0:08
This is The GPL Podcast, part of the Pulltab Sports family.
0:14
Let's get this bandwagon going, folks.
0:16
Take that, please, Mr.
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Negative.
0:22
See, I gotta make sure the audio works so I don't end up like Micheletti.
0:28
You know, it was good to see that the Big Ten Network recognized how to cover hockey.
0:38
Leo, how was your recruiting?
0:39
I mean, you, I mean.
0:41
My recruiting, I probably had 76 D1 offers.
0:48
Now, here's Jupiter and Vigo.
1:02
Good evening, and welcome to The GPL Podcast, episode number 285.
1:10
Not the greatest weekend, Veegs.
1:15
Yeah, not very good vibes for Gopher Nation this last weekend.
1:20
You know, a lot of expectations that this would be kind of an easy series for them.
1:25
And Notre Dame made it really difficult for Minnesota, and the Gophers just didn't really answer the challenge over all three games.
1:36
Well, it's not wasting time here.
1:38
It's bringing our guests.
1:39
We've kind of had planned them on the week before, but high school hockey took precedence way over that, of course.
1:44
Let's bring them in.
1:45
Pat Micheletti.
1:46
Thanks for coming back on the show, man.
1:48
My pleasure, guys.
1:49
You know, I love coming on your show.
1:51
Well, I'm glad you, I'm glad you know, it is, it is one of the best in college hockey.
1:56
So I want to be with the best.
1:58
Well, here we are.
1:59
We appreciate that.
2:00
We definitely appreciate that.
2:04
You know, we skipped you for a week because you're hibbing blue jackets.
2:08
We're in the state tournament.
2:10
They did okay.
2:12
I think it's fine.
2:13
I was kind of hoping they'd do a little better, but it was a good state tournament for them.
2:18
Yeah, a lot of really young talent.
2:22
They play Edmonton Oilert 1980s type hockey.
2:28
They run and gun and, you know, they forgot that they have to play a little D, especially when you have a four-goal lead or, you know, but you know what?
2:39
When you're playing a bunch of freshmen and sophomores and, you know, hopefully they'll learn from it.
2:45
And, you know, the good thing is, is that they're back a little bit and, and they, you know, should be good for the next upcoming years, which is, which is good for, for having, it's been 14 years since they've been down to the tournament.
3:01
And so, so good for them.
3:05
Yeah.
3:05
Good.
3:05
They had a good tournament.
3:07
Bad for our Gophers, Veegs.
3:11
Yeah.
3:12
You know, at times they, they played well, but they just made critical mistakes that you can't make against Notre Dame because once you fall behind to them, they get energized with their defensive structure.
3:26
They're going to block more shots.
3:28
They're going to commit more to the back check.
3:30
And it's really hard to get your way out of that.
3:33
I think what happened even on top of that was the chances that Minnesota was generating, they weren't finishing on.
3:40
They didn't look like they were fully present and confident in their play.
3:48
I counted on Sunday, even after they fell behind, I think they got five or six odd man rushes.
3:53
They just didn't finish on any of those chances.
3:57
And I've talked to a couple of people about this is when you start pressing, and you put a lot of pressure on your game.
4:04
It's hard to perform.
4:06
And I think that's a little bit what happened in Minnesota on Sunday.
4:10
What do you think went wrong, Pat?
4:13
Well, I have a lot to unpack here.
4:15
That's quite all right.
4:16
We're ready for it.
4:17
I mean, first of all, give a lot of credit to the way Notre Dame played, because I don't know if you guys saw the games in October, I believe they were no early.
4:28
I don't know.
4:29
When we were out in Notre Dame, I'm like, what team am I watching?
4:35
Undisciplined, loose hockey, terrible defensively, couldn't stop anything, and Minnesota dominated that whole series.
4:45
Now, Notre Dame comes in here, completely different team.
4:52
You know, they managed the puck, they defended, they blocked shots, they play the way Jeff Jackson's teams always play.
5:01
Tough to play against.
5:04
Here's what upset me about Minnesota, which kind of goes on to what Vig said, and why they didn't finish.
5:13
I think they got frustrated, and time after time after time, and they're told this, and they know, they know, when they're playing well, the things that they're doing.
5:29
You cannot, on every rush, try to be the guy, and try to make a play when the play is not there.
5:40
And that happened over and over and over and over, and it was happening to the same guys over and over, and then those guys get frustrated, and those are the guys that you're counting on.
5:52
And so that, that bothered me, because when I talked to the coaches, and now here's what we're got, here's what we gotta do.
6:01
Here's what we're pounding, pounding, pounding.
6:05
And, you know, it's really, hockey's a simple game if you want it to be, or it's a very difficult game if you want it to be.
6:15
And they chose it to make it difficult.
6:19
And so from that perspective, I think they started getting frustrated and then you could see it in the rest of their play.
6:28
So is the sky falling?
6:30
No.
6:31
Is there a formula for them to be like back on top of their game and, you know, steamroll some teams?
6:41
Yes.
6:42
But, you know, it's got to be right up here.
6:47
Veegs, Jack Ramsey, last week was saying he would have preferred this game being in South Bend just because Minnesota plays better there.
6:56
And you know what?
6:58
I don't think the Minnesota kids on Notre Dame play as well at home as they do in their real home.
7:06
No, you can tell the Minnesota players who go to Notre Dame, they really get up for this series.
7:11
Always do.
7:12
They've got a very strong supporter section behind their bench of friends and family.
7:18
You know, even talking to the guys after the game, they got Malone's from Maple Grove, because that's comfort food to a lot of them.
7:24
So they get the win.
7:25
They get the meal that they're looking forward to and they get to enjoy it.
7:28
And the thing that I noticed different about this weekend versus some of the other weekends of Minnesota players playing the Gophers is they committed to playing disciplined hockey.
