the same. 7:13 You know, and then the one that was called later in the game was called a five, which, I mean, that's a tough call too, because Halliday was falling, but his arms were up. 7:22 So yeah, okay, you want to call a five, but didn't eject him. 7:26 I think that was right on it, you know, but are you telling me that one was less egregious than another one? 7:34 And hey, look, I, you know, I was a little mad, maybe a little more because I'm Ohio State, but I, every person I've asked or watched the video, there was not one person, and none of them had anything, you know, related to the game. 7:48 They just watched the video and not one person thought it was a two minute penalty, let alone a five, let alone a game ejection. 7:56 So, and look, six for seven. 8:00 It wasn't just that. 8:01 It changed the entire game because Ohio State had just scored. 8:04 It gets taken away. 8:06 And that changed the whole. 8:07 And you get a five minute, five minute power play and they scored one. 8:11 Buckeyes did come back and tie it shorthand. 8:13 Like I said, this is six for seven. 8:16 But what if this happens in the semifinal? 8:19 Two weeks. 8:20 Yeah, this weekend. 8:22 That's where I'm concerned. 8:25 Is that happening in a big game? 8:29 Yes. 8:30 Like what? 8:31 What are we doing? 8:35 I did show that replay the next night to a former on ice official who now does some off ice stuff. 8:42 And he was just scratching his head. 8:46 He couldn't really figure it out. 8:47 And he's like, if he wanted to see it, I'm like, and obviously, you know, it's his guys, you know, but he was a little speechless. 8:59 Generally, if it's a referee, kind of will just leave it. 9:01 If he doesn't have anything to say, it's not going to say anything what he really thinks. 9:06 And he's protecting himself. 9:08 Yeah. 9:08 Hey, look, I don't know. 9:13 Because obviously, it wasn't called. 9:14 And on the replay, the one, the rep back rep is literally looking right up the ice. 9:19 He was. 9:20 And it wasn't going to be called. 9:21 You know, I don't blame Guy Gdalski. 9:23 Why? 9:23 Hey, we just got scored on. 9:25 We're on the road. 9:26 You know, everyone's burning their timeouts now pretty willy nilly. 9:29 Like, you know, yeah, the one called on. 9:32 I think I would have called maybe a penalty on Nelson in front. 9:36 I don't know. 9:36 That was, you know, on Casey that hit maybe, but a two minute. 9:40 But it wasn't a head contact one. 9:42 It wasn't going to be reviewed. 9:43 But he or he tried. 9:45 And clearly it's a no. 9:48 And your timeouts gone. 9:49 It's the first period of the game. 9:53 Hey, coaches are going for it. 9:54 You know, maybe you saw the one from earlier. 9:57 Like, hey, this is worse. 10:00 What do you think, Biggs? 10:01 I mean, it's frustrating. 10:05 Well, it's frustrating because I think the refs put in the review for these major penalties so that you don't kick somebody out of the game and change the game unless it's warranted. 10:16 And I feel like the verbiage about that is reckless, dangerous, intentional. 10:24 Intentional. 10:24 Intentional for me is the biggest. 10:27 If it's one of those three things and it's a high hit, it's a hit along the boards or a hit from behind, and you put those together, you're out of the game. 10:36 But if the player changes their body position just before the hit, if it's unintentional contact, if it's not clear, if it's contact to the head, you can't kick a guy out for that. 10:50 And just seeing this get called wrong so often is baffling because there isn't the accountability for these guys. 11:00 Maybe we'll see some of them not work the playoffs, but I don't really have a lot of confidence that that's going to happen either. 11:06 You've got a bunch of series this weekend. 11:08 You've got to have somebody work it. 11:10 I mean, how many refs are there? 11:12 I mean, you're needing six this weekend, you know. 11:15 There's 18, 17 or 18. 11:19 Of orange stripes. 11:21 Correct. 11:22 Well, okay. 11:24 I literally, I just created a page on it this week because I was curious. 11:28 Who the six guys are this weekend. 11:30 And if, let's just say if a certain one from making that call, let's see. 11:36 Because I heard certain things like, I don't know, quote unquote, I don't know what he was looking at there. 11:41 And I'm not going to say who said that. 11:44 But it's someone that has to do with that word. 11:48 So anyway, I mean, that's, we don't want to be sitting here talking about refereeing either. 11:53 No, we don't. 11:54 That's the last thing. 11:55 But it's, that changes games. 11:58 And if it happens this weekend or if it happens in the semifinal or the final or, you know, NCAAs is a little different because it's not BigTen referees completely. 12:06 But the rule changed with the five to go into the misconduct to having both was the game. 12:13 I the first game of the regional fives, 20 seconds into the game, their Hobie Baker finalist hits a guy from behind and is gone from the game for Michigan tack against Duluth out in Loveland. 12:28 And, you know, it wasn't probably the only reason, but it was huge. 12:32 You know, Hobie Baker top ten by Brian Halloran hits a guy from behind. 12:36 It wasn't unintentional, but it was by the rule of law penalty, but it wouldn't have been an ejection in the new rules. 12:43 And it's a good new rule. 12:45 I just don't think it's been used properly. 12:48 I know like in the NHL, there's that site called Scouting the Refs, and they kind of track who the good officials are, who works what games, who advances the playoffs, who's in the Stanley Cup finals, their kind of history. 13:00 I don't know, maybe we're going to have to create a page on GPL, where we start tracking the refs, we track video reviews, and we see who's working the games, and we figure out who makes the right calls and who doesn't. 13:11 Because it is starting to become part of this game where we just kind of shake our heads. 13:14 And I'm assuming these guys get graded, right? 13:17 You would think so. 13:19 I'm sure it's not like crazy, you know, NFL type grade, but I'm assuming they get graded because the top, you know, the rising rise to the top in anything and the better referees for the year will do the bigger games. 13:32 Like you're only going to need four next weekend. 13:34 You're only going to need two the weekend after that. 13:38 And you're only going to send two or four probably to regionals and all that. 13:42 So I'm assuming that speaks. 13:48 I was looking because I was creating a page. 13:50 I was trying to think, you know, there's, you know, Gopher game notes had a list. 13:54 He has a list of the record against all these referees. 13:57 And it was literally 17 or 18 referees. 14:01 I was looking at myself. 14:04 It was Colin Cronforst who he's done the last two BigTen championship games. 