0:04 This is The Gopher Puck Live Podcast, episode number four, recorded October 25th, 2011. 0:18 Welcome again to The GPL Podcast. 0:21 I'm Craig Cotner, and of course, I'm joined by Hammy and Brian Cardinal. 0:26 Guys, another podcast, number four. 0:29 You ready to go? 0:30 Ready to roll. 0:32 Well, I thought about starting with the Vermont series, but there's been a death in the college hockey family, and that death is Alabama Huntsville. 0:41 Cardinal, what do you think? 0:44 I don't think this is related to Penn State. 0:46 I think it's just kind of a coincidence that it happens at the same time and all these other changes are happening, but they're done after this year. 0:54 Yeah, it's too bad, but I think once the... 0:57 I know some other people have kind of touched on this too on the online community, but once the door was open, you know, it was a year ago, so many changes recently and stuff to keep track of the timeline, but once there was an opening in the CCHA after Omaha left, and they kind of didn't get allowed in when they really wanted to be in the CCHA, you knew that it was going to get tough for them, and then with all the changes in the last six months, you know, you can kind of see it coming, and it's not a revenue producing deal, I'm sure, for that university, and obviously, you know, hockey is a pretty expensive sport, so when you add it all up, it's definitely unfortunate, but it's not totally surprising, given everything that's gone down in the last year or so in the college hockey world. 1:37 Yeah, I mean, there's been so much difficulty trying to find them a home, and, you know, all the shuffling of different schools at different places, and it all played out a lot later than expected for, well, Notre Dame certainly did. 1:53 It's not that all unexpected when you consider that they're out of, kind of out of the loop as far as the geography goes. 2:01 You know, it's a tough situation, and you never like to see that. 2:05 You want the sport to grow, and obviously in this case, it's not. 2:10 It didn't help that nobody stepped up. 2:12 They tried to get in the CCHA, you know, they didn't want them. 2:17 I think the WCHA had a chance, you know, they could have added one more team, you know, in a couple years, and maybe they could have hung on, who knows. 2:28 I don't know about the travel thing. 2:29 I mean, I think about the two, you know, the two Alaska schools. 2:32 That's, that's over 2,000 miles away. 2:35 Yeah, but the thing with Alaska is if you go up there, you get the extra non-conference home games. 2:40 But I think the travel thing, I could have swore if somebody posted this, where Alabama Huntsville's campus is actually closer mileage-wise to Ann Arbor, which, you know, Michigan is kind of the central of the CCHA than Omaha is, or if it's not closer, it's, I mean, you won't really think of it, but it's not, you know, that out of the loop compared to Omaha. 2:59 So from the travel standpoint, but yeah, I mean, with the Alaska schools getting the extra games, I mean, I think that's the, and plus with the Alaska schools, don't they pick up a chunk of the change for the travel up there? 3:10 I thought that they picked up part of it for when teams go up there. 3:13 So between that and getting- 3:14 It used to be. 3:16 They used to pick up all. 3:17 I know they don't do that anymore, but I don't know the exact specifics these days, but, you know, we had Penn State in a couple of years and we lose Huntsville. 3:28 And obviously, Huntsville has been around for about 30 years. 3:32 So it's kind of a sad day for them and for the rest of college hockey. 3:37 Yeah, I think the other part of it too is there's no surrounding programs to build any kind of rivalries with and to kind of grow in that sense. 3:46 I mean, even if there's some schools that are further away from, say, Michigan, you know, some of that, you kind of say, well, UNO is not that far from Minnesota. 3:57 They got the Colorado schools nearby. 3:59 I mean, you know, they're not next door to some places, but they also have a centrally located kind of situation. 4:07 And that's just not the case for Huntsville. 4:09 So it's a tough thing. 4:12 Yeah, tough indeed. 4:13 But time to move on. 4:17 Our boys this weekend split with Vermont. 4:20 Friday night, they come out. 4:21 They look unstoppable. 4:24 I think, you know, with the 6-0 win, the 2nd and 3rd periods, the defense just completely shut them down. 4:32 Take a day off, come back Sunday, they lose 5-4. 4:37 What happened? 4:39 Well, I mean, in my opinion, the two biggest things, well, first of all, I don't know if I ever remember the Gophers playing well on a Sunday afternoon. 4:47 I mean, not that it happens all the time, but it's like, jeez, they got to figure out something so they don't have to deal with that kind of scheduling stuff again. 4:55 But really, I guess it's going to come up, it's going to happen even more with the Big Ten. 4:59 There's a lot of potential there. 5:01 I don't know. 5:01 Whatever the case may be. 5:03 I think the big thing though was there was a lack of discipline on Sunday. 5:08 I mean, to me, I was at the game and the guys, first of all, they came out looking a little sloppy in the first place, so they didn't seem mentally quite into it as they had been. 5:20 But the big part of it for me was the penalties, the undisciplined play. 5:26 I don't like to be too harsh on freshmen, but I have to admit, Blake Thompson looked terrible in that game. 5:34 I mean, it took some right in the first period, took the two minors and just looked, did not look good out there at all. 5:42 So that didn't help matters. 5:44 And then you got Ambrose taking a double minor. 5:47 And that was ridiculous. 5:49 And you have Helgeson basically going over after the whistle had stopped and taking a penalty to take a power play away from us. 5:57 It was just a lot of undisciplined play. 5:59 And it cost us in the end because they took over the momentum of the game and just went from there. 6:05 We were playing catch up after that point. 6:07 Well, and Vermont did play a lot better. 6:09 I mean, they did look like a completely different team, but so did Minnesota. 6:16 Well, yeah, and a lot of people have been critical of the Gopher's schedule and people ripping Vermont. 6:20 But Vermont's not garbage. 6:22 I mean, yeah, they're not going to be a team that's annually in the NCAA tournament, but they've had some pretty decent kids come through there. 6:28 And they're a middle of the pack hockey team that every once in a while is going to get home ice. 6:32 And yeah, I mean, they were probably pretty embarrassed by Friday night. 6:36 And you know, like Hammy touched on with the penalties. 6:38 I mean, even Friday night when it was only two nothing, Vermont controlled the whole second half of the first period because the Gophers took three straight penalties. 6:44 And you know, you give a team six, seven power plays a night. 6:47 I mean, eventually that's going to come and bite you. 6:49 And even if it's not allowing a bunch of power play goals, it's tough to get momentum going. 6:53 You know, you lean heavily on the guys, count the penalties, your lines get goofed up. 6:57 And, you know, special teams are such a key part of the game these days. 7:00 So you got to be good at them. 7:00 But at the same time, you just can't take that many penalties, especially, like Hammy said, the undisciplined variety. 7:06 And, you know, on Sunday's game, watching it back on DVRing it, just some of the breakdowns. 7:11 I think it was what the fourth goal of the guy just comes untouched right up the middle. 7:14 And, you know, again, you're going to get that with this defensive core, especially early in the year where it's a work in progress. 