7:39
They didn't take the cheese.
7:42
They stayed in their structure.
7:44
They took chances when they were given to them and they played very disciplined hockey.
7:50
I think one of the big things is Minnesota kept going into that 1-2-2.
7:54
It's almost like Notre Dame will give you the red line sometimes and then pincer you as you get to the blue line and there's nowhere for you to go.
8:02
You have to be able to read that play and place the puck or one of your teammates is going to win the race and then you get set up in your ground game.
8:12
You're not going to beat two or three players as you come through that part of the ice.
8:16
It's just that's what their entire team is designed to stop.
8:20
You saw Minnesota do that time and time again and you lose momentum.
8:25
Then you have to go in your zone and you have to defend and then you have to get off.
8:29
And if you don't change at the right time, then the next line gets on and has to defend.
8:34
And it just ruins the momentum of the game, especially when you fall behind because Notre Dame is more than happy to let you do that.
8:40
You know, we forget Notre Dame has some skill up front.
8:44
I mean, if you look at some of their four, some of them are skilled.
8:47
No, not a lot of them, but they have enough to, you know, to score, which we saw.
8:53
But one of the keys going into Sunday night for me, and I put it on the screen, I said Minnesota has to score the first goal.
9:04
And not, not for a variety of reasons.
9:08
One, it, it, you get a team that's not high octane offense, chasing a little bit.
9:18
And you get Minnesota feeling good about themselves.
9:22
And Notre Dame maybe, you know, I mean, it's the mindset, you know, you Notre Dame gets that first goal.
9:29
They're like, hey, you know, we need one more and we're going to probably win, you know, because they average under three goals a game.
9:39
But point being, it's a psychological thing.
9:44
And every game this year, and you guys know this, all seven of them, yep.
9:49
All seven games.
9:51
It's fine and dandy during the regular season, playoffs a little different.
9:56
And they got, you could just tell after they scored that first goal, they got harder on pucks, they defended better, they blocked 23 shots on Sunday night.
10:10
And, you know, and Minnesota shot them, what, 34 to 15?
10:15
Okay, so now add the other shots and the missed nets.
10:21
You know, I didn't see what the final temps were, but, you know, it's a big difference getting that first goal, especially in the playoffs.
10:33
But I do think being in the playoffs, that frustration came out more in the Gophers game than it does in the regular season.
10:40
Because they know how embarrassing it would be to lose in the seventh seed as the two seed.
10:46
You know, the expectations are all that they were just supposed to have an easy weekend.
10:50
And the reality of college hockey is it's not going to be easy against a team like Notre Dame.
10:54
And they put that pressure on themselves.
10:57
And I asked Bob, you know, what does that look like in the game?
11:00
It's like, well, you shoot when you should pass, you pass when you should shoot, and you try to do more than is there.
11:09
And you take risks that are unnecessary and don't even give you a benefit if you do happen to pull it off.
11:14
When you get in a playoff game, we've seen this with Minnesota in some of these games.
11:19
That is the recipe of what happens to a frustrated Gopher team and to see it pop up was concerning.
11:28
Here, we may have had this conversation, Vegs, at the beginning of the year.
11:34
What kind of worried me about this team throughout the year is that there's so much depth.
11:40
There's a lot of guys who have the ability to score.
11:46
And my biggest thing was, okay, what happens when we get in a tough game?
11:56
Who's gonna be that guy to stand up and say, I got it, I got it, or our line's got it, or are they gonna look down the bench and say, you know, maybe they will, or you know what I mean?
12:11
And I saw that if you looked at the night they won, the Kurth line, I was hard on them until they made a couple of plays, right?
12:26
I mean, I was, I'm like, this line's gotta get going.
12:30
They have done nothing tonight.
12:32
And sure enough, they did, later on.
12:36
You know, great play by Kurth, and you know, Wood, Scorn, whatever.
12:41
But you know, it's like, if they want to win, and it's gotta be from that individual or that individual line to say, we're going out there and we're going to do it and not rely on this line or that line.
13:02
I mean, the best line for Minnesota in the last month has been their fourth line, and it's not even close.
13:09
Not even close.
13:11
Middlestead, Nevers and Hendrickson have been terrific.
13:17
Been terrific.
13:18
And I'll argue that till I'm blue in the face.
13:23
Veegs, I want to say the ball started rolling at about a minute and a half end of the game, Friday night, Soulier, just a flip puck in, goes off his glove and into the net.
13:37
And I didn't even think that's part of it, Veegs.
13:39
You know, when all of a sudden, like, oh my gosh, we're already down one nothing.
13:42
And one of the positions we thought we kind of had wrapped up here just gave in an easy goal.
13:48
And later on, he gives over a puck that ends up in the back and then as well.
13:51
And now all of a sudden, we've got a goalie controversy on top of all this stuff.
13:56
And then we'll get to Huglen in a bit here, but things kind of piled up pretty quickly there Friday night.
14:04
Yeah, a little bit of adversity.
14:05
You know, I think Bob's got some bad memories with the goaltending giving away games like this.
14:10
And he was pretty quick on the trigger.
14:12
You know, he just, you know, there's not a lot of time in a game against Notre Dame to feel that out and fight through it.
14:19
And so it was a quick hook.
14:21
You know, I thought Aerie looked good for the rest of Friday.
14:25
I thought he looked good on Saturday.
14:28
Sunday, we saw some of the rebound control issues that come up with Aerie sometimes come into play.
14:33
You know, he makes that initial save, but he has a hard time recovering to his crease and tracking the puck.
14:40
And that popped up and it cost him an issue.
14:42
And then you get into a game late and Canoable takes advantage of a gopher mistake on a back check and extends the lead.
14:49
And that kind of puts the game away.
14:51
It really puts the Gophers in a weird situation with this long break, knowing who could be the goalie playing that first NCAA tournament game.