14:10 He did the weekend series here last weekend. 14:12 I got a little chance to talk with him after the game. 14:19 Just more a lot of the weird things that happened because that's more fun. 14:23 And he actually gave it to me. 14:24 I see you got a shot of me when I was talking with the coach. 14:26 I'm like, you noticed that? 14:28 He goes, yeah, I noticed those things. 14:31 Because you got to realize these guys, they're hockey guys. 14:34 They love the sport as probably more than most of the fans do because they're willing to put in the time. 14:40 Now let's go back and look at my photos. 14:42 And even like Colin, he's been roughing since the beginning of the BigTen. 14:47 A couple of others have as well. 14:49 They've been doing it a while. 14:50 He was probably in the CCHA before that, you know. 14:52 Yeah. 14:55 Yeah, Colin's great. 14:56 I think the more, the less you notice a referee, the better they are generally. 15:02 You know, Brian Aaron does a pretty good job. 15:04 I mean, you know, I don't know a ton of them by name. 15:08 A lot of them by look, to be honest. 15:12 But like I said, the best is when we're not talking about them. 15:15 We're talking about the games and we're talking about the series coming up and the regionals and the NCAA champion. 15:21 Like, that's right. 15:22 Yeah, you know, it's just you just want. 15:25 Don't want to worry about those calls. 15:29 I don't know, because, you know, it could have, you know, why wouldn't guy do that again this weekend? 15:36 It worked. 15:37 It did. 15:37 When you get a goal against you're on the road back against the wall playoffs. 15:41 Now, for sure. 15:42 I mean, I as a coach, I would review. 15:44 I would ask for it. 15:45 What? 15:46 You know? 15:46 Yeah, you lose your time out. 15:47 You only get one. 15:48 It's not the basketball, you know, like timeouts are you only get the one. 15:52 There's 80 times where you ice the puck and you love this call. 15:56 You know, whatever. 15:57 There's like several situations we love to have a time out. 16:01 We don't have them. 16:01 You only have one. 16:05 Well, Veegs, we did kind of end up with a penalty situation at the end of the Saturday game with Michigan State. 16:10 Controversial at the blue line. 16:11 I didn't think I couldn't really see anything there. 16:15 It kind of comes back to if Hidlick doesn't make that dumb decision near the boards at the end of the game, Minnesota is not even in that position to have to defend the entire, you know, ended up being the entire overtime. 16:33 Yeah, it's not a great play. 16:35 Letting the emotions get ahead of you or away from you. 16:37 And Michigan almost won it with, like, right at the horn, too, because they just missed an open net. 16:44 When the puck came across, they would have won it in regulation, which would have been much better for their fairways. 16:48 So, I kind of put Pitlick back in the doghouse for that. 16:54 You know, I think all the Gophers kind of have their ups and downs. 16:58 I think the Pitlick more snuggled line is probably the moodiest line of the Gophers. 17:03 Like, they let their emotions get a hold of them sometimes and distracts from their, you know, play and what makes them really good. 17:10 So I think that's something for them to develop a little more maturity and how to handle that kind of swing of emotion. 17:18 And they'll have opportunities here down the stretch and we'll see if they can take care of it. 17:24 Oh, here. 17:24 Ryan K already question. 17:27 What does Cappy think about these goaltender interference calls this year? 17:35 That one's so much harder because it's a lot of gray areas and that. 17:44 Man, I thought the one on Nelson or... 17:48 No, I liked the call because there was no penalty. 17:52 It was an interference but unintentional, but he did impede the goalie in the crease. 17:59 I don't even know if the puck ever went in. 18:01 Did it ever go in? 18:01 It did go in. 18:02 It did go in, but it wasn't in until after the interaction between the player. 18:08 That is correct. 18:09 Look, like I said, the contact was his rear end to the guy's head and neck, which was dangerous for the goalie. 18:17 He played the rest of that period, but then didn't come back, didn't dress the next game. 18:22 Who knows if he's going to play this weekend? 18:24 I mean, neck injuries and all that, but it's another one. 18:28 That one's tougher, right? 18:29 Well, they're both tough. 18:30 It's just the obvious ones. 18:33 I mean, man, I hate that we want to get the calls right and you have all the stuff now to do it. 18:42 You have, you know, so many camera angles and the slow motions, but it does, you know, make it, you know, inches. 18:49 Oh, was that it? 18:50 Was his foot in the crease? 18:51 What did he touch him? 18:52 You know, like, it makes it to be easily scrutinized in so many different ways. 18:57 Well, Veegs, I, Nelson has basically been involved with almost every single one of these goals called back. 19:06 For me, yeah, it kind of stinks, but it's showing he's, you know, after five seasons, he's getting in there. 19:14 He's mixing it up, something we probably wanted to see for a long time for somebody who's six foot four. 19:20 Yeah, the players all joke that Steve Miller tells everybody to stop at the net and go to the net, and they all joke. 19:26 It's like, well, Jackson certainly hears that message from Steve. 19:29 So obviously he's getting to the right spots and, you know, the line would probably have another 10 plus points if he wasn't doing that and getting called. 19:37 So he's just got to find the line. 19:39 You know, we often talk about Jackson Nelson, you know, kind of sometimes disappearing from play as he tries not to take too many penalties. 19:48 But he's also a very important player for this team with his defensive positioning. 19:53 And he's not a reckless player. 19:54 You know, he's a smart hockey player who knows how to support his linemates, knows how to be even keeled throughout the night. 20:01 And he's just kind of finding where the line is, I think. 20:04 And they need that out of him in that line. 20:07 It's definitely, definitely interesting. 20:11 Well, one thing we need to do here, Veegs, is we need to talk about some of our sponsors. 20:16 And one of them is Will Anderson Insurance, Veegs. 20:20 Yeah, close your eyes. 20:22 Think of your insurance agent. 20:24 Someone you used to know decades ago, friend of a friend. 20:26 Now ask yourself, what has your insurance person done for you lately? 20:30 Are they saving you money? 20:32 Will they answer your call? 20:33 Reach out to our sponsor, Will Anderson Insurance. 20:36 He'll insure you the same as his own family and he'll explain it to you. 20:40 So it makes sense. 