0:07 This is The GPL Podcast, part of the Pulltab Sports family. 0:13 Eat that tuffa, eat that schloss, eat that drew. 0:20 You know, I think there is some shenanigans happening in the goalie community. 0:24 Are you gonna speak on that as a- 0:25 In the goalie community, you wanna get a warmer goalie? 0:28 No, I gotta ride with Goalie Nation, but- 0:33 I think Bart must be watching upstairs, because Rutrow- 0:38 Oh, is Jupiter gonna be awake for Thanksgiving tomorrow? 0:43 Jupiter made word. 0:48 Now, here's Jupiter and Vego. 1:03 Good afternoon from Fiber to the Fish House. 1:07 Veegs, we're on a lake. 1:10 Yeah, I hope the ice is thick enough for us, because this is a big show on the big fish lake here in Mabel Grove. 1:15 We are, we're Gateway Fiber, sponsoring this whole thing out here. 1:19 We're connected via Wi-Fi to an over 1,500 foot fiber line going all the way to shore from here, folks. 1:26 So it's a pretty cool setup. 1:28 We're nice and relaxed out here. 1:29 They got a fire going outside. 1:32 We're doing a podcast live from here and it's Ohio State Week. 1:36 What are we doing at Ohio State Week? 1:38 We have Cappy on. 1:39 Cappy, how are you doing, man? 1:41 I'm good. 1:42 I don't know why I get pigeonholed with Ohio State Week every time. 1:46 I'm Big Ten Network guy, right? 1:48 Could it be because you actually- 1:50 Just kidding. 1:51 You played for them maybe? 1:52 No, I know. 1:53 Hey, no. 1:54 This is a good time to be a Buckeye, right? 1:58 I mean, hell yeah. 2:00 Lots of sports doing well. 2:02 National Championship football team. 2:04 Women are number two again in the country per usual. 2:09 And the men's team is picked to finish seventh in the Big Ten is sixth in the pairwise ranking. 2:16 So you got to love sport. 2:18 You got to love hockey because this does not happen in other sports. 2:21 I'm sorry. 2:22 Dude, it's been crazy. 2:23 Like you said, picked last. 2:25 Nobody thought they were going to do this, but Mr. 2:27 Rolick, you got to pick someone last when you're doing a coaches' poll. 2:31 And I think there was a lot of uncertainty with Ohio State. 2:34 But is it to pass a to say who's got it better than us when you're talking to a Buckeye right now? 2:42 I know. 2:43 I mean, wait, I thought I had it better. 2:45 You guys look so comfortable there. 2:47 You look like you're, you know, you're set up there to watch the game tonight, right? 2:53 I'm going home to watch. 2:54 No, I know. 2:55 But it looks like there's a nice TV here. 2:56 We place to do it. 3:00 No, it's it's it's it's hey, you got to take the good with the bad as best as you know. 3:05 Buckeye struggled last year. 3:09 You know, the transfer portal thing, man, it's it's unbelievable what it does. 3:13 And then getting the right guys, you know, look what's happened to Wisconsin. 3:16 I'm not saying they didn't get good players, but it doesn't always just mesh together so quickly. 3:22 And, you know, it looks like in Columbus it did. 3:26 Speaking of meshing beings, they didn't mesh so well at Michigan last week. 3:31 We both picked sweep, went out of the two points and Cappy, the streak is still alive. 3:38 28 straight misses on the shootout. 3:41 The shootout is just unbelievable right now in Minnesota. 3:44 Can't explain it. 3:45 I would like it sometimes if they went in with a little more chill and a little more skill on their moves. 3:50 Sometimes I feel like they're trying to rush through it a bit, explain some of the shootout stuff. 3:55 But you know, overall, I think it was an okay weekend for Minnesota. 3:58 If you look at the process, you know, the results you're not going to like. 4:02 You don't like going into the Oasis and only get two points, you know, but they went into overtime both nights. 4:07 You know, good thing for the Gophers, when you go into overtime in the playoffs, it's going to be five on five, there's going to be no shootout. 4:14 And I think the games could maybe end a little bit differently. 4:18 You know, you take a penalty in three on three OT, that's a bad spot to be. 4:23 You get into a shootout, if you're a Gopher right now, you don't want to be in that situation. 4:27 So two tough outcomes for the Gophers in those games. 4:31 I've just embraced it. 4:32 I mean, you know, we've talked a lot of people, Cappy, and it's just, it's the goofiest thing ever. 4:40 It'll probably never happen again. 4:42 I just giggle at it now because yes, it doesn't mean anything when it comes to pairwise when it comes to shootout. 4:48 It does mean something in points. 4:50 I mean, they have two shootout losses to Michigan State this year. 4:54 That would be two less points and two more points for Minnesota. 4:57 And look at that, I got the balloons because I did a motion there. 4:59 That's awesome. 5:02 Birthday or something. 5:03 Totally. 5:04 We're celebrating. 5:04 We're celebrating in an aptitude is what we're doing. 5:07 But it does make a difference over time in the standings. 5:11 I mean, they're behind Michigan State right now and they would be ahead of them. 5:14 Yeah, it seems to me it's a mental thing now because they're hearing about it. 5:19 Now, you could tell, I felt like Snuggerud almost made sure he was going to hit the net on that one because he went high and tried to be perfect on Augustine last time. 5:30 I'm like, and he's got a score. 5:32 So last thing I want to do is miss the net when you're in that score or go home. 5:39 And I don't blame him for putting him in there. 5:42 It's just, he didn't look confident. 5:45 Like Jimmy Snuggerud is a confident shooter. 5:48 It didn't look like he was trying to pick a spot. 5:50 Almost like he was, I mean, pretty much essentially shot almost right into Stein's stomach. 5:56 And Paulson, he was a new guy. 5:59 He came in, did the slow move, didn't work out. 6:02 I mean, it's weird. 6:04 And you know what? 6:05 It's a little bit of a trickle down effect, right? 6:07 Because now they're in second, they're most likely going to finish second or third now. 6:12 Then home ice and then maybe you lose. 6:15 And then I don't think I mean, these probably would know this better. 6:18 I don't think they can slip out of the number one seed. 6:21 I mean, they probably have to go on a pretty big tank here. 6:25 They're not going to play any really soft teams unless they play Notre Dame in the first round. 6:30 Yeah, I mean, there's still math that says they can slip to five or six. 6:34 But, I mean, the difference there is going to have to be them losing out almost. 6:39 They're playing good teams right now. 6:42 You look at Ohio State, who they have coming up, Penn State, who they have coming. 