0:10 This is the Gopher Puck Live Podcast with Hammy, Vegoe and your host Jupiter. 0:37 Good evening, and welcome to The GPL Podcast. 0:42 Well, boys, we got through the Big Ten Tournament, and the Gophers are in the NCAA Tournament as well. 0:52 Veegs, good weekend for the boys, wasn't it? 0:56 Yeah, they overcame some early nerves, and really came through and took care of business. 1:01 And that's the most important thing, you know. 1:03 I mean, a nice shutout. 1:07 Well, that one must have been Friday afternoon, or whatever it was, against Ohio State, where, boy, Wilcox was just hammered third period. 1:15 What was it? 1:16 Over 20 shots, I want to say, in the third period. 1:19 And he came up huge. 1:20 And Hammey, at this time of year, this is exactly what we need from him. 1:26 Well, right. 1:26 I mean, it's kind of what I had mentioned, I think, last week. 1:29 I had said that against anybody, you know, you're going to have a puncher's chance in the NCAAs if you have good goal-tenning and guys that can put the puck in the net. 1:37 And you have a good omen when you have a guy like Wilcox playing as well as he has lately, especially that Ohio State game and the way that he kind of shut things down and made some great saves. 1:49 You can't ask more for that. 1:50 And that's the kind of performance that we're going to need moving forward if they're going to want to hang one last banner. 1:56 Oh, if you're listening to us live, you can send us questions with the hashtag GPL Podcast on Twitter or head over to the GPL Chat. 2:04 You know, go for pucklive.com/chat and I'll try to take some questions. 2:09 I see Vidko in there right now. 2:10 I might ignore him. 2:13 Veegs, Wilcox, Friday. 2:15 Pretty good, huh? 2:17 Yeah, I think one of the things with Wilcox is when he's calm and control and controlling his rebounds, he's a very difficult goalie to beat. 2:26 I think when teams start getting him on the move and creating issues where he's not set for the shot, that can lead to problems because he's not the biggest goalie. 2:36 But when his rebound control is on like it was on Friday, he's tough to beat. 2:41 He played great against Michigan. 2:42 They had the two goals on the power play and that was it. 2:46 There you go. 2:47 The Big Ten champs. 2:48 They won the league playoff. 2:49 Well, hell, that Ohio State win was their first victory in a final weekend playoff of a league tournament since 2008. 2:59 So it was kind of nice to get that off their back. 3:01 I mean, it had been so long. 3:03 And obviously, they hadn't won a title since the 2007 WCHA Final Five title. 3:09 So a couple banners put up this year, Hammeh, and it's moving us in the right direction. 3:16 I'm still not convinced, but I hope you're feeling better than you have been. 3:22 Yeah, and you know what, I think that, if anything, and I kind of said this on GPL, but the coaches and the players, they deserve a lot of credit. 3:30 I mean, this has been a year where I've seen or heard of at least a good amount of drama behind the scenes, and probably more than most years. 3:39 I thought that came from Gonzalez of the Star Tribune. 3:42 That was all him, wasn't it? 3:43 Yeah, right. 3:44 No, but you know what I'm saying? 3:45 Like, I think that for these guys to kind of deal with some of that and overcome that and still win a couple banners. 3:52 Granted, the Big Ten is down this year. 3:53 We all acknowledge that, but nonetheless, to be able to kind of recover from all that spotty play that we saw during the middle of the year and to kind of get it together and play rather well in the last month or so, I think that that's a pretty good omen, and hopefully they'll be able to carry it into the NCAAs. 4:10 Speaking of the Big Ten being down, Veegs, did you get a chance to ask Don Lucci today about his thoughts on the attendance at the Big Ten Championship? 4:20 Well, I think the big thing for him is he would like to see it have some time to build, but also have that first weekend where you get the home games. 4:28 So you don't have that Minnesota-Ohio State game on afternoon that not a lot of people care about, talk about. 4:36 He'd like a game like that to be at a home rank somewhere, so you can get some atmosphere. 4:41 I think that's kind of his first priority with attendance and atmosphere for conference playoff games. 4:47 Boy, was that attendance just awful. 4:51 I never in my wildest dreams thought it would be that bad. 4:55 I mean, Michigan's campus is closer to the Joe than my house is to Mariucci. 5:01 I know, big joke. 5:03 I live way out here in South Dakota, blah, blah, blah. 5:06 I'm 43 miles or 44 miles away from Mariucci, and Yost is 43. 5:14 Where in the hell were any Michigan or Michigan State fans this weekend? 5:18 It was a joke. 5:20 Yeah, Wally Scharer was joking me today that they could have fit all those fans at Drake Arena. 5:27 And would have had room for more. 5:29 Oh, God. 5:30 You know, obviously, what was the total attendance this weekend? 5:33 It was only like 16,000 or something like that. 5:36 It was just ridiculous. 5:39 Yeah, I think, you know, it's a little difficult because it was just a session ticket. 5:43 True. 5:43 But overall, the prices were about the same. 5:46 It's just really disappointing that Michigan couldn't get together with their with their fans or Michigan State's fans because they were able to sell out the Joe for a Michigan and Michigan State game earlier in the season. 5:57 So you just kind of wonder how bad was the marketing by the Big Ten for this event? 6:02 Who knows? 6:03 I mean, you know, last year, you know, obviously attendance was going to be dumb. 6:07 I think a lot of it last year may have been, you know, just because, you know, people are angry. 6:11 They're pissed that they lost to WCHA. 6:13 Maybe this year, maybe the loss of the CCHA pissed them off. 6:20 I don't know. 6:20 I just thought with two Big Ten schools, easily within driving distance, at least a lot better than it is in St. 6:27 Paul, that more people would have showed up. 6:29 So it's pretty disappointing. 6:33 Oh, well. 6:35 I got nothing to add to that. 6:36 Yeah, I know. 6:37 Well, I mean, here's the thing. 6:38 I just think that I don't care about fans being pissed. 6:41 Get over it. 6:42 I just, I don't mind people that complain about, you know, hey, we need better attendance and whatever. 6:48 What can we do to make it better moving forward? 6:51 I'm all for that, you know, figure out ways to do it. 6:53 And frankly, I think that they, if anything, this just shows that you, I mean, hockey is a niche sport, and college hockey is a niche in a niche sport. 7:04 And you're not going to, you know, as much as Detroit likes to talk up being a hockey town, it's a Red Wings town. 7:10 It's not really a college hockey town, per se. 7:14 When you look at Minnesota, the state is built around college hockey. 7:18 I mean, it just is. 7:19 I mean, I know that there's a lot of D1 teams in Michigan, but Detroit itself is not really amongst that kind of a fan base. 7:28 And so I just think that you have to have it at a place like Excel. 7:32 I've seen people throw out stuff like Milwaukee. 7:34 To me, that's a joke. 7:35 That ain't going to work. 7:36 I've seen the idea of Chicago, and maybe that could work simply because there's probably a pretty good alumni base from different schools there. 7:43 But you know, I think Chicago could work if someone like a Northwestern or an Illinois or somebody like that, sometime down the road got a hockey team and joined the Big Ten. 7:52 But without that, I think even Chicago is a stretch. 7:55 Well, maybe. 7:56 I mean, I'm just speculating. 7:57 And I think the other thing is, though, is Chicago, people like to go to Chicago. 8:00 I mean, it's not really a long trip. 8:02 It's not that expensive to take a flight there. 8:05 Detroit, let's be honest, it's not exactly the greatest place in the world to go, especially compared to Chicago. 8:11 So I could see where maybe more fans would be enticed to take a trip to Chicago. 8:16 But ultimately, I just think that they need to have that tournament full time at the X. 8:21 And if the Big Ten wants it there, they're going to have the kind of money to outbid anybody as far as upfront money goes to make Excel feel comfortable with it. 8:30 And so I don't really think the whole tickets thing is really as big of a deal when they're going to be looking at things in the future. 8:36 Yeah, I think Skyumala had a great post on GPL earlier today talking about how it took the WCHA about 10 or 15 years to kind of figure things out and to stop going to Milwaukee and stop going to Target Center and have it at Excel and it built up quite the atmosphere. 8:54 So I thought he did a great job of summing it up. 8:57 But I do think Chicago would be a good site. 8:59 It's an easy hub to fly into. 9:01 Even if you want to fly, you can probably get there and back for 150 bucks, whereas most people going to Detroit, it's $400 or $500 to fly there. 9:09 It's a difficult drive from the Twin Cities. 9:12 You mean that what, the final five wasn't just an immediate overnight success? 9:16 Yeah. 9:18 I mean, I would have thought it would the way everybody talks it up. 9:20 You know, the same with the WCHA, same with the rivalries like with North Dakota. 9:24 That just happened in one game, right? 9:26 That's the impression everybody wants to give. 9:28 All these pointers. 9:30 If you just went to GPL this week, that's what you'd think. 9:32 Yeah, exactly. 9:33 I mean, it's like, dude, do you think this stuff just happened in the blink of an eye? 9:37 No, it took time. 9:38 And it's like, why should we expect any different from the Big Ten? 9:42 It's just, to me, it's ridiculous. 