0:04 This is the GopherPuckLive Podcast, episode number 40, recorded Wednesday, March 27th, 2013. 0:23 And welcome to this week's GopherPuckLive Podcast, along with Hammy and Vegoe. 0:29 I am your host, Jupiter. 0:31 Well, boys, we had the last final five that the Gophers will ever participate in, and boy, was it a clunker for the Gophers. 0:40 Wasn't it, Hammy? 0:42 Yeah, it was quick. 0:43 I mean, one game and you're out. 0:46 It's been that way a lot recently. 0:47 Either they're not there or they're losing right away. 0:50 Yeah, I mean, you know, it's kind of like I mentioned. 0:54 I don't know if I mentioned it on GPL or where it was, but, you know, for the last final five, I don't think you could have picked a worse scenario for the league as far as who ended up in the championship game because it was, you know, at the Colorado College and Wisconsin or clunker teams or anything like that, but it's just a matter of from a attendance standpoint, you probably couldn't have picked the two out of the five teams, the two worst teams to be in the final. 1:19 So from that standpoint, it was certainly underwhelming. 1:22 And from a Gopher standpoint, it was a disappointment. 1:25 Before we get to the games here, Vegoe, you got to tell us, how was the home brew and which was your favorite? 1:32 Well, I think Viking Diesel did a very good job of putting together some excellent options. 1:39 They also named every beer after school from the WCHA, which was pretty exciting. 1:46 And my favorite was, of course, the Uno beer, which is an Imperial IPA at Viking Bird, and it was very tasty. 1:54 Okay, so the tailgate went well, then? 1:58 Yeah, it was a good crowd. 1:59 There was a good pair of beer darts games going on. 2:04 There was that Alaska Crazy Dance Mania fan, he was there. 2:08 Tell me he was liquored up pretty big. 2:11 Yeah, he basically said, you know, if you don't start at 8 a.m., you aren't trying. 2:15 Oh, boy. 2:17 And if you saw him in the afternoon, you believed it. 2:19 Oh, boy. 2:20 Well, he was the star of the Dance Mania at the X, so... 2:25 Did he eventually win it? 2:27 I don't know. 2:30 Yikes. 2:31 Well, yes, he was definitely not sober and dancing in strange ways that are probably not appropriate for children. 2:39 Anyway, Vegoe, your thoughts, the last final five on the hockey side. 2:43 Obviously, a surprise the Gophers lost, but all around, what did you think? 2:47 Well, I think one of the things about the WCH, we've been saying all year, is that it's a pretty good league for the top seven, eight teams. 2:55 And this weekend proved it. 2:57 I mean, two underdogs that none of us thought would even get out of the first game really came out on top and met in the final in Wisconsin and booked their ticket to the NCAAs. 3:09 Obviously, disappointing performance from the Gophers. 3:12 They just could not get into a flow. 3:14 I rewatched that five minute power play, actually, again. 3:19 I'm sorry. 3:20 Yeah, I know. 3:21 And it just, it really got the mother rid of it. 3:24 I think they were getting so, felt so much pressure to get a goal that as soon as they had a shot, they were trying to put it on net, whether or not it was a good shot or not. 3:35 They were just trying to get pucks on net. 3:37 And, you know, with as lethal as the power play has been all year, you want to get set up, show some patience, get high quality shots. 3:45 And I think they just kind of abandoned that as they started to press the game. 3:49 And it cost them. 3:50 I think the top six forwards got a little fatigued after the five minute power play. 3:55 They just never recovered. 3:57 Well, let's take a step back here, Hammeh, and let's look at Friday. 4:02 Obviously, Friday was good in some ways. 4:05 Or I should say Thursday, not Friday. 4:07 It was good in some ways because we got to see the Sioux lose to CC and overtime. 4:13 And we also got to see some offense from Wisconsin that we haven't seen all year long. 4:19 Wisconsin is playing well right now. 4:22 And there's just no doubt about that, is there, Hammeh? 4:25 Yeah, I mean, they certainly played well that night. 4:27 You know, and I don't know what happened with Mankato's game all of a sudden. 4:30 I mean, you know, I don't think it was necessarily all Wisconsin. 4:35 I think that it seemed to me like Mankato just kind of didn't necessarily show up. 4:41 It was like they hadn't been there, you know, in so long, and they showed it. 4:44 I mean, when you're down three goals in the first period to Wisconsin, that's obviously not a recipe for victory, you know, because the style that they played generally is you're just not going to come back from that kind of deficit. 4:59 And, you know, as far as the North Dakota game goes, I mean, I think that, you know, obviously it was a little bit surprising. 5:07 But I know that it seems like CC has played them relatively tough this year. 5:11 And so in North Dakota, you know, they've kind of been like the Gophers. 5:15 They've been a little bit inconsistent at times and not necessarily playing, you know, at their best, you know, every single night. 5:22 So you don't entirely know what to expect. 5:24 And they kind of seem to suffer from a similar fate as the Gophers. 5:29 Vegoe, what happened to Minnesota State? 5:31 They gave up seven goals. 5:33 I don't think all of them were by Williams, but he was not sharp at all. 5:37 Yeah, he had a real rough first period. 5:40 I mean, the goals weren't spectacular goals. 5:43 I mean, they were shots from the edges of the rink and he just wasn't sharp. 5:48 I'm not sure what was happening. 5:49 I feel like he should have been able to see the shots coming. 5:53 And he just had an off night. 5:56 I know that they pulled them and said it was an upper body injury. 6:00 So maybe it was just something that he thought he could play through. 6:03 And being a young kid, he wanted to and ended up he couldn't. 6:06 But he did take a pretty good shot to the head. 6:09 Yeah, he did. 6:10 I mean, he never returned to the bench and that's at least a sign. 6:13 You don't return to the bench. 