0:22 Now, let's join Cami, Vegoe and your host, Jupiter. 0:36 Well, here we are, podcast number 50. 0:41 Started back, boy, when was it? 0:43 It was September of 2011, but tonight we're doing number 50. 0:49 We were gonna have Mr. 0:50 Cardinal join us, but apparently he's got something going on at Target Center, I don't know, Teletubbies, or I don't know what he's doing, who knows? 0:59 He's gone soft. 1:00 He has, he's got the kid now. 1:03 Guys, yeah, who knows what he's doing? 1:06 Who knows what he's doing? 1:07 All right, Veegs, where are you, car or at home? 1:11 I'm in the home. 1:12 Well, that's good. 1:13 You're staying warm again tonight, and that's good. 1:16 Yup, my son is finally- 1:17 Tick-tock, these are counting down until you get to your new home. 1:20 Yeah, my son is finally learning how to sleep really well, so he's definitely my kid. 1:25 Ha ha ha ha. 1:28 Will he eat as well? 1:29 Oh, he is already crushing over half a box of mac and cheese, so. 1:33 Ha ha ha ha. 1:35 It's not even 16 months yet. 1:37 Well, that's good. 1:38 Well, boys, interesting weekend in Penn State. 1:45 Win is a win, that's good. 1:47 We got a sweep against Penn State, but Hammy, it was probably a bit closer than we thought, with a 3-2 victory and a 5-2 victory over Penn State. 1:58 Well, I mean, yeah, I got a kick out of how the reactions were from various people on GPL. 2:04 I mean, the reality is that this isn't like college football. 2:08 Somebody brought this up on GPL, and it's totally accurate. 2:10 I mean, it's not where you have like Florida State playing a team that's, you know, 50 spots lower than them in the rankings, and it turns into a blowout. 2:19 I mean, that's a pretty regular occurrence in college football, but, you know, college hockey is just a lot different, especially when you have the great equalizer of how a goalie is playing, and certainly, especially in the first game, their goalie played very well and really kept them in the game. 2:35 I mean, when your coach and your teammates are basically saying that, you know, you play, you are standing on your head in that game, it kind of tells a story there. 2:43 So, you know, it's a sweep, and you can't complain about that, and they're, you know, they're certainly going to be jacked up for their first Big Ten series in Penn State, and they have a lot, I think, a lot of good momentum there for the future. 2:54 So I think it was a good series for us. 2:57 Vegoe, initial thoughts on the Penn State series? 3:00 Yeah, I mean, Hammy said it. 3:01 I mean, goaltending and college hockey is getting so good. 3:04 You know, the top, you know, goalie on one of the top teams and the 59th team or whatever, you know, it's not a massive difference. 3:12 You know, the difference is going to be in the team and being able to generate offense. 3:16 A lot of times, you know, hockey is about not making mistakes, and that's easier to coach than it is scoring goals. 3:22 And Minnesota was able to generate some offense. 3:25 I think they got some good traffic going on. 3:28 The defensemen were doing a good job. 3:30 We get pucks through the traffic on net, creating scoring chances. 3:34 And, you know, I think they did what they needed to do. 3:37 The penalty kill was good, again, for another series. 3:39 So I think that's a real positive. 3:42 The power play has gotten things going a little bit more over the last couple of weeks. 3:47 So I think they're making some strides. 3:50 Well, let me tell you, guys, it was a 2-2 game Friday night, and I was just waiting for the meltdown to happen on GPL. 4:00 You could just feel it coming. 4:01 The fans were getting restless. 4:04 The Twitter was going nuts, and luckily, you know, we pulled out the 3-2 victory in the end. 4:12 But in a small way, I was kind of hopeful for a big meltdown on GPL because I really enjoy how irrational the fans can be, you know, when they would lose this type of game. 4:22 But it didn't quite happen. 4:26 A little disappointed. 4:27 I was hoping to have some fun, you know, because a lot of fans just take it a little bit too seriously. 4:33 Well, I mean, for me, it's more they lack perspective. 4:36 I mean, well, it's the reality of the matter is that we have NHL teams that aren't playing, you know, perfect every single solitary night. 4:45 And yet it seems like we have a group of fans that, you know, our percentage of the fans that expect like these 19 to 22 year olds are going to be hitting on all cylinders every single solitary game, throw it up five to six months season. 4:59 It's just, it's ridiculous. 5:00 And to me, when I see the level of nitpicking that goes on, it just makes me shake my head and be, there's just a segment of the fan base, I think, unless you're essentially winning two to three goal games, margin games all the time, they're just not going to be happy. 5:19 Well, it got to a point yesterday where some guy was just so negative on Twitter. 5:24 I basically just tell him to shut the F up and block them because I was just getting sick of it. 5:32 I don't care. 5:32 Everything is not negative. 5:34 You don't have to be that way all the time. 5:35 And I finally just got sick of it and blocked them. 5:38 So, it turned out okay. 5:39 But one thing that was different this weekend, guys, is it was a Sunday Monday series. 5:43 Oh, some of the fans are ripping on, oh, it's a Big Ten Networks fault. 5:48 Well, no people. 5:49 It was Penn State. 