0:03 This is the GopherPuckLive Podcast, episode number 36, recorded Tuesday, February 26th, 2013. 0:22 See ya. 0:22 Welcome to the GopherPuckLive Podcast, along with Hammy and Vegoe. 0:24 I am your host, Jupiter. 0:42 Well, tonight we have a real broadcaster joining us on the podcast. 0:43 He first joined us back on podcast number two in the fall of 2011. 0:44 It's been a while. 0:44 Now, back then, he was just getting back into the Gopher hockey scene with the Gopher hockey radio broadcast. 0:45 Well, now he's almost two seasons under his belt, and tonight he's back with us. 0:47 Let's welcome Frank Mazzocco back to the podcast. 0:50 Frank, how are you? 0:52 Hey, I'm doing good. 0:53 Thanks. 0:54 It's been a long time. 0:55 I haven't wanted to bother you to bring you on the show, but- 0:58 That's not my fault. 0:59 Oh, wow. 1:01 Already ripping into the hosts. 1:04 Already ripping into the hosts. 1:05 Jeez, it's a tough crowd already. 1:09 Wow. 1:10 I'm kidding. 1:11 Well, I don't feel- 1:12 If I didn't like you, I wouldn't get you. 1:13 Yeah, well, I just don't want to bother you and say, hey, come on, do this podcast all the time. 1:17 And you'd get bored with me, awful quick, because you're already bored with me. 1:20 Well, I wouldn't do it all the time, but- 1:23 Oh, we're going to make you a regular host now. 1:24 Uh-oh. 1:30 Well, Frank, you're on the radio now. 1:33 You've been doing it for two seasons. 1:35 How has the adjustment been for you compared to television? 1:39 Do you enjoy yourself now that you've gotten into it and been doing it for some time? 1:45 You know, I was enjoying myself all of last year, I think. 1:49 It's just, it's just a switch. 1:53 It's, the best analogy I can come up with is it's like going from a left defenseman to a right wing, and it kind of has just taken some transition time, and I don't know, so far the boss is happy. 2:08 I mean, after all, he asked me back for a second year, so that's cool. 2:13 Well, that's definitely true. 2:16 You seem like you're having a good time, though. 2:19 I mean, it doesn't seem like you're, you know, as stressed out as you might have been with the old TV job. 2:27 That's for sure. 2:28 I mean, it's much more relaxing. 2:30 Yeah. 2:31 But go ahead. 2:31 No, I was just going to say, that's just it, more relaxing. 2:34 It seems like you're not having to, you know, be so hurried to be on TV and all this other stuff, and doing recordings of stuff that happens two days from now. 2:43 You seem to be enjoying that part much more than you did before. 2:46 Yeah. 2:47 With TV, we had to, well, I did, and the crew, had to prepare for just about every eventuality. 2:56 On radio, I just need to have the pieces of paper in front of me when that eventuality comes up. 3:03 Then I can go find the information that I need. 3:06 Because there's no camera and I can do whatever I need to do to get to, I can get to it. 3:11 Then part two is, I learned this from Doug Woog, if I stop talking, the play-by-play guy has to carry on. 3:24 So if I run out of things to say or if I need to look up something, it's the balls in Wally's court. 3:29 Go, man. 3:30 It's all yours, dude. 3:31 I got things to do. 3:33 Well, one thing I've noticed right off the bat, the difference between you and Glenn, is that you're able to take the load off of Wally quite a bit. 3:44 I mean, before, Wally was reading all the ads, doing pretty much everything, and it seems like you've taken quite a bit of that load off of him that he just didn't have before. 3:59 Did we lose, Frank? 4:01 Yeah, you know, I've got to bring what I can bring to the table. 4:05 I didn't do anything. 4:06 You told me not to breathe on my equipment. 4:09 Am I still there? 4:10 You're still there. 4:12 I'm not the storyteller that Glenn is, and I don't have a lifetime of playing and coaching the game, so I've got to bring other things to the table, and I'll offload the stuff from Wally, like reading the promos and doing the online stuff and trying to get updates on scores and find out who did some scoring and get a little more of that kind of information going, because that's what I can bring. 4:34 So that's my strong suit, and that's what I need to bring to it. 4:37 And thankfully, this team has been playing. 4:44 And we just... 4:46 You're cutting in and out, Frank, so... 4:49 Are you there, Frank? 4:51 And we just lost him. 4:53 You're cutting in and out, Frank. 4:54 I'm just going to tell you that. 4:55 I'll tell you what, if you guys can carry on for about two minutes... 4:59 We can do that. 5:00 I've got a backup thing running on my photo computer. 5:04 I'll stop it. 5:07 That is just fine. 5:09 We have plenty to talk about. 5:11 You go ahead and fix whatever you need to do, and we'll just keep on going. 5:14 Be right back. 5:15 No problem. 5:16 Well, guys, this weekend, the Gophers, three points from Minnesota Duluth. 5:24 I still think we've been playing down to our competition. 5:27 We should be sweeping these guys, but initial thoughts, Tami, on the weekend with Duluth? 5:34 Well, I mean, I think from a points standpoint, I mean, it was a little disappointing. 5:40 You have people say three out of four points is not bad, but when you're on home ice, you're fighting for the league title, and you're playing a team that's generally been struggling lately and has won, I think, coming into the series, had won one of their last eight games or something like that, you really expect to come out of it with a sweep. 6:00 And I didn't think that even the three points that we got that we played particularly well, I mean, we played a good third period on Friday, and then kind of, I don't know, we played all right on Saturday, but just had some flubs. 6:14 We didn't play that great, but we still got the three points, but it's not enough for me on home ice. 6:19 What do you think, Vegoe? 6:20 Do you think the McNaughton's gone, or is there still an outside chance when we can get the McNaughton Cup? 6:25 It's a really outside chance, if there is an outside chance, you know, it's Lane 12. 6:31 Yeah, they've just kicked away too many points. 6:34 But at the same time, I think part of it, when you're the Gopher Hockey program, when you play schools like Duluth, it's a big deal. 6:44 And Sandaloon was talking after the game Saturday that he saw an effort from his team he wished he saw more often. 6:52 I was looking at the stats and they blocked, I think, 23 shots on Saturday. 6:57 And a lot of that came after Farley got that goal in the second period, because those guys wanted to be in that game. 7:04 And I think that makes a huge difference. 7:05 And you can say that Duluth is a team that's only won 10 games this season, but at the same point, they've outshot a lot of their opponents. 7:14 And when they play the Gophers, they're going to do the little things it takes to try to get that point. 7:19 Hey, I'm back in case you care. 7:22 Well, let's get your thoughts on the weekend then, Frank. 7:25 I'm just... 7:25 Three points for the Gophers. 7:27 And what do you think? 7:29 Do you think McDonton's gone, or do they still have an outside chance? 7:32 No, I don't think it's gone. 7:35 It's not impossible for them to win the next four games. 7:40 I'm not saying it's easy, all right? 7:42 You got Denver, you got them on home ice. 7:46 You tend to win home games. 7:48 You go into Bemidji, a 10th or 11th place, or wherever they are. 7:52 There's four points waiting to be taken there. 7:56 You put those points up on the board, and you're going to make it really hard for St. 8:03 Cloud State. 8:04 St. 8:04 Cloud is going to have to then... 8:08 We're waiting for them to swoon. 8:10 St. 8:10 Cloud always seems to swoon at this time of year, and we're waiting for it, and we're open for it. 8:14 And it may not happen. 8:15 It may not. 8:16 No, it may not happen. 8:17 I mean, they got some quality people on there. 