6:16 That's not exactly great news. 6:19 Well, you know, the bruised ego can keep you from the bench too. 6:22 So it's hard to say. 6:24 I don't have any insider info from Mankato like you probably do. 6:29 I have zero. 6:32 But it was just an ugly game for them as a whole team. 6:36 They didn't generate a lot of offense either and they didn't help out their goalie very much. 6:40 So Wisconsin seemed to get goals that they haven't been able to get all year. 6:47 So then we move on to Friday in the afternoon and the Wisconsin Badgers do it again. 6:51 They beat St. 6:52 Cloud 4-1. 6:56 What did you think of that game, Hammeh? 6:59 Wisconsin is just chugging along. 7:04 Well, honestly, last week that was the one thing that I remember mentioning. 7:10 If I thought one of those two teams from that Thursday night game were going to beat St. 7:13 Cloud, I thought it would be Wisconsin just because I think that they have that style that kind of frustrates a team like St. 7:22 Cloud. 7:22 I think St. 7:22 Cloud kind of likes that up and down the ice type of style. 7:26 And I mean, like the Gophers do, but I think they don't have quite as much size or grit as the Gophers do. 7:32 So they don't even handle it as well as the Gophers can. 7:36 And so I really felt like if St. 7:39 Cloud was going to lose, that was going to be the game. 7:41 And I was really not surprised by that result. 7:44 I thought that St. 7:45 Cloud was going to have a tough time. 7:47 If you're listening live and have any questions for us, make sure you just send us a tweet, you know, either at Hammy Hockey or at Evigo or even at GopherPuckLive. 7:56 If you have any questions about the Final Five or whatever. 8:00 So now we move on to the night game. 8:01 Friday night, Gophers playing in CC. 8:05 CC just had a big game against North Dakota, hoping for a let down and they didn't let down at all. 8:12 Senior goal tending, their defense was pretty good. 8:16 Minnesota just couldn't get anything going, could they, Veegs? 8:19 Well, they did get some chances. 8:22 I know Bukset and Holla both had breakaway chances. 8:25 Yeah, but Bukset hasn't scored on a breakaway in quite a while. 8:28 He's missed about his last six or seven chances. 8:32 Yeah, maybe he just needs to skate to that left-wing circle and wind up and get a slapshot off from there. 8:39 That's what I said. 8:39 He needs to do it like Ralston did. 8:43 Get about 15 feet out and just blast him. 8:46 Yeah, but I mean, Howe played an aggressive game. 8:49 You look at some of the chances they have, and Howe's on the top of his paint, challenging the shooters, and he did give up some rebounds, but the Gophers just weren't able to get on top of him. 8:59 And whether that's because guys are too close to the net and they're tied up or they're not in the right spot to crash the net from the outside, that's something that the Gophers are going to have to deal with if they want to make a run in the NCAA now. 9:15 And they just weren't able to solve it on Friday. 9:18 Well, one thing that happened this season, things like this have happened a few times this season. 9:24 You go back to the Denver series, they played awful Friday night. 9:28 They came right back and they played really well. 9:31 I think it happened a couple of other times as well. 9:33 Now, they don't get to finish the final five and you got to wait another whole week to play hockey again. 9:40 I hope they come back strong, Hammy, because it's not going to be easy. 9:47 They're playing for keeps now. 9:49 Yeah, well, as far as the Friday night game goes, I just thought that CC just enough to kind of knock them a half step off of their game, and it just seemed like the passes were just a little off, and I think that they got a little frustrated. 10:03 I certainly think that, you know, you have to give some credit to Howe and, you know, the way CC kind of played. 10:08 They got on top of the Gophers and didn't really give them a lot of room. 10:12 But you're right. 10:13 I mean, they're going to have to deal with that kind of a situation moving forward, and, you know, my personal belief is they're going to have to show a little bit more of a grittier attitude. 10:22 I think about last year's team, and we had guys like Matson and Jake Hansen. 10:28 You know, those guys weren't necessarily the best players, but they kind of set a tone that I think sometimes has been missing with the current team. 10:34 You know, I'm looking for some of these guys that are in leadership positions to kind of, you know, show a little bit of grit, show a little bit of toughness, and, you know, just kind of stick your nose in there around the blue paint, and, you know, hack away and, like, show the other team that, you know, make them, you know, get you out of there. 10:51 I mean, don't just sort of look for the pretty plays. 10:54 You kind of have to muck it up and play a little ugly, and I just feel like sometimes they don't do quite enough of that. 10:59 Well, one thing, oh, hold on just a second. 11:01 One thing I noticed, I was in the photo box for the third period, and Lucia was quite upset a few times, except one time even. 11:09 He's like, get in front of the effin net. 11:14 Nobody was going to the net. 11:15 Shots weren't getting to the net, and nobody was, you know, there blocking house vision. 11:21 There was nobody getting in front to even make a play if the puck got there. 11:26 Well, I think a little bit was they were pressing so hard to get pucks to the net. 11:32 As soon as they had a lane to try to get it there, they were trying to get it anywhere close to the net. 11:38 And, you know, if they missed wide, they were clearing the zone, four CC in that third period. 11:43 And, you know, sometimes you got to get a little puck possession and make some plays once you have control in the zone as opposed to trying to get everything on the rush when you just don't have the numbers when you're getting stood up at the blue line like they were. 11:58 Well, what bothers me is just that you got guys like Bukestead, you got Budish, you got Ambrose. 12:07 I mean, you got guys with some size and some toughness up there. 