0:03 This is The Gopher Puck Live Podcast, episode number 37, recorded Tuesday, March 5th, 2013. 0:20 Welcome to the Gopher Puck Live Podcast. 0:23 Along with Vegoe and Hammeh, I am your host, Jupiter. 0:26 Ah, boys, it was a Jeckyl & Hyde weekend for the Gophers against the Denver Pioneers. 0:34 Friday night, god-awful. 0:36 Get shut out for the first time in a long time. 0:39 Saturday night came out much tougher, but it was a similar game, it was close, and then they blew him away in the third. 0:45 Hammeh, what are your thoughts? 0:46 Is the Jeckyl & Hyde not good at this time of year? 0:48 But at least Saturday, they showed they could still play. 0:51 Yeah, I mean, I honestly wasn't surprised by the series result. 0:56 I mean, I think I went with the split, but I certainly didn't expect to see them play quite as poorly as they did on Friday. 1:03 I mean, even Lucia was obviously pretty up in arms about it. 1:07 And I just thought that they played really soft. 1:10 They didn't seem to really go to the net very hard. 1:13 And I just thought the overall just, you know, the attitude they took into the game, it just didn't seem like they were there. 1:18 And fortunately, they did, you know, rebound and come back pretty strong. 1:23 I like the way that they played on Saturday, of course. 1:26 And hopefully, you know, they'll learn a lesson from that, because I think that's how they're going to have to win games is to play that rate. 1:31 Well, one thing that just kind of frustrated me and it showed by looking at the shot charts is that Friday night, they just had nothing out in front. 1:39 I mean, literally that whole area in the slot, no quality chances for, they're all from way outside or the edge or anything like that. 1:47 What was the deal, Vegoe? 1:48 Did you see that? 1:49 It was horrible to watch. 1:51 Well, I think the big thing I noticed on Friday night was just the compete level was the lowest I've seen out of that squad probably all season. 2:01 They'd be in the defensive zone and guys just didn't look like they were interested in going to win a 50-50 battle. 2:07 Then the offensive zone, no one looked like they wanted to go in the harder areas of the rink. 2:12 It was hard to watch and I'm glad they snapped out of it on Saturday. 2:16 You just kind of worry how easily it is for them to flip the switch from one to the other. 2:21 But they played better on Saturday. 2:24 I didn't think the first two periods were bad. 2:27 If they would have gone out and lost on Saturday, it would have been disappointing to give away the points, but they played better regardless of whether or not they had the big third period. 2:37 And that's one positive we have. 2:38 It seems like because of their non-conference schedule, because of what they did earlier in the year, it's pretty much looking like they're going to have a number one seed at one of the regions. 2:49 So I don't see any way they lose that, but still they had a great chance to get tied up with St. 2:58 Cloud State, couldn't quite do it, and now they're going to need a little help this weekend if they want to win the McNaughton. 3:06 Well, yeah, I mean, I think that the disappointing thing for me certainly was just the fact that they weren't really going to the net hard end that, I mean, you know, teams, they know with us that, you know, they have to clog the middle of the rink, and I just feel like that it wasn't, you know, they didn't want to seem to challenge them and go to the middle, you know, go to the slot and go around the blue paint and really challenge them. 3:30 So, that was the frustrating thing for me on that Friday night. 3:34 And then the other thing is they just had so many shots blocked all weekend, which was an amazing thing. 3:40 In both games in the third period, you started to see guys change the angle a little bit, or, you know, put the slap shot in the bag and just go to the wrist shot and get pucks to the net, but that was the most disappointing thing on the weekend, is to see so many shots blocked, and that's just something that shouldn't happen. 3:56 You know, Mike Riley and Nate Schmidt do a good job of working in the middle to get pucks to the net, but the rest of the guys really were struggling. 4:03 Well, we move on to Saturday, and obviously you can tell right away the compete level was much higher. 4:09 I mean, they did get down, obviously, in the game, but I didn't have the big concern like I did Friday night. 4:16 They were playing much better. 4:17 They were getting much better quality chances in front of the goalie. 4:21 The getting shots through, I thought it was just a matter of time until they started playing pretty well. 4:26 And obviously, I threw on the jersey in the second period. 4:29 We get the goal, we score five straight. 4:31 I'm going to take credit for the wins on Saturday, and it's my fault they lost on Friday. 4:39 Well, as much as I'd like to give you credit in the game. 4:42 Come on! 4:42 You know, for me... 4:44 Coincidence? 4:44 I think not. 4:46 I actually was a little... 4:47 I don't want to say I was... 4:48 You know, sometimes you have those weekends where even when you're playing well, things just don't seem to be bouncing right for you. 4:55 And when they got out to that early lead, I started to get a little concerned, you know. 4:58 And of course, we got the fortunate break that, you know, they disallowed that goal, which, you know, I thought was a pretty good call. 5:05 But nonetheless, you know, that's not always a call that the refs overturn. 5:10 And so, you know, if that had happened, I mean, it was not looking... 5:15 You know, it would not have been looking good. 5:16 And especially with how frustrating the night before was, you just start to wonder if the players are going to get, you know, frustrated and start taking bad penalties and things like that. 5:26 So, fortunately, it turned out all right. 5:28 You know, I thought that, you know, no goal call was a pretty fortunate thing. 5:35 I don't know if there was enough evidence there for them to reverse it. 5:39 So, it was definitely a break that went their way, huh, Veegs? 5:44 Yeah, I didn't see too many good replays of it because he was so far out from the net. 5:48 Yep, exactly. 5:48 It was just, you know, there was no point of reference. 5:50 You know, he was a pretty tall guy. 5:52 I think he was a 6'3 guy for them. 5:55 So, he's pretty tall as is. 5:56 So, four feet isn't very far off the ice to a guy like that. 5:59 So, I do think they got the benefit of the calls on Saturday. 6:04 There was the icing that was not called on the Mahal goal. 6:10 So, they went for it. 6:11 Hey, but we saw Mahal get a goal and it was a nice goal from Mahal. 