0:03 This is the GopherPuckLive Podcast, episode number 29, courted Tuesday, December 4th, 2012. 0:20 This is the GopherPuckLive Podcast, along with Hammeh and Vegoe. 0:25 I'm your host, Jupiter. 0:27 Last week, Gophers split with Omaha is how they want to be known now. 0:33 They still said UNO on their jerseys, but according to the FSN broadcast, they want to be known as just Omaha, not Nebraska, Omaha. 0:41 Kind of saw the split coming, but what do you think, Hammeh? 0:48 They split with Omaha? 0:49 I think that that's probably what the consensus was was going to happen with the series, just because nobody could really figure out who was going to be doing what, simply because of the competition at both teams at play going into the series. 1:01 But obviously, Friday night, there was a lot of frustration on our side of the coin. 1:08 I think that, well, myself, I know I was, but a lot of other people as well. 1:12 I just think that they started off pretty well and then just kind of went downhill from there. 1:18 I mean, Omaha kind of took over the game with their style and the Gophers really didn't seem to adjust very well to it. 1:25 And their heads didn't seem like they were in the game. 1:27 And then Saturday comes and they looked like a different team, especially early, the first two periods and that first period especially, they were just a lot more energetic and things were clicking a lot more. 1:38 And so, just one of those psychological things where from one night to the next, you don't know what the heck happens, but something just changes in people. 1:45 So, all in all, I guess it was predictable in that sense. 1:49 Vegoe, that Friday night game was a snoozer. 1:53 I was literally, I decided not to go down to Mariucci and watch the game and I watched on TV. 1:57 Boy, the first period is great, but then after that, they literally did nothing. 2:01 There was little effort, little jump, nothing. 2:07 Well, I think the most disappointing thing was the first period is really, really great. 2:11 High energy, good play, they got two goals. 2:14 Things seem to be going well. 2:16 And then in the second period, they were sluggish. 2:19 And then Omaha got on the board to tie it up. 2:23 And then guys just start trying to do it on their own. 2:25 They just kept taking the puck right into the defenseman's poke check range. 2:31 They kept making long passes across the rink and they just lost their game. 2:37 And I'm sure the coaches were telling them to simplify the game, chip it deep, get the four check going, stop making the 80 foot passes and they just never adjusted. 2:48 So then Saturday, Lucia throws us a little curve ball. 2:53 He holds alt out after playing 90 consecutive games or somewhere number around there. 2:59 Changes up the lines quite a bit. 3:01 Vegoe, what did you think of the changes he made? 3:03 You think they'll stick around or do you think Lucia will kind of go back to what he's used to? 3:09 Well, I think you're going to see nine guys get to play up front more and more most nights. 3:15 I think the fourth line type guys, that was Saratoria and Isaacson at the start of the game, are just going to come out after special teams play to kind of get things going back on track. 3:28 But I think you're going to see a lot of Buxted. 3:30 I think you're going to see a lot of Holla. 3:32 And I for one like that. 3:33 I think that's one thing Lucia has kind of held back from doing in the past. 3:37 And I think when you've got two elite players like that, you want to get them on the ice. 3:42 Hammey, Mr. 3:44 Sam warning was back. 3:47 How do you think he did? 3:47 I actually thought he looked pretty good. 3:50 I mean, I thought he was very, I mean, obviously his speed was pretty apparent and he made some nice plays and he was actually more physical than I expected. 3:58 Yeah, he was definitely. 4:00 Yeah, I mean, he's not a physical player in general, but you know, he certainly didn't shy away from the contact, which was obviously a very good sign because I had heard, you know, that it might be iffy, you know, as far as his injury goes. 4:11 So that was definitely a nice sign to see. 4:13 And so, yeah, I thought he played well. 4:15 You know, I had that real great assist and I think it was Budish's goal or whatever, but you know, I just thought he played real well considering he had been off for as long as he was. 4:25 Now, Hamme, Vegoe just mentioned, you know, kind of rolling three lines and I know you've been a little frustrated, you know, with how Lucia has run some of the lines at times, you know, not getting the number one line out when he needs to and kind of just rolling with four lines. 4:40 Do you still support that or do you want him to get, you know, get those superstars out there more often? 4:46 Well, I mean, I guess it sort of depends upon the game because, you know, when you're playing a lot of, obviously, special teams play, you know, those top line guys get a lot more ice time as it is and then, you know, you don't want to grind them into the ground and overplay them and, you know, all that kind of stuff. 5:03 So, yeah, I think it kind of depends on the circumstances to a degree. 5:07 I do think, you know, what I've been frustrated with is when I've seen those fourth line guys out there at key moments of the game and it's like, you know, there I'd be kind of like to see them dial it back. 5:17 I mean, to me, this isn't a typical Gopher team because of some of the injury stuff and whatever that we've, you know, had. 5:25 I just think that you don't really want to have guys out there that might put you at a disadvantage. 5:31 You know, we're used to a Gopher team as well. 5:33 I mean, for the most part, that they can roll four lines and yeah, you have your top lines, but that fourth line doesn't seem to really drop off that much. 5:42 And, you know, I think this year it's a little bit of a different story. 