9:44 You know, I personally think people are angry. 9:47 I mean, obviously, you say, get over it, but maybe they're just kind of showing, hey, we're angry, and this is really the only way we could show it is by not showing up. 9:55 Okay, that's fine, then. 9:57 But to me, it's like, in the long run, what are you going to do? 10:01 You just continue to complain about it. 10:03 I mean, it's not going to change anything. 10:05 You either in life, you face up to things that don't go your way, and you either say, okay, I can sit there and sulk about it and think about how things used to be, or I can look forward and try to make the best out of what we've got, and maybe try to make it better. 10:19 I'm not saying it's going to be better, but maybe not in terms of the playoff goes, but in terms of just moving forward, what can you do to make the product better than maybe what we saw in the past? 10:30 And I just think that you have to give that kind of effort before you can complain constantly about everything else. 10:36 It's just pathetic. 10:39 Well, like I said, people are angry. 10:41 Maybe that's the way they're showing it. 10:42 Who knows? 10:44 I know I wasn't going to go to Detroit. 10:46 I just have no... 10:47 I'm not going to spend my money to go there. 10:50 And I guess, you know, a few Gopher fans were there. 10:54 More power to them. 10:56 But, you know, if the Big Ten wants this to work, they do need to get those Michigan fans in there. 11:02 If they don't do some kind of, you know, special or just promotion or something, it's going to be like this again in two years. 11:10 So, if they want this to be better, they need to do a better job of getting the Michigan and, you know, the fans that are within an hour or two a drive to the Joe. 11:21 Otherwise, it's just not going to work there. 11:23 And, you know, they're going to have to work at it. 11:25 If they don't, it's going to be back to St. 11:27 Paul and it's going to stay in St. 11:28 Paul. 11:29 Well, it should. 11:30 I don't, I'm just not convinced that they're going to keep it. 11:32 After that next round at Detroit, I think that they're going to say, you know what, this just isn't working there. 11:37 They probably wanted to give the Michigan fans and Michigan State fans an opportunity to show that, hey, we can make it fair and we can alternate things. 11:46 So it's not just, you know, maybe a Minnesota that maybe benefits a little more from the hometown crowd. 11:51 But if you're not going to support it, they're going to go where the money is. 11:54 And to me, it's a no brainer at this point that Detroit's just not going to cut the mustard. 12:00 All right, boys. 12:01 Well, it was a successful weekend for the Gophers. 12:04 They earned a trip back to the NCAA Tournament along with a ton of other local schools. 12:11 Obviously, just about every Minnesota school is in there except for Bemidji here this year. 12:17 Already Beer Song is telling us how does it feel to be the fans of the fourth best D1 team of men's hockey team in Minnesota. 12:24 But that's just Beer Song. 12:25 He's just trying to get us going. 12:27 This Price Drunk Hockey guy isn't trying to get us going. 12:29 He begged to be on the podcast this week, but I said I don't think so. 12:35 Just didn't need it. 12:36 Too much of a hassle. 12:38 He just gives too much of a jack bag when he's all up on his high horse. 12:42 Might start talking dinosaur on the podcast. 12:44 You never know. 12:45 It's a random Wednesday night for you. 12:49 Well let's move right in to the NCAA Tournament guys. 12:52 We'll get to Minnesota here in a bit. 12:55 But wow, let's start with the Midwest Compton Arena. 13:00 Minnesota State, the overall number one team. 13:04 They're playing RIT and also there is Omaha and Harvard. 13:10 Kind of a surprise Veegs, do you think Minnesota may have gone there initially? 13:15 Yeah, I definitely was surprised when I saw the brackets on Sunday morning. 13:19 I thought Minnesota would likely end up in South Bend, and maybe end up in Fargo. 13:25 Because it was going to be interesting to see how they're going to handle it with the conference matchup in the first round if you went by the bracket. 13:33 But instead the committee just did all kinds of random stuff with how they assigned teams, I think. 13:38 I think they just wanted to screw with the people from the US College of Hockey Online. 13:42 Yeah, clearly they did not want anyone to get it right this year. 13:47 I would agree, because obviously I think Minnesota State has had a wonderful season. 13:54 They deserved the teams they play. 13:55 Omaha, obviously, it looks like Minnesota should have been, or probably should have been, where Harvard is. 14:03 Yeah, I think they wanted to keep that matchup the same for some reason. 14:07 So that's why it ended up. 14:09 I think Harvard's got a good shot in this bracket. 14:13 I think they've got some talented players. 14:14 I think they're going to get by Omaha. 14:17 And then it's going to be a tough matchup for Minnesota State. 14:20 You know, it's going to be an empty arena. 14:22 And Harvard's got some players. 14:24 What, no faith in Omaha? 14:25 Come on, man. 14:26 They're always peeking at this time of year. 14:30 I have no faith in Dean Blais. 14:31 I'm sorry. 14:32 Have some faith, man. 14:33 Come on, dude. 14:34 They're always winning its time of the year. 14:36 They're like the anti-hackstall, right? 14:38 They're like, they will do well and then they'll just completely suck at the end of the year. 14:43 That's UNO. 14:46 Well, it's true. 14:46 Look at the way they do it. 14:48 You can't really argue with it. 14:49 You just can't argue with it. 14:51 And they got beat at home by St. 14:52 Cloud two games. 14:53 So it's like they're not exactly thriving at the moment. 14:56 So we'll see, I guess. 14:59 So Veegs, do you think Minnesota State Mankato comes out of that bracket? 15:03 I actually have Harvard coming out of that bracket. 15:05 I like that pick. 15:06 I like that pick. 15:07 I like June Nessier quite a bit. 15:09 Yeah, you're a hater. 15:10 What a hater. 15:11 I've hated Harvard since the old, you know, since 1989. 15:17 Well, Ohami, what do you think about the Midwest Bracket? 15:21 I was a little disappointed we weren't in that bracket because I really felt, I mean, if you look at all the brackets, to me, that's the one that's maybe a little easier than the others, in my opinion, at least. 15:30 But you know what? 15:31 Minnesota State is the number one seed, so they should have technically the softest schedule. 15:36 So yeah, but it is the easiest. 15:39 But to me, that's the one that I thought, hey, we're going to get slotted in there. 15:43 I mean, you know what? 15:44 I don't spend a lot of time saying, complaining about the whole, we should have been in this bracket or that bracket, or I want the easiest. 15:50 Because to me, you're going to end up playing some good teams no matter where. 15:54 You know, if you're going to win the title, you're going to have to play some good teams. 15:56 So it's like ducking this team or that team or whatever. 16:00 I just feel like at some point you can't have that attitude because you're going to eventually have to play some pretty good teams. 16:05 So you might as well not complain too heavily about who you have to play and what's your bracket and all that kind of stuff. 16:11 So I think that, I don't know, I think Minnesota State will get through that bracket. 16:18 I'll give them some credit for, I mean, I think they have a pretty veteran team. 16:23 They have some good offensive players. 16:24 They got a good goalie, which is what we talked about earlier, you really need. 16:27 And I think that they'll probably get through that. 16:30 Will it shock me if they don't? 16:31 No, but I'll just give them the benefit of the doubt based on how they played so far this year. 16:36 I'm actually with you, Hammeh. 16:38 I'll go with Mankato out of that bracket. 16:41 You're biased though, you went to school. 16:42 Yeah, I went to school there, but I don't know. 16:49 I like the coach. 16:53 I like him. 16:53 You do? 16:53 Do you have a poster of him on your wall or something? 16:55 Or what do you mean you like him? 16:56 I should get one of those. 16:58 No, I kind of, why his name is just slipping my mind right now. 17:02 Hastings. 17:03 Hastings. 17:03 Jesus, why? 17:04 I'm losing it. 17:06 When Hastings was here for that year, I got a chance to meet him once and boy, what a straightforward guy. 17:13 No BS, funny as hell, very likable. 17:18 I think he's just done a wonderful job down there. 17:21 If Mankato can get through and get to the Frozen 4, I think it's a big boon for that program for the future. 17:31 I think even Duluth winning the title a few years ago has helped this area for hockey. 17:36 It used to be Minnesota and no one else. 17:39 Well, I think that the tough thing, especially for Mankato, is they're going to have to capitalize on the opportunities. 17:47 This is what I've always said about St. 17:49 Cloud and some of these other schools is, when you have a real good team, you need to capitalize on it more because they don't reload as easily as North Dakota. 17:58 Or Minnesota, or schools of that name, because they don't tend to get the very high end guys that are going to make pretty immediate impacts. 18:05 They get some good players, don't get me wrong, but they don't tend to reload as easily. 18:09 So they kind of have to capitalize a little bit more when they get those chances. 18:11 So it'll be interesting to see how they do when they've got the bullseye on their back. 18:17 And they do rely on senior leadership, upperclassmen. 