7:20 And you see some of the breakdowns. 7:21 And, you know, a team like Vermont, for as bad as they looked on Friday, they were pretty decent on Sunday. 7:26 And, you know, they had some guys that can put the puck in the back of the net. 7:29 And if you give them, you know, point blank chances, I mean, I don't care how good Patterson is, he can't stop everything. 7:34 They were definitely feisty. 7:37 Sunday's game was completely different. 7:40 They went right at Minnesota. 7:42 There was a lot of talk on the bench. 7:45 A lot of taunting and what have you, and trash talk. 7:51 And when I was down there in the third shooting, there was a lot of excitement on that Vermont bench. 7:59 I think they were definitely offended by their play Friday, and they made up for it on Sunday. 8:04 Well, you could tell just early on in Sunday's game that they were going to play a more aggressive style. 8:11 Their defensemen were pinching in a lot harder. 8:15 They were trying to forecheck a lot. 8:19 They were stressing that big time. 8:21 The Gophers, for whatever reasons, they just didn't seem to handle that as well. 8:28 I know the defense gets a little bit of grief on some of that stuff. 8:31 Probably, in some respects, it's deserved. 8:33 But I thought that overall, they didn't seem to handle some of that in your face as well. 8:38 Maybe it's because they're younger. 8:40 I think that's kind of what led to some of the undisciplined penalties is that they just didn't handle some of that stuff the way they should have. 8:48 I think that first, what was it, the Ambrose, the four minutes the Ambrose got. 8:53 He got the two minutes, then hit the guy and got another two minutes. 8:57 They killed that penalty really well. 8:59 The crowd was getting into it. 9:01 They get up three to one and it seems like everything was just starting to roll again and boom! 9:07 Things changed awfully quick and what was it, four straight by Vermont over the second and third period. 9:13 It seems like, almost like they reverted back to last year's team. 9:18 It was kind of, I didn't like what I saw. 9:23 Well, I mean, it was, yeah, I agree, the momentum. 9:26 I really, I was thinking along the same lines as you. 9:29 We were up three to one at, you know, we had just killed that four minutes penalty with Ambrose and I was like, okay, we're off to the races now. 9:37 But then, you know, once again, we took some penalties. 9:42 And that's what the Thompson penalty happened after we had gotten the power play. 9:45 Yeah, well, Hull had a penalty and then they got a power play off of that. 9:51 And, you know, it wasn't that long. 9:53 It was only about a half a minute later. 9:54 They got another goal. 9:57 So, you know, basically tied it within a short period of time. 10:01 And then, you know, we took a few other penalties and it was just, you know, it was a bad situation and we did not handle that very well. 10:08 And the one thing I will say is I think that that game pretty much told the coaches what their line up should be on a night in night out basis because it was very clear that some guys are just not ready for it. 10:22 And, you know, we needed to, you know, I don't want to single out too many people, but, you know, Thompson just did not look ready. 10:28 And I thought Parenteau should have been in there and I like having Travis Boyd and Nick Larson in the game as opposed to Siketty and Isaacson. 10:40 I just, I know that they were talking about Lucia was talking about, I think on his radio show yesterday about how not having Boyd and Larson took some of their best penalty killers out of the lineup. 10:50 And, you know, I think it was a lesson that they might have learned a little bit on that one. 10:54 Yeah, I'm a fan of Nick Larson. 10:55 I mean, he's, you know, obviously with this year's team having more depth up front, he's not going to be a top six guy, but he's kind of slid in that role the last couple of years, and he's been able to score some goals. 11:04 But yeah, I agree. 11:05 I mean, I think he definitely embraces that fourth line role a little bit more than Saketti does at this point. 11:10 He's a little bit more physical as well. 11:11 So, yeah, I mean, you know, Serratore is a lock to play every single night on the fourth line. 11:16 And then, you know, hopefully, like you said, Larson moving forward. 11:18 Because, yeah, I think he just in that fourth line spot, he just brings a little bit more to the table than, you know, a guy like Saketti or, you know, some of the freshmen like Isaacsson do at this point. 11:27 So will this have pairwise implications later down the road? 11:34 So it could, right? 11:35 Because the only other time we might play a Hockey East team is in the Holiday Classic, I think. 11:40 And that's because we might play Northeastern, but it just depends. 11:45 Yeah, because we play Niagara in the first game of it. 11:47 And then the winner of Northeastern and Princeton, can't say I know a lot about those teams, but just based on conference Northeastern. 11:54 But they lost their coach, right? 11:56 And like a ton of guys left and some recruits bailed at the last minute. 12:00 I know there's the one kid that I think is going to Boston College now instead. 12:02 So I think they lost their coach this summer. 12:05 And that's all. 12:05 I don't know how great they're going to be. 12:07 But it'd be nice to get a crack at them, because then assuming you beat them, then you have the winning record against Hockey East, which in the grand scheme of the pair wise would be a good thing for the team, I believe. 12:16 And that's what I was kind of getting to. 12:17 You know, you have a Hockey East team that you split with, but that in most cases you should have swept. 12:23 So it could hurt them. 12:25 You know, I don't think it's something that will keep them out of the tournament, because I think this is going to be a tournament team. 12:30 But it could affect them on their, you know, where they're at or who they'll play. 12:36 So five months from now, there could be implications with it. 12:41 Well, that's the thing for me, why I don't really understand some of the... 12:47 I know it's not make or break when you have games this early in the season. 12:50 There's a lot of things left to be determined, but you never know at the end of the year what's going to be the thing that costs you in during the season. 12:58 So I don't know why, you know, some coaches, they seem to have this, you know, experimentation, you know, I don't know. 13:07 I just feel like they should put a little more emphasis on it, because at the end of the year, if you're the last team out, it's because you lost one game where you were screwing around with a, you know, some tinkering in a line up early, you know, in October, it still counts in the end. 13:22 Well, we've seen that, too, the last couple years. 13:24 Well, I mean, Minnesota, there was at least one time the last three years where they were literally, if they would have won one more game, they lost. 13:30 I know you can play that game both ways, because I'm sure there's a lot of games they barely won that they easily could have lost. 13:35 But I mean, it's happened in Minnesota. 13:36 I think it happened to Ohio State and Wisconsin as well, where they were those bubble teams, and it comes down to literally one game. 13:42 So, yeah, no, I totally agree. 13:44 Yeah, a few years ago, when Minnesota was right on the edge, I was told by Tim Brouillet, US College Hockey Online, he says that that second road game at Michigan Tech, I think Michigan Tech either tied it, or they might have won it over time, or something along those lines. 