0:38 Well, the season's over, folks. 0:43 Not surprised, but surprised. 0:45 Man, did they suck last weekend. 0:48 Well, they sucked, and I think, you know, Duluth is not such a bad team, but oh boy. 0:55 Well, we give you credit, though, for having a final podcast this week. 1:01 Hey, well, we gotta look how many listeners we have, man. 1:04 People love to commiserate after the season's over. 1:06 Well, we'll give them a chance to commiserate this week, so. 1:10 Hey, even, it sounds like Matt Barron is even listening live this week. 1:14 Wow, we're going old school. 1:17 Old school, yeah. 1:18 And for those of you that don't know, Matt was the man behind prideonice.com. 1:25 A proud. 1:25 We still miss that site. 1:27 A proud Hopkins man. 1:29 Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. 1:31 You damn Hopkins guys. 1:34 Except he's a lot younger than you. 1:37 Not that much younger. 1:38 I know. 1:40 Well, guys, boy, that was ugly. 1:44 They weren't even close to participating in that game, Pat, last Friday night. 1:48 Duluth had them, you know, I'd say after about six, seven minutes, the only time we had any pressure, Duluth got that one goal and it was over. 1:58 The boys gave up and that was it. 2:06 I thought that they'd be more competitive in that game. 2:08 I certainly thought they could have going into it, they could have won that game, but obviously they didn't show up and played nearly as well as we would have hoped. 2:17 And I don't know, the effort after the first half of the first period just didn't seem to really be there. 2:21 And for whatever reasons, I don't wanna make any excuses, they just didn't perform. 2:26 So what can you say? 2:28 I think a lot of people are searching for excuses. 2:30 I've heard, I mean, I can't even tell you how many different excuses I've read that I'm just like shaking my head at how ridiculous it is, but. 2:38 How about that they're just not that good this year? 2:40 Well, that's the thing I was gonna say is that people, it's like, you just have to kind of look at, if you wanna point fingers at anything, it's, you gotta look at the team. 2:47 You have to, you know, you can't say it's the conference or it was the delay in the game and they, I saw somebody write something about like nutrition or whatever. 3:00 Yeah, I saw that and laughed too, man. 3:03 That was just. 3:03 I'm like, you gotta be kidding me, dude. 3:05 Come on. 3:05 That was by far my favorite excuse. 3:08 Was a 53 minute delay cost in the game. 3:11 Apparently Duluth didn't have to deal with that delay or they have a better nutritionist or something. 3:16 I don't know. 3:16 They had bananas in the locker room. 3:17 Yeah, whatever. 3:19 Minnesota forgot theirs, obviously. 3:23 Or maybe Minnesota went to the orange slices too soon. 3:25 I don't know. 3:26 Ooh, yeah, well that always gives you that quick boost and just a big let down after that. 3:31 Whatever the case is, I mean, look, I think the thing that I said last week, I thought they could beat UMD, but I didn't think they were gonna get by Boston University anyway. 3:40 And I mean, I don't know about you guys, but for me, usually after the final game, you know, NCAAs, if they lose, I'm like feeling negative. 3:49 I'm feeling pissed and whatever. 3:50 But this year I didn't feel that and I just think it's because I had been sort of expecting for the last two months or so that that was what's gonna happen. 4:00 So I kind of had worked out that disappointment out of my system by the time it actually happened. 4:04 I'm like, okay, that's kind of what I thought. 4:06 Let's just move on. 4:08 What happened, Veegs? 4:10 Well, I think what happened was exactly what happened in November. 4:14 I think Duluth really gets their defenseman involved in the four check. 4:18 And you know, after that first six or seven minutes, they started to put a lot of pressure on Minnesota. 4:23 And I think Minnesota, you know, didn't adjust. 4:28 Usually when a team gets that aggressive, you want to reverse out of the zone and use your centers. 4:32 And you know, if the D are pinching down on your wings, you almost want to start lower. 4:37 You want to start, you know, five feet below the hash marks. 4:40 And I didn't really see any adjustments. 4:43 They tried to stretch the ice. 4:45 They tried to take guys on one-on-one and they just weren't able to do that. 4:50 Looked just like the November game. 4:51 And, you know, Duluth is physical and they get involved and they just couldn't overcome it. 5:00 Do you have your mute on again? 5:02 Yeah, yeah, sorry, I did. 5:04 God, I knew that was going to happen. 5:08 I'm just crying here. 5:09 I'm so sad about the team losing. 5:11 I didn't want to have it publicly on air. 5:15 If you're listening live though, and you want to send us a question, just use the hashtag GPL Podcast on Twitter. 5:21 We'll try to get to it. 5:22 I've seen a lot of people that are kind of bitter. 5:24 You know, who are going to be the leaders next season? 5:28 Are you guys excited about incoming players? 5:30 Are there changes in the staff? 5:32 I mean, people want to know what the hell is going on. 5:35 And you know, I don't really blame them. 5:36 I mean, you know, they have a talent, but they just could not put it together as a team this year, guys. 5:42 Well, I think that a lot of people, you know, I've, I know people were kind of pointing at the conferences being something. 5:48 Then to me, that's BS because when you have- 5:51 I think there's a point there because the conference sucks so much that it didn't prepare them at all for the post season. 6:00 But here's where I differ because you have teams like Union, you have teams like Yale. 6:05 I mean, ECAC is not exactly like the old WCHA was or whatever, and those teams are winning national titles. 6:11 And it's not like they're rolling against NCAA teams every single solitary week as far as tournament teams go. 6:17 I will agree that obviously nobody's going to disagree that it's a down year in a Big Ten, but we had the 16th toughest schedule, which isn't great, but it's not bad. 6:27 And when you look at Boston University had the 18th toughest. 6:31 They're in the frozen four. 6:33 You have Providence in the frozen four. 6:35 They had the 21st strongest strength of schedule. 6:38 So I mean, it's not like those teams are using those kinds of excuses. 6:42 So I just, I don't know. 6:43 I just don't buy that kind of crap. 6:45 And nobody was saying that stuff last year when you get to the final. 