5:45 I think that those guys are capable, especially at Xeraturi, but, you know, I just don't know that as a unit, that fourth line, it's been real inconsistent. 5:55 So I kind of like to see, you know, rolling the top three lines a little bit more. 5:59 Hey Veegs, what are your thoughts on the power play? 6:01 I mean, I thought they were okay, but boy, another five minute major power play and they do absolutely nothing. 6:10 Yeah, I think on Friday, they had a little bit more trouble gaining the zone than they have in the past. 6:16 And I think part of that was Omaha's defensive core did a better job of protecting the blue line. 6:22 So it was a lot harder for the Gophers to gain the zone, especially when they're used to just carrying the puck up the ice, skating it in, setting up. 6:30 And then on Saturday, I think they adjusted a little bit. 6:33 They were able to chip it deep or take it wide and gain the zone. 6:37 And you saw on that Bukestead goal, Omaha was not getting into a diamond PK. 6:43 And so they were giving that space in the circles for shots and the Gophers eventually took advantage there. 6:49 That was definitely a nice little snipe shot too. 6:54 What else? 6:55 I mean, any other thoughts on the weekend? 6:57 You know, we thought it was pretty predictable, split or three points with the Gophers. 7:03 You know, a lot of the fans kind of complaining how they, they're just, they don't seem to be into it. 7:08 And maybe Lucia is not a rah rah guy to get them going, but it does seem like they do need a kick in the pants, at least for the second and third periods of the both games actually. 7:19 Hammy? 7:20 Well, for me, the frustrating thing for me was the way that they tried to attack Omaha on Friday, you know, when things just weren't working out, you know, particularly when you have defensemen that have that long reach like Omaha's guys do, you can't give them that kind of time to, you know, stick their, put their stick out there and knock those cross ice passes away and all that. 7:44 To me, it was like, you have to do the like, the little things, the little passes, the quick passes, because those guys are gonna have a hard time adjusting to that because of their size. 7:52 So for me, it was more some of the tactics that the team was using. 7:57 And I don't think that's a, I'm sure the coaches were on the bench probably, giving them, you know, chipping up the boards or, you know, support each other and make the passes, you know, make the passes shorter, do those kinds of things. 8:07 But it's all a matter of, you know, is the team executing it? 8:10 And I think that for me, it was more frustrating than anything. 8:13 It was, now granted, some of the problem is that they were passing the puck like garbage and, you know, into each other's skates and, you know, it's often, it just, things weren't clicking. 8:22 And I just think it was a frustrating night overall, but I don't, I do think that fans tend to want to blame the coaches a little too quickly when the reality is the coaches aren't the ones on the ice, you know, executing the plays. 8:35 I'm sure they can talk to their blue in the face about what to do, but the players have to go out there and execute it. 8:39 So I'm a little leery of some of that stuff. 8:42 And, you know, maybe if you start a game and you're sluggish, you know, maybe you could say, hey, the coach didn't have them ready or whatever, but I thought they started both games, you know, pretty strongly. 8:54 But it was just a matter of how they, you know, how the team adapted once, you know, Omaha kind of adjusted their strategy, so to speak. 9:02 Okay, Vegoe, you have any final thoughts there, Vegoe? 9:05 Well, yeah, talking to Nate Schmidt after the game on Saturday, he emphasized that Genzel got on them. 9:13 He said, Genzel was all over us. 9:15 We had 50 turnovers and only 17 hits. 9:19 And he's like, we have to flip that around on Saturday. 9:22 And that was the emphasis, is not making those bad passes, playing the body a little bit more. 9:27 And I think they did that. 9:29 Those are unofficial stats that they have, but it was pretty easy to see that they were not taking care of the puck. 9:35 Friday and Saturday, there was a noticeable difference from the first shift until the last. 9:40 Don't turn it over. 9:43 Mark Barr does a pretty good job of keeping track of those unofficial stats. 9:48 You know, they got these great software programs that they use that has, you know, the video stream integrated and he just hits certain keys and it tells them, you know, when there was a hit, where the shot was from, a lot of those high, those type of details, I should say. 10:03 And that's where he's probably getting it from. 10:05 He's definitely not getting it from the stats crew, but I know Mark Barr definitely keeps track of, you know, the hits and what they're doing and what they're not doing from the view from above. 10:14 So, well, all in all, you know, a split this weekend, it wasn't that great. 10:18 I mean, gosh, you know, everyone's just still kind of waiting for this great team to come out and it's not quite there yet, but, you know, hopefully it'll just keep building over the whole year. 10:30 Elsewhere in the WCHA, a series that none of us saw coming, Hammy Wisconsin gets three out of four at Denver. 10:40 What? 10:42 Yeah, I mean, after how bad they played against Mankato to go out to Denver and get three out of four and they should have swept. 10:51 I mean, Denver scored late in that first game to tie it, but holy cow. 10:57 Well, I think, you know, there's a couple of things. 10:59 I mean, first of all, I think Denver, I mean, they got swept, you know, by of course, two different teams the prior week at home. 11:06 And so they might not necessarily be hitting on all cylinders now and Wisconsin, like we talked about in the past, you know, they have that style of keeping games close, you know, even when they're not, you know, super skilled and not, you know, very offensive, they have a way of keeping games close. 