8:19 You're talking about Hanowski up front, and you got Jensen leading the defense, and Farragher's doing a really good job, so you got three very key positions there that are playing very well. 8:29 They may not fold. 8:30 The only thing that the Gophers have going in their favor with St. 8:33 Cloud is that they're going to have to go to Wisconsin and play, but I'm not sure that that may be a neutral side game if they're going to play at the Old Dane or whatever they're calling it now, the Memorial Stadium. 8:42 Isn't there some kind of... 8:43 Was it the girls' basketball or something along those lines? 8:46 Yeah, they've got a... 8:47 They're finally washing their hands of the high school conflicts. 8:53 At the end of this year, they'll have home ice now, I believe, the last weekend of the regular season and first weekend of the playoffs by moving some of the high school sports around. 9:05 And who knows what that schedule is going to be, though, too, with the Big Ten? 9:08 Well, if they're getting rid of the high school sports at their rank, then how come there was that game last night? 9:20 Wow! 9:21 My God! 9:22 Yeah, wow! 9:24 An overtime loss to Penn State, wow! 9:27 Were you sure that wasn't Penn State's old club team playing? 9:30 Well, I don't know. 9:32 They got some guys on there, but... 9:34 I just had to throw that shot out there. 9:36 Oh, that is more than fine. 9:38 I mean, the bad just whooped them Sunday night, and then who knows what happened last night? 9:44 Well, you know, here's the thing. 9:46 As far as the McNaughton goes, obviously the Gophers pretty much have to win out if they're going to have even a shot at it. 9:53 Right. 9:54 And I would agree that if we're going to put any eggs in our basket, it's basically going to have to be, you know, Wisconsin doing something on home, well, somewhat home ice. 10:04 And I, you know, I know St. 10:06 Cloud hasn't played great there over the years. 10:09 I think they swept there last year, though. 10:10 But, you know, there's some hope in that regard. 10:15 I just don't know. 10:16 I mean, we've given up too many points. 10:17 I mean, the last, I mean, we blew the one game, you know, that we probably, you know, should have played better there. 10:24 And certainly, you know, last weekend, you know, they split and, you know, and we kind of coughed up the one point. 10:33 So, I mean, I don't know. 10:34 We've just given away so many points that I'm a little skeptical. 10:36 And we haven't really swept anybody other than, what, Anchorage this year? 10:39 So, I believe you're right. 10:40 Anchorage is the only league sweep, I believe. 10:42 So, I'm hopeful. 10:43 I got numbers for you if you want them. 10:45 But, I mean, we haven't been, yeah, the only sweep. 10:48 But we haven't lost a series, though, have we, either? 10:51 No. 10:52 Five three-point weekends and six splits. 10:57 And it's probably the six splits that are, that may be the bigger issue. 11:05 Early on, it was Mankato. 11:08 That was a split. 11:09 Of course, the one at home, probably the one that hurt was the split, the more recent split when they lost the home game. 11:15 Yeah. 11:16 Yeah. 11:17 That and then there's the game, that point they coughed up at CC when they should have won that game and they gave up those late, that third period rally. 11:26 Right. 11:26 That was a killer. 11:28 Well, I guess they deserve kind of the position they're in. 11:30 I mean, they just couldn't finish some of these games and end up with three points or end up splitting. 11:36 And that's kind of what, everyone has to deal with in WCHA, just kind of the way it goes. 11:41 It's a tough league. 11:43 All right, but look at their conference. 11:46 They had a 646 win percentage in conference. 11:48 That's not gross. 11:51 It's not bad. 11:53 But given how tight it is, a couple of points here, a couple of points. 11:56 I mean, if you get two points back and you've tied St. 11:59 Cloud State, now you really can say, you know what, we can do this. 12:02 We can go after this thing realistically. 12:06 And did anyone know about the tiebreakers with St. 12:08 Cloud? 12:11 You mean for what? 12:12 Other teams? 12:15 How for seeding? 12:15 If Minnesota and St. 12:16 Cloud tie in points, who gets the number one seed? 12:20 Does anybody know? 12:20 Well, they split, right, so that cancels out. 12:25 I think it's actually... 12:27 It's 7-6 in goals, but is that the next criteria? 12:30 I think it's wins in conference, how many wins you had in a conference. 12:34 I think that's the second tiebreaker. 12:35 And that obviously favors them. 12:37 At this point, they would have that. 12:38 Yeah, because we've had those ties. 12:40 So, they would get the number one seed, I think. 12:45 Well, I would just be happy with one of the top two seeds. 12:50 I mean, that's obviously what you want to get. 12:51 You want to get the buy. 12:52 You don't want to have to play Thursday night in the final five. 12:56 So, if they can get that, I think it would be a good thing, at least. 13:01 Well, I definitely would agree. 13:02 I mean, you kind of want to avoid that extra game that week. 13:06 And certainly, I mean, I don't think there's a heck of a lot of difference between, you know, some of the... 13:10 I mean, I don't know that, you know, Michigan Tech might be the one team out of those bottom three that you might want to avoid because they can be a little bit sneaky good, you know, with some offense at times. 13:18 And, of course, we had some of those issues with them last year where they, you know, kind of had the coaches yelling at each other and whatever, so you never know if that's going to, you know, get anybody excited for the playoffs. 13:31 But, you know, I think that there's not a lot of difference, I think, between those teams that we have options play. 13:37 So, back to this weekend. 13:38 Vegoe, who stood out for you? 13:40 Who was the big thing this weekend? 13:43 One thing I must say, I liked the new line of Howla, Condon, and... 13:50 And warning? 13:51 Warning for sheer speed. 13:53 But what did you like this weekend? 13:55 Well, I think what we saw this weekend was the emergence of a real third line that could be counted on. 14:00 They generated tons of chances all weekend, and I thought Michelson, Isaacson, Hall really stepped up their game. 14:08 They've kind of been in the doghouse for a while, and I think they're probably out of it now. 14:12 It will be interesting to see what happens if Ambrose comes back this weekend, and if they stay together. 14:18 Well, we've been talking about Hall for quite a long time about his transition to being forward, but he's really got to get a new move. 14:25 The wraparound is just not working. 14:28 He's a defenseman for Grand Ole. 14:29 I know. 14:31 It's just not working. 14:33 You see it coming, too. 14:35 Every time you see it coming. 14:37 I like him up front, though. 14:40 He's done a pretty good job, all things considered. 14:43 I also think that if Ambrose comes back, I don't know what his status is, but I would put him back down on the fourth line for where they've been putting that, you know, tanto and on defense or up and forward or whatever they're going to do. 14:56 Because I think Michelson plays well at, I mean, he's played well at the chances he's had when he's played wing. 15:01 When he's not playing center, I think he does pretty well. 15:05 I think he has less, you know, to think about him. 15:07 You can just use his speed and try to create things. 15:09 I think that he's been pretty successful. 15:12 He had a good series at Vermont, and he was on the wing that series, so hopefully that's something that we'll see in the coming weeks. 15:19 He just hasn't played much. 15:21 It's been tough for him to crack the lineup. 15:23 Yeah, that's the unfortunate thing about him. 15:25 But he had a good weekend against Minnesota Duluth, but we can't expect him to carry any male going down the stretch here. 15:34 I just don't think he's had enough experience. 15:37 I think the future is going to be pretty neat for him. 15:39 I think he's going to be a nice player, but he's not going to be a male carrier here in the next three to four weeks, I don't think. 