0:22 Now, let's join Hammy, Vego and the Fat Planet, being Jupiter. 0:37 Well, good evening, GPL-ers and folks out there in the podcast land. 0:44 Little new intro for you. 0:45 I got bored with the old ones, so decided to record a new one. 0:50 Yeah, I was gonna say, it looks like you had a little extra production time. 0:54 Yeah. 0:56 Oh, God, I was really getting sick of that other stuff, and here's, there's a problem, Hammy, with this whole thing. 1:02 You can only use certain music on podcasts and not get busted. 1:07 If they hear like a song from, like you hear on the radio or something like that, they can come down on you and shut you down. 1:12 So I have to use this canned music that is part of GarageBand for Apple. 1:19 And most of it's pretty cheesy, but what can you do? 1:22 There's gotta be some GPLers out there that are like musically inclined. 1:27 You're musically inclined, aren't you? 1:30 You're a guitarist. 1:31 We'll have you come over, we'll record a nice riff and add some drums and make it sound good. 1:38 I'll get out my Casio keyboard and. 1:40 Are you gonna play like, you know, some like Beverly Hills Cop kind of music or something like that? 1:49 Is that what they played back when Jefferson was going to tourney? 1:52 Wow. 1:55 Thanks, Veegs. 1:56 That's what I'm here for. 1:58 Yeah, I know. 1:59 Jefferson used to go to the tourney. 2:01 That doesn't really happen anymore. 2:03 Yeah. 2:04 Oh, well. 2:05 Well, here we are, guys. 2:07 The number one rated team in the nation. 2:10 I know it's probably something none of us really wanted, but it's here. 2:15 Your thoughts, Vegoe? 2:18 Why not number one? 2:19 I mean, Minnesota's got a lot of history and they're looking like they've reloaded with some talented freshmen. 2:25 And, you know, might as well get out of the way early and get the ranking and see how the kids react. 2:31 And, you know, it is going to be important where they are at the end of the season. 2:34 So this doesn't mean much now, but it'll be fun for them to be the kings for a bit. 2:42 What do you think, Hammeh? 2:43 Number one. 2:45 Well, I think honestly, I think the fans kind of need to start embracing expectations a little more, quite frankly, because I think after that little slump we had for, you know, whatever it was, two or three seasons, whatever, I kind of feel that people got a little gun-shy in terms of their expectations of Gopher Hockey, and I think it's time that we start to kind of embrace some of these kinds of expectations and expect a little bit more from what we've got. 3:13 So I don't see a problem with that. 3:15 I think that we're not gonna keep it all year, of course. 3:17 We're gonna lose some games and somebody else will take over the number one ranking, and it's not that big of a deal one way or the other. 3:25 It's just, you know, a discussion point. 3:26 We've talked about it before. 3:27 And that's what I think it is. 3:28 It's really not that big of a deal. 3:30 You know, we are early in the season. 3:32 There's USCHO and USA Today, they just have to rank somebody. 3:39 So, you know, it's early. 3:41 I don't think it really matters too much. 3:43 We'll see how the team reacts. 3:44 But it's just so early. 3:46 You know, come back and, you know, maybe mid-November when some teams have played each other and, you know, we've played four games. 3:54 It's just really not a gauge of where the team is right now. 3:56 So, that's how I feel. 4:01 BSU, Vegoe, what are your thoughts? 4:05 Didn't play so bad. 4:06 We thought it might be a tough beginning up there in Bemidji, but worked out pretty well. 4:11 Well, the cliche is that Minnesota struggles with the Bemidji style. 4:15 And I think both games, Minnesota came out a little bit sloppier than they would have liked. 4:20 Kind of slow starts to both games. 4:22 But I think the important thing is that the Gophers found their game at some point and were able to get some goals. 4:30 Bemidji was able to shut down the ice a little bit more effectively Saturday night than they were Friday night. 4:37 I think Friday was a little more run and gun. 4:40 But the Gophers showed that they could play both games. 4:42 I was really impressed with the way they used their speed once they were in the zone. 4:47 I think when you're playing a team that traps, like Bemidji was trying to do, the tendency is to dump in the puck, try to get it back, and then if you don't, you gotta start all over again. 