14:01 If we would have, I can't remember what the scenario was. 14:04 It was like, if we would have just tied, we would have been in the tournament, or if it was we would have just held on and won that game, we would have been in the tournament. 14:11 Because I believe it's a game where Tech came back and scored late to tie it and might have won it over time. 14:17 I think I was up there for that one. 14:19 I think it was a really high scoring game. 14:20 Yeah, like a 5-5 game. 14:22 And they put in Patterson, and Patterson was really good. 14:25 But then, yeah, Tech, I think they did score in the last two minutes or something and then won it over time, like on a deflection or, yeah, okay, so I know what you're talking about. 14:33 I remember, yeah, that was a goofy goal, and little if they would have held on for the tie of that game, they would have been in the tournament that year. 14:40 So, you never know these, like you say, you tinker with a lineup that you may think you're testing, but it could affect you at the end of the season. 14:51 Well, I mean, it wasn't there a lineup, and I think they knew that, and I figured, I'm a little surprised they took the risk in a sense that if it had been the Saturday and we had the momentum and they didn't have that kind of breather day in between Vermont, I could see them kind of taking a little bit more of a chance. 15:11 But I just had, I think everybody knew that Vermont was going to come back a little stronger and they're going to have that extra day. 15:18 And I just thought that they should have gone with their A lineup, you know, and not that a couple of fourth line guys and a sixth defenseman is necessarily supposed to be your make or break guys in a game. 15:29 But in that particular game, it kind of was, you know, Thompson was pretty bad and he was one of the guys that kind of cost them a few times. 15:39 And we didn't have some of our best penalty killers and we were on the PK a lot more. 15:44 So then you have your top line guys getting more ice time and maybe they don't have as much energy at the end of the game. 15:49 So I do think that, you know, it might have cost them and hopefully they've learned what their lineup is and that's just what they're going to stick with unless there's some injuries. 16:00 Well, moving on, the WCHA has become a sweep league, it seems like. 16:05 The first couple of weeks of the whole league everyone has swept. 16:09 This past weekend DU sweeps Mankato, Bemidji sweeps Tech, UNL sweeps Anchorage and Wisconsin sweeps North Dakota. 16:19 Thoughts? 16:20 I mean, I thought North Dakota, well, they did play pretty well Saturday and put up a lot of shots. 16:25 I always think that's overrated. 16:26 Why don't you put up some goals instead of 50 shots? 16:28 I don't care. 16:30 But we all had North Dakota doing pretty well there and it didn't turn out that way. 16:37 Yeah. 16:37 I mean, going into it, I thought for sure given that North Dakota allegedly being strong on the back end and in net, and then with Wisconsin being so young upfront and not having a lot of firepower. 16:49 But you see Wisconsin put up 10 goals on the weekend. 16:52 And if you had told me going into it that Wisconsin would score 10 goals, I would have said, you're nuts. 16:56 But they managed to do it and granted on Saturday night, it wasn't great goaltending from North Dakota and neither was there on Friday night. 17:04 So it's kind of weird how two years ago, Idesness was the guy there and he was awesome. 17:08 And then he really faltered at the start of last year and Dell took over. 17:11 And going into this year, it seems almost like a coin flip. 17:14 And so far, neither guy has done really anything. 17:17 So credit to Wisconsin for having been swept at Michigan Tech and definitely licking their wounds going back to Madison. 17:24 But to step up and do very well against North Dakota, I think that speaks highly of that team for being as young as they are to have that kind of resolve. 17:32 I mean, kudos to them. 17:35 Yeah, I mean, it's interesting because like you touched on, North Dakota's strength was going to be in the blue line. 17:43 And in net this year, we knew that they weren't going to score as much. 17:48 Admittedly, I didn't see either of the two games this last weekend. 17:54 So, I could only go on what I've read. 17:56 But it just sounds like, I mean, Saturday, it looked like the Sioux pretty much dominated, but just didn't get, you know, some, there were just some mistakes that they made at key moments and it cost them in the end. 18:08 I, you know, I'll be interested to see how that team develops. 18:12 I mean, everybody kind of gives them this, you know, this pass early in the year as well. 18:17 The Sioux are always stronger in the second half or whatever. 18:20 And, you know, generally that has been the case. 18:23 But you can't automatically assume that's always going to be the case. 18:27 And I'll be interested to see how that group develops as the year goes on. 18:32 I mean, I would imagine they'll get better. 18:34 But I felt last year that Dell was, I'm just going to say it, I felt he was overrated. 18:40 I felt like he had a great team in front of him, didn't get challenged. 18:44 I mean, that's why I thought Kent Patterson. 18:46 Kent Patterson should have been the top goalie. 18:49 He should have been on the first team. 18:52 And of course, people go on wins and statistics like that, rather than looking at what's a guy's save percentage. 18:58 And in any case, I'll be interested to see how that goaltending situation works out because they're not going to have the dominant team up front with the puck in the other end of the rink all the time this year like they were last year. 19:12 And they're going to face more pressure in their own zone and more shots probably. 19:17 So we'll see how it goes. 19:22 So any other thoughts in the other series? 19:24 I look at Denver, they put up a 10th spot on Mankato, but Mankato is not only are they just not good, they don't have any players right now. 19:34 They're going to be picking some guys up off the street. 19:37 Cardinal, can you go play for them? 19:38 They can use some defense. 19:39 I know you play defense. 19:41 Yeah, I got a little eligibility left. 19:43 It's not too far of a drive from Shakopee on the home front here. 19:46 But yeah, I mean, that's a team where, you know, they gave Denver a game on Friday night. 19:51 It's four to two, but then, you know, Saturday night, the wheels fell off and you know, not a huge surprise given the, you know, they would be big time underdogs if they were at a hundred percent, but with all the injuries they've had, I mean, they need to be clicking all cylinders if they're going to go into a place like Denver, Grand Forks, Minneapolis, wherever, to knock off one of the better teams at this point, given their current roster. 20:10 So, yeah, definitely a tough weekend for Minnesota State, but hopefully they can get healthy and then, you know, start kind of building something. 20:18 Well, and then UNL swept our opponent this coming weekend, Anchorage. 20:23 I guess that was Anchorage's first games outside of Alaska. 20:27 So I guess, you know, from a road trip standpoint, they hadn't been tested too much. 20:32 But it'll be interesting to see what kind of a team we face this coming weekend with Anchorage. 20:40 Certainly, I think they look improved. 20:42 And of course, we'll get into it a little bit. 20:44 But, you know, I think that UNL has been an interesting case. 20:49 I think a lot of people expected them to kind of start out a lot better than they have. 20:52 So they're at Wisconsin, I believe, this weekend. 20:55 So we'll see how that goes. 20:56 That'll be an interesting series to watch. 