15:01
You know, both goalies have been fine.
15:03
And I don't think goal tending is necessarily the issue with this team.
15:08
But they've got to score enough goals to overcome those kinds of mistakes.
15:14
I'll take you back to the Penn State Series.
15:19
They should have won both games, you know, easy, easy to say, right?
15:27
But they were the better team Friday night.
15:30
And then they had three, you know, three miscues.
15:34
Egregious, turn the puck over, simple plays, the custom of the game.
15:40
And those are the things that you just cannot do at this time of the year.
15:47
And I do think on Saturday in the win, you know, the Gophers scored some of their goals off of mistakes, turnovers and rushes.
15:56
Yeah.
15:57
You know, and this team is talented enough to play a tight game and score in those situations.
16:04
Yeah.
16:05
You know, they don't have to force a lot of hockey to get those chances.
16:10
You know, even Sunday against Notre Dame, those chances were there for them.
16:13
No doubt.
16:14
They just can't give away goals and mistakes to be successful.
16:20
I mean, we look at this team and we talk about how hard it is sometimes for them to generate offense.
16:26
They're one of the leading scoring teams in the country.
16:28
They are.
16:28
They can score.
16:30
They can score.
16:30
It's just it's hard to see them generate the chances.
16:33
They almost have to wait for the other team to make mistakes.
16:36
And that's hard to do when you're playing from behind.
16:40
So besides losing the series to Notre Dame and being out of playoffs now for a total of 18 days, it looks like a minimum of Aaron Huglen-Vegues, he's injured out for the season.
16:54
College Hockey News saying looks like the x-ray said a broken bone.
17:00
Not great for this team because I think Aaron has been very consistent a play throughout his entire career.
17:11
Yeah, Huglen is a steady player.
17:13
You know, he plays a possession game.
17:16
He knows how to get that ground game, compete in the faceoff circle.
17:20
He's a leader.
17:22
He's dealt with a lot of adversity and injuries throughout his career.
17:25
So he's got kind of that evenness to him and they're going to miss him.
17:30
You know, after the game, Bob said it didn't look good.
17:33
On his radio show, he said it's going to take a miracle for the x-ray to come back.
17:37
And now we see the College Hockey News report that it's a broken bone.
17:41
And, you know, broken bones take at least four weeks to heal usually.
17:45
So that probably means the end of his season, which is too bad to see.
17:50
Really feel bad for him.
17:51
A super kid, as you mentioned, been through a lot.
17:56
And, you know, he's never complained about taking a different role.
18:03
And that's what I've really enjoyed about him, is his goals to win.
18:07
He's not one of those guys where I need my points.
18:10
You know, and although I think he's got, I think on another team, he would have been a guy who would have been expected to get a lot of points.
18:22
And I think he's capable of that.
18:24
Not on this team.
18:26
He's taken that different role.
18:27
He's playing against the top, top center man of the other team.
18:31
He's taking big draws, killing penalties.
18:34
You know, he's given up the power play per se.
18:37
And so, you know, you just say, thank you.
18:39
You know, I mean, talk about a team guy.
18:43
And he just wants to win.
18:45
And he's gonna, you know, it's gonna be a large hole to fill in that spot.
18:55
Well, my first big memory of him is out in the east, one of the eastern regionals, Veegs, he worked his butt off to get control of a puck, allowing Mr.
19:04
Ben Myers to squint, score a great overtime winner, all from his work along the boards, getting past, he almost took over the game, Veegs.
19:14
Yeah, I mean, you need players like that to be successful, to get your ground game going.
19:18
You need players who are going to the corners, win pucks and create scoring chances for their teammates, create momentum for the next line coming out there.
19:26
And he is definitely one of those guys.
19:28
And this year's team, you know, center depth has been a concern for the roster, as they put it together.
19:35
So, it will be a challenge for them to address that here in the playoff game.
19:40
Yeah, I mean, obviously, Paulson will, you know, strictly back to the middle and, you know, I'm sure they're going to tinker with some lines and try to find the right formula.
19:54
And, you know, I haven't talked to anybody since Sunday.
20:01
And I'm not probably going to talk to them till next week.
20:05
And, you know, just, you know, they got enough to figure out.
20:09
And, you know, so what they're going to do, I don't know, I don't know how you, I don't know how you do that.
20:19
You know, I have no idea what their plans are.
20:23
Well, the sweep, essentially, you know, losing the series this weekend did cost them bigs.
20:28
They did drop from number three to number four in the pairwise.
20:31
And John Candels is asking here, is finishing fourth or fifth in the pairwise matter right now?
20:39
I mean, the only difference is you'll you'd potentially get last change for the second game of a regional, you know, it's looking like they might be in one with Western Michigan or Maine.
20:51
So getting that extra change would help, especially if you're going to be short centers, you know, being able to put out guys you want for draws would be a nice advantage.
21:02
And it's having a tougher game in the first game.
21:04
If they drop to five, right?
21:07
Yeah, I kind of think that, you know, being one or two is a big help, but being three or four, you're still going to be playing a pretty tough game.
21:15
It's looking like you're going to get one like...
21:17
I'm saying if they drop to five, right?
21:22
Yeah.
21:24
They'd be two, they'd be three, right?
21:27
But I kind of think like that, eight through 13 in the pair wise, all tough teams, all tough teams right now in that section.
21:35
Yeah.
21:36
Can they move back up?
21:39
I know we've kind of heard that they could lose their fourth position, could lose the five.
21:43
Can they go back up?
21:44
I mean, if Maine lose...
21:46
Maine would have to lose, Michigan State would have to lose.
21:50
Well, Michigan State is going to stay above them, but if they can get back to number three, that could help a bit, Veegs.
21:56
CHN says 26% chance that they could be the number three overall seed.
22:02
So it's still possible.
22:05
Do you think four is a lock?
