0:22 And now, let's join Hammy, Vegoe and your host, Jupiter. 0:27 Let's kick this thing off with a little dedication for Hammy. 0:38 Nice. 0:45 How you doing, Hammy? 0:47 I was gonna say, where's the dude with the big mustache? 0:52 It's Movember. 0:54 Yeah. 0:57 Well, hello, fellas. 0:58 How's it going? 0:59 Especially you, Ham. 1:00 You feeling good after that little intro for you? 1:03 Oh yeah, you know, I'm right in the mood now. 1:04 I don't know what I'm in the mood for, if it's for hockey or what. 1:07 I'm in the mood. 1:09 And I take it you are specking the old Honda, or aren't you there, Vegoe? 1:14 I'm actually in the Equinox tonight. 1:16 Oh, you're upgrading. 1:18 Upgrading. 1:20 House is looking good though, end of December. 1:22 So by January, I'll have a podcasting room. 1:26 So I was looking, does it look like you were buying a partially built one and they're finishing building it up or something like that? 1:31 What's going on with that? 1:32 Yeah, there was like some buffer land on the property in Northeast Minneapolis. 1:36 And there's a local guy who got ahold of it. 1:39 And he started building on the lot and it came on MLS and we jumped on it. 1:45 So we're in the midst of picking out things for the home. 1:48 So floor, tile, faucets, you know, all that stuff. 1:53 Yeah, I did the same thing back in 1998, 99. 2:00 We built a house out in the sticks and yeah, it's a lot of work when you're doing all that stuff. 2:04 Well, I'm gonna be right in the city and I'm right across from Wyndham Park and I see that there's a hockey rink going up, basically right across from my front porch. 2:14 So that's pretty exciting. 2:15 GPL outdoor skate. 2:17 Oh, for sure. 2:19 Right there, podcast from the hockey rink. 2:22 We can do it. 2:25 All right, boys, well, we took the week off because the Gophers didn't play last weekend, but the previous weekend, they certainly did play and it was a 3-3 tie with Boston College and then a nice 6-1 win over Boston College. 2:40 Let's get your initial thoughts, Hammeh. 2:41 You know, good, that first game, that first period, second period, some of the best hockey that anybody's seen at Mariucci in a long time. 2:51 Yeah, I mean, I think we kind of knew going into it, Boston College obviously has a pretty successful track record and you know the kind of style that they play. 2:59 They're very kind of wide open. 3:01 They like to push the puck and they got the kinds of players that are, you know, the talent that can do that kind of game. 3:06 And so you kind of knew what you were going to be getting into coming in this series. 3:10 And it certainly didn't disappoint, especially, you know, that that first period was very wide open, probably a little more wide open than they really wanted it to be. 3:17 But yeah, it was definitely fun. 3:20 Yeah, it was definitely very entertaining. 3:23 Vegoe, what do you think? 3:25 Well, I thought it was everything that the series was built up to be. 3:28 I mean, two of the top programs in college hockey, great teams in transition both ways. 3:34 I think, especially on Sunday, Minnesota really was able to get in transition and get that fourth player activated with the defenseman joining the rush. 3:45 And it was a lot of fun to watch and showed a lot of the potential that the Gopher team has this year to do things, even against top teams. 3:54 Vegoe, what are your thoughts on the illegal play by the Boston College player in overtime? 4:02 When he literally grabbed the puck and kind of threw it as it was about to cross the line. 4:07 I understand if the ruling is, if the ref didn't see it when it happened, he can't go back and call a penalty on that during the replay. 4:18 But it's kind of too bad that he missed what should have been a penalty shot. 4:23 Yeah, I think it should have been a penalty shot, closing your hand on a puck in the crease. 4:27 That should be the call. 4:28 But I think really it just happened so quickly and so fast that the official had no idea exactly what happened. 4:35 And you could see when he went over and explained it to Lucia, and then he didn't get the hand pass call even. 4:41 He was kind of surprised. 4:44 So I think that was how confused and excited the refs were. 4:48 They blew it, but it's going to go down as a tie. 4:52 And that's fine. 4:54 Well, it looks like Marco Hunt was skating up to play, and he was just coming into the side as it happened. 5:01 So I can easily see how he missed it. 5:04 It happened so it was very bang bang type of play. 5:07 And it's hard to get upset if he misses something like a blink of an eye like that. 5:13 Like I said, he can't go back to the replay and say, you know, that's a penalty. 5:17 It's just the way the rules are set up. 5:18 So it's unfortunate that he didn't see it, but life goes on, huh, Hammeh? 5:23 What did you think of that play? 5:26 Well, I mean, I agree. 5:27 I mean, there's not a lot you can complain about in that situation. 5:30 I mean, the refs are human. 5:32 And yeah, it's disappointing that the thing that I kind of thought was funny is just the fact that some people were like, oh, well, did he close his hand around it? 5:40 You know, and so like they're trying to excuse the play. 5:43 I'm like, well, I don't know anybody that can actually catch something with two hands and then take it without dropping the puck and then throw it directly behind you. 5:52 It's like, I don't know how you can possibly do that without catching and grabbing the puck. 5:57 So I thought that that was a little laughable that anybody even suggested that. 6:01 I'm like, that'd be quite the circus feat. 6:03 But yeah, I mean, what can you do? 6:05 Sometimes the refs miss something and unfortunately just kind of came at a really key moment in the game. 6:10 And but those things happen. 6:12 And at least it wasn't in an NCAA game, right? 6:14 So yeah, that is true. 6:15 But, you know, we all saw the replay from overhead. 6:18 It was a slow motion. 6:19 I'm guessing when it happened live, it did happen so quickly. 6:22 And I remember being at the opposite end. 6:24 All of a sudden, I had no idea what even happened. 6:28 So I can't really fault the ref on that. 6:31 Obviously, a lot of fans aren't big fans of Marco Hunt. 6:35 But you really just can't fault him for that call. 6:37 He just happened so fast, he didn't see it. 6:40 And that's just the way it goes. 6:43 Just the way it goes. 6:44 Well, Sunday, guys, 6-1 drubbing of the Boston College Eagles. 