0:15 This is The GPL Podcast. 0:22 Now, let's join Hammy, Vegoe and your host, Jupiter. 0:38 Welcome to another GPL Podcast. 0:41 We're here, post another BADger Series Vegoe, and it's not looking good right now. 0:48 Started really bad Friday night. 0:50 They came back to win it. 0:53 Saw some positives, quite a few negatives, but all in all, it was not that great of a weekend, was it, Veegs? 1:01 No, and normally, you know, going into a season, if you went 2-0 and 2 against a rival like Wisconsin, you'd be okay with that. 1:07 I would agree with you. 1:09 Except this year, Wisconsin's awful and has, I think, three wins, two wins. 1:14 So, you know, it's not exactly the same, and the mistakes just keep happening for this Gopher Hockey Team, and that's what's costing them. 1:23 It's not that they're getting outplayed here down the stretch, it's just they're making mistakes. 1:28 Goaltending's not the same as it was last year, and they're in a tough spot. 1:33 The tie did not help them. 1:34 So, Hammey, down three to one early Friday night, and we probably saw the best period all year when they came back and scored four in, what, under two minutes. 1:47 Boy, the positivity sure came back quickly. 1:50 That was a team we wanted to see all year long, so there was a little bit of positive this weekend. 1:57 Well, I mean, I'm piggybacking on kind of, it's ironic that Veegs brings up that comment about, you know, if you talk to Gopher fans before the year, because I actually had that exact conversation with somebody last night at Pub 819 in Austin. 2:12 We were talking about the fact that- 2:13 A new sponsor. 2:15 Well, you brought them up at one time. 2:17 I know. 2:18 So anyways, you know, I said the exact same thing that most years, if you told fans that you're going to go 2-0-1-2 in that four game series, they would take it. 2:28 And, but because of the expectation levels for the team this year, or at least heading into the season and the fact that Wisconsin has been historically terrible this year, suddenly that 2-0-1-2 doesn't seem so great. 2:41 So, and my big issue is just how we've been playing defensively and in goal. 2:47 You know, I know Lucia has brought up the whole five on five thing, but they're averaging over, I think it's over a couple of goals a game, five on five for the year at this point at least. 2:59 And really the reality is that we're not gonna go anywhere if we don't start cleaning up on the defensive end from a team defensive standpoint. 3:06 And if Wilcox doesn't find his game, I mean, they're gonna be screwed. 3:11 So I don't really, I mean, you can't go into a series that with a team that scored 36 goals for the year and 20 games and then give up nine goals and say, oh yeah, that was a great series that we played. 3:23 I just don't see it. 3:24 That was, I had some positives and negatives and that was my big thing on negatives. 3:29 Way too many goals against. 3:32 Well, and the, I mean, you know, some people on GPL were like, oh no, Debbie Downers and blah, blah. 3:37 It's like, okay, well, you can look at it however you want, but from a big picture standpoint, the reality is is that when you're giving up nine goals to a team that's averaging 1.8 going into the series, that's just not gonna cut it. 3:51 And if we had played any team that was halfway decent, we probably would have at least lost one of those games. 3:57 So I just don't see the major upsides from what we saw for performances last weekend. 4:04 Well, besides the negatives, I would say a couple of positives we did see. 4:08 Obviously they came back from being down three to one Friday night. 4:11 Did win the game, so that's a positive. 4:15 Fashion got on the board Friday. 4:17 Ambrose was big this weekend. 4:19 I know we had been talking about that a lot. 4:22 Any other positives for you, Vegoe? 4:25 Well, I think the power play continued to look pretty good. 4:28 It bailed them out on Friday night and Saturday night. 4:31 They did get one in a tough game. 4:34 I think that was good. 4:38 Camerata got back into the scoring sheet a little bit, so they need him to get going. 4:45 That's an understatement. 4:46 He hasn't scored, I think, since November, so hopefully he takes that jump in the next couple of weeks and starts gaining the score sheet more consistently because now with Conner Reilly out at least four weeks, they need somebody to step up. 5:01 They're going to have to shuffle the lines going into this weekend. 5:03 It looked like Conner Reilly had slid into that top power play spot and slid into one of the top six, and now they have to change all that. 5:12 Let's talk about Conner Reilly and that chicken shit play by that Badger. 