6:47 And obviously Wisconsin was terrible this year. 6:50 So I mean, that's going to have an effect on everybody as far as strength is scheduled. 6:54 And they'd already played Duluth four times. 6:56 They knew what was coming in this game. 6:58 And the week before they'd played Michigan. 7:00 So this team knew what was coming. 7:02 They just never adjusted. 7:03 I don't think they tactically changed their game at all. 7:08 They just tried to do what they've always been doing and it burned them. 7:13 Well, I don't know, Hammeh, I know you're a big Gensel guy, but I think the defense kind of stunk this year. 7:19 Well, I don't know. 7:20 I mean, everyone's so big on Riley. 7:22 Oh, he's so great. 7:23 You know, he might be great on offense, but he stinks on defense. 7:27 And, you know, Wilcox kind of bailed them out a little bit at the end of the season. 7:32 But man, the defense just wasn't that good, I don't think. 7:36 Well, I think it's something where a coach can only do so much, players have to execute. 7:41 I don't care how many times you teach a guy to do something or to play a certain way, if he's not gonna go out there and do it. 7:47 And, you know, with a guy like Riley, he's a high-risk, high-reward type of a guy. 7:51 I mean, we all know that. 7:54 That's just the way he plays the game. 7:56 And I think, I will admit that, you know, defensively I was a little disappointed in the fact that, you know, some of the freshmen weren't quite as present this year as I would have hoped, especially Gopher and Steven Johnson weren't. 8:10 So that's something that they're definitely gonna have to work on the off season. 8:13 And I would have liked to have seen more out of Brady Shea. 8:18 I know that a lot of people are sort of giving them compliments on GPL, but I thought he could have had a lot better year for a guy who's a first round pick with that kind of size and speed. 8:26 So I think that they all could have played better, certainly. 8:30 Well, you know, you might have a good point on Gensler that coach can only do so much. 8:33 I mean, we'll get a little explicit here, but I was in the photo box this year in the second period. 8:39 I want to say it was against the Michigan State, the game that they lost, the only time they lost in the Big Ten this year at home. 8:46 And Gensler was literally right next to me. 8:50 And I could hear him clear his day, talking to his defenseman. 8:54 He goes, if you guys start fucking playing, I'll start fucking coaching. 9:00 Well, that's Gensler, right? 9:01 I mean, that's Gensler. 9:02 I mean, he was pissed. 9:03 I mean, and that kind of points towards, you know, what you're saying and all. 9:08 If they don't listen and they don't start, you know, giving effort, he kind of throws his arms up and say, what the hell's going on here, guys? 9:15 Give me some effort and I'll point you in the right direction. 9:18 But if you're playing like shit, I mean, come on, give a fucking effort. 9:23 Well, I mean, I think that, you know, when you look at the team this year, Goalie, I mean, Wilcox, he didn't have as great of a year. 9:30 No. 9:31 Is what we've been accustomed to the last few years. 9:33 So that plays a role. 9:35 And certainly when guys make mistakes on defense, if your goalie isn't like standing on his head like he has in the past, then it's just going to be exacerbated. 9:44 So I think that that's probably where some other things stand out a little bit more. 9:49 Well, it sounds like Wilcox is gone. 9:53 According to the Twitter sphere, if you're into the last hour. 9:56 Yeah, Clues apparently spilled the beans on that one. 10:01 I don't think anything official is out. 10:02 I saw Russo and Gonzalez had tweeted out that they thought something was pending, but Clues says the deal is done, which is kind of surprising. 10:13 Yeah, I mean, in fact, here's what Clues said just an hour, no, it's almost two hours ago, but congrats to some lifelong friends on all signing deals, Brady Shea, Kyle Rau, Travis Boyd, Seth Ambrose and Coxie. 10:28 I assume he's talking about Mr. 10:29 Wilcox, so. 10:32 Well, I mean, I don't think that anybody is going to be shocked by the departures that we, I mean, we've been talking about, we were lucky to have some of these, well, I don't know if we were lucky. 10:41 I mean, I guess we can debate that, but some of these guys you knew were for sure going to be gone. 10:47 I mean, even though Riley hasn't signed, I think everybody would be stunned if he didn't go pro. 10:52 He knew Shea was going to go. 10:54 You know that Wilcox, he was four years after being drafted. 10:58 He could have been a free agent. 10:59 I don't know if that, to me, that's the route I would have taken if I were him, but I don't know what his options were. 11:03 But so, I mean, none of these guys are going to stun anybody. 11:08 And I don't know why anybody would be disappointed per se, because you kind of have to be realistic. 11:12 The only one that I would be kind of a little surprised about is the fashion when pro, I don't think he's going to, but that would surprise me a little bit. 11:20 Well, we'll just have to wait and see if anything official comes out. 11:22 Obviously nothing has yet. 11:24 Shay was signed this morning, so he's definitely gone. 11:29 And like you said, maybe Kloosh just has a little information. 11:32 Maybe he is going to go the free agent route. 11:34 We just don't know. 11:35 I think one of the things that Tampa Bay can do is they can sign him to a deal now, and he can burn a year playing in the AHL of his entry. 11:44 And if he tried to go the free agent route, he wouldn't be able to sign until July. 11:48 You see guys like Boyd and Rao, I think they sign those tryout deals so a year doesn't burn off this year on their entry level deal. 11:58 So I think that's something that Tampa Bay does have to offer Wilcox. 12:01 I get that, but at the same time, when you're a goalie and there's only so many goalie spots you can compete for, obviously, because of all just shared numbers, I think I would be more concerned about what's the depth chart on a particular organization. 12:16 And Tampa Bay's got a pretty good depth chart that goalie saw. 12:20 For me, I would probably be willing to bite the bullet and look for maybe the easier route to the show. 12:26 Well, also, most college goalies are going to have to play a year or two in the NHL anyway before they get a shot at the NHL. 12:34 So maybe he's looking at that. 12:36 Could be. 12:38 And he might be just looking at his options. 