0:07
This is The GPL Podcast, part of the Pulltab Sports family.
0:13
The thing is, if I drink whiskey, I will not be able to function.
0:17
Perfect, let's do it.
0:20
It's happened before.
0:23
See, I gotta make sure the audio works so I don't end up like Big Letty.
0:29
But I think the Gophers have, skater-wise, 119, the best roster in the country.
0:36
Wow, we just got finished.
0:41
That sounds kind of weird.
0:43
Kind of sounds weird.
0:48
Now, here's Jupiter and Vego.
1:02
Good evening, and welcome to The GPL Podcast, episode number 277.
1:10
Well, Veegs, we're back from our holiday break.
1:14
You got a holiday break?
1:15
You had time off from things?
1:18
No, I only took Christmas Day and New Year's Day off.
1:22
I worked the rest of the time, so.
1:24
I mean, there's just so much hockey.
1:26
You've been really busy, mostly with coaching, haven't you?
1:30
Yeah, a lot of youth hockey over the break.
1:32
A lot of World Junior hockey to watch.
1:35
A lot of Gopher hockey to watch since we were last on as a podcast.
1:39
So it's been busy.
1:40
I got to coach with Wes Walls and Kevin Gorg tonight in the Minnesota Wild Spotlight game, which is pretty cool for our kids.
1:48
You know, it's a big surprise.
1:49
The Wild come in.
1:51
Nordy's there.
1:52
DJ Anthem guy TV stuff.
1:55
It's a fun experience for the kids.
1:57
Wow.
1:58
That is pretty cool.
2:00
We never, we never had that for our adult league games.
2:03
Did we?
2:04
No, not exactly.
2:05
So it was pretty exciting.
2:06
Lot of energy at Northeast ice arena this, this evening.
2:09
Well, that's good.
2:10
Well, we're back at it.
2:12
It's Ohio state this weekend and duh, who are we going to have other than Mr.
2:17
Paul Caponegri?
2:19
How's it going, Cappy?
2:21
Good fellas.
2:22
How are we doing up?
2:23
It's probably as cold air.
2:25
It is.
2:25
Where you are.
2:26
So you were cold all weekend, weren't you?
2:29
You were wearing that hat right there or two of them.
2:31
Didn't you say two of them?
2:32
Two hats.
2:33
Yeah.
2:33
Cool.
2:33
Cause apparently this is the newer logo and I had the old logo.
2:38
Oh no.
2:38
Well, you gotta wear the new one.
2:39
I'm like, well, you know what?
2:40
I'm just going to see if this works and nobody could tell.
2:43
And I just, anyone that called or not called, texted or messaged just like, you looked cold.
2:51
I was cold.
2:54
It was a blast though.
2:55
I mean, aside from the cold, like everything there was done so well.
3:00
Nice.
3:01
The little details that obviously most people wouldn't notice, but Wrigley Field and like the NHL was involved.
3:08
They stayed involved with the ice, which I thought was huge because there wasn't one hiccup, at least during play.
3:16
I think, you know, they were always checking it, but there was no stoppages in four games in two days.
3:23
I don't recall ever seeing that much hockey and outdoor ice and no hiccups really.
3:29
And the weather really held out too.
3:30
It wasn't really, I mean, I can't put a couple of snow flurries here and there, but nothing like that would affect the gameplay or a lot of wind.
3:38
Because we've seen it in times in the past where there's a lot of wind, the switch ends at like 10 minutes of a period to make it fair.
3:46
Yeah, I mean, they talked about that, but as funny as we were, we were up on the top of the bleachers.
3:52
We were the ones getting the wind.
3:54
Yes.
3:55
So we were up there and we're doing the pre and all that.
3:57
And then we had time and we shot down to the field.
4:00
We wanted to go see the locker rooms.
4:01
And I'm like, you don't feel anything down here.
4:04
And then obviously with the glass, I'm like, this is perfect hockey conditions.
4:08
If you're out 20 some degrees, little to no wind.
4:13
The ice was for outdoor ice was really good.
4:16
So I mean, like the conditions down there were great.
4:18
We were just a little chillier with the wind up.
4:22
Yeah.
4:23
And and Veegs as the kid, 20 degrees, hardly any wind.
4:27
You'd be staying outside for hours and hours playing pickup hockey.
4:31
Yeah, that's the best temperature conditions to play outdoor hockey.
4:35
And I think Minnesota is getting that kind of weather this Thursday.
4:39
So see a bunch of kids out there skating this week in Minnesota.
4:43
But it's rare for these outdoor games to pull it off so easily like that.
4:47
When does it happen in our lives that we go from so carefree about the weather?
4:52
Like kids don't care.
4:53
Till like then now we're like, you know, somewhere in our 20s and 30s that we decide that we can't handle the cold anymore.
5:02
Knowledge.
5:04
I mean, literally when you're young, oh, my feet are cold.
5:07
Oh, I'll be fine.
5:08
Yeah.
5:08
My feet hurt, I'll be fine.
5:10
When you get older, when anything hurts, it hurts like experience.
5:13
Right, it doesn't go.
5:13
It takes longer to go away.
5:18
It does.
5:19
Well, before we get to anything, an important thing we found out yesterday, Veegs, former Gopher Steve Johnson had a liver transplant just last week.
5:30
They kept it kind of on the down low for a while, and then all of a sudden he got the call, we have one for you.
5:38
He had the surgery, so it's obviously starting to be very positive.
5:44
Now they're looking for donations to pay those medical bills, which is just obviously, you know, something like that.
5:50
Insurance probably doesn't cover very much, but the community has really come together pretty quickly.
5:56
When I first saw the donations, it was like 6,000 something.
6:00
Now it's closer to 70.
6:02
I haven't checked in the last couple of hours, but the hockey community has really come to support Steve.
6:07
Yeah, it's kind of cool.
6:08
You can go to the GoFundMe, that's on GPL.
6:11
It's linked.
6:11
We've got on the social media, you know, Steve has that autoimmune reaction that's attacking his liver.
6:17
It's not like there's anything that he's done cause this.
6:20
It's just, you know, tough luck, bad balance.
6:24
And to see the Gopher hockey community, you know, respond in this way so positively and help Steve through this is just really inspiring.
6:32
You know, Nick Angel talks about, you know, when you're a Gopher, you have this alumni network.
6:37
Well, they're they're coming out in numbers to support one of their old teammates.
6:41
Yeah.
6:41
And Nick definitely did that.
6:43
He sent a text out to all the guys.
6:45
I mean, I saw some donations from hockey players who played way back in the 70s on the big list of donators.
6:52
So all ages, all of the gang from the Gopher hockey community are coming together for this.
7:00
So it's just positive.
7:02
And if you need to know more about it, just go to gopherpucklive.com.
7:05
Our number one story is that right there.
7:08
You'll see a button that brings you right to his GoFundMe page that his sister, Lauren, has set up for him.
7:15
So please check that out and donate anything if you can.
7:20
Before the holiday break, Michigan State came into town, got a 3-3 tie with Minnesota, and then got a 5-3 victory over Minnesota, where that second game bigs.
7:33
You could tell Minnesota just ran out of gas.
7:37
Yeah, for sure.
7:38
You know, they're playing shorthanded, you know, nine forwards at times with a D coming up in there and taking shifts.
7:45
Not an ideal scenario for Minnesota.
7:48
You know, they've been testing their depth the whole first half.
7:51
You know, they basically have been hurt since the opening weekend in Las Vegas dealing with injuries.
7:57
And it just kind of caught up to them.
7:58
And they were just missing too many guys.
8:00
And you just saw a couple fatigue mistakes that cost them that game on Saturday.
8:07
I think the coaching staff was hoping that they could just power through and get through the weekend.
8:11
And you know, Michigan State, I think they only have two losses on the year.
8:15
And one of them came real early.
8:18
So they're a good team and they've got a good goalie.
