0:15 This is The GPL Podcast. 0:22 Now, let's join Hammy, Vegoe and your host, Jupiter. 0:38 Hello, and welcome to The GPL Podcast for another week. 0:43 Oh boy. 0:44 Lot happened last week, boys. 0:47 Obviously, two wins is good, but according to Frank Mazzacco in the radio broadcast Saturday, he seems to think, or he was told, that some of the problems in the locker room may have been resolved. 1:03 Well, that would be definitely positive, but Hammeh, are you hearing anything? 1:10 I haven't, honestly. 1:12 I mean, we all have touched on the issues throughout the last handful of weeks. 1:18 Oh, but there's no issues, I thought. 1:20 Yeah, well, I mean, I think- 1:21 The fact that I heard Frank even mention that seems to tell you something's been going on. 1:25 Well, when you saw the newspaper article where Rao was disputing that there was issues and so on, I mean, you're not surprised, because a player is not gonna, if he's smart at least, is not gonna acknowledge in the newspaper that, yeah, we're having problems in the locker room, because that's just gonna create probably more issues and more fan questions and whatever. 1:47 So you're not expecting them to acknowledge it anyways. 1:50 But I haven't heard anything as far as bearing the hatchet or players meetings or anything like that. 1:56 I'm sure that some of that has gone on. 1:58 It wouldn't surprise me, but I haven't personally heard anything like that. 2:03 Well, regardless, if we've heard anything or not, Veegs, I would definitely say, even though Ohio State's not a good team, two wins is probably not that big of a deal in the big scheme, but we did see a lot of positive things this past weekend. 2:18 Yeah, it's a very healthy weekend for the lineup. 2:20 The power play looked pretty good as it looked all year. 2:24 You don't get to be number one in the nation in a special team like that without having some talent. 2:28 And I think everybody was a little worried about Conor Riley being off that group. 2:33 And they kept it going and humming. 2:37 And it's healthy two wins for them. 2:41 So are you kind of feeling the same way there, Hammey? 2:43 Good two wins, but not looking too positive? 2:46 Or I know you've been a little wishy-washy on this. 2:49 Not really sure what to think. 2:51 Well, I guess my attitude is, it was a great result. 2:55 I mean, it was nice to see. 2:56 I didn't feel like either game was really in doubt. 2:58 And it was nice to have a weekend like that since we haven't had one like that in a while. 3:03 And I thought that offensively it was good. 3:06 Defensively, I thought they played pretty solid. 3:09 So, I mean, from that standpoint, you're like, yeah, it was a good weekend. 3:13 But you're also saying, okay, are we feeding on somebody who's just not a very good team? 3:20 And I think, I mean, well, I know we're gonna touch on this next series coming up here, but I think that'll say, that'll go a long ways to how I feel as far as the stretch run and if we can make any noise. 3:32 I think, like you looked at Ohio State, they had the one top line that could go, and then the rest of the lines all struggled to keep up with Minnesota's speed. 3:41 And I think, kind of like the Wisconsin series, the depth lines for Minnesota were able to have good weekends because they were able to outskate their opponents. 3:50 Well, speaking of good weekends, obviously Mr. 3:52 Travis Boyd has been putting in a lot of goals, Veegs. 3:57 Yeah, he's looked really good on that power play unit and getting his first career hat trick. 4:03 He has always been a player who's put himself in a position to score. 4:07 And this year, he must have done a lot of work on his shot because he's converting pretty regularly. 4:14 You know, I also noticed that, you know, clues may have broken out a little bit as well. 4:20 You know, I noticed Friday night, you know, he seemed to be playing quite a bit better. 4:25 He actually scored a goal. 4:27 And, you know, he was pretty good at setting things up for Brischdad as well. 4:32 Well, I think with clues, his speed against a team like Ohio State is a definite separator. 4:38 I didn't think Ohio State was a great skating team. 4:40 And Clues is one of the better Gopher skaters. 4:43 So I think that allowed him to get lots of space. 4:45 But I think that's one thing that we've been missing this year from Clues is his speed. 4:50 He's a pretty fast dude, but we just haven't seen that extra gear from him this year, Hammey. 4:56 Well, I mean, I honestly, my thing with him, I haven't been concerned about him mainly because he's been getting the opportunities. 