6:14 And it was kind of nice. 6:17 You didn't really celebrate too much either. 6:19 Just taking care of business. 6:21 Taking care of business, exactly right. 6:23 Oh boy. 6:24 Here we go. 6:25 A question from Eric Jordan. 6:27 Could the women's team beat the wild tonight? 6:30 Oh, somebody is not happy with the wild. 6:35 I told everybody to start drinking and you'll forget about it. 6:39 What was it? 6:40 The last time I saw it was 4 to 1. 6:42 Is it worse yet? 6:43 No, it's still 4 to 1. 6:45 I saw that happening. 6:46 I just thought it was funny. 6:47 Somebody started tweeting about it. 6:50 Alright, well, like I said, Hall finally got rewarded this weekend with a nice top shelf goal. 6:57 What other positives did you guys see this weekend? 7:00 Well, I mean, I think, like I said, the thing that I really liked on Saturday was the fact that they seemed to really be willing to pay a price. 7:06 I mean, you know, Buddhist around the net. 7:08 I mean, we have some good size up front and, you know, frankly, that's to me what we're going to have to see more of as we get into the playoffs, is we have to have our bigger players kind of camping out around that blue paint and be willing to take, you know, some beating, some of a beating and score some goals. 7:25 I mean, to me, that was kind of the tone setter once we tied that game, because it was like they played gritty. 7:31 It was, you know, they were fighting around the net and they finally popped one in there. 7:35 And it just kind of seemed like that, you know, started to develop a mentality throughout the lineup. 7:41 So that's the one thing that I really took out of it. 7:43 Hopefully, they'll learn a lesson from that. 7:46 And I think that that's exactly what they're going to have to do this coming weekend. 7:49 Because Bemidji is certainly not going to want to play wide open. 7:52 They're going to try to do the same kind of stuff, clog the middle and, you know, kind of camp out, you know, close down by the net and not give us many good shooting lanes. 8:00 And you're going to have to play that way to beat teams in the playoffs. 8:04 What positives do you see on this weekend, Veegs? 8:07 Well, I do think we started to see the power plays figure out how to attack a 1-3 penalty kill a little bit in the third period. 8:16 It was bad for a while there. 8:18 Yeah, all weekend. 8:19 It took them eight tries before they popped one in on the weekend. 8:23 And Friday night, they were out shot 8-2 on their own power play. 8:27 Yeah, the two shots on Friday was pretty ridiculous. 8:30 But, you know, they were trying different things. 8:31 They were just trying to skate the zone. 8:33 They were trying to chip it deep. 8:35 And I asked Bukestad after the game what they were doing differently. 8:38 And he said that they were trying to slow it down to the neutral zone and let the defenders kind of take themselves out of position and then get in the zone and set up under control on the flanks. 8:49 And, you know, if they can figure out a couple of different ways to gain the zone on the power play, as you can see, when they do get set up, they are pretty tough on the man advantage in that Bukestad goal. 9:01 And he is just camping out in that spot and making an aim for himself there. 9:06 And another thing about that Bukestad goal too, it was nice to see him kind of get back into it because he had done nothing for quite a few games. 9:14 But the passing on that play, you know, up high, down low, back up to Howell and, you know, I think everyone right there in front of him thought Howell was going to shoot. 9:23 And he just, just that little hesitation over to Bukestad. 9:27 And boy, that was one of the more pretty plays that I've seen this year. 9:36 Yes, we're speechless. 9:38 Wow, Vegoe, you enjoy George Gwazdeky after the games and whatnot. 9:45 Did you hear anything interesting after the Saturday night game? 9:48 You know, I didn't. 9:49 I think it was his ploy to avoid the Minnesota media because he goes and he does the DU radio right after the game. 9:56 And then when he came back down, Coach Lucio was already holding court. 10:01 So I missed him. 10:03 I hope I get to see him at the final five. 10:05 He's always entertaining when he when he speaks his mind. 10:08 He definitely is. 10:09 You know, a lot of people are not fans of his. 10:14 They think he's kind of smug. 10:16 They don't like the way he dresses. 10:17 But when you do see him in that type of atmosphere, what he's addressing the guys, he does come off as likeable. 10:26 Well, he's got a very commanding presence. 10:29 And he's not arrogant. 10:30 He's just confident. 10:32 Yes. 10:33 I think certain coaches, when they start holding court, they act cocky, arrogant. 10:40 What do you know? 10:41 But Guaz comes across as a very well spoken guy who knows what he's talking about. 10:45 He's just as confident about it. 10:47 See, I would have never have known that by seeing him, when we see him on TV and other types of things. 10:52 It's just when you see him in behind the scenes thing, you're like, oh jeez, he doesn't really come off as bad as you thought he did. 10:59 I mean, that's one thing I've learned in the few years I've been following him. 11:04 He probably wanted to talk to that douche Mike Chambers of the Denver Post. 11:10 That's all he wants to talk about. 11:11 That's seriously, I can't stand that guy. 11:13 I just wanted to throw that rip in because I can't handle that. 11:16 Oh, the Chambers guy? 11:18 Yeah. 11:20 He's the one that goes around like a tough guy hitting SIDs. 11:24 Like he's a tough guy. 11:26 Okay, is he dark haired by the early 40s? 11:31 I don't know what his age is. 11:32 I think I know who he is. 11:34 He's the one that popped one of our former SIDs. 11:38 Really? 11:39 Yeah, many years ago. 11:41 I think that was about 10 years ago or so. 11:43 Yeah, there is one guy who does show up from the Denver Post to the Final Five. 11:48 That's him. 11:48 Yeah, it must be him. 11:49 It's got to be him. 11:51 All right, boys. 11:52 Well, it was definitely an interesting weekend in the rest of the WCHA. 11:58 Let's start off with the definitely resurgent Wisconsin Badgers. 12:04 What's funny is that obviously, they swept your favorite team, Hammy, in Nebraska, Omaha. 12:09 But don't look now, but there is a way for them to tie for the league title if everything comes together. 12:20 What's going on with the Badgers, Hammy? 12:23 They're right back in it. 12:24 They're not far off after a terrible start to the season. 