20:59 Well, let's go right into it. 21:01 Nebraska-Omaha at Wisconsin. 21:04 What do you think? 21:05 I mean, I don't know. 21:08 Real quick for the, like we were talking a little bit pre-podcast here, but just for the folks out there that with no Gophers on TV on Friday night, as of right now, FSM looks like they're going to be airing that game live at 7 or 730, whatever it is. 21:21 So, you know, good chance to get a little college hockey fix, even though the Gophers won't be on TV. 21:26 But, yeah, I mean, Omaha, you know, they've kind of had an up and down start. 21:30 I mean, they swept Anchorage, which, you know, doing that at home is, you know, I don't want to say it's expected. 21:35 But, you know, Anchorage has always been a team where they're much better at home versus when they have to come down to the lower 48. 21:41 And but prior to that, Omaha has been very up and down. 21:43 I mean, they had, you know, lost to some pretty poor, you know, Eastern teams prior to that at home. 21:47 And I believe this will be their first road games. 21:50 I don't know if we can double check that. 21:51 But, you know, not an easy place to go into. 21:54 Okay, so they were at Anchorage in one of the tournaments. 21:56 So first conference road games for Omaha. 21:58 And, you know, but I think that will be a great series. 22:00 I mean, Wisconsin last week put up 10 goals. 22:03 So I guess, you know, even though we didn't really think that, at least I didn't, that that would be a team that would be able to put a lot of offense up. 22:09 But I think Omaha will be a team that will score a decent clip this year. 22:12 So, yeah, it'll be interesting. 22:16 Yeah, I mean, this was to me the hardest series to pick when I looked at it because, you know, obviously Wisconsin's coming off of a pretty big series. 22:27 And they're going to be, you know, you kind of worry about, you know, is there going to be a little bit of a letdown? 22:33 They're not exactly big rivals with UNL. 22:36 So it's a tough one to pick. 22:38 I would suspect that I guess I have a hard time picking either team for a sweep. 22:44 So I'd probably go with a split on a series, you know, probably come down to goaltending in the end. 22:51 Okay, what else we got? 22:52 How about Bemidji State heading over to Duluth? 22:56 Any thoughts? 22:58 You know, let's say it's kind of a sneaky little rivalry. 23:00 I mean, these teams always played, you know, it seems like they played pretty much each year prior to Bemidji joining the WCHA. 23:06 And, you know, now basically now they're going to play on a more regular basis, at least for a couple of seasons before everyone kind of goes their separate ways. 23:12 But Duluth went out, made a pretty successful trip. 23:14 I think they won and tied out at Providence, which, you know, is their first road games of the year in Providence. 23:19 I don't know a lot about them, but it's typically not a higher end hockey use team. 23:23 But to go out there and not lose on the weekend, I think is pretty decent outing for the Bulldogs. 23:28 And Bemidji, they've struggled this year. 23:31 I think what they swept tech last weekend. 23:33 But again, that's not saying a whole lot. 23:35 So you'd have to think Duluth have a pretty big edge. 23:39 It wouldn't shock me if Bemidji, they've got some pretty decent goal-tending if they could go in there. 23:43 But if you're going to have to pick it, I'd have to assume Duluth would get three points and probably four. 23:50 Yeah, that's exactly how I had it as well. 23:52 I have UMD taking three out of four points. 23:55 I just, Bemidji certainly has been challenged this year. 23:58 They've had a pretty, you know, difficult early schedule. 24:02 And, you know, I suppose Tech is, they're improved this year. 24:05 So I guess you can consider them, you know, a little bit of a challenge, you know. 24:10 If you're Bemidji, I guess it would be especially because they've typically been in the bottom half of the league. 24:15 But I expect that it'll be at least one of those nights. 24:19 I think that there'll be a pretty tight game. 24:21 Certainly UMD has a lot more skill and they should win, you know, both games. 24:27 But I just have a feeling that Bemidji is going to play them tough one night and maybe sneak out of there with a point. 24:33 And then we have Denver visiting Michigan Tech. 24:37 I think Denver is too strong. 24:41 Yeah, I think if it was maybe later in the year and Denver was a little bit on the grind or if they had just played Colorado College or something like that. 24:48 But to kind of have a cake walk last weekend against Minnesota State and heading up there early in the year, it's just not... 24:55 I just don't get a sense that this is the weekend, that, you know, granted Michigan Tech, they were a little bit improved. 25:00 But at the same time, I mean, the talent difference between those two teams is off the charts. 25:04 So kind of, I mean, I think Bemidji has a better chance to get a point or two out of Duluth than Michigan Tech would hosting Denver. 25:11 I mean, I just don't think they have the goaltending. 25:13 I mean, Bemidji's goaltending is solid enough where they can have a 40 save outing. 25:17 I just don't see that in Michigan Tech at this point in the season. 25:21 Yeah, I agree. 25:22 There's just too much of a talent gap there. 25:24 You know, you always have to wonder about taking, you know, a team underestimating the opponent, even if it's, you know, they're on the road. 25:31 But I just don't see how Michigan Tech is going to take any points from Denver. 25:36 Denver's much more talented team. 25:38 And I think Gwasdek, you'll have them prepared. 25:41 So yeah, I see DU sweep in that series. 25:45 Well, we've got Jan Brady heading up to North Dakota. 25:50 Yeah, St. 25:50 Cloud, they kind of stumbled out of the gates a little bit, but then they won and tied last week. 25:55 And I seen Mike Leewood on Saturday night. 25:57 He had 40 some saves and, you know, kind of similar to last week, where you look at Wisconsin going home after being swept. 26:04 And now North Dakota is in the same boat where they go to Madison to get swept. 26:07 Now, they head home to play St. 26:08 Cloud and St. 26:10 Cloud is a team that again has struggled this year. 26:12 They had a nice performance against probably not one of the best New Hampshire teams that they've rolled out over the last 10 years or whatever. 26:18 But if you can win a tie at home against New Hampshire, I mean, that's solid for anyone. 26:23 But it should be a pretty up and down series. 26:24 It wouldn't shock me if St. 26:26 Cloud went up there and got a win. 26:27 I mean, we've seen North Dakota hasn't been dominant. 26:30 They've been OK this year. 26:31 But again, everyone thought it would be kind of a slow start. 26:33 But I wouldn't be surprised if St. 26:36 Cloud, especially with Mike Leewood, I mean, he's been just OK in his college career. 26:39 He's one of these goalies where he came in and the sky was the limit and he was going to be the guy and he's sputtered a little bit. 26:45 Now, part of that is due to how St. 26:47 Cloud plays a little bit and some of the defensemen they've had in front of him. 26:50 But Jansen and Gravel now in front of him, they have some decent pieces on the blue line. 26:55 So I can see them going up there and getting a win. 26:57 I agree with that. 26:58 I think Lee could steal the game for him. 27:02 He's got the pedigree to do it. 27:04 And like you said, he's got a little bit better guys in front of him these days. 27:08 Well, I'm going to go, surprisingly enough, on the other end of the spectrum and go with the Sioux on both games. 27:15 I think that they'll sweep. 