6:50 Hammy, not quite what we thought. 6:53 Probably closer than the actual score. 6:55 But it did solidify our number one ranking. 7:00 I mean, I thought, you know, really to me, the key of the game was the fact that we finished better than BC did. 7:08 You know what I mean? 7:09 I was reading kind of some of the post-game analysis from the BC side of things. 7:15 I don't know what the website is. 7:16 But I thought their writer was a little overly critical of BC's goalie that day. 7:22 Because if you really look at, especially in the first period, you had Condon coming in almost on a mini breakaway. 7:29 You had Ambrose left alone completely in front of the net to tip a shot and then get the rebound in. 7:36 Riley came across the middle and just totally sniped one in the slot. 7:40 And same with Shea coming up the slot. 7:42 So I mean, I don't think most goalies would have stopped those shots. 7:46 So I just think that it was just a matter of the Gophers really finished well that day. 7:51 And fortunately our goalie, like he has been for most of his college career, is really on. 7:57 Well Vegoe, it was an entertaining weekend. 7:59 Obviously 3-3 game was really great. 8:02 6-1 is always great. 8:05 But the power play is not looking so great. 8:07 It was, I believe, 0 for the weekend, weren't they? 8:10 They did get 1 on 5. 8:11 Oh, they did get 1, okay. 8:13 So 1 for 8 on the weekend. 8:16 They've had a couple nights now. 8:17 They've had 3 nights, I think, where they've gone 0-4 on the power play. 8:22 But the one thing, Lucia keeps talking about this, is that they are very good on their zone entry. 8:28 You don't see a power play that's not able to regroup, gain the zone and set up and create opportunities. 8:35 I think what you're seeing is, there's a couple guys who are a little too static on the ice. 8:41 And you don't see the dynamic puck movement. 8:44 You don't see a lot of stress of the penalty killers creating 2-on-1s. 8:49 You're just not seeing that. 8:50 And I think a little bit of that is, you know, they're replacing a lot of guys on that top unit. 8:55 And if anything, it's the second unit that's looked really good. 8:58 I think you look at Camerata, Riley, Inclus, and they're really moving the puck well. 9:04 It looks like they have a lot of chemistry. 9:06 I'd be surprised if the Gophers don't go into Notre Dame this weekend and have, you know, maybe even those 3 guys on the top unit. 9:15 I know, you know, Marshall's got a lot of talent, but at some point, you've got to give these young guys the reins a little bit. 9:22 And I know, especially Riley and Camerata look really dynamic on the power play. 9:28 Your thoughts on the power play, Hammy? 9:31 Yeah, I mean, I was kind of mentioning it today. 9:33 I think it's ranked tied for 43rd in a country or something like that. 9:36 And, you know, the reality is when you think we're almost averaging 5 goals a game or something like that and the fact that our power play has been so lousy, I mean, there's too much talent there for that to not improve. 9:47 And so that's kind of the, in a way, almost a nice thing that we've been able to score as much as we have and haven't had to rely on the power play. 9:55 But once I think this group is too talented and not eventually kind of figure it out, and I'm sure that they've worked a lot on it over, you know, that bye week. 10:04 So I expect an improved product. 10:06 Granted, Notre Dame is a pretty good defensive team, so that doesn't necessarily mean that we'll see immediate results. 10:11 But, you know, I kind of don't like a little bit of the lineup. 10:18 And like Vegoe was mentioning on that first line, I don't really care for, I've mentioned this, I don't really know that I like Travis Boyd on that out there. 10:27 I'm not saying that he's a bad player by any stretch, but I just think that there's a few other guys I'd like to see, you know, get an opportunity that might be a little more dynamic in that role. 10:35 And I'm not saying he's at fault for the failures by any means, but I think that that's something that I've noticed. 10:41 And we'll see. 10:42 I just think that these guys will get it figured out in time. 10:45 And we've historically had a good power play, and I think that they'll figure it out. 10:50 I would say one more thing is with the BC game, in the third period, Lucio was just rolling his lines. 10:57 They weren't really setting up their power play, per se, first and second unit. 11:02 And I think Boyd has been out there a little bit to try to help them with face-offs. 11:07 Just give them another option for somebody who can win the draws. 11:10 Because I know in the New Hampshire game, it felt like they lost every single draw on the power play. 11:15 So I think maybe they're throwing Boyd out there as a little bit stronger guy on the face-off. 11:20 So we'll see. 11:21 I think this weekend, they've had the time to practice. 11:24 It will be a good test to see where they're at. 11:28 What are your thoughts on just playing BC in general? 11:30 I noticed a lot of fans were very happy that it was pretty clean games. 11:38 Good checks, no dirty play, fast tempo, something we don't see a lot. 11:45 Except we get it from North Dakota, we get the tempo, but we don't get the attitude. 11:48 We usually get the cheap ass stuff from North Dakota. 11:52 I noticed a lot of fans were very pleased with the way BC played, Hammey. 11:57 I think it's kind of a mutual respect. 12:01 They've been very successful over the last 10 or so years. 12:05 Certainly Jerry York has bought his class of an act from a coach as you can get. 12:11 I think it starts at the top. 12:14 When you have a class act as a coach and your team plays a clean style and they've been very successful at it, you kind of have to respect that. 12:25 There's always going to be the occasional chippy player, questionable hit in any game. 12:31 That's not going to be any different with BC. 12:33 There's a few here or there, but it's not really that after the whistle crap and having your head on a swivel because you might get cheap shot or whatever. 12:42 You just kind of have to respect teams that play that kind of style. 12:45 And they're aggressive and offensive. 12:46 They're creative. 12:47 And it's a fan-friendly style. 12:49 It's not that kind of trapping, slow it down stuff, and fans have an appreciation for that. 12:54 Do you have any thoughts on just BC as an opponent, Vegoe? 