12:10 And, to me, like I said, they need to stick their nose in around the net more often and hack away. 12:16 And it's like to have the other team, you know, tick them off, you know? 12:19 I mean, fine, you know, but make sure that you make your presence known around the opposing net. 12:25 And I just feel sometimes they don't do that. 12:26 And that's why, you know, when the lanes aren't easy and open, and especially if the other team gets a lead, sometimes I think they get too frustrated and they don't make enough plays around the net. 12:36 They kind of just try to hope, you know, fire around the net and just hope that somebody can do something. 12:41 It just doesn't happen sometimes. 12:42 But it almost feels to me like they're having to go and get the puck, and by the time they get it and try to do something with it, they don't have time to get to the net, to have that net presence for the shot. 12:54 And maybe that's just they're getting too quick at trying to put pucks on that before they have that net presence to shoot through. 13:00 But, you know, you don't see a lot of situations where Busev is able to dish the puck to somebody, get to the net, and look for a rebound. 13:08 A lot of the times he's the one working on his own or something or, you know, putting it to the point, and he's not getting to the net in time. 13:15 Yeah, and I think some of that, you know, I would agree with some of that. 13:19 But I also think that, you know, maybe a part of it is that they're so used to teams, you know, kind of clogging up the lanes that when they see those opportunities, they just feel like they have to fire it away. 13:30 Just because I think teams, they want to clog those shooting lanes. 13:33 They want to try to frustrate and kind of pack it in and around the net. 13:37 And I think sometimes maybe the guys are so used to that that maybe they try to pull the trigger a little bit too quickly. 13:42 But it's easy to second guess from the stands, of course. 13:45 You know, when you're down on the ice, those guys, I guess they probably feel like they got to take whatever opportunities they have. 13:50 How do you think Wilcox did, guys? 13:56 I don't have really any major issues. 13:58 I mean, two goals is not like some terrible effort. 14:03 Certainly, you know, the one was a little bit, you know, I don't know if he would have wanted it back or not. 14:09 But I mean, I didn't have a real problem with it. 14:11 I mean, two goals, this Gopher team should be able to win if we're only giving up two goals. 14:16 I agree with that. 14:18 Yeah, and they were in the second period. 14:19 I mean, you know, he made a bunch of saves leading up to that. 14:22 And, you know, I think that one of the big problems for Minnesota was no bolts. 14:27 You know, you expect to only give up two, you should be right in it. 14:30 And that's my biggest concern right now. 14:32 We're supposed to be the number one scoring team in the country. 14:36 And it just seems like there's times where everything is just shut down and nothing's happening. 14:42 I do think this is a little bit different than the Denver game. 14:44 The Denver game was a game where they just didn't show up. 14:47 You know, they weren't competing very well that Friday night. 14:51 You know, you look at the game this past Friday night, and they were competing. 14:55 They were just maybe pressing a little bit too much. 14:59 Yeah, I would totally agree with that. 15:01 I think it was a lot different than, you know, the CC game. 15:05 I thought that, you know, the effort was there. 15:06 I think they got a little bit frustrated. 15:08 I think that they kind of expected the game to go a little bit more to their favor early on. 15:15 And when it didn't, and then CC got up with the one goal, I just think that maybe they got a little bit frustrated. 15:20 But I don't, I wasn't nearly as upset, even though, of course, you hate losing at the final five, I wasn't nearly as upset with the effort as I was that game against Denver. 15:30 The real slap shot has a question via Twitter. 15:33 What will they do with Condon Isaacson? 15:36 I think he's trying to get at that. 15:38 He doesn't think Isaacson should be up in the front line and Condon should be in his place. 15:42 I would tend to agree. 15:45 Is Isaacson doing anything up there, guys? 15:49 I, well, I said it on Twitter. 15:51 I don't like Isaacson on that top line, personally. 15:54 I mean, whether they replace him with Condon or whoever, I just feel like, you know, I don't think he complements the other two guys that well. 16:03 I mean, I just don't see it. 16:05 And for me, it gets a little frustrating. 16:08 You know, you expect those guys to kind of provide more offense than they do when he's on that line. 16:14 So, you know, I don't want to blame one guy, but I do think that I would try to somebody else up there. 16:19 I get a little frustrated with Isaacson at times because I think he holds the puck too long and then loses the puck. 16:25 He doesn't seem to protect it as well as, like, a Buxted does. 16:29 Well, what do you think, Isaacson? 16:31 Well, I think there's very few guys who can protect it as well as Buxted, so that's a pretty high standard. 16:37 You know, I like what Hall does. 16:38 I think Hall protects the puck pretty well. 16:41 Yeah, I mean, he does. 16:44 I like Isaacson because he's a skilled player. 16:46 He is able to make some smart plays with the puck, and, you know, maybe he holds it a little bit long, but that's something that that line needs a little bit, other than just relying on Buxted to control the puck every shift. 16:59 Someone else needs to be able to handle the puck, take a little pressure, and then allow Buxted and Rao to make some moves to get to space. 17:08 And, you know, Isaacson's, you know, if there's one thing I think he's let down that line is he's had scoring chances, and he's not capitalized. 17:17 So his shot maybe isn't as good as that line requires, but I don't know if Condon adds that to that line either. 17:26 Really? 17:26 I think he does. 17:27 I think Condon has a lot of speed and a lot of transition, but I don't know if he brings in the puck possession that that line might need or a shooter that that line might need. 17:40 Well, the question is then is who do you put in that situation? 