6:45 And then they play the first round of the Big Ten, you'd expect them to win those games. 6:50 That would be the one chance in the rest of their schedule where they can hurt themselves. 6:54 And then that's kind of a bad situation for Minnesota anyway, if they lose games in the first round of the Big Ten playoffs. 7:01 And going back to the shootout thing, the three of us kind of had a little text thing going. 7:06 Saturday, it wanted to happen. 7:08 You were on the Zehmer bandwagon. 7:09 I was really hoping you'd get out there and you didn't get to go out there. 7:13 Yeah, I think at this point, I would just be going freshman and just throwing out any freshman and just try to change the juju that's going on with the shootout. 7:22 There's only two weekends left here for it to roll over. 7:26 But yeah, but then it goes into another season. 7:30 Yeah, you only have two more weekends of opportunities. 7:33 And I mean, a lot of shootouts don't happen anymore. 7:35 You know, I mean, most games will end in overtime with the three on three. 7:39 But yeah, I mean, they've had what three now, right? 7:42 They're 0 for 3 this year. 7:43 Is that it? 7:44 Two Michigan State in a minute in Big Ten play. 7:49 Correct. 7:49 Yeah, they had one against Fairbanks, wasn't it? 7:52 Yes, they did. 7:53 Right. 7:54 But 28 shots missed in a row. 7:56 Yeah. 7:58 Embrace it. 8:00 You just have to. 8:01 I mean, obviously, come March, it'll be, you know, it doesn't matter. 8:07 But it's more because of who it is, I think. 8:11 I think it's a big thing if it's anybody. 8:13 No offense to any other school. 8:14 This was Air Force, right? 8:16 But the talent level over the five years that has taken shots for Minnesota for not one to go in, it's quite, I mean, there's NHL guys. 8:26 I mean, we're like Coolies and Knives and all these guys. 8:30 No goals. 8:30 It's, you know, it's something to talk about a little bit, but not to harp on. 8:36 And obviously, come April, if you're in St. 8:38 Louis, that's the last thing on your mind. 8:41 Oh, totally. 8:42 I think it's just a fun thing now. 8:45 If in the next two weekends, Veegs, Negrud, Slapper from top of the circle. 8:50 Just, why not? 8:52 Why not? 8:53 Because by then, it won't really matter. 8:57 Yeah. 8:58 I don't know what the answer is. 8:59 You know, they practiced shootouts a couple of weeks ago for about 20, 25 minutes. 9:02 They made it into a game where they had pods of players and there was some sort of, you know, orange or lemon prize at the end for those guys. 9:10 You know, reward them with something sweet. 9:12 You know, give the loser something better. 9:14 But it's time to move over. 9:17 You know, it's just something to focus on for the fans. 9:19 I don't think the coaching staff is too worried about it anymore. 9:22 Well, but you know, it might cost Bob a bonus for not winning the regular season. 9:28 I mean, there is. 9:30 Was it a $30,000 bonus a couple of years ago that he lost out on? 9:33 He's got one bonus on his mind, I think. 9:35 True. 9:36 True. 9:37 Yeah, bonus. 9:38 I don't even think it's the bonus, to be honest. 9:40 It's the trophy and, you know, that. 9:43 I mean, really, I hate to say it because that's what we talk about the most. 9:47 But that is, you know, everything else is a lot of, hey, you want to be building to that point, but it's you want to be that team in April playing in that game. 9:57 That's what that's what they're there for right now. 10:00 And so that's where I'd be worried. 10:02 I don't like these said, I didn't think it played bad this weekend. 10:06 Michigan against Michigan, but they didn't, they don't look, they're not cruising. 10:10 I mean, I guess that's a good thing. 10:11 They're not, maybe a little adversity right now isn't a bad thing for them. 10:17 But, you know, you want to be playing that elite hockey in March and April. 10:21 So, you know, it's time to, it's getting close to that time. 10:24 Yep. 10:25 It definitely is. 10:27 Well, it's going to be a little shorter show today. 10:29 Obviously, you know, hopefully people are watching us live. 10:32 Yeah, I see quite a few people watching us. 10:33 That's good. 10:34 People are getting off work. 10:35 I did see a couple of comments here. 10:40 You know, was Cappy, were you going to shootouts? 10:43 But, you know, you didn't do it in Big Ten back then or CCHA actually. 10:46 No. 10:47 You know what? 10:47 It was funny. 10:48 I was good. 10:49 My first year pro in the East Coast Hockey League, I went like five for five. 10:54 Oh, wow. 10:57 No, but then my first year, my first year, rookie year, great. 11:01 And then I don't think I scored the next three years when I got shots and shootouts. 11:07 It's so weird. 11:08 You get in your head, you start thinking, oh, is this move going to work? 11:12 You know, you're confident and then you go, you miss one and like, okay, I'm all right. 11:16 But then if you try it again and then it's like, oh, I got to try something new. 11:19 It's just funny. 11:21 The goalie definitely has the advantage, right? 11:23 Because, you know, a regular breakaway, the player has it because it's coming fast. 11:27 You don't have time to think. 11:29 But you get in your head, you could tell. 11:33 I'm just, I don't guarantee snug group as this, but you could tell it was he wasn't as fully confident as you would think a guy like him who scored so many goals in college hockey would come in on a shootout. 11:47 Another one here, someone's asking, is Kinger in Boston? 11:50 No, Kinger's not in Boston. 11:51 He was in Boston earlier this week for that Sweden USA game, but Kinger was here earlier today, had to catch a flight. 11:58 He's on his way to New Mexico for another event for all his minor league teams. 12:03 So that's where the Kinger is. 12:06 Vigz, before we move on, we need to talk about sponsor. 12:09 Let's talk about the sponsor right here. 12:11 Gateway Fiber Vigz. 12:13 They've got us all hooked up from couple thousand feet over here into a fish house in the middle of nowhere. 12:20 And they're also wiring up the Twin Cities up on the northern edge. 12:23 Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Maple Grove. 12:26 What else they got going? 12:27 Yeah, they got Blaine, Brooklyn Park, Plymouth, and they're looking to expand as they want to be the Internet Kings of Minnesota, offering faster and reliable service. 12:38 We're celebrating here with the arrival on our shores with this Fish House Fiber Day here. 12:43 There's been a lot of people here all day. 12:45 And as a podcast, we rely on high-speed Internet. 12:49 We do. 12:50 And we struggled over the years. 12:52 And we both like fiber. 