4:57 I think one of the things that Minnesota was really able to do was to gain the zone and then create some pressure at the net. 5:04 And they're gonna need to do that against a lot of the teams this year. 5:09 Hamme, it kinda started off the same way in both games. 5:12 Early penalties for the Gophers, kinda a little bit undisciplined, but they did recover pretty darn well. 5:19 Yeah, I mean, it's obviously not how you wanna start off games on the road. 5:22 You certainly wanna start off on the right foot. 5:25 I think, in some sense, it was fortunate that we were playing a team that maybe isn't quite as deep and as talented and so on and so forth. 5:33 So we're not gonna really dig ourselves a major hole. 5:37 You know Bemidji's gonna come out and play hard, especially in their home opener. 5:40 And Seratori always has his team ready. 5:43 They might not have the talent, but they certainly always play hard. 5:47 So you can't be totally shocked by the fact that they kind of jumped out to a lead. 5:52 But nonetheless, it's great to see the guys recover and kind of keep their foot on the pedal the whole way. 5:57 Who wants to talk about the emergence of Sam Warning? 6:02 Well, I mean, I think it's not a huge shock. 6:05 I mean, he played very well his last year in the USHL. 6:08 And I think he always had that ability. 6:10 He got a little bit slowed down last year with some injury stuff. 6:15 And I just think that now that he's an upperclassman and he's playing with some good players on his line, you know, in a top line situation, I mean, I think that he's been a good goal scorer in the past. 6:27 So it shouldn't be too huge of a shock, but it's really nice to see him step up. 6:31 And Vegoe, it looks like, you know, we finally got Camerana on the board, you know, Saturday night. 6:36 And we've pretty much gotten everyone on the scoreboard except for just a few people. 6:41 And Lucia's got to like that, you know, getting everyone going. 6:47 Yeah, every year he seems to talk about we need the guys, you know, sophomores, juniors are merged and take that next step and get to the next level. 6:54 And this year, he's got guys who are making that step, hopefully. 6:58 So far in the first couple of weekends, they have, you know, you look at the top six and all six players look like they deserve to be there. 7:07 And then there's a lot of competition for the bottom six. 7:09 I think there's going to be some talented players watching the game from up top this season because, you know, that does look like they have depth and they've got a lot of guys who can skate. 7:19 So they're going to have that kind of problem all year long, it looks like. 7:23 Remember, if you're listening live, we'll take your tweets at GopherPuckLive. 7:28 We'll try to get to them if we can. 7:29 Of course, you could always tweet at Hammy Hockey or at Evigo and one of us will read it and try to answer your questions if we can. 7:40 Fellows, well, it was a good weekend in Bemidji. 7:44 I really can't be upset about anything that happened. 7:46 Obviously, a couple of dumb penalties that I always get upset with, but really it was a good weekend on the road. 7:51 And of course, the announcers all weekend saying, hey, the Gophers played well on small ice, so that part is good. 7:57 Anything else that jumps out at you for the weekend? 7:59 Any player, anything good, bad? 8:02 Your final thoughts on the weekend? 8:05 Hammy? 8:06 Well, I think I mentioned this on GPL. 8:08 I was really happy to see how the guys kind of kept their foot on the pedal as the game, you know, on the third period, and kind of, you know, we had leads, but we kept continuing to try to score and push it as opposed to kind of go back in that defensive shell and just dump it in and have four guys back and just, you know, protect the lead. 8:26 I really like, you know, whether in any sport, I really like when I see a team stay aggressive till the end of the game, even if they've got the lead. 8:33 So I thought that was encouraging, and hopefully it will keep that up. 8:36 You know, speaking of that, you know, that's one thing that Lucia's been talking about for years. 8:40 Getting that next goal, getting that, you know, just keep pushing. 8:43 And it's one thing they've struggled with for the last two or three years. 8:46 So I think, you know, your point there is very important. 8:50 Yeah, I mean, I just think that if you want to win games, you know, more often than not, you kind of have to stay with that kind of mentality. 