12:29 Yeah, I don't know. 12:30 I mean, I don't know what that says about them. 12:32 They're winning and I mean, there are 31 points now and they're right there. 12:40 Well, I mean, I think it's partly the parody of the league this year. 12:44 I mean, it's even more so than usual. 12:46 I think that's a big part of it. 12:48 I don't think that even the best teams, they've had their weekends where they just haven't played up snuff. 12:55 So, I think that's a part of it. 12:57 You know, I don't, you know, when you're throwing ten goals on a team and you're as offensively challenged as Wisconsin is, I think that says probably a little more about the other team than it does about Wisconsin. 13:08 And I'm not trying to, you know, take away, they swept the series. 13:11 That's great, you know, and certainly I'll be pulling for them this weekend to, you know, win at least one game, if not both. 13:17 And so, but, you know, I think that a lot of it was just the fact, if you've looked, I mentioned this on GPL, you know, Dean Blais' teams the last three years have pretty much sucked down the stretch, you know. 13:29 And that guy gets a lot of hype for having his teams ready, but frankly, I think it's a little bit more of a reputation thing than it is reality now, because they were brutal last year, they were pretty iffy the year before, and they've not been good this year and down the stretch. 13:45 So Nebraska Omaha is definitely hanging on by a thread. 13:49 I mean, they're right now, they're in sixth place with Denver, one point behind them. 13:54 But this weekend, they've got probably a tougher matchup and going to Duluth compared to Denver, heading out. 14:01 Who are they playing? 14:02 They have Anchorage at home. 14:03 So it's looking like a Nebraska Omaha, it's looking like the odd team out. 14:09 What do you think, Vees? 14:10 Yeah, it's kind of two teams just headed in opposite directions. 14:15 I thought Omaha was going to be able to hold on and maybe sneak their way into the tournament, and just the way they continue to play weekend after weekend, that's pretty far-fetched at this point. 14:26 And at the same point, Wisconsin, they're finding their groove. 14:30 I mean, they played a good, tough game against Minnesota at Soldier Field, and they've carried it on. 14:36 They might have let one go with Penn State, but in the big picture, we don't really care about that. 14:41 All we care about is how they're playing when they take on St. 14:44 Cloud this weekend. 14:45 Well, we don't care about that, but I'm guessing they certainly care about that because their pairwise took a huge dive when they lost that game, and they don't have much time to make it up. 14:57 Well, they're playing St. 14:58 Cloud. 14:58 It was 10th in the pairwise this weekend. 15:00 So, you know, if they have a good showing and get into the WCHA tournament with home ice, you know, they might be able to help themself out a little bit. 15:09 All right, we've got North Dakota and Bemidji State, you know, North Dakota takes the game Friday night, 4-2, and then ties Saturday night. 15:20 Hammey, is Bemidji playing that well, I mean, to tie the Sioux or is the Sioux a one-line team? 15:29 Well, I mean, I think it's one of those things where on any given night, you just never know what you're going to get. 15:34 I don't think it's necessarily, you know, that the Sioux aren't good and that Bemidji is playing better necessarily. 15:40 I just think it's one of those things where they had a pretty good game plan and obviously executed it pretty well on Saturday night. 15:46 And certainly that was a big game from a Gopher perspective because it pretty much puts us in control, you know, of our own destiny, you know, at least in terms of, you know, a top two spot. 15:57 And, you know, so you got to like, you know, what we have in that kind of a result. 16:03 And, you know, I don't know, I'm not there. 16:06 I didn't see the game. 16:07 I don't know if it's one of those kind of senior night, you know, things where the emotions and all that kind of stuff play a part. 16:13 And, you know, we've seen that happen before, where you have those ceremonial things, and it sort of takes out the emotion to some degree in a team. 16:21 But I just think that it's probably a game plan that worked well for Bemidji. 16:26 And, you know, it's the kind of thing that we're going to probably have to deal with this coming weekend, and we'll have to see how well that we handle it. 16:32 What do you think, Vegoe? 16:34 Well, I mean, you look at both games, and North Dakota had shot advantages that were pretty sizable in both games, and sometimes your players just don't finish. 16:42 And it wasn't as if Bemidji went out and dominated the game. 16:47 It's probably more North Dakota just wasn't able to put enough pucks in on that. 16:51 You know, the one thing I didn't notice about the series is that North Dakota only had one power play the first night, and I think only like two or three, I think three the second night. 17:01 So I mean, Bemidji obviously didn't want to get themselves down in a hole. 17:07 So certainly, I would imagine that's going to be the kind of style we're going to see this weekend where they're going to be careful about taking penalties, especially against our power play. 17:16 All right. 17:17 St. 17:17 Cloud splits with Michigan Tech. 17:19 Looked good Friday night. 17:21 Saturday night, they get blown out. 17:25 Vegoe, what happened there? 17:28 Just an amazing performance by Michigan Tech and maybe not so great out of performance by St. 17:34 Cloud's goaltending. 17:36 My sources were telling me he was playing a little deep in the net and just given the Huskies plenty of net to shoot at. 17:44 But a surprising result, I thought that would be an easy series for St. 17:49 Cloud. 17:52 And you kind of have to wonder if, and I'm as guilty of this event as anybody, but after them winning Friday night and we lost, and it kind of looked like it was pretty much all but over as far as the league title goes. 18:08 That's right. 18:10 I don't know. 18:10 I mean, I saw that the Friday night they gave up three goals in the third period and 22 shots. 18:16 And it just looks like that just carried over right into Saturday. 18:19 You know, they got three goals in the first period. 18:22 And you know, you get down in a hole that early. 18:26 And you know, I kind of, you know, I'm starting to wonder, you know, what we're going to get out of St. 18:30 Cloud, because it just seems like in the key games that they really, really have to have, you know, to really stretch themselves into a big lead, they somehow falter. 18:40 They do just enough, you know, not that they played badly, but they've just done enough to keep everybody else in it, so to speak. 