5:18 Hammeh, go. 5:19 I mean, first of all, I thought the suspension was a joke. 5:23 I mean, I even said that on Twitter. 5:26 One game is a complete joke. 5:29 That was intentional, dude. 5:30 First of all, how much of a deterrent, especially for a college player, is one game? 5:36 I mean, maybe from an NHL standpoint, you're getting docked money and it's a decent amount of money. 5:44 That I can get, but you're talking about guys who aren't getting any money. 5:48 It's like being benched for a night. 5:50 I mean, it's not a huge deal for a college kid to get suspended one game. 5:56 And the reality is that it's not a deterrent. 5:58 It just isn't. 5:59 And you can't tell me that if you don't feel any fear of a real severe penalty, you're not going to worry about going knee to knee to a guy. 6:09 You might not even necessarily intentionally be doing it, but you're not going to say to yourself, I've got to really watch what I do with my frame. 6:17 I can't be reaching out with my leg just because I might have got beat with a move. 6:23 If I can't get them with my shoulder or arm, then I need to just let it go. 6:27 And these guys are not going to learn until the punishment is a little more severe. 6:34 Well, I just saw a tweet from Phil Johnson saying, kudos to the Big Ten on making the NHL Department of Safety look fair. 6:42 So, that pretty much says it all right there, huh, Veegs? 6:45 Yeah, for sure. 6:46 I mean, the onus is on the player delivering the hit in every league on these kinds of calls, whether it's boarding, contact to the head, kneeing, checking from behind. 6:57 You know, if you're putting yourself in a position to injure the other player, it's on you. 7:02 And you look at a guy like Matt Cook who's in the NHL, he has significantly changed the way he approaches contact because he knows the next time that he hits somebody in a way that injures him, it's 20 to 30 games. 7:16 And for him, that's a couple million dollars that he's going to be tossing away. 7:20 So I agree with Hammy. 7:21 There's just no reason for guys not to run guys at the end of the game. 7:26 Wisconsin's having a horrible season. 7:28 If they feel like they're losing momentum, one of the guys comes out and runs somebody, there's just no repercussions for that action. 7:38 The thing that bothers me is you're taking out a valuable player from one team who's actually producing and the scrub who injures them, he's been doing nothing. 7:48 He's a freshman that's done nothing of any note this year. 7:51 Except when the shootout contest. 7:55 The point is though is that you're basically really hurting one team, you're not really hurting another one, and then the punishment is one game. 8:03 It's like, really? 8:04 That's what you think is going to deter guys from making risky plays and going knee to knee. 8:11 I mean, I wouldn't be worried about it if I were a player. 8:14 It's like, oh, one game, big deal. 8:15 It's like if I get dinged up and can't play one night, so what? 8:18 It's just not a deterrent at all. 8:21 Well, it did hurt Minnesota in the end because they did lose that extra point in the shootout on Saturday night after... 8:27 Who was the player again who injured Conner Reilly? 8:30 McGuire. 8:31 McGuire, huh, pile of crap. 8:35 I'm not bitter at all. 8:37 I mean, obviously, Conner was one of the very big bright spots this season. 8:43 The kid had been scoring more than anyone else on the team, and he had really seemed to, you know, he had just, you know, that full year he kind of needed to get back and play and get back to full strength, and now he could end up doing it all over again. 8:59 Yeah, well, at this point, you just got to hope that he doesn't need any kind of surgery. 9:03 That's just something that will heal on its own. 9:06 I mean, obviously, we don't know the damage, so it's hard for us to be able to speculate on that, but you just kind of hope for the best in that situation so he doesn't have to go through it again. 9:17 My very unscientific speculation says if they're waiting four weeks to evaluate whether or not it needs surgery, I would think it would be like an MCL instead of an ACL type injury. 9:29 Generally, those ACLs, if they go, they're gone. 9:33 Not good. 9:35 Not good at all. 9:36 If you're listening live and want to send us questions, just use the hashtag GPL Podcast on Twitter, and we'll try to get to your question. 9:46 I see Tim Hapke is wondering, are the Gophers better off moving a D-man up to forward or play AJ, Ryan Reilly or Hoagland more often? 