12:40 You know, he had a down year this year, obviously. 12:43 And maybe he puts the feelers out there that maybe the free agent way to go was not the smartest thing and he wouldn't have as many offers. 12:50 So who knows? 12:53 It's entirely possible. 12:55 I'll be interested to see if Riley signs with Columbus as opposed to doing the free agent route. 13:00 I mean, I don't know what his relationship is with them. 13:04 It sounds like it's pretty good. 13:05 But nonetheless, it's got to be pretty enticing to be able to pick your team. 13:10 So, two players gone, we could have a few more, you think? 13:13 Definitely Riley, maybe, possibly Fashing, but you're not hot on Fashing. 13:19 And on the flip side, lost another big recruit yesterday, Hammeh. 13:25 Yeah, Grant Mismasci decided he was going to play at North Dakota, and that was kind of always down between those two teams, and in this particular situation, this came on top. 13:36 And I tried to get people going yesterday with the facilities and stuff like that. 13:40 Nobody bit too much, but I still think that unless they start putting money in the facilities there and the program, you're going to keep losing some of these top guys. 13:50 Yeah, but here's the thing. 13:51 They're going to lose top guys whether they have the greatest facilities in the world or if they don't. 13:57 I think that that's, we've always, people get upset about stuff and I understand that. 14:03 Somebody likes to lose recruits, but the reality of the matter is that that's always going to be something that's going to happen and I read some of his comments that he made to, I think it was Youth Hockey Hub last night after he had committed and one of the big things for him was he attends school at Shattuck and it's a small town at Faribault and there's really no distractions and apparently that for him fits his personality type and that's the way he felt about Grand Forks, that it's a small town, doesn't really have the distractions in his mind and so that, I mean, you're not going to be able to change that if you're the University of Minnesota. 14:36 We can't make Minneapolis a rinky-dink town overnight. 14:40 I mean, that's just not going to happen so if a kid's going to make decisions based on that, there's not really much you can blame the coaches or the program or whatever that they're not going to be able to change that part so I think the people need to keep that kind of stuff in perspective. 14:55 Tim Hapke wants to know if you see any changes in the coaching staff in the offseason. 15:01 Tammy? 15:02 Well, from what I've heard, they had meetings with the athletic director yesterday. 15:10 That's the rumor that I've heard and I'm pretty sure it's accurate. 15:15 I think that they were pretty much told that they need to assess the culture within the program and figure out a way to improve on that because this definitely was a year where there was a little more drama than I think usually has been. 15:30 I don't know if that means that there are going to be any adjustments in the coaching staff. 15:36 I don't think that Lucia is going to be gone. 15:39 I don't know about the assistants, but I would highly doubt that Gensel would be. 15:43 I don't know about any of them in that sense, but I think that there's certainly going to be some adjustments in terms of how they approach things because they pretty much were told that from what I understand. 15:55 I thought there was nothing wrong with the culture. 15:57 They had a great season in the locker room. 16:00 Well, I mean, we all know that they're going to say that kind of crap in the media. 16:04 And you can't blame them. 16:05 I mean, that's sort of coach speak or player speak. 16:08 They're going to do that kind of stuff because that's going to, you're not going to want to exacerbate things. 16:12 So I don't blame them. 16:13 But I think that it's always funny when fans act as if somehow, if it's not written in the paper, it can't possibly be true. 16:21 Well, Lucia kind of played that off. 16:22 And you were there a couple of weeks ago, Vig, weren't you? 16:25 When Gonzalez from the Star Tribune asked about it, he's like, well, weren't you the one writing about it? 16:30 Yeah, Lucia has never really admitted to it. 16:32 But of course, there's been a lot of smoke all season. 16:37 And where there's smoke, there's usually fire, guys. 16:41 Yeah, tough group this year. 16:44 Well, I think for me, it's like you just kind of wonder. 16:48 There's a lesson that you learn is that they had ample amounts of talent this year. 16:53 And I know that the fans every year, we always look at who's returning and, oh, well, they're going to have as much talent this year as last year or whatever. 17:01 And I think if there's any lesson that people can pull away from a year like this is that you can have all the talent in the world, but if you're not pulling in the same direction and you don't have that team chemistry and if you don't necessarily have the right guys in leadership positions, not that all of them are to blame. 17:16 I'm not saying Ryle is a bad leader, but sometimes you kind of need certain guys that are going to be more vocal and I don't think Ryle is necessarily the vocal type. 17:26 So I just think it just goes to show you how much chemistry and some of those intangibles mean. 17:31 Don't say anything bad about Ryle. 17:33 You'll get in trouble. 17:39 Yeah. 17:39 Oh, boy. 17:40 I don't know, dude. 17:43 Well, let's go on to the rest of the tournament. 17:45 Obviously, Minnesota loses Friday 4 to 1 in what was just awful. 17:50 They sucked. 17:52 I'm sorry, but Duluth was just a better team this year, too. 17:54 But it would have been nice if the boys would have put up some effort. 17:58 On the other side, you had Boston University beating, who was it, Yale in overtime. 18:05 And then they take out Duluth in the Saturday game. 18:09 You guys, any thoughts on that, kind of what you expected or not? 18:13 Well, I picked BU, so it's kind of what I expected. 18:16 I didn't think that either the Gophers or UMD was in get by BU. 18:21 I just think that BU is kind of having that kind of a year where I know that was a tight game and that they won it late, so it was a pretty competitive contest. 18:29 But I'm not surprised by the outcome. 18:30 What did you think, Veegs? 