15:48 He may energize the team. 15:50 He may boost the line a little bit. 15:52 But going back to that third line conversation, that third line is only going to be effective if it's complementing one and two. 16:00 That means one and two have to do something with some consistency. 16:05 And I don't know that we're getting that out of the number one line. 16:08 Well, I wouldn't disagree with that. 16:11 I think there's some games where they're on and there's some games where it's like they don't do anything. 16:15 I mean, they didn't do anything on the tie game on Saturday. 16:19 I mean, no points for any of the three of them. 16:21 And you can't really have that if you expect to win games to have your top line get shut out. 16:26 I know that a lot of people say that the Gophers have a 1A and a 1B kind of a line situation. 16:33 But still, I mean... 16:34 Well, Hammy, they didn't get shut out two nights, did they? 16:38 No, they had points on Friday night. 16:42 I know Raoul had the goal. 16:43 Raoul had the goal and Buks had an assist. 16:45 And Budas had a couple of assists. 16:47 But they were completely shut out on Saturday. 16:51 Yeah. 16:52 Well, who knows? 16:54 I mean, we're going to need them to come up big at this time of year. 16:58 It's the time, you know, where the stars got to shine. 17:00 If they don't, they're not going to go anywhere. 17:02 Well, and I think the other issue that, I mean, this week, that I would imagine that they're going to be working on is the penalty kill. 17:08 I mean, you know, Duluth scored two on the Friday night game, and they had one on Saturday. 17:14 And obviously, that's been kind of an area that we've done relatively well at this year. 17:18 But, you know, you certainly want to have your penalty kill hitting on all cylinders when you get to this time of year. 17:24 All right, guys, any other thoughts on the games this weekend with Minnesota and Duluth? 17:30 Well, I think just one thing to watch for on the penalty kill is every once in a while it looks a little bit like musical chairs out there where the defensemen are swapping guys, and then all of a sudden there's a guy in the slot who's not covered. 17:42 And you see those guys stand there watching the game, not covering guys, and that's been the problem, I think. 17:49 So hopefully they clean that up. 17:51 Yeah, there's been those few lapses that seem to come at critical points where the feet go flat just for a bit. 18:00 You know, maybe 30 seconds or a whole shift or two shifts in a row, and you wonder what happens, but hopefully it's just one of those mental things that it's not going to lead to chronic problems. 18:13 And I don't think it will. 18:15 But earlier in the year we were talking about full 60 minutes every game. 18:20 I don't know that we're getting that here in the last couple, three weeks. 18:24 Well, especially, you go back to the last four weeks where we've split every weekend. 18:28 I don't think we've had quite the 60 minutes that we had in every game earlier in the year. 18:33 Yeah, I don't know that they've played that many 60 minute games all year. 18:38 I mean, in my opinion, I think they've done enough to get, I mean, that's kind of why... 18:42 BC maybe? 18:42 Well, I mean, there's been a few. 18:45 Far between. 18:46 I'm talking about in the conference. 18:47 I mean, when you see how many splits and we've only had the one sweep, it's kind of hard to say that you had really good 60 minute performances consistently in the conference. 18:56 When there's only been one sweep all year, so... 19:00 Good point. 19:01 Yeah. 19:02 Very good point. 19:04 All right, guys. 19:04 Well, we'll wrap up this weekend and let's talk about the rest of the WCHA. 19:09 We got St. 19:10 Claude headed out to CC last weekend and it was nice. 19:13 They were following my predictions real great. 19:16 They lost Friday night, which is great. 19:17 But then they came back and won Saturday night. 19:19 So split with CC. 19:21 Hammy, any thoughts on that? 19:23 CC couldn't help us very much, could they? 19:26 Yeah, it was kind of what I expected. 19:28 I called it a split last week. 19:30 I just don't think... 19:31 CC has been so inconsistent. 19:32 You just don't know what the heck you're going to get from them this year. 19:38 I'm not at all surprised. 19:40 Plus St. 19:40 Claude is a talented team. 19:41 You kind of expect them to at least rise up one night and do something. 19:46 It's pretty expected, I think, that kind of result. 19:48 Vegoe, what do you think about St. 19:50 Claude and CC? 19:52 Well, I think Friday night we expected that kind of offensive output and all the shots, and CC gave up a ton of shots and hung on there for the win. 20:00 And then Saturday, both teams really tightened it up and St. 20:04 Claude had the talent to pull out a tight game. 20:07 So I think that was good for St. 20:09 Claude to get that experience. 20:11 Frank, any thoughts? 20:14 I was kind of thinking, you know, I was hoping sweep, but when you think about playing on the road, the split is probably... 20:25 Yeah, we just lost them. 20:31 No, there you are. 20:33 We lost you in the lift out there. 20:34 I think I'm too loud. 20:36 No, you're just fine. 20:37 Yeah, we get knocked off the air a lot. 20:40 Have you guys noticed that? 20:41 No. 20:44 Half and half usually. 20:48 Let's just say that TV is not as bad as it used to be. 20:51 And I think we know why. 20:54 Wait a minute. 20:56 I could take offense at that. 20:57 Don't take offense at all. 20:58 Please do not. 21:01 Because I think you know what we mean. 21:03 I don't know a thing. 21:05 I know nothing. 21:06 Alright, so CC and St. 21:09 Cloud split. 21:10 Denver and North Dakota do the same thing. 21:12 Obviously, the first night is kind of a wild game. 21:16 5-4. 21:17 And then, second game. 21:19 I think it was the Crystal Show and his buddy. 21:21 But where was Denver there? 21:24 Pammy? 21:26 Yeah, I don't know. 21:27 Obviously, I didn't see any of the Saturday night game. 21:30 I watched the Friday night one. 21:31 It was really kind of an up and down kind of a game. 21:34 And I thought it was actually pretty entertaining from that standpoint. 21:37 So two talented teams. 21:40 I mean, I think there's a lot of offense on both clubs. 21:44 And certainly you have to expect that it's going to be that kind of a wide open affair. 21:47 And I don't know what happened on Saturday. 21:50 It just looked like North Dakota just kind of took over and just ran with it then. 21:55 So it's not a surprising result. 21:58 I think I call it a split. 21:59 But certainly, it was a pretty good played series. 22:04 Vegoe, how did Nine Toes do out there in Denver? 22:07 Well, he cleaned up on the power play because Denver was just in a parade to the penalty box. 22:12 I know that series can get pretty physical and it's probably one of the big rivalries for that other conference that's going to be starting next year. 22:20 And it's entertaining to watch, but you can't put North Dakota on the power play that much. 22:25 That's for sure. 22:27 Nine times, right? 22:29 Is that one game? 22:34 Oh, that's stupid. 22:35 Please do that this weekend. 22:38 We would love that. 22:39 You don't ask for much. 22:42 Hey, we need the help. 22:45 We've struggled with Denver. 22:48 We have not played consistently well against them in what, over ten years? 22:55 I mean, really, going back ten or more years, we've struggled with Denver. 23:01 You're right. 23:02 I mean, when's the last time we swept Denver? 23:04 Does anybody know that? 23:09 How badly do you want me to look it up? 23:10 Yeah, go for hockey history. 23:13 No, I got out of my laptop here. 23:16 If I cut out, then you're going to scream. 23:18 No, it's just fine. 23:20 That's what I'm saying. 23:21 It's been a long time. 23:24 People calling for sweeps this weekend. 23:26 Denver doesn't get swept very much. 23:29 Curious George has one of the few winning records in Mariucci Ring Up for visiting coaches. 23:35 That I believe. 23:37 That I believe. 23:40 Which Armani suit is he bringing this time? 23:43 I don't know, but I do envy them. 23:48 Nice threads. 