17:43 Because, you know, I don't, I mean, Boudich is more of a pass first guy. 17:48 I mean, he can score goals, but he's more of a pass first guy. 17:53 You don't want to take Howell out of a center position on that, you know, first one A or one B line, whatever you want to call it. 17:59 And, you know, so then it's kind of like, well, who you go to on that situation. 18:03 And so for me, you know, a guy like Condon, you know, is probably, you know, maybe the best option, you know, out of the names that people throw out there. 18:13 So, you know, I guess it depends on what you want. 18:16 I know at times Luchias tried Boyd up there. 18:19 That's been one thing he's tried. 18:22 You know, he's also kind of a puck possession guy, but he's not much of a scorer for them. 18:27 So I don't really know if they have another shooter that they can move. 18:31 When they did try Holla at the wing, he struggled. 18:34 He had a tough time, you know, being on that, you know. 18:37 Well, you know, that was also during a time when he was injured. 18:42 He was injured, so he just wasn't even shooting at that time. 18:44 He was hesitating all over the place. 18:48 Yeah, he admitted that he was frustrated playing in the wing, though, and he was much happier being at center and being able to come back deep in the zone and get involved in the play there. 18:56 So something to think about. 18:59 You're talking about who? 19:01 Holla. 19:02 Holla, yeah. 19:04 Well, Minnesota loses two to zip. 19:07 So they're done with the final five, and it's Wisconsin and CC. 19:10 Wisconsin pulls out a 3-2 victory, and what was really not too bad of a game, Hammeh? 19:16 It was entertaining. 19:18 Frankly, I didn't watch one minute of it. 19:22 Okay, skip you. 19:23 You go away. 19:24 Vegoe, tell me you watched it. 19:26 I told you the night before, it's like, why would I care about this game? 19:30 Honestly, that's how I felt. 19:31 It's like, I don't care about Wisconsin. 19:32 You're just pissed off. 19:35 Well, I just thought it was a lame game, personally. 19:38 Well, Vegoe, please tell them it wasn't a lame game. 19:41 You know, I didn't find it entirely lame. 19:43 I didn't watch it as intensely as some might have, because, you know, once the Gophers lost, I had a little family time to catch up on. 19:54 But, you know, Wisconsin played well. 19:57 They got the lead early, and that's their recipe for success. 20:01 You know, their scores are starting to come through for them, and when they get up on a team early and they don't take very many penalties, they're going to be successful. 20:10 So they're a dangerous team for anyone to play. 20:13 And, you know, maybe CC was a little bit fatigued going into that game and just couldn't rally to get a whole lot of offense going. 20:20 I think Wisconsin outshot them pretty handily. 20:24 So Wisconsin definitely overcame the Crudelies suspension at the start of the year and got their way in. 20:33 Well, he's definitely been a catalyst for that team. 20:35 He's been playing well. 20:37 I mean, he's scoring, he's passing, he's doing it all. 20:42 Without him, they would be nowhere. 20:45 Yeah, I don't think they make this kind of run without him in the lineup. 20:48 He's one of their skilled forwards, and he can handle the puck, and he makes that top line go. 20:54 He definitely does. 20:56 Well, boys, obviously, the last Final Five, all the memories are going to go by. 21:02 We'll have the Big Ten tournament next year. 21:05 I don't sense the excitement from people, but it's just how it's going to be. 21:10 We just have to kind of move on. 21:13 I don't think we'll ever see this type of tournament again. 21:17 I'm just not going to get that excited about Michigan or Wisconsin in a Big Ten tournament, especially if it's off in Detroit. 21:25 And maybe the NCHC, maybe they can get something going, but the Final Five for us is dead, guys. 21:33 Any last thoughts? 21:35 Honestly, for me, I'm not one of the people who will whine about the end of everything. 21:42 I just feel like you got to move on, make the best of it, and I think that it's going to take time. 21:48 Of course, you're not going to have it exactly as what it's been. 21:50 It's what you make of it. 21:53 If you're going to go into it with a sour attitude, it's like anything in life, then you're probably going to not enjoy it. 21:58 But if you go into it with an open mind and you try to enjoy the hockey, and certainly teams like Michigan, some of these teams are not going to be crappy, unskilled teams. 22:09 These will have some skill on them. 22:11 It's just a matter of reacquainting yourself with the opponents and I don't think for a few teams it's going to take very long before else it's going to take as one cheap shot or one bad ugly event and suddenly the irer is going to be raised and you're going to hate the other team. 22:27 It just takes a little bit of time. 22:29 Well, I've always had Michigan as a top three opponent for the Gophers. 22:33 I've always loved the College Hockey Showcase. 22:37 They've always played a similar style, up tempo. 22:41 I mean, obviously, they've made the NCAA Tournament for, what was it, over 20 years in a row or something like that? 22:46 I think it was like 21 or something like that. 22:48 Yeah, I mean, obviously, they didn't make it this year and they were down to the final game and they almost did make it. 22:54 I'm hoping Michigan becomes a big rival because I really, those games are maybe second to North Dakota for me. 23:02 I've always really enjoyed them and I've missed them for the last few years. 23:05 So hopefully, we can get a good, strong rival week going with Michigan. 23:10 Vegoe, the tailgate is going to live on though, isn't it? 23:13 Yeah, from the sounds of the Gopher faithful, they will keep doing the tailgate and I think that they're going to be, aren't they going to do the alternate site in Grand Rapids, Michigan? 23:25 Not Detroit? 23:27 No, that's the WCHA. 23:29 I was talking about the Big Ten. 23:31 Okay. 23:32 Big Ten will be at the Joe, isn't it? 23:35 I think, yeah. 23:35 Yeah, but that's in another year. 23:39 Obviously, next season it will be at the X. 23:41 At the same time, the National has theirs at the Target Center and the WCHA will be in Grand Rapids, probably at Van Andel. 