18:47 And it'll be interesting to see how they respond this weekend on the road, you know, against a team that obviously, we talked about, played well this last weekend and have a lot to, you know, have a lot to fight for in their own right. 18:58 So it'll be interesting. 19:00 Could it be the beginning of a very late season swoon for the Huskies? 19:06 I don't know, but I'll say this. 19:08 They've been known for it. 19:09 If they blow this one, it'll go down as one of, you know, the all time worst for them. 19:14 And that's saying something, considering, you know, they've had plenty of swoons over the years. 19:19 I mean, usually their swoon starts a little sooner than this, but it would be an epic collapse. 19:25 I mean, huh, they were in the driver's seat. 19:28 There's no doubt about it. 19:30 But now they have to go to Wisconsin with obviously Wisconsin playing much better, though they won't be playing on their home ice. 19:36 They'll be playing at the old Dane County this weekend. 19:39 Obviously, we're big Badger fans this weekend, but it just goes to show that St. 19:46 Cloud just never disappoints when it comes to a swoon. 19:48 Let's hopefully, let's just keep on, keep on swooning at St. 19:52 Cloud. 19:52 We would love to see it. 19:55 CC and Minnesota State split Vegoe. 19:58 Obviously, I think the Friday night game, it was a little close, and then CC pulled away. 20:03 Saturday night, all Minnesota State. 20:06 Well, I think Minnesota State was taking advantage of the power play a little bit. 20:11 I was, we had the box ride, obviously didn't see much of the game. 20:15 I just saw a few highlights, but I think they had 13 power plays on Saturday, which just is, that's a way to just throw away a game. 20:24 Minnesota goes 0 for 5 on the power play. 20:27 That's too bad, but it'd be tough to go 0 for 13. 20:30 So they pretty much gave away that game on Saturday. 20:34 What do you think, Hammeh? 20:36 Well, it doesn't help when you're taking what I think they took at least two majors in that game, CC did, and that's obviously going to play a role in it. 20:47 You're losing two guys and putting yourselves down for a decent chunk of the game in that part alone. 20:56 If you're going to play any team, it's not like Mankato has been a juggernaut on offense, but they're talented enough where they'll take advantage of that if you give them that many opportunities. 21:09 CC has been so up and down that I guess you can't be too shocked by anything with them, but a little surprised I got blown out that badly on home ice. 21:19 Well, boys, we have one week to go. 21:22 St. 21:23 Cloud's at first with 35, Minnesota and North Dakota 33, Minnesota State and Wisconsin 31, Nebraska home off 30, and Denver with 29. 21:33 Only St. 21:33 Cloud has mathematically achieved home ice. 21:39 I thought I read online that North Dakota has, too. 21:42 Oh, really? 21:43 Yeah. 21:45 I don't know if it's some tiebreakers with Denver, one of the teams in the middle of the pack. 21:49 I don't know what the, I don't remember all the details. 21:51 That's possible, but yeah, they might. 21:54 That might be the case because of the Denver thing. 21:57 And Minnesota would have to lose by, I think, I think about 10 goals this weekend, and Denver would have to win by 10 goals this weekend to account for their tiebreaker as well. 22:10 Yes. 22:12 I had a nice sheet that Frank Mazocco sent me that showed me all the head-to-head comparisons. 22:18 And right now, you know, at St. 22:21 Cloud, obviously they could, if they win out, they're gonna win the cup. 22:24 But another thing they do have is they've got a ton of head-to-head victories over Minnesota, North Dakota. 22:35 They also win the tiebreaker with Mankato, UNO, Denver. 22:39 I mean, they've got everything except for Wisconsin who they play this weekend. 22:43 So, you know, if the swoon is gonna happen, it's gonna happen, but St. 22:48 Cloud is still in pretty good shape when it comes to getting the number one overall seed. 22:55 Well, I mean, you know, it really depends that if it's, I mean, when you're only two points up, you know, on a couple teams and you're on the road, you know, I mean, I wouldn't feel too comfortable even with the tiebreakers. 23:07 You know what I mean? 23:08 So they're certainly gonna have to earn something because I suspect that at least, you know, the Gophers and North Dakota expect to at least get two points out of this upcoming weekend. 23:18 So they're gonna have to still, you know, do something on the road in Wisconsin. 23:23 And, you know, we were looking at this after the game Saturday night on Twitter. 23:27 We were talking about this, that, you know, we have the potential of having four teams tie for the McNaughton Cup. 23:34 I mean, obviously, then you'd go through all the tiebreakers, but, and he would either be, you know, St. 23:38 Cloud, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin, or not Wisconsin, or something like that. 23:45 But we have... 23:45 Yeah, Wisconsin. 23:46 It was Wisconsin. 23:47 And or St. 23:48 Cloud, Minnesota, North Minnesota State and Wisconsin. 23:53 I would love to see it just to see if the WCHA can do math and sort it out. 23:57 But I don't recall a race ever being this close with the final weekend coming up. 24:05 I mean, do you guys recall any weekend or any final standings this close at the end of the season? 24:13 I definitely can't. 24:15 Yeah, not in terms of this many teams. 24:17 I mean, certainly we've had co-champions in the league, but not to that level. 24:22 Not when you have that many teams in such a close proximity point-wise to the top. 24:27 I mean, a very likely scenario is just having, you know, three teams win the McNaughton. 24:32 I mean, you know, with Minnesota and North Dakota tied right now, you know, both teams could sweep this weekend, you know, St. 24:38 Cloud could split. 24:39 I mean, a very easy scenario is having three teams win a share of the title. 24:44 And I don't even remember three teams winning. 24:46 Obviously, we've seen ties, but I don't even recall three. 24:49 Yeah, I'd have to go back and look, but I don't think that that's ever happened. 24:56 It's gonna be fun. 24:57 It's gonna be a fun weekend. 24:59 Quite a few interesting matchups. 25:02 Let's start up with a less interesting matchup, guys. 25:05 CC at Michigan Tech. 25:09 CC is, you know, I'm not sure if they can quite make it to seventh place, but they're in eighth place, but they could lose eighth place. 25:19 What do you think, Vegoe? 