12:54 And if you want to get fiber and it's coming to your neighborhood, check out Gateway Fiber. 12:58 Definitely. 12:59 Of course, we thank Gateway Fiber for being a sponsor of The GPL Podcast. 13:02 But another great person and company for us, Lunch Bucket Hockey. 13:09 They got a lot of great stuff. 13:10 Yeah, if you're looking for St. 13:11 Patrick's Day jerseys, Lunch Bucket Hockey has been offering those. 13:15 Check out their social media for that. 13:17 If you're looking to do like a special jersey for your hockey team, they do these custom ones. 13:21 I've seen Lakeville put some together. 13:23 There are a couple of local guys who played some Friday lunchtime hockey. 13:27 They're one of us. 13:28 And they've got this great brand for the grit and grind players in Minnesota. 13:32 If you're looking for something there, check out lunchbuckethockey.com. 13:37 All right. 13:38 Of course, we're taking lunch bucket as well. 13:40 Vegs, we've got your top 20 this week. 13:42 Just a little flip flop at the top. 13:44 We've got Michigan State taking over for Boston College. 13:47 Yeah, Boston College had a couple hiccups in their season. 13:51 Some issues there with them. 13:53 I don't know if their power play has been great, but Michigan State's just chugging along here. 13:57 It looks like they're in the driver's seat in the Big Ten, which between Michigan State and Minnesota, I think you've got two number one seeds right now looking for the NCAA Tournament. 14:05 Yep. 14:06 Western Michigan playing strong. 14:08 Minnesota down a little bit from play last week. 14:11 Yeah, I like Western Michigan as a team. 14:13 I think they're the cream of the NCHC this year, which might only have two teams. 14:19 There's a big series coming up here with Arizona State, and Western, that'll probably decide Arizona State's fate. 14:26 Only the top 13 in the pairwise look like they're getting in this year. 14:30 And there's your Ohio State Buckeyes, Cappy. 14:32 Where did you put them this week? 14:35 I think I had them seven, six or seven. 14:38 I can't remember. 14:39 It's pretty close to that. 14:40 I think I might have had them six. 14:43 I think that fourth number one spot is between Western and Maine, right? 14:47 If all things kind of stay, at least pairwise wise. 14:52 Say that again. 14:55 Yeah, you've got some new teams on the bottom. 14:57 The bottom always gets tough, right? 15:00 Yeah. 15:01 I think I had Penn State maybe a little higher. 15:03 I think I had them ahead of Arizona State just because they kept winning. 15:07 You got to beat the teams on your schedule. 15:09 They've done that. 15:11 But no, it's pretty Denver. 15:13 I still have Denver a little higher. 15:17 UConn, I don't know. 15:18 It's so hard with them. 15:20 I just don't know. 15:22 The record isn't that great, but they're so high up in the pairwise. 15:26 It's weird. 15:27 I don't understand it fully, but no, it looks pretty good. 15:32 The top five, I think I had that same top five, seven, eight, nine. 15:37 Yeah, the top eight, I think are exactly how I had it. 15:39 So, you know, those bottom teams, I have Clarkson in there. 15:44 Vermont and Merrimack, I don't have in. 15:46 There's probably only two teams I don't have in that you have. 15:48 But, you know. 15:50 Yeah, this has been my first time, like, really trying to pay attention to the top 20 as a whole. 15:55 And those bottom five teams of the top 20 are so inconsistent. 15:59 And that's why they're in that spot. 16:01 You know, you'll put someone in there and then they'll go out and they'll get swept or someone drops out and they go out and get a sweep against somebody else. 16:08 You know, it's the difference between the 15th team and the 2015 is very small. 16:14 Yeah. 16:14 And you see that. 16:15 It's almost like you're going to go with the pairwise to do it. 16:18 I'm telling you, at this point, it's like just plug in the pairwise. 16:21 It's getting close. 16:23 But I do think that you have a team like New Hampshire, who I think is last in Hockey East, and they're still showing up as potentially making the tournament, which is just hard to fathom. 16:33 Colorado College is in most people's rankings and they're in the 30s. 16:39 You know, it's, I don't know. 16:41 Well, like you said, anything past 13 is really not going to matter pretty soon here. 16:45 So it could be 12. 16:46 You know, I mean, you won't get one out of Hockey East, but you could easily get one out of NCHC if there's only those two. 16:54 If a third team, if it's not Arizona State, it could be St. 16:59 Cloud, it could be North Dakota. 17:00 I mean, you just have to get one little run. 17:02 You just got to get to the last year, right? 17:05 It's the last year at the Excel Center. 17:06 Right? 17:07 Yes, it is for the NCHC. 17:09 I just met you Penn State because. 17:13 And I think that leaves for upsets still when you're at a neutral site, big arena like that, more than next year when they're playing home sites. 17:22 It's just harder to win on the road. 17:25 Well, you look at NCHC, Colorado College in Omaha, have such good goal-tending this year, that that could be a difference-maker in the playoffs and get them through. 17:34 I was listening to Brad Schlossman this week. 17:36 He was talking about Omaha's goalie. 17:38 He's got eight games where he's made 38 or more saves. 17:41 He's got two of them that he's made 50 or more saves, and they've won a bunch of those games. 17:47 And goal-tending is such a key thing at this point of the year. 17:50 And you look at the Gophers against Michigan. 17:53 Gopher fans know the Omaha goalie well from October, that's for sure. 17:58 They definitely do, Cappy. 17:59 They definitely do. 18:01 Some other big series this week. 18:03 There's Notre Dame at Wisconsin. 18:05 I'm not really... 18:06 Yeah, it's tight. 18:07 I wish there was a flex thing. 18:09 I wish we could flex those games over to put the Ohio State Minnesota games on, obviously, as our doubleheader. 18:17 But, you know, it's just how things go. 18:20 I mean, I didn't think Notre Dame would be this down this year, Veegs. 18:23 Yeah, it's surprising. 18:24 Jeff Jacksons last year. 18:26 They do have some veteran players. 18:29 It's been tough for them to be consistent. 18:30 But Penn State at MSU this weekend. 18:33 This is a good test for Penn State, who has been just slowly on the rise. 18:37 Cappy, they were in last place not too long ago. 18:39 They were just not even in a conversation. 18:42 Could end up last. 18:43 They could have ended up last in the league. 18:46 But they really picked it up, Veegs. 