0:05 This is The GPL Podcast, sponsored by Vintage Minnesota Hockey, your exclusive source for throwback Minnesota jerseys. 0:14 Visit vintagemnhockey.com. 0:19 Now, here's Hammy, Vego, and your host, Jupiter. 0:40 Good evening, and welcome to the special Tuesday edition of The GPL Podcast. 0:46 Sorry, it's my wife's birthday tomorrow. 0:48 There's no way I'm doing the podcast tomorrow night. 0:51 It's just good for my own health, really. 0:54 Well, boys, before we get to the big elephant in the room with the news of the day, last, this past couple weeks ago, the Gophers had an ugly split with Mankato. 1:06 I call it ugly because it was going great for so long, and then it had an ugly ending, Hammeh. 1:15 Yeah, I mean, it was kind of unfortunate that they had played pretty much, you know, about 90% of the series with the way that you would kind of want them to, that they played real well, and then all of a sudden it just kind of collapsed on them late in that second game. 1:28 And, you know, I think that they kind of, I listened to some of Lucia's show, and I just, I think some of that's just that we have guys that are playing in roles that were, last year we had veterans that were playing in some of those late game roles, and now all those guys are gone, and some of these new guys have to kind of step into these roles. 1:45 And, you know, sometimes it's an adjustment period, and it just kind of caught them on that night. 1:51 Veegs, a 4-0 shutout Friday night in Mankato. 1:57 Team looked good, you know, Camerata scored, Lettere scored, you know. 2:01 Team looked pretty good defensively, shut them down pretty good. 2:04 Come back to Mariucci Saturday night, up two nothing most of the game, and then just collapse. 2:11 Let's see, what's your summary of the weekend? 2:15 Well, I think anytime you have a collapse at the end of the game, it's concerning. 2:19 But I think it's also something to be expected with such a young team. 2:24 There are so many guys who have not played in these kind of roles in a competitive Division 1 hockey environment. 2:30 Lucia talked about guys going through this in junior, in high school, but when you are playing against a Division 1 hockey team, it's a completely different animal. 2:40 When they picked up the pace and picked up the pressure, all of a sudden, the Gophers didn't have two seconds to make a play. 2:47 They had a half a second. 2:49 That really showed it early in the series. 2:52 They had plenty of time to be patient, make smart plays, but in those last couple of minutes, Mankato answered the bell and Minnesota just could not respond. 3:01 I think it's because they are so young. 3:05 Well, let me tell you, I thought it was pretty ugly. 3:08 I'm thinking we're going to get through the weekend with a shutout, and then all of a sudden, nowhere, they get on the board, they get the tying goal, and win it in overtime. 3:17 Hammeh, obviously, were you as disappointed as I was, because it was looking up. 3:23 It was looking like a shutout weekend. 3:26 Well, of course, it's disappointing. 3:28 When you're essentially five minutes from a sweep, and you're pitching the shutout for the entire series, and all of a sudden, you end up losing an OT, I don't know anybody that's not going to be disappointed by that kind of an outcome. 3:41 You know, we're not into kind of moral victories here. 3:45 So, I mean, not in this program. 3:46 So, I mean, it's not like we're going to be. 3:48 Not like the football team or the basketball team. 3:50 Well, just in general, you know, I mean, we expect results. 3:54 And so, I mean, I'm not going to like try to say that I'm going to pull anything positive out of it. 3:58 But, you know, from the series itself, I was glad to see that they played better. 4:02 I mean, Mankato obviously isn't quite the same as what they were in, you know, last year, for instance, but it's still, you know, a relatively quality team. 4:10 And to be able to be pitching a shutout for the vast majority of the weekend, I mean, it's nice, but at the end of the day, it's still a split. 4:18 Well, Hammeh, there were some positives. 4:20 Like I said, Camerata scored a goal, and so did Leterri. 4:25 Well, we've been talking about how those guys really needed to start doing something. 4:28 Like they were kind of, you know, a little bit of a kind of telltale sign of where this team could go, because we've seen the top two lines kind of do some good things, but that third line has really been kind of a black hole this year for the most part, and it was going to be very important for those guys to kind of step up and start contributing. 4:48 And I don't mean contributing with minuses and the plus minus, I mean something positive. 4:52 So it was nice to see that those guys were, you know, did a little bit of something, and hopefully it's something that we can count on moving forward. 5:00 Did you have further thoughts on that, Veegs? 5:01 I heard you chiming in there a little bit. 5:04 Yeah, I just wanted to say that, you know, one of the things that that game revealed is that they're going to need more than five guys to finish a game. 5:12 Because when the Brustette Novak fashion line was out there with Bischoff from Brodzinski, they were fine. 5:18 They were able to gain, you know, in the neutral zone, get some time in the offensive zone and relieve pressure. 5:24 But any other group that they put out there just really, really struggled. 5:29 And then in the overtime, you saw Nick Seeler get caught outside the dots. 5:33 Trying to play a body along the wall and just totally take himself out of the play and give Mankato the three on one opportunity in overtime. 5:41 Well, let me tell you. 5:42 They're going to need to find five other guys to play in those last minutes of game. 5:47 Teams pulling their goalie so early now. 5:49 You can't just rely on five. 5:51 Well, let me tell you, Veegs, Lucia has said it for years. 5:56 Get the three. 5:58 Get that third goal. 5:59 It's really important. 6:00 And boy, it sure was important Saturday night. 6:05 Oh, yeah, for sure. 6:06 I mean, they had opportunities to get that third goal. 6:09 And then you just kind of sense the momentum shift in the whole period. 6:12 All of a sudden, Minnesota State picked up their play. 6:15 And they just didn't have an answer to continue producing offense. 6:21 Well, boy, a split. 6:24 Yippee skippee. 6:25 I called both road teams winning. 6:27 So I'll take that credit. 6:29 But that's all. 6:31 Hammy, I can hear you typing. 6:33 Are you actually engaging, Drunk Hockey Guy? 6:36 I am. 6:37 Dude, come on. 6:38 I see him popping up here. 6:40 I hear you typing away. 6:41 And boom, there comes a tweet. 6:44 If you people who haven't heard, a little controversial news came out earlier today. 6:51 What is it? 6:52 Adam Wode on it. 6:53 What was it? 6:54 College Hockey News? 6:56 Had this nice little article that talks about the Big Ten and maybe even Don Lucia himself is proposing an age restrictions. 