18:32 Were you surprised at all? 18:34 You know, one thing about the Northeast that I was really surprised about was the officiating, just a lack of penalties called, and I think that hurt Minnesota in the first round. 18:44 I think that hurt Duluth a little bit in the rematch because usually in these Northeast East regionals, you see a lot of special teams play. 18:53 That was kind of surprising that they let as much go as they did. 18:57 And I was surprised with BU, how their depth kind of came through. 19:01 You know, Eichel is a dynamic talent, but he didn't really stand out to me as a player like Bugstad last year. 19:09 You know, it's just dominating possession and play and generating scoring chances. 19:13 So that kind of surprised me that they got through and, you know, I'd be a little surprised to see BU get through to the final. 19:20 And to your point on the officiating, Duluth was not happy at all. 19:27 To the point where they kind of went after the, somebody went after the referees or somebody from their staff went after the referees and had to be pulled away after the game? 19:36 Yeah, well, there's that goal that didn't get called because they couldn't definitively see the puck over the red line. 19:44 You know, that's a game changing call right there at the end of the game. 19:46 So and then they have a penalty called on Duluth towards the end. 19:50 You know, that's just killer. 19:52 So kind of an unusual officiating for an East region. 19:57 Eastern conspiracy. 20:00 I've always found that, you know, you're kind of right that, you know, there's usually quite a few more penalties called. 20:06 And I think Duluth was just bitter that Boston had no penalties on them. 20:11 Well, it's just surprising, you know, again, that that's physical and that much contact. 20:16 And then to see it end the way it did, you know, that's kind of confusing. 20:20 And then a few GPL favorites, Michigan Tech. 20:24 Boy, they had some bad breaks against St. 20:27 Cloud in that first game of the Western Regional. 20:30 I mean, you've got the lead. 20:32 You miss a couple open nets. 20:35 Goli does something a little stupid, can't quite get the puck. 20:38 And funny, it's tied. 20:41 And then right after that, in overtime, defenseman falls down and their season's over. 20:48 Veegs, any thoughts on Tech? 20:49 I thought they kind of had just things couldn't come together for them. 20:53 Yeah, just kind of a, you know, not their best game. 20:56 I didn't catch a ton of that game. 20:58 But, you know, you get in these one game elimination tournaments, and if it doesn't click for you, you know, it's all going to fall apart. 21:06 I was, you know, happy to see one Minnesota team sort of get going. 21:11 But, you know, you only get one shot in these things to play a good game. 21:18 And then, of course, Duluth takes out St. 21:20 Cloud the next night. 21:21 And our favorite team from North Dakota is in the Frozen Four again, Hamme. 21:28 Yeah, well, I mean, like we kind of talked about in the podcast last week, the heart was saying, you know, yeah, I want Tech to win it. 21:35 But the head was saying, I think North Dakota is going to come out of the region. 21:38 So it's not really a shocker. 21:40 I think I'm definitely looking forward to that BU North Dakota contest when that far as and for hits because I think that'll be a good game and, you know, it'll be in Boston. 21:52 So I think it's going to be a tough row for UMD to get through. 21:56 So we'll see. 21:58 And on the other side, we had a bunch of upsets starting with that Midwest where RIT became the first number 16 seed to beat an overall number one since they went to that format. 22:12 No people, Holy Cross was a 15 and a 2, just to keep it straight. 22:17 And then your favorite team, Hammy, Omaha, actually won some games. 22:25 What I want to know is have Michigan Tech fans gone out and bought RIT uniforms to wear or shirts to wear because... 22:34 That's only Idiot Sue fans who did that. 22:37 Yeah, well, I think if anything, at least the worst upset in college hockey history is no longer associated with the Gophers. 22:45 So we got that going for us. 22:47 Don't tell Patrick Royce that. 22:49 Which is nice. 22:51 But you know, I think what we saw, man, Cato learned a hard way what it's like. 22:57 I said this on Twitter, what it's like to be the hunted rather than the hunter. 23:02 You know what I mean, when you have the bull's eye on your back like the Gophers typically do every year, it's a lot harder because you're going to get the other team's best efforts week in and week out. 23:12 And man, Cato hasn't really had to live with that kind of burden. 23:16 And now they did. 23:17 And they see that it's not quite so easy. 23:19 So I'm not, you know, it's shocking that they lost in a sense, but they don't really have that kind of experience of being that number one guy. 23:26 So maybe in some ways, it's not exactly a huge shock. 23:30 Did you guys catch most of that game? 23:33 Minnesota State RIT? 23:35 Yeah. 23:36 I caught some of it. 23:38 I caught, I watched the second and third period, I want to say. 23:41 Yeah, because I caught most of the third. 23:43 And, you know, if you're the number one seed and you only score one goal, it's on the power play. 23:48 You have five total chances. 23:51 And it comes down to a goal where, you know, palmquist gets shoved into your goal and, you know, goes in. 23:56 You know, I don't think you have two legs to stand on saying that you got robbed. 24:02 Yeah, I agree. 24:03 What did you guys think about that play, though? 24:05 I, you know what, I know that everybody's got these mixed feelings on it. 24:08 I actually don't, I think it was the right call to allow the goal personally, because while, I guess the way I look at it is he didn't really, like, shove him per se. 24:19 He has every right to that spot on the ice to skate there as the defensive guy does. 24:24 And if you're not extending your arms and actually shoving a guy out of the way, if you guys run into each other and he happens to bump into his goalie, I don't think that you can penalize the offensive team in that regard. 24:35 I mean, he has every right to that role, that spot as the other guy. 24:38 And I just don't think that that's, I think it was the right call personally. 24:42 What did you think about that, Veegs? 24:44 Yeah, I'm with Hammy on this. 24:46 It's not like they were both standing on the crease if he just turns and shoves him on the goalie. 24:50 You know, he's trying to drive the net. 24:52 And you see that every game where a team is giving good effort. 