12:59 Well, I just like their style of play. 13:01 I think we heard a little bit about Don LaChia meeting with some of the BC coaches in the offseason and trying to get some things from them to help him in his coaching career as he moves forward and coaches for the World Junior teams this year. 13:15 And, you know, it's just fun to watch when you got teams who aren't sitting back and trapping and trying to slow the game down. 13:21 They're trying to create rushes and transition and odd man rushes, stretching the ice. 13:26 You know, it's a lot of fun to watch. 13:28 What did you think about Johnny Hockey? 13:31 I thought the Gophers did a tremendous job shutting him down on Sunday afternoon. 13:36 I mean, one of the highlight plays for me was Kyle Rowe backchecking Gaudreau, forcing a turnover and the Gophers scoring the other way. 13:44 I think Johnny Hockey got frustrated during the weekend. 13:47 We saw him fan on a shot late in the third. 13:50 It was just a tough weekend for him. 13:52 So it was fun to see him in person. 13:54 You know, he's real slippery. 13:55 I think his better night was the first game. 13:59 And Minnesota locked him down on Sunday. 14:02 Any thoughts on Johnny Hockey there, Hammy? 14:05 Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, you're probably not going to face this year any player that's as dynamic as he is. 14:11 I mean, and I thought, I agree, they did a really good job with him on Sunday. 14:16 I mean, I didn't really even know he was out there a lot of the time, which is saying something considering his talent. 14:21 And so, yeah, I think that I certainly have a lot of respect. 14:26 Like I said, just similarly to the program, I have a lot of respect for how he plays. 14:30 And, you know, the Gopher fans, you know, we're going to see a lot of that in the coming years with some of these guys like Clues and Comerata and, you know, some of these smaller, more dynamic guys. 14:39 So I think that that's going to be exciting for our future. 14:43 You guys have any other thoughts on the whole weekend? 14:48 Anything that jumped out at you? 14:50 Well, I think that we obviously would be remiss to not say some words about Wilcox and how well he's played. 14:57 I mean, it's getting to the point where we don't talk about him a lot because he's just so steady. 15:04 Yeah, I mean, and he doesn't appear like he's going to suffer through any sophomore slump and knock on wood. 15:11 And certainly, it allows the defensive players, Vegoe talked earlier about the fourth guy move up in the play. 15:19 It allows them some confidence to be able to take a few chances like that because they feel like if something should happen, I have a really good goaltender behind me that could potentially help that mistake get erased. 15:33 So I just think that he's been great and we can't overlook how good the goaltending has been. 15:40 Final thoughts on the weekend, Vegoe. 15:42 I think the other thing is we saw that this is one of the best defensive groups that the Gophers have seen in a long time. 15:50 Pretty much everybody can handle the puck. 15:52 There aren't really a lot of weak links back there and everybody can get involved in transition. 15:57 I think they had four different defensemen score on Sunday. 16:00 It's impressive to watch. 16:03 They go back and they get on the puck and they retrieve it so quickly that teams haven't really been able to get much of a forecheck on them. 16:11 It will be interesting to see if they're able to keep that moving throughout the whole season. 16:16 All right, then. 16:17 Well, obviously it was a good weekend, so nothing to really be too sad about when you're playing such a great opponent. 16:23 Moving on, I just want to let you Android listeners out there know that you can now listen to the GPL Podcast with the Stitcher app. 16:33 I think Vegoe, you pointed me towards Stitcher a couple weeks ago. 16:38 Yeah, I think a lot of people are really frustrated with the Apple Podcast app on the iPhone, iOS 7. 16:46 It's pretty slow and frustrating, but Stitcher works great. 16:50 It works on iOS and it works on Android. 16:52 So now the Android people have at least a way to listen to it if you're not listening live right now. 16:57 So look for the Stitcher app on Google Play. 17:00 There's more information on the main GPL portal page if you need to check it out. 17:06 One other thing we're doing new now is we're allowing you, the listener, to call us and leave us a voicemail. 17:14 Tell us, you know, we want you to call us and say, hey, let's talk about this or you have this question or this player or just give us feedback. 17:20 You know, we're just going to kind of have fun with this whole thing. 17:23 And if you want to do that, just call the Google voice line that I set up. 17:28 It's 320-321-9584. 17:33 That's 320-321-9584. 17:38 It'll bring you right to voicemail. 17:39 You can leave your message, just say your name, ask your question, or tell us a topic you want to talk about. 17:46 Rip on Hammy and Vego if you want. 17:47 I don't care. 17:48 We're going to have some fun with it. 17:51 To kick things off, well, let's just take a listen here. 17:56 We've got a couple of voicemails that we've already had. 18:00 Check this out. 18:00 You'd rather not leave my name. 18:03 I'm comfortable leaving my name. 18:05 My question is, is it true that Hammy got his nickname when he was being bullied by Richie and Cognito by being called a fat ham? 18:13 So he went and got ripped and started lifting weights and now goes by the name of Hammy? 18:18 Thank you. 18:21 I would have to say, I can't make out that voice. 18:27 I can't imagine who that would be. 18:30 Oh, yeah. 18:31 It's Drunk Hockey Guy having a little fun. 18:33 Oh, wait, wait. 18:34 He left another message. 18:38 I was just calling to see what your thoughts were on Philip Nelson and his chances for the Heisman Trophy. 18:44 I really think he's a good candidate and the Gophers are on a roll. 18:49 Vegoe, your thoughts on Nelson for the Heisman? 18:53 I think it's going to be a tough vote for him. 18:56 Gophers, having the two quarterback system that they seem to be going with, it's going to make it tough on him. 19:01 But he looked great last weekend, and I was at the Nebraska game, and I'm excited to be going this weekend to see him take on Penn State. 19:09 All right, now here's something a little more serious from Jeremy. 19:14 Hey, boys, I'm just wondering, my name is Jeremy Zayer, and I'm just wondering if this is the best freshman class that we've seen in Gopher history in the last, I'd say, 20 years. 