5:04 It's usually the guys that they, you don't, it's like they're missing for a few games. 5:08 Kind of like Hammey was for a stretch of time where you're like, what the hell's going on with this guy? 5:13 I never really felt that way with Clues. 5:15 I thought that he was playing pretty well. 5:17 It just that he was a little snake bit and things just weren't falling into place for him. 5:21 And that happens to even the very best of players. 5:23 So I was never concerned about him in that respect. 5:27 As far as Travis Boyd goes, I thought he had, you know, he's having the kind of senior season you really look for out of guys. 5:34 You know, you want them to show what they've been doing to progress as a player over the course of their prior three years. 5:40 And I think he's been a guy that has really stood out in terms of his production on the ice and his performance. 5:46 And unfortunately that hasn't been contagious among some of the other seniors. 5:51 So hopefully some of the underclassmen will see how he's progressed with his efforts and they'll kind of take heed as they move along in their college career. 6:00 Well, as we've done this podcast over the years, Boyd's one of those guys that, you know, we kind of hoped would turn it around because obviously he came in and he was kind of a year younger than everyone else, wasn't he, Hamme? 6:10 Yeah, he was, I mean, really, I think he's still only 21 years old. 6:14 Yeah. 6:15 Technically he's basically the age of your classic junior. 6:20 So, I mean, from that standpoint, you know, I think it kind of goes to show that as much as these kids want to get into college, ASAP and, you know, play college hockey right away, sometimes they need to take a step back and I don't know if it's the parents or an advisor or whatever and just say, kind of like what Kloos did, even though his was somewhat decided on Bukstad's status, but he got to play an extra year in junior hockey after high school. 6:46 And yeah, I think we'll see a guy who's gonna be productive for three or four years in college, whereas with Boyd, we really didn't see him at his best until probably the last year and a half of his college career. 6:58 So it just kind of goes to show sometimes patience will be beneficial for some of these players. 7:04 Well, like you said, hopefully he gets some of these other seniors going too, but it is good to see him, well, he's leading the team in goals, I believe now. 7:12 So that's one positive, I think, that we've seen. 7:17 We've seen him kind of grow throughout his whole career and increase his influence on the game. 7:24 Maybe something we haven't seen from some of the other guys. 7:28 Well, yeah, I mean, it's kind of hard. 7:29 I mean, it's hard to judge Rao because he's been such a solid contributor, right, from the start of freshman year. 7:34 So, you know, when you see a guy getting 30, 40 points your freshman year, you kind of say, okay, well, they should be getting like 50 or whatever by the time they're seniors. 7:43 And that's not always the case. 7:45 He's always been productive, but he's just not having that really breakthrough, great, fantastic John Pole kind of a final season kind of a situation. 7:55 So, he's been good, but I mean, some of these other guys, yeah, they just haven't really stepped up to the level that you would really hope for over the course of a college career. 8:03 Not that they've been bad necessarily, they just haven't really, it's kind of like they plateaued and they really didn't take that next step. 8:10 I think one of the things with Rao is he's had to play center this year, and, you know, he's had to be a lot more responsible with where he is in the offensive zone. 8:18 And I think that's impacted his goal scoring a little bit. 8:23 Veegs, how did you feel about Brischdad this weekend? 8:25 Personally, I thought he kind of stepped up his game quite a bit. 8:28 Yeah, I think he's kind of finding out how to play college hockey. 8:34 He takes the odd penalty every once in a while, trying to force a physical game into him, and he's a strong kid. 8:40 But I think he's learning how to play with his linemates a little bit, and maintain some offensive possession. 8:46 And he's been good on the forecheck. 8:48 He brings a lot of energy to the ice. 8:51 And the thing I think I like about it, though, is he's a small guy, but he's gonna stick his nose in there. 8:56 And if he gets a penalty for being a little too aggressive, especially at his size, I'll take it, because usually those are not gonna hurt you. 9:04 It's the hookings and the stuff that... 9:07 The lazy penalties. 