20:41 And while we can't promise he'll save you money, let's just say you should sure get a quote. 20:46 Call 612-361-7283 or visit www.willandersonagency.com and he's a hockey guy. 20:55 I'm sure he'll take your questions on goaltender interference. 21:00 Former gopher. 21:01 Yep, former gopher. 21:03 And remember, he's a hockey guy. 21:05 No balls to drop because he's got pucks. 21:08 And then we've got Yoakum Real TVs. 21:12 Yeah. 21:13 If you're in the market to buy or sell a house, tis the season. 21:17 Super Bowl Sunday is the official trigger point to list your home or start looking. 21:21 We talked about this last week. 21:22 No one's watching football on the weekends anymore. 21:24 And while they might watch hockey, they want to look at houses. 21:27 If you're thinking of going into the market, don't roll the dice on your biggest asset. 21:31 Think twice and contact the twins, Sarah and Jodie, at Yoakum Real Estate. 21:35 If they stand side by side, their wingspan is bigger than that other guy who buys too many billboards. 21:41 You know what I'm talking about. 21:42 Visit yokumrealestategroup.com for more info. 21:47 And of course, we thank Yokum and Will Anderson Insurance for sponsoring The GPL Podcast. 21:53 You know, you talk about football is over, Veegs. 21:57 People aren't watching that anymore. 21:58 People are watching us tonight. 22:00 Actually, 320 people watching us live right now. 22:04 It must be you, Cappy. 22:05 It's got to be you, Cappy. 22:06 I mean, because they knew we were going to talk about refereeing and all that. 22:11 I mean, hey, like, that kind of stuff sometimes people want to hear. 22:16 I get it. 22:17 And others, you see bad. 22:19 Why don't you call it bad? 22:20 Bad calls. 22:22 You want to kind of hear opinions because you want to get your own. 22:25 Like, I want to yell through the TV sometimes, you know, and I get it. 22:29 Like, it's it's a polarizing conversation, you know. 22:34 And I think when you, you know, you posted it on, you know, on Twitter or X, whatever, you know, it got a lot of traction, I thought, because generally everyone saw the same thing. 22:46 And I like I said, I think they're all worried for their own teams on that. 22:50 They didn't look at it as Ohio State, Penn State. 22:52 They looked at it as college hockey. 22:54 What if that's Gophers, Penn State this weekend? 22:57 What if it's Gophers, Wisconsin in the semifinal? 22:59 If we get to that, that's what people are worried about. 23:02 And it's sad we're talking about it, but if people want to hear our opinions, I'll be happy to do it. 23:08 But we do have a lot of other stuff going on this weekend, Bigs, in the Big Ten Tournament. 23:12 We've got Wisconsin playing, Cappy's Ohio State Buckeyes. 23:16 We've got Notre Dame visiting Yost and playing Michigan. 23:24 Michigan, Notre Dame, I think is pretty interesting, Bigs. 23:26 I think that could go to three easily. 23:30 Easily go three, but I just, I was impressed with Michigan from this last weekend. 23:36 You know, they're a team that has a lot of talent. 23:39 They don't always have the structure and discipline to go along with it. 23:43 But when they start going, like, McGroarty really impressed me. 23:48 Brindley really impressed me. 23:52 And when you got guys like that playing at a high level, it makes you dangerous against anybody. 23:57 And especially Notre Dame, who I think this season hasn't had the structure that they traditionally do. 24:04 You know, their goalie obviously was listening to the GPL Podcast and played really well against the Gophers. 24:11 They're going to need that if they're going to get by Michigan this next weekend because he's going to be challenged time and time again. 24:16 It's not just going to be shots on that. 24:18 It's going to be shots with movement, quick releases, one timers, screens, the whole bit. 24:24 But Cappy, I think Michigan, they always seem to struggle with Notre Dame no matter what. 24:30 I mean, in the past, those wins last year or last weekend were their first since in a while at home. 24:39 Notre Dame has had a great record at Yoast Ice Arena. 24:43 If you remember just the year before last year, they beat Notre Dame, beat them in overtime and got like home ice against Michigan State, but then lost to Michigan State. 24:54 But it's up until this year, they struggled or Michigan has struggled Notre Dame as the one team. 25:00 But man, if they get a tons of power, if they create power plays, I mean, that power play is insane. 25:06 You guys talked about McGarrity and Burnley, but I think the key cog is Seamus Casey back there. 25:12 He's just a wizard with a puck and on his edges is skating. 25:16 But the X Factor is Ryan Bichel. 25:18 I mean, goaltending can win series. 25:20 It's that simple. 25:21 And his number, I don't know. 25:24 Notre Dame is they've not scoring goals, right? 25:26 That's just not been their thing the last couple of years. 25:29 Like you imagine him as Michigan's goalie. 25:33 I mean, whoa, you know, like you're all these like fantasy hockey type of things. 25:39 But, you know, and I'm not knocking any of Michigan's goalies. 25:42 But Ryan Bischel's save percentage is up near 930 the last two years, you know, and he's got a chance. 25:51 They got a chance with him in that, you know, they lost quite frankly that two weeks ago, there were a couple of goals where kind of, you'd be like, that's off to go in on Ryan Bischel. 26:01 So that's the one, that's the thing they're going, you know, because Notre Dame scored one goal two weeks ago. 26:07 They're not going to win any games. 26:08 They score one goal in two games. 26:10 Well, and I think that's because Notre Dame doesn't have their structure that they have historically had and they're they're exposing their goalie and he's making the saves this year and it could be a lot worse for them if they didn't have him back in that this year. 26:26 Yeah, I mean, I think the hardest thing for them with that is they've had a lot of transfers come in and freshmen, you know, so the combination of that is you've got, you know, some grads, students, or fourth, fifth year guys that have played a certain way for three or four years and they come into Notre Dame and they're talented, but they're freshmen in terms of playing the Notre Dame, Jeff Jackson way, and they it's hard for guys that have played that way for four years to jump in and just pick it up right away. 27:01 Notre Dame's at best when their older players have been there for that long and they're like a machine, they know exactly where they need to be and the other guys come in and follow you. 27:10 Most young guys don't play a ton in Notre Dame because they've got to learn the Notre Dame way and they brought in older players that are good, but they've, you know, they're not playing the, you know, like you said, the structure that they learn and it's like a slow process generally for them. 27:26 And you see it usually work because they're a lot of guys that are freshmen and sophomore, you see almost no production from them. 27:32 And then all of a sudden junior, senior year, they become guys. 27:35 And you're like, whoa, where did this come from? 27:37 But it's happened over and over again there. 