5:50 They wanted this. 5:51 It just happened. 5:53 No big deal. 5:55 I didn't personally mind it at all. 5:57 What do you think, Vig? 5:58 Did it bother you that you had a Monday night game? 6:01 Did it just mess up your entire schedule? 6:04 You know, I was a little more frustrated, you know, with having to deal with streams and radio streams on Sunday, but I loved the Monday night game. 6:12 I thought it was great. 6:13 We got a tweet from Jeremy's Air, and I was like, I'm right with you. 6:17 I thought Monday night hockey was fun. 6:19 I thought it really drew the attention of all college hockey fans. 6:22 It's certainly better than the stupid Monday night football we've seen recently. 6:25 Well, yeah, there was no Monday night football. 6:28 So it was something to watch on a Monday night. 6:30 I thought it was great. 6:31 I thought the fans at Penn State were pretty impressive. 6:35 I thought, you know, it's the right size building for that kind of program. 6:38 They looked into it. 6:40 They knew the game pretty well. 6:42 And I was impressed with that. 6:43 And it's a great rink for TV cameras, I think. 6:47 Oh, yes. 6:48 The lighting was really nice there, and just the camera angles were great. 6:51 And I know I heard Frank and Wally talking about how great their perspective was on the ice. 6:57 So that was good to see. 6:59 Well, hopefully it's a good future for Penn State. 7:01 Because a stronger Big Ten is just better for Minnesota and the rest of the teams all around. 7:05 But, Hammeh, it did look like a fabulous arena. 7:09 Yeah, I mean, I actually, I came out of the series feeling, you know, actually a little more positive about the future of the Big Ten, simply because I think that, I think Penn State is going to have a lot to offer kids, you know, for the future. 7:23 I think that recruiting-wise, I think you're going to start to see them make more inroads, maybe not against the Minnesotas and Michigans and North Dakotas of the world, but maybe along that second tier of teams that, you know, tend to be kind of, you know, maybe they rise up on occasion and be one of the upper echelon teams for a year or two. 7:41 But those teams that are like a Duluth or a St. 7:44 Cloud or some of those kinds of teams that, you know, aren't consistently at the elite level, I think you're going to start to see Penn State make more inroads against those kinds of teams in recruiting. 7:54 They have a lot to offer, you know, Big Ten institution. 7:57 The rink was great, and I think that, you know, they have some good coaching there. 8:01 So I just think that there's, it made me feel very positive about the future of the conference because you know that Minnesota and Wisconsin and Michigan are going to tend to be pretty good programs and Michigan State's won a national title relatively recently, and, you know, Ohio State had something going, but I just think that, you know, it's a good thing for the future. 8:21 And I think Penn State has got a goalie, and with McAdam and Ned, they're going to have a chance, you know, until he leaves. 8:28 And it's very rare for a college goalie to leave early. 8:31 I mean, even with guys like Salok and Ryan Miller, you know, they stuck around a long time and playing college hockey, and that's going to be a great piece of stability for them. 8:40 Well, that was actually another question on Twitter. 8:42 Tim Hapke was wondering, are you worried that Wilcox will go pro after this year? 8:47 You think Tampa Bay is interested in pulling him out or just leaving him here? 8:54 Well, go ahead, Veegs. 8:55 Well, I was like, they've got Ben Bischoff in right now in Tampa Bay, so I don't think they'd be rushing him anytime soon. 9:01 And typically with goalies, you know, they don't peak until they're 24, 25. 9:07 So, Hammy might have more insights than me. 9:09 No, I mean, I would agree. 9:10 I don't think that you tend to see goalies sign real, real early simply because, I mean, there's a lot. 9:18 It's not like forwards, I mean, when you have 12 forwards on a team or six defense, I mean, you basically have two goalies on a team. 9:26 And, you know, in the end, you have to think about the minor leagues and what they have in the pipeline. 9:31 And it's just not quite as easily for a goalie to kind of do that. 9:35 And I think you look at Ken Patterson, you know, I mean, he has been playing, from what I understand, he's done pretty well in the minors. 9:40 And I mean, he did well when he was here, but he was here through his senior year. 9:44 So I just think that for a goalie, it's just a different kind of scenario and you tend to hang on to them a little longer. 9:50 Do we have anyone coming in to replace Shabrowski next year? 9:54 Do we know offhand? 9:56 You know, I don't think, well, I don't think that they do at this point. 10:00 I think it was going to probably be something kind of a late edition kind of a situation. 10:05 I know that they're, that's the last I heard. 10:07 I mean, I don't... 10:08 That was kind of one of, that was the end of Tim's question, too, he's just wondering if there's any goalies coming in next season. 10:14 You know, I think it's one of those things where it's probably going to be where they're going to scout and kind of maybe add somebody, you know, real late, kind of after the spring, during the spring signing period, something like that because that's usually how it's going to go. 10:28 They're not going to be, you know, throwing a lot of scholarship at anybody right now. 10:31 They already have one kid in the pipeline that's going to have scholarship and hopefully we'll have Wilcox, you know, around for a couple more years. 