25:21 CC at Michigan Tech. 25:23 I see a split here coming out. 25:27 Tech's been playing okay, and CC, who knows what you're gonna get with them. 25:31 And if Saturday's any indication of where their head's at, taking that many penalties, they're gonna drop at least one game, if not more. 25:42 So I'm thinking I'll split out of that one. 25:44 What do you think, Hammeh? 25:47 Yeah, that's pretty much how I would go with it. 25:49 I think that Tech is obviously gonna have some momentum after how they played in St. 25:54 Cloud this last weekend, and you really have to wonder how that Colorado College is gonna bounce back. 26:00 I mean, they're not playing for anything real significant. 26:04 They're gonna be on the road one way or the other. 26:06 It's just a matter of seeding, and so it'll be interesting, but I would probably go with a split on that one. 26:13 Nebraska-Omaha finishes up at Duluth this weekend, and obviously Nebraska-Omaha has been falling like a rock, but they are still the sixth team right now, and with St. 26:25 Cloud and Wisconsin playing against each other, and Mankato and North Dakota, they still have room to move up. 26:33 So, it's still a big weekend for them. 26:36 But will they perform, Hammy? 26:38 Or is it just another down-the-tube season for Dean Blais and the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks? 26:44 Personally, I think it's going to be a sweep for Duluth. 26:48 I don't feel like... 26:50 I mean, it won't shock me, of course, if UNO gets some points on the weekend, but I just think that the way that UNO has been playing the last few years down the stretch and I think that Duluth has played pretty solid hockey. 27:05 They played pretty well against the Gophers and they obviously had a relatively easy series last weekend, but they'll be on home ice and I just think that they'll get enough offense and UNO's goaltending is bad enough that I think that they'll find a way to win both nights. 27:23 Veegs, Omaha and Duluth? 27:25 You know, here I thought I was going to be surprising when I picked my bulldog sweep and then Hammy just beats me in the punch. 27:33 After seeing Duluth play, you know, and the way that they get pucks on net and the way UNO goaltending has been lately, it's hard not to pick them to sweep. 27:45 More swooning for the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. 27:49 By the way, there's never been a three-way tie for the cup. 27:53 Really? 27:54 It looks like there's been, let's see, one, two, three, four, five different times where it's been a tie for the co-champion. 28:03 Yep. 28:04 So. 28:05 Well, that would be interesting. 28:07 You know, obviously, if Minnesota was one of them, it looks like they would get the number two overall seed, but I think things are going to be a little different this weekend and things are not going to be as jumbled as they are right now. 28:19 So, North Dakota heads to Minnesota State, Hammeh. 28:24 In the past, North Dakota has never always, I think they've kind of struggled Minnesota State, especially on the road. 28:31 I mean, they've had some interesting games down there and even in the, you know, within the last ten years, they've had interesting games in the WCHA playoffs where they've, you know, Mankato, which was terrible, would take them to three games. 28:43 Now Mankato is pretty darn good and it's going to be awfully difficult for North Dakota to come out of there with any points. 28:51 Yeah, I really think this is going to be a heck of a series. 28:54 I think that, you know, the Mavs are going to have a lot to prove. 28:57 I think they have the kind of goaltending that can stand up to what North Dakota can throw at them. 29:03 And I think that, you know, they probably plant pretty good amount of confidence. 29:08 And I don't think that this is going to be an easy series for North Dakota at all. 29:12 And I believe that this is more than likely going to come out as a split. 29:18 Bigs, what do you think? 29:20 This is Mankato's time to shine. 29:23 If they pull off a sweep, holy cow, they are entering the WCHA Playoffs with a lot of steam. 29:30 I do think this is a series where Minnesota State can shine. 29:34 And I think you'll see a little bit of a goaltending differential. 29:37 North Dakota is still, you know, trying to figure out who their top guy is. 29:41 And it's no doubt in Mankato that Stephon Williams is their guy. 29:47 And I think they get three points this weekend. 29:49 I really think the Purple Mavs have been playing well. 29:52 And North Dakota has been up and down a little bit. 29:56 And a good chance for Mankato to secure like a two seed in the NCAAs. 30:03 Well, it's my alma mater, so I'm rooting for them a little bit this weekend. 30:06 God, it would be nice to see them. 30:08 Yeah, because you've been so loyal to them. 30:10 I know, totally. 30:14 All right, Anchorage heads to Denver for a Friday-Sunday series, Hammey. 30:19 Does Anchorage have anything left? 30:22 Two wins on the year. 30:23 Obviously, they can play teams tough on Saturday nights when there's a full moon, but they're just done. 30:33 Yeah, I don't think that there's any doubt that this is one of those series that it's pretty much a given that you call it a sweep, and if anything other than that happens, you're just surprised by it. 30:44 Speaks? 30:46 Yeah, I think the one interesting thing to look at is if Denver plays with 11 forwards because one of their guys injured his shoulder on Saturday night, and they don't have any depth guys there. 30:58 So that will be interesting, but I don't see Anchorage having anything left, and I think Denver moves into the sixth spot in the playoffs, gets home ice. 31:08 Very interesting. 31:11 Well, the biggest series besides ours for this weekend is obviously St. 31:14 Cloud heading down to Wisconsin. 31:17 Go Badgers, that's the last time you'll hear us say that, but it looks to be a good series, Hammeh. 31:25 Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of obviously storylines to the series, you know, St. 31:28 Cloud going for their first cup, and you know, you have Wisconsin trying to stay relevant in the pair wise and playing at a, you know, not their normal arena and all that kind of good stuff. 31:41 So it's definitely going to be an interesting series. 31:44 I, you know, it's a tough one for me to call. 31:47 I think my gut, you know, really tells me that it's probably going to be a split. 31:52 I think that St. 31:54 Cloud will do enough to at least come out of it, you know, that series as a co-champion of the league. 31:59 So, you know, that's naturally, of course, I want them to get, you know, zero or one point at most, you know, but my gut feeling tells me that they'll come out of it with at least two points and be a co-champion of the league. 