27:39 And I think that's where, you know, the, the transfer portal almost hurts a little bit with Notre Dame. 27:45 And I was also looking at Notre Dame. 27:47 They've lost so many guys decommitting to go other schools. 27:51 And that's really impacted their pipeline. 27:53 You know, Notre Dame historically has recruited some young, highly talented kids at 16 and 17. 28:00 They've got some nice ones this year, too, I think, though, with Danny Nelson and Canoble and Fisher back there. 28:05 I think. 28:05 But they're young. 28:06 It's going to take time for them to learn that structure. 28:09 Usually, yeah, building up, building your way up there. 28:13 You know, they have some veteran players. 28:14 Landon Slaggart's had a great senior year after struggling. 28:18 So, you know, they can catch lightning in a bottle. 28:21 You never know for sure, but Michigan is tough at home. 28:24 So that'll be interesting. 28:26 And we've got your Ohio State Buckeyes heading into the Cole Center this weekend. 28:32 You know, we kind of thought that Ohio State was a little researchant a couple of weeks ago. 28:36 And then it just didn't happen, Cappy. 28:40 Yeah, well, and I'm not going to blame it on injuries, but they're already not a big goal scoring team. 28:47 And Dunlap and Thiesing were both out for them. 28:50 That doesn't help. 28:53 You know, yeah, they gained some confidence. 28:55 They took three out of four from Wisconsin and Michigan State. 28:58 You're kind of like, whoa, and they did pretty well. 29:01 They won six to two in East Lansing. 29:04 So it's not like they won three to two and got out shot 55 to 12 or something. 29:08 So yeah, last weekend was probably, you know, kind of deflated them a little. 29:13 But they should have a little confidence after sweeping Wisconsin. 29:16 But yeah, they're going to the Cole Center. 29:18 That's going to be buzzing first, you know, home playoff series in a while. 29:22 And then, you know, the Buckeyes are shorthanded. 29:24 See what happens. 29:25 I obviously think it's going to be tough for them. 29:28 And Wisconsin's probably going to get through pretty, you know, we'll see. 29:32 What is it that Ohio State did so well in that series against Wisconsin? 29:37 What what allowed them to put off two W's? 29:40 I think it was more Wisconsin not doing things like I couldn't believe, you know, it was a three one game. 29:46 And man, Wisconsin was given. 29:49 Ohio State could have won that game seven to one. 29:51 They were just getting a ton of chances. 29:53 And that's probably why, you know, they struggle. 29:55 They just don't have those elite finishing guys right this year when they do get games like that. 30:01 But Wisconsin was taking bad penalties, undisciplined penalties. 30:05 I kept showing my casings on the bench. 30:07 And I'm like, how's this is not this guy's matured in 20 years because if this was happening when I was playing for him, he wouldn't look so calm on the bench. 30:15 I think in my personal opinion, I don't know this fact, but he's just waiting until it's behind closed doors to, you know, and still he probably doesn't do it in the same way as he used to. 30:27 But I think, you know, he's probably really good now at keeping it out of the public eye, his unhappiness towards his play. 30:36 Well, he did give it, unless he was telling us that, you know, Hastings keeps it, everything very close to the best. 30:43 He can't see practices or anything like that, so. 30:46 Yeah, he's learned over the years. 30:48 He was giving it to the media afterwards, you know, letting it be known that he was not happy with the way his team played. 30:54 So always interesting when the coach pulls that card out. 30:59 Yeah. 30:59 Well, and also, I think, and he hasn't obviously had to use it many times, but how many cart, how many times you have that card pull before it, you know, falls on deaf ears. 31:09 And so I think he's probably learned that over the years. 31:11 Like, there's always so much yelling guys are going to take where they're going to actually listen. 31:16 I guess I listen to it all the time back then. 31:20 Only so many times you can kick the garbage can, Veegs. 31:23 Yeah. 31:24 Jacques Lamar always used to say, you know, I yell, I yell. 31:27 Someday they're going to yell back. 31:32 Especially NHL players. 31:33 Yeah. 31:34 At some point, million dollar guys probably going to yell back at some point. 31:39 So you guys think it's sweep on both sides there, Veegs, for both Wisconsin and Notre Dame or Michigan, I should say? 31:47 I could really see the Michigan-Noradame game going to three. 31:51 Just because of Bischl. 31:53 You know, I was not, I was not a believer, as people heard on the podcast before the Gopher series against Notre Dame, but that series kind of changed my mind and said, yeah, he's, he's really legit this year and playing, playing great. 32:06 So he's probably going to get a vote or two for the BigTen goal of the year, I think. 32:12 I think that, I guess there's a couple things with the, the Notre Dame, like I think, yes, I think Wisconsin is probably going to sweep. 32:21 I'll say one of them in overtime though. 32:23 How about that? 32:24 That's, that's kind of like my, you know, show a little face for the, for the Buckeyes. 32:29 But two things, Notre Dame is going to bi-week or coming off of bi-week. 32:34 You just don't know how, you know, they come out fresh. 32:37 I thought Michigan Minnesota played a little slow at the start, but then we're really good Friday. 32:43 And then goaltending for Michigan. 32:46 You know, if it's Weston that he's not played much. 32:51 You know, you don't really know what they have there, to be honest. 32:54 Two grad students and a senior is what they've got. 32:58 That's where I hold out to wait. 32:59 I mean, if Parchesky is playing, I'll lean towards a sweep. 33:03 But if it's West, you know, Notre Dame might be able to get a couple past him and they don't need four to win. 33:09 I think they need three, maybe, you know, and also penalties. 33:12 I mean, they got to stay out of the box. 33:14 And usually they're a pretty good disciplined team. 33:20 Sounds fun to me. 33:24 Well, now we need to hear from our guy, Jake Middleton for Duke Cannon. 33:32 Jake Middleton here, director of hair and hygiene for the Minnesota Wild. 33:36 How did I get this important role with the team, you ask? 33:38 I'd like to think it was because of hard work. 33:40 But the truth is, I run hot. 33:42 Yep, I'm a sweater. 