7:08 Here I'll read right from his article. 7:10 It says, The legislation calls for lowering the age limit for incoming recruits from 21 to 20 years old, or more accurately, two years past the players' expected high school graduation date. 7:25 Anyone enrolling in college after 20 years old would lose one year of eligibility for each year. 7:32 Veegs, Hammy, I know you guys, Hammy, you've been going back and forth. 7:36 I think you're more on the Don side. 7:38 Veegs, I'm not really sure where you are on this, but personally I just think it's just not necessary. 7:49 And I think it is kind of the Big Ten trying to flex their muscles a bit. 7:52 Hammy, I'm guessing you don't feel that way. 7:56 Well, I mean, the thing that I, well, here's what I say, okay. 8:00 All these college coaches, I don't care if you're at a smaller program in the middle of Minnesota or somewhere out east or wherever, a smaller program, or you're one of the big time, all D1 programs like Minnesota, or these other big 10 schools, you're always going to advocate for whatever is advantageous for your individual situation, okay. 8:25 And I get tired of the whining, especially from some of these small school fans that somehow act like their coaches or their programs, they make decisions based on altruistic reasons and what's great for college hockey on the whole. 8:40 Like it's kumbaya thing and it's like, I'm sorry, but you have your head up your ass if you think that your coach is advocating for something that isn't advantageous for his situation. 8:50 They all do it. 8:52 Okay. 8:52 And so when these people rip on a Don Luchia or a Red Berenson or whoever that kind of is advocating for a certain thing that maybe the small schools don't like, it's like, well, your schools are going to do the exact same thing. 9:07 They want the gentleman's agreement, for instance, at small schools because it covers their ass, because they don't want a Michigan or a BC to come along and say, hey, that kid kind of blew up a little bit more than I thought he would, I'd kind of like to make an offer to him now for a 90% scholarship and rip that kid out of that program in that small school program. 9:27 It's like, they're trying to cover their ass because that's what helps them. 9:30 I mean, they all advocate for what works for their program. 9:33 And so I'm just saying, like, I'm not blaming a Don Luchia or any of these other coaches for thinking like, maybe this will help us, you know, maybe this is something that we should look into. 9:43 Maybe there's a little bit of altruistic reasoning in it, but I'm not here to be naïve and say that they're not doing it because it helps them. 9:50 But that's the way they all are. 9:52 And I think that that's what fans need to get their head out of their ass about. 9:58 Okay, Veegs, let's hear what you think. 10:01 Well, I just think that Don Luchia is trying to find ways to fix college hockey. 10:06 He went before the Minnesota High School Coaches Association earlier this year and said recruiting is broken and he needs their help. 10:14 And I tried to get in a conversation with him about this a couple weeks ago and he said, you know, I can't change anything, I don't have a magic wand. 10:23 And well, he doesn't have a magic wand on this one either. 10:25 Even though the Big Ten may think it's better for college hockey to make kids get into a college by age 20 and leave those spots for younger players coming up through the USHL, the NAHL to develop and get into college hockey programs. 10:43 You know, he's trying to figure out ways to do this. 10:45 And I think a lot of people are being self-serving by saying that Donald Lucia is just protecting himself at Minnesota because they're playing older kids. 10:55 This wouldn't have applied to Union anyway in that final. 10:59 They only had kids who were 24. 11:01 You know, I think this is trying to look at what makes college hockey college hockey. 11:05 Well, that's also Pat Royce trying to start the bucket, dude. 11:09 Well, there's a lot of people who are jumping on to that idea and that fuel. 11:14 But I think Donald Lucia, five years ago, said he didn't want any players signing or committing verbally until their senior year of high school. 11:23 You know, we've just gotten in the stage of college recruiting where kids are recruiting when they're, you know, when they're banning them because they got to beat major junior to lock them up for college. 11:34 It's just kind of ridiculous. 11:36 And the one thing that's happened to the Don is it's kind of bitten him in the ass quite a few times, too. 11:42 Well, I think this is happening in every school. 11:44 Recruiting kids so young because, you know, they get here and then they don't do anything and everyone's like, oh, you're a terrible recruiter, blah, blah, blah. 11:52 Well, and then, you know, if he doesn't get them, you know, everybody's upset that they signed with North Dakota or Wisconsin or UMD. 11:59 You know, you can't win in that case. 12:01 But what the really bad thing is when Lucia has a scholarship for a kid and says, well, you know, I don't have a spot for you because these guys actually decided to stick around. 12:11 You know, what's the kid going to do then? 12:13 Stuck for another year in junior or, you know, look for another school? 12:17 You know, it's a hard fit for two. 12:20 Well, and you have to remember something. 12:21 I think this is something that a lot of fans all over forget about is that, we are talking about people. 12:28 We're talking about kids. 12:29 We're talking about, you know, they have, when they graduate high school, all their friends going off to college, right? 12:36 Right out of the gate, they're all going to college. 12:38 And now we're asking these guys, okay, you're, you know, educational wise, you gotta push that off a year or two here because we're not ready to bring you in. 12:48 We want you to be, because we see these other teams that are bringing in guys that are 20, 21 years old, and you might be more physically talented, you know, in terms of skill set than those guys, but they're like got 20, 30 pounds on you and they're more mature and whatever. 13:04 So we gotta push you off further because we don't want to limit that advantage that they have. 13:09 And it's like, it's continually pushing guys further and further their education out. 13:15 And it's like, people forget that. 13:16 These kids don't want to sit in junior hockey for a year or two later than their, you know, and see their friends in their junior year of college while they're starting their freshman year. 13:24 I mean, that's not what they want. 13:25 But they have to do it because they feel like that's a part of the whole big process of the world. 13:31 And it's like, coaches like Walt Kyle, they talk about like these kids, they're like kids. 13:35 And it's like, dude, they're 20 and 21. 13:37 They're not kids. 13:39 You've pushed them out because you want a competitive advantage just like any of the other coaches. 