19:27 Just wanted your opinion. 19:28 Thanks. 19:30 Hammy, your thoughts on the class this year? 19:33 Is it one of the better classes of the last 20 years? 19:36 Well, I mean, here's the thing. 19:38 We're only six games in. 19:40 You know what I mean? 19:40 So I'm a little reluctant to say a heck of a lot about that. 19:44 I mean, I think that the potential is there. 19:46 I mean, have we ever had a class start like this, though? 19:49 No, I don't think so. 19:50 I mean, part of it, of course, and I've mentioned this, is what does the team need? 19:54 I mean, obviously, every freshman class, there's not going to be as many openings on the top six, for instance, and forwards that you might see in a year like this. 20:04 I mean, we lost a lot of high-end guys, veterans, last year, so this group is walking into a situation where they're going to be able to contribute pretty quickly. 20:13 So that's going to be, of course, a little part of the puzzle. 20:16 But if they keep up as they've done, which is not going to be an easy thing, but if they keep their heads on straight, they work hard. 20:24 I don't see any reason why they can't do some really special things as a group. 20:30 But the proof is in the pudding. 20:31 We'll see three, four years from now when we look back. 20:34 Ultimately, that's how you have to judge these things, is what did they do when they were there. 20:39 Looking forward, the opportunity is there, and I think the talent is there, but we'll have to see what they can produce. 20:44 What do you think, Veegs? 20:47 Well, it's a pretty impressive group, but at the same point, I don't see someone quite like a Phil Kessel out there. 20:53 When Kessel laced him up, he was one of the most impressive college freshmen I've seen play. 21:00 His hand-eye coordination was amazing. 21:03 He was a one-man power play breakout, could basically take it coast to coast, set up in the offensive zone, and then his shot never seemed to ever get frozen by the goalie. 21:13 There was always a rebound or hit the back of the net. 21:16 It was pretty impressive to watch him play. 21:18 So I don't know if there's quite a player like that on this year's group, but it is impressive top to bottom. 21:24 They all seem to be contributing and finding roles. 21:28 Hopefully we'll see Gertler here at some point as he probably gets to the end of his sitting out period. 21:36 But it's a good group. 21:39 Definitely a good group. 21:40 Were you going to say something, Hammeh? 21:42 Yeah, I mean, you have to, from a defensive standpoint as well, I think that these young guys are going to be pretty solid. 21:52 I think a lot of it is the fact that we see a group of kids for that, at least up front, other than fashion. 21:58 These are more the kind of dynamic kind of water bug guys that are really good with the puck and quick. 22:04 We really, I don't think we recruited a lot of that here in the last 10 years or so. 22:10 We had some guys that maybe fit that bill, but not really a class on the whole that really fit that. 22:17 I think having guys like that that are going to be likely, I would think, three to four year types of guys because of their size limitations not being ideally for the pro game. 22:28 That's where you really think about, you think about Connelly for UMD, how great of a player he was for them. 22:35 It's not that he didn't have the talent to move on to the next level, but it was more that kind of size bias that the NHL tends to have in that game. 22:43 So you get guys like that and they can really do some damage in their time in college. 22:49 So that's all the voicemails we have for this week. 22:51 But if you want to call right now even, call 320-321-9584 and leave a message. 22:59 I can maybe even get it on the air tonight. 23:03 And actually I saw one just come in. 23:05 I'll check it out in a few seconds here. 23:07 First, let's go to the Twitter feed. 23:11 Hammy, Phil Forrester wants to know, what will it take for Camerado to actually smile after a goal? 23:19 Yeah, he's a little bit understated, I'd say, isn't he? 23:21 Well, I suppose when you've scored as much as that kid has, oh, ho-hum, another goal or another assist. 23:27 Maybe it's just like an old hat. 23:29 I don't know. 23:29 I just think that he's just a kid who I think is very dedicated and he works hard. 23:34 And I guess some guys just celebrate a little differently. 23:38 And he's been there plenty of times, so maybe for him, it's just he doesn't have to jump out of his skates and do some of the fist pumping and all that to be feeling good about what he's done. 23:49 Okay, guys, there's a voicemail from Tampa, Florida. 23:53 All right. 23:55 Hey, guys, Drew Soderquist here. 23:57 Love the podcast. 23:58 I just want to understand, do you guys think that this season might be a disappointment if we don't get back to the Frozen Four, given the way that this team has started and all the talent that we have? 24:09 What do you think are our legitimate expectations for the squad? 24:12 Thanks, guys. 24:14 What do you think, Vase? 24:16 Well, if you look at the way this team's composed, there's no reason why they shouldn't have a chance and be expected to be one of those Frozen Four teams. 24:26 I mean, you get into one of those one-game situations, you know, anything can happen. 24:30 You know, you run into a good goaltender, and it turns into a real tight little scoring game. 24:35 You know, it's tough to always have those go your way. 24:39 But I think the expectation is Frozen Four for this team. 24:43 I would agree. 24:43 What do you think, Hammeh? 24:45 You know, it's funny because coming into the season, I really didn't have any, like, serious expectations because I just, I wanted to enjoy this year because I knew that this freshman class had the chance to be something really fun to watch. 25:00 And I kind of was like, it's one of those years where, you know, because you're so young, you say, well, I'm just going to enjoy the year and whatever happens kind of happens. 25:08 And of course, we all know that once the season progresses, your expectation levels change, you know, as in if you show some good success, now suddenly you're like, maybe it is, you know, a team that needs to be going to the Frozen Four when they've been that successful. 