9:08 Right, it's the lazy penalties that bother me. 9:11 If you're gonna get a penalty for just being a little too physical or too aggressive, I can handle that a little bit more. 9:17 And so, especially from a guy like him, who's kind of adapting to the North American style and learning how to be a productive player in North America, I think it's... 9:26 I like that he's doing that. 9:28 Well, it was a solid weekend against pretty much a terrible opponent. 9:34 We had the four-two win Friday night, six-two win Saturday. 9:40 Not a great team, but from what we've seen this year with the inconsistency, we all kind of went into the weekend hoping for a sweep. 9:48 And like I said in some of the tweets, has this team turned it around? 9:54 We're really hoping so. 9:55 And like Lucia said in the past, the speed's gonna go up this weekend, and we'll kind of find out where they are this coming weekend. 10:03 But I think at least for Ohio State, I think it was at least a very positive step in the right direction. 10:10 It's start building up for the end of the season. 10:15 Well, I can't disagree. 10:16 Like I said, I think it's one of those cases where we saw that pretty much on all cylinders as far as the overall game goes, they played pretty well. 10:26 And so you really hope that that's going to be, especially some of these guys like Boyd or Warning having a big three-assist game. 10:34 Cammie has been kind of heating up a little bit more offensively lately. 10:38 And he actually played some pretty solid defense. 10:41 I thought the effort was there on the defensive end as well. 10:43 So when you see some of these guys making that kind of progress and effort, you're kind of hoping that, okay, well, maybe these guys are getting it and it's going to be something that's going to be contagious down the stretch. 10:56 But we're going to find out quite a bit this weekend, I think. 10:59 Yeah, defense was a little bit better this past weekend. 11:02 I mean, we did have that fluky goal, Veegs, what was it, Friday night, but all in all, they did play fairly well on D. 11:10 Not just the defense, but as a team, Wilcox all the way out to the forwards. 11:15 Yeah, I think Wilcox played a pretty steady game both nights and the shots against were both low. 11:21 I think they were in the low 20s and high teens for the weekend. 11:26 So they looked good and they didn't have the glaring turnovers at the blue lines that can really cost you. 11:31 And I think there was one by Isaacson during the weekend, but for the most part they protected the puck well and didn't give up any big chances. 11:42 Well, we're halfway through the Big Ten season, guys, and Minnesota's six points out of first place. 11:50 Michigan and Penn State up there at the top. 11:53 Michigan, we could see Penn State, no one saw this coming. 11:57 But at least Minnesota's in the discussion right now. 12:01 Obviously at the beginning of the season we were thinking Minnesota all the way, but they're not as far back as they could have been with the way they've played. 12:10 And obviously with Michigan coming in this weekend, they could jump up quite a bit. 12:15 Veegs, what are your thoughts so far? 12:17 We're halfway through the Big Ten season. 12:18 Obviously we're disappointed where Minnesota is, but Michigan playing better than we thought, and obviously Penn State is playing very well. 12:26 Yeah, I think Penn State's clearly the surprise on the conference with they've got seven wins already, been playing some pretty good hockey. 12:35 But I think when we looked at Minnesota's schedule, we knew we weren't going to know much until this upcoming weekend. 12:41 I think this Valentine's Day series was circled in everyone's calendar to kind of figure out where they're at. 12:48 And that's the way it's going to be. 12:50 If they can win both games this weekend, I think that puts them into a tie with Michigan. 12:55 And who knows what's going to happen with Penn State this weekend. 12:59 They're playing at Michigan State, so that's a tough series for them. 13:02 I think at the start of the season, if you saw that, you'd be thinking Michigan State's going to get some points. 13:07 So I think we're going to see a pretty tight standings here at the end of this weekend. 13:12 And Minnesota has played the tough games. 13:14 They've played at Michigan State already. 13:15 They've played at Michigan. 13:17 So things are looking good for them, at least in the conference. 