11:24 And that's why you kind of don't like to play them when it's kind of playoff time because all it takes is that one game and you're screwed, you know. 11:31 So for them, I'm not surprised in that sense that they kept the games close and, you know, they did get, you know, some players back. 11:40 And I think that that certainly is going to have an impact on, you know, morale. 11:43 And so, I mean, I didn't expect them to go out there and get three points. 11:47 You know, I thought they'd probably get swept, you know, but I'm not shocked that the games were close and low scoring and that Wisconsin took one of those games because that's just all it takes is to stay close and then something happens in the third and there you go. 12:02 Neil, what do you think, Veegs? 12:03 I mean, I thought it was gonna be a blowout for Denver. 12:06 Apparently, I was wrong. 12:08 Well, I mean, you know Wisconsin's gonna play those little scoring games and they only got one goal Friday. 12:14 They got two on Saturday and then the empty netter. 12:18 So, you know, it's not like they're putting up a ton of points and those are the kinds of games that they can win if the other team isn't sharp and isn't disciplined and doesn't play a methodical game. 12:28 You know, we saw the Gophers do that same kind of thing on Friday night, you know, when you're pressing to make a play and you keep turning the puck over and the other team is just content to, you know, grind away at the clock, you run out of time at the end. 12:41 And I think that's probably what happened to Denver this weekend. 12:45 Well, I mean, let's face it, when you have a team, you know, it's interesting in college hockey because there's certain programs that you know are going to be more the racehorse style. 12:54 And, you know, I kind of think that Denver tends to play that way and the Gophers tend to play that way. 12:58 And there's other teams that are a little bit more on the conservative side. 13:02 And when you see those teams face each other, it's almost like the offensive team, you know, if they're not getting their stuff going early, it just plays in the other team's hands because then they start to press and they start to create turnovers. 13:14 And that's what feeds into the, you know, all that trapping hockey and all that stuff. 13:18 And, you know, so it's really going into games like that. 13:21 I think you really have to be patient and not, you know, if things don't go your way early on, you know, to not try to press too much and just continue to play your game. 13:32 How about Michigan Tech and Duluth? 13:35 Looks like Duluth got three points, a 7-3 win and a 4-4 tie. 13:40 Any interest in that series, guys? 13:44 Well, I mean, I'm a little surprised that, well, I know that a drunk hockey guy likes to say that Michigan Tech is their slump buster, you know, so maybe they are in that sense. 13:57 So maybe it's not a surprising series for those of us who aren't die-hard Bulldog fans, but you know, I thought that Tech would probably give them a little bit better showing than what they did. 14:05 And so I'm a little surprised by that one, but I guess I don't remember what I called it last week. 14:11 I probably called it a split. 14:12 So I guess it's not too far off. 14:14 What do you think, Veegs? 14:15 I was just surprised at all the goals. 14:17 I expected more than a little more low scoring. 14:23 I mean, Farley getting Player of the Week for the WCHA, and maybe they'll start to find some answers. 14:30 But Tech isn't quite the shell that they used to be. 14:33 They're trying to get up and down the rink a little bit more, but not too surprised with the split. 14:38 Minnesota State sweeps Bemidji, three zip, and what was the other one? 14:43 It's six to one, boy. 14:47 Mankato is doing pretty well. 14:48 What do you think, Biggs? 14:50 Yeah, I think we saw Mankato play a great series against Minnesota. 14:55 And they're kind of one of those teams. 14:57 You throw guys in the hat. 14:59 Anyone can win on any given night, and Mankato might be a home ice team. 15:05 We'll see. 15:07 Hammeh? 15:08 I don't have a ton to add. 15:10 I don't remember where I put Mankato. 15:13 I thought a lot of people were underrating them going into the year. 15:17 They did have a lot of good freshmen last year, and maybe they've matured a little bit. 15:21 And then maybe with the coaching change and maybe a little style change with Hastings, I think he's got a good future down there. 15:28 Hopefully he kind of gets that team going as they move, as being more of a leader in the WCHA in the years to come. 15:36 Yeah, like you mentioned, they had some young players. 15:39 They played a lot of young guys that were key players in their team last year. 15:42 And you expect that those guys are going to step up and improve a little bit. 15:46 So I kind of thought going into this year that a lot of people were putting them way down. 15:50 And I kind of felt like that was underrating them a little bit. 15:53 So I'm not totally surprised. 15:56 I mean, Bemidji is obviously one of the one or two worst teams in the league. 16:01 So even though it is a road series, you kind of expect Mankato, even though they don't be the number one team in the league, to kind of go in there and do some good things. 16:10 So I'm not totally surprised by the results. 16:13 St. 16:13 Cloud State headed up to Alaska Anchorage. 16:15 Anchorage got a nice 3-0 lead Friday night, only to give it up and lose in overtime. 16:20 And then they came back Saturday night, where they typically play a little better and beat them 3-1. 16:24 So a little split there. 