22:08
I mean, it's a 19% chance of being five or six.
22:13
So the way they get out of the top four is if Maine and Western Michigan win their conference titles in the tournament, that could bump them back.
22:23
But there's other things that have to happen for them to get to five.
22:26
And a lot of things would have to go wrong for them to get to number six.
22:30
Yeah.
22:32
Oh, we've seen a lot of bad luck with the in a nutshell, they're going to be a number one or a number two seed.
22:39
Yeah.
22:39
Yeah, they will.
22:41
And in Fargo, they'll go they'll go to Fargo.
22:45
In all likelihood, right, Veegs?
22:47
I mean, they can't.
22:47
It looks pretty likely.
22:49
Yeah.
22:49
Yeah.
22:49
All the bracket ologies, whether they're four, five or six, I've seen that CCHA team not being in Fargo.
23:00
Have you?
23:01
I've seen them.
23:02
I've seen them in Toledo.
23:04
I've seen Quinnipiac here.
23:05
Yeah.
23:05
Yeah.
23:07
I guess there's going to be some hockey East and Big Ten potential conflicts with seeding.
23:13
So we have to move things around that way.
23:16
And Penn State could mess things up too.
23:18
I mean, they're in Allentown.
23:19
They're in Allentown, but that's still kind of, you know.
23:23
Yeah.
23:23
They'd be a three or four seed in Allentown, which everybody would love to see, I'm sure.
23:28
Oh, boy.
23:29
You think Maine wants to go there?
23:32
Oh, boy.
23:33
Maybe they could have voted differently at the offseason and they could have had campus sites and they could have had an All-Font Arena game in a couple of weeks.
23:44
Pipe dream bigs.
23:45
We've given up.
23:48
How about me wanting to expand the tournament?
23:56
Have a play-in game.
23:58
I think every team has earned the right to have their conference champion in the tournament, right?
24:09
But there's going to be some teams on the outside that are pretty darn good.
24:18
I mean, there was a chance going into the weekend.
24:22
If Michigan sweeps Penn State, right?
24:27
Penn State is on that bubble big time.
24:30
Out, no more games.
24:31
Good luck.
24:33
And they, for example, have the best record in the country since December 25th.
24:41
A team like that, who's the hottest team in the country in the second half, but because of their first half, don't get in.
24:49
So I'm saying, hmm, let's have a plan.
24:53
Let's do something.
24:55
Well, our guy, Ben Holden, wants you to keep the dream alive at Camp Besides Figs.
25:01
Well, I run for National College Hockey Commissioner.
25:03
I'll be sure to contact Ben Holden for my SuperPAC.
25:08
There you go.
25:10
Because we've been on that bandwagon for a while, Pat.
25:13
Yeah.
25:14
I would love to see that at least the first weekend.
25:16
Oh, boy, that could be great.
25:19
Yeah.
25:20
And like, I don't disagree.
25:22
I mean, you mentioned some.
25:23
Well, you know what?
25:23
You know the problem?
25:24
The problem is the coaches.
25:26
They don't want to.
25:27
It is.
25:27
But the thing is, like Veegs just said, well, gosh, how about us?
25:31
You know, a game in Alfond this week.
25:34
You know what's so funny about these coaches not wanting them?
25:39
It's funny because these are guys, right, that were in my era.
25:46
The Sandalins, the Berries, it was the Granados, the, you know, all right, all these guys.
25:53
And I laugh at them because they had no issue at all.
25:58
Loved playing on the road as players back in college.
26:03
But now as coaches, you know, no.
26:07
I mean, you'd have to go to Western Michigan.
26:11
You'd have to go to Maine.
26:12
You'd have to maybe go to Quinnipiac or Cornell or whoever it may be.
26:17
A lot of these coaches that vote against that.
26:20
And UConn would be hosting Denver right now.
26:22
Yes.
26:23
I mean, that would be a great situation for them.
26:29
Well, we know we're stuck to at least for quite a few more years.
26:33
So, yeah, we have to hope for bad attendance, don't we?
26:36
Because, I mean, that's just one of the things you have to hope for.
26:39
I think we have to hope for one seeds having to play teams like Penn State or when North Dakota gets in, BC has to play North Dakota in Fargo, or a place where it's a real hostile crowd, where you should have the advantage and you have to travel West.
26:59
What does it say when we're going to nondescript cities where there's no college hockey?
27:07
I mean, there's not a team in Toledo, right?
27:10
There's not a team in Allentown.
27:13
There's not a team in Fargo.
27:14
Now, Fargo is different because you're only an hour from Grand Forks.
27:19
Get it.
27:20
It's a hockey.
27:21
Get it.
27:22
But it's mind-boggling.
27:30
I mean, I could be worse, but I'm really holding, biting my tongue.
27:38
It's okay.
27:39
We've been biting our lip for a while here.
27:41
Pat, and it's just, yeah, like it's going to take more upset speaks, like you said.
27:49
Let's just say what happens if North Dakota makes it into Fargo this year, and they're a four seed, and they've got to play somebody like a main.
28:00
I mean, they might be playing someone like BC because of the way things shake out.
28:05
North Dakota might be behind an Atlantic Hockey Team in the pairwise, potentially, you know, and theoretically, they're supposed to go by the pairwise one versus 16.
28:16
If 16 is North Dakota, all of a sudden, all all all cards are back in the deck, and you've got to figure that out, and you've got BC playing North Dakota around one in Fargo.
28:28
Sign me up.
28:31
I want to see them all.
28:34
I mean, people would love to see Minnesota, North Dakota and Fargo.
28:41
I mean, could you imagine North Dakota, BC, Minnesota, Quinnipiac, regional?
28:46
I mean, that'd be a lot of fun for for us out west.
28:53
Well, it's like we're beating a dead horse here.
28:56
Cause we are, I mean, but I still want to talk about it.