13:44 And I get that. 13:44 I'm not blaming them. 13:46 But then don't act like somehow you're not benefiting from the situation. 13:49 And why should another coach that doesn't want wants it more representative college as a whole doesn't agree with your concept? 13:57 It's like, I don't know. 13:58 I get why they all want their things. 14:00 But it's like, I'm not going to rip on any individuals for trying to change it to a certain way because it helps them or hinders them or whatever. 14:09 Now, what about, you know, you get a lot of schools saying they want nothing to do with this rule, Hammy. 14:16 I mean, hold on. 14:18 You got somebody like, you know, the NCHC is saying that they voted 8-0 against this rule. 14:24 And that whatever Minnesota and the Big Ten is doing is that they're not listening to college hockey or what college hockey wants. 14:32 I'm just, this is just what's out there today. 14:35 So I could see why some of these people are a little angry because they see it. 14:40 I mean, their point of view is saying Big Brother is taking control again. 14:44 Okay, but here's what... 14:45 No, I totally get your point, but I'm just coming from what people are saying. 14:49 And it's not like that's wrong. 14:51 It may be what they are doing. 14:54 All right. 14:54 Well, like I said, I don't blame people for making arguments that are going to be beneficial for their viewpoint. 15:00 I get that part of it. 15:01 But here's where I find it all kind of hypocritical. 15:04 It's like, remember the NCHC, that was pretty much a North Dakota driven thing. 15:09 And why did North Dakota want that? 15:11 Because they saw what was going on with the Big Ten, and they feared, like, I don't want to get left behind. 15:16 And so I want to find like minded institutions that want to invest in their programs and are thinking bigger than some of these other small schools like in the WCHA or the CCH. 15:27 It's like, we don't want to be held back by these smaller schools. 15:30 We want to be able to grow and be more kind of have that same competitive advantage we've always had. 15:36 And the thing is, is like, they are going to do things that are going to help their situation. 15:42 And it's no different for these big schools like the Gophers or Wisconsin. 15:46 They want situations. 15:48 They don't want to be held back by smaller schools. 15:50 They want to like make the most of whatever advantages they have. 15:53 And it's like most of college hockey are these small schools that maybe have one D1 sport and it is hockey. 16:00 They're going to obviously think about things much differently than all D1 school. 16:05 And it's like everybody's got to think about this kind of stuff. 16:09 St. 16:09 Cloud, UMD, they hated the NCHC idea when they weren't going to be invited. 16:14 That's true. 16:15 And then all of a sudden it's like, oh, we got an invite now. 16:18 Oh, we're a great, all on board, wonderful, we're a big happy family now. 16:22 It's like everybody is going to look for whatever is going to be beneficial to their individual situation. 16:28 And sometimes they're going to complain about it. 16:30 And then when the shoe is on the other foot, it's like, oh, now I like it. 16:33 I guarantee you take a coach at like St. 16:36 Cloud or Mankato or wherever, put them behind the bench at Wisconsin, I guarantee you their fricking attitude about this whole situation would change in a heartbeat. 16:44 You do the same thing for a coach at, take Don Lucia, put them at Bemidji. 16:48 You think that his attitude wouldn't change? 16:50 I mean, of course. 16:51 They're all looking out for themselves. 16:53 So let's get our heads out of our asses and quit acting like it's all truistic for some schools and it's not for others. 16:59 Okay. 17:00 They're all in it for themselves. 17:01 Well, then how about North Dakota? 17:03 Because North Dakota would probably actually in the same situation as Minnesota. 17:09 Well, I mean, you could ask. 17:11 I mean, why would they, they, they would, they would, should, should just, excuse me, they should support this type of rule because they're usually just as young as Minnesota. 17:21 Well, are they though? 17:21 I mean, they do tend to recruit a little older at times. 17:25 I mean, they're not like as bad as they used to be, but certainly, and I would also point out this is that sometimes it's like anything in politics, you're going to sometimes you know what's going to be a winning and a losing battle for you and sometimes you're going to make a vote based on appearances' sake versus really how you feel. 17:42 You know what I'm saying? 17:43 It's like things are going to be the way they are whether North Dakota votes for it or against it, because ultimately this is something that's being pushed by the Big Ten. 17:53 Are they really going to have a seat at the table at the end of the day with NCAA stuff like this? 17:58 It's a Big Ten thing. 17:59 I mean, that's what people are upset about is that it's more being pushed by the Big Ten who has a seat at the table in these NCAA situations, whereas these other conferences, other schools really don't have that same kind of pull. 18:12 Oh, that's definitely the problem here. 18:13 I mean, all these people are pissed because they don't have a seat at the table. 18:18 They want a seat at the table. 18:20 Obviously, they just don't have that opportunity. 18:24 And that's why they're all lashing out. 18:26 I mean, they're all pissed because they're all like, hey, wait a minute, blah, blah, blah. 18:30 You know, we're not getting a say in this. 18:32 So obviously, they're going to lash out. 18:34 And that's just, I don't know. 18:37 They're going to have to say something like this, say that nobody supports it. 18:41 And it's just the big schools trying to take more away from us because that's all they can say. 18:47 Because like you said, it's in their best interest to do that. 18:50 So I don't know. 18:51 I think it's a little fishy. 18:54 But I don't care either way. 18:57 Well, you also have to look at how big of an effect is this really going to have? 19:03 Probably very little if none. 19:05 I haven't seen the numbers, but I wouldn't be shocked if this was a pretty small percentage of players that would actually even be affected by it. 19:13 Number one, I don't know the exact numbers. 19:15 I didn't look at that. 19:16 I didn't have the time for that. 19:17 But I would be surprised if it was a very large percentage of players when you compare to the overall population of college hockey players. 19:25 And they're not eliminating these players from playing college hockey. 19:30 All they're doing is saying if you start after a certain point, you get one year eliminated from your eligibility. 19:37 It's like, I don't see that as being a huge problem. 19:40 I mean, do we really need 25 year old players in college hockey? 19:44 Is that really necessary? 