16:26 Vegoe, what do you think about that? 16:27 St. 16:28 Cloud, I thought, you know, we kind of looked at a split up there just because it's a tough trip. 16:33 Yeah, I think the trip is the only excuse for them. 16:37 I think St. 16:38 Cloud is maybe disappointing a little bit from what we expected out of them coming in the year. 16:43 I mean, they are in the top half of the conference, but I think we expected a little more domination out of them. 16:51 So, you know, maybe they'll start being a little more consistent here down the stretch and get more scoring. 16:57 Dami, any thoughts on that one? 17:00 Yeah, I mean, the result was what we kind of expected, but I think as far as, from what I understand, just having seen a little bit of the game and then just reading some of the post-game thoughts, they did not play well up there at all. 17:17 I mean, when you go down on the road, 3-0 basically, I mean, I don't know, they go down 3-0 both nights? 17:23 I'm not sure, but I know they went 3-0 in like the first three or four shots. 17:27 I mean, it was really bad. 17:29 Yeah, the first game they were down 3-0 after the first, and they were down 3-0 going into the second, or the third period on a Saturday game. 17:35 So, I mean, they obviously did not play well up there, and they were lucky to come out of there with the two points that they got. 17:43 And quite honestly, I mean, that's two weeks in a row. 17:45 They've been on the road against teams that are pretty far down in the league, and they've come out with splits, and they haven't looked particularly good, from what I understand. 17:56 So, you know, what is it? 17:58 I think that's four straight series for them now that they've split. 18:01 And so, they've got a long home stand coming up now. 18:04 I think they're at home, basically, until the third week of January or something like that. 18:09 So, you know, they'll have to make use of some of these home series, but they don't have easy competition. 18:14 They got UNO and Colorado College and Denver are the five series they got there. 18:20 So, those aren't easy teams. 18:21 So, it'll be interesting to see, you know, if this is just a little bit of a bump in the road for them or if this is an omen, so to speak. 18:30 Finally, we've got North Dakota and Colorado College splitting. 18:34 CC winning 5-3 Friday night. 18:36 And losing to North Dakota 3-2 in overtime Saturday night. 18:41 Hammy, any thoughts on that series? 18:43 Kind of what you thought last week. 18:45 You thought it would be a split. 18:47 I mean, even Goon gave me props. 18:50 I saw that. 18:51 I'm like, wow. 18:53 Maybe he was feeling generous that day. 18:55 I guess so. 18:57 You know, I think that it's kind of what you expected. 19:00 I mean, North Dakota, like we talked about many times, they sort of just feel their way through things in that first half of the year, and then they try to get cooking in that second half. 19:12 So you kind of expect, you know, CC has been playing relatively well so far this year, and they actually probably should have swept that series. 19:19 I mean, North Dakota had to make a pretty good comeback on that second game. 19:24 They kind of went in OVT. 19:25 So, you know, it's kind of what you expect. 19:28 And they're two good teams. 19:29 And, you know, I'm sure that, you know, when you have that kind of a matchup, especially for North Dakota early in the year, it's kind of what you expect. 19:38 Vegoe, you have any thoughts? 19:40 Yeah, just reading the game stories, it did sound like they had to pull off some miracle in the Saturday night game to come out of that one with points. 19:49 But you look at all these scores from last weekend, there's so many splits and points being taken by teams that you would be a little surprised in. 19:59 I just have been looking at the Hockey East, WCHA type stuff going on out there. 20:05 I feel like the WCHA is so strong top to bottom that it's almost hard to compare sometimes with Hockey East. 20:12 I feel like Hockey East has those high-end teams, but I think they have a lot of games where it's not as physical and tough as the WCHA is. 20:21 Boy, it would be fun if we still had that crossover schedule like they had back in the 80s. 20:27 Yeah, I would love to see more games. 20:28 That would be spectacular. 20:30 Obviously, with the Big Ten, it sounds like we're going to be playing more teams. 20:33 Obviously, we're going to be paying the Notre Dame's move into that league. 20:36 It looks like we've got some with BC coming up in the next year. 20:39 There will be some crossover, but those were some fun days when those counted as points in the WCHA. 20:48 Those were interesting times back then. 20:54 We've got some World Junior rosters coming out, not final rosters, kind of the preliminary rosters before cut down. 21:03 It looks like, what have we got? 21:07 Mr. 21:07 Mike Riley and Brady Shea are on that list right now. 21:10 Hammeh, do you have any preliminary thoughts on it? 21:15 Well, I'm not surprised by either of those guys' inclusion. 21:18 They have kind of, especially Shea, has that connection with USA Hockey. 21:26 I can't say that I know what the overall competition for those tryout spots were, and who was deserving or who got screwed over or any of that kind of stuff. 21:39 I think that Riley is probably more likely of the two to make it, just based on what we've seen in the first half of the Gopher Hockey season. 21:48 He's been a little bit more consistent, a little bit more confident with the puck, and Shea, I think, is still kind of finding his way, and we saw that he sat out. 21:58 So I think that those guys probably have a decent shot, but I think that Riley has a better shot of the two. 22:04 Any early thoughts on it, Veegs? 22:08 Well, I think Riley's probably been the big surprise for me this season out of the younger players the Gophers have brought in. 22:14 He's just got such great lateral quickness and offensive ability that I think when you put him in a tournament with a bunch of under 20 kids, he's really going to stand out. 22:26 For Shea, hopefully it's a chance for him to build up his confidence a little bit. 22:30 I think all the tools are there. 