8:57 When you see kind of going into that prevent defense to use a football terminology, you know, I think that that's when you sometimes tend to make mistakes. 9:05 And so I kind of like to see them stay with their foot on the pedal. 9:08 And the other thing I liked was I really liked what we saw Jake Bischoff. 9:12 I thought he really looked good on Saturday. 9:14 You know, that one particular kind of transition play that he made on that pass up to, I think it was Fashing, and then we scored the goal on that particular play. 9:24 I thought that was a really nice play. 9:26 And he's looking better than I expected, so that was nice to see. 9:31 Anything bad on the weekend, Vegoe? 9:34 Well, the penalty kill is still obviously a little bit of a concern. 9:38 They've been taking some penalties, and they're not the good penalties either. 9:42 It's being careless with your stick and getting caught in someone's skates, or they had too many men on the ice. 9:48 Tripping a goalie. 9:50 Yeah, tripping a goalie. 9:52 Those are just things that you have to be conscious of, because maybe they're not going to go four for five, three for five, but the team they have come to town this weekend, BC, you give them a lot of power play chances, and they've got a lot of talent that can beat you. 10:07 And, you know, Wilcox wasn't spotless on the ELO goal. 10:11 I mean, he was set, saw the shot, and didn't make the save, so he can bail the team out in a big game. 10:19 Didn't come back to bite on this weekend, but they're going to have to be conscious of that. 10:25 Well, speaking of Boston College and Boston schools, our old friends to the east didn't have such a good weekend out in Boston. 10:38 Wisconsin getting killed 9-2 versus BC and 7-3 versus Boston University. 10:44 You know, Hammy earlier in the season says, you know, the Big Ten coaches picked them to win, and people seemed to like it because they had quite a few guys coming back. 10:53 How did they get their asses handed to them so bad? 10:57 Well, I mean, I didn't see the games, so I can't say it. 11:00 With firsthand knowledge, I mean, I think that from what I've read, I think some of it is just, you know, at least in the BC game, was just their superior speed and having a real difficult time kind of containing that. 11:13 I think that, you know, I don't, I never had a problem with where Wisconsin was ranked coming into the season simply because of that veteran presence that they had. 11:23 I did frankly think that there was a part of that that was a little bit overrated based on their second half last year. 11:30 You know, they had a good second half as far as their record went, but they didn't really play many really good teams over that stretch. 11:39 I mean, they did, of course, at the final five and all that. 11:42 So they kind of won games that you, for the most part, thought they would win because I didn't think their schedule was particularly strong. 11:49 So I thought a little bit of that was overrated, but nonetheless, they had a lot of veterans coming back. 11:54 So you kind of had to give them that tip of the hat with the rankings. 11:57 And I don't know, but it sounded like it was part goaltending and then part just having a difficult time with some of the speed that they encountered. 12:06 Old Angie Johnson out of Buckeye's fifth quarter wants to know if we can hold Boston College to under nine goals a night. 12:12 He'd like to hang up and listen to our answer. 12:15 Yeah, well, I think the one thing that the Gophers are better equipped than Wisconsin to probably handle is that kind of speed and transition game. 12:24 I think Wisconsin tends to be a little bit more that kind of, at least the way they're built right now, they seem to have a little more of that size variable. 12:32 And I don't know, it just seems like maybe they're going to struggle with some of the quicker teams. 12:36 We'll have to see. 12:37 Well, and you saw the quote from me, it's actually a game that, you know, Wisconsin got down, they started pressing, and anytime you start making turnovers at the off of the blue line, you know, top of the circles, and you let a team like BC get back and transition on you when you've got three or four guys caught below the circles, you're going to be in trouble. 12:55 I mean, you don't want to be giving dying hockey breakaways tonight. 