19:45 Is it really going to help the sport at all? 19:48 I mean, I remember when Chris Winky was playing for freaking Florida State as a college football player, and he started as a freshman at 20 freaking six years old, and won the Heisman at 28. 19:58 Is that really what we want college sports to be? 20:02 Seriously? 20:03 I mean, why is that? 20:05 I just think it's stupid. 20:06 It's like college hockey is not unique. 20:08 We do not need 22 year old, 23 year old, 24. 20:12 We don't need that for guys that are in their underclass when we just don't. 20:17 I have plenty of players from 18, 19 years up that can start college and be effective players. 20:24 Now, is it going to be as great as some kid who is 21 coming out? 20:28 I mean, I can't say that, but I don't know that's going to be that noticeably different for the sport. 20:33 But I just think it's stupid that we have this concept that somehow we have to have these older players in order for college hockey to thrive. 20:40 There's not good players at 18 or 19 that could populate different rosters. 20:44 It just, to me, it's stupid. 20:46 Well, here's what I'm thinking is actually going to happen. 20:49 I'm thinking all the negative press from this, because the press is definitely jumping on the small school bandwagon, along with, you know, did you hear Lou Nanny this afternoon, you guys? 21:00 I did not. 21:01 I saw some comments on GPL about this stuff. 21:03 Lou thought it was ridiculous. 21:06 I'm thinking with a lot of the negative press coming out, Lou Nanny coming out against it, you know, it's not like we heard about this until this article came out. 21:15 I'm thinking this is going to go away. 21:18 And it's not going to happen either way. 21:21 Veegs. 21:22 Part of me starts to wonder about this, though. 21:25 Is this the Big Ten's way of starting to get some clarity among NCAA hockey franchises in how to make rules? 21:35 Because, you know, with the NHL, every time they want to try to figure out how to increase scoring, they talk about making the nets bigger. 21:42 And then all the bullies and all the legacy players are like, no, no, no, we'll wear smaller equipment. 21:48 Don't change the nets. 21:50 You know, maybe this is one of those examples of, you know, they show this ace card and see what the rest of the table feels. 21:58 Because I think there's a lot of other problems facing Kyle Jockey that are more damning than, you know, how old a kid is when he steps on campus as a freshman. 22:06 I think when you have 13, 14, 15-year-olds committing their future, you know, three, four years away from when they're actually going to be there, that's a bigger problem. 22:17 Or sometimes even later, because like you said, some of them are not coming in until they're 19 or 20 or whatever it may be. 22:23 So. 22:24 Yeah, they, I mean, four years ago, kids didn't know that the Gophers are going to be in the Big Ten. 22:29 You know, they didn't know about the facilities that were going to be coming. 22:33 Now, there's a lot of issues. 22:34 Who knows if Donald Chu is going to be coaching in four years? 22:37 You know, I think he's getting kind of bored with the whole situation. 22:41 But I don't know. 22:42 I just think there's going to be enough negative stuff out there that I think this little proposal will either go away or, well, I think it will go away, but maybe it is a power push for the Big Ten. 22:57 Who knows? 23:00 I don't know. 23:02 Did you stop engaging the Drunk Hockey Guy? 23:05 No, I don't know why it's going to kill the hockey is a little ridiculous. 23:08 I mean, these kids are going to be coming to college campuses when they're 20. 23:12 There's plenty of other spots for kids under 20 to pick the USHL. 23:18 Well, and that's the thing I think people are, you know, like Drunk Hockey, our misunderstanding is that, first of all, the USHL is a lot younger now than what it was five, ten years ago, so some of the changes that were made. 23:31 It's- 23:32 Oh, yeah. 23:33 Much younger. 23:34 Well, I mean, it is. 23:35 I mean, back in the day, it was almost exclusively guys that were already graduated. 23:41 Nowadays, you see a lot more high school kids playing in the USHL. 23:45 They've intentionally gone that route because of the tier one status that they have and everything. 23:51 So, they've gone younger. 23:52 Now, I mean, some of these other leagues, I haven't looked as closely at as far as their rosters, but I know there's a lot of young guys in the NHL too. 24:01 So, I feel like there's a view that somehow this is going to kill juniors. 24:06 It's like, well, not really because a lot of these leagues are already playing kids that are not 18 year, they're under 18. 24:14 It's like, and I don't know that that's really going to significantly change. 24:18 They talk about is it going to kill high school hockey. 24:20 That's like, well, if you don't have to feel like you're at a disadvantage maturity wise, okay, then maybe it actually helps in a sense, high school hockey, because you're not necessarily feeling like obligated to go off and play against guys that are, you know, two, three years older than you, because they're not going to have as big of a maturity advantage. 24:39 Like if you're not bringing in 21 year old freshmen every year at these different schools, then you suddenly don't feel like obligated to necessarily push guys off further because they need more time. 24:50 It remains to be seen, but I think it's a little bit knee-jerk to think like it's going to kill junior hockey or high school hockey. 24:56 I think it might be just the Big Ten testing out the waters. 25:03 Just trying this thing that, you know, might look like it, and I think they are trying to test out the waters here. 25:10 Now that I think about it more, because you think about the way the NHL used to be. 25:13 The NHL used to allow, you know, drafting of kids that were in 10th grade. 25:20 I mean, they were going after kids. 25:22 I remember when I was just out of high school, that, you know, half of those Jefferson kids were like drafted when they were sophomores and juniors in high school. 25:31 Obviously, the NHL kind of came back and said, hey, let's change the rules here. 25:36 They changed the age rules. 25:38 Don would love to have something like that. 25:43 Well, I can't say I remember guys getting drafted that young. 25:46 Oh, I remember Crowley was drafted as a sophomore to Philadelphia. 25:51 A lot of those kids were drafted because the rules were different. 25:55 Well, I don't know. 25:56 I mean, I can't vouch for that. 25:58 It was a long time ago, obviously. 25:59 Yeah, I didn't follow the draft that closely back then. 26:02 But, you know, the thing is that I feel like, you know, I mean, it's a hot button mainly because the big schools in college hockey are in the minority in terms of number. 26:16 And so they're going to have the clout financially. 26:19 They're going to have the clout in terms of being able to kind of have some NCAA pull. 26:25 But nonetheless, it's like they are in the minority in terms of numbers for college hockey. 