13:22 And then on the flip side, Hamme, we knew Wisconsin was going to be bad, but did you think they were going to be this bad? 13:28 0-8-2, and I guess a couple of shutout or shootout wins, but did you think they would be this bad? 13:35 No, and I don't think anybody legitimately could say that they thought Wisconsin would be this bad. 13:40 I think that if we knew it was going to be a rebuilding year, you probably knew that they were going to be around 500 or maybe even a little below that because of all the young players. 13:51 But to be where they are, I mean, I think that's a surprise to everybody. 13:57 Even the most diehard Badger hater probably never thought that Wisconsin would be this bad. 14:02 So that's definitely a shocker. 14:06 But other than that, I think the Big Ten, I mean, it's been a down year overall. 14:10 I mean, Michigan's been better, I think a little bit better than expected. 14:13 Penn State's, I think, better than expected, but they, looking at their schedule, they have six road games left. 14:20 Their two home series are against the Gophers in Michigan, so those aren't gonna be easy ones for them. 14:26 So we'll see how they do down the stretch, because I think it's a little bit of a challenging schedule for them. 14:33 And I think the Gophers, a lot's riding on this weekend. 14:36 If they can go in there and sweep and put some pressure on Michigan, I guess we'll see what happens, but I think that the Gophers gotta be feeling good about it. 14:44 They've been playing lately if they can sweep this weekend. 14:48 Well, if you ever want to send us questions, just do it via Twitter, just use the hashtag GPLPodcast, and we'll try to get to them. 15:00 We've got a question from Tim Hapke. 15:03 He's wondering, I hate to look forward during the season, but if most of the juniors leave after this season, who will be our captains next year? 15:12 So I guess he's kind of wondering, who's gonna be the leadership next year if we lose all these players? 15:18 Hammeh, what do you think? 15:21 Well, I mean, you know, my belief is they really should let things shake out over the summer and see who kind of steps up from a leadership perspective with dry land training and who's in the weight room and who's really getting the guys together. 15:36 I mean, I remember a few years ago, people were wondering who the Gophers leader was gonna be and Taylor Matson kind of took charge in the off season and became that kind of a player. 15:47 And he turned out to be a very good leader for the team. 15:50 And so if you're kind of wondering who's gonna be the leader coming into a season, for me, it's who's gonna prove themselves in the off season, who's gonna take charge, who's gonna be the one that kind of leads the troops and training because that's really where the hard work and really needs to be done. 16:05 I mean, the season games and practice is expected, but the dry land stuff, that's a lot tougher because you're not really seeing the games right away. 16:14 So that really has yet to be proven. 16:17 Any thoughts on that, Veegs? 16:20 Who's gonna be our leaders next year? 16:22 No, I kind of agree with Hammy. 16:23 I mean, with so many guys potentially leaving the program at the end of the season, it's hard to know who's gonna step up because there's such a vacuum there that's gonna be ready for that person to step into. 16:38 Hudson Fasching might be a leader example. 16:40 He's a guy who's been to the US. 16:43 Juniors and has done well there and has a high draft pick and has a good work ethic. 16:49 He's almost too polite with the puck, giving it to teammates. 16:54 It was nice to see him step up and just take one to the net today after he beat, or this weekend after he beat a guy behind the net. 17:00 So he might be a favorite in my mind. 17:04 I think Kluis would be another good one. 17:06 He's a high character kid. 17:09 You know, like I said, it's really hard to say. 17:12 And I think it's gonna come down to how guys just work in the off season and who's gonna take charge. 17:18 I mean, it really comes down to that. 17:20 Personally, I don't think Rao's been that great of a captain. 17:25 You know, he's so quiet that that's just not really the kind of, you know, he can lead on the ice. 17:31 That's great. 17:32 But it just, I don't know if it really fits his personality to be one of the leaders in that department. 17:39 Well, I think a lot of it comes down to what are the compliments around him and how do they compliment his leadership style? 17:45 I mean, you can have guys that aren't necessarily, I mean, look at our coaches, for instance. 17:49 I mean, Lucia is more of the icy, you know, maybe kind of control your emotions type of a guy, whereas Gensel's the fiery guy, the guy that's gonna be kind of a little bit more in your face and giving that pep talk a little bit more. 18:02 And so I think it kind of really depends on the complimentary leadership pieces around a guy. 18:08 And maybe he just doesn't have those kinds of compliments. 