33:46 In my role as director of hair and hygiene, I'm sort of like a player coach. 33:50 Let me pull out the grease board here. 33:52 Well, it's not actually a grease board because there is nothing dirty about Duke Cannon. 33:58 How do I help the guys stay squeaky clean? 34:00 Helpful reminders. 34:01 It's simple. 34:02 Tarp saw, Duke Cannon up. 34:04 Say it with me. 34:06 Tarp saw, Duke Cannon up. 34:08 Tarp saw, Duke Cannon up. 34:11 Pick the scent that suits you. 34:13 Sawtooth. 34:16 Thick body wash. 34:20 And my favorite, Midnight Swim. 34:23 Tarp saw, Duke Cannon up. 34:26 Duke Cannon. 34:27 Work harder, smell better. 34:30 Of course, we thank Duke Cannon for sponsoring The GPL Podcast. 34:34 We love those products, don't we, Biggs? 34:37 I definitely love those products. 34:40 And now we've got Cub Foods. 34:42 I love myself some Cub Foods, Biggs. 34:45 Yeah, Cub's all board the Pulltab Sports Wagon. 34:48 Maybe you should be on Cub's bandwagon, too. 34:51 They sponsor The Wild on 7th Pod, sponsor Twins, Homer, Hankees, they're on PJ Flex headset. 34:57 They're one of us and they support GPL Podcasts. 35:00 Visit your local cub. 35:01 They're all over the Twin Cities. 35:04 If you need them, they're close. 35:07 They got food, they got beverage, they got pickup, they got delivery, they got cub.com. 35:13 Check them out. 35:15 Of course, we thank Cub for being a sponsor as well. 35:17 Love me those doughnut holes. 35:19 That was awesome, the doughnut holes. 35:22 They always have what you need. 35:23 You can go to these other stores. 35:24 Sometimes they run out of stuff. 35:26 Cub, great inventory. 35:28 Love it there. 35:29 All right, let's bring Cappy back in. 35:31 Like you said, he's going to be calling again this weekend with Dan Kelly on FS2. 35:37 And for streaming, that's the Fox Sports app, folks. 35:42 Six o'clock Friday night, 330 Saturday afternoon. 35:46 And if necessary, I believe it's 6 p.m. 35:48 Sunday. 35:49 Cappy? 35:50 Yeah, I don't, I feel like this is our kind of go-to time slots because it's the same ones we had last year in South Bend. 35:59 So, hey, I'm just happy that there's an FS2, you know, to get some of the, because you got, you know, BigTen is... 36:09 Women's basketball. 36:10 Women's basketball. 36:10 You know what else? 36:11 The BigTen Wrestling Championships is Saturday. 36:14 That's huge. 36:15 Because, you know, I asked this because I'm like, you know, the BigTen women on Saturday, they're done by like 4 o'clock. 36:23 And then Sunday, they're not on the air. 36:25 So I'm like, well, why can't, you know, the, you know, BigTen Wrestling, it's the championship. 36:29 It's not the quarterfinals and, you know, different. 36:32 Obviously they have one day or two days and that's it. 36:34 Whereas our tournament, you know, is spread over three weekends. 36:37 So I'm just, it's, it's, you know, you're thankful that you, you find a spot on FS2 to get these games on that. 36:45 I mean, nationally too, you know, you're not, you know, either you have the sports pack, did you have FS2? 36:51 Mm-hmm. 36:52 So. 36:53 Veegs, how long do you think it will be three weekends for the Big Ten tournament? 36:58 We'll see. 36:58 Bob tries to tell us every year there's enough people that want to change it to a two weekend tournament. 37:02 I think this is like three or four years in a row. 37:04 He said that and it hasn't happened yet. 37:07 Veegs, what's his, what's his, like, so like what would be his, I like, if it is two weekends, how would it be played? 37:16 Does he ever told you? 37:18 He hasn't really said exactly what the format would be. 37:21 Okay. 37:22 Which I think makes it challenging because he's talked about maybe having a neutral site, host it and have it rotate around. 37:30 I think now, you know, 10 years ago, no. 37:33 Now, I think it could be. 37:38 Would it be 25, would the Excel be full? 37:40 No, but would there be 10,000 people there? 37:45 Probably. 37:46 Maybe. 37:47 Ticket pricing. 37:49 Well, I mean, ticket pricing is the same as it would be, as it is this weekend, right? 37:53 Well, it's tough because the Excel is a venue. 37:57 If they don't cut you a break, you know, it's like $50,000 a day. 38:01 So if you're going to have a tournament where you have a practice day, game day, you know, the next day, it's at least $150,000. 38:10 Just that upfront cost. 38:13 Right. 38:13 And do they want to do that? 38:16 Well, it would be a Friday, Saturday, Saturday, Sunday. 38:18 Right. 38:19 It's semifinal final. 38:23 I mean, that will ask about ticket pricing. 38:25 It's not on the Big Ten to set those prices or are they basing it? 38:28 They do, but they had to negotiate with the venue. 38:31 Add a little more because of their paying the venue. 38:35 Well, the venue wants to get a cut of the revenue, too, for an event like that, too. 38:39 So it gets pretty complicated. 38:41 And that's why Excel hasn't been a part of the NCAA regionals last, I don't know, eight years. 38:51 So it's tough. 38:51 They pulled out a bidding for the regionals. 38:54 It's too big of a place. 38:55 I don't think they ever had an NHL arena host a regional. 38:58 Oh, yeah. 39:00 Yeah, they've been at Excel a couple times. 39:02 They were at Denver, too. 39:05 The regional? 39:07 The Frozen Four was in the Pepsi Center. 39:11 It was the year before the Pepsi Center hosted their Frozen Four. 39:15 They host the regional because I remember that was the big 2007 Final Five, Minnesota, North Dakota go to overtime. 39:22 Minnesota wins at overtime here. 39:24 They meet in the regional final a week later in overtime in front of a mostly empty Pepsi Center. 39:32 In North Dakota? 39:35 North Dakota didn't travel there? 39:37 Okay, well, then if they're not traveling, I don't know what to do. 39:40 That's where we're screwed. 39:43 Well, even NCHC wants to go away from the neutral site, don't they? 39:48 Yeah, so we'll see what happens. 39:52 You know, NCHC tried to condense it as much as they could with the new teams coming in so they could still fit it in two weekends. 39:59 So maybe that's something that BigTen could get on board with, too. 40:02 I don't know. 40:03 The one that I, and this would cost, obviously, is, you know, you have on, you know, home ice's and then you have, but you play, then, or you have the semi, obviously you want eight teams. 40:14 That's the first thing I want. 40:17 But you play the best of three weekend and then the next weekend you play the semifinals Friday on campuses and then the final on Sunday. 40:26 You know, it would cost more for travel for those two schools. 40:29 You know, you're paying for one more travel, I guess, because whoever wins, the lower seed has got to travel to. 40:36 So this year would be say Minnesota beats Wisconsin at the Cole Center on Friday night. 