9:56 Hammeh, what's your first thought of that? 9:59 Well, it depends on if some of these guys decide that they don't want to get in trouble off the ice. 10:06 I won't necessarily have to go there, but that's going to be a part of the deal. 10:11 But at this point, I don't know what it's going to hurt. 10:15 I guess it depends on who they're going to be picking as the defensemen to potentially move up. 10:23 Frankly, I think we probably saw that happen last weekend because of some non-hockey stuff, and they have to make decisions on what's going to be the best for the team. 10:33 I don't know. 10:36 Like I said, I just think it really depends on who they would select as being that guy. 10:40 I mean, I think there's obviously some better options than others, but then you have to say to yourself, is that going to hurt the team on the defensive end of things? 10:48 It's not like we've been knocking them dead on the defensive zone. 10:51 So that's kind of a tough one. 10:54 I guess it's a real judgment call for the coach. 10:57 And by the way, Tim, one of those players you mentioned got in a little trouble, but we're not going to talk about it. 11:04 Not yet, at least. 11:06 I tried to tell some of the people that can ask questions down at Mariucci in the media side, but I got to them too late. 11:14 It's all good. 11:16 It's all good. 11:17 What do you think? 11:17 Do you think someone's going to move up there, Veegs? 11:20 I think it's a little unlikely. 11:23 I don't know if there's a guy that they see as a skill set that would be effective at moving up. 11:29 They do have options with AJ, Ryan Reilly and Hoagland to have somebody who plays limited minutes. 11:37 And I think if they were going to do that, they would have done it early in the season. 11:42 And gone that way the whole season like they did with Justin Hall. 11:49 So I don't see them doing that here in the last 14 games. 11:53 I think every game is on TV except for the Penn State one. 11:57 So you get those TV timeouts. 11:59 And I think they'll just roll nine guys and spot the other two in with a double shift on somebody when they need it. 12:07 Okay, well if Tim, if they do pick any of those guys, I actually kind of hope it's Ryan Reilly. 12:13 You know, the kid doesn't score a lot, but one thing I do like about Ryan Reilly's game is that he does bust his ass out there. 12:21 He does give a good effort. 12:23 He's kind of, obviously he's not row-like, but he's row-like in his effort. 12:28 He's out there busting his butt, and that's what I do like about him. 12:32 Well, yeah, and especially from a lower line perspective, you're not really expecting a lot of scoring as it is, so it is more of an effort and physicality, and granted, he's not a big kid, but he's certainly not afraid, he's not going to shy away from it for his size especially. 12:50 So yeah, maybe he can create a spark, but I don't think he can do any worse, frankly, than what we've seen from some guys this year in those roles anyway. 12:59 I do think one thing about the lower-lying guys is they've got to realize that their job out there is to not turn the puck over, and to not take penalties. 13:09 I think that's killed this team at times when they have lower-lying guys who are trying to make something happen, they make a complicated play, and they end up giving the puck away. 13:19 And that puts the team in bad situations. 13:21 So whoever steps up into this role, they really have to play smart, safe hockey. 13:29 You know, I noticed that Mr. 13:31 Gonzalez from the Star Tribune today was kind of talking about how Lucia might be in a little bit of hot seat after what's been going on these last few months. 13:39 Do you guys think there's anything to that? 13:45 Well, I mean, you always hear a little bit of the rumors about things like that, and I've heard, you know, there's been some boosters that have maybe talked to the athletic director, but I don't know factually if that's true. 14:01 I've just heard kind of that banning about a little bit. 14:04 And I'm sure that that's not exactly unique any time that there's... 14:09 It's not the first time it's happened with Lucia, that's for sure, and he's still coaching, so it doesn't necessarily mean anything. 14:16 But I think that when you go into a season with the high expectations and we see just how messy... 14:24 I mean, frankly, from my perspective, from the things that I've heard, it's had more drama this year than I think any year that I can remember. 14:32 I mean, even during those down years, you can kind of say, well, they didn't have as much talent and the coach was ill with a health concern, and so you kind of say, well, that's going to have a dramatic impact. 