18:11 And who are the assistants? 18:12 Is it Marshall and Ambrose this year? 18:14 I can't remember for sure. 18:17 So I mean, maybe it's just the fact that those guys aren't necessarily the best compliments for his leadership style, I don't know. 18:23 And it's a tough group, you know, they've had a tough season so far, and these guys aren't used to being challenged this much with results. 18:32 So I think it's just an awkward situation for all of them. 18:36 Another question from Tim Hapke. 18:38 Speaking of Lucia, does anyone know when his contract ends? 18:42 I've seen two different dates. 18:44 Is it after this year or is it after 2017? 18:48 I believe it's 2017, I'm pretty sure it is. 18:51 They wouldn't let him have a lame duck season. 18:54 I don't think after the last three seasons where they've won league titles and had frozen four appearances, you're not gonna have a lame duck coach going into a year after that kind of performance. 19:06 So I'm pretty sure it's 2017. 19:10 There you go, Tim. 19:11 And then we've got GopherGolfer, he wants to know, although it was OSU, 180 degree, 180 in the overall effort. 19:19 I think he's meaning a whole turnaround in the effort. 19:23 Thoughts on the games this past weekend being a catalyst for the rest of the season, Veegs? 19:28 I think it's hard for it to be a catalyst because I think the competition's going to be so different this weekend against Michigan. 19:35 Michigan, if you make any mistakes, their top six can go the other way real quick. 19:40 I think they've even got a top seven and their special teams are good. 19:44 So I think it's just a different animal this weekend for them. 19:48 But it's encouraging to see them play better and not turn the puck over. 19:52 And one thing Lucia was talking about on his weekly radio show is he wasn't worried about offense this week. 19:57 He was, it looks like they'll be concentrating a lot on defense. 20:02 Stopping Michigan. 20:04 And I would have to agree with him. 20:06 That's gonna be the big deal this weekend. 20:08 I mean, they put up the numbers and they did it against us, you know, when we played at Michigan earlier this year. 20:14 So defense is gonna be the key this weekend. 20:18 Yeah, especially with that Lark and Hyman line. 20:20 You know, that line's been so good for them. 20:24 Some good players over there. 20:25 Some definite good players. 20:27 I think we'll see, you know, Boyd and Ambrose out against those guys and, you know, they might put some ones with a little more speed on their line to try and check those guys. 20:35 You know, as far as being a catalyst this past weekend, I think that, I mean, we mentioned it, I think it was after the Wisconsin series at Mariucci where you really don't know until you're looking back on hindsight on a season what the turning points are. 20:48 I mean, it's, we'd be guessing to the, you know, to the high heavens about whether this weekend really matters in the grand scheme or, we're not gonna know, I don't think, until we see, you know, in March or April, was that some big turnaround that happened starting at that point that they played great from then on or was it just another series and they lost, you know, or split at Michigan or with Michigan or whatever. 21:11 So it's pretty tough to judge. 21:14 I think, if anything, this weekend could be the catalyst. 21:17 I mean, you come away with a sweep convincingly or just looking decent in the whole thing this weekend against Michigan, that's nothing but going up. 21:27 We'll all be on the bandwagon then. 21:29 Yeah, but then what happens if the next week you split on the road or, you know what I mean? 21:36 Well, I'm just saying, my point is that, you know, as much as I would love to just... 21:42 Oh, I know what you mean, man. 21:44 It's like the Vikings, you know what I mean? 21:45 You see them do great for a few months and all of a sudden they go in the tank at the wrong time and you're heartbroken. 21:51 So it's, fortunately, the Gophers over the years haven't been quite like that heartbreaking, but nonetheless, it's just really tough to... 22:01 I do agree that this is gonna go a long way as to whether or not this team is gonna look like a real contender or if it's just a matter of playing some weak teams in a certain stretch of time. 22:13 Well, let's get into the details this weekend. 