18:47 Yeah, and I think Penn State is one of those high-volume teams that's different than everybody else in College Hockey. 18:53 So it's hard to prepare for them sometimes just because of the way they play. 18:57 And they've got some high-end talent this year. 18:59 Like Fink is a great goal scorer. 19:01 He can be a difference maker in a game where there are a lot of chances and it becomes a high-volume game. 19:07 So we've got that. 19:08 The drawback have been dynamic together. 19:10 And then the goalie, like his numbers aren't great. 19:13 He's had a couple really good, like the Wisconsin weekend, he was phenomenal. 19:16 He gave up two goals total, had like 70 saves, had a shutout. 19:20 I just think he, they just need solid goal tending. 19:24 As you've seen, like last year, they had the worst goal tending in the country or one of the top, one of the bottom three. 19:30 And it just literally, they were getting goals scoring on by a lot by Ancelier where you're like, it would just, you could see them deflate on the ice. 19:39 After a while, it got to that point. 19:41 And I just think they have a guy now, he's making the big save at the right time. 19:45 And he's given the team in front of him a ton of confidence to, it just changes your mindset as a player when you know you have just that ounce more confidence that, okay, if I make a little mistake, I got this guy to bail me out. 20:00 Whereas instead of like, oh no, I can't make this because this puck might go in on a fluke bounce. 20:06 I mean, there was a lot of that last year that I think just kind of snowballed for Suley air and that and the Sergei of is really solidified that in this last 10 game stretch for them. 20:17 Whereas Suley air five game straight now for him, isn't it? 20:20 For Minnesota. 20:21 Yeah, it seems like they've handed the keys to him. 20:24 He's played, he's played pretty well. 20:25 I don't think you can put any of the losses on him against Michigan. 20:28 No. 20:29 And you know, when he's playing well, he gives the team a little bit of confidence. 20:32 You know, so years junior year for Penn State, you know, he almost got them to the frozen four, but they lost to Michigan in overtime. 20:39 I think last year was a mystery, complete mystery. 20:42 Like everyone thought Penn State that was not that was going to be strength for them last year and it had to be in their biggest weakness. 20:48 Yeah. 20:49 And I think, you know, Suley air has learned from that experience, you know, both from the success and the tough year. 20:55 And he's been a little bit more consistent. 20:57 You know, one thing he brings to the team is he's active in that and I think he's learned the right amount of active. 21:03 He's not giving away the crease. 21:04 He's not giving away goals. 21:06 He's being smart with how he comes out and handles the puck. 21:10 And those are the attributes that Matzko highlights when you ask him about Suley air. 21:14 Quick thoughts on Wisconsin. 21:16 Started pretty rough, lost a lot of overtime, shootout games in the league. 21:21 Started to build there in December and early January. 21:25 And then they hit Minnesota and it's just been downhill ever since. 21:31 Yeah, I think the Mike Hastings style requires a lot of discipline and resilience and they've been close, but they just haven't been able to score enough to, to overcome the mistakes they're making. 21:43 And I just don't know if that program is deep enough right now with his kind of guys to play that style, especially in the Big Ten. 21:50 I remember talking to Mike Hastings after the Minnesota series and he's like, you know, we believe in the process, but no one takes the easy on you in the Big Ten. 21:59 Every weekend is tough. 22:01 You know, if you win a game Friday, Saturday is brutal. 22:03 If a team beats you on Friday, they're going to try to step on your throat on Saturday. 22:07 And it's a little bit different schedule than you see in the CCHA, where you have lots of time to kind of grow your team and grow your game. 22:15 You don't have to get up for every weekend. 22:17 I think you're learning in the Big Ten. 22:19 If you're Mike Hastings and Mike Hastings team, you need a little bit more in the tank to get through a year. 22:25 Yeah, I mean, we used to watch his teams play. 22:27 And if they had a home series in their league, man, if it was a bottom half of their league team, you would see maybe like a three or four to one game. 22:37 And then there'd be like an eight to nothing game. 22:40 Like, you know, they would wear, they were able to wear teams out. 22:42 And you just don't have that ever in the Big Ten. 22:47 Even with Notre Dame. 22:48 Like, we'll see what happens with them playing at home against them. 22:52 They're not going to probably, I don't see them winning a game seven to one or, you know, like that. 22:56 So, I mean, it's definitely a learning curve and realizing the players got to get it done. 23:02 And, you know, I think they ran out of gas to an extent. 23:06 Like they were putting so much effort in in November, September, or September, what am I saying? 23:11 December and January to catch up, to get there a game from 500. 23:17 We were doing their game against Michigan. 23:18 They end up going to a shootout and lost in that. 23:21 And then the next weekend was Minnesota and they haven't won since. 23:24 I just think they ran out of gas. 23:26 They lost Daniel Watch, who was shut down defenseman for the year. 23:29 And Quinn Finley, funny, got hurt in the Friday game, hurt his shoulder, left the game, looked like he'd be gone. 23:36 Came back the next night, scored a goal against Michigan. 23:41 That game looked okay, looked like, okay, since then has not scored. 23:45 Or I don't think he's registered a point in those six games. 23:47 And I mean, it's not all on him. 23:49 But obviously, you need your top guys, Bruce. 23:51 And you need him to keep scoring 19 goals. 23:54 And I think he's I think he's hurt, you know, I think he's playing through it and which is great. 24:00 But if you're not scoring, you know, they need him to score. 24:03 It's that simple. 24:06 So right now, Veegs, Michigan State, 43 points, Minnesota and Ohio State, 40, Michigan, pretty much out of it at 32, Penn State, 26. 24:16 Wisconsin is now dropped below Penn State, 24 and Notre Dame dragging up the rear. 24:23 If either Minnesota or Ohio State needs to get up there, they need help from Penn State this weekend. 24:28 We'll have to see. 24:29 I think right now, pretty much Michigan is probably, or Michigan State, I should say, is probably going to be the best couple on. 24:37 Well, you think they'll win a game this weekend, right? 