10:38 So it's not really a high priority in that sense. 10:40 I remember if you want to tweet us, if you're listening live, just tweet us at GopherPuckLive or at HammyHockey or at eVego, any one of our handles. 10:50 We'll see the question. 10:51 So just keep them coming if you want. 10:54 Well, boys, one real big positive happened last night and it appears, hoping, that Mr. 11:03 Sam Warning woke up, Hammy. 11:07 Yeah, I mean, I think that it was certainly, you know, we've seen Raoul get on the scoreboard recently and now Warning. 11:14 So to me, I mean, that's really what we're gonna need moving forward is some of those guys to really start scoring some more goals and maybe taking a little bit of the pressure off some of the younger guys. 11:24 I'd like to see Condon kind of get on the score sheet a little bit more often. 11:28 I think that he has that capability and hopefully he'll have a good second half, but you kind of need some of those veteran guys to kind of step up during the second half and hopefully into the NCAAs if we're going to do any damage there. 11:41 Well, Veegs kind of did end up on the score sheet last night, but closer examination, he did not score the goal, but your thoughts on Condon? 11:51 He's got to pick it up too. 11:52 Yeah, I think he's got to pick it up. 11:54 I think he looked better throughout the weekend and on the goal, you know, he was driving to the net, which is a big part of what he's able to do. 12:02 I think sometimes playing with Camerata, you know, he'd pull the game back a little bit and take away opportunities for a good center drive. 12:10 And so maybe, you know, changing up the guys he's playing with, he can get back to that and using his speed in a real North-South fashion. 12:18 Because I think that, you know, speaks to his game better. 12:22 One player that I kind of looked at earlier this season who's hopefully going to have a breakout season was Mr. 12:28 Travis Boyd. 12:29 And Vegoe, it seems like he is maybe not coming on, but he's at least becoming more consistent in his play. 12:37 I think maybe the one thing with Boyd is he's showing up in the score sheet a little bit more. 12:42 I remember last year, you know, he was a real reliable player. 12:46 He's strong on the puck. 12:47 He's, you know, strong cycling, making plays. 12:50 It just looked like, you know, that little bit of finish to get dangerous shots on that, you know, maybe putting, you know, a puck heavy enough on goal where the goalie can't freeze it. 12:59 He was kind of missing that aspect to his game. 13:01 And I think, you know, that's starting to come around. 13:04 He's probably the youngest junior, I think, in college hockey. 13:07 And so, you know, he's had a little bit of time to catch up now and build that strength and make many turnovers. 13:13 He's a very smart player on the ice. 13:16 Hammey, one other player I wanted to talk about was Mr. 13:21 Gertler. 13:24 He was kind of one of the guys we thought would be a big contributor this season. 13:27 And we haven't quite seen it yet in his, you know, first, you know, nine games or so. 13:34 What are your thoughts on Mr. 13:35 Gertler? 13:36 Is he going to break through eventually here? 13:40 Well, I mean, I think part of it's the role that he's in. 13:43 I mean, you know, obviously there's some guys above him that deserve those roles, so I'm not saying that he deserves to be in those spots. 13:49 But I think that's part of it. 13:50 I think some of it, you know, having the late start to the season. 13:54 You know, I mean, I think that sometimes it's just one of those things where if you don't start off things with the right momentum, that you just don't hit your stride maybe until much further down the road. 14:05 So I think that that's likely a part of it. 14:08 Getting back to Boyd, you know, I have to tip my hat to him. 14:11 I certainly think that he's been more of an offensive presence than I expected this year. 14:15 I kind of didn't think that he would be doing as well as he has. 14:19 He stepped it up. 14:19 And I, you know, certainly that's a positive. 14:22 I think one of the things that I like about him is he's willing to shoot the puck, you know what I mean? 14:26 I think some guys maybe aren't as, they're a little more reluctant to pull the trigger at times. 14:31 So I think that that's certainly, you know, nice to have a guy out there, especially in that spot where Bukestad used to kind of man, you know, on the power play on that side. 14:40 And so he's willing to pull the trigger. 14:42 And I think that's certainly a positive. 14:44 Definitely a positive. 14:46 I was kind of hoping he would, you know, push his way through this year. 14:49 I was kind of, at least that was my guess at the pre-season, is that he would do that. 14:54 Well, and Ed Veegs brought it up earlier, you know, he played as freshman year as an 18-year-old. 15:00 I mean, he came in early. 15:01 I mean, he came in at the age that most kids are high school seniors. 