14:45 But this is just one of those years where there is no excuse from a talent perspective. 14:50 It's just chemistry and certain things just not going right, and it's just not good. 14:59 One thing I wanted to talk about that I've kind of noticed lately is Mr. 15:03 Kloos. 15:04 Is it just me or is that kid a little bit snake bit? 15:08 He's had a lot of really good opportunities lately and has not been burying the puck at all. 15:16 Yeah, he's gone through a tough spot. 15:18 I guess the real concern I would have is if he wasn't getting the opportunities. 15:23 At least you know with a kid with that kind of talent, eventually they're going to start going through it. 15:28 Sometimes goal scorers, they just go through some of those slumps and just have to hopefully get one or two and then suddenly you get things turned around. 15:38 I think that if you get the opportunities, eventually that's going to happen for him. 15:43 Any thoughts on that, Veegs? 15:45 Clues, a little snake bit? 15:47 He's getting his shots. 15:49 I think sometimes the guys just start to squeeze their sticks and try to pick corners. 15:54 It doesn't go well for everybody, but they just need to keep generating chances and make sure that they get their release off in a way where the goalie can't freeze the puck. 16:02 I think we've talked about this a lot. 16:05 Sometimes if the goaltender is square to you, it's going to be hard to beat him with a shot, but you can definitely beat him on a rebound. 16:12 So players have to be a little bit smarter with that opportunity that they have. 16:16 And that's one that we've talked about earlier this year. 16:18 You know, I've been saying, shoot low, Gopher, get that rebound. 16:21 Well, it's got to be hard, and it's got to be in a spot where the goalie can't freeze it. 16:26 You know, with all these big pads and modern technology, it makes it easier on the goalies to freeze the puck all the time. 16:31 But, you know, if you can catch the goalie off guard and get him out of his technique and off his angle, you know, the goals start to come in. 16:37 I think we saw, you know, when the Gophers made their comeback here a little bit this weekend, those kind of opportunities are huge for them. 16:45 Question from John Lewis via Twitter. 16:48 He wants to know, does Nick Lair get a shot to start between the pipes, maybe get some experience? 16:55 Hammey, any chance? 16:57 I'm thinking he's going to just stick with Wilcox, but... 17:02 Well, I mean, I think if you were to look at maybe one of the failures from a coaching perspective that we've seen this year is that they really didn't have... 17:13 I mean, if you're not playing... 17:15 I mean, let's face it, Wilcox has not played particularly well, especially lately. 17:20 I mean, not that everything is his fault, but he's certainly not playing as well as last year. 17:23 And you sort of say to yourself, okay, if they're not even giving the other guy any kind of a shot, what does that say? 17:30 It tells me that they're not feeling particularly confident in the backup situation, and whose fault is that? 17:37 That's the coach. 17:37 I mean, if you're not bringing in a guy that's really a threat to be a starter, even if you have somebody who's installed in the program that's been a two-year starter or whatever, you know, that's on the coaches. 17:53 So I don't know if he's going to get a start. 17:55 I mean, it can't hurt, given the fact that we just... 17:58 Maybe, you know, sometimes you shake things up with a new goalie, and if you're going to have a guy in there that's maybe not as proven, maybe the team says, well, I got to do a much better job defensively because we can't just count on the saves coming like we could with Wilcox like last year, for instance. 18:14 So maybe that's something you try out, but I don't know. 18:18 How's the team going to feel about it? 18:19 Are they going to feel like, oh, this is our best chance of winning in a game? 18:23 I would argue they probably wouldn't. 18:25 So is that going to work in the end? 18:26 I don't know. 18:28 Does Laird get a shot there, Veegs? 18:31 It certainly doesn't sound like it. 18:33 Dane from the Pioneer Press today asked Lucio to respond to the criticism of Wilcox. 18:38 And Lucio was like, what criticism? 18:41 And he left it at that. 18:43 Really? 18:44 Yeah. 18:44 He basically just brushed off the question and moved on because he's thinking Wilcox's play has been fine. 18:52 He just didn't even want to go there. 18:53 So I think we see Wilcox down the stretch and I just don't see Layar as an option. 19:00 If he said that to me, I'm sorry. 19:03 I know I'm not the D1 coach, but to me that's ridiculous. 