23:49 You like the threads, huh? 23:51 I like the threads. 23:52 Hey, aren't you glad you don't have to wear the threads anymore though? 23:55 Oh, God, I'm glad I don't have to pack them. 23:57 I mean, I can just breeze out of the house now, you know, like two minutes before Wally is going to pick me up or something, and I can just leave and not have to worry about whether I got a coat and a tie and all that extra baggage. 24:07 Makeup. 24:08 Makeup. 24:09 No, that's fine. 24:11 It looks like the last time we swept him at Mariucci was in 2000, early 2000. 24:15 Oh, my goodness. 24:16 The 1999-2000 season in January of that year. 24:19 Well, there you go. 24:22 That's 13 years. 24:24 Yeah, I mean, at least at Mariucci, yeah, that's what I was looking at. 24:26 I wasn't looking at overall, but that's what I'm showing. 24:32 That shows how good of teams he's had. 24:34 Actually, scratch that, 2006. 24:37 Really? 24:40 February 2006, we swept him. 24:44 Oh, you know, I think I remember that now. 24:47 I remember you and I got an argument over the fans at that time, how the crowd didn't make a difference. 24:54 Who did? 24:54 You and I did. 24:55 And we had a good back and forth going on the website one time about, hey, crowd, make some noise and maybe they'll react. 25:02 I remember that weekend now. 25:03 That was a really good weekend. 25:04 I've had far too many arguments online to remember anything like that. 25:07 You? 25:08 Yeah. 25:09 People spewing hate at you again? 25:12 Weekly. 25:13 You know, between 08 and 11, we lost six straight games to them. 25:17 I believe it. 25:19 Is that when they're goalie? 25:21 Who was the goalie at the time? 25:22 Didn't he just totally have our number? 25:23 I can't remember who. 25:24 It was Sunaway Wallenheimer. 25:28 Way back, way back. 25:28 That's a great name though. 25:29 I just love saying his name. 25:30 That's why I said it. 25:32 Yeah. 25:33 You're right. 25:34 And I don't remember his name either. 25:35 But geez, I don't know if you go back even before that. 25:38 One, two, three, four, five, six more games and there was only one win. 25:45 So what's that? 25:47 A one and 11? 25:48 Brutal. 25:56 Well, the thing is, I used to be able to give out these stats with the previous SIDs. 26:00 You used to have the weekly stats out by Tuesday night, but the new one doesn't do that anymore. 26:04 Man, wow. 26:05 Taking shots. 26:06 Taking shots. 26:08 Just kidding, Brian. 26:09 There goes your picture taking opportunities. 26:12 Credentials pulled. 26:13 I'm being a smartass. 26:16 Oh boy. 26:16 It's all downhill from here. 26:19 All right, guys, let's talk about this week. 26:21 WCHA, it looks like we have almost a full load of games. 26:24 Duluth and Anchorage are off this week. 26:28 Duluth is facing Alabama Huntsville at home. 26:30 Exciting. 26:32 And of course, Anchorage has got their little tournament with Alaska Fairbanks. 26:36 And I'm going to call them Alaska Fairbanks because that's who they are. 26:39 Let's start off. 26:40 Wisconsin heading to Nebraska Omaha. 26:43 And boy, Nebraska Omaha this past weekend. 26:46 You know, they didn't have, didn't play any games in WCHA, but they did get beaten by the US. 26:54 Under 18 team. 26:55 I know that's what I was about to say, that both teams just got beat by high school teams. 27:00 They did. 27:02 It's pretty amazing. 27:03 Don't worry, Frank, we kept going when you were offline, Frank, don't worry. 27:07 Yeah, I figured that much. 27:08 But hey, look, guys, I have a rock solid internet connection at my house. 27:15 Hey, I'm on DSL. 27:17 I'm bringing all three of your connections in and I'm broadcasting them out, so. 27:22 No wonder. 27:23 And we're sounding just fine, I think. 27:26 Well, what do you got, Hammeh? 27:28 Nebraska Home On in Wisconsin. 27:30 Obviously, which Nebraska Home On team is going to show up? 27:34 Obviously, we've been kind of on and off on them this year. 27:38 They're one point behind Minnesota. 27:40 They're right there and they get beat by US. 27:44 Under 18 team. 27:45 Well, I mean, I think the question I have is how demoralizing is the loss to Penn State going to be for Wisconsin? 27:53 I mean, they basically, that blew essentially any chance they have of making the NCAAs without winning the WCHA playoffs. 28:00 Well, their pairwise just dropped like a rock. 28:03 Yeah, it dropped like nine spots, didn't it? 28:04 Or something like that. 28:05 I don't even remember what it was. 28:06 It was like 12, and they're almost done. 28:11 So you really have to wonder if that was just one of those death blows to a team's morale, and certainly UNO has a lot more to play with. 28:21 They still have at least somewhat of a legitimate shot at things. 28:26 Yeah, they need to start winning themselves. 28:27 I mean, obviously they're third in the league, but they're at 22 in the pairwise right now. 28:31 So they need to start playing, and we know they're not going to make the final five. 28:36 I mean, they never do. 28:38 Well, and the other thing is that UNO's one big weakness is of course their goaltending, and it's like, well, Wisconsin can't score on anybody, so is that going to be sort of a moot point with them? 28:50 So I would probably say that UNO is going to sweep that one. 28:52 Well, that doesn't give us much room there, does it, Hammey? 28:59 There you go, go ahead, Frank. 29:01 No, I like that call. 29:02 I mean, you got, if you're going to talk about a coach that can motivate, and you know, coaches like to say, oh, we don't, players have to motivate themselves, and I'm sorry, a coach is part of the team in that regard. 29:14 Coach has some factor on how a team gets up. 29:18 Who do you want to motivate your team, Mike Eaves or Dean Blades? 29:24 I think Blades, if he doesn't motivate you, he will, you'll have a sore rear end enough, yeah, to get to get you going. 29:32 So that plus Wisconsin, not only can they not score, they're not a road team. 29:37 So I think in Nebraska or in Omaha or whatever the heck we're calling them this week, a sweep for them, I think is good. 29:45 Are they really going to change their name to just Omaha or is that just the coach being a smartass? 29:51 That's a two-pronged question. 29:53 No, they're not changing their name, they just want to be known as Omaha. 29:59 Well, then change your name. 30:03 Would you like a... 30:04 I can give you an envelope with a stamp on it, would you like to write a letter to me? 30:08 Alright Vegoe, let's hear what you think on that series as I kill Frank. 30:15 Yeah, I just think Omaha has the ability to score goals and I don't think Wisconsin's got the ability to score three goals. 30:23 I just don't see it happening, so I think if there's going to be a split, I think Omaha's one night they're going to be able to get three or four goals and Wisconsin just won't be able to keep up and I think each team gets two points. 30:34 I think Wisconsin's done looking at the NCAA tournament, but they're still going to stick to their game plan that Eves brings every week. 30:42 Well, you know, obviously Wisconsin's right in the bubble for the top six, so obviously they can't score, but when it comes to playoff time, if you look at it right now, they would be playing Denver. 30:58 They have a good chance of knocking them off or any of these teams. 31:03 I'll tell you, Wisconsin is the team that I don't want to play in the playoffs, maybe among the teams. 31:07 They just buttoned down and, hey, look at our snowball in Soldier Field. 31:12 You get a mudder track out there and these guys are just going to grind it out. 31:16 Anything can happen in a one goal game or close scoring. 31:22 This is not a real good time of year to be writing off Wisconsin in terms of games that you're going to play that are critical against them because they can be too tough. 31:33 I still think Omaha has got the inside track on a sweep this weekend, but I still would not want to play Wisconsin in the playoffs. 31:39 They're too defensive minded and defense typically wins playoff games. 