18:21 I mean, obviously in Minnesota, North Dakota, those type of schools that get all these big players, we tend to not have the older, more mature teams. 18:31 So if Mankato is going to win it, this is probably their year to do it. 18:38 We'll just... 18:38 Yeah. 18:39 And they're not used to, like I said, they're probably not quite as used to having that bullseye, especially from a national perspective, having that bullseye on their back of being the team that's ranked number one and having to go in there with that kind of pressure. 18:53 And that's what they're going to be facing. 18:54 And I mean, they aren't quite as used to it as other schools. 18:59 And it'll be interesting to see if they answer the bell on that or not. 19:02 And we'll see if the breaks go their way, because even Duluth a few years ago had quite a few things fall into place. 19:09 Obviously, they won. 19:11 Obviously, that's great. 19:12 But things got to fall into place just the right way for you to win. 19:16 You know, I would say even back in 2002, the fact that Minnesota didn't have to face Denver again, that was a huge break. 19:24 I thought that, you know, Duluth having their number one seed, didn't their number one seed get knocked out of their region? 19:31 And then they ended up getting to the frozen floor and then they didn't have to play North Dakota. 19:38 I think a lot of things fell their way. 19:39 It was just their year. 19:41 You got a better memory on that than I do. 19:43 I have to admit. 19:44 They weren't a number one seed that year. 19:47 Not in their region. 19:48 Well, you would know better than I would, my friend. 19:52 But, you know, if Mankato is going to win it, or at least even get to the Frozen Four, they just, yeah, they're going to take advantage of it, take advantage of the break. 19:59 Well, they definitely took advantage of their schedule this year. 20:01 They didn't have the toughest schedule in the nation, and they feasted on it. 20:06 So, I think things are going to get a little tougher if they get through this region and get into the Frozen Four. 20:13 Exactly. 20:13 All right, guys, let's move on to the East. 20:16 Miami is the number one seed out there. 20:19 They play Providence, and then on the other side, you've got Denver and Boston College. 20:25 Hammy, what's your initial thoughts on this? 20:27 I mean, Miami having to play Providence in Providence could be a little tough matchup for them. 20:32 I think they're going to come through there, but what do you think? 20:35 Yeah, you know what? 20:35 That's a tough one. 20:36 I mean, they really got a tough situation considering... 20:41 They're the number one seed, correct? 20:43 Yeah, they are the one seed. 20:44 They're the number four overall seed. 20:45 Right, so they got a tough road to hold on. 20:49 That's, I think, that other game, a Boston College Denver game should be really interesting. 20:55 And that's going to be, I think, a pretty good game. 20:57 And I actually would not be shocked if the team that wins that game comes out of that bracket, because I'm just not a huge Miami believer. 21:06 And plus, I know they have, what, one guy got... 21:08 One of their key guys was a barber. 21:10 I don't remember who it was. 21:11 Yeah, he got injured and the other guy suspended. 21:14 Yeah, one guy suspended. 21:15 Coleman, right? 21:16 Coleman is out of this game. 21:17 Yeah, and he's one of the... 21:18 I mean, so, you know, they're obviously going to have a little bit of difficulty in that sense. 21:23 I mean, if you remove two of your best players off of your team against a good opponent, that's going to be pretty tough, and especially when it's, you know, essentially a home game. 21:32 So it won't shock me if Miami doesn't make it out of that bracket. 21:36 Veegs, Coleman's the only one who scored for them in that final faceoff championship game. 21:41 Yeah, that's a brutal draw for them to play Providence. 21:44 Because Providence is John Gillies and that, you know, he's a big 6'5 goalie. 21:48 You can basically steal a game for a team. 21:50 I think he's put Providence on his back this year. 21:53 Just phenomenal stats this season. 21:54 It's like a 93, say, percentage on a team that's not tremendous. 21:59 And so they're into the tournament. 22:00 They're playing at home. 22:02 Miami's got some injuries. 22:03 I think Providence is going to win that game. 22:06 I know Boston College has kind of had a tough stretch coming down the end of the season. 22:11 But I think they've just got so much talent on that team that they're going to be dangerous. 22:16 So I do like BC coming out of this bracket. 22:20 But I think it will be a tough game for them. 22:24 I'm going to go with Denver. 22:28 Don't know why, I just feel like Denver. 22:29 Just a feeling. 22:30 Just a feeling. 22:31 Well, you know, I did my picks on that whatever, that PICM website, and I don't even remember what I picked. 22:37 But now that I'm looking at it more, I like Denver. 22:40 You know, BC is kind of up and down, and I don't know if I could really trust them. 22:46 Denver's always just been solid. 22:48 I mean, if Guaz was the coach, I'd probably pick Denver even more, but who knows? 22:52 Yeah, I think without Guaz, you know, they're just missing a component there, but. 22:56 Okay. 22:57 Well, that's fair, obviously. 23:00 All right, boys, now let's head to the west in Fargo. 23:03 Obviously, North Dakota, the number two overall seed. 23:05 They're the one seed in that bracket. 23:07 They face Quinnipiac, and Michigan Tech is back in the tournament the first time since, I want to say, 81. 23:16 Somewhere around there, they play St. 23:17 Cloud State. 23:21 That match up there intrigues me quite a bit, Veegs. 23:25 Yeah. 23:26 I mean, this could be the return of what was once a great Michigan Tech hockey school. 23:32 Yeah, I think they've got the right coach there. 23:34 I think they've got a lot of talent. 23:35 They play an exciting game. 23:37 It's fun for the Huskies. 23:38 But I do think that seeing this region, you've got the 7, the 10, and the 14 teams in here, it kind of makes you wonder if North Dakota got some breaks with how they seeded the region. 23:51 Because this does look like the easiest region for a top seed to get through. 23:55 And actually, we got a tweet a question about that. 23:57 John Reynolds asking, it appears to me North Dakota got fairly easy draw with Quinnipiac's best player not playing. 24:05 Yeah, and they're going to be playing at the Shields Center. 24:07 They pre-sold most of those tickets to North Dakota fans. 24:12 I saw on Twitter today that they have 150 seats coming back for the weekend, but you have to buy them in person. 24:19 So even more North Dakota fans are going to be there. 24:22 Yeah, so it's just a crazy situation for them, and I think they'll take advantage and walk through this bracket. 24:29 It's great to see Michigan Tech in the tournament, though. 24:32 Do you see? 24:34 I think North Dakota has played like crap lately. 24:39 I think either Michigan Tech or St. 24:40 Cloud could take them out. 24:45 I actually have been wondering. 24:48 It's funny because over the years, it was with the UND and Haxdollas struggle early in the year, kind of face some adversity, kind of turn it around around the midway point, played really good hockey from that point onward. 25:03 And it's almost been a very different season in that sense for them. 25:07 They haven't really had to face a lot of adversity throughout the season. 25:10 And now suddenly here in the last handful of weeks, it seems like they faced a little bit more with I mean, they didn't exactly kill Colorado College. 25:20 They lost two games at their tournament. 25:25 I just don't know that they're exactly hitting their peak. 25:27 And they do have a good goalie, of course, which is always a big equalizer, even if you're not playing your best. 25:33 And I actually think I'm going to be voting for Tech. 25:38 I mean, I'm not going to lie to you. 25:39 I'll be voting for Michigan Tech. 25:40 I mean, I'd really like to see them come out of this region, have somebody a little different. 25:45 And I'm not going to begrudge the fact that North Dakota is essentially going to have a home ice advantage, because we've had that over the years at some regionals. 25:54 So I'm not going to really rip on them for not taking advantage of it. 25:57 Sometimes you get that big crowd, and it's just going to work to your advantage. 26:03 So I think that's going to be great for them and the fans up there. 26:06 But I think I'll definitely be pulling for Tech. 26:09 By the way, Bidco sent me straight. 26:10 UMD beat Yale when Yale was the number one overall seed. 26:16 That was, I think, the year before they won it. 26:19 Yale just came in with some weird, outrageous record. 26:22 It was the number one overall seed. 26:24 So I know everyone thought that Yale was overrated that year. 26:27 I did, but whatever. 26:30 Back to the West, I'm kind of with you, Hammy. 26:32 I would love to see Tech come out of there. 26:35 Just because, you know, that program has been down for so long. 26:38 It's great to see them back up where they used to be. 26:42 I'm not going to go as far as to start wearing Tech jerseys like a couple of GPLers are. 26:46 I don't know why their love for Tech is so great. 26:49 Apparently, this trip to Houghton is so great. 26:51 They want to be Tech fans now. 26:53 Seriously, hold on, hold on a minute. 26:55 I think a few people do have jerseys. 26:57 They were actually Gopher fans wearing Tech jerseys. 27:03 I have seen that, yes. 27:04 My God. 27:05 I know. 27:06 Seriously, that's just pathetic. 27:08 Anyhow. 