13:01 We're starting to lose you, Vego. 13:05 Vego is cutting out. 13:08 You in the Honda still? 13:10 I've got... 13:11 Yeah, you sound great. 13:13 Not really. 13:14 I've got the purchase agreement signed. 13:17 Get the plug directly in and not use that Wi-Fi. 13:20 Yeah, we can't wait because you've been cutting out. 13:22 Now you really started cutting out. 13:25 Oh, well. 13:26 Are you still there, Vego? 13:28 I'm still here. 13:30 Okay. 13:31 The new headset. 13:32 I think it's causing you problems. 13:35 I'd like to upgrade my equipment. 13:38 Well, I'd like to upgrade my equipment, but Apple is preventing me right now, but that's another rant and I don't want to get pissed right now. 13:46 So obviously, Wisconsin had a terrible weekend out in Boston, obviously getting killed. 13:50 Let me see what else. 13:52 Michigan, they got a tie and an overtime win against New Hampshire. 13:57 The rest of the Big Ten didn't do so well. 14:00 Air Force sweeping Penn State. 14:04 Michigan State struggling as well. 14:07 Hammy, any thoughts on the rest of the Big Ten this past weekend? 14:11 Well, from what I recall, it was pretty much all road games, wasn't it, for most of the Big Ten? 14:17 Some of that you have to kind of expect. 14:19 It's going to be not a raving success for a weekend, of course, depends on the competition. 14:24 And they all played pretty good teams. 14:28 These teams that were on par for the most part. 14:31 So I think that that's going to be part of the equation. 14:35 We'll have to see. 14:36 It's early in the season. 14:37 Some teams are going to get better as time goes along. 14:41 Obviously, the big shocker, of course, was how Wisconsin performed out East. 14:45 Vegoe, any thoughts on the rest of the Big Ten? 14:47 No, I mean, Michigan had a good game. 14:51 They probably should have won. 14:55 And then you mentioned... 14:59 You're breaking up. 15:01 We can't hear you. 15:06 Oh, boy, Vegoe. 15:07 We're having a hard time hearing you tonight. 15:09 But we'll laugh at you instead. 15:13 It could be. 15:14 It's that new headset, I tell you. 15:16 You're just cutting in and out like crazy. 15:19 Who needs you, huh? 15:21 Just kidding, Veegs. 15:22 Just kidding. 15:24 All right, Hammy, we've got one question from Mike Wheeler who's via Twitter. 15:27 He's wondering what incoming freshman or recruit should we be most excited about? 15:34 I'm assuming he's talking about next year because we're excited about everybody this year, but who's next year should we be excited about coming in? 15:44 Well, I mean, we're not going to have a huge recruiting class next year because we really don't have massive needs and we're not losing a tremendous amount with regard to the current team, at least unless there's some real unexpected departures, but for the most part, the two guys that, probably at least right now that would stand out would be the two kids from the US program because you got Collins and you got Glover, who are both really good defensemen and they bring different things to the table. 16:14 Collins is more of a raw, tall, defensive, defenseman type and Glover is more of a two-way kind of a guy, more of maybe some of that traditional offensive defenseman that the Gophers have been known for over the years that can bring some offense but also play really good defense. 16:32 So I would probably say those two guys. 16:35 I don't know if he means down the road or not because there's certainly some real slick forwards and of course Ryan Lindgren is a great defensive prospect but he's not going to be on campus for several years. 16:50 I don't know what exactly he's looking for for a response but as far as next year goes, it would probably be those two defensemen. 16:57 So otherwise, they're sitting pretty good right now. 17:00 Yeah, unless we... 17:02 I'm sure the coaches have a pretty good feel for that we're not going to lose any guys unexpectedly. 17:07 So I'm sure that they'll... 17:09 I'm sure that they're trying to fill maybe one additional forward spot for next year. 17:14 I don't know for sure, but I would guess that. 17:16 And Ramsey is kind of in there who's kind of a flex guy who could come in next year or the year after depending on needs. 17:23 Is Fashing a threat to Leaf with his size? 17:27 Oh, boy. 17:28 If you asked me that before the season, I'd be like, yeah, I don't think he'd be gone for at least three seasons because he wasn't really, I think a lot of people questioned if he was going to be hitting some of the offensive numbers that you kind of really had hoped for a few years ago because he didn't have these big numbers that maybe a lot of people might have expected at the US program. 