29:00
At least we can only dream about doing things that is right.
29:07
You know, it's smart and sensible, but that's not the NCAA and that's not half the coaches.
29:14
And we'll need, I mean, we are losing some of the older clan of coaches, Veegs.
29:22
Maybe it will slowly change.
29:24
Cause we've noticed the younger coaches tend to like, would like to play on home ice.
29:31
Cause we know Bob, he would rather just stick to how it is as well.
29:35
So, but then you guys are like, he doesn't want to stick his nose into this argument.
29:40
Cause no way that he, no, not as a blue blood, no, no, no.
29:46
But you know, changes at Cornell, changes, you know, other places.
29:51
Yeah.
29:53
Notre Dame.
29:57
We shall see.
29:58
But we need to talk about our sponsors here, Veegs.
30:01
And we're going to start with one of my favorites, lunch bucket hockey.
30:06
Oh boy.
30:07
You know, we saw those jerseys that Jack Ramsey had made up from lunch bucket hockey for his Vail Tournament.
30:13
They looked spectacular.
30:15
Yeah.
30:15
Jack Ramsey.
30:16
I mean, does he embody lunch bucket hockey?
30:19
Oh gosh.
30:19
Hardworking grit and grind guide.
30:21
I mean, that's Jack Ramsey.
30:23
And so when the Lumberjacks are going to Vail, they went to lunch bucket hockey.
30:26
A couple of local guys who played Friday lunchtime pick up hockey.
30:30
They evolved into a brand.
30:32
And now you can get custom jerseys from them if you're looking for a special occasion for your team or your beer league team.
30:38
Check them out.
30:38
lunchbuckethockey.com.
30:41
And of course, we've got Gateway Fiber.
30:43
Fiber to the Fish House event we just did a couple of weeks ago.
30:47
Yeah, that was a lot of fun going out there.
30:49
You know, you and I, we both rely on Fiber to do our podcast.
30:53
Thanks for the invite.
30:56
The fish weren't biting, Pat.
30:58
So we didn't have you out there.
31:00
But we did have great air net so everybody could watch.
31:03
And they're coming to town.
31:04
If you're in Blaine, Brooklyn Park, Champlain, Coon Rapids, Maple Grove, Plymouth, Gateway Fiber is available to you.
31:11
And they're looking to expand deeper into Minnesota.
31:14
So don't be feeling like you're forced to get it.
31:16
It's fatty.
31:17
Check out Gateway Fiber.
31:19
Elevated beer, wine and spirits.
31:23
They got a couple of stores, but we're mostly talking about their White Bear Lake store, aren't we, Veegs?
31:28
Well, they're hometown guys from White Bear Lake.
31:30
And they've got this store.
31:31
If you're looking for craft beers like I do, you know, check out my GPL over time, beer of the week.
31:38
You know, I'm looking for crafty stuff.
31:39
If you're looking for spirits, they just have their rare whiskey event going on.
31:45
And if you're looking for the big stuff, if you're looking for Bud Miller Coors, McOld Light, you can get cases for just $17.99.
31:52
If you're into the big black box wine, you can get that for $13.99.
31:57
Most places are charged at least $20 for those.
31:59
So check out these hometown guys.
32:01
They've got one in White Bear Lake.
32:02
They've got one in South Minneapolis, and they'll help you out.
32:06
And last, but of course not least, Cub Foods.
32:08
That was just in there yesterday, Veegs.
32:11
I was just in there getting my sumo mandarin oranges.
32:14
Those are in season.
32:16
I go right into the store.
32:17
They've got them all there.
32:18
I stock up on that produce.
32:20
Great Cub stuff.
32:22
They're a local company.
32:24
They support local businesses like Pulltab Sports.
32:29
They support the Gophers.
32:30
They're on PJ Flex headset, and they support the Pulltab Sports studio, and we love them.
32:35
Check them out.
32:36
They do delivery, pick up, go into the store, get ready for your parties, check out Cub foods.
32:42
Of course, we thank all the sponsors of The GPL Podcast.
32:46
Now it's time for VEG's Top 20 for this week.
32:51
A little bit of change at the top, Minnesota dropping down.
32:54
I personally would have dropped Minnesota down a little further.
32:58
But you punish Michigan too.
33:01
Yeah.
33:02
I mean, you punish Michigan pretty well too.
33:05
Yeah.
33:05
I mean, Michigan, they're out of the tournament.
33:07
I've kind of had a hard time putting them where I've put them all year.
33:11
You know, they've dropped a lot of games.
33:13
I think they should have won.
33:15
It's just, they were not putting the pieces together.
33:17
So they were the biggest faller in my rankings.
33:20
You know, I had a hard time dropping Minnesota too much because I just don't see enough consistency from the teams right in that.
33:29
It's almost like they're in a tier.
33:31
You know, that Western Michigan, Maine, Denver, BU, I feel that's a pretty strong tier.
33:37
And then you have a next tier with like Providence, Ohio State, Connecticut, Penn State, Massachusetts, Quinnipiac.
33:43
I think that's that next tier teams.
33:46
So when we're talking about like two, three matchups in the NCAA tournament, I think there is a little bit of a difference between these top five teams and that middle tier.
33:57
So I think it is an advantage to be the two seed or the one seed.
34:01
But all those teams there in the middle there are kind of the same to me right now.
34:04
And UMass is in a battle with Vermont as we speak.
34:07
You know, about nine minutes left in the third period, they are up two to one.
34:12
So that's a ten versus a 32 in the pairwise.
34:15
So Massachusetts is kind of on the edge there, V.
34:20
So obviously a two out of three series, but that could get interesting as well.
34:24
So yeah, definitely.
34:26
I think Arizona State is watching that the closest.
34:28
The bubble is very thin this year.
34:30
Oh yes.