26:30 And so it's like it's kind of like I said with the North Dakota example earlier, they didn't want to be held back by what they considered to be smaller programs that didn't want to invest or weren't keeping up with the Joneses. 26:42 And they wanted to keep their status in college hockey as being one of the elite. 26:46 And they felt like they had to find other teams that kind of had that same mentality. 26:51 And it's like these big schools at Big Ten programs, they feel probably the same way that, hey, you know, we have certain things that we expect and we don't want to be held back by certain rules that are being put in place by the majority of these small schools that are going to have their own best interests in mind, but not ours. 27:12 So I get why everybody does what they do, but it's like, don't complain when people try to pull the levers to help their situation. 27:21 Don't whine about it, because your team would do the same thing. 27:24 Vegoe, final word on the topic. 27:27 Well, I definitely think the party line thing played here. 27:31 You're not going to see too many Republicans going out there saying they want to raise taxes on the rich, you know. 27:38 That's not going to happen. 27:40 So I think all these schools are just... 27:41 No politics, damn it. 27:43 Yeah, they're all on board, keeping the party lines. 27:46 And I hope this maybe opens up some sort of national discussion among coaches about what things can they agree on. 27:54 What things can improve college hockey? 27:57 What can improve the experience? 27:59 Now, they've had so many top prospects who come in their freshman year and bolt for major junior. 28:04 Is it because they're bolting for an easier game against younger kids? 28:08 Is it because they're bolting for more games? 28:11 Is it because they're bolting for better amenities? 28:14 College hockey's got a problem with that. 28:17 There's so many players leaving the college game who are the elite talents. 28:22 And I think that's a big issue facing college hockey, much like the 13, 14-year-old commits. 28:28 Well, I mean, I don't see the problem is that these coaches are not going to get on board with one. 28:34 I mean, there's always going to be differences based on what we've been talking about, you know, in terms of what's going to protect your little kingdom from other schools. 28:43 And that's why I see this could be just the beginning of a power play. 28:48 Well, I just testing the waters, seeing what they can get through. 28:52 Well, I agree because, you know, it's like the whole gentleman's agreement thing. 28:56 It's like that's mainly protecting smaller schools. 28:59 I mean, that's not doing anything really for bigger schools. 29:03 They don't give a damn if it's their place or not. 29:05 They don't want it. 29:06 And so they want to treat college hockey like college football and college basketball, which is basically recruit the player until they sign their letter of intent. 29:15 Otherwise, you know, it's open game until they sign their LLI. 29:18 And it's like, you know, to me, that's the way it should be personally, because I'm just used to seeing that from big D1 sports in general. 29:25 Like, you just keep recruiting them. 29:27 But these small schools, they want to protect their own ass, and I don't blame them. 29:31 But then it's kind of like, you know, you can't complain then when these big schools want to do things that are advantageous for them. 29:38 So I just think the whining gets out of hand, because people get all up in arms about their little situation being threatened. 29:47 And I get it, but you got to pull the levers that are going to work for you. 29:52 It's pretty obvious, you know, how people are going to respond on this. 29:56 It's the Duluth fans that want to protect the small schools. 29:59 The Big Ten haters are going to hate anything that happens with the Big Ten. 30:04 And you know, that's the way it's going to be. 30:08 Well, I think I've had enough of this topic for now. 30:11 Well, it is entertaining. 30:14 I was thinking about it today. 30:15 I was like, I'm kind of glad it got brought up today, because I knew we'd talk about it tonight. 30:20 It is an interesting topic, you know. 30:22 I think it, you know, the more I think about it, I am thinking this is some sort of just power play, just to see what they can get through and what kind of changes they can get done. 30:31 Obviously, if, you know, with all the people going against this, if they can still get it through, that might be just the beginning. 30:38 Well, what I'm confused about, I mean, I don't admit to knowing a lot about how these kinds of things go through the process, but it's like, I'm assuming that the Big Ten schools are really the only ones that can make that kind of a pitch or make that kind of an argument. 30:53 I mean, is there really gonna be any ability of these other schools to really say anything to give their opinion? 30:59 I mean, it sounds to me, from what I've read that article, that really they're powerless. 31:04 The only opinion that they really have is if they go to the coaches' convention, make their opinions known, and then that's that, but they don't really have a seat at the table when it comes to actually putting forth something to the NCAA, that that's something that only all D1 schools can do. 31:21 You know what I mean? 31:22 If that's what the case, and I admit I don't know for sure if that is, it doesn't really matter what these small schools think. 31:29 It's still going to be up to what the NCAA administration thinks and what the Big Ten schools put forth for an argument. 31:37 Wouldn't it? 31:37 Isn't that the case? 31:38 I don't know. 31:40 I don't know. 31:41 That's why I think it's going to be interesting. 31:42 We'll know around April. 31:44 Looks like they're going to try to push us through in April of 2016. 31:48 So we'll just have to wait and see. 31:51 I don't know, guys. 31:53 If you have any questions for us, just tweet us. 31:55 Use the hashtag GPL Podcast. 31:57 You know, try to get to some of your questions if you want to get them through. 32:01 Before we get to any of that, let's hear a word from our sponsor. 32:06 Vintage Minnesota Hockey wants you to take a step back in time and keep the memories of Minnesota hockey heritage alive forever. 32:13 vintagemnhockey.com features history from around the entire state of Minnesota. 32:19 One feature that I enjoy on a daily basis is the This Day in Minnesota Hockey History that is on their website. 32:25 They have tons of info on what's happening on any particular day in Minnesota hockey history. 32:31 One thing as a listener that you may be interested in is the store at Vintage Minnesota Hockey. 32:36 They offer all kinds of custom throwbacks from Minnesota hockey and local college teams. 32:42 And as a GPL Podcast listener, you just need to enter the promo code GPL Podcast, one word, all or case to get a 10% discount on any order. 