8:21
So tough tests for Minnesota.
8:23
I think they'll bounce back.
8:24
I wouldn't put too much stock in losing that type of game.
8:28
You know, the second half here, I'm sure we'll get into it, but they're expecting all their guys to slowly get back into the lineup and have a full roster to practice with and prepare and play with.
8:39
And real quick, back up there.
8:41
Steve says the donations are up close to $74,000 now.
8:45
So awesome job.
8:47
I think they've pushed the goal up to $150,000 now.
8:50
So great job by the Gopher community.
8:53
Sorry, saw that up there.
8:54
I wanted to post that.
8:57
Cappy, what's been going on with you?
8:59
I mean, obviously you guys just kind of built up this huge outdoor game, but that's not all you've been doing.
9:04
You've got, you've been doing more podcasts with Ben Holden.
9:09
Yeah.
9:10
You're kind of doing a lot of different things now, aren't you?
9:13
I mean, just, I love it.
9:15
I just like talking hockey, so.
9:17
You do.
9:17
You know, and Ben, you know, Ben's great.
9:20
We don't ever get to do games together just because, like, I know the regionality of it.
9:24
He does all the stuff kind of in the Michigan, Michigan State area mostly.
9:29
And I'm usually either in Chicago or I'll bounce up to Madison or maybe Minnesota.
9:35
But no, he's a great guy.
9:36
We love talking all hockey.
9:37
It's fun.
9:38
It's kind of just for fun right now.
9:40
Here it goes.
9:41
He's got another one he's doing with, with, you know, with Carmen.
9:45
Carmen.
9:45
Yeah, that they're he told me they're like they have guys lining up to want to get on there to tell their stories and women too.
9:54
So, yeah, it's just it's just fun.
9:55
And, you know, we're starting to do more.
9:58
I'm doing more games this year, which is a combination.
10:00
I'm still doing the studio stuff, but I got more games than I normally do, which is fun.
10:05
And it's funny that Saturday night, I was doing Ohio State, Notre Dame, and I saw the score was three to one Minnesota.
10:11
I'm like, OK.
10:12
And then I had to go back.
10:13
It was like intermission.
10:14
I had to go back to our game.
10:15
And then when I our game ended, I looked at the score.
10:18
Like, holy shit.
10:19
You know what happened here?
10:21
Because, you know, it just that doesn't usually happen.
10:23
And then it makes sense like Michigan State.
10:26
They aren't the most skilled team, but they are relentless.
10:30
They don't give up.
10:30
Their coach is really good at...
10:33
They have built this temperament where nothing fazes them.
10:36
You know, the Gophers are pretty similar, but they have just more talent.
10:39
But they ran out of gas.
10:41
And, I mean, it's going to be very interesting next year.
10:43
I know Bob doesn't usually keep more than 26 guys as it is, but all these other teams are going to be at that number.
10:50
And, you know, things happen.
10:52
It's not a perfect season.
10:53
And sometimes you have a ton of injuries.
10:56
And, you know, I'd like to see that number at maybe 28, but, you know, it is what it is.
11:02
And, yeah, I mean, it was an interesting first half.
11:06
But I love, you know, I'm doing more and more.
11:10
Everything's changed now with the Big Ten, at least network-wise, because there's so many sports that like October, November almost now is gonna be really hard to get any hockey on.
11:20
But what happened is they're doing a lot more December on.
11:24
So it's kind of a good thing, but good news, bad news that way.
11:28
And yeah, it's always trying to do more, always trying to push more.
11:33
I'm always trying to get more hockey coverage, because that's our sport, right?
11:38
It definitely is.
11:40
And Cappy just kind of mentioned it there.
11:42
When Minnesota ran out of gas, it happened pretty quickly that Saturday night, Veegs.
11:46
It went from, like you said, that three to one score to boom.
11:48
It was what just happened.
11:51
Yeah, I think Adam Nightingale is doing a nice job of changing that culture at Michigan State.
11:57
I think when he first got there, there was still some of that.
12:01
You still got to show me what you have with this program.
12:04
And now they've got enough guys who believe and have that resilience.
12:08
You know, you talk about good teams, they don't get away from what they do well, even when the score changes and they're down.
12:14
They keep working, they keep doing what makes them successful.
12:18
I think that's something that Michigan State is now able to do because they've been on such a streak here to start the season.
12:24
You know, they've got the mindset that, hey, what we're doing is going to work.
12:28
Let's just stick to it and eventually it will go our way.
12:32
And then we followed up with the Mercyhurst coming to town last weekend.
12:36
Veegs, we are missing a couple of players, obviously just due to the World Juniors in Zeamer and Moore, and then Coach Miller.
12:46
Six-two win and a five-two win.
12:49
Got a little interesting Friday night when it was three-two at one point after being three-nothing.
12:59
I don't really know how to feel about this because they are the 64 ranked pairwise team.
13:06
And us old school, yeah, you know, when teams like this come to town, it's eight-nothing, it's 10-nothing, it's, you know, 11-two or something like that.
13:17
Didn't quite turn out that way.
13:18
And College Hockey is a little more different these days.
13:22
Well, I think Minnesota started out the Friday game.
13:24
They're out shooting Mercyhurst like 12-nothing in the first 10 minutes.
13:29
So, you know, they were controlling play.
13:31
But, you know, you can see it in the game of college hockey.
13:34
If you run in a goalie who's on his game, bad things can happen to you.
13:38
You know, look at Denver, they play UNLV's club team.
13:41
They out shoot them like 64 to 17 and they lose in a shootout.
13:45
You know, that kind of stuff can happen in college hockey.
13:48
So, you have to be persistent and you have to be consistent.
13:51
You know, the one thing I did like about Minnesota's game over the weekend is they score goals in different ways.
13:56
You know, they weren't just scoring goals off the rush.
13:58
They were scoring goals with shots from the blue line.
14:01
They were scoring goals on special teams.
14:03
Brody Lamb coming through again.
14:05
They had traffic in front of the net.
14:07
You know, I think that's something Minnesota needs to continue to do.
14:10
You can't just be reliant on rush scoring or scoring line.
14:13
You got to have depth and you got to score in different ways.
14:16
You know, one thing about this weekend is Bob kind of balanced the lines out because he wanted everybody to play and get their feet going and start the second half.
14:24
And also he got Eric Paulsen back and he showed up the very first game, a goal and two assists.
14:32
He's going to be such an important player for them in the second half.
14:34
I think we started the beginning of the year talking about center depth for Minnesota.
14:39
Who's going to be important there?
14:40
Eric Paulsen is going to be a big piece of this team if they're going to get anything done at the end of the year.
14:46
Cappy, you played not that long ago.
14:53
How was the mindset when you'd play teams that are clearly inferior to you, but playing you so well, is it something when you're on the bench, you're like, come on, guys, well, we can't let this happen here.
15:04
I mean, I think you started out like the way Minnesota started, you expected, I think, because it was the first game in about almost a month.
15:11
So you're excited to get back out there.
15:14
Then you jump out three nothing.
15:16
Then maybe you think, oh, we're going to run it up on this team, and everything's easy.
15:23
Then you just fall off.
15:27
You're right, there's a lot of good hockey players out in college now.
15:32
The line is a lot thinner between the good and the bad.
15:36
If you don't play at least your B game throughout, this is also Mercyhurst coming in, they're excited, right?
15:46
They're playing one of the top teams, so anytime they see an opening to, oh, they're taking us for granted now after they're rolling.
15:55
It's a mental thing, I think, more than anything.
15:58
But then they fought back.
15:59
They've had games in the past years where they'll tie that game or something.
16:04
Like you said, I mean, look, Denver can tie UNLV.
16:08
Look, anything can happen, quite frankly, goaltender game or not.
16:13
So I think it's a mentality thing when you get up big.
16:16
But they ended up winning 6-2, 5-2.