24:56 You know, one of the easiest ways to score a goal is to center drive, pound the net and look for rebounds. 25:01 And, you know, that's what he's trying to do. 25:03 I was a little surprised Palmquist got put into his goalie as easy as he did. 25:07 And I thought it was the right call too. 25:09 I'm with you two guys. 25:11 I think it was the right call. 25:12 And it's obvious, it's a tough break for the goalie because it's kind of out of his hands. 25:17 You know, somebody, a guy just comes and runs into him. 25:19 It's the only guy. 25:20 But that's how the breaks are sometimes. 25:23 I mean, that's just, it sucks. 25:26 You just have to deal with it. 25:27 Score more goals. 25:29 You're playing against a scrappy team. 25:30 You're going to get a lot of traffic in your net. 25:32 You've got to expect that. 25:35 But Omaha finally came together, Hammy. 25:39 What happened? 25:40 I mean, they're a young team. 25:41 So they could be a threat, you know, next year too. 25:45 But boy, get their first win and then they beat RET and they're in the frozen four. 25:50 I give them credit. 25:53 I mean, they didn't exactly have. 25:54 I mean, we talked about it last week. 25:56 That was the easiest bracket to get through. 25:59 You know what I mean? 26:01 Don't tell Mankato that. 26:03 Well, you know, I'm just saying when you look at the four teams that were there, I mean, that was to me the easiest bracket. 26:09 And, you know, Mankato has got a good year. 26:12 But even them, I don't know. 26:14 I just didn't feel like 100% confident in those guys. 26:17 We're just going to run through everybody. 26:18 So, yeah, I mean, to give them credit, you can't take it away from them. 26:23 And certainly, you know, if I don't really have, I mean, other than North Dakota, I really don't give a rat's ass who wins the Frozen Four now. 26:31 I mean, obviously, I don't want North Dakota to win because I hate those assholes. 26:34 But I mean... 26:35 But how good would it be if Omaha does get to the final and beats North Dakota? 26:43 How bitter would those fans be that their ex-coach prevented them from getting another title? 26:49 Yeah, well, I mean, here's the thing. 26:50 I don't have a problem. 26:51 I mean, you know, Gensel's son is on UNO, and, you know, they have some Minnesota kids, Avery Peterson. 26:57 I mean, you know, so I wouldn't have a big, huge beef if UNO. 27:01 I don't really... 27:01 I mean, it's not like we have this big hatred for UNO. 27:04 I mean, whatever. 27:05 Yeah, I mean, it's sort of like whatever. 27:07 If they win, cool, fine, I don't give a damn. 27:09 But, you know, so I don't really care who wins other than North Dakota. 27:13 I mean, if they win it, I'd be like, yeah, that blows. 27:16 But if anybody else wins it, I'd be like, okay, you know, congratulations, let's get to next season. 27:22 Well, you know, obviously we're all rooting for North Dakota to lose because we hate... 27:26 I don't know if we hate the team, but I think we just hate their asshole fans mostly. 27:30 And we want them to suffer. 27:32 But I think nothing would hurt them more than losing to Dean Blaze. 27:38 It would just be that entertaining for me. 27:41 Personally, I want them to lose against Boston University, but if it happens to go together that way, I think I'd feel pretty good. 27:52 Yeah, we will. 27:54 One more bracket to go. 27:55 Providence playing pretty much on their home ice, takes out Miami and then takes out Denver to make it to the Frozen Four, whereas Denver takes out Boston College. 28:05 In that first game, Providence gets a... 28:08 What did they score? 28:08 Six or seven straight goals or whatever it was. 28:12 Miami pulls their goalie halfway through the period, would you say, Veegs? 28:16 Yeah, it hurts over ten minutes into it. 28:19 In fact, there was a chance there at the very end where the puck was loose in front of the net and they could have buried it, and then obviously a couple seconds later, Providence gets an empty net goal, but that was a crazy game. 28:31 Yeah, I'm always a big proponent of the coaches pulling their goalie just to see what happens, and they got a couple goals. 28:38 I think it was really unfortunate for Miami to have to go to Providence for that game. 28:43 I think of all the seeds and where they got placed, I think that was the most confusing for me. 28:49 They got jobbed. 28:50 Yeah, I mean, that's going to be brutal. 28:52 I'm not a Miami guy either, but it's like, you know what, they got jobbed on that one. 28:56 There's no doubt about it. 28:57 I mean, could you imagine the whining that would happen if Minnesota was a four seed and they had to play someone like Duluth or St. 29:05 Cloud or North Dakota at basically Mariucci? 29:09 I mean, it just wouldn't happen. 29:12 Well, and I think some of it, too, is Miami. 29:16 I mean, they had one of their best players hurt. 29:18 Another guy was kicked out or suspended for the one game. 29:22 So they had just like this perfect storm of crap hit them for the NCAAs. 29:28 And in a way, you kind of got to feel bad for them because they had a pretty good year. 29:32 And to have it end that way would kind of suck. 29:36 Well, you know, some people were complaining about Coleman being suspended and all. 29:41 I have no sympathy for that guy. 29:43 You've got two misconducts already. 29:45 You need to use your head and not put yourself in that position to not be playing. 29:50 I mean, he was the reason where they were, you know, as one of the number one seeds of the four. 29:56 I mean, he scored all three goals in that championship game for the for the Nacho Championship. 30:02 So, why? 30:03 I mean, what are you doing? 30:06 Their conference didn't prepare them. 30:10 It's that misconduct thing is tough, though. 30:13 It's kind of like red cards in a tournament. 30:15 Yeah, you know, I agree with you there, but World Cup resets when they go into the knockout stages. 30:21 It's kind of unfortunate for him that carried over. 30:23 But you got to be smarter. 30:26 I mean, you know what the rules are. 30:28 You know you've got two of them already. 30:30 Use your fricking head. 30:33 I have no sympathy for that. 30:36 Well, how many? 30:36 I mean, I don't know the answer to this, but how many people got suspended this year for that rule where you get three misconducts? 30:44 I don't know. 30:44 Do you guys know of any other ones? 30:46 I don't know. 30:47 It's like, how hard is it to not get three? 