15:04 So, I mean, I don't think, I think if there's anything that it goes to show is that, and hopefully this is the kind of message the coaches send to recruits is, look, take your time, you know, that would you rather play three or four years and be an impact player for, you know, at least three of those years or would you rather spend half a year college career sort of struggling to find your way. 15:27 And I think that if you kind of put that message across to kids, maybe they'll think a little harder, kind of like Clues did, you know. 15:33 He was very game about taking that extra year. 15:35 So, hopefully that's something we can send a message to the recruits in the future. 15:42 Well, guys, it's hard to argue a sweep on the road. 15:48 Their first place in the Big Ten, they're up by what, four or five points, whatever, in Wisconsin. 15:54 We've obviously got the tiebreaker with Wisconsin right now. 15:57 So, things are looking good. 15:59 People do not need to be so negative. 16:02 They have two losses on the season. 16:04 And it's really hard to complain when you have two losses this far into the season. 16:09 And they're number one in the pairwise. 16:11 And they're one in the pairwise, they're one in the country. 16:15 It should be hard to complain, but that doesn't stop a lot of our fans from doing it. 16:20 I mean, maybe it's one of those things where when things are going well, you just search for reasons. 16:26 I don't know. 16:26 I mean, I would think you would just want to enjoy it. 16:29 And maybe some of it's paranoia by some people that are just waiting for the other shoe to drop and some negative stuff to happen. 16:35 And then they can do, I told you so. 16:37 Yeah, I mean, the reality is that we don't know what's gonna happen. 16:41 There's still, you know, a good, what, 10 weeks or so left of the season. 16:46 And so we have no idea how things are gonna look yet. 16:49 And certainly some things could go wrong. 16:52 Maybe we won't win the national title. 16:54 I mean, you don't know, but nonetheless, at this point in the season with the record we have, I just don't see any reason to really complain too heavily or to overanalyze it too much. 17:05 Really, the only complaint I've had is really is, you know, their shootout performance is 0-1-3, but, you know, those games still ended in ties and, you know, we only lost a point or two or whatever against Michigan State. 17:19 So that's the only bad thing I can see. 17:21 Until they start losing people, it's hard to bitch. 17:25 It's really hard to bitch. 17:26 No, it's not. 17:28 It should be, but it's not. 17:30 It's not very logical to bitch. 17:32 I'll just say that. 17:34 What did you get? 17:34 I saw a big discussion about, like, what did you guys think of the line with Cammie and with Rao and Fashing? 17:44 I mean, I saw some people kind of questioning that kind of makeup on that line. 17:48 I mean, what are you guys' thoughts on that? 17:50 Well, honestly, I didn't see the games this weekend. 17:54 Oh, great. 17:56 Well, I was at my daughter's gymnastics meet yesterday, so I just quickly went through and watched the goals, but I never got a chance to see, you know, who played with who and how it affected the game. 18:09 So, Vegoe, what are your thoughts? 18:13 Well, they had tried it in the classic in the game against RPI, and Lucia instantly thought that Rao and Camerata were, you know, pretty dynamic together. 18:23 You know, they're both good at finding those soft spots on the ice and getting open and maintaining possession of the puck. 18:30 So much so that Lucia kind of just on the fly went with those two together on the power play, and they hadn't played on the power play at all during practice during break, and they just kind of went with it, and I think it's been a good change. 18:42 I think kind of at a glance, you look at those two guys on a line, and they're both really small. 18:48 But, you know, if you're avoiding hits and finding the open space and getting pucks on net, and we know Rao's got that high compete level, so he's going to battle, I think it's been a good change, and I look forward to see how they do against a little bit better competition here in the next couple of weeks. 19:05 I think when we looked at the schedule at the start of the year, we knew that we wouldn't know a ton about the Big Ten season until the series against Michigan and the series against Wisconsin, and those are starting to come up here pretty soon. 19:19 Well, I mean, the thing for me that I saw with some people is that they didn't know... 19:23 I saw some complaints about Cami being up there because of, you know, he's not a guy that's going to go dig in the corners. 19:29 That's just not his style. 19:31 And there was some complaints about, you know, where he should be in the lineup. 19:35 And the reality is, as a kid like that, you have to have in the top six or not play him at all because it's basically a fish out of water scenario when you have a kid that's more offensively gifted, and he's never going to be known as a grinded out type of a guy. 19:52 I mean, he might improve in those areas, but a third or fourth line really isn't what he was brought in to be. 19:58 And you kind of have to live with some of that other stuff that maybe isn't optimal on a top two line situation and just kind of deal with it. 20:08 So I just thought it would be interesting to get your take on it. 20:11 And you don't need three guys who can all go into the corner and battle for the puck. 20:16 And Fashion's proved he's got the speed and awareness to go win pucks for his line mates, and Rao is showing the ability to get in on loose pucks, especially around the net. 20:27 And I think they work well together. 