19:06 I mean, anybody with two Ys can see that Wilcox has not played as well this year as he has in the past. 19:13 So I mean, that's to me a ridiculous statement. 19:16 I'm with you on that, Hammy. 19:17 Hello, Don. 19:19 Do you pay attention at all? 19:21 He's not reading the message boards or the Twitter. 19:24 He's made that up. 19:25 It's even on the Internet, I wonder. 19:28 Don, you got the old flip phone going, not paying attention? 19:31 Well, we are talking about Wilcox. 19:33 We're not saying he's terrible. 19:35 The team defense in front of him is terrible. 19:38 But where he came up big in big chances and big opportunities and game changing points last year and previous years, he's not doing that this year, Don. 19:48 You know that. 19:48 You just don't want to say it. 19:50 Well, I mean, exactly. 19:52 It's not like every goal and the fact that his stats have gone down. 19:57 It's not like that's all on him. 19:58 Certainly, we've seen plenty of mistakes defensively this year, you know, all around from a team defense standpoint that it's not going to be all on him. 20:08 But I think it's awfully ridiculous to say that he's been as solid and net just on making those kind of game-turning saves. 20:18 That just hasn't happened nearly as much this year, so to me that's ridiculous. 20:22 Well, this weekend we've got another terrible team coming into town, guys. 20:26 Ohio State. 20:28 Obviously, Minnesota has dominated this series, I should say. 20:34 They're 15-2-1 all time against Ohio State. 20:38 But recently, you know, there was a 2-2 tie the last game of the season, regular games last year. 20:45 And then at the X, Ohio State took out Minnesota 3-1. 20:51 Hammey, what's going to happen this weekend? 20:53 Can Minnesota at least get something going? 20:57 Or is it all downhill? 20:59 Well, I mean, I think this is a weekend. 21:01 I mean, they absolutely can sweep and they have to sweep. 21:06 Yeah, but we were saying that last weekend, too. 21:09 Well, I didn't say they were going to sweep. 21:10 Well, we're not saying they were going to sweep, but they really needed to sweep last weekend. 21:14 Right, and like I said, I'm not confident in saying that they're going to sweep. 21:18 I said this on GPL earlier today that they should sweep, but I'm not at all confident about it based on how we've seen them perform defensively and in goal lately. 21:28 It's hard to say, yeah, they're going to get all six points because we just haven't seen that kind of consistency in all facets of the game to really feel all that confident about it. 21:38 Even if Ohio State isn't necessarily a great team, it's just hard to feel that way right now when you're going on the road against Wisconsin or playing some other teams that just haven't been that great and we haven't performed. 21:53 Vegoe, they need to start winning sometime here. 21:55 If they want any chance of making it in the top, I would say 14 at least, of the pairwise, they need to win most of the rest of their games. 22:05 Starting this weekend. 22:07 I think you retweeted the Jim Dahl breakdown of the pairwise. 22:11 Great breakdown. 22:13 Which for any Gopher fan is a must look at to get sober on how the season is going. 22:18 They basically have to go 10-2 to put themselves in consideration. 22:23 If they go 10-4, there's a good chance that they won't even get into the top 16 with that. 22:31 So this weekend is a big weekend. 22:33 Ohio State did return a lot of their defensive core, their goal-tending. 22:38 So it's a veteran crew back there that doesn't score a lot of goals. 22:42 It's an opportunity for Minnesota to try to win that race to three goals. 22:46 And that should be enough this weekend. 22:48 They just have to play that consistent hockey that Lucia is looking for. 22:52 And it does seem like everybody on the ice is waiting for somebody else to make the plays. 22:59 Whether or not they can find that leadership and that drive to make it happen, that's still unknown. 23:07 I thought the Wisconsin series two weeks ago would kind of spur that on, but it definitely hasn't to date. 23:15 Well, as of right now, I think it's going to be tough to catch Michigan in the Big Ten standings. 23:21 But I really don't see any reason why Minnesota can't at least get to second place and get at least that one game by in the Big Ten tournament. 23:32 I mean, is that unrealistic, guys? 23:35 I don't think it is, and I actually don't think that Michigan is out of reach. 