27:17 And my feeling is this, I was looking at before our podcast, North Dakota has given up basically 3.8 goals a game. 27:27 It's like 40th in college hockey. 27:29 St. 27:29 Cloud's given up three and a half goals a game. 27:32 And so it's like, OK, who's going to play the defense here? 27:35 In this game, and I think to myself, OK, if I had to pick the team that I thought that would rise to the occasion defensively, who would I go with? 27:44 And easily for me, it's North Dakota. 27:47 And I also believe that, you know, they're going to be kind of in a hornet's nest up there after being swept by the Badgers. 27:56 So I just feel like they'll get it together this week. 27:58 And I believe that North Dakota will sweep that series. 28:02 You know, one thing with North Dakota, too, kind of give them a little bit of a break. 28:05 You know, Grimaldi, who everyone, you know, he was the consensus pick for Rookie of the Year in the WCHA. 28:11 He would be the best freshman in the country. 28:12 I mean, he's played one or two games. 28:13 He's been a little banged up. 28:14 And then Colton St. 28:16 Clair, another young freshman that didn't have the pedigree that Grimaldi did, but a guy who did, you know, was a pretty highly acclaimed recruit and did okay in the USHL. 28:24 I mean, I think he's got some sort of clearinghouse issue at the NCA. 28:27 So they've been a little bit shorthanded with those guys. 28:29 I don't know what Grimaldi status is. 28:31 I mean, I think when he played one game or he missed the first couple then played one. 28:35 I don't think he played last weekend. 28:36 But, you know, and he's the type of guy where, you know, you wouldn't think he'd be a huge key cog to everything they're trying to do. 28:41 But, you know, with how much they lost last year, they just don't have the depth. 28:44 So if those guys aren't in the lineup and you look at St. 28:47 Cloud and they're pretty solid, they're top nine forwards. 28:49 I mean, that's the team that has a little bit of forward depth. 28:52 But yeah, like Hammy said, North Dakota does have a giant edge everywhere else. 28:55 And it's going to be a tough building for St. 28:57 Cloud to go into. 28:58 So we'll see if the St. 28:59 Cloud team is any different. 29:00 I mean, they've been a team that's kind of folded under the heat the last few years. 29:03 But if they could go up there early in the season, and granted, it's not North Dakota's A game right now. 29:08 But if they can go up there and get a win, that could be a nice boost for a St. 29:12 Cloud team that not many people are expecting a lot out of this year. 29:16 I think Rocco is waiting to make his debut at Mariucci next weekend. 29:20 Bring it. 29:22 What does he, does he have like a lower body injury or what? 29:26 Well, like Hextal is the tin foil hat when it comes to injuries and Schlossman for, I think he does a pretty good job, but I'm sure he knows, but he doesn't want to reveal. 29:35 So I don't think it's been out there. 29:37 I would assume if it's the kind of thing where it's in and out of the lineup, it's some sort of, I mean, maybe like a groin or, you know what I mean? 29:43 You see those kind of injuries where guys go in and out and it's, so I don't think it's been out there. 29:48 At least I haven't seen it if it is official what his injury is at this point. 29:52 He's pulling his groin, looking at the scantily clad girls around campus that he rails against. 29:57 Here we go. 29:59 Okay, I just had to say. 30:02 Maybe, you know, Jupe, we could put GPL to good use. 30:04 Let's promote, you know, the 18 and older girls at the game to maybe, you know, next weekend when they come in, if they could, you know, maybe show a little skin and, you know, kind of put Grimaldi and the rest of the Sioux Club off their game a little bit. 30:17 I mean, hey, we need every edge we can get. 30:18 So I don't think anyone would be opposed to that, right? 30:20 I'm not touching that one. 30:23 I'm not touching that one. 30:25 Okay. 30:26 Well, let's move on to our series up in Alaska. 30:29 And, you know, actually we'll kick this off with a question from a user, always lurking from GPL asks, the Anchorage week is a different kind of week for the players due to the extended travel. 30:42 Could any of you shed some light on what a typical routine would be once they get up to Anchorage? 30:48 What day do they leave? 30:50 Do they get some practice time or just pre-game skates? 30:53 Any downtime for seeing, you know, sightseeing, stuff like that? 31:00 Is it tougher to play Friday night game or Saturday night game based on the travel? 31:03 He just kind of wants to know, you know, how does that trip affect them? 31:09 Well, I will let you... 31:11 Well, here's the thing. 31:12 I know that Lucia on the radio talked about how I think they were going to get a practice in early Thursday morning, and then they were going to be flying out and they would get to Anchorage roughly around, I think it was 2 p.m. 31:25 local time out there, so 4 p.m. 31:27 our time, and then they would just kind of, you know, have their normal morning skate on Friday. 31:32 So it doesn't sound like it would be too out of the ordinary from that standpoint. 31:36 It sounds like it's more the time differences and getting accustomed to having to play earlier than their body clock is, or I should say later than their body clock is used to. 31:49 So I think that's some of the issues that they probably face. 31:53 I don't know Cardinal, you got anything to piggyback on that? 31:56 Yeah, I mean, I made that trip a few years ago, and I think the biggest thing, and obviously it's one thing to watch a game and your whole body clock versus playing, but the atmosphere in that rink has just got awful. 32:07 I mean, Michigan Tech, you know, dwarfs it in terms of at least having people there. 32:12 I mean, when, the time we went, I mean, it was pick your own section. 32:15 I mean, you could go anywhere you wanted. 32:17 It's just a weird vibe in there. 32:19 The seats are orange and yellow, and it's just, I think that plays into it more than anything else where it's, you know, it's kind of that syndrome that WCHA teams kind of step into and, you know, when you see them having to go east to play in these regionals, and they're playing in a weird time in an empty arena. 32:32 And I think it's that more than anything where it's just an awkward environment. 32:36 And, you know, between that and the travel, which, you know, obviously, you know, has to take a toll on teams and, you know, you look back, even the Gophers' best teams go up there and split. 32:44 I mean, it's not easy to go up there and get four points. 32:45 It rarely happens even when, you know, the Gophers or any other team are at their top of their game. 32:50 So it's just an awkward environment. 32:52 And yeah, for what they do up there and stuff, I mean, I know the team stays downtown because there really is no outskirts there. 32:59 I don't know. 32:59 I mean, I'm assuming they walk around a little bit, but I think on the road for these guys, it's pretty routine where they do a morning skate, go back and take a nap and then get up, eat a meal and head to the rink. 33:10 I mean, I'm sure that they maybe tried some things over the years just because it is kind of a weird situation to maybe leave a day earlier. 33:17 You see that with teams, whether it's college or the pros. 33:19 Like I know in the NFL, the Raiders always leave two days before a road game, which boggles my mind, but they do it every time no matter where they go. 33:25 And so I'm sure they've tried things over the years, but it sounds like they're pretty set. 33:30 And I think they always leave on Thursday from or at least they have the last few years. 