16:19
Bob said, I talked to Bob today getting prepared for the weekend.
16:22
He's like, you know what, this was a great kind of just get back into the flow.
16:27
Now you get a full practice week and you have most of your guys.
16:29
I think everyone is skating now.
16:32
I think there's two or three guys that are still a week.
16:35
He said possibly by Michigan State could be back.
16:40
So I 6-2-5-2, that's a really solid weekend.
16:44
Yeah, I'm sure there was some pickups, but also you're still very short handed when you've got two guys out and then three injured.
16:51
But yeah, I mean, it's sometimes you just lose your edge when you're dominating a game for a while.
16:55
You're like, oh, this is going to be easy.
16:57
And as soon as you think that, things can change on you.
17:01
Well, in the two goals on Friday, one's a power play goal for Mercyhurst.
17:05
Which the goal for power play has been brutal.
17:08
They see a puck go in, they get a little juice in their game.
17:12
Yeah, and then the next goal, I think a defender pinches looking for offense or plays a rush too aggressively and just gives an easy goal for the other team.
17:22
Those are things you do when you think it's a get healthy night on the score sheet.
17:26
Sure, I want to try to.
17:27
Why not?
17:28
I'm going to try this, that I wouldn't do this against Michigan or Michigan State.
17:32
Just meant mental things can change it in a matter of seconds in a game.
17:37
Yeah, but it's not winning hockey when you start doing that.
17:39
And the margin is so thin in college hockey these days.
17:44
Cappy, when you spoke to Bob today, did you get into the outdoor games and maybe that he could have been glad he wasn't playing in those games?
17:53
Because I would say in kind of all year long, I'm glad Minnesota is not in those games because you're playing outdoor games with points on the line after a long break.
18:03
Yeah, I'm sure all the coaches, you know, at the during World Junior, during which I had a lot of things there by the lowest year, though, in terms of players from the Big Ten, it was only six.
18:16
You know, Michigan State had two and then Wisconsin had one in the Notre Dame had two.
18:21
I think maybe seven then.
18:23
Notre Dame had two, Minnesota had two.
18:25
But yeah, I...
18:26
You're playing outdoor for points.
18:29
The first thing out of Bob's mouth, he asked me a question.
18:32
I didn't ask him.
18:32
He's like, Hey, are you, was it cold?
18:36
What did he say?
18:36
Ask me, was it cold?
18:37
I'm like, yes, Bob, it was cold.
18:41
Cause I mean, you can see it on my face.
18:43
You could not fake it.
18:44
I'm sorry.
18:44
You know, you could.
18:45
Maybe you could, I don't know.
18:47
But that was the first thing he said, but we didn't really talk to get into it up.
18:52
Aside from that, he was, he was ready to talk about his team and had some nice lawn.
18:58
He just seems like he's in a very good mood.
19:00
You know, we'll see, you know, Ohio State might have something to change that a little bit.
19:06
We'll see.
19:07
Cause they've been, you know, a bit of a surprise this year, but no, he's, he's, he seemed a good spirits.
19:12
You can tell he likes his team.
19:17
Well, I, it was all pure speculation of my part.
19:20
I just, I just know he's thinking of the back of his mind.
19:21
I'm glad we're not there this year.
19:24
Honestly, though, I, I mean, it was right.
19:28
Minnesota is different, but everyone loved it.
19:32
That was there.
19:34
It was a pretty cool, like, you know, it was an NHL almost ran thing.
19:37
So it was a little better than maybe a couple of years ago, the Ohio State Michigan game was good, but then the ice had a lot of problems.
19:46
And, you know, when the NHL is involved, it's usually done pretty tightly and all that.
19:53
But I think they would have liked it.
19:54
But it was Minnesota, a little different, you know, they come to Chicago, it'd be cool, but not as big as if they're playing at, I don't even know, where would you play?
20:03
Other than Target, you know, outside or the football field.
20:06
They played Ohio State, which Coach Rollex said it was zero or below.
20:10
It was cold then.
20:11
That game, I think in 2016, he said, it was like 20 degrees cold.
20:16
It was 2014 actually, but yeah, it was cold.
20:20
Colder than what this one was by like 15 degrees.
20:23
So yeah, that's all.
20:26
That was a very cold night.
20:28
I was glad I could go inside and outside.
20:30
You were there?
20:31
Oh yeah, I was there.
20:32
But you didn't stay outside.
20:34
I was outside for like a period and a half down there shooting along the glass.
20:38
But yeah.
20:40
I went down on the glass for the second and third period.
20:42
I was like, I want to be outside and embrace it.
20:46
The Norwegian's saying there's no bad weather, only bad clothing.
20:49
But I had the big snow pants, overalls on, the extra.
20:54
I did have the thing with, at least you can see my eyes.
20:58
Oh, there we go.
21:00
Oh, he's getting ready for Valentine's Day there.
21:02
Yeah.
21:04
I've got a month still for that.
21:05
But no, I think all, look at Michigan got lucky that they didn't have one player at World Junior this year.
21:14
So, and then they added a player.
21:17
Yeah, and he did pretty well.
21:18
He did immediately and made an impact.
21:20
So, no, I, yeah.
21:23
You know what?
21:23
It just was a really good event, you know.
21:26
And I'm sure they didn't miss it.
21:28
Their goal, there's one thing.
21:30
You talk about points and God bless those points.
21:34
I don't think Pahub really cares about any points right now.
21:37
He cares about wins, which equate points, but he'd be worried about what his team looks like in March.
21:42
It's just the way it is and that's the way it should be there.
21:46
And I get the sense, like with the injuries and the timelines for players coming back, it's all about making sure you're in a good spot for March and April.
21:56
Wow.
21:57
Puckhound aka Thompson, I think he says it was eight below that night.
22:02
I believe it.
22:03
It was cold.
22:04
Yeah, this one, this one, I think the low for the wind chill was about four, like it was like 18 with a wind chill of like four or five.
22:13
Well, yeah, the wind is what kills me if it's zero, but no wind.
22:18
You're fine.
22:18
You know what?
22:19
That it's when that wind bites you in the face.
22:21
It just sucks the life audio.
22:23
It does.
22:25
It's why the age still on.
22:26
I'm still kind of getting the heat back down.
22:29
I'm trying to stay warm.
22:32
Veegs, you had a birthday on Sunday and you got a great birthday gift on that day.
22:38
Didn't you?
22:39
USA wins another gold medal at World Junior.
22:43
It is quite the era of USA hockey right now.
22:47
All that ADM philosophy paying off.
22:50
I am probably not the biggest advocate of the development team program in Ann Arbor.
22:56
It is kind of centralizing a lot of talent, but you can't really argue with some of these results.
23:01
I mean, USA hockey is just a dominant force at these international tournaments.
23:05
And I think we are going to see it, the four nations here coming up again.
23:10
Cappy, I know you along with quite a few other people, I want to see five on five overtime.
23:15
I want to see this three on three.
23:18
I am going to put a little but in there because international, IHF, they love to have their different rules.
23:27
I am just glad we didn't finish it with a ten minute overtime, if that, and then went to shootout.
23:34
I will take three on three versus five on five and then a shootout.
23:39
So I think they are moving in a better direction, but at least they are playing hockey and they are not stopping to do a shootout for the gold medal game.
23:48
Yeah, I mean, if I had a, my right now perfect, I think would be maybe play ten minute five on five and then play a ten minute five three on three.
23:59
And then I think ten three on three and then you just go and then you play till the end.
24:04
Three on three, there's, I think it's not going to go that long, somebody's going to score.
24:09
Well, they went over, I think over ten minutes or nine minutes, somewhere around there.
24:15
Yeah, I mean.
24:16
Gold medal game, so.
24:17
You gotta play, you gotta play.
24:20
This isn't soccer, they're not going to go for ten on three.
24:24
They'll, somebody will score.