30:49 I mean, you know, it's like, unless you're out there head hunting every week, you shouldn't have that problem. 30:55 Speaking of head hunting. 30:56 Are we getting to the LaLegge head here? 31:00 The LaLeggea. 31:01 What the hell was he doing? 31:03 It's a fast game. 31:04 He's not thinking about, you know, hitting him in the head at that point. 31:09 He's thinking about cleaning him up because he's got his head down coming across the ice. 31:15 It may have cost him the game. 31:18 It might have, but it's a split. 31:20 It's a fast game. 31:21 It's hard to adjust when somebody does that to you. 31:25 I'm not saying it's not a penalty, but when you're coming across the ice to clean somebody's clock and their head is below your chest, it's hard not to hit him in the head there. 31:37 Yeah, well, he probably might have cost his team a trip to the Frozen Four. 31:43 So, I mean, I don't know what else to say about it. 31:48 I mean, obviously, Providence plays on home ice. 31:51 They haven't been to the Frozen Four since 1985, so I think that's one of the good things, to get some new blood in there. 31:57 But, boy, playing on home ice, just like Minnesota does every other year, I don't know. 32:04 Yeah, well, at least North Dakota got through there so we don't have to hear about them whining every year about how they don't get home ice in certain situations. 32:12 Well, maybe if they didn't have like 10,000 logos on their arena that they don't have to get rid of, it wouldn't be a problem. 32:18 Yeah, well, whatever. 32:22 So Omaha, Providence, Boston University and North Dakota, and I pretty much believe that all of us are like any of the three besides North Dakota, right? 32:31 I think that's a fair statement. 32:34 I'm with you on that. 32:35 And North Dakota's going to have a tough route because they'll play the toughest teams. 32:40 And what are the chances that, you know, Omaha or Providence does win? 32:46 I mean, North Dakota and Boston University, I mean, it was kind of like last year. 32:51 Everyone's like, oh, Minnesota, if they get to the championship game, you know, they're playing Union, nothing to worry about. 32:57 Well, you know what? 32:58 It's this time of year. 32:59 You never know what can happen. 33:00 Well, when it's the one and done scenario, I mean, you know, all it takes is that one game with a hot goalie or one bad penalty at the wrong time or a bad puck bounce or whatever it is, or.1 seconds left on the clock, you know, whatever it is..6..6, yeah. 33:19 I'm sorry,. 33:20 6. 33:20 But nonetheless, if you can have those kinds of things happen, next thing you know, season's over. 33:25 So, you know, it's pretty tough. 33:29 Well, what do you think, Hamme? 33:31 Can Omaha pull it off? 33:32 I mean, their goalie obviously kind of won a few games for them. 33:36 Well, I mean, obviously. 33:38 You know what? 33:39 I mean, I think it's kind of like I said last week that, you know, I wouldn't mind seeing Omaha win because of the Minnesota kids on the team and whatever. 33:48 I probably am going to be leaning towards BU winning it all for the simple fact that they got a great player that everybody's talked about all year, and it's in Boston. 33:58 And it seems like, you know, they had some clutch victories, especially against Duluth. 34:03 You know, is there some times where you almost feel like the team has, like, this karma, like it's, you know, just supposed to happen that way? 34:10 And I kind of have the feeling that BU might have that going for them this year. 34:16 Veegs, you know, every time I've seen Mr. 34:18 Jack Eichel play, I have not been impressed. 34:20 You know, obviously I haven't been seeing him in these games where he's putting up all these points, but in the World Juniors, he tried to do too much. 34:28 In the Yale and the Duluth games, I didn't really notice him that much. 34:33 Yeah, it's kind of surprising. 34:35 The only games I've seen him play where he's been, you know, a factor was the qualification games in the World Junior, you know, when he was playing against, you know, not such great competition, and he, you know, could get away with a lot of one-on-one play or one-on-two or one-on-three, whatever he skates himself into. 34:52 So I think that was surprising to me, but their goalie played really well and their depth came through for them. 34:59 I think it's a huge advantage for them to be in their hometown for the tournament. 35:04 And at the same time, it is a one-game deal. 35:08 And being Minnesota followers that we are, we've seen very talented teams lose to less talented teams because of a couple plays here and there. 35:18 I would agree. 35:19 I would agree. 35:20 Do you think they're going to take it then? 35:21 You think they can take out North Dakota? 35:24 I think they can. 35:25 I think that's going to be a great game to watch, though. 35:27 It could go either way. 35:28 I think North Dakota looked really impressive in their regional and Fargo. 35:33 I think they do play a very tough game. 35:36 And, you know, if they get officiating like it was in the Northeast Regional, I think that helps North Dakota because they'll be able to, you know, take a few more liberties and play that physical game because they play a hard game to play against. 35:50 Well, we'll just have to see. 35:52 Like I said, I don't care which of the other three teams. 35:56 I don't care if Boston University gets their sixth title or whatever. 35:59 Just not North Dakota. 36:02 I believe that everybody but North Dakota fans want that because they hate those people. 36:08 They're idiots. 36:09 Well, they're fans, I should say. 36:10 And their coach is kind of an ass, too. 36:13 That's just my personal opinion. 36:16 Yeah, I am intrigued, though, to see Genzel and Randolph on the big stage again. 36:19 I was really impressed with their play in the regional play. 36:24 Those two players looked really good on the ice. 36:26 It looked like they got a lot of ice time, too. 36:30 All right, boys. 36:32 The season's over. 36:33 We got players signing. 36:35 What's the hope for next year, Hammy? 36:38 Well, I mean, it's kind of... 36:40 Kind of wait and see right now, but... 36:42 Well, I mean, you're kind of going back to what we were looking at, you know, last season, you know, where you're kind of going to have a lot of young guys coming in, and you do have some veterans that are returning, and it's a matter of, you know, what do those young guys do when they step into some of their... 