33:33 So yeah, I mean, like I said, it's an awkward deal. 33:35 And we're not the only team that's got up there and struggled. 33:38 That's for sure. 33:39 Well, there might be some revenge factor this weekend. 33:43 I know Lucia tried to downplay that on his radio show. 33:46 But looking at the last meetings, Anchorage has beaten Minnesota four out of the last five meetings and obviously got swept out of WCHA playoffs last year by them. 33:58 So, hopefully, the team is a little fired up. 34:04 Yeah, well, I mean, I think that you would hope that some of these guys remember a little bit of that sting from last year in playoffs. 34:12 Obviously, it cost them a trip to the NCAAs and that's ultimately what they're trying to, you know, get into the dance and see what they can do for, you know, some damage there. 34:20 But they took it away from us last year. 34:22 You have to give them credit for that. 34:23 And hopefully, these guys are a little bit, you know, inspired by that. 34:27 And I'm sure with, you know, of course, Gensel wasn't around here for that whole debacle, but I'm sure that he's reminding those guys that, you know, of that situation. 34:37 And we'll see how it goes. 34:38 I, like Cardinal said, that we tend to struggle, even with our best teams up there, we seem to always have a little bit of a struggle. 34:46 So, you know, personally, as much as I would like to pick a gopher sweep, I just can't, I have a hard time doing it. 34:53 So I'm going with the split. 34:55 I think that the key is going to be, you know, how we're going to do on the power play versus their penalty kill. 35:01 Their penalty kill is kind of struggle that's under 80% for the season so far. 35:05 And of course, our power play is the number one in the country. 35:08 So that's obviously going to be a big key. 35:10 And as we learn from their Vermont series, they need to be disciplined. 35:15 And I think that, you know, Anchorage tends to play a little bit more conservatively, a little bit more veteran team. 35:20 So I'm sure it's not going to be quite the up and down type of a game that we have seen from our team. 35:26 So it'll probably be a little lower scoring and they'll have to be a little bit more patient and not get, you know, frustrated if they're not rolling with four or five goals early in the third period. 35:36 Yeah, so I was going to kind of piggyback on to us that it's not, you know, the Duluth type of series or, you know, where it's easy to go up and down the ice. 35:43 I mean, Anchorage is going to try to frustrate them. 35:45 And, you know, they have the big ice up there as well. 35:46 But we've seen Anchorage, you know, like Joop said, where they can come down here and they brought that kind of game. 35:51 Now, granted, the last handful of times they played The Gophers, at least, you know, it doesn't appear that those Gopher teams are as explosive as the team we have now. 35:58 But I'd be pretty surprised if they hung a five or six spot on them each night this weekend. 36:03 You know, I think I'll go three points for The Gophers. 36:05 I mean, I think, you know, having Patterson back there, I mean, you know, granted, there's been a few games where, you know, the Ds kind of hung them out to dry like they did Sunday a little bit. 36:13 But, you know, I think the defense, they'll rebound, I think. 36:16 And, you know, Anchorage, they're not the type of team that's going to bring, you know, waves of offense against you. 36:20 And I mean, again, they're going to be trying to grind it out and win a 2-1, 3-2 type of game. 36:24 And I just think this Gopher team, with the depth they have up front, and, you know, if they can keep composed and, you know, have more power plays than Anchorage does this weekend, that, you know, they win the special teams battle. 36:33 I think it's easy for them to get three or four points. 36:35 But if, you know, Anchorage starts getting a lot of power plays and the Gophers can't, you know, get any rhythm going for whatever reason, you know, it's going to be a pair of tough games. 36:44 Just a reminder to people that Anchorage is allowing a free video stream this weekend. 36:50 So I'll tweet that address out and you can also go on GPL to find out where you can stream these games. 36:58 In the past, it's been hit or miss, miss, a lot of times miss. 37:06 I don't think it helps that our friends over at Gopher Sports decided to announce it to everybody today. 37:11 So that's pretty much guaranteeing that they're going to bring the server down. 37:15 So it looks like it might be a new service they have. 37:18 So hopefully it works better. 37:19 We'll keep our fingers crossed. 37:21 Otherwise, it's pretty much just going to be Wally and Glenn, or not Wally and Glenn, Wally and Frank this weekend for us. 37:28 We're going to have a GPL chat going on during those games. 37:31 It usually seems like the Elasti games have that. 37:33 It tends to be the biggest series for chat. 37:36 I mean, in the times past, I think we've had over a hundred people in chat during the Anchorage series. 37:40 So, we'll definitely have the chat fired up and going. 37:45 So, so far this year, we've got Howla leading the team with 14 points, Hanson not too far behind with 11, Raoul just right there at nine. 37:56 Any other players you guys want to talk about that are doing good, doing bad? 38:00 Just some general thoughts? 38:03 Well, I mean, I already kind of spilled my bad on, and that was mostly from Sunday. 38:11 Even though he's had some mistakes on occasion, I think that I looked at the stats and Ben Marshall is a plus 11 on the season. 38:20 Granted, a healthy chunk of that was against Sacred Heart, but nonetheless, you know, that's kind of a, he leads the team, that's a nice positive sign. 38:28 You know, he's made a few mistakes. 38:30 Everybody knows about the one against Duluth where he pretty much got burned big time. 38:36 But, you know, generally, I think it's been a pretty positive sign. 38:40 You know, there was one play in the third period on Sunday where he kind of led to, I think it was a four on one rush. 38:46 I think he might have went diving at the blue line for the puck in our offensive zone, and they went off to the races the other end. 38:53 But, generally, he's been pretty good. 38:56 And, you know, so I think that that's a positive sign moving forward. 38:59 I think, you know, when you got a young guy like that, usually they're going to be improving as the year goes on. 39:04 So hopefully by year's end, he'll be really helpful on special teams and all that. 39:10 Yeah, and a guy, I mentioned a little bit earlier, but Serratory, and, you know, you're not going to get goals out of him or anything like that. 39:16 But I've always had a kind of a soft spot for the guys, you know, like Smogard and Bustrom. 39:20 And, you know, I think that's just an element that's been missing on this team the last couple of years with those, you know, kind of meat and potatoes, heart and soul guys. 39:26 And I remember when Serratory committed about Lucia saying, well, you know what, for the next four years, I don't have to worry about my fourth line wing that I know I've got a guy that can go in there every single night. 39:34 And, you know, Grae doesn't get a lot of ice time, but I mean, it's kind of the thing where if you, you know, close your eyes and you just hear guys on the ice and you can hear the hits that he delivers. 39:41 And I just think he plays his role super well. 39:44 And, you know, in the last few years of seeing the, you know, Sokettis and Patrick Whites and guys that you noticed hate being on the fourth line. 39:50 You know, I just like the fact that there's a guy out there who relishes it, willing to do anything for the team. 39:55 And, you know, he's 22 years old or 23 and he's a sophomore. 