24:25
And you do the ice, so why can't you play five on five for at least ten minutes?
24:31
That's what, twenty minutes of time?
24:33
Like, you know, if you're going to do the ice and take that time, you might as well do it right, at least for a little while.
24:42
It's just the goofiness of IIHF rules.
24:45
I mean, I remember, I saw it earlier in another game, you know, oh, another US game, I think the Canada game.
24:53
I think Canada got a penalty.
24:57
US took too much time to get a player out.
25:00
They called it to lay a game on them.
25:02
So, you know, in our rules, it would have been four on four because they happened really, they didn't really happen simultaneously.
25:09
But in international rules, nope, we go five on five because two penalties happened at that stoppage.
25:15
So, there's just goofy little things.
25:17
And I'm just glad we have it's happened plays on the ice, not the shootout leagues.
25:24
Yeah, I, I don't know if you're going to get five on five in these kind of tournaments.
25:28
You know, it's in season, you know, these teams have to go back to their teams.
25:33
I'm sure, you know, Bob Monsko wouldn't love seeing Brody Zemur and Oliver Moore play three over times and then come back and try to play a BigTen game.
25:44
You know, I just don't think that's where things are headed.
25:47
I'm glad that they at least play three on three for as long as they do in these tournaments, because like, I think the Sweden Czechia game went 15 rounds in a shootout.
25:59
That's not a great way to end a game either.
26:01
So, I think just play the three on three out.
26:04
And they played their ten minutes.
26:06
At least they're playing hockey to win it.
26:08
Yeah, they did play the ten minutes of three on three though.
26:11
So, that was kind of a surprise, you know, that they got that far.
26:14
Yeah, I mean, I just look at college, you know, now with, if you, I kind of don't love how you get a loss when you lose in overtime, you know, in the column.
26:24
I don't want seven columns, like we've seen, but it's not a regular loss.
26:31
If you look at Wisconsin's, half of their losses are overtime.
26:35
Six of their 12 losses are overtime.
26:38
I think that's why they're kind of in the pair-wise, not that far, being nine and 12, and had a tough enough schedule, but I don't know.
26:47
There's no perfect world and you've got to do it, but I hate seeing the full loss in the column when it's three on three, because it's not a regular loss.
26:57
I'm sure most Minnesota fans and the coaching staff in Minnesota would like to see the shootout go bye-bye and just end the game.
27:05
That is one of the crazier things in the history of any level of hockey.
27:10
I'm embracing it now.
27:11
We're that good at hockey that...
27:13
I'm embracing it.
27:14
At this point, it's comical, right?
27:16
Yes.
27:18
I'm putting my worst player out there, first guy to go.
27:22
Well, I think Beckett Hendrickson is...
27:23
And he might go in.
27:25
Yes.
27:26
Beckett Hendrickson.
27:27
Go ahead, Veegs.
27:28
Beckett Hendrickson is probably now number one in the shootout list because he scored on a breakaway this last...
27:32
We had a breakaway goal in forever.
27:36
I mean, yeah.
27:38
So it's so funny, you know, when they went to shootout with Alaska Fairbanks, I was in the photo box during the third.
27:48
So I'm there during the overtime, I'm during their shootout, and I'm just leaning up against it, going, there's an Alaska player right there.
27:55
I'm like, dude, it's over.
27:56
He's like, what are you talking about?
27:57
I'm like, dude, it's over.
27:59
You get a goal, it's over.
28:01
I'm like, and that's exactly what happened.
28:04
He just kind of laughed at it, but I've started to keep track now.
28:10
I have a page on GPL that tracks all the shootouts that Minnesota has never had.
28:14
Yeah, I think maybe Bob Bob will keep losing them.
28:17
So maybe he gets second place in the Big Ten, so he doesn't have a bye week.
28:22
It's like, I don't want the bye week in March, where I'm playing two games in three weeks or four weeks or whatever it was.
28:32
And was that two years ago that that happened?
28:35
It's happened a few times.
28:36
Right.
28:37
Right.
28:37
It's happened a lot of times where they had the sec like the last week of the, you know, it's not I think it's Notre Dame, I want to say this year is the team in the rotation of having that last weekend off.
28:49
I think what is it the year that Duluth got in by the that 0.001 Vegas was one of those bye years where Minnesota finished really high and they didn't play for almost a month until they found out they're not going to make it.
29:08
It might have been and then that's the year they would have all would have been all four Big Ten teams in the frozen poor in Minneapolis or at St.
29:16
Paul.
29:16
Oh, that's goofy.
29:18
That's goofy.
29:19
But a successful World Junior's Vegas, Canada, they want to barbecue them up there.
29:26
They want to barbecue leadership in Canada right now.
29:30
And I just kind of laugh.
29:31
I saw a GPL or suggest it shouldn't be this difficult for Canada to at least get to the semifinals.
29:38
We've lost one of the superpowers.
29:40
Russia's not there.
29:42
So you would think it's you're taking out a really good program that's not even participating and they haven't made it to the medal round two years in a row.
29:53
I mean, it's almost like Canada doesn't know their own game.
29:57
They've gotten away from what's made them really good.
30:00
It is really highly skilled players.
30:02
They play lots of games and then they come into a tournament like this and they send some of their talent home and they bring up some small gritty hockey players and try to play a different game.
30:14
And that just doesn't work for Team Canada.
30:17
I do think it's probably going to open their eyes here.
30:20
Are they doing the right things with their development model in Canada?
30:24
Having all these players play all these games and play for all these major junior teams.
30:29
You know, imagine if USA Hockey picked an all-star team from the USHL and sent them to the World Junior, would that work very well?
30:38
No, but they send up all these kids out of the junior leagues into college hockey.
30:42
They get that experience.
30:43
You have the kids who play in the development program and they're always kind of playing against older competition and they go these international events together and get that experience.
30:52
And so by the time they get to this point of the pyramid, they're ready and confident and they play a harder game and they don't rely on so many mistakes.
31:02
You know, they create their opportunities and they can win these tight games.
31:06
So I think it's an interesting path of hockey development that's happening in the US versus the way it's happening in Canada.
31:14
And I'm also seeing some analysis of it.
31:17
A lot of people are saying they need to just start over.
31:22
A lot of it has gotten elite.
31:26
A lot of kids are paying to play.
31:27
They're spending a lot of money.
31:29
They're going to all these elite camps and they tend to pick those players.
31:33
And I even heard some of these analysis says it's these rich kids who are getting the opportunity and maybe not the blue collar kids that they have lived on for 100 years.
31:49
Well, I think you're starting to see the Canadian model narrow the pyramid really quickly and you're not developing enough players because you're not trying to develop the best 12 year old.
31:59
You're trying to develop the best 20 year old and that's a different path.
32:03
And I think a lot of things that USA Hockey is doing the last 20 years are starting to pay off.
32:08
I mean, we're seeing so many good, talented players come into College Hockey that are skilled and can compete.
32:16
And I don't know if Canada is doing the same kind of thing.
32:19
Cappy, but as an American, I'd love to see those Canadians lose.
32:25
Yeah, I mean, well, if it's become that political in Canada, then that's pretty sad.
32:33
You see it at younger ages because like money does buy you opportunities with and you hockey, I think anywhere, honestly.
32:41
But once you get to 15, 16, 17, the cream usually rise to the top and you pick the best players.
32:49
And it's, if it's, if I don't know anything about that, you know, you know, rethink, but apparently they're not though.
32:57
Well, that's what I, you mean, and they're very anti-college.
33:00
Yeah.
33:00
And that's, Hey, that's fine.
33:02
Right.
33:03
They don't have to pick the best players in Oahu, but look what happens.
33:06
Is that award going to insure them a semi-final spot?
33:09
Who the hell knows?
33:10
We'll never know that because they didn't pick them and other players too.
33:13
But it's sad if it's that political for 17, 18, 19 year olds.