32:52 So visit Vintage Minnesota Hockey at vintagemnhockey.com. 32:58 Question from one of the Twitter followers, Tim Hapke wants to know, does Lou Nanny not like Lucia? 33:07 I don't know, you'd have to ask him that. 33:11 I think he was probably listening to the radio today and Nanny was kind of going off how he did not support the forming of the Big Ten League. 33:20 And he was also saying that he does not support this new rule in Minnesota, trying to push it through. 33:26 Maybe that's kind of where Tim's getting it from. 33:28 You probably, have you heard anything in any back channels? 33:31 I have never heard anything. 33:33 Well, I mean, I don't think, look, I mean, I think there was a little bit of negativity after, you know, Louie Nanny didn't exactly end up at the U. 33:42 And then you have, you know, his younger brother didn't end up at the U. 33:46 I mean, Vinny ended up at the U. 33:48 But, you know, I think there is a little bit of that kind of, there's a little bit of that, I think, some of that pride that maybe it gets a little bit stung by, you know, he, I'm not, I'm sure he would never probably admit it, but I've heard that, you know, that that was a little bit of a disappointment for him. 34:06 So I'm sure that there's a little bit of that going on. 34:11 What has the little Louie nanny done? 34:16 I'll be honest with you, I haven't paid a lick of attention to. 34:19 I haven't either. 34:20 Vegoe, do you know anything? 34:24 No, I haven't heard anything. 34:26 I know he got injured last year. 34:28 See, I don't think we're missing out on him, but. 34:32 Although he's got eight points this year in 13 games. 34:34 Okay, well, there you go. 34:36 Well, I mean, I just think, look, I don't know. 34:38 Obviously, I respect Louie nanny, but I feel like, I don't know, sometimes I start to feel like he's starting to get a little bit of that Sid Hartman syndrome in him just because he's been around forever. 34:52 Like his opinion is suddenly going to be more valid or there's going to be more weight behind it just because he's been around a long time, whether it's actually a good opinion or not. 35:03 And so I have to admit that I don't always agree with some of the things that he says. 35:08 Not that I disrespect the guy, obviously, but I just think that you can't automatically assume that just because he's been around a while and because he talks on the radio with Barrera once a week or whatever, like suddenly he's going to be the authority on everything that's good or bad about college hockey. 35:25 Hammey, it hasn't been officially announced yet, but it looks like Mr. 35:29 Hoagland left the team this past week. 35:32 I don't know when he left. 35:33 I can't vouch for that. 35:35 I mean, I just had heard that he was going to be leaving the team. 35:41 He's no longer on the official roster at the website. 35:44 It's official. 35:45 He's left. 35:47 They never announced anything, though. 35:51 Did they? 35:52 Well, I know officially that he left. 35:54 Well, yeah. 35:55 But what I'm saying is that usually you get some kind of official announcement coming from the U saying, hey, this person has decided to move on, blah, blah, blah. 36:04 Nothing ever happened. 36:05 No news from the U. 36:07 Obviously, it wasn't in any papers because it was not official. 36:12 Tim Hapke was actually asking Hammy, why are people getting so worked up about the loss of Hoagland? 36:18 I know I kind of ignored all that crap on GPL. 36:20 I just, he was really, he never did anything. 36:24 So I can't get worked up about him. 36:27 But I do think it's a little strange that somebody, anybody would get worked up about it. 36:33 Well, like I said, I had heard about it a few weeks ago. 36:36 I wasn't sure about it. 36:36 And I talked to somebody that told me that, yeah, he was leaving it after the midway point. 36:43 I don't know why people are up in arms. 36:45 I think part of it's just that people have this perspective that, hey, you start the year with your team, you end the year with your team. 36:52 You know, they kind of, you kind of what you're taught by your parents, you know, hey, if you start something, you finish it, you know. 36:58 And then, you know what? 36:59 That's a good point. 37:00 I mean, And so I get that mentality. 37:03 At the same time, I also say to myself, okay, if he's planning on transferring, he's going to want to play as soon as he can at wherever he would transfer to. 37:12 And so, you know, kind of like we saw with Cephas, you know, a few years ago where he, you know, basically transferred midway through the season so he could play at the halfway point of the following year, you know, I get that. 37:26 But I mean, obviously, you know, Hogan wasn't playing. 37:30 I don't, it's not a huge loss in terms of anything from a, you know, a big picture standpoint. 37:37 I understand why people feel like, hey, stick it out or whatever. 37:40 I get that, but I also can understand from his point of view, it's pretty tough to go to practice all the time and go through all that kind of stuff and knowing that you're probably not going to see the ice anytime soon. 37:51 I mean, that's got to be pretty tough. 37:53 And so I get it from both sides, but I don't really see why in this instance people should be too upset about it. 38:02 Veegs, another question from Twitter. 38:04 Eric Raymond wants to know, obviously The Gopher's performance is worse, but is The Big Ten's non-conference performance overall worse than last year? 38:15 I think he's just saying, obviously non-conference was bad last year. 38:21 Is it worse this year? 38:22 It doesn't feel like it's quite as bad. 38:25 I don't think there's any dominant teams in The Big Ten right now that are going to be in the top five getting number one seeds. 38:31 But I don't think they're as bad this year as they are last year. 38:34 I mean, you look at Wisconsin, Ohio State, Penn State, and I think all three of those teams are better than they were last year. 38:41 Wisconsin's definitely better. 38:42 They're not the dregs like they were last year. 38:45 There was nowhere to go but up. 38:47 Definitely true. 38:49 Michigan did split out of BU this past weekend. 38:53 Right, so I think the overall, there's no top teams right now, but I think they're better overall than they were last year. 39:02 All right, well, we'll always take your questions. 39:04 I'll even see them throughout the week. 39:06 If you ever have a question you want us to talk about on the podcast, just use the hashtag GPL Podcast. 39:11 We'll see it and we'll try to talk about it. 39:14 We'll do our best. 39:16 Well, and the other thing about the Big Ten is that I think that we're seeing that there's some teams that were kind of caught at a bad time when all these changes happened. 39:25 I mean, obviously, Wisconsin being a big one. 39:27 I mean, they had the one first year, but I mean, they got caught at a bad time. 39:31 It's all cyclical in these things. 