36:58 some of the key roles, and I think that, you know, there's certainly going to be, you know, question marks. 37:05 I mean, we got to figure out the goaltending situation. 37:07 I think that Shearhorn is, you know, I think he was a great late pickup. 37:11 I mean, the kid's doing really good in the USHL this year. 37:14 He leads the league and saves and then save percentage, and he's second and wins. 37:19 I mean, he's had a great year, and so I would expect him to come in and really compete for that number one spot. 37:25 He'll take it. 37:26 He'll take it right away. 37:27 Well, maybe. 37:28 I mean, I don't know what Lear's going to do. 37:30 I mean, I would feel confident, more confident in Shearhorn at this point, but we'll see what happens when the offseason hits and how they can work. 37:36 Well, what about the rest of these guys that are pretty much slated to come in already? 37:39 We've got Brent Gates. 37:41 Was it Mitch Holtz, Tom Novak, Jack Ramsey, Darian Romanko? 37:46 Is that how you say his name? 37:48 I think it's like a, yeah, Romanko. 37:50 I don't know. 37:51 I've heard it like kind of a soft H in the middle. 37:54 Yeah, something like that. 37:55 And then we've got Shearhorn coming in and Mr. 37:58 Tyler Sheehy as well. 38:00 That's who we have slated so far. 38:02 And you think if we have more losses, who else could be coming in, Hammy? 38:08 Well, I mean, they have guys that, you know, they can have some flexibility like Ryan Norman. 38:14 It's things like, but I mean, I think what the guys that you named are pretty much what we would expect. 38:19 I think that the defensive situation will, has to shake out yet because I know that they've tried to get Zulsdorf to accelerate. 38:27 I don't know where that, what the status of that is, if that's going to happen or not. 38:31 Sadick's got a possibility of coming in. 38:40 What about Seeler? 38:40 A lot of people have been talking about the Seeler guy. 38:42 He's the UNO transfer who had to sit out this year, but I really know nothing about him. 38:48 He's a physical kid. 38:49 He's a big kid. 38:50 He plays with an edge. 38:51 I think that he'll be a good defenseman for us next year. 38:54 I actually think that he'll be one of the better guys on the team, you know, as far as a defensive standpoint goes. 38:59 So I think that that'll be a nice addition in that sense. 39:02 And hopefully, you know, after taking a year off, he'll have his head on, be very motivated to play well. 39:09 Do the Gophers try to push Logan Holliday in a different direction? 39:15 Good question. 39:17 I mean, he certainly did not have a very good year. 39:20 And, you know, I would not be at all surprised if he doesn't end up here. 39:23 And he's the reason why they went after Shearhorn, isn't it? 39:27 His play just went in the tank. 39:29 Yeah, they needed somebody badly. 39:32 And I think that they had to rally. 39:34 I think Gensel kind of took over the kind of the focus of trying to fill that spot. 39:39 And he's the one I think came up with Shearhorn. 39:42 And so hopefully that's going to work out real well for them. 39:44 I think that was a really good pickup late. 39:47 Vegoe, do you think anyone else leaves besides Wilcox and Shea? 39:51 You think Riley's definitely gone? 39:53 I think Riley's definitely gone. 39:54 It will be interesting to see if he does go the free agent route to pick his spot. 39:59 Or if he sees Wilcox get this deal that might, you know, burn a year off of his contract and try to pursue that with Columbus. 40:06 I think if he doesn't sign anything in the next couple of weeks, it's kind of a clear look that he's going to go be a free agent. 40:14 I'm kind of interested to see what's going to happen with this group and who ends up playing center. 40:19 Because they are losing Raul Boyd and Isaacson down the middle. 40:23 And I think that was a big weakness for this team all season. 40:26 They had a lot of guys who are not your prototypical centers, who can help out and win battles in the defensive zone and then get going to get in the offensive zone. 40:36 So I think that's going to be a big thing to look for in the off season. 40:38 I don't know if any of these recruits, there are some guys of some good size, but if they can skate up the middle, that will be a big key for them. 40:48 Well, go ahead. 40:50 Well, I was going to say, I saw Seeler in practice this year, and he looks every bit quick enough to play D and give them an edge offensively and defensively. 41:01 He looked real solid out there and probably be playing over some of the younger guys right now. 41:07 Who are going to be the leaders? 41:11 Well, let me touch on one thing. 41:12 As far as centers go, I mean, Novak is a center. 41:16 Gates can play center or wing. 41:18 This Romanco, from what I understand, he can play center, he plays center. 41:22 And so they'll have some of these young guys coming in that have the ability to give them some flexibility as far as that role goes. 41:28 I know that it's a little tougher role for a new guy, but at least they have some of that experience. 41:34 And a lot of these guys that we have coming in, it's not like they're true freshmen. 41:39 I mean, really Novak is the only one that's high school age. 41:42 The rest of them are older as far as recruits go. 41:46 So it's not one of those years where you're bringing a bunch of fresh-faced kids in that haven't played much junior hockey. 41:52 A lot of these guys have played a lot of junior hockey, so that's a good thing. 41:56 As far as leaders go, you know what? 41:58 I said it on GPL. 41:59 I feel like that should be really earned over the course of the summer and dry land training and all that kind of stuff. 42:06 And I know that some guys probably might gravitate a little bit more to that role. 42:11 But I just really believe that in terms of earning a letter, that's something that they have to do through their efforts over the course of the next six months or so. 42:21 I guess we'll just have to wait and see. 42:23 I mean, hey, I'm bringing up the roster here just to see who's back next year. 42:29 And, oh boy, I don't know. 42:33 Well, I mean, there are some good guys with good character. 42:35 I mean, obviously, Fashting, he's a good character kid. 42:38 He gives a lot of effort. 42:39 I mean, I'd like to see his production improve, but that doesn't mean that you're not a leader, just because you're not producing to the high heavens. 