20:29 You know, it's not a grind line. 20:30 They want to show some skill, they want to have possession, and you don't need all three to go into the corner. 20:37 Someone's got to get open. 20:38 And Rao doesn't play like a small guy. 20:41 No. 20:41 I mean, he does play much bigger than he actually is. 20:45 He's in front of the net. 20:46 He's taken a beating. 20:49 He'll go into corners. 20:50 So it's not like he is that small guy that you have to protect so much out there because he could take care of himself against the big guy. 21:00 And the top line was sort of producing even with warning on there. 21:03 And you wouldn't say warning's a guy who goes in the corner and mucks it up either. 21:08 No, definitely not. 21:08 And that's the thing. 21:09 People get so caught up in how tall is a guy. 21:13 And the reality is we've watched enough hockey over the years that you, I don't know, we've seen plenty of guys who are six foot and taller that, you know, play rather finesse and not really physical. 21:24 And then you have guys who are, you know, five, nine, and they're willing to get their nose dirty and get in the corners and muck it up and win puck battles. 21:32 So people get a little too caught up in that whole size bit, especially on a college hockey level. 21:38 It's so much less of an issue at college hockey. 21:40 Just look at BC. 21:43 They've lived off of small guys and been very successful. 21:46 So, you know, maybe in a certain game situation, but I don't think it's a big deal either. 21:53 Well, guys, this weekend we have the big outdoor game at TCF Bank Stadium against Ohio State. 22:04 I'm not big into gimmick games, but I'll be there. 22:07 And so, well, at least, what did they sell? 22:09 About 44,000 tickets so far. 22:12 Hammy, are you going to be at the outdoor game? 22:17 I am working on that right now. 22:19 I could possibly be there. 22:21 I have some other things going on in the personal life that I have to kind of weigh through. 22:26 But I'd like to be, you know, I'm like you, frankly. 22:29 I've always said that I'm not really a big fan of the whole outdoor game thing. 22:35 But certainly I understand why the school would want to do it. 22:38 Obviously selling a lot of tickets and creates a lot of positive energy, you know, not just for the program, but for the school. 22:46 So I understand why they want to do it. 22:48 I just hope that the ice conditions are good and that we can play a game that's, you know, pretty consistent to how we generally play because there's nothing more frustrating than to see like what we saw last year at Soldier Field where maybe the ice wasn't particularly great. 23:04 And, you know, it just, you know, it kind of works to one team's advantage over the other, especially the less skilled team. 23:10 So hopefully we'll see a pretty good ice sheet and things will work out well. 23:15 And hopefully we don't have any snow because right now the temperatures are going to be around 10 degrees or colder. 23:21 So, you know, the ice should be fairly quick as long as there's no snow. 23:27 Vegoe, I know you're going to be there. 23:28 You're looking forward to it. 23:30 Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. 23:31 I mean, you were... 23:32 You were at last year's, too. 23:33 You were at Chicago. 23:35 Yeah, I went down to Chicago and wrote for GPL that weekend. 23:38 And, you know, all the players loved it. 23:40 They loved going out for the practice. 23:42 They loved being outside. 23:43 They loved, you know, the kind of change up in the season. 23:46 You know, you're kind of at that midpoint of the season. 23:48 And, you know, some of the guys, you know, the season's long for them. 23:51 You know, they're trying to balance school and all that. 23:53 And it's a nice break and change for them to kind of get them up for the game again. 23:58 And, you know, I think one thing about this game is they're doing it right by doing the faceoff at 8 o'clock. 24:05 I think one of the problems with the game at Soldier Field, you know, they did it during the day when the sun was shining on the rink. 24:10 And that's just a recipe for bad ice. 24:13 It's going to get soft. 24:14 It's going to get slushy. 24:16 Anywhere there's paint on the ice, you know, that's going to draw some heat and melt. 24:20 And that's just going to get messy from there. 24:22 So I think, you know, the one thing when it gets cold is the ice can get brittle. 24:27 So we'll see if ice, like sheets of ice, can kind of come off instead of just little chips. 24:32 So it will be interesting to see if, you know, the cold weather affects it that way. 24:37 But it will be fun for the players and fun for the fans there. 24:41 And hopefully it's a good atmosphere. 24:42 Well, they can control that a little bit with, you know, the glycol system underneath. 24:47 Obviously, you know, when they initially put that on the water, they also didn't want those super cold temperatures. 24:54 But luckily they're able to control it at least a little bit with the system, the cooling system underneath, you know, preventing it from getting, you know, really cold. 25:04 And like you said, chippy and whatnot. 25:06 But it at least sounds like it's not going to be a slushy issue or soft ice. 25:11 You may have had this past weekend where people were skating on it, but it was much warmer this past weekend. 