32:12 Okay, Veegs, what do you got? 32:15 I've got a split coming from the Coliseum. 32:18 I think Wisconsin has been playing some pretty good hockey the last couple weeks and shown that they can play the game. 32:25 St. 32:25 Cloud has struggled a little bit in those tight games. 32:29 I don't know if they quite have the mentality to play a patient game. 32:33 I think that's going to go in Wisconsin's favor. 32:37 Now, is this an NHL size rink, you guys know? 32:42 That's my understanding, smaller ice sheet. 32:45 And they sell beer there. 32:46 Yeah, so I mean, that's definitely going to be something that plays to Wisconsin's advantage. 32:52 And it'll be interesting. 32:55 Will the ice be crappy? 32:56 Yeah, well, if St. 32:58 Cloud loses that Friday game, there's going to be a tremendous amount of pressure on them on Saturday. 33:05 And that'll be interesting to see how they'll respond to that. 33:09 Because especially, you know that Wisconsin, they're going to keep games more often than not. 33:15 They're going to keep them close. 33:17 And, you know, we've seen a few times, like I mentioned earlier this year, where St. 33:22 Cloud has maybe buckled a little bit to some of the pressure of a big game. 33:26 You know, not that they've never responded to, but, you know, it'll be interesting to see if Wisconsin wins that first game, you know, how tight are the grips on the sticks going to be on, you know, St. 33:38 Cloud's side on Saturday night? 33:41 Okay, boys, the Gophers have one sweep of a WCHA opponent this year, and that was Anchorage. 33:48 We're now playing the 11th place team, heading up to Bemidji State. 33:53 Hammeh, please tell me we're gonna sweep again, because this is getting ridiculous. 33:59 Well, yeah, I'm gonna pick a sweep, okay? 34:02 I think that if the Gophers play like they did Saturday night against Denver, if they have a gritty attitude, play physical around the net, you know, don't just try to pass around the perimeter and look for the open shot, because we're not gonna get that against a team like Bemidji. 34:18 They're gonna clog the middle, and they're not gonna give you a lot of open looks, you know, and we saw that they didn't give North Dakota a lot of power plays, so you're gonna have to kind of be gritty and grind it out and, you know, play some of that kind of hard-nosed hockey around the net, and if the Gophers do that, I feel pretty good about their chances to sweep that series, so that's what I'm going with. 34:40 I think we have the goal-tending, and I think defensively we'll probably play pretty well, and it's not like Bemidji's a high-scoring club, so as long as we play well on the back end, I think that we'll score enough to win two games. 34:53 Vegoe, will they break through for a sweep, or is this just another one of those three or two-point weekends? 34:59 Well, they did sweep the 12th-place team, and I think they'll also sweep the 11th-place team. 35:04 Minnesota is going to have to play better five-on-five and get scoring opportunities, and they're going to need goals like that, a Buddhist goal, they're going to need goals where they dump in the puck and make something happen quick, like with the Hall goal. 35:17 So I think they know how to do it, and they've won close games before. 35:22 They beat teams like Notre Dame, who play a trapping, slow game, and they know the playbook to make something happen in a game like this, and I think they will. 35:34 I'm thinking the Gopher is going to sweep, guys. 35:36 Shocking, you would hear that from me. 35:38 But St. 35:39 Claude is also going to get swept, and Gophers are going to win it outright. 35:44 You heard it here first, because I see North Dakota and Minnesota State splitting. 35:50 It's going to be all ours, guys. 35:52 Thinking positive here. 35:54 I hope you're right. 35:55 It wouldn't be too bad. 35:57 It wouldn't be too bad at all. 35:59 I mean, obviously St. 36:00 Claude is in the driver's seat. 36:01 All they have to do is win one game, and they're going to get at least a share of the title. 36:05 But I'm thinking it's a major swoon for them. 36:09 They could be in big trouble. 36:11 If they get swept this weekend, it won't just knock them down to number two. 36:16 I mean, it probably knocks them down to number three or number four because they would lose their head to head with Wisconsin then. 36:22 So it could be very interesting. 36:25 Just after Friday night, what the speculation is going to be. 36:29 Because if they're tied, there's a three-way ties coming into Saturday. 36:34 It's going to be a crazy night. 36:37 Well, the other thing you have to consider is that they're at the 10th spot in the pairwise. 36:41 I don't know what comparisons they're winning or not winning. 36:45 So I can't speak intelligently about, you know, you can't imagine that, you know, losing two games to Wisconsin, who at the moment is down at the 20th spot, is going to exactly put them in a, you know, might put them in a relatively perilous position going into the playoffs, as well as far as pairwise goes. 37:01 And like you said earlier, you know, if they lose Friday night, there's going to be a tremendous amount of pressure on them Saturday night. 37:08 Wisconsin's played much better lately. 37:10 They've been building confidence, even though they've been kind of winning ugly at times. 37:14 They could be in real trouble here. 37:17 Well, I mean, I think the thing for me is just, you know, Wisconsin more often than not, they're not going to give you a lot. 37:23 And so you're going to, it's going to more than likely be a close game. 37:27 And so, you know, if you're a team that's not used to that kind of pressure, and I think it's fair to say St. 37:33 Cloud isn't, you know, it'll be interesting to see how they respond to that. 37:37 You know, if they kind of play their normal game or if they start tightening up and, you know, start making mistakes, well, we'll have to see. 37:47 Yeah, if Wisconsin gets a goal early, I think that's the St. 37:50 Cloud nightmare, where Wisconsin just sits back and kind of a 1-3 or something like that. 37:57 It could be an ugly game for them. 38:00 Hamia, I want to get your thoughts on Mr. 38:02 Shea not playing this past Saturday night, and Parenteau kind of taking his spot. 38:09 You think that was just maybe a wake-up call for him, or is it going to be something that happens a little more often now? 38:17 Well, I mean, it's hard to say. 38:19 I've personally all year long have wanted that pairing of Schmidt and Parenteau, because I thought it worked so well last year. 38:27 And I think it gives Schmidt the ability to be aggressive when he needs to be offensively. 