22:15 Obviously, Michigan coming to town, Minnesota's lost their last three against Michigan going back to last season and actually after that Friday night win to win the WCHA, to win the Big Ten, they've lost three straight. 22:31 Obviously, that's not the greatest, but this series is also one of the series that is getting fairly close. 22:38 Minnesota leads the series 131, 120 and 14. 22:43 So, you know, 11 game difference there, so it's always been a good competition and obviously Michigan is six points ahead of us right now. 22:51 So, it's gonna be a big weekend. 22:54 Veegs, we talked about the defense. 22:58 For all the people who may not pay attention, you know, obviously you said Larkin, but who are the guys that we need to stop this weekend? 23:05 Well, I think the Larkin-Hyman line has been their most productive and it gave the Gophers a lot of trouble in their last matchup. 23:12 The other players I really look for are Tyler Mott. 23:16 He's been on their first line and been very productive and JD Comper, another great player for them. 23:23 Those four are probably the most skilled on their team. 23:26 They're, you know, among the point leaders for them, Comper's not having quite the year that he's had in the past. 23:32 So those are the guys I'm looking for. 23:35 Their defense aren't quite as productive. 23:38 You know, they're not gonna get up and down the ice quite like we're used to seeing Minnesota's defense do, but it is definitely a lot of high end talent at the forward position and down the middle of the ice. 23:49 They've got very good centers. 23:52 I know Lucia doesn't like it, Hammey, but we could see some racehorse hockey this weekend. 23:56 And I like that kind of hockey. 23:59 Yeah, I mean, I think that that's one of the things from a Gopher fan perspective when you talk to people about the teams that they really like. 24:07 Yeah, you hear teams like BC complimented because they have that skating creative style. 24:13 And Michigan has that this year as well. 24:16 They're a high scoring team that has creativity. 24:19 And you know it's going to be a game that's typically going to be based more on skating than it is that clogging it up and kind of trying to slow teams down. 24:28 And fans have an appreciation for that skill play. 24:32 And I think we tend to bring that most years from a Gopher fan, from a Gopher hockey perspective and Michigan certainly tends to bring that as well. 24:40 So this is one of those series that I think from a pure skill standpoint, you look forward to watching. 24:46 One other player from their defense is Zach Rowinski. 24:49 He played on the junior team. 24:51 Real mobile defenseman, kind of like their Mike Riley. 24:56 Alright, well, I'm hoping that the series with Michigan start to turn into the series we had with North Dakota. 25:06 Obviously, they're not the thugs like North Dakota has been in the past, but a little up-tempo stuff like you guys have been talking about. 25:15 Hopefully it turns into that type of rival for Minnesota because everyone loved the North Dakota series. 25:24 If they were beating us, we were beating them. 25:26 The games were good. 25:27 They were fast. 25:28 They were hard-hitting. 25:30 Since we've lost that with the WCHA, I think Michigan is that team to be the new, quote, North Dakota. 25:38 I do think the one difference though with Michigan and North Dakota is North Dakota brought the fans. 25:44 You always saw a lot of green at Mariucci when they were playing Minnesota. 25:48 There's a lot of people who would go up to Grand Forks and get heckled and challenged when they're up there for the weekend. 25:54 No, up there, no. 25:56 Oh, yeah. 25:57 It's a dangerous place to go with a maroon and gold shirt on. 26:02 I don't know if we'll quite see that with Michigan. 26:05 Their fans are a little bit different, those crazy kids at Yos. 26:11 That's key to a rivalry as well. 26:12 But on the ice, I think we'll see great hockey. 26:14 I think the styles match up really well, and both teams are running gunners. 26:20 It's just the reality, but that's what the Big Ten is going to be. 26:24 Well, I think the thing is, this is a big series. 26:27 I think from a Gopher's perspective, we've talked about it, if they win two games, they're going to be right up there in the chase for the league championship. 26:36 Those are the kinds of games and series that develop rivalries. 26:40 We've always had one with Michigan anyways. 26:42 I just think that a lot of the younger fans haven't experienced it to the same level that some older fans have. 26:49 So I think this is the kind of series that we should be looking forward to in the long run as far as building that rivalry up with Michigan. 