25:16 So the temperature looks good. 25:18 Obviously, we just got to wait and see if snow will be an issue at all or not. 25:23 Have you guys heard at all how they're going to handle practice for that game? 25:29 I have not. 25:31 I'm just kind of curious if they're going to try practicing at least one of the nights at that same kind of time frame, because to me, I don't know if you're practicing during the day and it's kind of like now you're playing in a night game and you're wondering if the lights are going to have some kind of impact and whatever. 25:46 I'd be curious if they're going to at least schedule one of those practices for night just to kind of get used to it. 25:51 Probably not a bad idea at all. 25:55 I'll hit up Brian Deutsch and see if they plan to do that. 25:59 There's rumors that there might have an alumni game there Saturday, but not really a public thing apparently. 26:09 But they've got like over 50 guys going to play. 26:11 Well, how many games have they already played on that rank? 26:14 I know there's that... 26:15 Yeah, the high school games last weekend. 26:18 And they had some open skate there, right? 26:20 Yeah, they had some open skating. 26:21 And it looked like from pictures this morning, they had a snowblower out there to get the snow off of the ice. 26:28 So, who knows what's going to happen? 26:32 Like I said, I just hope we don't have a crappy game. 26:36 Last year, Minnesota didn't play that game well at all. 26:41 They kept trying to play the Finesse game when they really just needed to get shots on goal and they just refused to play that type of game last year, and that's why Wisconsin won. 26:50 If that's the same thing this year, I hope they adjust and play that type of game, where, you know, hey guys, the conditions are crappy. 26:58 Just get a damn shot on goal, instead of trying to set up the perfect play that obviously didn't work last year. 27:06 Right. 27:07 I mean, that's kind of where it goes back to where, you know, hopefully the conditions will be optimal to play a pretty similar game to what they're used to because if it's a situation where they're going to have chippy ice and snow and whatever, that you kind of do have to go outside your game plan and just start firing pucks on net and trying to get to the net. 27:26 You can't really be trying to do the cross ice passes as much and things of that nature. 27:31 Now, what about Ohio State there, Vegoe? 27:34 You know, they've been getting better lately and they've got a couple guys that can put the puck in the net. 27:39 But what are your thoughts on Ohio State coming in this weekend? 27:44 You know, they've actually been pretty decent this season. 27:47 They've had some tight games with Michigan and they've gotten some good wins and some dominating wins where they've played good defense. 27:55 And so, they don't have any high profile draft pick guys, but they do have a couple later on draft pick guys. 28:04 Zingel is their kind of go-to guy for scoring. 28:07 And I haven't seen a ton of Ohio State, but they're a team in transition. 28:13 If they can keep a little scoring on that outdoor sheet, you do have to kind of grind it. 28:19 And you have to get pucks to the net. 28:20 One of the great things about 24-7 is you hear the coaches talking to their players throughout the game about things to focus on. 28:28 Short passes, keep possession of the puck, feed the net. 28:32 Those are kinds of the things that you'll see during the outdoor game. 28:36 Well, Hammy, they do put those stupid Buckeyes on their helmets, so that's got to be annoying for you. 28:43 They're not nearly as bad as the Notre Dame helmets or some of those brutal looking things. 28:49 What are your thoughts on the Ohio State? 28:51 Well, I mean, it's interesting. 28:53 They actually have a pretty good scoring offense, at least statistically, they're the third ranked scoring office right behind us. 28:59 So, I mean, that certainly bodes well. 29:02 It looks to me based on the numbers that it's really defensively where they've maybe struggled a little more. 29:09 So you got to have to hope that the Gophers can take advantage of that and do pretty well. 29:15 They've certainly been, not that they have had a super, super tough schedule there, but from what I've seen, it looks like they've had some pretty good success. 29:24 And I think that I didn't really expect a lot out of them this year, mainly because of the transition of losing Osiki and some of those kinds of factors. 29:35 And granted, they're not really anywhere near the top as far as pair-wise, and I guess their strength of schedule has been pretty weak now that I look at it. 29:44 It's 46 in the country. 29:45 So I mean, you have to take some of that into account, but nonetheless, I think it'll be an interesting challenge for the Gophers, and hopefully they'll bring their A game. 29:55 And one problem that we've seen this year is Minnesota has been playing to the level of their opponents. 30:02 I mean, you know, when it's a good team, they play good. 30:05 When it's a not as good team, it's close. 30:07 It maybe shouldn't be. 30:09 So who knows what's going to happen this weekend? 30:12 Well, I think one of the things is with playing to your opponent, you can't force the game to happen all the time. 30:19 If a team's going to play a 1-2-2 and sit back and try to counter you all game, you know, if you just go out game busters and try to send everybody in the forecheck and generate chances that way, you know, you're going to set yourself up to get countered. 