25:24 But, you know, we're only a month into the year, so with a young team like we have, we're going to have our bumps in the road. 25:30 We're going to have those times where they're going to face some adversity, and we don't really even know yet, you know, how they're going to react to that kind of adversity. 25:38 So I don't know if I'm quite ready to say, yeah, they should definitely be Frozen Four or Bust. 25:44 Like, if I felt that way last year, to be frank, I mean, I thought we should have gotten to the Frozen Four and we didn't. 25:50 So I'm not really sure if I'm ready to say that quite yet, but I certainly believe that, you know, contending for the Big Ten title, you know, both regular season and playoffs, and certainly, you know, maybe a win or two in, you know, the NCAAs, I don't think that that's something that would make me feel disappointed by any stretch of the imagination, if that's all we did. 26:10 All right. 26:12 Well, that was Drew from Tampa. 26:14 We appreciate you leaving a voicemail. 26:17 You were listening live, and call us up, and it's something new we're trying. 26:21 So if you're listening live or, you know, listening to the podcast later in the week, just give us a call, 320-321-9584. 26:30 We'll try to get it on the air. 26:32 Like I said, we're trying to do something new here, a little different, and we'll see how it goes. 26:36 Way to go, Drew. 26:39 Hey, he must have been listening live because it came in, you know, at 927. 26:43 So we'll try to get you on live, and once I see him come in, I'll try to play him. 26:48 All right, boys. 26:50 Well, we head to Notre Dame this week. 26:54 Compton Arena at Notre Dame. 26:59 Regular size rink. 27:00 You know, we have a couple people tweeting that, you know, is it going to be a problem being in the NHL size rink? 27:05 At least that's what Chris Mathis was asking via Twitter. 27:09 It's our first trip to this new place. 27:11 What do you think, Cami? 27:14 Well, I mean, I don't think the rink size is going to do a heck of a lot. 27:16 I mean, they practice all week at Ritter, and certainly a lot of these guys have played ample amount of games in their cocky careers on that size of a rink. 27:27 So I mean, I don't really feel that that's... 27:29 I've always felt that that's a little overrated as far as a variable when people would bring that up. 27:34 But I know some teams might be built a little differently depending on the rink size in our past, but I do think that that might be a little overrated. 27:42 But I think it'll be great. 27:46 It's kind of a contrast in styles, unlike the BC series, where they're kind of a little bit of a mirror image situation. 27:52 You know, Notre Dame's more of a defensive style team, and their games tend to be a little bit more lower scoring. 27:57 And they've got a lot of, you know, done a really good job in recruiting. 28:01 And, you know, they haven't really even done, I think, the damage that a lot of people would expect when they get to the NCAAs. 28:08 But nonetheless, they're a good program. 28:10 They're kind of on the rise, a new rank. 28:13 Of course, they got the Edina kids and, you know, Lucia's kid and whatever. 28:17 So there's some of that cake eater aspect to it. 28:22 So, you know, I think it will be a fun series. 28:25 And, you know, I really expect the guys, you know, that the off week will be helpful. 28:29 And I'm sure they worked on some things. 28:30 So I'm excited to see it. 28:33 Vegoe, initial thoughts on heading to Notre Dame? 28:37 Well, I agree with Hamme. 28:38 I don't think the smaller rank will affect this kind of team. 28:41 I think this team has a good mix of size and speed. 28:45 And the speed is going to be really apparent in those tight spaces. 28:48 And we've seen the fourth player jump in the rush. 28:52 And that's going to be even easier, I think, on the smaller rank. 28:56 The one thing in Notre Dame plays typically a more circle. 29:04 Uh-oh. 29:05 You're starting to cut out. 29:09 Did we lose them? 29:10 No, I feel like I'm still here. 29:12 You feel like you're still here, but trust us. 29:15 You were in and out. 29:17 Were you saying something along the fact that they're a little more conservative? 29:22 Yeah, they're a little more conservative. 29:24 So I think the Gophers need to be conscious of making sure that they can get into transition before leaving the zone. 29:31 Because those turnovers at your blue line or the offensive blue line are where you can get into trouble. 29:38 I think it's going to be one of those players to be a little more cautious going into the series. 29:44 I could see a really tight game on Friday, maybe even a tie. 29:48 But I know exactly what you mean. 29:50 I've been a little concerned with some of those defensive players jumping up. 29:55 I could see it when they're the third player, but I've seen it quite a few times where the defensive player is the fourth player coming in right away. 30:05 We haven't been bitten by it yet, but it's going to happen. 30:08 All of a sudden it's going to be a two or three on one going back the other way, Hammey. 30:12 That's one concern I have about the young defenseman jumping into play. 30:19 Yeah, I agree to an extent. 30:22 Although, frankly, if you're going to get burned by that, a team like BC is more likely to burn you, I think, than a team like Notre Dame. 30:32 Just because of the speed factor and the fact that they're so aggressive in their own right, that if you're going to make a mistake, obviously BC can do something with it pretty quick. 30:43 We didn't really see a lot of that when we played them. 30:45 They certainly got their chances. 30:48 I think that Notre Dame, to me, they're probably going to be more like that Wisconsin style that we've seen over the years. 30:54 You kind of have to sometimes be patient because they're going to try to slow it down and clog it up and not give you as much space, which is fine, but you just have to be a little bit more patient and not get frustrated. 31:06 This kind of goes back to what I said when you have a young team. 31:08 How are they going to react to some of those kinds of things? 31:10 Because we really, to this point, we've been able to overcome anything that we've faced in that sense, whether it's wide open or defensive. 31:19 We'll see how it goes. 31:22 Gabe Gertler. 31:24 Officially, as of today, I contacted Brian Deutsch at the U. 31:28 Officially, his status has unchanged. 31:33 Hammeh, are you hearing anything? 31:35 Is he going to play this weekend? 31:36 Or is he still in the doghouse? 31:40 As far as I'm aware of, I think he'll play this weekend. 31:43 I'd be surprised. 