42:44 But, Clues has always been a kid that's a high character kid. 42:50 You know, so I mean, it's not like they don't have some of those options there. 42:54 Connor Riley? 42:57 Well, he's certainly faced a lot of adversity, that's for sure. 43:03 I mean, Riley, Seelers, I don't know if Seelers is a leader, and I didn't play the year off. 43:11 Shea's gone, Wilcox gone. 43:13 I'm just looking at junior leadership here. 43:17 Could be Bischoff. 43:18 I mean, I'd have to pick somebody younger, yeah. 43:21 Well, I mean, he's going to be a junior, so it's not like he's going to be fresh faced. 43:25 But I mean, yeah, I just think that, like we said, there's a lot of question marks that are going to be going to have to be sorted out in the next six months. 43:32 And, you know, for me, it's almost, those kinds of seasons are almost more fun in a sense because, you know, we're not going in the season being the number one ranked team. 43:42 A lot of people are probably going to discount these guys. 43:45 There's obviously talent still there, and they have talent coming in, but it's not going to be, you know, where you look at the returning scoring and you have guys like 40- 43:55 and 50-point guys returning and whatever, you know, they're going to have to prove a little bit more. 43:59 And sometimes those seasons, as we saw a year ago, can be even more fun than some of the teams that you really expect to do well. 44:08 All right, guys. 44:09 Veegs, any final thoughts on the season? 44:13 Besides disappointment? 44:15 It is just kind of a disappointing season, you know. 44:17 They had a lot of pieces in place this year, and it's proof again that, you know, what you did last year doesn't matter when the next year starts. 44:26 And every team is unique, and every team is different. 44:28 And, you know, I think the program is in decent shape. 44:32 They've got tons of talent committed. 44:34 I don't think recruiting is an issue with this program. 44:38 I think that's one of the strengths of Patolny. 44:39 You know, he might have needed Gensel's help to get a goalie, but you look at all these other kids that are coming in, there's a lot of talent. 44:46 And if they miss a guy like Mishmash from Shattuck, you know, they've got enough guys in where that probably doesn't matter that much. 44:54 So, it will be interesting to see what happens in the offseason and what's different next year for Attitude. 45:00 You hear the Gopher way a lot when Lucia talks about Kyle Rau. 45:03 Well, he's gone now, so they need somebody to fill that role. 45:07 Why, just looking at this roster, I hope some of those sophomores step up. 45:12 You know, Cluse is okay this year, but you've got a fashioning camarader. 45:15 We kind of wanted them to jump up and do something, and nothing happened. 45:21 Well, I just hope that the team plays a more cohesive game next year. 45:25 I think that's one of the things that burned them, is too many guys trying to do things on their own. 45:30 So maybe now you've got a pretty different group next year. 45:34 Maybe they'll move the puck a little bit quicker, be better supporting the puck, and that could change the way they play. 45:40 It could look a lot faster next year. 45:42 Hammy, any final thoughts on the season? 45:44 Besides that it sucked? 45:46 Well, I mean, I think there's a few things I'd say. 45:48 I think first of all, I forgot to mention this earlier, Brent Gates has been out with a broken fibula, and from what I've been told tonight, that his recovery is going well. 45:58 He should be 100% by summer, so he'll be good to go next fall. 46:05 As far as the team itself, I think one of the things when you look at the recruits coming in, a lot of people were whining this year about not being as physical and not having as much size, and the whole small forward thing. 46:16 You look at all these recruits, pretty much all of them, with the exception of Sheehee, at least as far as the forwards, they're all 6'1, 6'2, you know, 6'3 types of guys. 46:26 So we're bringing in some size, certainly some experience. 46:31 So these guys I don't think will be quite as intimidated as far as being a freshman goes, so I would hope that some of these guys will step into roles and contribute right away. 46:42 This year, I just think we, you know, like I said earlier, it's a chemistry thing, I think that we just didn't have the intangibles. 46:49 I don't know if some of it is guys just sort of being distracted, you know, by pro futures on the horizon and maybe not playing as well. 46:58 There's just a lot of different things that went on, and it's just one of those unfortunate things, and hopefully they get it. 47:04 The one thing you want to see from your coaches is if you didn't have as good of a year, what was the problems, what can you do to address it so it doesn't happen again, and hopefully that's what they're doing. 47:15 All right, boys. 47:16 Well, that's going to do it. 47:18 Another year in the books. 47:19 Another year in the books. 47:21 Six months off now, you guys. 47:23 Until another GPL podcast. 47:26 Yeah. 47:27 I know people are waiting. 47:29 Stay out of trouble, kids. 47:30 Stay out of trouble, all you players. 47:32 Stay out of trouble. 47:35 No DWIs on your scooters. 47:38 None of that crap. 47:39 Don't get busted for peon in the public. 47:43 Make sure you use the restroom before you leave the bar. 47:48 Walk home. 47:50 We don't need any problems. 47:52 Be good. 47:55 Well, that is going to do it. 47:57 Offseason is here for us Gopher fans. 48:00 We just have to deal with it. 48:01 It sucks, but that's just the way it goes. 48:03 Follow Hammy on Twitter, at Hammy Hockey. 48:06 That's if he lets you. 48:09 And E Vegoe. 48:12 They'll keep you entertained in the offseason. 48:15 I'm just bitter. 48:15 I've had a bad week in flat tire. 48:18 Freaking machine took my quarter yesterday. 48:20 I've been bitter. 48:21 That's just the way it goes. 48:23 I'm just going to waste, do stupid tweets for the rest of the six months. 48:28 It will be great. 48:29 Thanks to everybody that listens to the podcast or downloads it. 48:33 It's pretty consistent. 48:36 We had a record number of listeners listening live last week. 48:39 Looks like it's been pretty strong this week as well. 48:42 We do appreciate the listeners. 48:45 We'll be back though in about six months, late September, early October. 48:49 We're on media day or however the schedule works out. 48:53 We'll be back. 48:55 Till then, God, I hope this is a lose.