17:51 But given the way he's performed early on in a season and how inspired he's been and how hard he's gone to the net and kind of played that, I've been really surprised at how quick he's been for a big guy. 18:03 He's skated really well. 18:06 I'm happy for the kid because I think he had some doubters and he's kind of proven them wrong early on and hopefully he continues on. 18:13 But yeah, the way he's going, you kind of have to wonder if he's gonna be one of those guys that leave after, I don't think he'll leave after this year, but maybe two years if he continues improving that, the rate that he has so far. 18:26 You back with us, Vego? 18:28 Yeah, I think so. 18:28 I got most of that. 18:34 The Honda's causing problems, isn't it? 18:36 Well, I live by some train tracks, and I sometimes think that affects my wireless. 18:40 I'm not gonna lie. 18:44 The train, the train. 18:48 All right, boys, let's move on to this week. 18:51 Obviously, I don't really see too much going on in the Big Ten that excites me. 18:57 You know, Mass Lowell is playing at Michigan State, Robert Morris at Ohio State, RIT at Penn State. 19:04 All of those are kind of boring for me, I mean, but it does look like Boston University is coming in to play Michigan and Michigan State. 19:15 Any of that excite you guys? 19:18 It's just not the WCHA, is it? 19:21 It's just hard to get excited so far for me. 19:24 Well, I think the problem is that we don't really start the conference stuff until down the road, and so we don't have that kind of real connection quite yet, you know. 19:33 Plus quite a few of them really stink. 19:37 Right, I just think until we get to that point in the year, we're going to be so focused on just what we're doing for our own team and non-conference play that some of the other teams just aren't. 19:47 I mean, frankly, I haven't thought a lot about even the old WCHA teams that we used to play, like the North Dakotas or St. 19:57 Clouds or Duluths. 19:58 I mean, I barely even pay attention to them any longer, and it's not because obviously they're not any good or anything like that. 20:03 It's just that it's sort of out of sight, out of mind. 20:06 Until we get into conference play, I think that's probably going to be the way a lot of fans look at it. 20:11 Well, we got to at least have those fine WCHA refs last weekend. 20:16 It was nice to see Brad Shepard again. 20:19 Not really. 20:19 I think it's kind of funny. 20:21 I look around the net and I still see, how the hell did that call happen? 20:26 Blah, blah, blah. 20:27 I'm thinking to myself, what happened to that great review system and all this wonderful new refs that you at national college hockey conference types are going to have and blah, blah? 20:37 Like I've said, they're still going to whine about the refs, and it's always going to be that way. 20:43 Wasn't there a five-minute major against, oh, the poor who this weekend? 20:47 And oh, no, they lost. 20:49 And oh, jeez, I just, I've never seen much more whiners than those guys about refereeing. 20:54 It's just amazing. 20:56 I think it's kind of a critique on all sports fans, to be honest, though. 21:01 I mean, the ref, the refereeing is never going to be perfect. 21:03 It's part of the game. 21:04 And, you know, it's a tough job, and I wouldn't want to do it. 21:09 I reffed a peewee game once, and I was like, I never want to do this again. 21:14 I was coaching and I was reffing the team scrimmages. 21:16 I was like, I hate this. 21:17 I want to be back in the box, you know? 21:19 It's just, it's not my thing, and I think those guys have a tough job. 21:24 Any of those Big Ten games thrill you this weekend, Vegoe? 21:28 Not really. 21:28 I mean, I think it's a little bit like Big Ten football, where, you know, there are the non-conference games to be excited about. 21:35 I am interested to see how Michigan does. 21:37 You know, they've been playing a pretty tough schedule so far, and so that'll be interesting to get some results out of there. 21:44 It would be nice to see some more of these games on TV. 21:46 You know, I watched a little bit of the Duluth CC game last weekend, and, you know, when you're used to the Gophers, you're used to all the games being on TV, but these other college hockey programs just don't have that. 22:00 They definitely do not. 22:03 The only other thing I wanted to talk about this week, you know, about this past weekend is, you know, obviously they did kick off the national. 