24:39 At least one. 24:40 And then they have at Notre Dame. 24:43 Yep. 24:44 I had that on the schedule next weekend. 24:46 I mean, yes, the odds are probably Michigan State, I think, too, right now. 24:51 If, say, Ohio State and Minnesota split their last four games, I think the Buckeyes have the, I think they're in second place right now because they have one more win or something. 25:02 Right now, you look at the standings, they're the second place team in terms of the differential. 25:07 So they would, that's important, right? 25:09 Because if they play each other in the semifinal, it's a different game playing in Columbus than playing in Mariucci. 25:17 So that's something, I guess, to watch out for in these last four games. 25:20 It's a bit different atmosphere. 25:22 Yeah. 25:23 And it's, and it also, that game might end up being on a Sunday and during the afternoon, because I know they've always had issues with that rink the second weekend of playing. 25:34 First weekend, it's always fine. 25:35 I'm just, hey, we're four weeks away, you know, if that could happen. 25:39 But say they split, which I heard someone maybe predicts that. 25:44 And then they both have tough series next weekend. 25:48 Buckeyes at home against Michigan. 25:50 Gophers are at Penn State. 25:51 You can easily see a split there, too, for both. 25:55 So, if it goes that way, I believe the Buckeyes are the second place team. 26:00 If, you know, both teams go two and two this last four weeks, two weeks. 26:07 All right, Veegs, I'm looking at this here before we get into Ohio State Series and a little Four Nations talk. 26:14 We need to talk about Cub Foods, man. 26:16 Cub Foods is one of your favorite places to get all your stuff. 26:19 Yeah, I've been to Cub a lot in the last couple weeks. 26:21 There's been a lot of big games going on. 26:23 You got to get food for the parties and to celebrate and Cub, they're one of us. 26:29 There are lots of local grocery stores around. 26:31 They've got everything you need. 26:33 If you're looking for some good deli meat, they have stuff that's not from the Big Boar's Head. 26:36 They've got something else, a little alternative for you. 26:39 If you're looking for ingredients, they're always going to have it in stock. 26:43 They've got liquor stores now with the THC, beer, wine, and spirits all in one spot. 26:48 So check out cub.com. 26:49 You can order for pickup, order for delivery. 26:53 They sponsor us, Pulltab Sports Studios. 26:56 Check them out, cub.com. 26:57 Definitely check them out. 26:58 One of my favorite places. 26:59 And you mentioned wine and spirits. 27:02 We've got elevated beer, wine, and spirits now as a new GPL sponsor. 27:07 Yeah, I mean, they are an absolute gem, especially you're into the crafty stuff. 27:12 Crafty spirits, crafty beers, THC drinks, gummies. 27:16 They've been around for over 10 years and they've become a part of the community. 27:19 They've got stores in White Bear and Minneapolis, and they've got not just craft, but maybe some other things like Bud Miller Coors McGolden Light for just $17.99. 27:29 You're into wine, they got the three-liter black box wines for only $13.99. 27:34 In comparison, a lot of places charge like $20 for those. 27:37 So a couple of guys from White Bear Lake graduate in 99. 27:40 They've built this business around the community. 27:43 Check them out and stop in, look around, promise you'll be impressed. 27:47 All right, and we thank both Cub and Elevated for sponsoring The GPL Podcast. 27:54 Before we get into Minnesota OSU, I will play the biggest game in the last 10 years. 27:59 It's tonight, Veegs. 28:01 US. 28:01 Canada, let's go. 28:03 Yeah, the Taychuck brothers just really went after it and set the tone for this game. 28:07 I don't think we'll see that in the championship tonight. 28:10 You know, everybody's been a little banged up and playing through it, and I think that just shows how much the guys want to be playing in this game. 28:16 You know, Sidney Crosby is injured. 28:18 He's there. 28:19 He's never lost a best on best game, I think, to the US. 28:23 He probably wants to keep it that way. 28:24 He's been one of their heart and soul players even at his age. 28:28 But it's been really fun to watch this US group. 28:31 This is probably the best American team ever. 28:34 Like, they've just got so much talent, you know, up front, down the middle, on D and goal. 28:40 You could argue that they are probably the better team and shouldn't be the favorite year if it wasn't for all the Canadian bias out there. 28:47 And they're missing their best player. 28:51 Arguably their best player by the best defenseman. 28:53 He's the best defenseman in the league right now. 28:57 Him, McCard, and Wurenski are the three best defensemen right now, but dude, it's going to be awesome. 29:02 I think, I hope, you know, I mean, who knows? 29:06 Cappy, can they go back to a regular All-Star game after this? 29:08 I mean, you got Olympics next year. 29:10 It's going to be tough going back to a regular All-Star game. 29:13 Yeah, I mean, so well, they've already what? 29:15 2028, they already announced World Cup. 29:18 So 2027 would be the one year where I guess you could do the Four Nations again. 29:23 I mean, you're having all this time now every year. 29:27 Like next year Olympics, you're going to have two weeks off or plus. 29:30 That's really, you know, you're going to have it in 28. 29:33 You might as well do it every year, you know, just keep that as the normal schedule. 29:38 You know, I don't know, maybe you can expand it a little bit. 29:42 Maybe add Czechia. 29:46 Russia? 29:47 Because this is not IHF. 29:49 They can do a Russian team if they want. 29:51 Yeah, they could. 29:52 I mean, I don't think they will. 29:54 It's just, you know, I mean, who knows? 29:56 I mean, they could keep the four teams, could they be so maybe just rotate in another country once in a while? 30:02 The team that gets the least points is out, you know, like, I don't know. 30:07 Yeah. 30:08 Czechia won the World, you know, the World last spring won the World Championship. 30:18 Yeah. 30:19 So, yeah, I don't know. 30:21 It's great. 30:22 Like because ESPN is doing sports center from like the arena tonight. 30:26 Then they have the other pretty much essentially a two hour pre-show. 30:30 I was at I skate on Wednesdays. 30:32 I was at a restaurant while having lunch after I look up and Brandon Hagel's on Sports Center getting interviewed in the middle of the day. 30:39 I'm like, this is great. 30:41 I mean, all this for hockey is I think it only is good stuff. 30:47 Grow the game, get more exposure. 30:49 There you go. 30:50 Fireworks everywhere. 