31:46 Well, they're definitely right on the edge there. 31:47 I mean, they're tied for sixth place now in Denver, so someone's going to get a tough series. 31:54 I tell you that. 31:54 I think they're going to end up in that seventh spot, but whoever they end up playing, it's going to be a tough, tough series. 32:05 All right, let's move on to Bemidji heading to North Dakota. 32:09 Frank, do the Beavers have any chance? 32:16 They're going to lay some up and play just like any other team. 32:19 Well, not a whole bunch. 32:22 I mean, they've got five wins on the year. 32:24 They've got 16 points. 32:26 I mean, they're fighting for that tenth spot right now. 32:29 Because they're tied with Tech. 32:31 No, they'll probably give them a couple of games. 32:33 They'll give them some games. 32:34 They'll give them some periods of hockey. 32:35 But the home crowd and the determination of North Dakota at this time of year, that's a grim task. 32:44 I wouldn't want to go in there this time of year. 32:45 Hammeh? 32:48 I think the Sewer is going to lick the Beavers twice. 32:50 Whoa! 32:53 Hammeh? 32:55 On your game as usual. 32:58 On your game. 33:00 Veegs? 33:02 Sweet, I think North Dakota has really low-dumped that top line by putting Grimaldi with Christo and Corbin Knight, and they're going to feast on the Beavers. 33:16 It'll be a damn good showing, I'll tell you that. 33:21 Seriously, Bemidji has no shot. 33:24 They have no shot. 33:25 Of course, we say that now. 33:26 I bet you that's what Wisconsin thought about Penn State. 33:30 Well, this to me is a little different because... 33:33 North Dakota can actually score. 33:35 Well, right. 33:36 Wisconsin's got such a small margin of error in their games that if they give up three goals more often than not, they're going to lose. 33:45 That's not exactly a lot of goals in today's game. 33:51 Michigan Tech heading to St. 33:53 Cloud. 33:54 Vegoe, does Tech have any chance of getting a point out of there? 33:57 I'm just hoping they get one point. 34:00 We saw Saturday that St. 34:02 Cloud will play a low-scoring, low-shooting game and hopefully Tech is able to get two or three goals in one of the games and sneak out a point for us. 34:11 Frank, what do you think? 34:12 Tech, any chance at all? 34:14 Oh, yeah, I think so. 34:15 They've picked up some points here in the last... 34:20 since Christmas they have. 34:21 Yeah, but you know, they're still tied for tenth. 34:23 I mean, 16 points, they're the same as Bemidji. 34:27 They haven't been shut out. 34:29 I mean, they beat Michigan, they beat Western Michigan in the tournament. 34:37 I just think the... 34:39 I think they're going to kick some butt basically what I think. 34:42 What do you think, Hammeh? 34:43 Well, I mean, I think that... 34:45 you know, it wouldn't shock me if Tech comes up one night and scores enough goals to pull out a point. 34:51 I mean, I can't rule that completely out because they've had some games this year where they have enough, you know, sneaky offense that, you know, they can bite you. 35:01 And so, you know, it wouldn't shock me if they came out of that with a point. 35:06 But I'm honestly expecting St. 35:07 Cloud to sweep that series. 35:10 I would agree with you. 35:11 I think it's going to sweep all the way. 35:13 Minnesota State heading to Colorado College. 35:17 I think this is going to be an excellent series for Minnesota State to really solidify a home ice advantage. 35:27 I think there's a split there. 35:28 What do you think, Veegs? 35:31 I actually think Mankato is going to get the sweep. 35:33 Oh, even more. 35:34 So maybe a top three finish. 35:36 Yeah, I think they're going to go on the road and I think they're going to get four points. 35:40 And they're going to be right near the top of the conference. 35:44 Has it been all coaching there, Frank? 35:46 Or is it Mr. 35:48 Hastings kind of run into a good situation? 35:52 And we lose, Frank. 35:54 Did we lose them? 35:55 I think so. 35:56 How about you, Hammeh? 35:58 Well, my opinion on that is it's been Williams stepping in and goal. 36:01 That's really been the key for them. 36:03 I mean, certainly, I'm sure the defensive play has been better in front of him to help matters. 36:08 But I really believe that the goaltending, I mean, you were talking about Wallenheim or whatever his name is. 36:14 That's exactly kind of who he reminds me of in the way, you know, he sort of has a little bit of that, you know, arrogant, you know, look at me kind of attitude out on the ice. 36:22 I mean, I was at that the last, you know, Mariucci game against them. 36:26 And, you know, he was like, even during a TV time-out, he was looking for attention. 36:31 It seemed like he was almost disappointed when the fans were, you know, kind of giving him grief or whatever. 36:36 So, but I really believe as far as that series goes, you know, it's so hard because CC has been so up and down on home ice. 36:44 I'm going to have to say that I think they'll come out of it with, you know, maybe a point or two. 36:49 Really? 36:50 Yeah, I just think that there will be one of those nights that they'll do enough to get something. 36:56 Who's going to get what? 36:58 Well, I think that Mankato will probably get two to three points out of that series. 37:02 Yeah, I think three. 37:06 Any other thoughts on that, Frank? 37:08 Is it all Hastings? 37:10 Or is it their players? 37:14 He'll disappear again. 37:15 Every time you ask him a question, he disappears. 37:18 I think he's probably ducking the Hastings question. 37:20 There you go. 37:21 I think he is. 37:22 All right, all right. 37:22 I think you got my volume turned up too high. 37:26 No, we can't hear you. 37:28 Now we can? 37:29 Now we can. 37:30 Okay, I'll ask softly. 37:33 I'm backing away. 37:35 What do you think about the turnaround there in Mankato? 37:38 Is it all Hastings or is it the players? 37:41 He's lifted a blanket off the players. 37:44 But I don't think it's all them. 37:46 I mean, I don't... 37:49 I think Troy Judding had probably had more talented teams before. 37:52 So it's just not players only who are coming along. 37:55 But I just think he's changed an attitude there. 37:57 He's given them a little bit of a different perspective on how to play the game. 38:04 I love Troy Judding. 38:05 He did a great job in what he had there. 38:08 But Troy was a pretty intense kind of guy. 38:11 Teams tend to take on the personality of their coaches a lot of times. 38:14 And I think his teams might have been just a little bit too uptight. 38:18 I don't think he... 38:22 And there goes Frank. 38:28 We lost you again there, Frank. 38:29 How come I can continue to hear you and you can't hear me? 38:32 I don't know, maybe you have a loose... 38:35 You know......button on your thing there or something? 38:37 It's because he's not using a Macintosh like I am. 38:41 I had to get you on that one, Frank. 38:43 Well, you're in that upper income bracket. 38:45 I wish! 38:46 You guys living out there on those country estates. 38:49 Country estates? 38:50 You've got a 70-inch TV and a flashlight fryer. 38:54 Here we go. 38:56 I think he secretly hit the powerball and isn't telling anybody. 39:00 Yeah, I don't think so. 39:02 So Susan doesn't have to go down to the... 39:08 You guys are being mean, though. 39:10 You guys are just mean. 39:12 I'm never inviting any of you back on the show. 39:15 Do it by myself. 39:17 Stop knocking me off the air. 39:18 I didn't. 39:19 It's just you start talking and then all of a sudden you just stop. 39:23 What question was I starting to answer? 39:26 And how much more would you like to hear from me? 39:29 It really doesn't matter. 39:30 You guys were just ripping on me anyway. 39:32 Well, that's true. 39:33 Alright, well, let's get to the big series this weekend. 39:35 Denver coming into town. 39:37 They keep whooping our butts here at Mariucci. 