39:58 So he's a guy that's going to be around here and I don't see there's any way, shape or form he's going to leave. 40:02 But just to have that fourth line presence and he kind of gets lost with all the scoring that's got on and all the names that they have up front now. 40:08 But, you know, guys like that can be pretty valuable. 40:11 And especially in a series like Alaska where, you know, it's going to get physical and chippy and he on territory hasn't been a guy that's blown a gasket yet by any means. 40:17 But just the kind of guy to stand up for your teammates. 40:20 And, you know, when they play North Dakota next week, I'm sure, you know, he's going to be not a key figure, but, you know, guys like him to stand up. 40:26 And, yeah, I just like his overall game and what he's brought so far. 40:29 And I think the key word, like you said, there was knowing his role. 40:34 He isn't like some of those guys in the past. 40:36 He knows what his job is, what he needs to do, and he does it. 40:40 And that's what you like about him. 40:42 That's what I like about him. 40:45 Yeah, I mean, he, yeah, exactly. 40:48 I mean, he's kind of like the John Weibel type of guy that, you know, he's just out there working hard. 40:54 You know, he'll pitch in a little bit here or there offensively, but, you know, he just knows what he needs to do to help the team to win. 41:01 And you kind of just hope that when, you know, granted, he was recruited kind of later in his junior career, and, you know, guys like that aren't going to come into college with these high expectations of playing first line, second line, you know, and power play all the time. 41:15 So, you know, from that standpoint, it was probably he knew going into it, you know, that, hey, I'm not going to be the top line guy here, so I'm not going to even have to worry about it. 41:22 But, you know, having guys like that, you know, hopefully that's something that they look forward, you know, looking forward and recruiting. 41:28 They tend to focus a little bit more on some guys that, you know, hey, are just kind of character guys, hardworking guys that are going to do the, you know, kind of grinding it out and penalty killing kind of stuff. 41:41 Yeah, I know Denver, that's a team that, you know, they like The Gophers, so many of their recruits commit when they're sophomores or juniors, but they've done a pretty nice job of finding guys a little bit later on that, you know, you see commit, and you know, like this time of the year for next season, you're like, well, that's where they have a spot, but then you look and it's, you know, an older guy from the Colorado area or whatever that, you know, it's kind of kicked around in the USHL or whatever, and, you know, Denver's been really effective in granted, that's because of the Jason Zuckers of the world and on down the list, but their third and fourth lines seem to have those type of guys year in, year out where they're a little bit older, a little bit more physical, and I think that's a big boost for a team. 42:14 I think another guy that I would highlight is Condon. 42:17 I think that, you know, he has definitely, he looks just overall a lot better this year. 42:24 I mean, not that he played poorly last year, he had a pretty solid first year, but offensively he's contributing, he's hustling out there, he's playing, you know, really well, I think, and, you know, he really adds something to that third line. 42:38 You know, he's somebody out there that can contribute, you know, points, and he's playing in, you know, some valuable minutes. 42:45 So I think that that's another guy that I would definitely highlight. 42:48 And Nate Schmidt, you know, he got his first goal as a gopher on Sunday, I believe it was, and, you know, he's got nine points on the season. 42:56 And, you know, after last year where people were kind of wondering where the heck is he, it's really nice to see him out there and doing well. 43:06 One thing, you know, I think has killed us for like the last three or four years is face-offs. 43:12 And I'm looking at some stats here and they actually look fairly encouraging. 43:16 I see Taylor Matson is over 60% on face-offs, Buke Stead's at 53%, you know, those are two main guys. 43:26 And that's one thing that just has just really ticked me off in the last few years. 43:32 You know, not winning a late-game defensive zone face-off or when you're behind an offensive zone face-off. 43:41 It seems like we're doing at least a little better in that area this year. 43:45 Yeah, and you know, that's something I've harped on too. 43:47 And you know, yeah, it's been pretty bad. 43:50 You know, part of it's been because you've had to move guys like Wheeler, who is, you know, not a center and, you know, for, you know, they have guys leave and you got to want him in a key spot. 43:57 So you move him to center, but he's not equipped. 43:59 And you know, I'm not a hockey coaching expert by any means, but I mean, face-off seems like one of those things where you can coach it up to a certain degree. 44:05 But a lot of it is just that sense and, you know, knowing when, you know, they're just going to drop it and, you know, working, you know, physically getting in there. 44:12 And, you know, you see, again, one of the reasons it's really frustrated me is because North Dakota is always so damn good at it. 44:17 And, you know, they have Corbin Knight this year. 44:18 And I think I saw on Twitter, he's at like 72% for the year, something insane. 44:22 And, you know, yeah. 44:24 And, you know, so granted that's like far out there. 44:26 And, but yeah, I mean, with the Gophers the last few years, it's just been an issue. 44:30 The thing that strikes me is I think it was what the regional, when we lost to them, when they scored that overtime goal on Frazee, that, you know, every time at overtime, it was Taves when the draw gets it back, you know, we end up icing it and it's coming right back down. 44:42 Now, granted, Jonathan Taves is one of the best college players in the last 10 years, but the fact remains that they lost face off after face off in that game and it ended up killing them. 44:50 So yeah, it's good to see that, you know, at least early on this year, it's not, you know, abysmal and that they're, you know, trending in the right direction. 44:57 And you look at somebody like Johnny Pohl back in the championship years, the championship game, our two final goals were off the face off wins that he had. 45:06 He was so good. 45:07 And it was a direct result, you know, us tying in the game and us winning the game. 45:12 And it's why we really need a go-to guy. 45:15 And, you know, hopefully guys are getting in. 45:22 Thought, Sammy? 45:23 Oh, I'm sorry. 45:25 Sorry, I think I hit my mute button a little too early. 45:30 Yeah, I mean, I was just looking at some of the statistics and the guys that I feel that should be our four starting centers, they're, you know, other than Howla, who is just 45%. 45:41 Yeah. 45:42 You know, they're all above 50%. 45:44 You know, Mattson and Boyd are over 60% in face-offs. 45:48 And, you know, it's not the Corbin Knight numbers that were mentioned earlier, but still, it's pretty good. 45:56 And I, you know, I think part of it is some of these guys, like Cardinal said, you know, they're more natural centers that are used to taking face-offs. 46:04 And of course, that's probably helping the power play a lot, so. 46:08 So, any other thoughts on this weekend, on the trip to Anchorage? 46:13 No, not on the weekend so much. 46:16 I know we talked about it before the podcast. 46:18 We were going to talk about, you know, some of the TV issues going on with, what was it, Direct TV or whatever? 