22:32 He still has the skating ability and the size, but he just looks so tentative making decisions with the puck, making decisions when to jump into the play in the corner in the defensive zone or jump up in the offensive zone. 22:47 Hopefully this will be a good little escape for him to kind of get back with a little bit slower game, at least at the start, and maybe find himself a little bit. 22:55 Now, Hamme, how is the American team going to look this year? 22:58 Are they going to be a legitimate gold medal contender, or is this an up year or down year? 23:04 What are your thoughts on that? 23:07 Well, I mean, I can't say that I, I mean, it's hard to say when you don't know everything about the competition, but from what I, you know, my personal feeling is that it looks like there might be a little down this year. 23:18 I don't know that they necessarily have some of the high end guys that maybe they've had in recent years that you kind of think that, you know, might pull them through. 23:27 And I'm a little bit interested to see how Housley, you know, and Petolian, you know, I mean, these guys are not super veteran at this level. 23:36 You know what I mean? 23:37 So you kind of wonder about some of those aspects as well. 23:40 I think it's going to be a great opportunity for Grant Petolian. 23:42 I'm real happy for the guy. 23:43 And I think that, you know, certainly he didn't really get the chance to represent the country per se, you know, as a player in this kind of an opportunity. 23:52 But now he'll get an opportunity to, you know, get some experience as a coach. 23:55 And I'm sure that'll be great for him. 23:56 Now, is this the one that's going to be over in Russia this year? 24:02 Anybody know where it is? 24:02 Yep, it's in Ufa. 24:04 Your whaterts? 24:08 Yeah, in all the, Ufa, Ufa Russia. 24:10 I don't know where that is exactly, but I know all the games are going to be on NHL Network. 24:14 Well, that's all that really matters. 24:16 Probably be on at 3 a.m. 24:19 Which sucks. 24:22 Hammeh, we have a new commitment and his name is familiar, even though it's quite a little distant relative. 24:29 Mr. 24:29 Vanelli out of Minnetonka committed yesterday, didn't he? 24:36 This is something that we had been talking about. 24:38 Yeah, we had been talking about, but we were a little concerned about a few academic things. 24:44 I know you were concerned about. 24:46 Well, I think it's one of those, I mean, obviously I'm not looking at the kids' transcripts. 24:50 I don't know, was it ACT score, that kind of stuff. 24:53 You don't stock them that much. 24:54 No, no, no. 24:55 But I had been hearing things through people with knowledge of some of this stuff that there might be some issues there. 25:05 That was kind of the one thing that I was leery about. 25:07 I honestly thought from what I was hearing that he might end up at some of these schools that have less stringent entrance qualifications. 25:18 So I thought maybe he's going to end up at one of these lower tier schools. 25:22 Like at St. 25:22 Cloud, you know. 25:24 I mean, no offense to those people, but I mean, you know. 25:28 You basically, all you need to know is give them your phone number and that's good enough to get in to St. 25:32 Cloud and Mankato. 25:33 Trust me, I got into Mankato. 25:36 If I can get in, well, that pretty much says it all. 25:39 Yeah, so I mean, you know, I kind of thought that that might be one of those cases where a great player slips through the cracks simply because of some of the academic stuff. 25:49 And obviously, you know, they feel confident enough in a situation that they think they'll be able to get them through admissions and all that stuff. 25:57 And I don't suspect he'll be coming in next year unless there's something, you know, happens with departures and, you know, a number of departures. 26:05 He's a defenseman, correct? 26:07 Correct. 26:07 And, you know, he's undersized. 26:09 I know people throw out the Justin Hull kind of comparisons, but he's better than Hull was at that stage. 26:15 I just think that because they're both from Minnetonka, both kind of have similar frames at that same age, but Vannelli's, you know, a more advanced player, in my opinion, than what Hull was at that age. 26:27 So I think that he'll be a better player. 26:30 I think if he does go to the USHL next year, you know, and get that additional year of maturity and experience and, you know, hopefully be able to put on a little bit more size, it'll be real advantageous for him. 26:42 And plus, you know, I don't, you know, if the academics do need, you know, some time to work their way through, you know, maybe he'll have a chance to get that, you know, in better shape. 26:50 So I think all in all, it's a very good catch. 26:52 Talent-wise, you know, he's probably the best defenseman in the state this year in high school hockey. 26:58 You know, I mean, and, you know, when you look at the Gophers recruiting and the defense, especially, you know, a couple years out, it's looking really good. 27:08 I mean, you got the two guys that are at the national program. 27:11 Brzezinski is playing real well in the USHL. 27:14 Vannelli, you know, has a lot of talent. 27:16 So, I mean, it's looking pretty bright on the blue line for the Gophers. 27:18 And the fact is, it's still pretty crowded there. 27:21 I mean, we've got one senior there right now. 27:25 And, you know, next season, you know, there's, it's still going to be a crowd there, you know, unless they have guys leave, which is never a guarantee or anything. 27:34 But it's very deep there right now. 27:38 Yeah, I mean, you know, it's hard to say who's going to leave. 27:42 I mean, honestly, I thought for, you know, before the season, that Alt would be a kid that would be for sure gone. 27:47 And now I'm like, well, you know, he hasn't really played up to his potential this year so far. 27:51 So to me, and I've been hearing things, let that be a question mark about, you know, him getting signed. 