23:51 And then when we leave to go to Detroit, they'll come into the X in 2015. 23:57 Well, I do know that there's already talk about the Minnesota Cup and having people bring ice houses into the tailgate lots and have a little tent party in St. 24:10 Paul for that event because it will be a little bit chillier for the Minnesota Cup, but I think you'll see some pretty good tailgating in the middle of the year and some holiday cheer. 24:22 Well, the beer keeps you warm. 24:25 And it's going to change. 24:26 It's going to be different. 24:27 I don't think College Hockey will see an event quite like the Final Five. 24:32 I think you'll still see some decent crowds, especially if we can see some Minnesota, Michigan Big Ten Finals. 24:39 I think Michigan will travel well. 24:41 The Wolverines even bring fans to the TCF Bank Stadium for football games. 24:45 I'm sure they will come out of the woodwork in all their hipster glory and you'll see them down in St. 24:52 Paul. 24:54 Well, while the Final Five was finishing up, while the Gophers were playing Friday night, the Gopher Women went to overtime against Boston College and beat them 3-2. 25:07 Finally got to the championship game on Sunday, and boy, 6-3 victory over BU. 25:16 41-0, 49 straight wins. 25:18 We have to talk about them because it's just, it is an amazing feat. 25:22 I mean, we've never seen anything like this, and I think once they got to the championship game, they were allowed to relax quite a bit and play how they've played all year long. 25:34 Did any of you guys even see it at all? 25:37 Yeah, I mean, I watched some of that game, and I think it's an amazing feat, especially considering, you know, Kessel wasn't, I mean, she's not even 100% healthy, and I think that kind of showed against North Dakota, and showed against BC, because I think if she's completely healthy, I don't think those games end up going in overtime. 25:57 I think, you know, she's that kind of player where she can add a few points, you know, just on her own. 26:02 Well, she showed that Saturday afternoon, four points. 26:06 She had a good game, but I mean, you know, she's not 100%, so certainly I think that they survived those games, even despite her health situation, and you have to give them a lot of credit. 26:17 It was exciting. 26:17 I mean, obviously, I'm not going to act like I'm some huge women's hockey fan, but nonetheless, you know, you get kind of caught up in the fact that they're doing something that's unprecedented, and it's pretty exciting. 26:30 A huge weight was lifted off their shoulders. 26:32 I do know that. 26:33 I mean, I think the pressure was starting to get to them, and especially, you know, three overtimes against North Dakota and another overtime against BC. 26:41 Vegoe, at least they were able to finish, because they wouldn't have been able to finish this. 26:47 It would have been a huge disappointment. 26:49 Well, yeah, I mean, you know, not to compare it too closely to the 1980 Olympic team, but, you know, when they went into that final against Sweden, you know, if they didn't win that game, Finland, you know, if they didn't win that game, you know, they were going to remember that forever, as that being the one moment that they let themselves down. 27:09 And, you know, kudos to them for coming through. 27:14 They play a very exciting style of hockey, and, you know, they had to pack towels for the event, and it was fun to see them come through. 27:21 The videos of them celebrating was fun to watch. 27:24 You know, I did see before the game that someone had retweeted a Mike Rusione saying, hey, the Russians were 40 and 0 at one time as well, so... 27:33 Too bad it didn't quite work out for his little BU squad. 27:37 Didn't quite work out, but it was a great accomplishment by the girls, I mean, or I should say ladies. 27:44 They worked hard. 27:46 They felt the pressure all year long. 27:48 They got through it. 27:50 They got their championship. 27:52 And it was something pretty special. 27:54 We definitely salute you gals. 27:55 You did a great job. 27:58 All right, boys. 27:59 Well, Sunday night, the pairings were announced. 28:03 And are either of you shocked that North Dakota is in the same region with Minnesota? 28:09 No, I'm not surprised. 28:10 I mean, honestly, I kind of, you know, when I was looking around at what the projected pairings were going to be based on that last game, you know, I was kind of like thinking to myself, well, you know, would I rather have to face North Dakota in my own, you know, in our own bracket, or would I rather see North Dakota in another bracket that they're going to have an easier path to the Frozen Four? 28:32 And I was like, well, I would rather play them, you know, in the regional, you know, because I just feel like we, it's just, it's something to play for to get there, and I just think that that's the exciting thing about it. 28:44 So we'll see how it goes. 28:46 Well, apparently a little baby Vegoe's not happy about North Dakota being in the bracket. 28:51 Yeah, he's a little frustrated that BC gets Union, Quinnipiac and Kenisha as well. 28:57 Minnesota will probably have to play North Dakota. 29:00 And he's got a good point. 29:01 He should be crying over that. 29:03 Yeah, I mean, that's a pretty easy seed, you know, regional when you look at it from the big picture. 29:08 I mean, who did those guys play? 29:11 But, you know... 29:12 BC was the sixth seed. 29:17 They should not be in the same bracket as Quinnipiac being the one seed. 29:22 Well, I mean, the thing that bothers me is just the fact that, you know, they need to quit worrying about, you know, not having teams from the same league, you know, playing each other in the first round, because to me, that's where you start getting screwy with the competitive balance of things and all that. 29:38 So I would rather just see teams face off based on their seeds and let it, you know, chips fall where they may. 29:47 Well, it'll be less of a problem next year with, obviously, you know, we'll be in the Big Ten, North Dakota, and those schools will be in the National, the WCH. 29:58 I mean, it'll be quite a bit different, and they won't have to worry as much, because a lot of the teams that are going to these new conferences are the teams that were, they couldn't match up against each other today. 