38:33 And you'll have an opportunity there for Parenteau to just kind of play that solid defense. 38:39 And so there's that kind of, you know, I thought they had really good chemistry last year. 38:42 So I, yeah, I don't know what the plan is going to be moving forward, obviously, but I certainly wouldn't complain if they kept that pairing together, much like last year, if they did that, that'd be great for as far as I'm concerned. 38:55 What do you think, Veegs? 38:55 You think Shea is going to be back in the lineup or will they put Parenteau back up and forward again? 39:01 I think part of it was that he, Lucia liked the way Hall and Michelson were playing in the energy that they were bringing, and I think that was it more than anything. 39:10 And Lucia, I think, has gotten away from doing all that kind of mixing and matching with the extra D or the extra two forwards and throwing guys around because he's wanted to play four lines pretty much his entire career, and I think he wanted to get back to that as we get down the stretch. 39:28 So I think we might see Shay and Parento sharing that spot a little bit here. 39:34 Okay, boys, is Boyd ever going to get a goal this year? 39:40 Not kidding, I mean, not kidding, I mean, he's supposed to be a scoring guy, and, you know, I thought he played fairly well this weekend. 39:47 Obviously, you know, he busted his chops down there when there was no icing call, and he got to haul him, had a good play, but he's been a little snake bit when it comes to being out in front of the net. 39:57 Well, I mean, the thing I would say is, I mean, first of all, he's, people need to remember that he came in young, as you know, in college. 40:06 He was only, I mean, he's not even 20 years old yet. 40:09 I mean, he's not going to turn 20 until next school year, you know what I mean? 40:14 Until early next school year. 40:14 So I mean, he came in very young. 40:16 He came in as basically a kid that is a high school age, you know, so that's going to be a part of it. 40:21 And I think that he's played his role well. 40:23 I mean, he's a good solid two-way player. 40:25 And you know, he's provided more offense this year. 40:28 I think he's been more noticeable. 40:31 But you know, he's, I don't think he's ever going to be one of those guys that's a high scoring guy. 40:34 So, you know, he scored a key goal against North Dakota in the playoffs last year. 40:39 So hopefully he's got a few of those coming up. 40:41 But he hasn't scored since then, that's the problem. 40:44 Well, yeah, three goals this year, so whatever. 40:49 We could use somebody like him to really pick it up. 40:51 You know, those guys that are a little unsung. 40:54 I mean, it's been a while since he scored, at least. 40:57 Yeah, well, I mean, he is, I'm pretty sure he's the youngest sophomore in college hockey. 41:02 And he did a great job creating that goal for his territory last Saturday against Minnesota Duluth. 41:08 And he basically got the goal for, you know, getting Hall in a scoring opportunity this past weekend. 41:15 So I think he's finding his way on the ice and making things happen and contributing. 41:21 What did you think of Michelson's play this weekend, guys? 41:27 He hasn't played much, but he played the full weekend and that's a rarity for him. 41:32 Well, I've said it time and again, I like him playing Wing. 41:35 I thought the times he's played Wing this year, he's actually done a pretty solid job. 41:40 And I think he doesn't have to think as much. 41:42 He can use his speed a lot more. 41:45 So I definitely like that. 41:47 I think that he'll be probably in the lineup more now, if that's the role that he's going to be. 41:52 I foresee him staying in the lineup and hopefully he'll be contributing a little more offense, but I think he's played pretty well. 42:00 Yeah, I really like that lineup, Michelson, Isaacson and Hall. 42:03 I thought that was a real good energy line for the Gophers. 42:07 Those guys make smart plays with the Puck and I think that's a line to look forward to down the line as well. 42:14 Do you guys have any thoughts on Wilcox? 42:17 Obviously, I thought the goal that they ended up scoring Friday night was off a shin, but that initial play was a terrible rebound by him. 42:25 A lot of people have been saying, hey, we should give him some rest. 42:30 He's played 33 games, guys. 42:34 Has Lucia run him into the ground a little bit? 42:39 I don't think so. 42:40 I mentioned this last week. 42:41 He played 45 or so games last year in the USHL. 42:46 It's a longer season for them. 42:48 He had a week off just a month ago. 42:52 They didn't play for a weekend. 42:54 We're at the stage now where you just basically write them out. 42:59 This series is too important and of course the play-offs and the NCAAs are too important. 43:07 Hopefully we'll play to the very last game. 43:10 He's going to have plenty of opportunity to rest in about five or six weeks. 43:14 I think you play him out. 43:17 Yeah, I think Wilcox is so athletic. 43:19 He makes the first save so many times on all those breakaways. 43:24 He's so solid back there. 43:25 I don't see them going any other way at this point. 43:29 He gives them the best chance to win. 43:31 So it's kind of pretty much too late. 43:33 They maybe should have done that earlier in the season to rest him at times, you think? 43:39 I don't know. 43:40 I mean, honestly, I don't know because simple, I mean, look, it's not like these guys never get a break. 43:45 I mean, they have a nice long break over the holidays. 43:50 You know, they had another week off. 43:52 I know, I'm sure that he's, you know, not seeing a ton of reps in practice, every practice. 43:58 You know, I'm sure that there's some, you know, he's probably not seen as many pucks, you know, during the week. 44:04 I'm sure they're giving him some break. 44:06 So I don't think that that's necessarily the case. 44:09 I think that he came in and that, you know, we saw a little bit of what, you know, Shabrowski could do and it just, this wasn't going to be consistent enough. 44:17 And so, you know, he's locked it down. 44:19 I feel pretty comfortable riding it out for the rest of the year. 44:22 I mean, I just bring this up because in past years, people have accused Lucia of sticking with a guy maybe a little too long and not giving him any breaks. 44:31 And I distinctly remember that, you know, this happening to Lucia and, you know, people criticized them for it. 44:38 Obviously, Wilcox has done good, but, you know, I would hate to see it again, you know, at the beginning of next season. 