27:57 You know, so, you know, that's a question, big question mark that I didn't really think was going to, you know, be a question mark before the season. 28:04 And then Schmidt being, you know, a free agent, you never know what's going to happen with that. 28:09 Is he going to get a deal that really, really wants or not? 28:11 And then, you know, Hull, you know, is he going to be, you know, frustrated that he's not getting the defensive time, you know, that he's kind of counting on? 28:19 Is Chicago going to want him out of there because of that? 28:22 Or are they not going to want to sign him? 28:23 Because he's, you know, I mean, it's, there's a lot of questions with that. 28:26 So, but yeah, I don't really see them having to rush Minnelli. 28:30 And, you know, I just think that there would be a lot of changes for that to happen. 28:35 You know, let's talk about Hull for a second and get away from the recruiting. 28:41 I think he's been doing okay. 28:42 I haven't seen him do any bonehead moves or anything like that. 28:46 When he has played, he's been pretty consistent, pretty reliable, you know, either at forward or on defense. 28:53 Vegoe, how do you think Hull's been doing? 28:56 Because everyone's, we've been kind of down on him, obviously, these last few years. 29:00 But when he's been in there, I think he's been pretty solid. 29:05 Yeah, on Saturday, he looked fine. 29:07 You know, he's not taking a regular shift, and he didn't get pressured a lot, so it's hard to tell how good his decision-making's going to be when he's not under pressure and taking a regular shift. 29:21 But he has looked fine out there, so maybe that's going to grow his confidence a little bit. 29:25 Maybe they can coach him up on some little things, and maybe he's able to take a regular shift as we get into the season. 29:33 But, you know, I don't think they want to pour too much on him right now. 29:38 Well, Hammeh, I know you've kind of wanted them to sit, you know, a freshman or two at times on defense. 29:45 You think Hall is pretty solid back there now, or are you still a little leery on Hall? 29:50 Well, I mean, you can only read so much into a brief, you know, period of time. 29:54 So I mean, I wouldn't jump to conclusions either way, but I did like what I saw on Saturday. 29:59 I mean, he did play pretty solid. 30:02 You know, you didn't see any kind of real bad mistakes on his part. 30:07 But, you know, so I mean, if he can continue that kind of play where he's just making the smart play and kind of playing a little more conservative and not, you know, trying to do too much and play, you know, good solid defense, you know, yeah, I mean, I'd be all, I'd be totally game to have him and Helgeson back together full time if that's what he's going to bring to the table. 30:26 It's just, is that what he's really going to bring to the table, you know, consistently? 30:30 That's the big question mark. 30:32 Yeah, definitely. 30:34 Well, let's get into this weekend for the WCHA. 30:37 We've got a full slate of game just like we did last weekend. 30:40 And we'll kick it off with Bemidji State heading down Highway 2 to see the Duluth Bulldogs. 30:47 Vegoe, do you have any thought on that series? 30:49 Obviously, Bemidji has been really struggling. 30:51 And maybe Duluth is starting to work their way out of the bottom. 30:55 Duluth found some goal scoring last weekend. 30:58 So I would think they have a good chance to be at home and get three points this weekend. 31:04 It's going to be hard for them to get four. 31:06 I think there's just enough question marks where I think Bemidji can probably hold on to a tie one night somehow. 31:10 But I look for them to get three. 31:13 I am looking for a Duluth sweep. 31:15 I think Bemidji is just, they're in the crapper right now. 31:19 They are not playing well at all. 31:21 So I'm thinking sweep for the Bulldogs. 31:23 Hany? 31:25 Yeah, I think I'd piggyback on that prediction. 31:27 I'm definitely thinking that this is going to be a sweep for the Bulldogs. 31:31 I think that they probably came out of that, you know, series attack with a little bit of confidence. 31:37 And I mean, let's face it right now, if it weren't for the dredge that is known as Anchorage, Bemidji would be at the very bottom. 31:46 So I mean, and they have not looked particularly strong. 31:51 So I think that, yeah, I definitely would go with Duluth and the Swede. 31:55 I also think that Anchorage has played a little bit tougher competition too than Bemidji. 32:00 And they haven't looked as bad. 32:01 So let's move on to tech heading to Badger country. 32:06 And well, I don't know what to say about this, you know, it depends on which team shows up for the Badgers because I don't think they've even won a game at the Cole Center yet, but who knows? 32:17 Jekyll and Hyde team, huh, Veegs? 32:19 Yeah, and I've got this strange feeling that tech is going to play one of those series where they're not disciplined, and they turn over the puck a lot, and Wisconsin gets some, you know, goals on the counter attack, and then gets into their shell and finds a way to win 3-1 or 2-1 again, and I think three points for Wisconsin. 32:40 Okay, I'm going to go with three points as well. 32:43 I think tech's good enough to keep them in there, but lean a little more to Wisconsin. 32:49 Hammeh? 32:51 I'm going to call it a split, simply because I don't know. 32:55 I mean, Wisconsin has just been so schizophrenic this year. 32:57 You just don't know what team's going to show up and what's going to happen, and they might be in mourning because they lost their football coach today, so... 33:06 You know... 33:09 Heading down to Arkansas. 