22:12 Miami and North Dakota played. 22:15 They split that weekend. 22:16 It looks like CC and Duluth split. 22:22 I just couldn't get that excited about that either. 22:26 Yeah, I mean, like I said, I guess it's partly because we're just not competing with them for the same things any longer, you know, as far as during the regular season. 22:37 And it just, you know, I don't even, I don't care if North Dakota splits, sweeps, gets swept, I just, you know, or whoever, because it just doesn't really have much of an impact on us when all is said and done. 22:49 You know, maybe in the end of the season, when you're kind of looking at the pair wise, it might be a little different, of course, but right now you don't know how that's going to shake out. 22:57 So it's kind of like, I don't care. 22:59 And really that's kind of the only down part right now that we have, you know, we're so used to the WCHA. 23:04 We would be completely following those other games. 23:08 This is very new to us. 23:10 Our conference hasn't started yet. 23:13 We're kind of in limbo right now. 23:17 Yeah, I just, it's just not that thrilling, you know, right now because we just haven't faced the teams that we're going to be going up against for trophies, you know, at the end of the year. 23:27 We just haven't hit that point yet. 23:29 And so we're just going to have to deal with it in the meantime. 23:32 But at the same time, I am excited to see them play teams like UNH and BC. 23:36 You know, that's good for the schedule and get those teams in the rink. 23:40 Well, and that's definitely true. 23:42 And I think that we're just not accustomed, I don't think anybody is going to be accustomed to the fact that we're going to have so many more non-conference games, whether it's our Big Ten teams or whether it's NCHC teams or whoever, there's going to be a greater amount of non-conference. 23:59 And I think that's going to take some time for fans in general to get used to. 24:03 Well, obviously, the non-conference schedule continues this week. 24:08 And the BC Eagles are coming in to Mariucci Arena for Friday and Sunday games. 24:15 Hammy, are they going to be in for revenge after that shellacking we put on them last year without Johnny Hockey? 24:24 Are you excited? 24:27 Well, I mean, BC is a great program. 24:30 They've been probably the most successful program in the last 10 years. 24:33 And you have to tip your hat to them on that success. 24:35 And certainly, they're a well-coached team with Jerry York. 24:38 He's one of the best coaches out there. 24:41 So you kind of have to tip your hat to them in that regard. 24:43 And they play a fun style of hockey, a style that's very similar to how the Gophers play. 24:50 So you got to expect it to be a well-offensive series, a really strong offensively, and some fast skating, some playmakers on both sides. 25:02 Frankly, it probably is going to come down to goaltending, because you know both teams have offense. 25:07 And it's just a matter of who's going to step up to the plate and make those big saves when they're needed. 25:12 And I think that I do believe the Gophers have a little bit of an advantage in that regard with Wilcox. 25:17 And being on home ice, too, helps. 25:19 But we'll see how it shakes out. 25:22 Vegoe, is this going to be some racehorse hockey this weekend, just what we like? 25:27 Well, I think it will be very entertaining. 25:29 I think it's going to help that they're going to be playing on the big ice. 25:32 And I know BC's got kind of a lineup like Minnesota's. 25:36 You know, they've got a mix of some smaller fast players in their lineup. 25:40 And they've got some youth that they've injected in the lineup. 25:43 So I think that will be, you know, really interesting to see how that plays out. 25:47 They've got the big goalie recruit, Thatcher Demko, who came in with the development team and really impressed. 25:54 So it'll be interesting to see him. 25:56 And, you know, to see Johnny Hockey in person will be fun. 25:59 You know, he's kind of a guy like Camerata, where he's a smaller guy, real crafty on the puck. 26:05 And with all that extra space, it'll be fun to watch him play as well. 26:09 I'm actually excited to see him play. 26:11 You know, I saw him a little bit at the Frozen Four in Tampa a few years ago. 26:15 And you know, he pretty much finished off that game with spectacular move and a spectacular goal. 26:22 He's definitely good for college hockey right now because he's a great player. 