27:09 But if they beat North Dakota, you're gonna see more of them. 27:12 No. 27:14 I would, I mean, I don't know. 27:17 You know, I'm with you. 27:19 I love to see Tech back up, but you know what? 27:22 I'd love to see them beat North Dakota, but I'm not gonna jump on their bandwagon just because the trip to Houghton is so great. 27:31 I just don't give a shit. 27:33 I don't wanna drive fricking eight, seven, eight. 27:36 Hours to that place just to drink. 27:39 You know, I could drink at home. 27:40 I don't give a shit. 27:42 I don't know. 27:42 I just, you know, have you been on that trip? 27:45 I have. 27:45 It's actually a lot of fun. 27:46 Oh, come on. 27:48 It's just, I don't know. 27:50 I just don't feel like driving that far. 27:51 I'd rather go to Grand Forks than to Houghton. 27:54 I would not rather go to Grand Forks. 27:56 I would be out there though. 27:57 I would definitely agree with that. 27:59 It's fun to go to a small town where the hockey game is the big deal in town that night. 28:04 Even if you go to certain towns and see a hockey game, it's not always the biggest deal there. 28:10 So it's fun to see there and pretty much everyone out is into the game and up for it. 28:14 So that is kind of the charm of Houghton, I think. 28:17 Well, apparently even some GPLers were on TV during the WCHA Final Five. 28:23 Well, I mean, I don't have a problem with them going. 28:25 I don't even have a problem with them cheering. 28:26 But, dude, you're going to wear a jersey of another team? 28:28 Seriously? 28:29 I don't know. 28:30 To me, it's lame. 28:33 And I kind of discount North Dakota struggling last weekend. 28:37 I think they lost with an empty netter to St. 28:40 Cloud. 28:40 And then the third place game means nothing to them. 28:43 It's in the afternoon. 28:44 Yeah, but they still had a chance. 28:46 They still had the number one seed. 28:47 Yeah, they still could have gotten that seed. 28:49 They didn't know if Mankato was going to win that night or not. 28:52 And to me, it's like, I get what you're saying. 28:55 But to me, you can't just say it was a throwaway game because, look, you got out shot, you got smoked. 29:01 That's not exactly how you want to go into the NCAAs. 29:04 I mean, I'm just saying, you can discount it, but it's still, it's not exactly great momentum either. 29:09 Yeah, I know what you're saying, Hammeh, because we've seen this happen to the Gophers quite a bit, where they finish the season, where the games don't mean anything. 29:17 But they're college kids. 29:18 It's hard to get up for a game that means nothing. 29:20 They already knew they were going to be in Fargo for the regional. 29:23 And they ended up with pretty easily regional after all. 29:27 But I think that for me, and this is what I've always, I just I don't like the idea of having that kind of mentality with my team. 29:34 You know, I'm right before, you don't want to ever, I don't want to ever let the foot off the gas ever. 29:39 You know what I mean? 29:40 And I just feel like when you're taking that kind of mentality, and like I said, this is a team that really hasn't had to face a lot of adversity this year. 29:49 So can they just turn on that switch and suddenly be back on again? 29:53 I don't know. 29:53 We haven't really seen them be tremendously challenged with that kind of adversity this year. 30:01 So what do you think then? 30:02 You think North Dakota does come out of their hammy, or do you think Tech or St. 30:05 Cloud could take them out? 30:07 Well, obviously, my head says North Dakota, my heart says Michigan Tech. 30:12 So I'll probably say it's gonna be North Dakota, but I'll be rooting for Michigan Tech in that one. 30:19 Veegs, did you ever give a final answer on that? 30:21 I don't remember here. 30:22 Yeah, I had North Dakota. 30:23 I'm in the same situation. 30:24 I'd love for Tech to get through. 30:26 I just don't think they have enough size or talent to compete with North Dakota on a rink like that. 30:30 I think North Dakota brings their big physical game and they'll be ready to go. 30:35 Well, we'll see. 30:35 I'd love to see maybe a little too much pressure on that team and hopefully they could choke it away. 30:41 That'd be nice. 30:43 All right, guys, Northeast, Manchester, New Hampshire. 30:47 That's where the Gophers were sent. 30:48 And boy, what a matchup they're gonna end up having. 30:51 Against Duluth with Boston University and Yale on the other side of the bracket. 30:56 Veegs, obviously, I would say Minnesota Duluth and Tech St. 31:02 Cloud are the best matchups in the first parts of this tournament. 31:07 Yeah, I think it's going to be a great Friday afternoon to watch these games. 31:13 It's too bad they're kind of right up against each other. 31:16 Yeah, Duluth has been one of the better teams. 31:18 I think I've seen the Gophers play this season. 31:21 Part of it is Duluth really gets up for Minnesota and they've had good goaltending this season. 31:26 The thing I think that makes Duluth the most dangerous is their defensemen or veteran team. 31:31 They're big and they can all skate. 31:33 So Minnesota's wall play is going to have to be really impressive on Friday to advance. 31:40 Oh, and Mr. 31:41 Eichel is on the other side for Boston University too. 31:45 So either way, this is a tough bracket for Minnesota or Duluth. 31:51 Yeah, for sure. 31:51 If you haven't seen Jack Eichel play this year, one of the best players in college hockey history, it's defense rules the land and he's almost getting two points a game. 32:01 So pretty impressive for a young kid who's draft eligible this year. 32:07 Initial thoughts, Hammeh, what do you think? 32:10 Well, I mean, I think it's going to, the one thing that you kind of wonder about is we haven't, I mean, Duluth has not been playing its best hockey here in the last handful of weeks. 32:19 And I think the last time that we played them when we were at the X, I actually thought that we all played them for a lot of that game. 32:26 And certainly we probably should have won that game, but just didn't put the puck in the net. 32:31 And so I feel like given that was a low point in our season around that time frame and the way that we've improved and our goal-tenning has improved since then. 32:40 And to see how Duluth has performed recently, I actually feel pretty good about our chances in that game. 32:46 I think that I was a little surprised at how Duluth's offense isn't nearly as potent as I thought it would be this year. 32:53 I mean, they've got some very talented forwards, but in terms of their goal scoring this year, it's not been particularly great. 33:00 And on a national level, I think they're somewhere in the 20s as far as offense. 33:04 And that surprised me because I had a lot of respect for their forwards, and they just haven't put it together the way that I thought. 33:10 And granted, you know, they're going to be playing some good teams in their conference. 33:13 So that's going to play a role in it. 33:14 But I'm a little surprised by that. 33:17 And I feel like special teams can always be a key factor in that. 33:20 And their penalty kill and our penalty kill are not very strong. 33:24 But where the difference is, is our power play is great and their power play is kind of average. 33:28 So I think that we might have a little bit of an advantage in that department. 33:31 So we'll see how it goes in these Ganna games. 33:33 It could be just one bounce. 33:35 One thing Duluth does have going Veegs is a little freshman, Koski Siuo. 33:39 Is that how you say his name? 33:41 I think that's close enough. 33:43 He's been pretty darn good for them. 33:45 Yeah, he's confident enough that he's tweeting back at fake Don Lucia. 33:49 If you haven't seen that yet, that's pretty funny. 33:51 Yeah, Don Lucia was taking shots at him and telling him to serve. 33:55 And, you know, the finish guy doesn't know what a sieve is. 33:59 So he's going after it already. 34:04 No, I like him. 34:05 If he's on Twitter responding to a fake account, I think I like him. 34:10 Yeah, but he's been good for them. 34:12 Don Lucia said today that one of the things that's held Duluth back has been goaltending, and it looks like they found one this year. 34:19 I think Hammy's right. 34:20 The Fords seem impressive, but they just haven't put up the goals that you'd expect to come out of them. 34:25 I think the thing that drives them is their defensemen. 34:28 I think that's the strength of their team, and now they have a goalie that can keep them in games. 34:34 I think the games that Minnesota was out of, they didn't have Boyd and Shea. 34:38 They're going to have those guys back for this one, obviously. 34:41 So I think that should be a big help for Minnesota. 34:44 I will point out that their goalie has given up at least three goals in their last four games, so I don't know that he's necessarily playing at his peak either, just to point that out. 34:57 Well, what about the other side of the bracket, guys? 35:00 Well, I mean, nonetheless, whatever the reasoning is, I don't know that it's going to prevent the goalie from stopping Pucks. 35:07 It might give him more opportunities, I guess. 35:11 What about the other side of the bracket, Veegs? 35:13 What do you think about Boston University and Yale? 35:15 Is Yale going to have a chance against Boston? 35:18 I think it's going to be tough. 35:19 I don't know a ton about the Yale team, but Eichel is the manchild in college hockey this season. 35:26 Well, his line mates aren't bad either. 35:28 Yeah. 35:29 His lines aren't bad, and Man O'Connor is one of the top free agent goalies coming out of college. 