40:41 They would fly Saturday to East Lansing and play Sunday. 40:46 If Michigan State were to win their semifinal, you know, that's, I guess. 40:53 That would be a tough sell, though, for selling tickets, though, wouldn't it? 40:56 Because let's say, OK, let's say, let's say semifinal next weekend, the three and four seeds both upset. 41:03 So now the three seed hosts. 41:06 That would be, let's say, Minnesota if it was this year. 41:08 All of a sudden, two days later, you have to play, try to fill up a Mariucci. 41:13 Well, you're selling tickets. 41:15 You're selling tickets that weekend for both games. 41:18 And you know, money goes back or whatever. 41:20 Yeah, I guess. 41:21 I think people are excited to go if they want to go. 41:25 If Michigan, if somehow Minnesota got Michigan because you guys, two upsets, say it's the four that would maybe the top four seeds go, right? 41:35 But you guys, you guys beat Wisconsin and Michigan beats Michigan State. 41:40 You would host the Big Ten Championship for the third time. 41:43 Against Michigan for the third year in the world. 41:47 Right. 41:47 And you don't think Mariucci would be packed for that on Sunday? 41:50 It would be, but it's also going to be a week of sales to be able to do that as well. 41:56 Why not? 41:57 Two days. 41:58 They'd be happy. 41:59 Well, no, well, I don't know. 42:00 I think there's a way you could sell the tickets or, you know. 42:04 Possibly, yeah. 42:05 I think people would be amped after a Friday night beating Wisconsin on the road. 42:09 Oh, we get to host the championship game. 42:11 I'll buy my ticket Saturday. 42:12 I'm going to that game. 42:13 Poor Wisconsin. 42:15 They've got too much going on at the Cole Center though. 42:18 I mean, it's pushing the semifinal to Sunday, no matter what, because basketball has it through Saturday evening. 42:25 The boys basketball tournament there in Madison. 42:29 I don't think anyone wants to go to the Dane County Coliseum Veegs for hockey. 42:35 Yeah, it could be fun, but I don't think it's going to happen. 42:39 So, you know, if both teams do win this weekend. 42:42 I'm sorry. 42:43 I'm sorry, what? 42:45 The Madison Junior team, where they play. 42:48 How small is that arena? 42:49 Is that the Dane County Coliseum? 42:52 I think it's called something else now. 42:55 I don't know where the Capitals play. 42:58 It's the same that Ohio State would have. 43:00 Ohio State was going to be hosting a semifinal that weekend as wrestling. 43:04 And it's been and it will be, you know, their contract for I don't know how long. 43:08 And they get tons of people there. 43:10 I think, you know, one year they played at Nationwide Arena and it worked out pretty well. 43:14 And then one year they played at home on the Sunday. 43:16 They played Penn State and they lost. 43:19 So, you know, it is what it is with those two schools with the multi sports. 43:25 That's why I'm begging for Ohio State to. 43:29 And I mean, their new president is all in with the hockey. 43:32 I mean, he was on air on Friday. 43:34 Get the money. 43:34 Get her done. 43:35 Get her done, Cappy. 43:36 Have the money. 43:37 I mean, we all know that. 43:38 If you do that, I'm visiting. 43:40 I'm going to come for the series. 43:42 You have a president now there that absolutely his favorite sport is hockey. 43:48 He's been on. 43:49 He's been at every game almost. 43:50 He's been on TV. 43:51 He goes in the locker room with them. 43:54 So if it's ever going to happen, it's with this, you know, and he's not the athletic director, but he's the president of the university, which is bigger. 44:02 That's the whole. 44:04 He played hockey at Navy, you know, for Air Force. 44:08 I think it was Navy. 44:11 But if it's ever going to happen, it's under this guy. 44:15 So it would be it would just help in many ways. 44:18 And then their women's team deserves it, too, because they're an absolute. 44:21 They're an absolute. 44:22 And they're going to be in town. 44:24 That's another thing that's going on. 44:25 Mm hmm. 44:26 You know, this weekend, I'm not sure. 44:28 Final Fesa. 44:29 Saturday, Sunday. 44:30 I'm not sure. 44:31 But probably Friday, Saturday. 44:33 I'll try to sneak over there if I can to watch some of the Buckeye ladies play. 44:37 I mean, you know, that's they're they're a wagon. 44:43 They are. 44:44 What Nadine is doing, I think she could be a men's coach in a heartbeat and not and turn programs around. 44:50 She's she's just got it. 44:52 I don't know what to say. 44:53 If you can do it there. 44:57 So, Veegs, you know, we've got Penn State coming back into a town in the into Mariucci this weekend playoff series, best two out of three. 45:07 Penn State did not have a good trip here just a few weeks ago, getting shut out the entire weekend. 45:14 I'm guessing we're going to see something different from Penn State this weekend. 45:19 I mean, we will probably see something different, but if Minnesota plays like they did in that series, I think they've got Penn State's number, because that weekend was one of the best performances I've seen by the Gophers being above pucks, being connected and being disciplined. 45:38 And I think if this team is going to make a run, that's the blueprint for them to execute. 45:44 And I thought coming out that weekend, it's like this team gets it. 45:47 They're ready to go. 45:49 And now we've seen a couple of hiccups the last couple of weeks where they've gotten away from that, cheated, get stretched out, and they just can't play that way. 45:57 So I feel like this is a good warm up for the Gophers to get into playoff hockey and get going. 46:04 And I think it's really important for them to stick to that recipe this weekend. 46:09 What do you think, Cappy? 46:10 It's going to be fun to have you in town, by the way. 46:14 Yeah, it'll be nice. 46:15 I mean, I love it. 46:16 Playoffs is the best. 46:17 I mean, because there's nothing like when you're playing for a game where your season ends the next day, possibly. 46:23 We're going to have that at some point here. 46:25 Obviously, if it's, you know, Penn State down a game in the series or, you know, game three on Sunday. 46:32 So I just love the you kind of just get the all out attack, nothing to lose type mentality. 46:41 Yeah, going back to that series, it was one of those ones where I'm watching and I'm like, at no point did I feel like Minnesota didn't have control. 46:54 The only time it got interesting was that five on three for almost two minutes. 46:59 And Justin Close, that was when he made like 14 saves. 47:01 You know, like the shots on goal thing looked, but Penn State does what they do. 47:05 They shoot the puck and then that one that created a ton of chances. 