30:51 That's right. 30:53 I mean, you're right, man. 30:54 I don't know. 30:55 The United States is solid. 30:57 I wish everyone was playing for every team, you know. 31:01 But, you know, they'll do without it. 31:03 And I think the difference is goaltending. 31:07 If Hellebock plays really well, it's a big advantage. 31:10 Binnington, it's just was Larkin's goal. 31:14 It was a nice shot. 31:15 But if you're a Canadian fan, you're like, you got to stop that, you know? 31:20 You know, and the first goal, I love Gensel. 31:22 He's crafty, he's sneaky. 31:24 And I thought actually it was a really nice goal. 31:26 But I just think that the net is huge tonight. 31:29 And, you know, we'll see. 31:32 But I like, you know, the Americans, I think it's going to be so tight game. 31:35 I'd love to see over time. 31:37 That'd be fantastic. 31:39 Let's go, Veegs. 31:40 Let's go. 31:42 I do disagree a little bit with Cappy. 31:44 Whereas if you make this an every year event, I think you maybe dilute what makes it so magical. 31:51 And I think you wouldn't see the intensity if they knew it was coming every year. 31:55 I would love to see either the World Cup or the Four Nations alternate with the Olympics. 32:00 So it's every two years you have this best on best. 32:03 What I'd like to see is the All-Star weekend be more of a national type situation where you have a team of US players, Canadian players, and you play like a four on four round robin for your All-Star weekend. 32:18 You have an international competition. 32:20 Maybe you get seeded based on how your team does in a skills competition. 32:25 And then you play out a round robin, a four on four, and it's international. 32:29 And so it's still kind of an All-Star weekend, but it's still got the national pride. 32:33 Because I think that matters a lot more than what conference you're in. 32:38 Because you get in the conference, you've got rivals. 32:40 You play with your countrymen, there's a little national pride there. 32:43 And I think it's going to be different. 32:44 I don't think you're going to see players like joke around like they've done in the past, where Kaprizov just kind of walks through everything or Sergichov just kind of checks out. 32:55 You know? 32:55 Yeah. 32:56 I mean, I think if you want to do that in 2027, I have no problem with that. 33:00 You know, like you're right. 33:02 I just think it's capitalized perfectly this year. 33:07 And then next year is a whole different thing because the Olympics is going to be in Italy. 33:12 So like the time change and it'll still be great. 33:15 And I, you know, like I remember, you know, Sochi, you know, we were at a bar watching, you know, at noon, a game that was obviously there was like eight, nine o'clock at night, you know, and you watch TJ Oshie do his thing. 33:28 Oh, over and over and over. 33:31 You know, in the Olympics, everyone's tuned in, whether it's, you know, the ratings thing will be a thing. 33:37 Like tonight, you know, it'll be fun to see how people watch it. 33:40 And, you know, if it was on ABC, might get 10 million, I think. 33:44 You know, ESPN will do well. 33:46 I think they had more from that on Saturday. 33:49 Well, I'm saying 10 million was in the United States. 33:52 10 million was North America last time. 33:54 Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right. 33:55 You're right. 33:56 Yeah, I think it was four and a half million just in the States. 34:00 It'll do better tonight. 34:02 ESPN, like I said, will affect it a little because I don't think, you know, not everyone, you know, will tune in as much as if it was on ABC. 34:09 But who cares? 34:10 It's going to be great. 34:12 I did love PK Subban. 34:14 I know, like he kind of is goofy sometimes and over the top of his clothes and stuff. 34:18 But he made a great, he had like a three minute speech. 34:23 Got up yesterday. 34:24 That was awesome. 34:25 Comparing hockey with the NBA and it was so well done. 34:30 It was. 34:31 Yeah. 34:31 I think we're in a perfect window of sports too. 34:33 We're post-Super Bowl. 34:34 We're pre-baseball. 34:36 NBA had their All-Star break too. 34:37 Like this is the perfect window. 34:39 Right. 34:40 February, mid-February is nothing good going on. 34:42 Yeah. 34:43 This is really filled a good void. 34:45 I think that's why you're seeing ESPN latch onto it as much as they have. 34:49 Yeah. 34:49 And they see the ratings, right? 34:50 They see, OK, watching. 34:52 We're going to make this. 34:54 I do with the one thing they did maybe fumble up and, you know, they got rid of him last year was they don't have an American hockey presence. 35:04 In any of the broadcasts, which does next year would be more important, but it's the Olympics and that's it's kind of the ESPN thing. 35:11 No, they just well, they had Chris Chalios and they let him go last year. 35:15 That would be easy. 35:17 I mean, TNT brought in Tony Granado. 35:19 They brought in Tuca Rask and then Henrik Ludquist. 35:22 I mean, he's there. 35:23 So they, you know, it's a, you know, you could they could hire someone in there for one day, you know, bringing Jeremy Roenacher. 35:31 I don't know, somebody, maybe not Ronick, but, you know. 35:36 I think it's just fine because then then Subban could be crying in his in his beer tonight when he loses. 35:43 Either him or Bisson, that would be fine with me. 35:45 Oh, poor Bisson, he did nothing, by the way. 35:48 We played like five games in the NHL, it wasn't huge. 35:51 No. 35:52 This weekend, guys, coming into town, Vig's initial thoughts. 35:57 This is going to be a fight. 36:00 It is, and I think it's going to be a good test for Minnesota because the biggest takeaway from the Michigan series was getting pucks to the net. 36:08 And we've seen this kind of creep up as a symptom of Minnesota's game all season, where they try to pick corners and they don't let the goalie, they don't force the goalie to get to work. 36:19 I think they make it easier on opposing teams when they do what's called the Polish Breakout. 36:24 When you miss the net, it goes out the other way. 36:27 The other team goes on offense and you got to go play defense. 36:29 So I think for Minnesota, a big key this weekend against a structured Ohio State team is to put pucks into the feet and get to work. 36:36 Patience too. 36:38 Patience. 36:39 Remember how against Wisconsin, they started, you know, went slow. 36:43 They just, they stuck with their game. 36:45 They stuck with their game and they were rewarded. 