33:19
Like you should be picking the best players.
33:22
And that, you know, maybe they have too many, you know, maybe they have too many players to pick from.
33:27
They do have plenty of players.
33:28
You know, that's what I mean.
33:29
It's like you got 45, 50 players to pick from that are elite, elite.
33:35
You know, maybe the US has that like that model where they have that program.
33:40
Is there most of those guys are coming from where that went through.
33:43
And sometimes that wasn't the best because a lot of guys go there and they don't play a lot where they go.
33:50
If they went to the USHL, they play a lot more because they're not behind the top nine forwards at their age group.
33:56
They're one of the best players on that team.
33:59
And it's better for their development.
34:01
There's so many different paths.
34:02
I just really hope.
34:03
I mean, you want Canada to be there.
34:05
I would love the US to play Canada in the semifinal or the final.
34:09
That's what you want to see.
34:10
And I think Ryan Leonard would have loved that.
34:13
And that would have been great.
34:14
He's the next Kachuk.
34:16
He is.
34:17
He's a great player, but he's going to be hated by everyone in the NHL, aside from Washington Capitals.
34:24
And that's great because he's a great player and he's a nuisance.
34:28
And that's great for hockey.
34:29
He's got a personality for the game.
34:32
So undisciplined, Veegs.
34:34
I've never seen a Canadian team that undisciplined.
34:38
And oh, geez, so many penalties.
34:42
Well, I think they get in this tournament and they're frustrated and they just don't know how to handle it.
34:47
You know, it's a different kind of game.
34:49
It's a different atmosphere.
34:50
There's a ton of pressure on these kids.
34:53
And when it's not going well and you're used to things going your way, that frustration comes out maybe a little bit easier in that situation when you're not used to that kind of.
35:03
Oh, and the refereeing, I think, is different, right?
35:06
Yeah, it's a lot tighter in the international.
35:09
It's probably not what they're used to, but you should know that going into this kind of tournament, I think, you know, while the development program is really good for those top ten players who fill out the first power play, the first penalty kill, your top six top four, it's not so great for your depth.
35:25
But those players go through enough tournaments that they get that experience and then they can bring it to World Junior.
35:32
And especially USA Hockey has had a pretty good coaching staff that prepares these guys for these events.
35:37
Like they've got the secret sauce figured out on how to get this team ready and handle it.
35:45
Gold Medal, that's all I like.
35:46
It's just...
35:47
Boonero baby.
35:47
And now we're coming for the three-peat at home.
35:51
At home?
35:51
For the new Diamond Buffalo 2010.
35:54
Is that about right?
35:55
I think Buffalo might have been the last place.
35:57
Yeah.
35:58
Let's go, Veegs.
35:59
USA all the way.
36:00
Should be fun.
36:03
I'm looking forward to those games being here.
36:04
That should be at the XL and Mariucci is the second rank, right?
36:07
Yep.
36:07
Perfect.
36:08
That's great.
36:09
I was talking to Craig Fleury.
36:10
He says, little chance we get credentials.
36:15
Well, they don't like them.
36:16
They don't like them.
36:17
All the American games are going to be at XL, right?
36:19
Yeah.
36:20
Obviously.
36:22
Yeah, he says they're very provincial.
36:24
They typically like traditional media outlets and things like that, but still going to try.
36:31
It's hard to ask.
36:32
Yeah.
36:33
That's right.
36:34
Of course, you got to try.
36:35
You might be able to get into like the Mariucci for some of the, you know, those games possibly.
36:41
Could be.
36:42
Cause those will be the attendance on those men that might not be as big, you know, for maybe, you know, Kazakhstan and Sweden or something like that, you know.
36:52
So, all right, Veegs, we need to start talking about some of our sponsors here and we're going to kick it off with lunch bucket hockey Veegs.
37:01
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37:10
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37:15
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37:17
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37:24
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37:26
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37:29
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37:42
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37:53
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37:54
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37:58
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38:02
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38:04
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38:11
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38:12
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38:14
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38:19
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38:24
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38:29
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38:31
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38:35
And of course we thank Lunch Bucket Hockey and Jimmy's for sponsoring the GPL Podcast.
38:41
But now it's Vigo's top 20 time.
38:44
Oh boy.
38:45
Oh boy.
38:47
Not a lot of change at the top from your previous one, but it's just a little flip flop of Boston College and Michigan State.
38:53
Then a bunch of teams kind of all stuck in there.
38:57
And then we had some shifting around due to Michigan losing and in Colorado College getting swept.
39:00
So tell us all your thoughts on this.
39:04
Yeah.
39:04
Michigan State looks like they are the tough team right now.
39:07
You look at their pairwise, their strength of the schedule.
39:10
I mean, they've got it going right now and you just have to give them that little nod.
39:15
I think BC, Minnesota, Western, all right there.
39:18
Denver, you know, came in as the number one.
39:22
We'll see.
39:23
You know, they have the magic.
39:25
David Carl obviously has been on quite the streak in tournaments with the World Junior and with his DU Pioneers.
39:31
So I'm sure they'll be in it at the end.
39:34
I do think there is a little bit of a separation between those top five and the rest of college hockey right now.
39:40
Those five teams, I think, are fighting for number one seeds.
39:43
I was really supplied at Colorado College, dropping two games to Augustana.
39:48
You know, earlier in the year Augustana had a good weekend and I didn't put in my top 20.
39:52
They're putting together some wins.
39:54
So I bumped them into my list at 18.
39:56
You know, it's hard to know where to put teams at the end here.
40:00
I think it's going to be a real fight in college hockey to be at 14 or 13 in pairwise and get those last bids.
40:07
It's certainly looking like a season where Atlantic Hockey and CCHA could just get one team.
40:13
Minnesota State just keeps racking up wins.
40:16
You know, Rhett Pilick's been a great player for them and they have gotten really good goaltending.
40:21
So they're in my top 10 right now.
40:24
I really think the only way CCHA gets to is if someone knocks them off in the tournament and someone gets a surprise at large bid.
40:32
And you know, after Cappy gave you a hard time about a month ago about not having Ohio State in there, they've been slowly creeping up ever since, haven't they?
40:41
They keep winning.
40:42
They do.
40:43
They're winning.
40:43
They should win.
40:45
Now they have a ranked win too.
40:49
Yes.
40:50
Quality win bonus points are finally in the Buckeyes column there.
40:53
So that's good to see for Steve Rolex team.
40:56
I always enjoy the programs and teams he puts together.
40:59
I think last year his portal editions just didn't fit.
41:02
The ones he got this year though, looked like they were good draws out of the pile.
41:08
And the other thing to mention, ECAC is probably a one bid league, too.
41:13
You're looking at three, one Minnesota State, UMRing nine, but in the pairwise, they're like 14 or 13.
41:19
So they're and if they lose and if they were to lose in a playoff game, that's where they're going to they're going to have to win all their games to stay up because all any loss they get is not good.
41:31
It's going to be tough for them to stay up there unless they win almost all their games.
41:36
So Denver and Maine split at Maine this past weekend, Veegs.
41:40
Do you think any of the voters for the USCHO poll maybe also thought, Hey, Denver lost to UNLV.
41:49
They're not supposed to take that into account.
41:52
But that was still big news losing to a club team.
41:57
I think it was more big news on social media than in voters minds.
42:00
I think some voters probably don't even know they played.
42:03
I hope so, because you shouldn't do that.
42:07
But people are people.
42:09
I might have moved them down just because other teams did well.
42:13
I'll do that.
42:14
If a team like Western has a good weekend, I'm moving them up over a Denver that doesn't play.
42:20
Or I might.
42:21
You know, it's kind of like, depends on who they beat maybe.
42:25
So in the other one, you call our College of 15, which I have them still around there, they're 28 in the pairwise.
42:31
They're out.