30:11 But, you know, now they can easily do it. 30:14 Yeah, but I mean, there's a reason USHO gets it pretty much spot on, I think, what is it, four or five years in a row, if they predict the bracket. 30:24 I mean, it's pretty obvious what they're doing, until they decided to change up how they're going to put the teams in for attendance or whatever. 30:31 I mean, I can't imagine that the Quinnipiac region is going to be great attendance, regardless of what they do. 30:40 Well, let's take a look at that bracket, guys. 30:42 We have Quinnipiac facing Canisius, and BC facing Union. 30:47 I mean, obviously, Union has been an up-and-coming team the last few years. 30:53 They made it to the Frozen Four last year. 30:56 Hammey, do they have any chance of getting by in BC? 31:00 Well, I mean, I think you, as we've seen with our own team, I mean, you can never rule anybody out, you know, as far as winning their first round games and all that kind of stuff. 31:11 But, you know, I would be surprised, you know, if BC doesn't come out of that region. 31:16 I mean, it is, you know, they've got a pretty beneficial line up there. 31:21 So I just think it would be pretty tough to see them not coming out of that. 31:26 I'm not a big believer of the other clubs that are in that region. 31:29 I just think that at some point you just kind of have to look at it and just be honest and say, you know, it's a matter of who they've played throughout the year and, you know, who have some of those teams really truly beaten that have been very good. 31:42 So I think BC is going to come out once again. 31:45 I mean, they got good set up there. 31:49 Veegs, what about this Quinnipiac team? 31:52 Are they getting disrespected here? 31:54 Well, they're obviously not getting disrespected. 31:57 They're the number one overall seed. 31:58 Yeah, but, I mean, how many people are going to pick them coming out of that bracket? 32:03 I don't think many people will. 32:05 Not very many. 32:06 I can't wait to see the stats, if we can see those on the, you know, the different pick-up sites that are coming out. 32:11 But, you know, BC is, you know, the favorite, and they've got one of the best players in college hockey. 32:16 And, you know, I don't see why they're not going to win the big games coming down the stretch. 32:21 I think they're a favorite to probably get to, you know, a game with, you know, whoever comes out of the Midwest. 32:28 And, you know, they've got enough talent where they've got the playmaker who can make a 0-0 game, 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, very quickly. 32:37 Well, he definitely can. 32:41 Does Quinnipiac have trouble with their first game against Canisius? 32:43 I mean, Quinnipiac has been very inconsistent lately. 32:47 I mean, they lose to Cornell. 32:50 Then they beat them 10-0 the next night. 32:53 Then they come back and have an overtime game. 32:54 They've been really rollercoastering here. 32:57 There's a good chance we could see the very first, you know, 1-16 matchup going to the 16th. 33:08 Well, I mean, yeah, it is pretty up and near. 33:09 I mean, obviously, we don't see a ton of these two teams play, so it's hard to make, you know, sweeping judgments. 33:15 But I mean, they don't, it's like, who do they play all year long? 33:18 You know, I mean, they don't play WCHA caliber teams, and so it's really hard to sometimes get a feel for truly how good these teams may or may not be. 33:29 And certainly, you know, looking at how Canisius has done, you know, down the stretch, I mean, they've got a pretty good winning streak going on. 33:36 Granted, it's not been against the greatest teams, but nonetheless, they're going to have some confidence going into that game, so you never know. 33:43 They might have a shot at that. 33:46 Well, we did see Canisius at Mariucci, and that was a 1-0 game. 33:52 You know, they played Minnesota really tough in that one, and, you know, that's the kind of style they're going to have to play against Quinnipiac, and, you know, in a low-scoring game, anyone could come out, but I would think Quinnipiac should. 34:06 Well, and they've got good goaltending. 34:08 Hartzell's a good goalie. 34:09 I mean, he's a big kid. 34:11 And certainly, you know, when you have that key factor in there and that, you know, you can win any game. 34:17 I mean, that's really what it comes down to a lot of times in these games, and, you know, kids 1.5 goals against and then save percentage above 93%. 34:28 I mean, that's pretty damn good. 34:30 All right, but I think we're pretty much all set on we all pretty much think that Boston College is going to come out of that bracket, right, guys? 34:37 Yep. 34:37 Yep. 34:38 All right. 34:39 Moving to the Midwest. 34:41 Who's going to face a Boston College there, guys? 34:44 We've got Notre Dame, St. 34:45 Cloud, Miami, Minnesota State. 34:48 Do our WCHA teams have a chance here, guys? 34:50 Can they sneak up and then face each other in regional final? 34:52 What do you think, Ami? 34:56 I honestly think that it's going to be tough for both of them. 35:00 I think St. 35:02 Cloud, I think, is really going to have a tough time because I think both, in order to get to the Frozen Four, they have to go through Notre Dame and more than likely Miami, which are two teams that play very similar style to what you see Wisconsin kind of play, more defensive minded, low scoring. 35:22 I just think that St. 35:26 Cloud does not match up well against those kinds of teams. 35:29 And so I would be kind of surprised if they won against Notre Dame. 35:34 I'd be surprised. 35:37 You don't know what you're going to get now with Mankato. 35:39 The way they laid an egg in the big stage at the Final Five, it's kind of hard for me personally to pick them. 35:47 Maybe they can recover from it, but you almost have to wonder if they got to the point where it's like, well, we haven't done this in a while and we're just happy to be here. 35:56 And so I really expect that it's going to be Notre Dame and Miami in that regional final. 