35:34 There's a lot of NHL teams who are looking at him. 35:38 With those two, it's going to be hard for Yale to compete, and I think it's a tough matchup for anybody. 35:44 All right. 35:44 Well, what do you think, then? 35:46 Minnesota or Duluth against Boston University to go to the Frozen Four? 35:51 I mean, are you going to go pro Gophers, or is this Jack Eichel's year? 35:58 Well, I think one of the things that Minnesota has going for it is the Boyd Ambrose warning line has done a great job shutting down opponents all season long. 36:06 I think they're probably going to get their opportunity against Eichel, because I think Minnesota will get by Duluth. 36:13 I think Minnesota's power play has just been so good all year. 36:16 I think that could be a huge advantage for them. 36:18 If they can just stay out of the box and limit the turnovers, they can get through both these teams and get to Boston. 36:25 You know, Minnesota was able to stop Johnny Hockey last year. 36:29 Yeah, I mean, Minnesota has been a good checking team against top players. 36:33 I think that Boyd line has just done a tremendous job. 36:36 We saw in the World Juniors, Eichel tried to do a lot by himself in the big games, and he wasn't able to do it when he was up against talented players who are determined to stop him. 36:45 And I think Minnesota has those guys. 36:47 I think you'll see, you know, Brady Shea matching up with him as well. 36:50 And they say Shea is the best skater on the team, so he's going to have to prove it. 36:57 So do you think we can get past Boston University? 37:00 Yeah, I think so. 37:01 All right. 37:01 This team has been a talented team all year. 37:05 I think they went through the stretch where they were turning the puck over, not able to identify Russians very well. 37:11 I think they focused on that. 37:12 I think they know what they need to do. 37:15 All right, Hammy, what are your thoughts about Boston and Yale and getting to the Frozen Four here? 37:21 Well, I think that Boston is going to come out of that bracket. 37:24 As much as I obviously would like the Gophers to come out of that bracket, I just feel like with a trip to Boston on the line, basically being able to play on the Frozen Four in your home city, I just think that's going to be a big motivating factor. 37:38 I think when you have big time players that are having great years, that's something that you can't overlook when those guys are playing that well. 37:47 I just think that whoever they play, I think that the Gophers are going to probably win that opening game against Duluth, but I don't think that they're going to get past. 37:55 I don't think whoever wins, whether it's Duluth or Minnesota, I don't think they're going to get past Boston University in that second game. 38:02 Interesting. 38:06 I think I'm with you, Hammy. 38:08 I think Minnesota does get past Minnesota Duluth, but lose a heartbreaker to Boston University, maybe an overtime type of loss. 38:17 I know that's Mr. 38:18 Negative, but it's a good team and it may be their year. 38:23 I mean, this whole bracket is all former champions, and so they know what they're doing. 38:30 Well, I don't think it's a matter of being negative. 38:32 I just think it's a matter of being just kind of sincere about how you're looking at the games. 38:37 I mean, we would all love for the Gophers, well, not all of us, of course, but we on this podcast would love if the Gophers win and get to the Frozen Four. 38:46 But obviously, BU has got a very good team and they got some great players that are at the top of their scoring list, and certainly you can't discount that. 38:55 And like I said, when they have some extra motivating factor to be playing in the Frozen Four in their kind of home area, I just think that that's going to be a big push for them. 39:05 And I just have a hard time seeing them not coming through that region. 39:08 And part of it, I think, is just because of the way the teams played this year. 39:12 I mean, they've shown inconsistencies. 39:16 If they play the way that they probably should have played this year, you would probably be picking Minnesota in a bracket like this. 39:23 But the thing is with Minnesota, the games they've played poorly in hasn't been because they've laid an egg. 39:30 It's because they've turned the puck over and given teams opportunities to get back in it. 39:35 I think the only real stinkers they've played is the home game against Duluth and the road game against St. 39:41 Cloud. 39:42 I think those two games, the team just totally got out of their element and got outplayed both those nights. 39:47 But the other losses, they lost because of turnovers. 39:50 It wasn't because they were getting outplayed. 39:54 Well, I'll give you that. 39:55 I mean, I totally agree with you that those are the two games that stick out in my mind as sort of like the real crap games that we played this year. 40:02 And fortunately, they were much earlier in the season. 40:06 But I just think that when you have guys like Eichel, they're such difference makers. 40:12 And even if he is a freshman, I just think that those kinds of guys tend to raise the level of play. 40:17 And maybe he does try to do too much because he is a little bit less experienced in some respects. 40:23 But and I do like that we have a lot of veteran guys in there. 40:28 And I certainly believe, like I said, that if you have a goalie of Wilcox's caliber, you can steal games that maybe you don't necessarily expect to win. 40:36 And so it won't shock me if the Gophers get out of that region. 40:40 But I just think that BU has probably got a little bit too much going for them right now. 40:44 Yeah, I just know that, you know, the games I've seen Eichel play were the Beanpot, and he only had one assist in those two games and the World Juniors, where he kind of had a disappointing tournament. 40:54 So, you know, in the big games, he hasn't shown up for me. 40:58 So I think Minnesota has got a chance to shut him down. 41:01 Let's hope so. 41:02 It's not like we're rooting against him. 41:04 It's just, you know, we'll just have to see, I guess. 41:08 John Reynolds, another question via Twitter. 41:11 He wants to know, what do you guys think about Gopher playing up at forward? 41:15 He's been doing that the last few weeks or whatever. 41:18 What do you think, Veegs? 41:21 I almost think this is just one of those things where they want to get him ice time and make sure he doesn't leave. 41:28 He's looked uncomfortable in the offensive zone with the puck. 41:32 It seems like he does a good job at getting possession. 41:35 And then when he's got to make a quick decision, he's just so uncomfortable. 41:38 It's difficult. 41:41 So I think they're trying to keep him interested by giving him some ice time. 41:45 No insider info on that, but he's a big physical player, and obviously he's got more potential than some of the other guys they could put there. 41:53 But he hasn't looked very comfortable. 41:57 What do you think, Hanny? 41:58 Well, I mean, honestly, they're not putting him in there to really do a lot offensively anyways. 42:03 I mean, it's a fourth line situation. 42:05 You're not expecting those guys to go gangbusters on offense. 42:08 For me, it's just more don't foul it up on the defensive end, and hopefully, being that he is a defenseman, he's going to have that kind of focus more. 42:20 So I don't have a problem with it in that sense, and I don't think he's done that badly. 42:23 I think it's a, you know, part of it's the team has just played better in general, so it makes you think like everybody's playing better in general, including a guy like that. 42:31 But I think it's actually been a solid move, and I don't have a problem with him being there. 42:36 I don't expect anything from him offensively. 42:38 I just sort of, if he does do anything, it's, hey, you know, it's like icing on the cake, so. 42:43 But just as long as they do well, don't give up goals from a fourth line perspective, I'm good with it. 42:48 Yeah, I think the fourth line is played pretty well. 42:51 They haven't really got caught in their defensive end very often. 42:54 I think Isaacson and Michelson have done a decent job learning their role and just playing some ice time. 43:03 Yeah, well, let me tell you guys, this weekend is my favorite weekend of the year. 43:08 You know, everyone used to talk about the final five, blah, blah, blah. 43:11 But regional weekend is my favorite weekend of the year. 43:15 I mean, you've got hockey from Friday afternoon through Sunday evening. 43:20 It's almost back to back to back with a little sleep in between, but it's just great hockey and by far my favorite weekend of the year. 43:30 Yeah, I mean, I could totally see where you're coming from with that. 43:32 I mean, sort of for me, not that I'm a huge college basketball fan, but that opening week of the NCAA tournament, especially the first couple of days with all those games going on, I'm really interested because you usually see a lot of dramatic finishes and some really good games. 43:49 And that's exactly how I feel about the opening round in college hockey. 43:53 You just have some good matchups and it's usually pretty competitive across the board. 43:57 You might have a few games that are kind of crappy, but in general, they're pretty well played games and pretty competitive. 44:03 Yeah, I think one of the best things about this weekend is the top 13 teams are all pretty close. 44:09 I don't think you see a big stretch between one and 13. 44:13 Anyone can win those games. 44:15 And with all of it on the line and all on TV, it's going to be great. 44:20 Yeah, I mean, I would totally agree. 44:22 I mean, I don't think there is not a dominant team that you could say like, oh, that's definitely the favorite. 