42:32
They have no shot unless they win or they go, what, 12 and two in the second half, which couldn't be tough in that league, but they're 28 in the pairwise.
42:40
They're not a NCAA tournament team unless they win their tournament.
42:46
I think they're better than where they're at in the pairwise.
42:48
And if they start winning games in NCHC, they're going to go up.
42:52
Sure.
42:52
But 28.
42:53
Like the strength of that conference.
42:54
You've got to go.
42:56
I don't know what the math is on that, but you're going to because they lose to Miami or Duluth or Omaha.
43:03
Those are killers.
43:04
They have three teams in that league where those are killer losses.
43:08
They're going to have to get help to get some of the better teams.
43:11
Yeah, either way, it's a backstep a little bit because I still have them in like that same area where you have them.
43:18
So but the pairwise is what matters.
43:21
And I think at some point I might just vote the pairwise.
43:26
I'll do that in my last, my last, right?
43:28
Hey, I got it perfect.
43:31
I mean, you know, that happens, right?
43:34
And yeah, it'll be interesting.
43:36
Arizona State.
43:37
I mean, the Hockey East has got five teams or right now.
43:40
They look like the top league this year.
43:43
So it's going to be very interesting to see the second half.
43:46
But I do think this kind of exposes maybe one of the pairwise issues, is when you have three really good conferences like Hockey East, Big Ten, NCHC, and then you have three conferences that are so much different than ECAC, CCHA, and Atlantic, and you have these independents, it makes the pairwise really hard because ECAC teams don't play enough games at a conference to really rank that league very well.
44:15
Right.
44:16
It gets challenging.
44:18
The Ivies, right?
44:19
Yeah.
44:20
To the life, man, I don't understand why they don't play as many games.
44:25
Whatever.
44:25
I'll just roll my eyes if that's it.
44:28
Yeah, you're right.
44:30
There's no perfect one though because you didn't have certain teams in your rankings, and one week you forgot to be you.
44:40
I've done it, man.
44:41
I've done it too when I was in my rankings.
44:44
I'm a rookie at this, Cappy.
44:45
I'm a rookie.
44:45
I need you to call me out, hold me accountable.
44:48
I will change my best.
44:49
It's help.
44:50
I'm helping you.
44:53
But no, but it happens.
44:53
I forgot teams too sometimes when you're, I'm looking at my last weeks, I'm looking at the results.
44:59
I mean, it's just not, I try to take it as, you know, I try to take it really seriously.
45:05
I don't know how many people do.
45:06
I mean, God bless them.
45:08
People have stuff going on in their lives, but I try to, you know, take it seriously and look at it for a little while.
45:15
But it happens.
45:16
You forget team sometimes.
45:19
Cappy, I kind of wanted to talk about the resurgence of your program, Ohio State.
45:25
Really, the only real blemishes, you know, they they got swept by Michigan State.
45:31
They got swept by Princeton.
45:33
They split with Michigan recently, but really everything.
45:37
They're winning everywhere else.
45:39
And I don't think a lot of us saw this coming this year.
45:42
But like Vegoe said, maybe they did a little better at the portal than they did the past years.
45:47
Yeah.
45:48
And then I think one of their guys they got last year, Damian Carpagna is now a junior defenseman and he's probably their second best defenseman, along with Aidan Hansen Bucata, who is the transfer this year.
46:02
And then Brent Johnson too, who was at North Dakota, you know, he's had a really nice senior year.
46:07
So those couple of guys that are in their second year in their transfer portal that are seniors or juniors, they look a lot better this year.
46:15
And then their goaltending has been fantastic.
46:18
I think you'll see Christopher Eberle in net.
46:22
He's 10 and 1.
46:23
He's got a 940 say percentage, a 135 goals against.
46:28
He's a big guy.
46:30
He looks confident now, whereas in the last year and in early this year, he just looked a little skittish kind of still, you know, like a big cuddly bear.
46:39
I think now he's more like a, you know, looks like a little more intimidating in net, you know, for them.
46:45
And then just winning breeds confidence.
46:48
They asked Bob Motzko about that today about Connor Kurth.
46:50
He's like the guy scored a hat trick in the first game.
46:52
And that just like said, oh, I'm here.
46:54
And I, and he's been great all season.
46:56
What kind of, it's like a coming of age moment for guys.
46:59
And I think they've had players do that.
47:01
And then you're winning all those games that you should win.
47:05
And those, it's not easy to always, they had a very light non-conference schedule, but you see everybody, almost everybody blow one of those.
47:15
And they didn't really do that.
47:16
And you look at Princeton now, they're right.
47:18
They're, I think better than what a lot of people thought.
47:21
And that rink, I'm watching those games, like it's a little box.
47:24
So it's a little different world there.
47:26
And they got outworked a little bit.
47:28
And maybe that woke them up.
47:29
Cause then they, you know, they swept the two Big Ten teams at the bottom, which, you know, if you're Ohio State, you've got to do that right now.
47:37
You've got to win those games to get, I think they got all 12 points there between Penn State and Order of Aim.
47:45
So, or they got 11 of the 12.
47:48
I think they had one overtime win.
47:50
Yeah, they're playing well.
47:51
And like I said, confidence is a huge thing.
47:54
They kind of like, their last game against Michigan, they had a two nothing lead and they, you know, Michigan got, they have one of their games where they got undisciplined.
48:03
And they gave up some kind of power plays and Michigan got a goal that way.
48:06
Kind of like with Mercyhurst, you get a goal one way or another and it really flipped the game.
48:11
And you kind of felt like they were just trying to hold on to get a 2-1 win.
48:16
And then it was 2-2.
48:17
You're like, OK, we just want to get to overtime and you can't play like that.
48:20
I don't care who you are.
48:22
It usually doesn't work out.
48:23
But they still got, they went to overtime and got four out of six for a road weekend in Michigan because it was their home games.
48:30
Both of those were their home games.
48:33
So they all go then.
48:34
That was really good.
48:35
Riley Thompson, this kid, I talked to him a couple weeks ago, number nine.
48:39
He's our first line center.
48:40
It's their really good line between Gunnar Wolff-Fontaine and Davis Burnside.
48:46
I asked him, I'm like, so you ended up at Alaska Anchorage.
48:49
That's where he went.
48:50
He's like, yeah, it was my only offer.
48:52
This kid is 6'3, 6'4, can skate, can finish around the net.
48:56
He had 24 points and 34 games as a freshman last year playing.
49:01
I'm like, he's like the only offer I had.
49:04
He's from Ottawa, played juniors in Ottawa.
49:07
But his last year, he had 60, 70 points and 40 some games.
49:12
It just goes to show you can get lost in the weeds as an older player in Canada.
49:19
He got one shot and then now he's at Ohio State, and he looks like a pro event.
49:24
He looks like an eventual pro with that size, and he's a pretty good skater.
49:28
Those are the types of guys that have helped Ohio State kind of surprise some people because everyone picked them to be seventh in the Big Ten.
49:37
What do you think of Ohio State's research and speaks?
49:42
Well, I mean, we saw in the comments here, someone said, Rolex is a good coach, period.
49:47
And that's very true.
49:48
I remember when the Gophers were looking at coaches to hire when Lucia left.
49:52
And I was like, you know, Rolex doesn't fit all the boxes, but he's such a good coach and such a good program builder.
49:59
And he finds guys like that who develop a little bit later.
50:02
You know, he's not going after the shiny players that look good at 16 and 17.
50:07
He's trying to find those guys who are going to be good players at 19 and 20.
50:11
And he does a really good job of putting a structured program together.
50:16
I almost wonder if some of these transfers might take two years with him to kind of hit their stride and figure out how to fit in the Buckeye system.
50:25
So I do think that they play a little bit more structured game.
50:29
You know, they have more routes.
50:30
They have more pre-planned systems than other programs do.
50:35
And I think it takes a little bit of time to learn that.