39:40 Is there any chance of a sweet prank before we lose your call? 39:44 Yes. 39:45 You think so? 39:47 I'm afraid to answer anymore because every time I say more than six words, you cut me off. 39:51 No, we're not cutting you off. 39:54 I do. 39:55 I mean, this team, this Gopher team has to find itself in Toto or Toto or whatever the dogs name it. 40:02 Got to find itself totally sometime this late season, and this would be a great weekend to do it. 40:09 You know, Denver, I think a lot like CC can be up and down. 40:15 And I just think this, but Line 1 has got to produce all the time. 40:25 There he is. 40:30 Yes, Frank, we lost you for a bit there. 40:32 We just let it go for a while. 40:34 Line 1 has to produce. 40:35 That was the key. 40:41 It's okay, Frank. 40:42 Don't worry about it. 40:43 We must have lost him again. 40:47 The thing is, I think he can hear us. 40:49 He can hear us. 40:50 That was a dramatic pause. 40:53 Now I'm losing. 40:56 Is that a William Shanner Oscar joke somehow? 41:02 Hammy, let's give your thoughts on the weekend. 41:06 Well, my feeling is that really the key for the Gophers is going to be how they play defensively. 41:11 I think that there's opportunities to put some goals on the board against Denver. 41:15 The real key is going to be clamping down on defense. 41:31 We really need to play well on the penalty kill and make sure we have a good team defensive concept. 41:37 I've been harping on this all year, that the Gophers, to me, when they're at their best, they're playing good, solid team defense. 41:44 It's not the blue liners. 41:45 It's the entire group of five out there playing team defense. 41:51 If we get that, there's certainly that opportunity to sweep. 41:55 I think we have the ability. 41:57 I think, honestly though, considering how the year has gone, it's hard for me to pick a sweep. 42:02 So I'm going to say that it's going to be a split. 42:06 All right, Vegoe, what do you got? 42:09 I've got sweep, but I've got three caveats. 42:13 Oh, come on. 42:15 It sounds like my three stars picks. 42:19 Well, this team has obviously got talent. 42:21 They can score goals. 42:22 Their power play is really coming through for them this season. 42:27 They've got guys who can shoot the puck. 42:29 The problem is that these guys take moments off. 42:33 I don't even think it's periods or shifts. 42:36 It's moments where they get caught. 42:38 And what happens is somebody leaves that prime scoring area. 42:42 They kind of watch them go. 42:44 And as they're watching, someone else fills that space. 42:47 And they don't pick up that guy. 42:49 Whether it's a forward not coming down with their guy in a man's scheme or if they are in a zone's scheme and that defenseman's got to put his head on a swivel and pick him up coming. 43:00 That's been a big problem for a lot of the goals against. 43:03 And on the offensive end, this team needs to stop turning the puck over so frequently at the blue line. 43:10 I think that'll kill shifts and start getting them in some bad momentum where they'll get into the offensive zone, turn it over right away, coming back, and then they're battling the rest of the shift. 43:20 So I think if they do those two things and draw some power play opportunities, they'll be fine and get four points. 43:26 You know, it's funny that you mentioned about these little moments of lapse on the defensive end. 43:31 And I was in the photo box Friday, I believe it was Friday night, and it was second period, and the Gophers gave up the puck up high as if they're coming out of the zone. 43:43 All of a sudden, it was two on one low, and Duluth hits a pipe. 43:48 And as this is happening, I hear Gentel yelling some things that I really cannot say on the air, expletives and politically incorrect types of phrases. 44:01 As the play was happening, luckily they got out, the puck hit the pipe and went up, but you know, the coaching staff sees these little lapses and are frustrated just like we are. 44:14 It's like, they keep thinking, you guys are doing so well, you're playing team and all of a sudden just these little things and boom, there's a big scoring opportunity. 44:22 Well, the question I have is some of that because, I mean, last year we had, you know, a kid like Parento, you know, playing full time on defense and, you know, he wasn't, obviously going to give you a lot of offense, but he certainly played very solid, consistent defense and it allowed Schmidt to kind of freelance and do his thing a little more safely. 44:41 Now you got, you know, a couple of freshmen out there. 44:43 Granted, you know, they played enough now where they're not, you know, the cliché, they're not freshmen anymore. 44:47 But, you know, I kind of wonder if some of it is, you know, that inconsistency revolves around some of that kind of play because I think that last year it seemed like we were a little more consistent on defense and some of it was because, you know, just the general makeup of the guys that were out, you know, on the ice. 45:06 I mean, last year we locked into six players by this time of year, maybe even considerably earlier than this and locked into them. 45:16 I think maybe one of the six might have been dinged for a couple of games, two games at the most. 45:22 But other than that, we rode pretty much the second half of the season with those six guys. 45:26 That could be an issue. 45:29 Not nearly as much as spotting somebody up on that fourth line but not having that set six. 45:36 And Gensel told us earlier in the year when he was rotating seven guys in around that D car, he said, it's difficult and I can believe that. 45:46 So that may be an issue. 45:48 But the other thing we got to look at is, this is a really good team. 45:51 I mean, there's no question. 45:53 I mean, we're going for the fine tuning and the perfection. 45:57 This is a very good team. 45:59 They got the team speed. 46:00 They got threats that can score through a couple of lines. 46:04 They got a really, really good goaltender and a decor that if everybody has got their head screwed on straight, can be very steady and very much a shutdown type of defense. 46:18 I think they just need to make sure that they stick to their disciplines. 46:22 Team defense and just, and you got to limit these lapses as much as you can't just keep discipline, discipline, discipline, because when they do that, they're unbeatable. 46:34 Well, Frank, I don't know what you think of this. 46:36 I've been saying this kind of throughout the season that I think that they have enough talent up front that the defense doesn't need to be necessarily as aggressive to create offense. 46:46 I mean, yeah, you want Schmidt to jump in there and Marshall sometimes, but on Riley, if he picks the right moments, but nonetheless, I feel like they don't need to be as aggressive, pinching in and things like that, because I think that we're going to create enough offense as it is. 47:02 So I feel like, if they're playing a little more conservatively, that's actually in our favor. 47:07 I don't know what your opinion is on something like that though. 47:10 I agree, but I also don't, there's times when I wish they would pinch in a little bit more, especially here in the second half, but largely because I don't think we're getting, I don't know if the forwards are covered or if some of them are taking a little bit of time off. 47:26 I think there's times when I'd like to see Schmitt jump in there or Marshall. 47:31 Riley, not quite yet comfortable with that kind of a move because he's a freshman, but he's recovered from every mistake I think he's made this year. 47:40 But yeah, no, they shouldn't have to, but there are times when I wish they would do a little bit more. 47:47 Well, I don't think that the Gopher defensive have been making bad decisions at the offensive blue line or trying to join the rush coming out of the defensive zone. 47:56 I think their biggest problem the last three weeks has been rebounds and tying up guys so that they can clear the puck in those situations. 48:05 And that's been where the mistakes have been happening for the most part. 48:10 I agree, Eric. 48:12 Yeah, there've been a lot of little rebounds with just this past weekend where the Duluth guys worked hard, got their goal, and we didn't as much. 48:24 And then the other thing is the WCH is a hard conference. 