36:48 That's something that they kind of need to do against Ohio State as well. 36:50 Yeah. 36:51 Well, I think anytime you come in the zone, if the goalie is squared up and sees your shot, it has like a 1% chance of going in if you're outside the dots. 37:00 It's not a very good shot. 37:02 Maybe it feels good to put that on that, but you need a possession focus game. 37:07 And Bob calls it the ground game. 37:09 And you have to cycle and you have to create traffic and you have to create those opportunities. 37:14 So your shots that do hit the net present rebounds. 37:18 And if it's a clear shot, that's usually not going to happen. 37:22 What do you think, Cappy? 37:23 What do you expect in this weekend? 37:26 Yeah, I don't know. 37:26 I mean, I, it's, you know, Ohio State's goaltending has been great. 37:35 And they even switched up. 37:37 It's amazing. 37:39 You know, Everly was fantastic. 37:41 Won national goalie of the month in December. 37:43 Then played well against the Gophers the first game. 37:48 Then gets shelled. 37:49 Then gets, I don't want to say gets shelled again, but he gave up a bunch in Penn State. 37:54 They go back to Turnis. 37:56 He starts playing great. 37:57 He rips off four in a row or five in a row. 38:00 And then they go back to Everly on Saturday thinking, I'm thinking, why wouldn't you just stay with the hot guy? 38:07 But then he plays pretty well and they beat Wisconsin with him in that. 38:12 So, you know, I think Turnis will play Friday. 38:15 But right now it looks like it doesn't matter. 38:17 Like, they have two goalies. 38:18 You could argue past Augustine, almost any team would probably take one of those two guys over anyone else. 38:24 I would, I think it's close. 38:27 But they have that luxury. 38:28 And then, you know, they're, they have a top line now that they have a go-to line, right? 38:34 And that just hasn't been at Ohio State a ton lately. 38:38 But these guys, you know, whether they score or not, they can change the game by getting the momentum back on their side. 38:44 And, you know, the greatest name in College Hockey, Gunnar Wohlfontein, is playing well. 38:50 And Riley Thompson, man, this kid, I talked to him earlier in the year. 38:54 He had one offer. 38:55 I think I said this to you guys in January. 38:57 He had one offer, and it was Alaska. 39:00 No one else, he was playing in the CHL in Ottawa area. 39:04 We talked about this. 39:04 He had one offer. 39:05 He's got 16 goals. 39:07 He's a top center man on their team. 39:09 And I think he's, and I said this last time, he's a pro. 39:12 I'm like, how did this happen? 39:13 But him and then Davis Burnside is back to play in how he played his freshman year. 39:18 Feisty, just constantly relentless on the forecheck. 39:22 And that's really kind of made their team, I think when you have that type of line, they're not always scoring all the goals for him, but they're consistently kind of leading the way and bringing the rest of the offense along with them. 39:37 So I, you know, Minnesota plays their best game. 39:41 I don't think anyone beats them. 39:42 I just don't think that. 39:43 Maybe Michigan State, maybe Boston College, but has Minnesota done that in the last, since the Wisconsin series, have they done that in a weekend where, like last week, they dominated Michigan in the first period. 39:57 I'm like, this is going to be a 5-2 Minnesota win, but they didn't get that second goal, they hung around, and then the game flipped on the penalty, and then like, you know, Michigan got a goal, and then it was kind of a back and forth, instead of, you know, Minnesota running away with it. 40:17 Sulears played five in a row. 40:19 Would we see area maybe if he struggles Friday night? 40:22 I'm assuming probably Sulears is going to keep going until, maybe he shows some weakness somewhere. 40:27 Yeah, I mean, I think the only thing would be maybe at Penn State, you wouldn't want to put two games on him coming back to Pegula. 40:35 You might want to give area just another look that weekend just to take a little pressure off of Sulears. 40:40 And it might depend on the standings as well. 40:42 Right, definitely. 40:43 But I think Sulears is their guy right now. 40:45 Okay. 40:45 I think they're going to stick with them. 40:47 You know, the biggest thing for me with Minnesota is that consistency to their game. 40:52 I think against Michigan on a couple of the Michigan goals, you just saw these mental lapses in kind of a nothing situation that gave Michigan a chance. 41:03 And you just can't have those situations in college hockey and be successful against good teams. 41:08 You need to make the other team earn goals. 41:10 You can't just give them goals. 41:12 And it's almost like an unforced error in giving the opponent extra outs. 41:16 And you just can't do that. 41:17 And Michigan, you know, earn the goals. 41:20 They capitalize on it, but it's lapses by Minnesota defense. 41:24 And I think, you know, this group has gotten a lot of praise from Bob Mosco as maybe being just as good as the one that went to the national title game against Quinnipiac, but they have not been nearly as consistent. 41:36 And that's the difference to me between these two groups is that group led by Brock Faber was one of the most consistent, productive blue lines we've ever seen. 41:46 This year's group has some talent. 41:49 They're bigger, they're heavier, but they just have these lapses in play that they need to fix going down the stretch. 41:55 Yeah. 41:56 You mentioned earlier, somebody's picking a split. 41:59 I'm picking a split. 42:01 I'm just, I'm not convinced yet. 42:03 Like you said, it's the consistency. 42:05 I've just, I just haven't seen it. 42:07 We try, we get excited at certain points. 42:09 They got to show me something here. 42:11 What are your thoughts, Cap? 42:13 How are the points distributed this weekend? 42:16 You know, man, it's tough. 42:18 It's hard to say that there's not going to be an overtime game. 42:21 I'm most hard to believe that. 42:24 But you could see. 42:26 I don't know. 42:27 I feel like I'm going to say, I feel like a split does sound bright. 42:32 Now, could it be a 4-2 split? 42:35 Yeah. 42:35 You know what I mean? 42:36 I think it could go that way. 42:39 And I think it would go Minnesota's way. 42:41 And then, you know, it's 4-2 or is it 4-5-1? 42:44 I mean, once it's overtime, you're playing a whole different hockey game. 42:47 I think that's one thing where the pair-wise is... 42:51 I don't love it in terms of the weight of a... 42:53 I don't know, that whole blah, blah, blah. 42:55 It's time for another thing. 42:58 But if Buckeyes get their goaltending, though, I think they can take one outright. 43:04 So it's tough. 43:08 I'm going to stay with the split. 