44:27 And I can definitely, you know, all these teams, I feel, have the capability of just of winning it. 44:33 And so there wouldn't be one team, you know, for the most part, that I wouldn't be shocked if they won four straight. 44:39 I mean, I might not believe. 44:40 Except for Omaha. 44:41 Well, okay, I'll give you that one. 44:44 I will give you that one. 44:45 I mean, but I think in general, a lot of these teams, I wouldn't be shocked if they ended up winning it. 44:51 Well, can you imagine if a team like Michigan Tech won it? 44:56 I mean, you know, in a way, I mean, not like I'm a Tech fan, but I mean, that'd be kind of cool in a way. 45:01 I mean, obviously, I want the Gophers more than anybody else, but if there was a team out there, that I wouldn't be too sad if Michigan Tech was a team, if the Gophers didn't win it. 45:14 Well, they need to get by St. 45:15 Cloud, and obviously, that's going to be a tough game for them. 45:19 I have a feeling they might have the North Dakota fans on their side though. 45:25 Yeah, I actually think that Tech is going to win that game personally, but I guess we'll see. 45:30 I just have a good feeling that they're going to win that game. 45:33 Well, like I said, I am going to enjoy this weekend to the fullest. 45:38 Minnesota wins or loses. 45:40 Boy, it's just great hockey, and it's just a joy for me. 45:45 It looks like Bitco actually agrees with something I said. 45:49 He thinks it's the best weekend all year too. 45:51 It's about the first time he's ever agreed with me on anything. 45:54 It will be nice when his team loses Friday. 45:56 What a shame. 45:57 What a shame. 45:59 That's it, guys. 46:01 That's all we got this week. 46:03 Okay. 46:03 If we lose this weekend, are we having a podcast? 46:05 Yes. 46:06 We will have a podcast next Wednesday. 46:09 It's on the calendar. 46:11 We're going to do it no matter what. 46:13 I promise. 46:15 One thing we do have on the podcast this week, but we're not going to play now, but after the end of the show here, is Veeegs took a bunch of audio from the media day to day at Mariucci. 46:28 I'm going to throw that on the downloadable version of the podcast this week. 46:31 Boy, it must have been about 20 minutes of audio. 46:33 Wasn't it, Veeegs? 46:35 Yeah. 46:35 It was a pretty lengthy conference today. 46:37 The guys like to talk. 46:39 Yeah. 46:39 I'm going to put that after. 46:40 I'll add it to the end of the podcast. 46:43 If you want to hear that, just download it and you'll be good to go. 46:47 Other than that, just good luck to the boys this weekend. 46:50 We're definitely pulling for you, but hopefully we'll have a nice positive show next week. 46:57 I'm good to meet. 46:58 Remember, you can follow Hammy on Twitter, at Hammy Hockey. 47:01 That's if he lets you. 47:02 It's a private account. 47:04 That's correct. 47:06 Or Vegoe, at eVegoe. 47:08 Which games are you writing this weekend, Veeegs? 47:11 I'll be writing on Saturday. 47:13 Well, there you go. 47:14 Well, you hope you're writing on Saturday, right? 47:17 I said I'll be writing on Saturday. 47:21 All right. 47:21 That's going to do it. 47:22 We will be back next week to either wrap up the season or start talking about The Frozen Four. 47:29 Thanks for listening. 47:47 First off, just about what you faced this weekend. 47:49 Obviously, a foe that you're very familiar with. 47:52 What did you see in those previous encounters that you may expect this weekend? 47:56 Well, I never really thought we would be playing our old rivals by switching leagues, so this is gonna be game five. 48:01 It's pretty amazing. 48:02 UMD's a very good team. 48:04 They're very veteran. 48:05 They're deep up front, balanced scoring, veteran defensive core, and a freshman gold tinger was coming in and played very well for them. 48:13 It probably was the missing ingredient from last year's team. 48:16 So they're gonna play like we do. 48:18 They're gonna get up and down the rink and try to make plays. 48:20 So it should be a fun and entertaining game. 48:22 We're looking forward to it. 48:23 You look at your team, it seems like the consistency is there now for your club. 48:28 The last few weeks, do you agree with that? 48:29 Well, we're playing better. 48:30 There's no question that it starts a matter of that. 48:33 He seems to be on top of his game right now. 48:35 He's the most important player to be on top of his game. 48:38 We're scoring a few more goals. 48:40 We haven't given up much as of late. 48:42 You know, the nice thing, we've had the matchups, we've been home ice, but this will be a little bit different because now we don't have a matchup as we headed into the NCAA as being the third seed. 48:52 So, you know, everybody's going to have to play well this time of year. 48:55 It's a single elimination. 48:56 It's one and done. 48:57 Mistakes are magnified. 48:58 Goals are even more important this time of the year. 49:02 You know, we just want to go out and play our best hockey and whatever happens, happens. 49:06 For all the guys that were there a year ago that got to this point, we got within one game of winning it all. 49:13 Is that talk starting to come back to the surface? 49:16 I don't think so. 49:17 You know, that's last year's last year. 49:20 This is a completely new team with different issues than the previous team had. 49:27 But, you know, it's been a fun year. 49:29 When you look at what we've done over the course of the year, you begin the year, you hope you can win the right year's season playoff. 49:34 We've done both. 49:35 We want to make the NCAA Tournament and be able to do that. 49:38 And now it's about trying to, you know, build, save, survive and advance. 49:41 And you just want to play well. 49:43 I think that's the most important thing. 49:45 You get into this time of year, you have years where your team plays really well, and other years they are flat. 49:50 You know, why? 49:51 Who knows. 49:52 But they're excited to be playing. 49:54 They've worked extremely hard with themselves as we've been in this position over the last couple of months. 49:59 And, you know, it's obviously fun when you win. 50:02 It was fun to win the regular season. 50:03 It was fun to win the playoff title last weekend in Detroit. 50:06 And now, hopefully, that will carry over and we'll just continue to play like we've been playing. 50:11 How do you prepare for a team that you're going to see for a good time? 50:14 Does it feel like a glorified conference playoff game, in a way? 50:17 Well, in some ways, you know, it would be nice just to drive up 35, play up a booth in front of a packed arena. 50:25 There probably would have been a pretty good atmosphere here this weekend. 50:27 So it's going to be kind of like the first game of the year, when you play a game and there's not going to be many people in the stands, you know, and hopefully we'll have the same result as that first game. 50:37 But, you know, it's not hard to play, prepare from the standpoint that you played somebody here, and you're familiar with their players. 50:43 I think that's it, as much as anything else is. 50:46 When you get an answer to a tournament, you haven't played against somebody over the years, and you really don't have a great feel of their personnel. 50:55 You can watch on video, but until you're at ice level and watching the game play, you just don't have that same feel. 51:00 They know our guys, we know their guys. 51:03 And now it's about who's going to execute, who's going to play a little bit more mistake free, because the games have shown they're close, they're low scoring, and goals are a premium. 51:12 It's been a while since you've played in the season. 51:14 Are you guys a different team? 51:15 Yeah, I think, you look at different stages, you have to be healthy. 51:21 UMD is a great example of the second half, they've had their injuries and sickness, the week off was probably really good for them. 51:28 Now they're going to have their full lineup. 51:30 Different stages, when we played in November, Shay was out, Boyd was out, Vinny was out. 51:37 And now both teams are going to be, we don't have Cotner, but we have met Cotner since mid-January. 51:43 So both teams are pretty much full strength this week. 51:46 And you want to have your team available to you, it's key. 51:49 With conference realignment, one of the big fears was that you could lose the in-state rivalry. 51:53 I guess you can't complain about that this year, huh? 51:54 No, no, you can't. 51:55 That's why I said at the opening that, you know, it's hard to believe that you're playing a team, not in your conference, more than anybody you play in your conference. 52:02 You know, but that's good. 52:04 I mean, it's a good, healthy rivalry with tremendous respect. 52:08 It'll be a fun game. 52:09 It'll be an entertaining game. 52:10 And, you know, unfortunately, a lot of people are watching. 52:14 Where would you rate Adam's game, especially against Ohio State? 52:18 I mean, you know, 70, 79 games now. 52:21 Well, he was pretty darn good. 52:22 I'll take that out of the rest of the way and see where we end up. 52:26 But he played really well. 52:29 He feels good about himself right now. 52:31 The team feels good about the way he's playing. 52:34 We all know how important goaltending is this time of the year. 52:37 We put it on one player, but the bottom line is more off the nut. 52:42 Because every boy who plays better is going to advance this time of year because everything is so even. 52:47 And that big save, that critical moment is going to lose it. 52:51 How much does it help to have so many players with tournament experience? 