34:31
There are not a lot of teams that can jump up.
34:34
I mean, I've got Omaha in my poll because they have just won a lot of good games.
34:39
The NCHC just hasn't performed well enough at non-conference to help them.
34:44
I think I had them in my top 20 at the start of the year.
34:47
I've got them there at the end here now too.
34:50
Well, actually, they were top 10, weren't they?
34:52
When they first beat Minnesota early in the season.
34:56
I mean, they still got one of the best goalies in college hockey.
34:59
He has a lot of nights where he's made 40, 50 saves to pull out a win for his team and a difference maker for them.
35:06
Would be interesting to see if Omaha went on a run in the NCHC tournament.
35:11
Well, yeah, I mean, in North Dakota had had it in their hands.
35:17
They wanted home ice.
35:20
They couldn't do the job either.
35:21
So they'll be going to Omaha this weekend.
35:27
Andrew Carlson, another 0.1 yard year bigs.
35:31
Could somebody get in by just the slimmest margins?
35:34
It could be one of those years.
35:36
I mean, the teams that are in it, it could be close.
35:40
I think he might be referencing, I joked that Western Michigan was 0.0001 behind Minnesota in the RPI.
35:48
But there's not going to be big jumps in the pairwise this year.
35:52
No.
35:54
It's pretty much one of those years where Hockey East and Big Ten played really, really well and everybody else didn't do so well.
36:01
And Vegs, you know this better than I and Craig, you too.
36:08
To move up in the pairwise, don't you pretty much have to be the team that's above you?
36:14
I mean, to get any traction?
36:18
Like Western is playing St.
36:20
Cloud this weekend, right?
36:22
First round.
36:23
St.
36:23
Cloud is mid-20s.
36:28
They're not going to get a lot of pairwise points this weekend.
36:35
Not enough to move up, right?
36:38
Western is going to have a hard time moving up.
36:40
They can stay ahead and benefit that way.
36:45
A team like Maine is one that could jump up enough if they can pull off a win over BC.
36:52
But it's hard to jump.
36:57
Yeah, it is.
36:59
A lot of times some of these numbers come up.
37:00
You know, like, you might beat a team that's below you and it helps another team move up because they did.
37:07
It's just, it's all over the place.
37:10
It's all over the place.
37:13
Rest of the Big Ten Tournament, guys.
37:17
Who's your favorite Veegs?
37:20
I mean, I've got to go with Michigan State.
37:23
You know, they've they've been the most talented team in terms of winning performance other than stumbling against Penn State here recently.
37:32
I have to pick them.
37:33
It's going to be interesting to see if Penn State can keep this run going.
37:39
You know, they've got some good defense, good goal-tending, some scoring.
37:43
They're aggressive.
37:45
I just like Sparty right now.
37:46
They could lock up a spot in the NCAA Tournament pretty much if they do defeat Ohio State though.
37:52
Yeah, I would think that would lock them.
37:54
I think they're in now, but.
37:55
Okay.
37:55
Yeah, I do.
37:57
I'm going with Penn State, guys.
37:59
Ooh, I like it.
38:01
I am.
38:05
I don't know.
38:07
Michigan State is a lot like Minnesota in terms of falling asleep.
38:13
Sometimes I think they have the best forechecking in the league.
38:19
I think they try to hit the home run sometimes a little too much.
38:26
They are the stretch pass kings.
38:31
I watched them against Penn State and they played right into Penn State's hands.
38:38
Turn the puck over, boom, back of the net, first two shots, two nothing.
38:45
Penn State holds on to win, but that's the...
38:54
I like Penn State right now.
38:55
They have this attitude where, oh, we're down, but we're going to come back and win.
39:00
They have that mentality and that feeling.
39:03
And when you have 20 guys on your bench, you're managers, you're trainers, you're, you know, everybody believing that they're going to get it done.
39:15
So, that's where I'm going.
39:17
Here we talk about Michigan State being the stretch pass kings of the league.
39:21
I kind of see Notre Dame at plus 325.
39:24
I get a little excited that that should be the US HO.
39:29
I know, and Penn State has a lot of forwards like Minnesota.
39:36
I mean, when you look, they're kind of similar, right?
39:40
They don't have a lot of, per se, I mean, they have some skill upfront.
39:46
You look at their skill players, you know, it's pretty impressive group.
39:53
If Notre Dame can frustrate them, hit them, stick them, you know, block a lot of, you know, if they play that, they play the same way that they did against Minnesota, and obviously the goaltending, right?
40:12
They've got a chance.
40:16
Well, you just never know.
40:17
You just never know.
40:18
But, you know, Nightingale's telling them right now, don't let this happen to us.
40:25
Look what happened to Minnesota.
40:26
Don't take the cheese, don't take the cheese, guys.
40:29
Right.
40:31
18 days off, Veegs.
40:33
We don't really have anything to predict for the Gophers.
40:35
18 days.
40:37
What can they do during this time to build something positive for the Regional?
40:44
I think it's really tricky to get too heavy on the team right now about what to do to get ready for Regional because it's such a long break.
40:54
Like I think you just want to have them instilling the habits that you want.
41:00
So you want to have them working on making good reads at zone entries, placing pucks for teammates and starting that ground game.
41:09
And then that's it.
41:11
Move on to the next group.
41:13
I think defensively, forechecking all the way back or back checking all the way back to your crease and picking up bodies.
41:20
Once you do that, end the drill and go to the next rep.
41:23
And you just kind of have to make these routine habits ingrained in them, so that when they get into the playoffs, they have that skill set top of mind.
41:34
I don't think you need to pound them, punish them, hound them on these details, but you need to practice them and make sure they're making the right decisions.
41:45
What I would like to see, I want them to get mad at each other.