43:09 I think it's going to go two regulation wins each way. 43:14 Just going back to that last game with Michigan, I mean, they made two unbelievably skilled plays to score their goals. 43:22 Yes. 43:24 Should Hughes have not gotten free there? 43:26 But how he caught that pass and then scored with a rolling puck was pretty good. 43:32 And then the Michael Hage goal, I would say, I mean, that's Cal Thomas. 43:35 It was almost, I'm saying, OK, but Cal Thomas is probably your best shutdown defense. 43:42 And he got a little work there by a really good first round draft pick player. 43:46 Yeah, he did. 43:47 So, I mean, it's tough. 43:49 It gets magnified, right? 43:50 When those are the only two and they score. 43:53 But I agree with these. 43:55 But I mean, those were really good hockey plays. 43:59 Yeah. 44:00 I'm not saying they aren't skilled hockey plays, but I'm just saying at this level of hockey, when you give away that chance, they're skilled enough to, they don't need a perfectly flat puck. 44:11 They just need the space and they're good enough to execute. 44:14 And Hughes and Page are good enough to take advantage of that. 44:17 And then that's happened in Minnesota in the past where they play these top teams. 44:21 They just have to be so dialed up. 44:23 You can't give away that ice in that situation. 44:25 You can't cross your feet. 44:27 You can't let somebody split you in a neutral zone regroup. 44:31 Those are just things that can't happen. 44:34 We've been terrible at picking points. 44:36 I picked a split. 44:37 What are you picking? 44:40 Is he going to break the tie or we all go and split? 44:44 I think the Buckeyes come away with two points this weekend and the Gophers get four. 44:49 Or two. 44:50 I think we are going to see some overtime this weekend. 44:52 It's just these teams are tight in the way Ohio State plays in the way Minnesota's offense has been. 44:58 I think one of these games is low scoring games. 45:00 I think I don't know. 45:01 You know, you love predicting is that you look like such a fool when it's a they have a 5-4 game or something. 45:07 Yeah. 45:07 What do you do? 45:09 I don't think that's going to happen. 45:10 I just I just don't see it both ways. 45:15 I mean, Minnesota, they're not playing terribly defensively. 45:18 And Suley air looks, you know, he looks like junior year, so and and, you know, I think he just took it. 45:26 You know, Airy got sick, Airy. 45:28 I don't you guys have seen him more than me, but I don't recall him ever having a game where like you were like. 45:35 Whoa, you know what I mean? 45:36 Like, yeah, it's been solid at times, but he's never had a game where he's made 30 some saves and really won a game. 45:44 I'm not saying you can't do it. 45:46 You just haven't seen those. 45:48 And I think Bob's probably going with the guy that has a track record and he's played well enough. 45:55 There you go. 45:57 There you go. 45:58 It's going to be a fun weekend either way. 46:01 Cappy, thanks for coming on early with us this weekend. 46:04 Live from a fish house, man. 46:06 I know this is pretty cool for you guys. 46:08 I mean, I'm over the cold. 46:10 I'm ready for like, I think it's going to be 40 in Chicago on Monday. 46:14 I might wear shorts. 46:14 I mean, like today, it felt warm. 46:16 It's in the 20s. 46:18 Yes, this is kind of comfortable. 46:20 That's so it's so weird how our minds work that way. 46:22 But it's got to be pretty chilly there. 46:24 And I don't think you guys are worried about 15 degrees. 46:27 I'm seeing 20 degrees right now. 46:29 I mean, it feels balmy. 46:31 I'm ready to tee it up. 46:32 I might go out on the lake here and instead of drill a hole, I'll put it to the hole here. 46:37 Still going, right? 46:38 Just put it on the ice. 46:39 That ball will keep rolling. 46:41 Any last thoughts, Veegs? 46:43 Before we go. 46:44 I think one thing about the last series with Ohio State and Minnesota was special teams did come into play. 46:50 You know, when Ohio State pulled away, it was because of some Minnesota mistakes on the penalty kill. 46:55 And when Minnesota pulled away, it was because Buckeyes got into trouble. 46:58 I don't expect a lot of penalties this weekend. 47:01 One, BigTen officials seem to have been swallowing the whistles a little bit. 47:04 And two, I think the coaching staff of both rosters are saying, do not make this a special teams game. 47:10 Let's play five on five. 47:11 Let's play discipline. 47:12 So that's what I'm expecting. 47:13 Yeah, I think you want to hopefully have the whistles. 47:16 I think you want the referees to hopefully be relevant. 47:19 And last series was so weird. 47:21 Like, it was a 10 goal swing. 47:24 You know, five to one, six to one. 47:27 The other way, I just don't see that happening. 47:29 It was weird. 47:29 It was like Minnesota's first, you know, league game since, you know, December. 47:35 Yeah. 47:35 Coming into, you know, Ohio State's barn was empty because they were still out of school, you know. 47:40 So, and then obviously the next night they had, you know, jets fired up their asses and dominated that game. 47:46 I think it'll be a little more even and more chess matchy this weekend. 47:51 At least I hope so. 47:52 I'd rather see two good games end in two two ties than a, you know, blowout both sides. 47:59 All right, guys. 48:00 We'll see you guys in the studio. 48:03 Yeah, you will. 48:04 Yeah, you will. 48:05 You'll see me in the studio, at least. 48:08 We're going to try to do as many live look-ins at the GopherPuck Eye Games Friday night. 48:14 You can. 48:14 It's on BTN Plus, you know, Fox9 locally here. 48:17 Oh, we know. 48:18 Oh, we know. 48:20 There you go. 48:21 Are you in Pizzo again this weekend? 48:23 My call Friday, Pizzo, Saturday. 48:26 Pizzo. 48:27 He ran away from Twitter because we blamed him for everything. 48:30 Come on, Pizzo. 48:31 Yeah, probably. 48:34 He's over social media, I think. 48:36 Yeah. 48:36 But thanks for joining us, Cap. 48:38 We stay out here for a little bit while we finish shut up. 48:40 But good show from the fish house, man. 48:43 Yeah. 48:43 Thanks to Gateway Fiber for putting this on. 48:45 It's been a cool deal out here for the area. 48:48 Oh, I had some free pizza and I had some hot chocolate. 48:51 It was a good day. 48:52 So that's it for this episode of The GPL Podcast. 48:56 We'll be back next week. 48:57 Just Veegs and I as we preview the Penn State series as they go to Happy Valley. 49:03 For those of you watching live, no overtime this week. 49:06 Sorry, gang. 49:06 We're going to go get some food and go watch the US-Canada game. 49:11 For the rest of you, we'll catch you next week on The GPL Podcast.