36:03 I have a sneaky feeling that one of them is going to get through. 36:05 I don't know who, but I think either Minnesota State or St. 36:10 Cloud is at least going to get through to the regional final. 36:13 Maybe an overtime game or something along those lines. 36:16 What do you think, Veegs? 36:17 Out in the Midwest. 36:19 It's tough because I think Minnesota State and St. 36:22 Cloud probably drew the two toughest teams out of the top seven that they could have faced. 36:30 Miami and Notre Dame kind of put the crowd to sleep at Soldier Field for a little while, I think, with their efforts, because they both play that really slow, methodical, you know, trying to keep the other... 36:41 Boring. 36:43 Yeah, you know, it's a tough game. 36:44 It's going to be a little bit like that US. 36:47 Mexico game. 36:48 You know, they're going to be putting a strangle down the side of the ice and try to hope for an on-man rush that's never going to come. 36:56 And so I think that's a tough matchup for both of them. 36:58 And I do see Miami and Notre Dame both advancing to face each other. 37:04 And then I think Notre Dame comes out of that bracket. 37:08 Yeah, I would agree with that. 37:10 I would go with Notre Dame, too. 37:12 Okay, Notre Dame out of the Midwest. 37:15 And then it moves us over to the Northeast, guys. 37:17 We've got Mass Lowell against Wisconsin, Denver, New Hampshire. 37:22 And boy, right off the bat, I'm thinking the way Wisconsin's playing, they look really good to get to the Frozen Four. 37:29 What do you think, Veegs? 37:32 Well, I do think that they're going to get past UMass. 37:35 I know UMass is one of the number one seeds in the regionals, but Wisconsin is playing some amazing hockey. 37:42 They're definitely not playing like a 14 seed. 37:46 They are on quite the run, and they've got all their cylinders clicking, and I think Kurt DeLuis and Mersh have really helped them and Rumpelstam on his game, and they've got some good leadership. 37:57 So I think they get out of that first game, at least. 38:04 I actually think UMass is going to win that game. 38:09 I certainly respect how Wisconsin has kind of played towards the end of the year, and the way that they've kind of lifted themselves up from their early season struggles. 38:19 But you look at how UMass has played, especially the second half of the year, I mean, they've only lost three games. 38:26 I mean, they're not exactly playing slouches out east, and they're not playing bad hockey whatsoever. 38:32 I mean, they've really what? 38:34 I think they lost one game in the last like two months or something like that. 38:38 I mean, they're certainly not playing bad hockey. 38:43 So I just really think that they've, you know, they're confident, just as confident, probably, if not more so than Wisconsin. 38:49 And I just have a feeling that, you know, they're going to come out on top in that game. 38:53 Okay, I mean, what about Denver and New Hampshire then? 38:57 You know, to me, this is like one of the trickiest games to pick. 39:00 I actually think that New Hampshire is probably going to win. 39:04 I think that Denver just seems so up and down, and, you know, they just don't seem quite like that same, you know, confident group that you sort of expect to see towards the end of the year for their club that you've seen in recent years. 39:17 And so I actually, I think that they're probably going to lose that game against New Hampshire. 39:23 What do you think, Veegs? 39:25 Yeah, I actually like New Hampshire out of this bracket. 39:27 You know, they've been a little bit up and down, but they've beaten some of the best teams in college hockey, and, you know, I think they're going to be able to pull it out because I think DU has just been too inconsistent. 39:39 They've kind of had a short roster the second half of the year, and, you know, they rely a lot on their defensemen to get their game going, and I think they've struggled a little bit with their forward play. 39:51 So I think New Hampshire probably gets out of this bracket. 39:54 What do you think, Hammead? 39:55 Can New Hampshire get past Lowell then? 39:59 You know, that'd be interesting. 40:03 I kind of feel like, you know, I like how Lowell's played. 40:07 You know, I don't really get to see a ton of their games, but I know that, you know, certainly New Hampshire's played some good teams and had success this year, but I just think that UMass has been more consistent in the second half, and so I think that I'd probably go with them out of this bracket. 40:27 They do say it's tough to sweep a team on season, and New Hampshire has beaten UMass, lol, three times. 40:34 So they're three for three. 40:37 We'll have to see. 40:39 So far you guys have not liked the WCHA teams at all. 40:43 Well, here we go off to the west, and we've got Minnesota and North Dakota about to clash, but you know what? 40:50 Hey, they got to get past Niagara, we got to get past Yale. 40:54 What's going to happen, Hammy? 40:57 That's a good question. 40:58 I mean, it's like I mentioned earlier with North Dakota, they're kind of similar to the Gophers in the sense that they've been inconsistent. 41:05 They haven't really been hitting on all cylinders. 41:09 They've had their games where they just have not been clicking at all, and so you kind of have to say to yourself, what are you going to get out of these teams? 41:19 Honestly, I mean, I think the Gophers have the better shot of the two on their first games. 41:25 I expect the Gophers to win against Yale, but they're going to definitely have to play with a little more mental toughness and a little bit more grit. 41:34 Not that Yale is necessarily going to be trying to play that clamp it down kind of stuff, but I think the Gophers will win against Yale. 41:43 I'll be interested to see how North Dakota does. 41:48 Like I said, they've kind of been a little bit up and down. 41:52 Niagara, I think that people see the name on the paper, and they think, well, that's going to be an easy game for North Dakota, but I'm not convinced that it's going to be quite that easy. 42:02 I think Niagara will certainly give them a good fight, but I think that North Dakota will more than likely win that game. 42:09 And then everybody will get their rivalry game. 42:12 Hopefully it will tie them over for a few years. 