41:52
I want them to have battle drills, and battle drills, and battle drills, and who's going to come out of the puck with the corner drills, those type of things, and I want them to hit each other, and I want them to bang, and I want them to get mad, and I want them to get that feeling of what, that is what it's going to be like when we're playing whoever we're playing, okay?
42:18
And have that mindset that when I'm going in the corner, I'm going to come out of there with a puck.
42:25
And I think they got to do it to each other, and feel the pain, and give the pain.
42:32
You know, and I'm not saying fight, and I'm not saying be, you know, I'm just saying some tough, hard battle drills.
42:42
When the time is proper leading into the tournament.
42:45
I feel like if you want to do that, you can do that next week.
42:49
Yeah, I'm not saying tomorrow.
42:51
Yeah, exactly.
42:52
You have an entire week where you can have a hard day, you have a skill day, you have a hard day, you have a skill day, you have a scrimmage.
43:00
I just want that back to be, I want that to be part of it.
43:03
Yeah, I just don't think you could do that for 18 days.
43:06
Oh, God, no.
43:08
You're going to come into it.
43:09
Oh, I'd be in the locker room.
43:15
I wouldn't be out there, Veegs.
43:19
Oh, boy.
43:21
I'm looking at some questions here.
43:23
I'm looking for something earlier.
43:24
I'm not sure if I can find it.
43:27
Well, somebody did say this.
43:28
I love this one.
43:29
Pat, my son's in you.
43:31
I married you back in February.
43:32
He was so excited to take a picture with you.
43:34
So I think he's appreciative.
43:36
You were taking pictures with kids out there.
43:39
You're very welcome.
43:41
That's always great stuff there.
43:44
I did see something here.
43:46
Oh, let me find it.
43:52
It was about Snuggerud.
43:54
If he's already checked out.
43:57
No.
43:58
I hope not.
43:59
No.
44:00
There it is.
44:02
I think Snuggerud is putting so much pressure on himself that that is a little bit what's coming on.
44:08
You know, we looked at him earlier in the year.
44:11
He carried the team in January.
44:14
And when he was making mistakes, he was just playing through it.
44:17
He wasn't showing the frustration, looks to the sky or slamming a stick or making the easy mistake.
44:23
He wasn't doing that kind of stuff.
44:25
And we saw some of that creep out on Friday and Sunday.
44:29
But he needs a little help, too.
44:31
Yeah, well, listen, I'm going to defend him to this amount.
44:39
His whole line was trying to do too much going into the offensive zone instead of making the simple play.
44:49
And you know what?
44:50
The inability, I know they recognize, see every skilled player, every skilled player in the NHL, on a might team, on every skilled player thinks he can make every play.
45:06
And that is when you run into problems.
45:09
I'm sure I was no different.
45:11
I'm sure I thought I could make every play.
45:14
You know, and then, and so you just got to get it in your head.
45:20
It's not there.
45:22
You know, make the smart play.
45:25
And you know, and your line mates have to too.
45:30
And so you can look at the goals that were scored this weekend.
45:34
I don't think any of them came from a play where someone tried to do too much.
45:40
They all came from situations where the offense presided itself and they were confident and finished.
45:47
It wasn't from trying to go through everybody and do too much.
45:50
You just don't see that happen very often in college hockey.
45:54
And here's something else I noticed.
46:00
There were times in that game where they had too much time and space.
46:06
And then what does that lead to?
46:10
Instead of a bang, bang play.
46:11
You remember the goal that Oliver Moore scored?
46:14
That was a bang, bang back of the net textbook, right?
46:21
There were times in the offensive zone where they were moving and this and carrying the puck or getting in and having a big enough gap.
46:35
Instead of bam, get that shot off, it was a hair slow.
46:40
Then what happened?
46:41
Good stick by Notre Dame or a block or a miss net.
46:51
I think everything in the mind has always got to be faster, quicker, get it off.
47:02
When Jimmy's not getting a shot off and hit the net, because if you go back and look, there are a bunch of times where either miss the net or got deflected, and we know how quick he gets a puck off his stick.
47:17
So I think just a little bit of that.
47:23
I personally think that this team will go as far as Jimmy's snug root goes.
47:30
Big time players need to show up in big time games.
47:33
Their next game is the biggest game of the year.
47:39
In six NCAA games, Jimmy's snug root has one point.
47:45
One goal against Canisius in his very first NCAA game, where they won nine to two.
47:52
No other points since then.
47:57
People talk, Kobe Baker, they talk all this and that.
48:01
Yes, it's a lot of pressure on the kid, but sometimes, I think they should just set them up, first thing in that first game.
48:09
Get them going because if he gets going, this team could go right to the top.
48:16
If he doesn't get going, I don't think they're going to get very far.
48:20
Well, I'm going to push back a little on that and just say, Conner Kurth, Matthew Wood, Oliver Moore, Brody Lamb, come on guys, these are all guys that, you know, they have to be good.
48:40
They have to be good.
48:41
Your line mates have to be good.
48:45
It would not shock me to see Paulson and Snuggerud back together.
48:52
I would bet money that that's going to be what you'll see in 18 days.
48:58
Well, let's go then, because I think he needs to be successful.
49:03
Well, sure, sure.
49:05
I mean, I hope so, but darn it, you know, you can't wait two periods and then have just a good third period from another line.
49:13
I mean, I'm sorry, you know, you go and wave at teams and Minnesota has that ability to run four lines and wear teams out and, you know, where they're like, enough, you know, but if it's not, if you have one line off, that, you know, that messes everything up.
49:35
That's why every time, I mean, go back and look at the shifts.
49:40
John Middlestead, Mason Nevers and Beckett Hendrickson.
49:43
You know what?
49:44
Not the prettiest players in the world, but what do they do?
49:49
Simple.
49:49
They get it in, they bang, they cause havoc, they create plays.
49:54
Nevers has got, you know, is scoring more frequently now, and that's just by their line, you know, causing stuff.