52:56 It helps. 52:56 They've been through it. 52:58 We're even practicing at Ritter and the NCAA and everything is on the boards. 53:02 So you're used to that part of it. 53:05 But really, I think after five or ten minutes, that pretty much goes off to when they're playing the games. 53:11 I think the experience of our seniors and what they've been able to go through over their time is important. 53:16 But that advance goes away a little bit with the company because they've got a really experienced team too. 53:21 You talked about playing at Ritter Arena. 53:23 Brad, give you any tips about how to play a frozen floor? 53:26 What to do? 53:27 Well, he could read a manual. 53:28 He's there every year. 53:29 They have a bad year and they come in seconds. 53:32 It's not easy being the men's coach at Minnesota. 53:34 I'm telling you that. 53:34 Those are lofty standards. 53:36 But obviously we're happy for them. 53:39 I was at the game and I think our whole team was at the game watching. 53:45 We're supportive of each other and really happy that they were able to win it. 53:49 You talked a lot about the seniors and how they led this turnaround. 53:51 But how important is Mike Riley in this? 53:55 Well, we know what Mike's going to give us in a game. 53:58 To be honest, the emergence of Cluess' line has really made a big impact over the last month. 54:05 Once Cotner went out, you're trying to rotate how you're going to fit it together now. 54:09 And with Cluess, and I think Kamratt is playing his best hockey of the season right now. 54:14 I think he's really starting to emerge as a player. 54:16 He's got nine goals right now. 54:18 And obviously, with Cluess, he's playing at speed out the middle. 54:22 So to me, that line has been a real key for us over the last month and a big reason why we've been able to have a more successful finish because there's a little bit more depth up front. 54:32 What's been clicking with that line? 54:34 Has Cluess scored a big one, will Terry score a big one? 54:36 Yeah, and Cammie hasn't been scoring the goals, but he's hitting the assist. 54:39 And that's kind of what he's been doing right now as a playmaker. 54:42 But obviously, with Vinny and Cluess, they both have great speed. 54:46 They're all three sophomores. 54:49 So we kind of got our senior line together and our sophomore line together. 54:52 But they were struggling a little bit early on to put it together. 54:57 But I think that they proved they're starting to get that chemistry that you have to have. 55:02 And that's why we haven't tinkered with our line much lately. 55:06 We want to try to get them set and comfortable playing together. 55:10 I know you've seen Cas Casillo a few times. 55:12 I'm not sure if he's played all four games against you. 55:15 What do you think of him? 55:16 He was obviously an unknown. 55:17 Yeah, I mean, well, he had a good year in the North American League last year. 55:20 And I think, to be honest, the goaltending probably was the thing that held him out of the NCAA tournament on a dirt goal. 55:28 We played him last year and I thought that there was good a time for him to even play. 55:32 But now he's solidified the position. 55:34 He's making a big save. 55:35 He's given them a chance to take a big hit, 6'3, 200 pounds. 55:38 And he takes up a lot of them. 55:40 And with that veteran defensive corp, they don't give up a lot. 55:44 And they're there to push away any rebounds, too. 55:47 Is there any thoughts on the NCAA and the attended semifinals? 55:50 That's something to talk about, obviously. 55:52 That's, you know what, a lot of decent problem in Yale and Boston University play as they should, no different than if it was located here. 56:01 And being Minnesota, we're playing, they'd be very crowded. 56:04 Not as many people are going to be interested if Yale was playing for you in the second game. 56:08 That's just the way it is. 56:09 That's the neutral side games. 56:10 And obviously, there's a lot of talk right now of, you know, should the top eight seeds host? 56:15 And, you know, that's, I know it's being discussed a lot right now. 56:18 You know, we'll see what happens down the line. 56:22 What kinds of challenges does Duluth present for you guys? 56:25 Is their defenseman active, veteran? 56:27 Yeah, I mean, well, I think he's got nine goals a year. 56:29 They're going to get a brass cup, he's going to get up and deploy. 56:33 They've got a good mix of size and speed, and they're veteran. 56:37 I mean, I think that's the big thing. 56:38 They've got a lot of college hockey experience. 56:40 Our whole team does. 56:41 Like us, they're a little bit down the middle with their decore and their center play, and throw it to a line up. 56:48 They've been through it before, and they're well-prepared. 56:51 Obviously, a lot of Minnesota kids playing against each other, it adds to it a little bit, but a lot on the line, obviously, and I think both teams will be ready to go. 57:00 It should be an exciting game. 57:02 You obviously saw the Bulldogs play when you were growing up, I would imagine, and you know, how has this rivalry changed over the time? 57:10 Well, I mean, I went to a couple of games growing up, but back then growing up, I was more of a football fan, to be honest, than I've been a hockey fan. 57:19 But, you know, I think one of the things that's really helped is the new building, because obviously, you know, we helped them, and you know, they just won the national title, very deserving. 57:27 And, you know, one of the great things about, we should take pride in is our whole state right now, that the play of the five in-state schools, I mean, even the mid-state had a really good year, their second half run-off, and unfortunately for them, they were just disappointed to get knocked out in that first round. 57:44 But, you know, we're the new buildings, the commitment at every school. 57:51 I think the health of our college teams is probably better than it's ever been as a group in general. 57:59 All right, guys, take a couch. 58:02 Just about what you face, obviously you go and do a different rink, but it's an opponent you should know pretty well. 58:08 Yeah, we know a lot about them, played them four times already this year, so we know it's whatever you got on their team and what they like to do, so we'll be ready to go, and we've had a good week of practice so far, and the team's getting pretty pumped up to play. 58:23 What did you see in those games? 58:25 They won, but you guys could have easily flipped a couple of those games in your favor. 58:31 How balanced do you think it is between the two? 58:33 I think very balanced. 58:35 I mean, both teams like to skate and make plays. 58:38 Both teams got a lot of speed. 58:40 You know, at the XL Tournament, definitely going either way for sure. 58:46 And then up in Duluth, I didn't make the trip, but watch the games. 58:50 And they're really solid team. 58:52 They can score and we need to take it to their defenseman and play the way we know how to play. 58:58 Since you guys played the last, you guys went on a nice run at the end of the year. 59:01 How different is this team now compared to the last time you faced Duluth? 59:05 I think we're playing a lot more confidence for sure. 59:08 You know, we're winning a few weekends in a row here. 59:10 Winning the regular season in the tournament definitely helps our confidence. 59:14 And I think we're playing the way that we need to play and the way that we know how to play to keep winning and make a run here. 59:23 How much do you feed off of last year's experience and wanting to take that one step further? 59:27 Obviously it starts on Friday night, but this team's got a lot of experience and I know you want to get back there. 59:33 Yeah, definitely. 59:35 I mean, definitely focused on Friday night for sure because you can't look too far ahead, otherwise you'll get beat. 59:42 But the experience is definitely, we've got a lot of guys that played in that game last year. 59:47 I think that definitely is a positive for us, no doubt. 59:51 But right now, we're focused on Duluth and getting past Duluth. 59:55 What do you take from this weekend and winning the conference tournament for the first time? 1:00:00 Yeah, it was a great accomplishment for us. 1:00:02 That was a goal that we had at the beginning of the year to win that tournament. 1:00:05 And I mean, it was kind of weird that we haven't won a game and that the seniors had only a game in that tournament or even else. 1:00:12 So to win two games and be a team like Ohio State and especially Michigan, they're obviously very skilled and to win that tournament was huge. 1:00:23 You guys were playing sub loop the last time and basically you guys are probably, if you're lowest, that's kind of saying that you want to forget this game. 1:00:31 What has changed for you guys since then and just how are you able to kind of take that even though you kind of said you want to forget it? 1:00:38 Yeah, definitely, it's behind us. 1:00:40 But we'll look back on it and I think right now we're definitely a harder team to play against. 1:00:44 I think we're pretty easy to play against for a stretch there and not going to the hard areas where it takes to win games and score goals. 1:00:51 So I think we're clicking right now on all cylinders and we're peaking right through the time. 1:00:59 What kind of challenges do the forwards of the loop present to you guys' defensive group? 1:01:05 I think speed is probably their best attribute. 1:01:08 They got a lot of speed, a lot of quickness, not overly physical guys, but a lot of speed and they can make plays. 