39:33 I would kind of like to see if it was possible. 39:35 I don't know if it is at all possible for them to kind of have the same kind of schedule, kind of like the Gophers had in the WCHA in the sense that you don't have all your non-conference right out of the gate, because to me, with the pairwise the way it is, I mean, the non-conference is really important, and it would be kind of nice to be able to play some of your conference games and intermingle that with some non-conference and not have everything so just definitively before and after. 40:05 I'd kind of like to see it spread out, but I don't know. 40:08 I guess that that's just how they do things in the Big Ten. 40:10 They just want things all in one bunch like it is in basketball. 40:13 They just don't have enough teams. 40:16 Well, I'm just talking about that. 40:17 If you had two more teams, you'd have four more weekends of hockey. 40:23 Well, then you have what? 40:24 What was somebody saying? 40:25 Nanny was saying on the radio today about adding two teams. 40:28 Are you advocating for Duluth and North Dakota? 40:32 Probably. 40:33 That's not going to happen. 40:34 Once again, I just feel like sometimes Nanny just talks out of his ass. 40:39 Just because he says it, it means it's a valid thought. 40:43 It's never going to happen. 40:45 Just not going to happen. 40:47 What can you do? 40:48 Well, the Gophers do have an old rivalry coming to Marriott this weekend. 40:55 St. 40:55 Cloud State, home, or actually not a home and home. 40:59 Kind of different from past years. 41:02 Only at Marriott this weekend on a Friday Sunday series. 41:06 Both games at 6 p.m. 41:07 Make sure you note that. 41:09 Both games on Fox Sports North, blah blah blah. 41:13 VEGS, St. 41:15 Cloud is doing fairly well this year. 41:18 Yeah, they've played well. 41:19 Don Luchia has said that this is the best team Minnesota has played to date. 41:24 They've got a really strong goaltender in Charlie Lindgren. 41:27 They've got some scoring up front and some good defensemen. 41:30 I know Cassia is a fun player to watch. 41:34 I think, you know, they're definitely a team that can get in transition and give the Gophers problems. 41:39 And I think when we've seen Minnesota play poorly this year, it's because they've been turning the puck over. 41:44 And I'm sure Horn's played really well on the odd man rushes and all the breakaways that he's seen. 41:49 I think if Minnesota starts doing that with St. 41:53 Cloud, they're going to be in trouble. 41:55 Usually it's a little bit of race hockey, race horse hockey, Hammey. 42:01 Which is fun. 42:02 Usually it is, but I don't think the Gophers are going to go into this series with that mentality. 42:06 I mean, especially after listening to Lucia. 42:08 I mean, I think it's pretty clear that they realize that this is one of those years that, depth wise, because of the youth on the team and because we've had so many guys kind of taking over roles that a lot of the veterans had in key spots last year that weren't just not really ready and prepared for that kind of a race horse style that we typically play most seasons. 42:31 I think it's going to be more of a, let's try to be a little bit more conservative, make sure we got our back end covered, make sure that we're playing good defense. 42:41 They're not going to really get into that style because St. 42:43 Cloud's got a lot of veteran talent, especially up front. 42:48 They're probably more geared for that style at this point than we are. 42:52 I don't really see that being our mentality going into the series. 42:56 I really expect it to be more, let's play really good defense and try to limit the turnovers and not create any odd man opportunities for them. 43:05 So I actually expect maybe a little bit of a more conservative game plan this week. 43:12 Well, I don't know. 43:14 I know it won't be like playing Wisconsin. 43:17 There will be offense. 43:19 Even though if we're trying to play defense, that's great. 43:21 But I think Minnesota will have their chances on the offensive end. 43:27 Well, I think you get in these games with rivals like St. 43:30 Cloud, and the players just get so excited they can't help themselves. 43:35 They want to try to create offense. 43:37 I think a lot of 18, 19, 20-year-old kids don't come to the rink thinking, I'm going to play great defense tonight. 43:43 It's no, I want to create offense. 43:45 I want to score goals. 43:45 I want to jump into the glass. 43:48 So it's balancing that feeling with playing a smart hockey game, because I don't think Minnesota is going to put up five on Charlie Lindgren this weekend. 43:58 I did find it interesting listening to Lucia on the radio, that he actually acknowledged that these series with like a St. 44:07 Cloud or a Duluth or whatever, that they just have an element missing, because it's not league play anymore. 44:14 I mean, I had never really heard him acknowledge, I mean, I think as fans, we all knew that that was going to be, that things were going to, the rivalry aspect was going to dissipate to some extent because of the differences in conferences and whatever. 44:28 But it was interesting to finally hear the head coach kind of finally admit to that. 44:33 I had never personally heard him say that before, at least not publicly, I haven't heard anything like him acknowledge that. 44:40 It was kind of interesting to hear him acknowledge that, that there's something, there is an element of that missing now that used to be there in the past. 44:48 So that was kind of, it was interesting to hear him say that. 44:50 Well, you know that Don is still a traditionalist. 44:55 He would most definitely would have preferred to keep hockey the way it was. 45:01 Keep the WCHA all intact, CCHA. 45:05 He didn't want anything to do with this Big Ten crap. 45:09 You know he didn't. 45:10 But when he saw it as a reality, he just kind of went along with it. 45:13 But I think he misses those old WCHA games that meant something, not these worthless non-conference weekends. 45:24 Well, I think part of it is you only see these teams once a year, maybe twice if they see them in the North Star Cup. 45:31 Whereas, you know, when you play Michigan, and Michael Downing starts taking runs at players' heads and gets thrown out of the game, you know, they're going to see them again in another series, and they're going to see them in the conference tournament. 45:44 So, you know, for players, when you're not playing the same guys multiple times a year, it's just hard to get up for it because you don't have a history with them. 45:53 You know, and the other thing, you know, touching on Lucia being an old school, I mean, it kind of goes back to the discussion we were having earlier. 45:59 I mean, if it were up to him, everything would probably be similar to what it was like 20 years ago, where, you know, like we talked about, you're recruiting kids that are like, you know, at their senior year of school and, you know, things of that nature. 