23:38 I mean, they played one more game than us, and we have the two home games here. 23:43 But they are playing pretty well now. 23:45 Well, yeah, I'm not saying that at all, but I'm just saying that if we take care of business on our own, we'll still be definitely in the hunt heading into the last weekend or two in terms of the Big Ten. 23:57 Now, are we going to do that based on how we've performed? 24:01 We haven't had the consistency to be cocky enough to say that, yeah, that's going to happen. 24:06 I'm just saying that if they can manage to pull things together, they're not completely out of it. 24:14 The way that I would look at the season right now is really, we need to just play better hockey, and then once we get to the Big Ten tournament, we have to win it. 24:23 Because I really just don't know that I have the confidence that they're going to get an at-large bid at this point. 24:29 Their margin for error is, because of the screw-ups that they've had, is just too small, and there's nothing there that's going to convince me that they're going to just have this hot streak all of a sudden. 24:39 And realistically, that's going to be more difficult playing in Michigan for the Big Ten tournament. 24:44 Correct. 24:46 Although they haven't done great at the final five without the Excel either. 24:50 Yeah, the last few years, the last three or four at least, at the X have not been kind to Minnesota. 24:58 Maybe too many distractions on there, so it might be good for them to get away. 25:03 Yeah, I thought it was our home rank. 25:05 We've been told for how many years. 25:08 Vig, do you think second place is realistic for Minnesota? 25:12 Yeah, I think so. 25:13 I think with the home games that they have coming up with Michigan, that helps not having to go on the road there. 25:22 The other teams on the schedule are not that dangerous. 25:24 The Big Ten is really down. 25:26 I think Wisconsin, because it's a rivalry, those were tough games. 25:29 They came out of that okay, 2-0 and 2 conference-wise. 25:33 It probably hurt their pair-wise. 25:35 But in the conference, despite how bad they played, they did okay on the score sheet there. 25:40 Well, basically the bottom line is, if you win, it's going to help your pair-wise no matter what. 25:45 It may be a slower climb, but if you just keep winning and not losing to teams like an Ohio State and even the other teams, but really losing a game this weekend really hurts their pair-wise. 25:59 But if you just keep winning, you have a chance to creep up. 26:06 Well, I mean, yeah, it's obviously that's the key. 26:09 And like I said, though, with the margin of error, being very slim, it's going to be very difficult. 26:15 So I wouldn't say it's impossible, but this stretch, it's going to be tough. 26:22 I think the pair-wise is going to be a long shot. 26:24 But I think top two in the conference is definitely an achievable goal. 26:28 For this squad, they're in position to do it. 26:32 They control their own destiny there. 26:33 And think about that statement right there. 26:37 Top two in the Big Ten is a legitimate goal. 26:40 And think about that compared to where we were back in like early October. 26:46 If you had told us back then that that would be where we're at now, we'd be like something seriously bad must have happened, like ravaged by injuries and all this. 26:57 You know what I mean? 26:57 It's just hard to believe how the expectations just fluctuate based on. 27:04 And it's nobody, you know, I don't blame anybody for saying that, but it just shows you how unpredictable and how bad the season has been to this point. 27:12 Well, I think it pretty much sucks. 27:14 This team, the coaches, everyone has failed us so far. 27:19 I'm sorry. 27:20 The coaching has not been great. 27:21 The players, I don't know if they're fighting. 27:23 I don't care. 27:24 Just get your shit together and let's go. 27:28 Because they've got the talent. 27:31 And we've seen them play way above what they've been doing the past two months. 27:37 So let's get it going. 27:39 Well, for me, the disappointment has been in some of the key returning guys. 27:44 I mean, you expect guys like, I mean, to me, Mike Riley, yeah, he's done fine offensively. 27:49 But I think the decision making, some of the defensive mistakes, I mean, it's bad. 27:55 And I say to myself, here's a guy that thought about leaving, had the option to leave. 28:00 And I say to myself, good luck, kid. 28:02 If you're going to play that way, you're not going to even cut it in the AHL, let alone the NHL. 28:07 If you play crappy defense like that, you're not going to make it. 28:11 I don't see it. 28:12 So to me, guys like that, Wilcox, you know, I think mentally he seems to have got whatever disease that Kemper has. 28:20 He can also have one foot out the door already, too. 28:22 Well, I mean, that's what I'm saying, though. 