26:28 Well, and I think that that's the kind of kid that we're going to see a little bit more of in college, because I really think that, you know, we're not going to ignore certainly the pro prospects. 26:37 I don't think any program is going to ignore those types of guys. 26:40 But I think that we're going to see more and more of teams thinking strategically about, you know, what's our roster going to be like over the course of three, four years, as opposed to thinking, you know, well, we might have this guy one year, we might have this guy two years. 26:53 I think coaches are kind of starting to realize that, you know, this is not helping the continuity of our program to, you know, load up on some of these NHL types that are going to be gone after a year or two. 27:03 And so some of these smaller, you know, really skilled, smart players, they're going to be, I think, a little bit more of a factor in college moving forward. 27:14 Well, I think this is going to be a split weekend. 27:17 I think these are two great teams. 27:21 I think these games could go either way. 27:23 I'm predicting a split. 27:25 That's just my feeling. 27:26 I think, you know, BC might be a little angry at what happened at Mariucci last year, and I think they're going to squeak out one of the games. 27:34 What do you think, Hammeh? 27:35 How is this going to turn out? 27:38 Well, I mean, I think that a little bit of the revenge factor is minimized simply because they have a very large freshman class at BC that, you know, weren't around for any of that. 27:48 So I think there's a little bit of that revenge factor that might be overrated. 27:54 Certainly, I'm sure some of the upperclassmen will try to get those guys keyed up because of something like that, but I think that at the same time it's a little overrated, you know, especially, you know, when you're not around, you just don't have that necessarily, that strong attachment to a result. 28:09 I don't know that that's going to be quite as big of a factor. 28:11 I think it's just going to be, for them, exciting to come in and play, you know, the number one ranked team on their ice and, you know, kind of inspired to maybe pull off an upset, even though, you know, BC is certainly as talented, you know, I think, as we are, so it's not necessarily an upset unless you're just strictly looking at the rankings. 28:30 What do you think, Vegoe? 28:33 Well, I wouldn't be surprised if we split, but I'd be predicting a sweep for the Gophers. 28:40 I will say the last year wasn't as big of a blowout as the score indicated. 28:44 You know, it was a real tight back-and-forth game for the first probably 25, 30 minutes, and, you know, BC was missing Johnny Hockey and a couple other guys, I think, and so that made it really tough on them once they got down. 28:57 And it wasn't like the Gophers were dominating play last year, in that game. 29:02 So, Don Luchillo said BC is probably the best team in the country after the Bemidji Series trying to, you know, tempering expectations, but I think Minnesota's got it rolling right now, and I think with the Olympic ice, they'll be able to get some scoring chances, and they showed that they can play a tight game and an open game already this season. 29:23 You kind of petered out at the end there. 29:31 I think that, you know, I understand why Coach Luchillo kind of downplays the ranking stuff and all that, especially with the young team, but like I said earlier, I think that the fans should embrace it, that should be excited about this program this year and this team because there's a lot of talent, there's a lot of depth. 29:48 The first line, you know, those guys are playing great together, warning and row and fashing. 29:53 You saw the second line start to click last weekend. 29:56 It was great to see Clues going to bust through and Cammy's score and, you know, those guys kind of becoming more effective. 30:03 I think that our bottom two lines are kind of chipping in and I think that we have, you know, somebody like Gertler kind of waiting in the wings. 