1:01:17 They got, I mean, all lines can score and you gotta look out for some of the top guys. 1:01:23 Is it almost better facing an opponent that you know when you're going into a situation like this, where someone had done it, if it be a program that you may not have much history with, that sometimes catches you off guard and you spend the first period kind of, oh, they're not whatever, and you end up getting in a hole. 1:01:39 It's almost better that you know right from the gate, get up what you're facing. 1:01:44 Yeah, I mean, I think it does. 1:01:45 I think you definitely feel more comfortable playing a team that you know all the guys on the team. 1:01:50 And we'll be ready to go for sure. 1:01:53 And we're just looking forward to a good game on Friday. 1:01:57 Can you talk a little bit about your defensive partner, Ryan Collins? 1:02:01 What have you seen in his development in his freshman year? 1:02:04 Yeah, he's made great strides. 1:02:07 He obviously is more of a defensive player than an offensive player. 1:02:11 And he's big and he's got great reach and good with the puck. 1:02:15 So he's doing a great job. 1:02:18 He's playing big minutes too, which is usually pretty tough as a freshman coming in. 1:02:22 And he's doing a great job playing side of teams, top guys. 1:02:27 Is there any part of his game that you've seen really improve from first game to now? 1:02:33 I think he's a little more confident with the puck probably. 1:02:36 He's got a lot more poise with the puck and not afraid to make plays. 1:02:39 And I think he's being more physical too. 1:02:42 He's a big body and he didn't be physical that long. 1:02:46 Do you see a little bit of you as a freshman in him? 1:02:50 I think he's better than me as a freshman. 1:02:52 I got scratched a couple of times and he's playing big minutes. 1:02:56 And he's doing a great job. 1:02:58 All of our freshmen are playing pretty well. 1:02:59 So we've got to take our hats off to them. 1:03:03 Last year, we saw the emergence of you and Mike Riley on the back end. 1:03:06 How have you seen Mike's game grow this year? 1:03:08 How do you grow, I guess, on the first team all American year? 1:03:11 Yeah, Mike's a special player, no doubt about it. 1:03:14 He's got a ton of talent, a ton of skill. 1:03:19 Sometimes, I haven't seen a player like that for a while. 1:03:23 He takes the puck up and makes plays, and sometimes you just got to watch, and be like, wow, this guy's a player. 1:03:31 He gets all the credit that he deserves because he works hard, and he's a really good buddy. 1:03:36 So, he's just a great guy. 1:03:38 Have you seen him grow defensively this summer? 1:03:40 You said he spent a lot of time on this year. 1:03:42 Yeah, definitely. 1:03:43 I think he's put on some weight this summer for sure, and he's taken a little more pride in the defensive zone. 1:03:49 I think in his freshman years, a lot of offense and that kind of hurt in the defensive zone. 1:03:54 So, now he's an all-around player, and he has a huge, huge attribute to our team. 1:04:00 Are there any Mike Riley moves that you're going to try to incorporate in your game? 1:04:03 Oh, I don't know if I can do it. 1:04:06 Maybe a couple of spinoffs here and there. 1:04:08 But, no, he's got some pretty sick talent that I don't know if I can pull off. 1:04:17 Will Cox coming off the big Ohio State shutout, the Michigan win. 1:04:19 Is that the best you've seen your goaltender play this season? 1:04:25 That was definitely a really good performance for sure. 1:04:27 We see it every day in practice at some of the saves that he makes. 1:04:31 I know at the beginning of the year, middle of the year, he's fighting a little bit maybe, but he's right back to where he usually is. 1:04:39 He's a huge part of our team and are the most important part. 1:04:42 Just like the rest of your team, do you think he's peaking right now? 1:04:47 I think so, yeah. 1:04:48 Definitely he's playing his hockey. 1:04:50 He knows how to play and we can always count on him to make the first save and we'll have to clear out the pucks for the second rebound attempts. 1:04:57 But yeah, he's playing really, really well right now. 1:05:03 Yeah, pretty similar to us, fast, obviously really good offensively and like to get out in transition. 1:05:09 And I think that's why our games are so fun. 1:05:12 You got two teams who are pretty much not identical but like to play the same ways. 1:05:17 And obviously it's a rivalry game too, so it'll be physical and it'll be a heated battle. 1:05:23 How much, if anything, did it mean for the team to win the regular season in the last weekend push and then to go into foreign territory and to drill and win the playoff title there? 1:05:35 Yeah, obviously it's huge. 1:05:37 I think the big thing for us was winning the conference tournament. 1:05:41 Obviously the last three years here we've been the one seed and lost in every first game we played. 1:05:48 Being able to kind of get over that and for the first time ever go into the NCAA tournament with a win. 1:05:56 I think that'll help us try and carry this momentum going on and keep this hot streak running. 1:06:03 You guys have kind of been the shut down line all season. 1:06:05 Do you expect that role this weekend again and how do you react going into it? 1:06:10 Yeah, I hope so. 1:06:11 You know, I love playing against the other guys top lines and trying to take them away. 1:06:15 And I think, you know, hopefully it'll be the same. 1:06:17 And hopefully we can go out there and do our job. 1:06:22 Going to a place like where you're going where maybe you crowd like what you saw last weekend. 1:06:28 How do you prepare for that? 1:06:29 How did you deal with that last week? 1:06:30 How do you put it out of your mind and focus on what's on the ring versus what's not going on around you? 1:06:37 Yeah, well, you know, obviously the first game, you know, against Duluth, like I said, it's a rivalry game. 1:06:42 So it doesn't matter where we play them. 1:06:44 It's going to be a heated battle and it's going to be a big game. 1:06:47 So, you know, whether there's 20 people in the stands or 20,000, you know, playing a team like Duluth, it's going to have some energy and it's going to be a good game. 1:06:59 You know, as far as anything else, it doesn't matter where you're playing or how many people are watching. 1:07:03 You just got to make sure we got to come out and play the way that we're capable of playing and play the way that we have been playing the last couple of weeks. 1:07:11 Given that you had to prove yourselves last weekend, did it help not being at home? 1:07:17 Yeah, I mean, I think proving yourself on the road and you're in a situation like last weekend helps going into the NCAA tournament because that's going to be the same thing. 1:07:26 We're going to be out of our element to get out in New Hampshire just like we were last weekend. 1:07:31 So we should make sure we come out and play how we did last weekend. 1:07:37 Thanks Travis. 1:07:42 Just like Fox. 1:07:44 We'll say, oh, we'll get you. 1:07:50 That's all I'll say. 1:07:52 All right. 1:07:52 Just about going up against the Luther. 1:07:55 Obviously, you know them pretty well. 1:07:56 What can you take from those previous encounters, even though they won the majority, the games could have gone either way. 1:08:02 Yeah. 1:08:03 I mean, it's our fifth time playing them. 1:08:06 We're one and three against so much. 1:08:07 Obviously, it isn't very good. 1:08:08 But last time we played them around the holiday time, we thought we played pretty well, didn't win the game. 1:08:13 But we're a much different team now. 1:08:16 We're really happy with how far we've come and where we're playing right now. 1:08:19 What's the biggest difference from last time you guys faced them to the way you're playing now? 1:08:23 I mean, just confidence. 1:08:25 We are a much different team. 1:08:26 We're playing with a lot of confidence right now and we're rolling. 1:08:31 And I think our biggest thing is turnovers. 1:08:34 Turnovers have killed us all year and those are down right now. 1:08:36 So that's our major focus right now, keeping those down this weekend. 1:08:41 What changed for you guys? 1:08:42 Was it a conversation between you guys? 1:08:45 Was it just a game or a night? 1:08:49 Nothing really in particular. 1:08:50 It's just wins started coming. 1:08:52 I mean, there were games when we were losing that we thought we could have won, but we lost. 1:08:56 And now there's games that we could have lost and we're winning on those now. 1:08:59 So that helps a lot with how comfortable everyone is in the locker room and we believe in each other. 1:09:05 And we're excited. 1:09:06 This is a fun part of the year. 1:09:08 This is the first time this team has won a conference tournament going into the NCAA tournament with a victory. 1:09:12 How much does that help kind of build the confidence to make a run here? 1:09:16 I mean, it obviously helps for going into the conference tournament on a win. 1:09:19 The past three years we've gone in on a loss, but so anytime you go that way, we're feeling good about our game or not. 1:09:27 Hoping that we're not sitting here worried that we got beat last weekend, so now what do we have to do? 1:09:33 We're scrambling to fix everything. 1:09:34 We're happy with where we're at and we're ready to go. 1:09:38 Loose defense are real active on holding the zone in the forejack. 1:09:41 How does that change your role as a center going into the game? 1:09:44 I just got to talk to my wingers when the deer are coming down, I'm the wingers' eyes as a center. 1:09:51 I just let them know if they got time or they need to chip it, or if they can direct it right to me or just whatever, it's just communication.