33:12 but, you know, I mean, I think that tech brings enough offense to the table where you're kind of like, you know, how is it... 33:19 I mean, we know that Wisconsin is offensively challenged, you know, and so it's one of those things where you say, well, if tech gets a little bit of, you know, momentum offensively, it might be something that's challenging for Wisconsin to keep up with. 33:35 So one of those nights, it wouldn't surprise me if tech gets enough offense to take a game. 33:40 Okay, Anchorage heading down to Minnesota State, and I'm just going to call it Minnesota State is going to sweep them. 33:47 I like the way they're playing right now. 33:49 Hastings seems to have got these young guys maturing a bit and sweep. 33:53 Vego. 33:55 I'm with you. 33:56 Sweep for Mankato. 33:57 They've looked really impressive this year. 34:00 What do you think, Hamme? 34:02 Well, it is Anchorage and it is at home for Mankato, so I think those two, that equation is a sweep. 34:12 Denver heading to North Dakota. 34:14 Vego, this is always a big series. 34:17 North Dakota and Denver, they've had some blood matches, literally. 34:24 I'm thinking split in that one. 34:26 What do you think, Veegs? 34:29 Yeah, it's hard. 34:30 Denver had chances to win last weekend. 34:34 I saw a little bit of the game on Friday on TV. 34:37 I feel like they might have a little bit of turmoil there. 34:41 There's a rumor that Shore is leaving for the WHL. 34:46 So that could shake up their locker room a little bit. 34:50 So I think North Dakota is going to take three. 34:55 But I'm not super confident in it. 34:58 Hammeh? 34:59 Yeah, I think I'm going to pick a split simply because I think, first of all, North Dakota, it just seems like one game of the series is always something where they're just not clicking so far this year. 35:12 And I think that Denver, I'm not all that confident in them right now having basically lost four straight. 35:21 I mean, they tied the one game. 35:22 But to me, it was almost as if they lost it. 35:24 And so it's one of those things where I'm not real confident about either situation. 35:32 Normally, I would probably lean towards North Dakota getting more points. 35:36 But I just think given kind of the up and down nature of the play lately, I think I would probably go with the split. 35:44 Sorry, Gunn. 35:48 He wants to sweep, so we'll see. 35:51 Omaha heading to St. 35:53 Cloud State. 35:55 Vegoe, what do you think? 36:00 Tough League, another split. 36:03 I saw Omaha and they looked pretty good. 36:06 St. 36:06 Cloud, they're playing okay as well. 36:09 Blaze said he would be happy with two points coming out of St. 36:13 Cloud. 36:14 I think he's going to get them. 36:16 Tammy? 36:18 Boy, I don't know what to think of St. 36:21 Cloud right now. 36:22 I had them as one of my top four or five teams in the league. 36:27 But these past two weekends, especially last weekend, I wouldn't expect it to continue, but they have not looked as good as I expected. 36:36 It just seems to me like they've been real up and down over the last month. 36:40 I think the safe bet is a split, but it won't shock me if that defensive style that we saw this last weekend, I mean, our series kind of prepared UNO pretty well for what they're going to see at St. 36:53 Cloud, because it's kind of a similar style of play and of course the Olympic ice and all that, so it wouldn't shock me if they came out of there with the sweep, but I think that it's going to be a split. 37:05 I am going to go with the UNO sweep. 37:11 I think St. 37:11 Cloud is going to get an eye-opener, and Dean is going to get his team up to play and they're going to go in and sweep them. 37:20 You're calling St. 37:21 Cloud a paper tiger then or what? 37:23 We'll just go with it for now. 37:24 Until they show a little better, I'm going to go with Omaha for that one. 37:31 Finally, we've got Gophers heading out to Colorado Springs, probably for the last time in a long time. 37:39 Hammy, let's kick it off here. 37:41 One of my favorite series this year. 37:43 I always love the games of CC. 37:45 They're always up tempo and great games. 37:49 Yeah, I mean, I think it's one of those series where it's kind of a mirror image in terms of style of play. 37:55 I mean, neither team is overly defensive. 37:59 They tend to be more racehorse hockey, getting up and down the rank and trying to score goals. 38:04 And certainly CC's, in my opinion, done a little better than I expected them so far this year. 38:10 You know, they lost one of the Schwartz boys, and they certainly were the key guys last year. 38:18 So I thought some of their losses might hurt, but they've played better than I expected so far this year. 38:23 And like we talked about earlier, they probably should have swept North Dakota if it weren't for some late game heroics on North Dakota's part. 38:32 They should have been asleep. 38:33 So going into there, are they going to be disappointed? 38:38 I think talent wise, the Gophers are the better team, but we know that that doesn't necessarily mean anything. 38:42 So I would probably say this is going to be a road split. 38:45 I think that should be kind of the goal. 38:47 I mean, of course, you always want to get more than that, but I think that's probably pretty realistic for the weekend. 38:54 Vegoe, have you ever made that trip out to the Springs? 38:56 I have made it out to the Springs. 38:58 I enjoyed a couple adult beverages and concourse of their arena there. 39:03 It's a great town. 39:04 It's a fun trip. 39:06 Not making it this year, but it's a fun town. 39:09 I think the Gophers have got to get the message at some point. 39:13 This is their last game before a big break. 39:17 I can see one game where they're going to have to fight for a tie, but I think they'll win handily one of the two nights. 39:24 I probably think Saturday would be the night they'll come out and play better, but I think three points for the Gophers. 39:32 Three points. 39:34 I'm going with a gopher sweep. 