48:26 I mean, you look at the results from this last weekend and no one swept. 48:30 I mean, even Wisconsin playing Penn State, College Hockey, they didn't sweep either. 48:36 And Luci was saying earlier in the year that these teams are so well-coached now that the difference in each game is probably one five-on-five goal between the top teams and the bottom teams. 48:47 And for Minnesota to be successful, they need to get power play opportunities and capitalize on those. 48:52 And a lot of that comes with sustained zone time and puck possession. 48:56 So I think that's something we should look for in the last couple of weeks here in the regular season. 49:02 Frank, what's been your opinion on Wilcox? 49:05 I've seen some fans talk about, because he hasn't been necessarily as consistently stellar as he maybe was in the first half. 49:14 And then there's talk about, I even heard on Beyond the Pond last weekend, I think it was Micheletti or one of them was saying that, maybe he needs a night off or whatever. 49:21 For me, I think that's crazy talk because you're in a stretch run now. 49:26 And it's not like he's played poorly. 49:29 I mean, I thought some of the goals that were scored on him, especially last Friday, were just kind of real bouncy, fluky kind of things. 49:37 What's your opinion? 49:38 You think you're keeping riding them or what do you think they should do? 49:43 I wouldn't mind a night off for him. 49:47 And if first place is out of question, I think he'll get one of the two nights off up in Bemidji, no question about it. 49:55 But there's, you know, he wasn't seeing the puck real good in St. 49:58 Cloud. 50:00 And then we had that Sunday game in on the railroad tracks in Chicago, where, you know, I don't know if he had a good game or not, but you know, the bounces were crazy. 50:13 They scored three times. 50:14 They hit two goal posts behind him. 50:16 I don't know that he had a great game, but I don't know if anybody in front of him did either. 50:20 And I don't know if you can judge, use that game to judge anybody. 50:23 I thought he did look a little bit tired in the last couple of weeks, a little bit less sharp than he normally is. 50:30 But Lucio said he was gonna give him some ample time off this week and maybe was even gonna give the team off one day. 50:38 Like probably, what day is it? 50:41 Today's Tuesday? 50:42 Yeah, I think he was thinking of giving the team today off just to let them vacate a little bit and get their minds cleared. 50:47 And I thought Wilcox could have used that. 50:49 But beyond that, he's still one of the best freshman goaltender we've had. 50:54 I mean, his numbers will compare to others, particularly Kangas, I think, in his freshman year. 51:02 But I don't think Alex played these many games. 51:05 Adam Wilcox is one of the best freshman goaltenders we've had in a long time. 51:09 Yeah, he did a lot of split duty with Frazee his freshman year. 51:14 And then until Frazee's meltdown in St. 51:16 Cloud in like January or something like that, then he kind of picked up more full time. 51:21 But you're right. 51:23 Nobody played as much as Wilcox has this year. 51:25 No, and I'd go to war with him. 51:27 I would. 51:29 I think he's that kind of a battler and he's savvy and he doesn't get rattled. 51:34 I don't think he's gotten rattled at all this year. 51:37 I think maybe he's been a little bit tired or maybe a little distracted, but I don't think he's gotten rattled in any of the games. 51:43 And yeah, if first place is within reach, play him. 51:48 If not, give him a rest that last weekend and then let's go with him. 51:53 Well, I think the problem is that even if first place isn't in within reach, second place is there too. 52:01 I mean, Dart Dakota, Nebraska, Omaha are one point back with Minnesota State, two points back from Minnesota right now. 52:10 So I don't even think he'll have the chance. 52:12 Unless he's got second place locked up, you're gonna see Wilcox rest of the season, unfortunately. 52:17 He's not gonna have a chance for a break. 52:19 Well, and the other thing I point out is we did have a week off relatively recently. 52:23 What was it, three weeks ago or whatever it was. 52:26 And the other thing is that, you know, I try to point this out is he played 45 or so games last year in USHL. 52:34 I mean, so it's not like he's unaccustomed to this kind of workload over the course of a season. 52:40 So I can see both sides of it, but I would be surprised if they didn't play him out. 52:47 In the USHL, does a guy get a night out? 52:49 I don't know how hard they work their goaltenders in that league. 52:53 Well, I mean, he had, I mean, there's 60 regular season. 52:57 And I mean, and he played, like I said, somewhere in the mid forties for, so I mean, obviously he had some time off, but they play more than two games in a week sometimes as well, so. 53:07 Right, yeah. 53:09 Any other thoughts on this weekend, gentlemen? 53:13 I'm still going with sweep. 53:14 All right, I'll go with sweep then. 53:16 All my sweep calls last week didn't quite work out though. 53:18 It was looking great Friday night. 53:20 And then it failed on Saturday. 53:22 You know, that, how about that for a good thing this year? 53:26 We don't have those Friday night blues like we had last year. 53:28 Now we've got other inconsistencies. 53:31 We don't have that Friday night funk where you wonder, are these guys ever going to wake up? 53:36 You know, a lot of people online have been a little negative on the team. 53:40 You know, they haven't been able to get the sweep and this and that. 53:42 But you know what? 53:43 There are two points out of first. 53:45 They're number two in the pairwise, which is the most important thing is, is high numbers in the pairwise. 53:52 So it's not all bad people. 53:54 Trust us. 53:55 Things are still going very well. 53:58 No need to panic if the team loses a game once in a while. 54:03 I know you laugh, Hammeh, because you see it happen all the time. 54:06 Yeah. 54:07 We push for perfection here. 54:09 I know, but you know, hey, all that matters is that who wins at the end of the season. 54:15 It's the whole journey to get there. 54:17 And a lot of people take it a little too seriously. 54:21 I can't believe we've talked for a whole hour and there hasn't been one question. 54:25 Well, we did have a question earlier. 54:27 What else? 54:29 We had the Hobie candidate question. 54:31 Yes. 54:33 Who's a better candidate, Schmitt or Buxted? 54:37 Well, does that mean like who would get the most votes or who's a better player? 54:43 I don't know. 54:44 If you had to pick one player from the team to promote as the Hobie candidate. 54:49 And that's another problem. 54:50 You never promote it enough, not like other schools. 54:57 No, but in part, that would be worth some discussions somewhere. 55:01 I don't know if publicly or not, but there are members of the media in this town that might chew the Sports Information Department up one side and down the other if they tried to promote somebody too hard. 55:16 Oh, come on. 55:19 All those people who don't follow hockey? 55:23 I just said some members. 55:28 I believe it. 55:30 You see from other schools, they really push these kids. 55:34 They get their names out there. 55:36 They put out releases. 55:38 They do what they can to get their names out there. 55:40 The U has done a little bit at times, but for the most part, it's pretty quiet over there. 55:46 I mean, they need to worry less about what the media is doing here and worry about the product they're putting on the ice and their own players. 55:55 Who cares what the media thinks? 55:56 It doesn't matter. 55:58 I'll be honest with you. 55:59 If I were going to say, I honestly don't know if I would even include Buxted in my top two for the Gophers as Hobie candidates. 56:06 I actually think I would pick Howla as a forward before Buxted. 56:11 Of course, when you look long term, of course, Buxted's got the best long term prospects. 