30:10 I think he'll contribute when he gets the, you know, the go-ahead and I just think there's a lot to be excited about and that's the fans need to kind of embrace those expectations as opposed to kind of shine away from it. 30:21 Well, Friday's game is going to be on the Big Ten Network, so make sure you find that. 30:26 Sunday's game will be on Fox Sports North, but one interesting thing is this weekend, if you have the BTN to Go app, you can stream these games on your iPhone, your Android. 30:39 You can stream both games, and I think you can even go to the BTN to Go website and watch the games online. 30:45 Of course, you have to have a provider that allows that type of access, but something different that's going to be happening more often this year, you'll be able to stream the games live. 30:56 So that's one thing to look forward to. 30:59 All right, boys, I thought we'd keep it short this week. 31:01 Any other final thoughts on the weekend, Vegoe? 31:03 No, it would just be interesting to see how the third and fourth lines work out, and that third defensive pair, Lucia's kind of been shuffling some guys in and out of the lineup, but I think, you know, with BC being as high-profile a game as it is, he might go with what he considers his best lineup for both nights. 31:27 So that will be interesting to see, and especially Friday, what you can look for there. 31:30 I'm petering out again, aren't I? 31:33 No, not at all. 31:34 I heard some chuckling. 31:36 Yeah, you're petering out a little bit. 31:39 We heard most of it, though. 31:41 I did get a question on Twitter, someone was asking when Gabe Gertler was going to be back, and I didn't hear the Lucio radio show last night, but it sounded like he had mentioned that Gertler was doing pretty well in practice, had been keeping his nose clean, and that he would probably get the opportunity to play, not this series, but the series after that. 32:02 So that would be what we'll be targeting, it looks like. 32:06 Who goes out when he comes in? 32:09 Good question. 32:10 I think, my opinion, I've said this before, I think probably somebody on the third line. 32:17 I don't really see him as a fourth line type of guy. 32:20 I think he brings more offense to the table. 32:23 I'd kind of like to see him paired up with Vinny, maybe on a third line role. 32:27 I don't know who they'd sit in that situation, but that would be my opinion. 32:36 Well, I think that's going to about do it for us this week, boys. 32:39 Quick one. 32:41 Yeah, you know, sometimes it's just not as much going on. 32:44 I'm thinking next week we're going to be taking the week off, since the Gophers will be taking the week off. 32:49 We'll be back to wrap up BC and preview a trip to Notre Dame, which is looking like a pretty good series as well coming up. 33:00 As for the podcast itself, you know, we might be looking at doing a few different things. 33:05 I'm looking at maybe taking audio questions or even maybe even live calls. 33:11 I'm going to have to look into some of the technology with that, but we might have some new things coming. 33:17 Looks like Channel 11's Dave Schwartz is interested in coming on the podcast, which could be an interesting guest. 33:23 You know, we could grill him about all the people at Channel 11 if we want. 33:28 I know that's what you wanted to do, Hammy. 33:30 Yeah, well, you know, we could ask him about... 33:32 Julie Nelson, because I think... 33:34 Reena Sarjanopoulos. 33:35 Oh, I'm more of a Julie Nelson guy. 33:38 Let's just not talk about the Vikings. 33:40 I get enough of that from you guys on Twitter. 33:43 Hey, I like to rip the Vikings on Twitter. 33:47 I have fun, and I just love it when people go, Stick the Hockey! 33:51 Yeah, screw you people. 33:52 I always lose... 33:53 Unsubscribe. 33:54 I always lose at least like two or three people on Vikings game day, because I just complain. 34:01 So I realize that I just might as well not say anything, because I mean, I just get pissed anyway, so why even talk? 34:08 Yeah, they're definitely hard to watch, but I just like to have a few little smart aleck comments and just get people worked up, you know. 34:17 It's kind of fun, so I do it. 34:21 All right, that's it for this week for The GPL Podcast. 34:24 Remember, you can always follow Hammy on Twitter, at Hammy Hockey, and follow Vegoe on Twitter as well, at eVegoe. 34:31 Of course, you're always following GPL at GopherPuckLive. 34:35 That's it for this week's show. 34:36 We'll be back to wrap up BC in a couple weeks and preview Notre Dame. 34:42 Until then, take it easy.