44:44 Maybe I should have rotated somebody else in a little more often. 44:47 Yeah, I just I just don't see Wilcox giving up very many soft goals. 44:51 He's giving up some rebounds, but some of those are almost on the defenseman as much as him. 44:55 You know, he's got to have a clear crease to cover up those rebounds that drop out, or, you know, those sticks got to be tied up. 45:02 And he's making the first save most of the time for them. 45:06 You know, and the other thing I would point out is, in the past when there was complaints about not shuffling enough of the goalies or whatever, I really felt we had a pretty good goalie competition in those instances. 45:19 I'm not sure that we could really say that. 45:21 Nothing against Shabrowski, but I don't think that anybody would say that, you know, oh yeah, he's just as good as Wilcox. 45:27 You know what I mean? 45:28 In the past when we had a couple goalies that were pretty similar, you know, like a Patterson and a Kangas and whatever, I mean, you know, that I could see the argument a little more. 45:39 But I just think that this year there's really been no doubt about who's the guy that you want in there. 45:44 And so I don't really see the same kind of argument this year. 45:48 Speaking of goalies, Gopher Puck wants to know, Hammy, any word on goalies being recruited by Minnesota? 45:57 I haven't, I mean, I've heard a little bit, some pieces here or there, but I mean, honestly, when you got a freshman goalie starting, and you know, we still have Shabrowski for, you know, next season. 46:08 I mean, they're probably, my guess, probably won't even recruit one until sometime, maybe next fall. 46:15 I mean, this is a guess on my part, but, you know, there's really no need to really lock anybody down right now when you're still talking, what, the fall of 2014 for you're going to need another guy. 46:26 So it's not like, you know, recruiting forwards where you got to get them, you know, a couple of years ahead of time if you want the best ones. 46:34 You know, with goalies, they tend to get that year or so after high school to prove themselves in the juniors. 46:41 And then you can kind of make a decision on who you want. 46:43 And I think that's probably what they'll do here. 46:47 Okie dokie, any other things going on in recruiting? 46:50 It's been a little quiet, hasn't it? 46:52 Yeah, just some, you know, visits and stuff, but nothing. 46:55 Yeah, it's been pretty quiet. 46:56 I mean, they've kind of locked up a lot of, I mean, they pretty much finished off for next year. 47:01 And, you know, they've got a lot of things taken care of right now. 47:05 So I don't, you know, they're having visits and everything. 47:07 But I don't know of anything particularly eminent right now. 47:11 But, you know, you never know. 47:12 It's been a while since we had a commitment. 47:15 So for all I know, it could be one tomorrow. 47:18 Okay, final thoughts on this weekend, Vegoe? 47:20 Anything you want to talk about? 47:22 Anything that's going to jump out at you? 47:25 No, I just look to see how Minnesota plays five on five and if they're able to get the Pucks then at it as opposed to putting them in the shin pads and see if they've learned anything from their experiences the last couple of weekends. 47:37 Ami, final thoughts? 47:40 Yeah, I mean, I just think that it's going to be one of those weekends where it's going to have to, you know, despite what you see in the standings, it's going to be hard fought and I really think if the guys want to win, you know, at least a share of the league title, they're going to have to go in there with a gritty attitude and not think like, hey, you know, we're just going to skate circles around these guys and play all pretty and that we're just going to win, you know, games, you know, five to three or five to two or, you know, like, I really expect that we're probably going to see, you know, maybe our guys at Mac score four goals up, you know, in a game up there and probably more like three. 48:13 And so it's going to be one of those kind of grinded out affairs, I think, and we're just going to have to get used to it's going to be like an Anchorage series, I think, you know, we're just going to have to be playing it tight and tough on defense and being gritty on offense and getting your nose in there around the blue paint and maybe, you know, trying to score some goals kind of ugly. 48:31 I mean, they definitely are in control of their own destiny. 48:34 I mean, they, if they want that one or two, or at least they want that number two seed, they can have it. 48:40 I mean, no matter what else happens, if they went out, they're guaranteed that number two spot, which I think is important, a one to two spot gets you to Friday night at the final five. 48:49 And I think that's crucial. 48:50 Crucial. 48:53 Definitely. 48:53 I definitely agree with you. 48:54 I mean, that's to me. 48:56 That's the most important thing this weekend. 48:57 Yeah, to me that's. 48:58 Getting the top two spot. 48:59 Yeah, I would agree with that. 49:00 I mean, obviously, you want to win the league title. 49:03 It's always nice to have another banner to hang and whatever. 49:06 But in terms of the short term stuff, I mean, you certainly at a minimum want to come out of that this weekend with the number two seed. 49:15 Yeah, I think Duluth has been the only team to win three games in a final five setting. 49:20 So you want to stay out of that first round if you can. 49:24 I think North Dakota did it last year, though. 49:27 Well, they might have, but nonetheless it's pretty rare. 49:30 Duluth was the first team to do it, but I think North Dakota, at least last year they did it. 49:36 After beating us up on Friday night, and then they won their third final five in a row last year also too. 49:45 Yeah, well, I mean, even if they have it, nonetheless it's not an easy task, especially when you're playing in the second night, a team that's for sure only hasn't played yet. 49:55 So, I mean, it's definitely a tall order. 50:00 All right, boys, I think we've said all we need to say this weekend or this week. 50:05 Remember, you can follow Hammy on Twitter at Hammy Hockey, and follow Eric on Twitter as well, at E Vegoe. 50:13 Of course, he also writes for Gopher Puck Live as well. 50:17 Next week, we'll be back to recap this whole week that's going to happen. 50:22 Who knows it's going to happen? 50:23 Who knows where the Gopher is going to finish? 50:24 We'll definitely talk about it. 50:26 And then we'll talk about the next week's opponent in the WCHA Playoffs. 50:30 So until then, thanks for listening.