50:39
And once those guys figure that out, Ohio State's a very difficult team to play against.
50:44
And we were asking Bob today about, you know, what's the identity of Ohio State?
50:47
And he's like, they play now.
50:50
You know, there are some years they play real tight, real defensively.
50:53
That's not what this group does.
50:55
It's like they want to play some hockey and they want to take chances when they present themselves, but they're not going to chase.
51:01
And so I think that's what makes Ohio State really hard to play against, because you have to not give them offense, but you can't take them lightly and just expect to reload and reload and play only your game against them.
51:15
That definitely is true.
51:16
Go ahead, Cappy.
51:17
Oh yeah, just one other thing.
51:18
It's funny.
51:19
So now this will be my third kind of time through Ohio State and talking to some players and everything.
51:24
And I think a true kind of sign of a good coach is when your top players start talking like you, you know, and I think that that means there's buy-in, right?
51:37
I think there, you know, that just, and obviously the winning helps.
51:41
Easier to buy in when you're winning.
51:42
But you're hearing those guys, like Gunnar O'Fontaine, he just, and he's a skill guy.
51:49
Smart player, he kind of reminds me of how I played when I was there.
51:54
Smart, skilled, but he's playing like Steve Roth wants him to play and talking how he plays.
52:01
And when you get those guys to do that, that is a key to a team that doesn't, you know, they don't have the up and down talent level of Minnesota, but they've got good players.
52:12
And when they're playing Coach Rollick's style, it's very effective.
52:17
Well, we need to get into this weekend here, but before we do that, we need to talk about a couple more sponsors here, Biggs.
52:24
This book, State 1981 Dreams of a Dynasty, kind of the viewpoint of South St.
52:30
Paul Hockey.
52:32
Yeah, this book is a fictional retelling of the state high school tournament, has a little bit of history, the first 35 years of it, but is written from the perspective of the South St.
52:42
Paul Packers in their 21st appearance, and they've never won a state title, but this is kind of a what-if, a fictional retelling.
52:50
So if you're into high school hockey in Minnesota and you're a fan of the big state tournament, this book's for you.
52:56
Check it out.
52:57
State 1981.
52:59
Definitely.
52:59
You can find it on Amazon.
53:01
And then finally, Biggs, Cub Foods.
53:04
You're there all the time.
53:05
I know that for a fact.
53:08
Yeah, I've got a growing busy family.
53:10
I am at the Quarry Cub multiple times a week.
53:13
You don't have to go all over the place when you're trying to get your meal plans figured out and eat healthy.
53:19
You know, go to Cub.
53:20
You can get all your proteins, your veggie, your fruits, their produce section is great.
53:24
If you need some jimmies, Cub's the place to go.
53:27
And they're one of us.
53:28
You know, these are just a local company that supports things like Pulltab Sports, GPL Podcasts, Gopher Sports.
53:35
Check them out.
53:36
They've got liquor stores.
53:37
They've got beer.
53:38
They've got your THC drinks.
53:39
If you're looking for that, if you're looking for a big Vikings spread for their game on Monday night, check out Cub Foods, cub.com.
53:48
All right.
53:48
Of course we thank Cub and State 1981 for sponsoring the GPL Podcast.
53:56
Big Road series in Columbus this weekend.
53:59
I've been looking forward to it just because of the resurgence of the Ohio State.
54:03
I think it's going to be a lot of fun hockey.
54:05
Yeah.
54:06
I think it's going to be good entertaining hockey.
54:08
I think there's going to be a lot of offense.
54:09
It'll be interesting to see how Minnesota's team comes back together.
54:13
Everybody's skating now.
54:15
Paulson was back in the lineup and showed his productivity right away.
54:20
I don't think we'll see Nevers and Faloon quite yet, but they're not Nevers.
54:25
They might be back this weekend, but maybe not.
54:27
I would be surprised based on how Bob's been handling injuries this year.
54:32
Cal Thomas also kind of working his way back.
54:35
I think he's a big part of the Gophers penalty kill going forward.
54:39
So when they don't have him, it's a little bit more challenging, I think, for the Gophers defensemen to handle those situations.
54:45
He'll be a big boost when he gets back.
54:48
But I think they're slow paying those injuries just a little bit right now.
54:52
And they moved the Friday game up a couple hours, Cappy, to 4 p.m.
54:58
local time.
54:59
I wonder why they did that.
55:00
And I'm wondering your local time.
55:02
Yeah, for me, it's 5 p.m.
55:03
there.
55:03
But will there be anybody there?
55:07
There's nothing else going on.
55:08
Yeah.
55:09
Will there be anybody there?
55:10
I mean, yes, we've made fun of the past few years how empty that place can be.
55:14
But football is going to take some quite the precedence this weekend.
55:20
Well, I think that's why they did it.
55:22
I mean, they did mean the hockey game should be over by 720 ish.
55:28
You never know Big Ten Games.
55:30
It's not on TV.
55:31
If you go really fast, it's over by 720.
55:34
The ball will not be kicked off till 745 Eastern time.
55:40
So if you're a student, which the students, I believe, will be back this week, which would help.
55:46
I mean, they bring their dogs as we all, you know, do gloves and it's, you know, I mean, it's bar.
55:51
Barbie loves that.
55:52
Barbie loves the dogs.
55:54
The dogs are great.
55:55
We had our best interview with Rolick after the game that we've ever had when his dog came over.
56:02
Then it was during the dog night, right?
56:03
Yes.
56:05
You know, and he kind of loved it.
56:07
He couldn't believe we did.
56:08
I'm like, hey, you guys just one dogs are everywhere.
56:10
This is this is good TV.
56:12
Nobody wants to hear me talk.
56:14
I don't want to hear you talk either.
56:18
I mean, but no, I think I think it'll be OK.
56:22
Obviously, Saturday, I think it'll be a really good crowd.
56:25
Yeah, it's Minnesota Saturday night.
56:26
Everyone's back.
56:27
The Buckeyes are ninth in the pairwise rankings now.
56:31
I mean, say what you want.
56:33
I know my Buckeye fans.
56:34
I'm that way a little bit, too.
56:35
The better the team is, the better chance I'm going to go watch the game.
56:38
So yeah, Friday night will be interesting.
56:41
I don't know.
56:42
I think the students will show maybe.
56:43
But yeah, it'll be a very interesting crowd on Friday night.
56:49
BTN Plus only on Friday at 4-5 p.m.
56:54
Or 4 Central for the gold.
56:55
4 Central.
56:59
I'm glad because I literally finished my workday right at 4.
57:02
I can just turn on the TV and just go with it.
57:07
Get some students some student chatter.
57:09
Yeah.
57:11
I mean, I want to watch the football game too.
57:13
So I'm glad I don't have to choose.
57:14
Back to back, right?
57:16
With the Duke's Mail Bowl, I had to go back and forth with a bunch of stuff, with the World Juniors and Vikings, I had to go back and forth a little bit.
57:23
So I'm glad I can just focus my attention on one thing at a time.
57:27
That's usually how my brain works best.
57:30
So I'm looking forward to it.
57:31
I think this is going to be a tough series for Minnesota.
57:34
I think they're still working through some things.
57:37
I think Bob is so happy because he gets to run a real practice again this week.
57:42
They've been so hamstrung with injuries and numbers and dealing with fatigue because Rinzel is playing almost 30 minutes a night there, going down to the end of the first half.
57:53
So to get him back in that 24, 25 minutes is going to be a relief for him, I think.
57:58
So it'll be interesting to see how they all come together in terms of points.
58:03
I feel like it's going to be really hard for Minnesota to get more than four.
58:10
So I'm going with four points for Minnesota this weekend.
58:13
There you go.
58:14
There you go.
58:15
What about you, Cappy?
58:17
I don't know.
58:17
Am I allowed to get predictions?
58:20
You can give us any predictions as you want.