30:32 So you have to play that patient game. 30:35 You have to take good shots. 30:37 You can't just throw the puck at the net from, you know, inside, you know, the hash marks into the corner. 30:43 You know, you got to put good scoring chances on that with traffic and generate scoring opportunities that way. 30:48 You know, you don't just want to turn the puck over. 30:51 You know, you got to be smart with the possession. 30:55 Well, Saturday, they come back Saturday afternoon as part of Hockey Day Minnesota and they'll play the Buckeyes again at Mariucci Arena. 31:06 Back to home ice, I guess, and we'll have to see, guys. 31:10 I mean... 31:12 Is there an uproar that there's no other Minnesota D1 teams in college? 31:17 You know, the funny thing is, I was listening... 31:20 Is there a riot going on? 31:21 I mean, give me a break. 31:22 I was listening to the post game last night on the radio since I was driving home and Mazako was talking, he did mention like, Hey, Hockey Day Minnesota, there are some other teams that will be playing in Minnesota that weekend. 31:33 I think he was just kind of poking fun at it, but I don't know. 31:39 But what can you do? 31:41 Like I said, Jan and Cindy always need something to complain about, so they do. 31:47 Well, and the reality of the matter is that the wild of, you know, this whole day has always happened kind of in January. 31:54 And now that we're in that situation where, you know, we're not in conference any longer with those teams. 32:02 Granted, you have the event the next weekend, the North Star Cup or whatever the hell it's called. 32:07 But I'm assuming that, you know, because that's, you know, the wild aren't going to be around. 32:12 So, I mean, you know, it's just one of those things where it's all about scheduling. 32:16 Does Hockey Day Minnesota still do something for you, Veegs? 32:20 I think it's a nice day. 32:22 I like that the high school kids get to play that outdoor game. 32:25 It's that Yankee Pit this year for Elk River. 32:27 And I know, you know, they've been planning that for a long time, trying to track the game and then, you know, putting it on now this upcoming weekend. 32:36 So that's fun. 32:36 I think it's a good tradition for the wild to try to force. 32:40 And, you know, college hockey is going to have that college cup coming up. 32:43 So, you know, that's going to be the focus for that, I think, is college hockey is that weekend. 32:49 It would have been nice maybe to try to time those up with Hockey Day, but, you know. 32:53 Well, this outdoor game kind of messed things up, you know, with the Big Ten Network and Fox. 32:59 It just kind of messed things up. 33:00 And I think you're right. 33:01 It would have been a perfect time to have Hockey Day Minnesota maybe next weekend, but maybe they'll plan that out next year. 33:09 Yeah, it'd be nice to see. 33:11 You know, I think there's probably some issues with having all the college games at Excel and then having the Hockey game there. 33:17 I mean, that's probably a natural conflict for those guys, but it would be fun. 33:22 Well, and you have to remember that we're trying to maximize as college teams in that event. 33:27 You know, you're trying to maximize your ticket sales and whatever else. 33:30 And, you know, when you're kind of having to deal with all that Hockey at once with the Wild, and I would imagine they'd push the college games more into the middle of the day. 33:41 So you're not going to get quite the attendance there. 33:43 At least, you know, for the Gopher game, it might not be quite as good as maybe a night game would be. 33:46 So they get a lot of factors. 33:50 Changing topics just a little bit. 33:52 There's one player that I had forgotten to mention that I wanted to talk about earlier is actually Ben Marshall. 33:59 We kind of been ripping on him earlier in the season. 34:03 He ended up sitting a game. 34:06 But since then, he's kind of picked up his game and I actually think he's excelled recently. 34:12 Hammeh, what are your thoughts on Ben Marshall? 34:14 He seems to be getting it a little more recently. 34:17 Well, I have to say that I wasn't really one of the ones that was ripping on him too heavily. 34:22 Granted, he was making some mistakes, but I never was really a huge Ben Marshall critic. 34:28 I think that he adds some elements with his skating and his ability to kind of be very dynamic, rushing to puck and creating offense that is very valuable for this team. 34:39 I know we're not completely devoid of that. 34:41 Obviously, we have some defensemen scoring goals and whatever. 34:44 But nonetheless, I think he adds that kind of real dynamic puck handler element. 34:49 And he's just like some of the other guys, he's just made some bad turnovers at times, especially on the offensive blue line that have gone the other direction and have hurt us. 34:58 And I just think that overall the team needs to be a little bit smarter in those positions, the defensive group, and not always necessarily push to play, be a little bit more conservative at times. 35:09 And maybe he's starting to figure that out a little bit more, having that balance and that decision making. 35:15 Vegoe, I think one of the keys is going to be Ben Marshall. 