46:24 Direct TV, yes. 46:26 They were having some issues with Fox and as of November 1st, if they don't come to an agreement, Direct TV shutting off, you know, FSN and all the other regional networks. 46:37 I believe it also affects like channels like FX, National Geographic, a few others. 46:42 But obviously, this impacts sports in a big way when you have something like our favorite sport, College Hockey being on FSN all the time. 46:53 I think there's going to be a lot of upset fans if they decide to turn it off and it's not like people can just go right to the bar and watch it either because many of these bars all have Direct TV because they want it, because they get the NFL package. 47:06 So it could get really interesting. 47:10 Well, I guess we're just going to have to post your home address on GPL. 47:14 No, I do not have DISH Network. 47:18 No, I do not have that. 47:19 I'm kidding, isn't it? 47:20 So, now, forgive me. 47:21 I could be wrong. 47:22 Can't you maybe set up some sort of stream on GPL where you could maybe stream your DISH Network stuff? 47:28 You know, I've already had enough problems with Fox in the past, with cease and desist letters years ago. 47:35 I don't think I really want to go down that path. 47:37 They've got bigger fish to fry right now. 47:39 They're in the field of Direct TV. 47:40 You could fly right under the radar and make so many people. 47:43 You could charge. 47:44 Think about it. 47:45 You know, I have suggested to people that if this does happen, hopefully they can go to the FS North website and they can watch the director's cut where they get all the camera angles. 47:56 I don't know if there's sound with that. 47:57 Is there sound with that? 47:58 Have you guys ever checked that out? 47:59 I did it... 48:01 I shouldn't say this. 48:01 I did a little bit while working on Sunday at the Metrodome. 48:04 I don't know, because the game started at one, our game started until three, so I was ducking in a little bit just to kind of check it out. 48:11 I don't know if there was sound, but it wasn't bad. 48:13 I mean, if that's... 48:14 You can follow the game easily. 48:15 Oh yeah, you can see what's going on. 48:17 Yeah, it's a solid thing and it's free, so it's not like you have to invest anything in it or you're not out ten bucks or whatever. 48:23 So, I mean, yeah, worse comes to worse. 48:25 It is an option. 48:26 It's better than not seeing the fighting Sioux the following weekend, because funny, they're going to shut it off and probably the biggest weekend in a long time, and many people won't get to see it. 48:38 At least they have an option. 48:42 Correct. 48:44 Okay, so before we go, coaches, here's your starting line up. 48:51 Kent Patterson, Helgeson Hull, Schmidt Parenteau, Marshall Ault on defense, Buxted, Budish, Rao, Hanson, Howellah, warning, Matson Ambrose, Condon, Boyd, Nick Larson, Saratari. 49:05 Don't change it. 49:07 Make it so. 49:08 I agree. 49:09 Don't change it. 49:10 Unless there's an injury. 49:13 Unless there's an injury. 49:14 I completely agree. 49:15 Well, right, yeah. 49:15 If there's an injury, that's one thing. 49:16 But stop toying around with it. 49:19 I think that they realize after Sunday, that's their best lineup. 49:23 So please don't change it. 49:24 Let's just go forward with our best lineup. 49:28 I saw Gensel after the game on Sunday, and I got the feeling that they will be going back to that lineup. 49:34 So I'm not too concerned. 49:37 Obviously, these kids, they're going to have to get in there and play sometime. 49:40 Right. 49:42 There's always the classic. 49:43 Because, you know, the thing is, you know, I think Thompson made some mistakes, but you know, I like his feistiness. 49:49 I like his size. 49:51 You know, he's just got to temper it down a little bit. 49:53 But I think he's got a really good future. 49:57 Really good future. 49:58 Well, yeah, he does. 49:59 But for right now, I mean, you got to stick with, you know, your best lineup. 50:04 And I know Lucia doesn't have the luxury of, you know, having a crap year missing the NCAAs despite what this new contract, I'm sure, you know, that's probably going to be pretty U of M friendly for a buyout. 50:17 So I'm sure that it's going to be important for him to make the NCAAs this year. 50:21 So I doubt we'll be seeing too much experimentation in it, you know, moving forward. 50:25 But I hope that they learned a little bit of a lesson on Sunday. 50:30 Yeah, let's go up to Anchorage and not knock on wood, not lay an egg or anything, and then, like Craig said, it's a pretty huge next weekend. 50:37 We definitely owe those guys from Grand Forks a little bit of retribution for some of the ass-kickings we've got up there the last few years, and not that they're right for the picking, I don't want to say that, but the Gophers can keep some things going this weekend, and North Dakota comes down. 50:50 I think our, I'm assuming the team feels the same way I do, so hopefully they can execute it on my behalf if nothing else. 50:57 You know, they haven't done that bad against North Dakota like last year, I don't believe, did they? 51:02 I mean, they split up, we split. 51:04 Okay, so it split last year, but the year before, the playoffs ended up there, and we lost. 51:09 And we won a game there, too. 51:11 Well, that's nice, but we got killed and intimidated when Wears got leveled, and nobody did anything. 51:16 And earlier that year in January, it was the most embarrassing thing. 51:20 They didn't do anything wrong, don't forget. 51:22 That was a completely legal check, Halo over the head. 51:26 It was definitely a cheap play, but the fact remains, they knew they could do that, and there wouldn't be repercussions, because our power play was garbage, and nobody was going to step up, so they weren't going to pay for it in any way. 51:34 And earlier that year, we lost, what, 7-1 and 5-1, or 5-0, and Kangas was pulled both nights, and just the most miserable road trip I've ever been on. 51:43 So, if that's going to be different. 51:46 Hey, I wonder why. 51:47 It's going to be different. 51:49 Well, like Cardinal said, the power play is a lot different thus far this year. 51:53 That's number one. 51:54 And the other thing that I think has been pretty noticeable is this Gopher team is a little more physical. 51:59 They got some guys with some good size up front. 52:02 You know, the Buxtads, the Budish, Connins gets his nose dirty in there. 52:07 You have Ambrose. 52:09 They're not going to be back and down anymore. 52:12 But, you know, they're not one of those finesse teams. 52:15 They still have some finesse on the team. 52:17 But I wouldn't consider them a finesse team these days. 52:22 And we'll definitely get into that more next week. 52:25 But for now, I think we're going to have to shut her down. 52:29 Obviously, you can follow Ryan Cardinal on Twitter at RyanCardinal. 52:33 And when is the weekly bit this week on KFAN, Ryan? 52:40 I've never tanked with Mr. 52:42 Allen, but I believe Thursday at 9.55. 52:44 I don't spend that the last few weeks. 52:45 And I haven't heard anything they dictate otherwise. 52:47 So definitely not tomorrow. 52:48 So it will be on Thursday. 52:50 All right. 52:50 And of course, you can also follow Hammy at Hammy Hockey on Twitter. 52:56 We're still looking for more feedback or questions. 52:58 You know, we had that one earlier tonight, but some of the other ones I thought sucked. 53:01 So send us some good ones. 53:03 You can always send those at podcast at gopherpucklive.com. 53:09 Anything else, gentlemen? 53:11 That's it for me. 53:12 All right. 53:12 Well, we're going to sign off. 53:14 Thank you for joining us.