47:09 You know, Ryan Kerwin, I think, had like 10 shots. 47:11 You know, he's the one guy maybe that could be, with his shot, can be a difference maker for them. 47:16 But, man, they just looked totally in control that weekend. 47:21 You know, so it's hard not to. 47:25 I think Penn State will have a little more bite. 47:27 They finally won a couple road games last weekend. 47:29 Obviously a whole different horse here coming down with the Gophers. 47:33 But, you know, if they can't get off to a good start, it's going to be really hard for them to kind of to get one here. 47:41 I just think the way that Minnesota schedule laid out for them is perfect. 47:45 How they had a weekend off right before playoffs, you know, one series. 47:49 And then if they were able to somehow win these two, you're done playing back to back games, but you've got enough games where you're like, you're not tired, but you're fresh, but you're not also rusty. 48:02 That's just the way I look at it. 48:04 I analyze that kind of crap in my head and I'm like, it's just, it's laid out really nicely for them if they're somehow can just get through Penn State in two games. 48:11 And I think they'll be motivated by that. 48:14 And Cappy kind of talked about it. 48:16 That five minute part of that game against Penn State was almost the key to the whole weekend. 48:25 It just, it was the end for Penn State. 48:26 They couldn't get anything passed. 48:29 And Minnesota just kind of fed off it and just shut them down the rest of the weekend. 48:32 Well, I think one of the things that Justin Close does really well is preparing for the other team's power play. 48:38 You know, I asked him once about how he prepares for weekends. 48:41 He's like, one of the number one things I do is we go over the other team's power play, what they like to do, how they score their goals, and really break that down so that when he sees that on the ice, he can read everything. 48:54 And I think that's when his hockey IQ really starts to stand out is making plays like that because he's making those big saves, but he's not really making them look difficult. 49:04 It's just because like he knows what's coming, and that allows him to play fast and effective and calm. 49:10 And, you know, I hope for his sake he doesn't have to go through that again, but if he does, it'll be entertaining for us. 49:19 It was definitely entertaining. 49:20 The crowd actually loved that five minute kill. 49:23 It was really strange because they had to kill two five on threes during that kill. 49:27 It was just it was pretty chaotic. 49:30 Yeah, he's one of those guys that it's rarely has to make that like jaw dropping save because he's he's so silent and subtle with his movements, but he's generally always there. 49:42 The one thing I'll say about Penn State and, you know, their goaltending has been there, you know, bugaboo this year and overall. 49:49 But Liam Sulear has had some really good playoff games both years. 49:54 You know, they upset Ohio State two years ago on the road. 49:58 He had a couple of good games there. 50:00 Last year, he had a 55 save game against Ohio State and they're winning one win in that series, you know, shut out Michigan Tech in the regional and then gave up. 50:10 They had 40, 39 saves in overtime loss to Michigan, you know, giving up to one in overtime. 50:17 So he's he's he's got, I think, some confidence of playing well in a in a playoff scenario. 50:23 And this is most likely his last kick at it. 50:27 You know, it's his fourth year, but this is the last year with the whole thing. 50:31 But that's that's one thing if he can, you know, any series if a goalie gets hot, right? 50:37 You know, it can kind of change momentum and mentality of a team. 50:43 I'm thinking two game sweep. 50:45 I don't really see. 50:46 Oh, I'm shocked that that's. 50:47 I know. 50:48 I mean, we've been we've been picking a lot of splits. 50:51 You know, I picked split last weekend. 50:52 I think I've been picking splits. 50:54 You don't know about you. 50:55 I didn't pick a sweep last week. 50:57 I haven't picked a sweep in a while. 51:01 Let's go back to the video. 51:03 Go to the video. 51:04 All right, Biggs, what do you got? 51:06 I'm guessing you're picking a sweep. 51:08 I'm picking a sweep. 51:09 I thought Minnesota played really well against Penn State the last time out. 51:13 This team is saying all the right things and they got to prove it on the ice. 51:19 But I think they've got it figured out. 51:21 I know Bob today said that this Blue Line Corps is finally on par with last year's. 51:27 You know, he was expecting them to be on par with last year's defensive corps. 51:32 It just took them a long way to get there. 51:34 I still don't know if it's quite as good as it was last year. 51:37 It's not. 51:39 But it's pretty darn solid right now. 51:41 I think they're doing it in a little bit different way than last year's group did it. 51:46 But they are pretty solid on their puck retrievals. 51:48 I think the biggest thing is they need their forwards to stay with them, especially their centers. 51:53 They've got to stay with them, stay below the dots, be connected with their D. 51:58 I think it's easier to do that against Penn State than some other teams. 52:01 So, chance to get some momentum there. 52:05 Cappy? 52:07 I mean, don't I have to kind of go like Kirk Herbstreet on this? 52:10 Because I'm calling the series or no? 52:14 It's going to be a split with an overtime win on Sunday. 52:17 18 overtimes in game three. 52:20 You know, I like to see this from Penn State. 52:22 I like to see this from Minnesota. 52:24 No, I mean, you know, I think there's, you know, one team is better than the other on paper and proof of the season. 52:35 You know, playoffs, you never know what can happen. 52:37 That is true. 52:38 You know, it's it's setting up for Minnesota. 52:42 But, you know, Aiden Fink, I think he'll play this weekend. 52:47 He didn't play last weekend, but I honestly think maybe, you know, maybe just being extra precaution because last weekend's games didn't mean anything. 52:54 Got to have him. 52:55 And, you know, I don't say he struggled of late, but he hasn't put up the points. 52:59 Maybe he hasn't, you know, I watched him. 53:01 He played well, but he hasn't produced the points. 53:03 You know, you make plays and, hey, you can't help if the guy doesn't finish your pass all the time. 53:07 Or, you know, or he doesn't put it back in the net. 53:10 So the only other thing with, you know, goaltending and Suleyera, I just mentioned he gets hot. 53:16 He has a 55 save game. 53:19 I feel this year, the Gophers like, what are we supposed to do? 53:22 Yes, you're supposed to score. 53:23 But if a goalie plays well like that, you kind of have to show your shoulder. 