35:18 If this team is going to succeed throughout the season, he needs to be a key cog in that whole operation. 35:27 Yeah, I think he brings something to this team that's missing in a lot of the other players, and that's vocal leadership. 35:33 He is one of the more comfortable guys speaking among all the players, and he's really got confidence when he's playing well and in the lineup and working the power play. 35:44 I think this team needs that kind of leadership. 35:46 I think if they do have some tough times, they need those guys who can step up and make plays and push the pace. 35:53 He definitely can do that. 35:55 He can push the pace coming from his own end in the offensive zone, and he's making better decisions at the offensive blue line, and that's going to be key for him, because he's pretty good everywhere else on the ice. 36:08 When that hand grenade comes at you at the point, you can't always just step up and try to take the 50-50 play. 36:14 Sometimes you just got to bail out in the neutral zone, regroup, and give it another shot. 36:19 I think that's tough for a lot of players to learn, because the counters can come so quick. 36:26 He brings that leadership and skill, and they're going to need that down the stretch, because this team isn't gauged by sweeps. 36:33 It's gauged by banners, and they need him to do that. 36:38 Definitely, we need him to do that. 36:40 Hopefully, he keeps playing better, because even Lucia must have thought his game was down a little bit. 36:46 He sat him for a game a little while back. 36:49 Obviously, we just don't have that choice now. 36:51 Perronto is still out. 36:53 We heard a little tweet from him earlier this past week that he put the skates back on sometime this past week. 37:01 That seems encouraging. 37:02 Who knows when he's eventually going to come back, but the fact that he was skating a little bit is at least encouraging. 37:10 All right, boys. 37:11 Any other thoughts on this week or last week? 37:15 One question for Hammey. 37:17 You're a little more plugged in than I am on the recruiting. 37:21 With the Central Scouting midterm rankings, I know Ramsey fell quite a bit. 37:25 Have you heard anything about why that is? 37:27 He's still putting up points for Penticton, and he's a big body. 37:31 He's 6'2, 200-plus, I think. 37:35 Any insights there? 37:37 I think a lot of it for him. 37:40 Ever since he committed, I always kind of envisioned him as kind of like that serratory type of a role. 37:47 I mean, I never really expected him. 37:49 And I think, realistically, most fans shouldn't really expect him to be a big scorer. 37:56 And the BCHL is kind of a scorer's league. 38:01 I mean, he's doing okay, but when you're only putting up a half a point a game on average in that league, it's pretty below par for that league. 38:10 So I think that that's going to be a part of it. 38:12 His offensive game is going to be the area that's going to make or break his future as a pro. 38:17 He's never going to be a big scorer, but that's the part of his game that really needs to kind of step up. 38:22 He's a very good athlete. 38:23 He has that size, and he's obviously got the bloodlines with his father. 38:27 And so he's going to have a head for the game and whatever. 38:30 But I think that it's more than likely they're starting to see that his offensive game is going to be limited moving forward, whether it's the college level or the pro level. 38:41 And certainly you can find your niche on those levels in a non-scoring role, but you're not going to use high draft pick on a guy that's going to end up as a fourth-liner type of a guy, whether it's in the pros or wherever. 38:54 So I think that's probably what you're seeing with that. 38:58 All righty, then. 38:59 Well, if any of you guys have anything else, then let's put a wrap on the show. 39:05 We will be back next week. 39:07 We'll preview the North Star Cup. 39:08 You know, looks like that big matchup with St. 39:11 Cloud coming Friday. 39:14 And then who knows, we'll play the next day or night. 39:18 But we'll preview the North Star Cup. 39:20 I'll try to see if we can get a guest on maybe next week. 39:22 And of course, we'll definitely go over this outdoor game and the Hockey Day Minnesota. 39:28 And hopefully it's another good weekend for the boys. 39:30 Just to let you know, there are probably still a few tickets available. 39:33 Last thing I heard, it was like 44,000 tickets or so was sold. 39:37 So it might be nosebleed, but it could be a fun thing to do. 39:41 So go pick up a ticket. 39:43 Maybe you'll enjoy that outdoor game. 39:45 Oh, and one other thing, best wishes to Jeff Dube on his future, whatever it ends up being. 39:52 It's unfortunate that he isn't going to be on KSTP any longer, but hopefully he'll find someplace else in town, kind of be the Gopher Hockey voice on the radio for the midday. 40:05 Yeah, I texted him yesterday after it happened, and I said, you know, if you want to come on the show tonight, that'd be great, but he just thought it was just a bit too soon. 40:15 So I still want to get him on as a guest, but it just didn't quite work out yesterday, and obviously it wasn't a great day for him because he was obviously let go by 1500. 40:27 So best of luck to him. 40:30 You are right, Hammy. 40:32 All right, guys, we'll be back next week, and that's it for the GPL 50th Podcast. 40:38 It could have been better, but we'll get you next time.