31:44 It's been a month, essentially. 31:50 The way Lucia made it sound a few weeks ago on his radio show, the kid had been working hard in practice. 31:56 And I haven't heard anything different in that regard. 31:59 So I would imagine that he would get the opportunity. 32:02 I know somebody on GPL said that he had talked to one of the Fargo Force coaches, which is where Gertler played last year, and that that coach had said that Gabe had told him that he probably would be playing at Notre Dame. 32:15 So I'm excited for the kid. 32:17 I really hope he does get an opportunity, because I think he can really add some nice elements to maybe that third line range, because I think that he's a goal scorer and a little bit gritty, and he can do a lot of different things pretty well. 32:31 What do you think, Veegs? 32:33 Yeah, I haven't seen him really play, so I'll be interested to see him. 32:38 I'd like to see him in person, so hopefully he keeps his nose clean and can play at Mariucci. 32:44 But they could use some grit and some battle out of those lines. 32:48 I know that's something that sometime can be lacking right now with the guys they've been putting in that third line. 32:54 They do have some skill and they can skate, but some of the grit might be missing from their game. 32:58 So if he can bring that to the lineup, maybe we'll see that. 33:04 All right, looks like we've got another voicemail coming in. 33:06 I'm trying to read the text from Google Voice and it sounds like Google Voice doesn't do the greatest job of translating. 33:14 But let's see what Jeremy has to say here. 33:17 I think he might be ripping on Vegoe. 33:18 I'm not really sure. 33:22 Hey boys, it's Jeremy. 33:23 I'm wondering if Vegs could take the time to drive into cell phone lane or cell phone coverage or maybe buy a better phone. 33:35 Unfortunately, Jeremy, he's not using his cell phone. 33:39 He's using Wi-Fi from his car, aren't you Vegs? 33:41 Yeah, I'm right outside my porch out here, outside my condo. 33:45 I've got a 13-month-old sleeping in the condo and it's a tight space and it's a loft. 33:51 Oh yeah? 33:52 It's a loft. 33:53 We totally get it. 33:55 We knew this was the case. 33:57 We've said it in the past. 33:58 I just thought I'd play it just so he could rip on you a little bit. 34:01 Maybe Jeremy isn't familiar with the difficulties of raising a child in a condo. 34:06 Maybe he's got the spacious setup of a three-story out in Maple Grove or something. 34:12 Just get your kid some earplugs. 34:17 Hey, it's just the nature of Wi-Fi. 34:20 Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not. 34:22 We'd rather have Vegoe on than not have him on. 34:25 Until he's in his house, you're just going to have to put up with it, Jeremy. 34:30 We're just having fun with you, Jeremy. 34:31 All right, boys. 34:34 We've talked about Gertler. 34:36 We've talked about The Weeknd a little bit. 34:41 Any concerns? 34:42 Are these boys' heads getting too big? 34:44 I mean, they're number one. 34:45 They were unanimously number one this week, receiving all 51st place votes. 34:51 Is this going to go to their head, Hammeh? 34:54 I doubt it, just because obviously the coaches are experienced enough to drive that message into the players. 35:02 I think that we all know that nobody gives a damn who the hell is number one in the country, in the polls, in the first week of November. 35:09 I mean, nobody remembers what it was, at least I don't, last year or five years ago or whatever. 35:14 I mean, that stuff is pretty meaningless, and I think the players are smart enough to know that. 35:19 And I think it's good when you know that you're going on the road and we're going to be playing a good team, so they're not going to be able to sleepwalk their way through a series, and so I'm sure the coaches have their attention. 35:31 So I'm not really too concerned with that at this point. 35:35 I think that you just have to be consistent and work hard and practice, and I think it should carry over into games. 35:40 What do you think, Biggs? 35:42 Yeah, I think that they're playing at a tough enough schedule where you can't kind of get lulled into complacency. 35:48 I think that they're playing enough big-name programs where, you know, most weeks it's a pretty big challenge in front of them. 35:54 And there's also the battle for ice time. 35:57 You know, there's guys who are getting scratched every night who could probably fill spots in the lineup if necessary. 36:04 So I think that gives the coaches a little bit of a stick as well as carrot. 36:08 And that will be complicated a little more once Gertler starts playing, too. 36:12 Yep, it's only going to add to the battle out there. 36:14 Yeah, I agree. 36:15 Well, so what do you think, Hamme? 36:18 Do you think that's going to be a sweep for the boys? 36:21 Split? 36:22 What do you think this weekend? 36:24 You know, I'd probably go with the split just because it is a road series. 36:28 And I have respect for Notre Dame. 36:31 And they're going to be on their rank. 36:33 And it's a nice rank. 36:34 And I'm sure their fans will be excited to have the number one team in town. 36:38 And so I think that eventually we're going to face some adversity. 36:43 And I'm sure that this will be probably a weekend where that's pretty likely. 36:47 And so I would guess that it's going to be a split. 36:50 What do you think, Veegs? 36:52 I think you said tie one night. 36:53 Maybe you won the other night. 36:55 You want to stick with that? 36:57 Yeah, I think they'll probably get three points the other weekend. 37:00 I think one of the nights they'll get a tie. 37:02 It's going to be tough to score goals against Notre Dame. 37:04 And I could see this being the weekend where they would have those kind of turnovers at the blue lines that could get them into trouble. 37:11 And, you know, they have had some adversity where they've fallen behind and come back and able to tie games and win games. 37:18 So I think that's something they are able to do. 37:22 And of course, you know, Wilcox, we've talked about them a little bit. 37:25 You know, that's a big key for this team, not only for this series, but for the season and making a run of the Frozen Four. 37:31 You know, he's shown time and time again that he can bail out a team that's not at their best. 37:37 So I think that's kind of their ace in the hole, that they can really rely on that to spark their game. 37:43 When's the last time he even missed a game? 37:46 Oh, it goes way back. 37:47 Did he play all last year? 37:49 No, we had Shibie play a few games early in the year. 37:53 Pretty sure he did. 37:55 Yeah, I know Shibie, I think he played a game against Michigan Tech and didn't do very well, and I think he got one more chance, maybe against St. 38:02 Cloud, and then Will Clocks. 