50:06
And I think that's why Kirk Clark and Wood got similar scoring champions on Saturday, because of the momentum that that middle stat line gave to them before they got out there.
50:17
And I think sometimes that doesn't translate to Sagerud's line.
50:21
You know, you're probably right, you know, you're probably right.
50:26
And, you know, Brody Ziemer's, you know, I mean, he's a freshman, right?
50:32
But, you know, his game has slipped a little bit, and so he's got to get his game.
50:37
I mean, he's a product of Sagerud, too.
50:39
Sagerud's going to be better if Brody Ziemer's better on that left side.
50:46
You know, if he's winning battles in the corner and getting the puck to Jimmy in areas where he can score.
50:53
You know, Eric Paulson has got to be, you know, again, he's a freshman and he's going to get there.
51:02
But, you know, now is the time to take a step and, you know, make some of those plays.
51:12
This is the time of year where freshmen are no longer freshmen.
51:15
It's time for them to step up.
51:18
Well, and guys like Paulson and Hendrickson and Faloon and Gruba, they're older than your typical gopher freshmen, right?
51:27
You know, they came in at age 20, 21.
51:30
They're older players who have played two, three years as a junior.
51:34
They need to be contributing in these moments here.
51:38
I'll be interested to see if the Gophers don't roll four lines in the regional.
51:42
If they just kind of go, you know, three lines or three centers and four sets of wings or something like that, you know, just to take advantage of their talent and go with it.
51:53
You know, they don't play back to back games.
51:56
They'll have a day off in between.
51:58
So, I'll be really interested to see how they play things when they do get back on the ice.
52:03
I will see you guys at the regionals, right?
52:07
We will be in Fargo if they're in Fargo.
52:12
So, if they said-
52:13
I don't know if I can make it to Toledo or Alabama.
52:15
Yeah.
52:16
Yeah.
52:17
Or is the other one in Manchester or?
52:19
Oh yeah.
52:20
Yeah, we wouldn't make those, but-
52:21
Yeah.
52:23
Fargo, we would definitely be there and, you know, even though they didn't come out ahead last year, Pat, it was a fun weekend with the day in between in Sioux Falls, just a great hockey vibe it was in that town last year.
52:41
Met a lot of people, had a lot of fun.
52:45
Let's do it in Fargo again this year.
52:46
Let's do it.
52:47
Let's have fun.
52:48
So-
52:49
I'm with you.
52:53
Bottom line, be positive.
52:55
The sky is not falling, go for fans.
52:58
It's going to be okay.
53:00
It's going to be okay.
53:02
Pat's here to call you all down.
53:06
It's not like this team is broken.
53:12
It's a matter of them knowing what to do but just not doing it.
53:19
Does that make sense?
53:21
They know, hey, we got to get the puck in deep here.
53:24
We got to go after it.
53:25
This is our game.
53:27
And they get away from it and they got frustrated.
53:30
So can they turn that and get it and understand it and know what it's going to take to win?
53:41
I think they just have to treat the game like a regular game as they've done all season and not how they treated playoff games with Notre Dame.
53:49
Because we've seen them throughout the season have these games and they do just fine.
53:55
This was the first weekend we really saw that happen to Minnesota.
54:00
You have to remember what they lose four times in regulation all year.
54:05
And three of them, they got goalied.
54:08
There's only one game where they really know showed that empty building against Ohio State.
54:13
Every other game this team has competed pretty well.
54:17
I think a lot of people have bad vibes because of the overtime three on three and shootout lost stuff.
54:23
That's not hockey.
54:25
It's disappointing as a fan, but that doesn't embody what this team is.
54:30
Correct.
54:30
So you have to think this is a hiccup.
54:33
There have been plenty of teams that have lost in their conference tournament and have gone on to win NCAA titles.
54:40
It's not as big a gap as some people seem to want to say in social media.
54:46
We're here in the squeaky wheels on there about the team, but there is a lot of talent.
54:50
There is a lot of consistency.
54:52
We just saw one weekend where it wasn't there.
54:54
And it's up to the team to do it.
54:57
It's up to the players to come together and say, Hey guys, this is everything.
55:00
Everything is still in front of them.
55:02
It is, you know, it totally is.
55:05
Listen, listen, I'd rather have this team than some others.
55:11
You know what I mean?
55:13
So I'll leave it right there.
55:18
Well, thanks for coming on with us again, Pat.
55:21
My pleasure, guys.
55:22
I appreciate you having me.
55:24
You know I do.
55:25
I love coming on.
55:26
I hope I get invited back.
55:29
You will.
55:29
Well, at some point next year, whenever.
55:33
Well, of course, I know you give Veegs and I a hard time about the late start.
55:40
Yeah, we're going to have to negotiate that next year.
55:43
I'm not sure because, you know, a couple weeks ago, you know, I put the podcast out at about 12, 15 a night and you liked the tweet.
55:50
I'm like, wait a minute, Pat's in bed doom scrawling it up.
55:54
I was up.
55:55
Yeah, I woke up.
55:56
I'm like, oh, I got to do it.
55:58
I got to do it.
56:00
Hey, am I the guy though, that likes them, retweets them?
56:05
That's right.
56:06
Yeah.
56:07
Come on.
56:08
Yeah, I'm right.
56:08
You are.
56:09
You're welcome.
56:10
Yeah.
56:11
Hey, anyway, thanks guys.
56:13
I appreciate it.
56:15
And I hope to see you in Fargo.
56:16
You will see us in Fargo.
56:18
All right.
56:18
So that's going to do it for this episode of The GPL Podcast.
56:23
No show next week since the Gophers won't be playing.
56:27
But for those of you watching live right now, we'll have a little bit of overtime.
56:31
But for us, we'll see you in two weeks when Mike Carman joins the show.
56:35
So thanks for joining us.
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