26:56 Well, for me in the past, my favorite games of the year were always North Dakota and the College Hockey Showcase where we saw Michigan. 27:04 Always my favorite. 27:05 I love the games against Michigan. 27:09 Obviously, there isn't that rivalry there. 27:11 Maybe it is on the ice. 27:12 But like I said, we don't see a ton of Michigan fans showing up at Marriott Arena like we did with North Dakota or even Duluth and Mankato and St. 27:20 Clouds. 27:20 So it's going to be tough to build that kind of rivalry. 27:24 Maybe on the ice it's different. 27:26 But for us fans, it's a little different cup of tea, I guess. 27:31 Yeah, I think it will just feel different to the fans at first. 27:34 Maybe eventually Michigan starts trying to come here and buy tickets. 27:37 You know, when they see the game on TV and there's a thousand no-shows. 27:40 But we'll see. 27:42 Maybe the fans will show up this weekend. 27:45 It's the biggest game left on the calendar. 27:48 Well, at least until we play Penn State. 27:52 Who knows? 27:53 You have to give it time. 27:55 They're always complaining about that stuff. 27:58 You know, I actually know you've seen some of the crowds at the Penn State games and it looks like they're doing pretty well out there. 28:03 They're winning. 28:04 The crowds are really into it. 28:06 I don't know how long it will last, but at least it's not diseased like it could have been. 28:13 Well, I mean, it's a nice arena. 28:15 And, you know, I think that they're fans of, I mean, there's a hockey interest out that way. 28:20 It's not like it's sitting in the middle of, you know, some southern state that just doesn't really have that kind of opportunity for growth. 28:29 So I certainly see that as being something that's going to be contagious over the long haul for them with the facilities. 28:35 And I'm sure that they'll still maintain some talented teams. 28:39 So we'll see. 28:40 Well, hopefully it doesn't, it doesn't, they don't think of it as a novelty. 28:44 Hopefully those, you know, they start to build that, the fan relationship, you know, with the hockey team. 28:50 So that would be good. 28:52 You know, we've lost WCHA because of Penn State. 28:57 So hopefully Penn State does, you know, they do succeed and they, you know, get that program on their feet. 29:02 And it looks like they, you know, they're in that, they're going in that direction right now. 29:06 So we shall see. 29:10 All right, Hammeh, give me your prediction this weekend. 29:13 Michigan in town. 29:16 Let me have it. 29:17 Well, boy, it's a tough one. 29:20 I mean, they just had, you know, a rivalry series. 29:25 You know, I mean, granted, it wasn't a series per se, but they just had a big game against Michigan State. 29:29 You know, I know it was at Soldier Field, and so there's probably a lot of hoopla around that. 29:36 I don't know if that will be a letdown after that or not, but I think we're going to see a really competitive series. 29:44 I have the feeling that it's going to end up a split. 29:48 I'm hoping for a Gopher sweep, but I just think that I'm still not convinced that we're going to find a consistency to win two games against a really good team, so I'm going to go with the split. 29:58 By the way, those outdoor games, I'm done with them. 30:03 We've been saying they've been played out. 30:05 It is too played out. 30:06 Now obviously that first game was just a disaster with how long they had to wait because of the ice conditions. 30:14 It was great. 30:17 We had one here, but I'm just kind of done with it. 30:21 It doesn't do anything for me. 30:23 At least, I think Lucia would agree, too. 30:27 Having that type of game, maybe as a non-conference, is great, but as a league game, I know Lucia wants nothing to do with that. 30:37 I can't blame them. 30:39 We talked about it, I think, last year. 30:42 We talked about it when we played Wisconsin, knowing that we lost some points against Wisconsin when we played them. 30:51 It's very annoying when you have something that could potentially cost you a spot in a standings or even a league title. 30:59 I personally wouldn't want to be a part of that if it related to conference standings. 31:04 If it's non-conference, I'd be all for it. 31:08 Okay, Vegoe, what are your thoughts this weekend? 31:12 Well, I've seen the Minnesota defense play much more consistently the last couple weeks. 31:17 It hasn't exactly been against the top talent that we're going to see this weekend. 31:22 But you are seeing signs of that commitment to penalty killing, shot blocking, and protecting the puck. 31:30 I've got to think that they're going to sweep this weekend. 