46:14 I mean, he doesn't like the 15-year-old. 46:15 He does it. 46:17 I mean, obviously, he does it for various reasons, but he doesn't want to recruit 15- 46:21 and 16-year-olds if he doesn't have to, but he feels like he has to. 46:24 He also obviously wouldn't want the changes that have happened with the WCH. 46:29 You know, I think that's what a lot of these fans, you know, from elsewhere, don't really realize is that it's not like Minnesota was at the forefront of all these changes. 46:37 You know what I mean? 46:38 We were perfectly fine with the way things were. 46:41 I mean, everything on one network and everything kind of just lined up great. 46:46 And the fans were into it every week. 46:48 We didn't have to build new rivalries or anything. 46:50 I mean, it's not like the Gophers really, truly wanted the Big Ten changes. 46:54 They were fine with the way things were. 46:56 This was more, you know, kind of just having to, I mean, we know where our bread's buttered and that's the Big Ten. 47:01 I mean, that's, we get in 30 plus million just on the Big Ten network alone. 47:05 Yeah. 47:06 You know what I mean? 47:07 You're not going to piss that away just because hockey doesn't like some changes. 47:11 You know what I mean? 47:11 People need to realize that's the reality of the situation. 47:14 Yeah. 47:14 It has nothing to do with hockey. 47:16 If it was hockey, Minnesota would have stayed right where they were. 47:19 It's all about the mighty dollar and that's basically all. 47:23 I mean, that's the case. 47:24 Well, you can't blame them either though. 47:26 No, you can't. 47:26 But in a hockey sense, you know, Minnesota wanted nothing to do with it. 47:30 But it's just reality now, so. 47:34 It's kind of like taking one, it's like when you're out with your buddy, all right? 47:37 He gets the hot girl sometimes, and you have to take the ugly one because he's a friend, right? 47:43 So you take one for the team. 47:44 So Gopher Hockey was taking one for the team in this situation for football and basketball and all the other sports. 47:50 Yeah. 47:51 You know, that's kind of the way it is. 47:53 Well, maybe. 47:54 In the hockey side of things, financially maybe not, but the hockey side of things, they're definitely paying for it. 48:00 Well, the $48 million check every year makes it a lot easier. 48:03 Well, of course it does. 48:05 And we have to remember, and I've said this before, conference stuff is always cyclical. 48:11 I mean, there's going to be a point where the Big Ten is going to be as a conference. 48:14 It's going to be pretty good. 48:15 Now, I don't know when that's going to happen. 48:17 It's going to be a year, two years or whatever. 48:20 It's hard to say right now, but it's not going to stay as is with, I mean, conference strength. 48:26 We saw it with the WCHA. 48:27 They weren't always the best conference. 48:29 It used to be Hockey East some years. 48:30 Maybe it was CCHA here or there. 48:32 I mean, it comes and goes, and so people just need to relax when it comes to comparing the whole conference stuff. 48:39 That'll work itself out. 48:43 You know, looking around the rest of college hockey, did Colorado College make the wrong decision to go to the NCHC? 48:53 Or maybe on another foot, should they stick it to Denver and try to hire Gwazdeki? 49:00 Because whatever they're doing now, and they're just in bad shape. 49:03 And this is a traditional program. 49:07 Yeah, it's kind of looking almost like it did, you know, back right before- 49:11 Pre-Luchia. 49:12 Yeah, right before Luchia took over, they were in some deep caca back then, and then he took over and turned things around. 49:18 And it's looking rather ugly out there. 49:21 And I mean, I can't say that I've followed them very close. 49:24 I mean, who wants to watch an 0-1-12 team, you know? 49:27 But I mean- 49:29 Higher guaz, higher guaz. 49:31 It is kind of sad when you consider that some of the best series that the Gophers had, you know, in the last 20 years were some of those games against CC, where they were like really skilled. 49:40 Oh, yeah. 49:41 You know, the Sanas of the world or, you know, some of those- 49:44 Swanson, yeah. 49:46 Yeah, I mean, they had some really good players. 49:47 And it's like to see where they're at now. 49:50 It's kind of sad. 49:51 And it's kind of like I was saying before all these changes happened that you're not going to have a conference. 49:56 I don't care which conference it is. 49:58 That's going to be all winning teams. 50:01 You know, there's going to be some there's always going to be haves and have nots and any conference set up. 50:06 And what we're seeing is that there, you know, it looks like CC is going to be one of the have nots in that league. 50:13 You know, and there's going to be a few of those other teams that are used to that we're used to winning prior to this that are going to end up, I think, a lot a lot of years being have nots in that league. 50:22 And it's kind of like, be careful what you wish for. 50:25 You might get occluded in that league, but then you also might be the one that's in the crappy position, so. 50:34 You guys got anything else for this week? 50:37 Lucia did make some comments on the recruiting class coming in. 50:41 And I thought two interesting things that came out of that were that Lucia thought Seeler might leave after graduating this year and that Connor Riley also is going to graduate this year. 50:51 So he wasn't sure if he'd be back for next season. 50:55 You know, I think for both of those guys, you know, unless they want to continue to play hockey, I think it's a good decision. 51:02 I mean, they're not pro material. 51:04 You've gotten your education. 51:06 It's, if you want to play hockey, play, but otherwise I don't think it's a big deal. 51:11 Well, Seeler, Seeler was drafted by The Wild and they would lose his rights if he wanted to pull out after this year. 51:19 He's not going to play pro with him. 51:21 Well, I'm not saying he's going to be NHL guy, but I mean, you never know, I guess. 51:26 He's got some of the physicality and all that kind of stuff to maybe get there. 51:30 But at the end of the day, I mean, I could see why both of them might leave, especially Seeler. 51:38 I don't know about Riley. 51:39 I mean, I don't really see him having much of a future in any kind of pro hockey kind of an angle, maybe some minor league stuff, but nothing really enduring. 51:49 So I don't know what's going to be important to him or not. 51:52 If he has interest in graduate school or anything like that, I guess it's hard to say. 51:58 All right. 51:59 I think we're good, guys. 52:01 Remember, you can follow Hammy at Hammy Hockey on Twitter, Vegoe at E, Vegoe on Twitter. 52:07 We'll be back next week to recap the series of St. 52:10 Cloud and preview the first Big Ten series of the year against Ohio State. 52:17 Until then, thanks for listening.