58:22
I think they're going to split.
58:23
I just think, I know now it could be an overtime game one way.
58:29
I just, I don't have, honestly, I've watched Minnesota play, but I've not watched a consistent amount of it.
58:36
I just know they're loaded with talent.
58:38
I can't believe Rinzel is playing that much.
58:40
I mean, their defense of depth is pretty good.
58:42
Even with Cal Thomas out, Whipple's your seventh man.
58:47
Tough first world problems he got there.
58:49
I mean, Sam's playing great.
58:54
I love his development also because I'm a Chicago Blackhawks fan and I can't wait.
58:59
They need him and Lev Shanoff possibly in the next year or two.
59:03
Give me some of that.
59:04
They need that here.
59:05
But the Buckeyes are playing well.
59:10
Minnesota is so good.
59:12
I think it'll be a split.
59:15
I think I actually like the Buckeyes the first night.
59:17
I think that's when maybe the quiet building, Minnesota might be a little sleepy.
59:23
I don't know.
59:24
You never know.
59:25
You just never know how they'll come out.
59:28
But I think a sweep sound or a split sound is about right.
59:32
You know, the way things are going.
59:34
Yeah, I think Minnesota went out early this afternoon to get to Columbus.
59:40
That's another thing.
59:41
It's guys are so I mean, everyone's doing it now.
59:44
You're playing at weird times.
59:45
It's not seven and seven.
59:46
I mean, a lot of go for home games are now because, well, seven and five o'clock, but really four o'clock kind of in their mind game.
59:54
You know, probably won't skate there.
59:56
I wouldn't think tomorrow morning.
59:59
Maybe they skated there.
1:00:01
I think they said they were going to practice tomorrow morning in Minnesota and then fly out because we were going to maybe try to get Oliver Moore for a chat in the afternoon when they were in Columbus.
1:00:13
So yeah, there's so many little variables, right?
1:00:17
Yeah.
1:00:19
Yeah.
1:00:19
But I like that they're I think you guys were right.
1:00:22
Cal Thomas is still out.
1:00:23
So it's those three guys I don't think are going to play this weekend.
1:00:27
From what, you know, through the tea leaves of it all.
1:00:30
But I don't, you know, those are, you know, Mason Evers, he's a good player, but his role is very limited now.
1:00:36
It has been this year, and I, he's also a little less effective, I was going to say, too.
1:00:43
You know, maybe just a few guys have passed him up, you know, and sadly, you know, it just happens, right?
1:00:49
That's when you go to a program like that.
1:00:52
You get some studs come in there and guy like Paul said, man, I just, he, those highlights of him, he's smooth, man.
1:00:59
He had a couple of plays at Minnesota or Wisconsin too.
1:01:02
You're just like, whoa.
1:01:03
I thought that's where you got injured too.
1:01:05
And all of a sudden, and the guy we haven't even really talked to about, who's, I don't say struggle, but he's quiet sometimes, Jimmy Clark, but he does the little things.
1:01:14
He's like the guy that won't get the point, but he's just a good hockey player, you know, on a team, a really good team.
1:01:22
So it's going to be fun weekend in Columbus.
1:01:27
It's good.
1:01:27
I'm glad.
1:01:28
I'm getting all these, it's a bunch of Ohio State games.
1:01:31
I don't know if they're doing it on purpose or not, but I'm glad they're good.
1:01:36
You got them with Michigan State in a couple of weeks.
1:01:38
That's going to be fun.
1:01:40
And then I have both their games against Michigan, I think the last weekend in late February.
1:01:46
So that'll be great too.
1:01:48
But I love the league, it's at a great spot.
1:01:51
I feel like there's three tiers in the league that are pretty, it's pretty split into three groups.
1:01:57
You got Minnesota and Michigan State, you got Ohio State, Michigan and Wisconsin.
1:02:03
I think Wisconsin is there.
1:02:04
Say what you want.
1:02:05
I think Wisconsin is better than Michigan right now.
1:02:08
Well, but they're in that middle tier.
1:02:09
Yeah, they've just played.
1:02:10
And then you have New York Amon, Penn State kind of.
1:02:13
Right now, that's just the way it's going to be.
1:02:14
Look at the standings, it's pretty clear that way too, but those two teams at the top, they're definitely in my top four leagues.
1:02:23
It's not even close.
1:02:26
I didn't watch the Denver main.
1:02:27
I haven't recorded up.
1:02:28
I might save that for March if it's necessary for me to watch those games for work.
1:02:34
I don't know yet.
1:02:36
But yeah, exactly.
1:02:38
Those fingers, there's always new people working there, so you don't know anything that's going on.
1:02:44
Oh, yeah.
1:02:45
I love where the league's at.
1:02:47
It's so funny.
1:02:48
I keep talking, but I don't look at the standings a ton.
1:02:51
I just look at the pairwise.
1:02:53
I've watched teams, see if they're getting better.
1:02:57
I look at Wisconsin, I'm like, man, those are killer, heartbreaking late game law.
1:03:03
Where they're just those pairwise numbers, it's going to come and haunt them because they could move up.
1:03:08
They're like, North Dakota is 20 or 21.
1:03:13
Six overtime losses, I think three of those flipped and you're probably in the team instead of 20.
1:03:20
So I look at that stuff and treat me way more.
1:03:23
I'm glad for the standing that someone's going to get a buy.
1:03:26
But watching the quality of the teams and then the pairwise stuff is what really gets me going.
1:03:33
Well, Taylor Kearns here, Mote, Do It Jupe, and I'm going to do it.
1:03:40
Gopher Sweep.
1:03:44
Gopher Sweep.
1:03:45
There we go.
1:03:46
That's a celebration.
1:03:47
All six?
1:03:48
All six?
1:03:49
If I do this, let's get some fireworks going, I think, and maybe not.
1:03:55
So all six.
1:03:55
Well, there we go.
1:03:56
There we go.
1:03:57
Gopher Sweep.
1:03:59
Man, that makes you look trippy, man, right there.
1:04:01
I know.
1:04:06
Anything else going on, guys?
1:04:09
Or should we just get to overtime here?
1:04:12
Get to overtime so I can curse more.
1:04:15
Kidding.
1:04:15
I already have to mark it as explicit.
1:04:17
You dropped an S-bomb earlier.
1:04:19
I did.
1:04:19
It's all good, man.
1:04:20
I don't care.
1:04:23
Just got to put the emoji in it now.
1:04:28
Veegs, any last thoughts?
1:04:30
Looking forward to see how Birdie Zemur comes back from World Junior.
1:04:34
He was Scott Wheeler and one of his notes said he was the most consistent player for USA Hockey during the tournament.
1:04:41
Brings it every shift.
1:04:42
Moscow has been glowing with praise about him all season.
1:04:47
He's like, I'm not surprised I recruited the guy.
1:04:49
You know, but he is fifth rounder.
1:04:52
I mean, that's what's so beautiful about that.
1:04:55
He's an NHL player.
1:04:56
I mean, it's funny.
1:04:57
He's going to find a way.
1:04:59
He doesn't come to games and play a D game ever.
1:05:03
It's always a B.
1:05:04
And pro scouts love that.
1:05:07
Consistency, yep.
1:05:08
Yes.
1:05:09
They take that over some guy that shows up and scores three and then does draw up for four games.
1:05:14
Yep.
1:05:15
So fun to watch him.
1:05:17
All right.
1:05:18
Well, let's get to overtime then.
1:05:19
That's going to do it for this episode of The GPL Podcast.
1:05:23
We'll be back next Tuesday.
1:05:27
A special day, because I know Vegas is going to be busy next week.
1:05:30
So we've got Jack Ramsey on the show next week, next Tuesday.
1:05:34
Just wanted to note that for those of you watching live, stay tuned for overtime.
1:05:38
For the rest of you will get you next week on The GPL Podcast.
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