53:27 Sometimes you put 55 and score one. 53:29 So, yeah, I think it's going to be a good series. 53:33 I hope it goes three games because then I'm calling three games, you know. 53:38 I'm doing it. 53:39 I mean, I heard that from the radio guys as well. 53:40 They're always up for the three game series because they get paid by the game. 53:44 Well, that and then, I mean, it's game three. 53:47 Like I did it last year with Notre Dame and Michigan State. 53:49 It was awesome. 53:50 Game three. 53:51 Seasons were on the line for those two teams. 53:54 A little different between Minnesota, Penn State. 53:56 Minnesota will advance, but also you're looking at Minnesota loses. 54:01 They're off for a long time. 54:02 Two weekends completely off. 54:04 You know, Penn State did that last year. 54:06 It didn't look rusty against Michigan Tech. 54:08 But yeah, you don't want that. 54:10 So they're going to be highly motivated. 54:12 And yeah, I think they'll come out strong. 54:16 And the crowd thing will be interesting because there is a lot going on in Minneapolis. 54:21 You have the Big Ten Basketball Tournament down the way. 54:25 You have the women's hockey right next door. 54:28 You have the state tournament. 54:30 And I just found out Michelle McMahon is here for Pickleball. 54:33 I just saw her. 54:34 She is traveling. 54:35 And I thought, you're going to Minnesota, like Minneapolis. 54:38 I'm like, yeah, so Pickleball is in town, I guess. 54:40 So you just got a ton of stuff going on. 54:42 Does that mean Schlossman is in town? 54:44 I mean, he's a big pickleball guy. 54:47 And spring break then too, right? 54:49 Correct. 54:50 So there's just, you know, I'd love to see some good crowds. 54:54 Dan Kelly, he predicted 8,000 a night. 55:00 That's what he thinks. 55:01 And I love that, obviously. 55:03 That's what he thinks. 55:05 So I don't think I'm being, you know, telling anything or that was his prediction. 55:09 I don't know, maybe we have to get him on for overtime. 55:11 Let's send him a text to see if we have to get him on for overtime. 55:14 Dan's not awake. 55:15 Dan's not, I don't know, I have no idea. 55:19 Well, the tickets are priced right for this weekend. 55:21 I think they're $10 a game, so that's a good value for a college hockey game. 55:26 And that's a BigTen price ticket, right? 55:29 There's a little bit of a negotiation there, but yeah. 55:33 BigTen's got to be on board with it. 55:34 I remember that happening the last couple of years because people were, you know, like, you know, Gopher tickets are pretty expensive in the regular season. 55:40 If you want a premium seat, I think that's a really, I feel like that should be very emphasized by, you know, the university and get the people out there. 55:51 Because how many times can you take your kids to, you know, a family of five and over 50 bucks? 55:57 And the Penn State Series a couple of weeks ago was one of those special Black Friday deals earlier in the fall. 56:04 And they had more, they sold more seats than any other series in the history of Mariucci Arena for that series. 56:10 Yeah, I just didn't have them all show up, but they, they put a lot of marketing behind it all the way back in the fall leagues. 56:18 Yep, which is good. 56:20 Yeah, hopefully the people show up this weekend should be fun. 56:23 I will definitely be there Saturday. 56:25 So, looking forward to that. 56:27 All right, well thanks for coming on. 56:29 I'll be there Friday and Saturday. 56:34 Although Dan probably could bring it home on his own. 56:40 Nighty night, Nittany Lions. 56:43 You hope. 56:44 True. 56:48 Well, either way, Minnesota season won't end this weekend, no matter what. 56:51 So they're pretty good. 56:52 Even if they were to lose Veegs, I don't they're not going to drop far enough. 56:57 Yeah, my last look at the pairwise says they're 100 percent in says they're locked into the top 10 right now. 57:02 So I mean, I think they've they'd have to run the table like sweep. 57:07 Then they would they would want to see Wisconsin and want to see Michigan State because they're the higher ones. 57:13 I think there's an outside chance of a one seed still. 57:17 But they run it. 57:18 But well, you know, you need help. 57:20 And then obviously you're helping yourself because you're you're climbing over two of the teams that are right in front. 57:25 They'd need Denver to Denver by the other team. 57:28 They need to slide out. 57:32 All right. 57:32 Well, that's really their biggest. 57:34 I don't know. 57:34 Maybe that maybe it is getting that fourth seed that would go to St. 57:38 Louis would be or I don't know, man, the East Coast thing with UMass that chaos that could happen. 57:44 He likes playing. 57:45 He wants to play at least. 57:46 He'd rather be playing two games, you know, like the weekend for the NCAA tournament. 57:50 So sure. 57:51 If they were to get knocked out, like I said, like either this weekend or against Wisconsin. 57:55 I mean, think about it. 57:56 Wisconsin or Minnesota is not going to be out. 57:59 You know, two top 10 teams. 58:02 Well, you also think of Michigan State loses by week, then play one game. 58:06 You know, I will. 58:07 That hasn't happened in Minnesota. 58:10 But, you know, you get the bye week, play one game, then you're off for a week. 58:14 It did happen in Minnesota, though, didn't it? 58:17 Was that the year, Veegs, that they got knocked out of the tournament by.001? 58:24 They didn't play for the longest time, and it ended up getting knocked out. 58:29 Yeah, we know that whole story. 58:31 I don't know if it was because of that, the buys, but either way. 58:35 Well, I think they knocked out early. 58:37 It was all a cluster, so. 58:41 All right, well, thanks for being on, Cappy. 58:44 You ready for some overtime? 58:46 Yes, I have a time limit, though. 58:48 I do have to pack tonight. 58:50 He's got a plane to catch. 58:51 You could do a Vosser special. 58:53 You could show us what you're packing. 59:01 You need to do a whole pregame thing. 59:02 This is what I talk to the coaches. 59:04 I would need, I would literally need someone to do it. 59:10 I can't do that kind of thing. 59:13 How do I use this thing? 59:15 My brain would explode. 59:17 I would stress out from that. 59:19 Not everything else that you'd think I would stress out. 59:22 It's not. 59:22 I would stress out from something like that. 59:26 And I like to keep my life nice and relaxed. 59:30 Let's keep the stress down. 59:32 So, nope, not happening. 59:34 Nobody would care anyway. 59:36 Who else would see me pack? 59:39 All right, well, that is going to do it for this episode of The GPL Podcast. 59:43 Obviously, we thank Cappy for coming on the show this week. 59:46 For those of you watching live, stay tuned for some overtime for us. 59:50 We will catch you next week on The GPL Podcast.