38:05 He took control. 38:06 He played in three games last year. 38:11 He's going to need a break sometime, don't you think? 38:16 Well, I mean, maybe against Penn State later. 38:18 I'm not saying, you know, ripping Penn State, but they're not going to be as strong of a program, but they've got to give them some rest, don't you think, sometime? 38:26 I'm sure that they'll give them a few games here or there, you know, maybe a little bit. 38:30 Maybe something like Mariucci Classic or whatever the hell they call it now, but, you know, something like that. 38:35 I wouldn't be surprised to see a few starts here or there. 38:40 I mean, it's hard to tell. 38:41 I mean, college goalies, you know, they're playing twice a week. 38:44 So a lot of times when there's a number one guy and they think he's getting tired, they just give him a little break during practice. 38:50 And then, you know, if he doesn't come out strong in a game, they can always put in Chevy to relieve him. 38:57 But I think that's the more likely situation than taking away the net from Wilcox for a night. 39:03 Well, in other news, I was kind of paying attention to Denver this weekend, Hammeh. 39:11 And I tweeted out that maybe they're not so glad they got rid of their coach. 39:16 And I have a feeling you're kind of thinking along the same lines. 39:20 Getting rid of George Gwazdeki was probably an extremely bad thing for the Denver program. 39:27 Yeah, I mean, I think it's kind of interesting. 39:29 I mean, the guys were so successful over the years, and they've had a rough go of it so far. 39:35 Granted, I mentioned this on GPL. 39:37 I think like four of their losses were in overtime. 39:40 So it's not like they've been getting blown out really. 39:42 But they've certainly lost a lot more than expected, than they're probably accustomed to earlier in the year. 39:48 And you kind of just have to wonder what these changes in conference. 39:52 I'm not sure that was a move that was wise to make, given the changes that got on the conferences. 40:00 So, yeah. 40:02 What do you think Vegoe? 40:04 Bad choice to get rid of Guaz? 40:06 I mean, he was getting handsomely paid. 40:09 But damn, the guy won games. 40:12 Yeah, I mean, Guaz is one of the best coaches in college hockey. 40:16 And now he's got the chance in the pros to see if that suits him a little bit. 40:20 But he's got a great hockey mind. 40:22 And he put together a program. 40:24 His guys were skilled, they could move the puck. 40:27 He was able to handle the defections pretty well. 40:30 He was great at managing it. 40:31 I think he just started butting heads with management. 40:34 And, you know, that's going to cost Denver a little bit. 40:37 They're going to struggle without him there. 40:41 I don't follow them closely, but I mean, is it a matter of, you know, their administration has shifted gears in terms of what their focus is? 40:49 I know that they have a really good lacrosse program. 40:51 They've been, I think, like in the finals and stuff like that recently. 40:55 And it seems like, you know, they, you know, they're not like one of those big money, all D1 types of institutions. 41:01 And so they kind of have to pick where they're going to put their might behind. 41:04 And maybe if there's a shift there, I don't know. 41:06 But I just think that there just seems to be a vibe from the Denver fans that I occasionally see their comments, or if I go to the Let's Go DU blog once in a while. 41:14 And it just seems like they realize that things are just not heading in a good direction there, not just with Guazdequi, but just the overall vibe of their program. 41:23 Yeah, I think they were shifting some of their attention to the lacrosse, and the basketball program was getting a lot of attention. 41:29 And I think the woman who's in charge, the chancellor there, she just didn't give Guazdequi enough credit for how talented he was. 41:38 And she just soured that relationship with him. 41:41 And he chose to walk. 41:44 Yeah, that's too bad. 41:45 I mean, a lot of people thought he was kind of this big, smug guy with his nice suits. 41:50 And I don't know if you got to see him or talk to him at the final five or when they're in town, Vegoe. 41:56 He's a little smug guy. 41:57 He's a little, but the little chats I've had around him, he's very likable. 42:04 Well, he can be smug, but he's very intelligent. 42:07 He's a very thoughtful guy. 42:09 I kind of thought, talking with York the other weekend, that Guaz and York have a lot in common. 42:16 They're both kind of intellectual guys. 42:18 They think a lot about the game, and they think before they speak. 42:22 They're very good at responding and not reacting. 42:24 I think this had been bothering Guaz Deki for a while, and it just came to a head. 42:31 Anybody see the crowds at Wisconsin this past weekend? 42:35 I saw a few of the pictures that were tweeted out or whatever. 42:39 Oh dear. 42:41 That was the Manila Friday game, right? 42:42 I think that was really bad. 42:43 I didn't see anything on the second game, but I heard it was better. 42:46 But yeah, something's not right there either. 42:49 I mean, there's definitely something's just not clicking there with their fan base and their athletic department. 42:56 And I don't know if it's style of play. 42:59 I don't know if it's the cost of tickets. 43:02 I don't know. 43:03 But there's something. 43:04 They're going the wrong direction when it comes to attendance for certain. 43:08 So I don't know what the problem is. 43:10 They were, I mean, just a few years ago, they were averaging 14 to 15 a game. 43:16 And every year since then, it's been dropping by one or two thousand average over the whole season. 43:24 So, you know, they could be under Mariucci this year in average attendance. 43:31 And that's a pretty big deal because, you know, Wisconsin was number one for a long time. 43:36 Now more recently, they're battling with North Dakota just because they've got the huge Barnes. 43:43 But their attendance is falling fast. 43:45 And I don't think people are paying attention there. 43:51 Well, I mean, I think some of it's, you know, frankly... 