39:37 It's going to be the beginning of our trip to the frozen floor. 39:42 It's starting now, guys. 39:45 Get on board. 39:46 It's time to get on the train. 39:48 Let's go. 39:49 Gopher sweep. 39:50 They're going to win by two goals each night. 39:53 What do you think of that? 39:56 I love the maroon glasses. 39:58 Hey, sometimes you've got to put on the maroon glasses. 40:01 You've got to have a little positivity around here. 40:03 I'm sick of this split crap, three-point crap. 40:08 It's time to show we can play and be with the big boys this year. 40:12 Well, I do think that this is the kind of series that, like we mentioned, it's kind of a mirror image and style in some sense. 40:23 I think that the Gophers like that. 40:24 I think they kind of thrive off of that pace of game. 40:27 And so it is to me the kind of series that they can go in and sweep on the road because I just think that they have the kind of offense and the kind of skill that they could beat a team like that. 40:39 But is that going to happen on the road? 40:42 They're kind of inconsistent at times. 40:44 So it's hard to say. 40:46 But you look at the team's record, it's not like, I mean, Grant, we have the greatest competition. 40:50 We always have to throw that out there. 40:52 But 10, 3 and 2, it's not like that's anything terrible. 40:56 And I think that our guys, you know, they haven't been clicking on all cylinders yet. 41:02 Maybe this is that kind of weekend where they finally, you know, because of the style of the games, they start clicking on offense. 41:07 I just hope they go all out. 41:09 I mean, this is the last game before a nice long break. 41:12 Damn it, give it your all. 41:16 And I think they're getting balanced scoring. 41:17 I mean, they're getting the goals from, you know, their second, third, fourth line type guys. 41:23 You know, it's not all just Holla and Bukstad, although they're leading the team in scoring. 41:27 They're getting other guys to chip in. 41:29 So, you know, I don't think scoring goals is going to be the problem. 41:34 So what do you think about the lines this weekend? 41:36 Do you think he'll go back to what he did Saturday night or he'll go back to the normal thing he'd been doing all before that, Hammeh? 41:44 Well, I mean, the thing is, having to go on the road, you pretty much have to decide ahead of time. 41:48 It ain't like being at home where you can, you know, make that shuffle happen. 41:51 You can only just do a little tweak here and there, and you're pretty much stuck. 41:55 Yeah, so if I had to guess, I think that we'll probably see mostly what we saw throughout the season, which wouldn't be ideal for me. 42:05 I mean, I'd like to see more of what we saw on Saturday, but I have the gut feeling that it's going to end up kind of going back to the way it was. 42:13 I don't see Lucia holding out, you know, a kid that's a first round pick and then Alt, you know, was a high pick. 42:19 I just don't see him doing that, you know what I mean? 42:21 I just don't see that consistently happening for a variety of reasons. 42:26 And so I would suspect that we're probably going to see a little bit more of what we have been seeing for most of the season in terms of lineup decisions. 42:34 So like either Hall or Parental kind of switching places, maybe playing up and forward, that type of thing? 42:40 Yeah, you know, fortunately, warning being back kind of helps solidify, you know, the top three lines. 42:47 So I mean, so maybe it's a little bit less of a problem in that sense, but so I would suspect that we're gonna see something like that. 42:57 Vegoe, any final thoughts on the weekend? 43:00 Yeah, I mean, I think you're gonna see him play three lines pretty regularly. 43:05 And then I think you're gonna see the other two forwards being spotted in with one of the guys from the top nine or, you know, just coming out, killing penalties. 43:15 Cause I think Hall didn't get a shift up front on Saturday and Parenteaux didn't get a shift up front on Saturday. 43:22 So those guys are playing defense. 43:24 You know, they're listed that way on the lineup sheet, but you know, they're not going up there and taking shifts, at least in the last game. 43:31 And I think that's what Lucia wants to do. 43:32 He wants to lean heavily on his top nine forwards, you know, who are playing well that weekend. 43:38 And I think he wants to play Schmidt and Marshall quite a bit while not sitting down Shea and Riley. 43:44 And I think those guys are going to get ice time. 43:48 And, you know, for whatever reason, he doesn't feel Ryan Riley and Jared Larson are, you know, ready for a regular shift. 43:55 Otherwise he might roll the four lines. 43:57 But, you know, with that and the warning injury, he just hasn't felt comfortable with that. 44:01 And I like that Buksad and Holler are going to get a lot of ice time. 44:04 I think that that's good for them. 44:07 Like you mentioned, it's three weeks till the next series anyways. 44:11 So might as well get, you know, all you can out of them now. 44:14 And at least they've got the built-in excuse of playing at altitude. 44:17 So in case they do bad, it's gotta be the air. 44:21 Exactly. 44:24 Well, that'll do it for this week's episode of the GPL Podcast. 44:28 You know, you can always follow Hammy on Twitter at Hammy Hockey. 44:32 He's there, he's got news on recruits and what's going on. 44:36 And obviously you're throwing your pinion out there all the time. 44:38 And same goes for Vigo. 44:40 Vigo's covering the games. 44:42 He's tweeting during the games, at eVigo. 44:45 And of course you can always send questions to podcasts at GopherPuckLive, via email or tweet us during the games, you know, or during the podcast, I should say. 44:57 So we'll be back next week. 44:59 We'll talk about the trip to Colorado Springs and then we'll probably preview the Mariucci Classic. 45:06 Until then, thanks for listening.