42:16 And honestly, God, I don't know how to pick that game. 42:19 I guess just being the homer, I'll pick the Gophers maybe in overtime, but I think that will be kind of a tight game. 42:27 And I think the one edge the Gophers, in my opinion, definitely have is in goal, and I think that you cannot discount how important that is this time of the year. 42:36 North Dakota has sort of been inconsistent in goal, and I think that's why you can't necessarily count Niagara out of that game, because you just don't know what you're going to get with a Gothberg or Saunders. 42:46 And so I think it will be a North Dakota-Minnesota matchup, and I think Minnesota will come on top. 42:53 All right, Vegoe, what you got? 42:57 Well, one of the things, again, Niagara's schedule, I mean, they played no one this year. 43:02 They played a series with Michigan State, I think, early in the year. 43:06 They played a couple of games against Bowling Green. 43:09 They got Clarkson for a series, but they just played no one. 43:12 So it's really hard to know what exactly they have based on who they played, and they didn't finish very well. 43:19 So I think North Dakota is going to come out of that game. 43:22 I think it's a good matchup for them, that they're not playing one of those total, total lockdown defensive teams. 43:30 And I think the same holds true for Minnesota. 43:32 They're going to be playing against a Yale team that probably likes to get up and down nice a little bit, isn't going to totally sit back and trap and defend the blue line, and is going to try to trade chances a little bit. 43:45 That's going to be good for Minnesota based on who they played their last five, six games. 43:51 They played against a lot of slow it down teams. 43:54 So I think it will be good for them to see a little bit more wide open hockey. 43:59 And then when you see Minnesota and North Dakota play, it's a little bit like watching Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. 44:04 The teams just can't help themselves, but get up and down the ice. 44:07 And I think that's going to favor Minnesota. 44:09 I think their defenseman could be the difference in that with Schmidt and Riley getting up in the play. 44:16 And I think Minnesota is going to book their ticket to Pittsburgh. 44:20 Just watch out for Niagara's goalie, though. 44:23 The kids got some numbers, and you just cannot... 44:26 I know they haven't played necessarily the great teams, but those are some pretty stellar numbers that that kid's got. 44:32 And you can't just... 44:33 And like I said, North Dakota's been inconsistent in that. 44:36 And so that's the one thing you really have to be leery of when you're at this time of the year in these one-and-done situations. 44:42 So we'll see how it goes. 44:45 I think the Gophers are going to defeat Niagara to go to the Frozen Four. 44:52 Suck it, who? 44:54 We don't care about your little team anymore. 44:58 Well, that'd be disappointing for a lot of fans, I'm sure. 45:00 It would be. 45:01 Oh, God. 45:03 I'll cry about, oh, my God, we don't get to play North Dakota. 45:06 We don't get to play the Gophers. 45:08 And we'll hear another, you know, how much whining are we going to hear for another year? 45:12 Oh, man, watching the ticket prices for the final five, leading up to that potential big Friday night game and seeing tickets go for over 200 bucks on StubHub. 45:24 And then, you know, you get down there on Friday night and you can get in two people for 25 bucks. 45:31 Buy low, sell high. 45:33 Jeez. 45:36 The Scalpers got killed this weekend. 45:38 I'm sure they did. 45:40 I'm sure they did. 45:45 Well, boys, do you have anything else for us for this week? 45:50 Nope. 45:50 Just hope that we see a strong effort from the Gophers twice this weekend. 45:55 And I think that if they play their A game, I think they'll be in the frozen four. 46:00 But we just haven't seen enough consistency to be that confident that that's what's going to happen. 46:04 It's time for the big boys to show up. 46:06 Bukestead, Howla. 46:08 We got to have these, you know, Rao. 46:10 These guys got to get on the board this weekend. 46:12 If they don't, they won't be going to the frozen four. 46:16 Well, I think the style play they'll see in Grand Rapids will match what they're looking for. 46:22 And I think they'll get goals. 46:24 They won't be in a two-nothing game. 46:26 Having to pull their goalie with 3-12 to go. 46:29 Is that what it was? 46:31 Yeah, he pulled them early. 46:32 Yeah, well, I don't blame him. 46:34 He was not happy. 46:35 I mean, that was the first time I had ever been in the box at the X, and Lucia was definitely not happy at all. 46:44 We'll see. 46:44 We hope they come out with a much better effort, because if they don't, the season's over, and I'm guessing Bukestead and Howla and whoever is going to be gone. 46:54 So, let's hope the season continues, huh, boys? 46:59 Yeah, I keep reading. 47:01 Some people think Bukestead might stay. 47:04 Really? 47:05 Some people like who? 47:08 Is Drunk Hockey Guy pulling your leg? 47:10 No, I've just seen some stuff that he might want to be a free agent. 47:15 Oh, he doesn't want to go to Florida. 47:19 But who is saying it is what I'm saying. 47:21 I've seen some stuff out there. 47:23 There's no one obviously in the Bukestead family giving me a call. 47:27 I'm saying anybody credible from a media standpoint is what I'm saying. 47:30 Yeah, it wasn't me. 47:32 I haven't seen anything personally, but I'm just curious, are we talking about a Bob McKenzie type of media person, or are we talking about Joe Blow who's got a Twitter account? 47:43 Is that Bob McKenzie? 47:49 All right, boys. 47:49 Well, remember, you can always follow Hammy on Twitter, at Hammy Hockey, and you can follow Vego on Twitter as well, at eVego. 47:58 We'll be back next week, hopefully on Tuesday, as long as Hammy doesn't have a hot date or something. 48:06 And we'll either be talking about Frozen 4 or recapping the season, which we definitely do not want to do. 48:15 Until then, thanks for listening. 48:18 Snag.