43:55 Is it Alvarez? 43:55 We always love to blame Alvarez for everything. 43:58 Well, I mean, it's hard to really judge when you're not right there in the middle of it. 44:02 But I think that, you know, some of it, frankly, I think it's not really... 44:07 I don't want to, you know, I think there's gonna be pockets of hockey fans that are real rabid about the game and whatever, but it's not like it's Minnesota, where it's basically in the fabric of your community. 44:17 And the fans are really heavily into it all over the place. 44:21 I mean, there, I think, is probably a little bit more, you know, kind of a thing to go to that because, hey, it's a place to be seen. 44:29 Or, you know, I don't know. 44:30 I don't think it's quite the same kind of fan base. 44:33 I think a lot of fans that I've talked to think that they're not quite as educated on the game. 44:38 Certainly, they're going to have some fans that are real educated on it. 44:41 But I think that maybe some of their fan bases may be a little more fair weathered. 44:45 I'm sure that the fact that they don't play that kind of exciting brand of hockey there haven't really under ease. 44:51 I'm sure that that plays a part in it. 44:53 And people don't want to pay, you know, $20 or whatever for one ticket to basically watch a game that's like watching paint dry. 45:04 Well, I think they're in trouble. 45:07 Who knows what's going to happen there? 45:09 But it was just an observation from this past weekend. 45:12 Anything else going on in college hockey you guys want to talk about? 45:14 Anything else, Veegs? 45:16 No, I don't have anything else going on. 45:19 I've got those maroon and gold colored glasses. 45:21 I'm pretty focused on what's happening here. 45:23 Nothing wrong with that. 45:25 Nothing wrong with that. 45:26 Yeah, the only thing that we, from an upper Midwest perspective, is the fact that St. 45:32 Cloud went over to Grand Forks and swept the Sioux. 45:36 So that was a little bit of a... 45:38 I wouldn't say it's necessarily a surprising result because frankly, I think UND is a little overrated this year. 45:45 But St. 45:47 Cloud's got a solid program and I think another solid team this year. 45:51 So maybe it's not a huge shock, but nonetheless the Sioux haven't been swept there in I think like four years. 45:57 Exactly. 45:58 Even if they have... 46:00 Of course they've had pretty good teams, but I just think that maybe this year they don't really have quite as many dynamic forwards up front and maybe a little finesse on the back end. 46:10 So I'm not horribly surprised, but considering they haven't been swept in four years there, that's a pretty good result for St. 46:17 Cloud. 46:18 I enjoyed it. 46:21 I'm not a St. 46:21 Cloud fan, but the Sioux getting swept at home in their new league, I think it's the greatest thing ever. 46:29 I just love it. 46:31 Yeah, what if they were like a bottom half team in their new league? 46:36 They could join them and Denver, the two guys who started this whole thing. 46:41 Yeah, that's kind of the irony of it all, is the fact that Denver was heavily pushing it, and UND was kind of heavily pushing it. 46:49 Now, what if they both kind of just sucked the first year? 46:52 Not sucked, but if they were pretty below average for their typical years, it'd be kind of ironic. 46:59 Well, just a couple notes for the games this weekend. 47:02 Obviously, Friday's game is going to be on the NBC Sports Network. 47:06 Saturday's game is going to be on their website. 47:10 We'll see if the Minnesota fans can crash it, because there's going to be plenty of people watching. 47:15 God knows from the whining on it. 47:19 I just don't get it. 47:21 I don't understand that at all. 47:22 If there's a way to watch it, shut the hell up, people. 47:26 We want every game on FSN on 668, or the main channel. 47:31 Can't handle this alternative channel stuff. 47:33 The whiners need to shut the hell up. 47:35 I just don't get it. 47:36 You got 30-plus games. 47:39 I understand it's a great series to probably watch or whatever. 47:42 But you get 30-plus games on TV and high-def, whether it's BTN or Fox Sports North. 47:51 What do you really have to complain about? 47:54 I just don't get that. 47:55 We're spoiled. 47:57 Yeah, I don't get it. 47:58 There's not much you can do. 48:00 I'd be surprised if the NBC feed can't handle it because they've been live streaming the Premier League games all season. 48:08 I think that there are more people trying to hit that than there will be trying to hit the Gopher games. 48:12 This isn't going to be like the Anchorage feed. 48:13 Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. 48:15 This is not bringing down the paid Anchorage feed that some people got pissed off a few years ago. 48:24 One thing... 48:24 What was I thinking here? 48:26 I kind of lost my train of thought here. 48:31 I am getting old, guys. 48:33 What can I do? 48:34 Well, you just did have a birthday. 48:36 Oh, I am 41. 48:39 Oh, what I was going to say is actually, you know, with these online games, the GPL chat will be very busy. 48:44 So head on over, see what everyone is saying, because I am guessing there will be quite a few people in the GPL chat. 48:50 There usually always is, at least 15 to 20, but with a weekend when it's online only, it will be very busy. 48:58 So come on in, join us in the GPL chat. 49:01 Quite a few of us will be in there, ripping on the team to hit the net, because that's what I love to yell at when I'm in the chat. 49:08 Anything else, boys, or are we good to go? 49:10 Pretty good to go, I think. 49:13 All set. 49:14 Should be a fun weekend of hockey. 49:15 I'm looking forward to it. 49:17 I'll be streaming it from my phone up to my TV, so I'll be just fine for Saturday. 49:24 Hopefully you will be too. 49:25 Remember you can always follow Hammy at Hammy Hockey on Twitter, and you can follow Vego on Twitter at E, Vego. 49:33 Remember we're trying this new thing? 49:35 You can leave us a voicemail with questions or topics or just ripping on me or Hammy or whatever you want. 49:41 Just keep it fairly clean. 49:44 This is a non-offensive podcast, and we'd like to keep it that way. 49:49 You can reach us via voicemail at 320-321-9584, and of course we're always taking your questions on Twitter at GopherPuckLive. 50:00 We're done for this week. 50:01 We will see you back next week when we recap Notre Dame and look to the future. 50:05 I think we're playing Mankato next. 50:08 See you next time.