28:24 It's like, how distracted are you? 28:26 I mean, you know, mentally, there's something just not right there. 28:31 But, you know, and Shea, I mean, he's been dinged up, but I don't think that he's had a particularly great year given, you know, being a first round guy that could have left, too. 28:39 You know, some of these guys that have a lot of the hype, they had to me have not stepped up. 28:44 It's not been like a poll or a Leopold where they have a great last year. 28:51 Or some of these guys that you see continually get better over the course of their career. 28:55 They just have not played well this year. 28:58 I think it's safe to say that we would like to see this unfinished business attitude that they came into the season with. 29:05 We'd like to see that come back because we're not seeing it. 29:09 Show us what you got. 29:11 I think the new phrase should be attention to detail. 29:15 Don't turn the puck over, be responsible and don't force the game. 29:21 I think the problem is that you have all these guys and all this talent and they all think that they can force the game and make plays happen. 29:29 Tell you what, this isn't the 80s anymore in college hockey. 29:32 You make mistakes, you're going to get punished. 29:34 You can't just create all kinds of offense and score five or six goals a game. 29:39 Three is usually good enough to win you a contest. 29:43 So they've got to pay more attention to the details of the game and play smart. 29:48 And a lot of people will point to, especially from a defensive standpoint, they'll be like, well, how come Gensel isn't getting heat or this or that? 29:56 And to me, it's like, well, do you really think Gensel and those guys lost the ability to suddenly coach defense or their position? 30:05 It's not that. 30:06 It's guys are not, they're making mistakes that are mental mistakes that you can drill it into their head time and time again. 30:13 But if they're going to make those mistakes, it's not a coaching thing. 30:16 It's a guy just making mental errors or trying to do too much and cheating over when he shouldn't be cheating over to one side and leaving the slot open or whatever. 30:26 It's just, those are the kinds of things that we're seeing. 30:29 It's not, how come, I mean, when you have three straight years as good a defense as we had the last three seasons before this, it's not like they forgot how to coach. 30:39 It's a matter of guys just not executing when they're taught things. 30:44 And it does feel like the coaches have been pointing out all the mistakes in the November, December, and the last month the coaches had to decide, maybe we just need to start focusing on the positives more because by critiquing everybody so frequently, everyone's slowing down. 31:04 Everybody's thinking more on the ice and doing less. 31:08 And so I think the players just, you know, the confidence is not there to react and go on instinct. 31:14 You know, they're just thinking so much that it slowed them down. 31:19 Mark Erickson's wondering on a topic related to this year's Gopher Hockey Team, what's your favorite hangover cure? 31:27 God, just trying to get lots of fluids, electrolytes, you know. 31:33 Drink a big glass of water. 31:35 Pedialyte. 31:37 Pedialyte saves lives. 31:39 Great if you're going on a road trip. 31:41 Pedialyte is an essential item. 31:44 Stop at your local Walgreens or Target and pick some up. 31:47 Well, there you go. 31:49 That was just for you, Mark. 31:52 I know you were really curious. 31:55 Well, I think that's it for this week, boys. 31:57 I'm done being bitter for right now. 31:58 I don't want to be bitter more this week. 32:01 Well, hopefully, you know. 32:03 Hopefully the team shows up. 32:04 A better result, yeah. 32:06 I think anything less than a sweep is damn disappointing. 32:10 Yeah, well, home against a team that you're definitely better than. 32:14 I mean, you got to start executing at some point. 32:17 And certainly they're going to have to start doing it. 32:19 They're going to make it any kind of a run when it counts. 32:24 All right. 32:24 Well, remember, you can always follow Hammy right there on Twitter at Hammy Hockey, and you can of course follow Vegoe at eVegoe. 32:33 And if you're listening live, just send us questions via GPL Podcast hashtag. 32:38 So we answered a couple of questions tonight. 32:40 Didn't get a chance last week. 32:41 We were a little busy with Rick Pizzo, but we'll try to keep you involved, fans. 32:47 We'll be back next week to recap this Ohio State Series, and see what the future holds after that. 32:55 Thanks for listening. 32:56 Thanks, then.