31:32 It's such a huge weekend for them. 31:35 Yeah, and there's only going to be one team coming out of the Big Ten probably for the NCAAs. 31:42 These guys wanted to have that unfinished business. 31:45 So as long as they're smart with the puck, which they have been emphasizing in the last couple of weeks, they're going to see some success. 31:52 And I think with Michigan, there's also going to be the opportunity for the defensemen to get in the rush. 31:57 Against teams like Ohio State and Wisconsin, you're not able to do that as much. 32:03 I think this weekend you're going to see some defensemen get on the score sheet. 32:08 I'm going sweep too. 32:10 I'm on the bandwagon. 32:11 This is the weekend. 32:13 Everything is turned around and we're on the positivity train to the NCAA Tournament, guys. 32:20 Yeah, whatever. 32:27 I hope Brock Boser attends the game this weekend. 32:32 I wouldn't count on that. 32:35 He's going to Duluth, right? 32:38 I don't know when his Duluth visit is to be honest with you. 32:41 But yeah, I know he's got a visit set up there. 32:45 Oh, Gray Eagles, little boy, wondering, will the Gophers make it to the National Tournament? 32:51 He guesses no. 32:53 Come on, Patrick. 32:57 He's not so positive. 32:58 Well, what did we move up to? 33:00 14 now we're at or what? 33:01 Tied for 13. 33:02 There you go. 33:03 Last team in the tournament. 33:05 We're coming. 33:06 Jason Moye had him in this week in his bracketology. 33:10 So it wasn't so much that the Gophers beat Ohio State. 33:12 It's just that some of the teams had of them lost. 33:15 And that really kills you on the pairwise. 33:16 So, you know, if there's some inconsistency at the top of the pairwise ranking and just might allow them to slip in there. 33:23 And that sets up a great weekend in North Dakota if they get in. 33:27 Just win, baby. 33:28 That's all I say. 33:29 Just win. 33:31 If you win, the pairwise will take care of itself, guys. 33:36 So, it's not going to matter. 33:37 I'm trying to be positive here. 33:39 Enough of this negativity stuff. 33:42 Yeah, well, we'll see. 33:45 We're going to have you on board next weekend, Hammy. 33:48 Well, I hope to be. 33:49 I mean, like I said, for me, this weekend is going to go a long way as to whether or not I'm going to be a believer or, you know, a skeptic of this team moving forward. 33:59 Believe me, I want them to do great. 34:02 But I just I'm kind of waiting to see them do it against the team that in Michigan is a legitimate national title contending type of a team. 34:11 I think when it comes down to it, they have that kind of talent. 34:15 So if we can play really well against them this weekend and have some really good results, then maybe I'll think we'll turn the corner. 34:22 But I still need to see them do it. 34:26 I get what you're saying. 34:27 You know, we've seen so much inconsistency this year. 34:31 Obviously, a letdown weekend wouldn't surprise us, but we're just trying to stay a little more positive. 34:38 That's all. 34:39 We'll see. 34:40 The one thing you worry about in a game like this is if it's a tight game and somebody starts trying to force plays, that's going to get you in trouble against Michigan. 34:48 So the first 10 minutes are going to be really important both nights for Minnesota to get a lead and get in control of the game because if they're in a tight tie game, that's kind of been the problem for this team is they'll force plays. 35:04 So you just kind of hope that that discipline has been instilled to them because the coaches are all talking about playing defense and being smart with the puck. 35:11 And so you hope that that message is getting through to the players because as we've seen in some of their poor performances, that's what costs them. 35:21 Well, I'm thinking after this weekend, the boys will either be in first or second place. 35:29 Who is Penn State playing this weekend? 35:31 Michigan State at Michigan State. 35:35 Not an easy thing. 35:36 Maybe a split there, you know, maybe Michigan State with four or five points, who knows? 35:41 Yeah, that should be a tough series for them. 35:44 Well, we're done for this week, boys. 35:46 You know, we'll be back next week to recap the Michigan sweep. 35:50 Yes, I said it, they're going to sweep. 35:53 And preview what will probably turn out to be a pretty big series with at Penn State after that. 35:58 So we'll have to see. 35:59 Remember, you can always follow Vegoe on Twitter, at eVegoe and Hammy as well, at Hammy Hockey. 36:07 That's it. 36:08 We're done for this week. 36:09 We'll be back to celebrate the sweep.