56:18 But to me, Howla has been more consistent more often than not. 56:22 I thought that Buxted would have a better year. 56:24 So maybe part of it is the expectations that you have going into a year. 56:29 And I also think that Schmidt, I mean, what is he, the second leading scorer in college hockey from the defensive? 56:37 I mean, I don't know what the stat was, but I know he's right up there. 56:39 So to me, he would have a better opportunity, maybe, to garner votes based on something like that. 56:45 Because it's a stat-driven kind of a number. 56:48 It is a stat-driven thing, but also you've got draft status and all these other things that people are going to know that Buxted name no matter what. 56:58 They're going to hear about Howla more no matter what. 56:59 I think that name is more marketable. 57:01 You're right. 57:03 That's why I asked the question. 57:04 You're talking about the guy that's going to get the most votes or the guy that's having a better season. 57:09 I think there's a little bit of a distinction there. 57:12 Hammey, let's go back to this question between Howla and Buxted. 57:15 If you had to play this year without one of them, and I'll answer this question too if you want me to, if you had to play the whole season without one of those two guys, who would you take away? 57:29 Which I suppose is another way of saying who's your MVP. 57:32 Well, that's a tough one. 57:36 I think Howla would be the team MVP, and therefore, wouldn't he be the best Toby Baker candidate? 57:42 That's kind of why I was saying, what I think of throughout the year, consistency, I mean, to me, Buxted, early on in the year, he was not playing up to his standards. 57:53 What you would expect from a guy that's got all that hype coming in to the season, and I expected him to do a lot more damage this year than he has. 58:01 And I think that, for me, Hull has been more consistent throughout the year. 58:05 Even when he was dinged up, you know, he was still, you know, maybe not as noticeable as usual, but he was still producing a little bit. 58:11 So I just think that from that standpoint, he would be more of an MVP to me this year. 58:16 I would like to see Buxted crack a few more skulls out there and use that size. 58:21 I'm serious. 58:22 No, I agree with you. 58:23 I mean, you see, I mean, a drunk hockey guy was saying it this week, now he says, you know, you know, a Buxted plays, you know, like a 5'8 player out there and Rob plays like a 6'5 player out there. 58:35 And you know, a lot of people disagreed with him, but you know, I think he's got a point. 58:39 I think Buxted's got some, he's got a good frame. 58:41 Use it. 58:42 Crack some skulls. 58:45 Show him you're there. 58:47 You know, Nick came in, he knew the, he knew the skill sides of this game extremely well and he's got incredible skills. 58:55 I think he's still learning the physical side of this game. 58:59 And I think he's going to learn it. 59:01 And then when he does watch out, but I don't know if he'll do it while he's a college player or after he makes the move to the next step. 59:09 I don't know. 59:09 I mean, that's interesting because to me that would sort of just seem like second nature. 59:14 I mean, when you're a guy who's, you know, six five or whatever, six six, whatever he is now, you know, and he's always had, you know, a pretty side, he's not one of them tall, skinny guys, you know, I mean, he's always had some pretty good size and strength to him. 59:28 And I'm just shocked that he wouldn't have that intuitively just want to throw his body around because he has that advantage over so many college players. 59:36 So, you know, I'm surprised that he hasn't done that more. 59:40 What do you think Vegoe? 59:43 Does he not use his size enough? 59:45 Well, he doesn't use his size on the forecheck or playing the body or getting real physical. 59:50 But what he does use his body for is protecting the puck, generating scoring opportunities. 59:55 And he's got a great one-timer on the power play. 59:58 And on top of that, he's one of the best face-off guys in college hockey. 1:00:03 So, you know, I think expectations might be just a little too high for him. 1:00:08 You know, if you're comparing him to Holla, I mean, those are two of the best players in college hockey on top of it. 1:00:14 So, I don't know. 1:00:15 I'm a big Buksad fan because of what he does for your offense and what he does for puck possession. 1:00:21 Well, the one thing that sometimes I get, what he does that bothers me, I think he almost holds on to the puck too much and tries to do too much on his own because he has that size and reach advantage and sometimes it works to his advantage. 1:00:34 But sometimes I think he tries to do too much and he should be dishing the puck a little bit quicker and maybe that's why sometimes the first line stalls up because he's trying to do too much on his own. 1:00:45 I don't know. 1:00:46 Well, this is his time. 1:00:47 It's time for him to step up his game because I remember, Frank, you, me and Wally were sitting there in Tampa after the Gophers lost and we said to us, we talked about what happened to Buxted. 1:00:59 He pretty much disappeared when it came to the big games at the end of the season. 1:01:04 So we really need him to step up and show how big of a player he can be. 1:01:10 And I think he can do it. 1:01:12 I mean, I don't know what the timing is, but he does. 1:01:21 Oops. 1:01:21 I'm just waiting to see if he comes back. 1:01:24 Yes, Frank, we lost you again. 1:01:25 But can you hear us? 1:01:27 You can probably hear us. 1:01:29 Should we make fun of Frank? 1:01:31 No, we wouldn't do that. 1:01:32 Oh, it's dialing him back now. 1:01:34 Frank is back online. 1:01:36 Call back. 1:01:37 There's a problem with this call. 1:01:38 Hold on while we try to get the call back. 1:01:40 I'm not doing anything. 1:01:45 You were saying about him disappearing last year and he needs to do it this year. 1:01:49 I was brilliant, but I can only be brilliant once. 1:01:52 Yeah, no, that's it. 1:01:56 And if this is the moment that he seizes, it's going to be awesome. 1:02:02 Yes. 1:02:03 This team is just going to start blowing other teams away. 1:02:06 I would agree. 1:02:07 It's his time to shine, and I really hope he does, because like I said last year, he was a non-factor the last month of the year. 1:02:16 That's just the way it went. 1:02:19 Any other thoughts on the weekend, guys? 1:02:22 No, I'm talked out. 1:02:23 You're talked out, huh? 1:02:25 Well, Frank, we appreciate you joining us. 1:02:29 Hey, it's my pleasure. 1:02:30 It's fun. 1:02:31 And obviously, people can always follow you on Twitter, at MazzPuck, or... 1:02:36 Although, my Twitter account has been about as sporadic as my Skype account tonight. 1:02:42 I've had to whip it into shape here. 1:02:47 And they can also follow you at your Photography Twitter account, at MazzoccoPhoto, correct? 1:02:52 Thank you, sir. 1:02:52 Appreciate that plug. 1:02:53 You've got your mazzoccophotography.com, where you do a lot of studio work, I believe? 1:03:00 Studio work, do some event stuff, portrait work, anything legal. 1:03:05 Senior pictures for high school kids. 1:03:07 Especially. 1:03:08 That's a big thing for you. 1:03:09 So, if anyone's interested in that, check out mazzoccophotography.com. 1:03:13 Frank does a lot more than work on radio, TV and everything else he's ever done. 1:03:19 Jack of all trades. 1:03:20 Jack of all trades. 1:03:21 Master of most of them. 1:03:26 Well, we thank you for joining us, Frank. 1:03:27 Hey, thanks a lot. 1:03:29 We'll see you down at the playoffs. 1:03:30 Thanks. 1:03:30 We hope so, too. 1:03:31 Remember, you can always follow Hammy as well, at Hammy Hockey on Twitter. 1:03:36 And E Vegoe for Eric Vegoe on Twitter. 1:03:41 We thank you for joining us this week on the GopherPuckLive Podcast. 1:03:45 We'll be back next week to recap the Denver Series and preview the last WCHA regular season series against Bemidji State. 1:03:53 Until then, thanks for listening.