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. 0:41 Good evening, and welcome to The GPL Podcast. 0:46 Season's starting to wind down. 0:48 The boys went out to Michigan State last weekend, and Hammy, holy crap, another Jekyll and Hyde team, if you tell me. 0:57 Wow. 0:57 Yeah, well, I mean, I said that was gonna happen. 0:59 Yeah, I know, but really? 1:00 I mean, five zip? 1:03 That was- 1:03 Well, that I didn't expect. 1:04 I'll give you that much. 1:05 That was pathetic. 1:08 Yeah, I mean, I don't know. 1:09 Maybe they just kind of like got the rest on their laurels a little bit from the night before and the fact that Michigan had lost and given them a four-point lead. 1:16 Maybe they just kind of- 1:17 No, no. 1:18 I don't know, mentally took a break. 1:19 I don't know. 1:19 I'm not saying it's okay. 1:21 That was awful, dude. 1:23 I mean, are you kidding me? 1:26 I mean, they've been doing this to us all year, these great, good games, solid games, and then just crap games. 1:32 I mean, you look at the Michigan when they came to town, or actually both Michigan series. 1:37 One awful game, one great game. 1:39 Last weekend, you go and win 4-2, solid win. 1:42 The next night, 5-0. 1:45 Give me a break. 1:46 That was pathetic. 1:47 Well, man, it's just been, like you said, the story of the season. 1:51 I mean, it's been one of those cases where they just don't have the consistency for one reason or another. 1:56 And it just, you know, the effort, and I don't know if it's that or if it's the psychological standpoint. 2:02 I don't know what it is, but they just have not been able to, you know, string together a number of games where you're just like, okay, you know, maybe they're finding their groove finally. 2:11 It's like every week we talk about it, and we talk about, well, what's going to happen this weekend? 2:16 It's like you're always reluctant to say it's going to be a sweep because it's like you just can't count on it. 2:21 You know what I mean? 2:23 Inconsistency, that's all it is. 2:25 What do you think, Veegs? 2:28 Just out of the call, so I'm throwing a little loop for here. 2:32 Veegs had a hard time connecting, so I just thought I would throw it right to him, just to throw him into the fire. 2:36 But Veegs, we were just talking about it here. 2:39 These inconsistent efforts on these weekends, it's just getting pathetic. 2:42 I mean, they have one decent game, then they have one game, they just fall apart. 2:46 You look at all four games of Michigan this year. 2:49 Good game, terrible game. 2:52 Friday night, 4-2 win. 2:53 Solid victory, good going. 2:56 Saturday, blanked, 5-0. 2:58 That is just unacceptable. 3:02 Well, it is unacceptable. 3:03 I think all the players are disappointed with how they perform that weekend. 3:08 It's been tough this season for this team to have so many games where they've had to chase right away. 3:13 Fourth game in a row for them, giving up the first goal and having to battle back. 3:18 I don't think Shearhorn played his best game of the season. 3:22 I think that made it even harder for them to rally out of it. 3:25 Then the power play for the last month hasn't scored. 3:28 When you have those things going against you, it's hard to rally on a night when you just don't have it. 3:35 Well, yeah, I think Gopher State was saying that they haven't scored since Hockey Day Minnesota on the power play. 3:41 That's February 6th. 3:44 Yeah, it's been a long time. 3:46 They look really stagnant out there. 3:48 You know, they do get set up, and that's one of the things with the Lucia power play is he wants that consistent look so that they can get pucks to the net. 3:57 But right now, this team is just not creative. 4:00 There's not a lot of energy on the power play. 4:02 There's not traffic in front of the net. 4:04 There's no two-on-ones being created. 4:07 So I think I know they're working on it a lot this week. 4:10 I watched practice a little bit on Tuesday, and they're trying to infuse some of that creativity and some of that movement and energy. 4:18 But it's all going to come down to whether they can do it during a game. 4:22 Well, obviously Friday night was a much better game. 4:24 Obviously, they gave up the first goal, and it was a little more competitive. 4:28 They got the empty netter at the end. 4:29 What did you think about the Friday night game, Veegs? 4:33 I thought they didn't have their A game for that one either. 4:37 It wasn't a dominating performance by them. 4:40 They came out, gave up the early goal, and had to battle back. 4:44 I thought they were fortunate that Shearhorn played a good game on Friday. 4:49 He bailed out the defenseman a couple of times with some inopportune pinches leading to odd man rushes, a couple of turnovers. 4:59 I think they were fortunate to get the win on that. 5:03 Well, regardless, obviously, they had a terrible game Saturday night, but it wasn't a good time to lay an egg, but, Hammy, it did help that Michigan was swept by Ohio State in a home-and-home. 5:17 I don't think anyone saw that coming. 5:20 No, I mean, I certainly didn't. 5:23 I mean, Michigan's such a kind of potent team that you just don't expect them to kind of have, you know, I mean, they do have their lapses, of course. 5:30 I mean, it's not like they're a flawless team, but I was surprised. 5:33 I didn't think that they would sweep Ohio State either, just because, as we mentioned last week, that is a rivalry series for them, I mean, you know, in all sports. 5:43 They're a big rival with Ohio State, so, and plus being a home-and-home, you kind of have to expect that there's gonna be some points spread out between the two teams, but I didn't expect a sweep by any means. 5:56 So what that means, folks, is right now, Minnesota's got 39 points, Michigan's got 35 points. 6:02 I do believe that Minnesota only needs to get two points on the entire weekend, and they will have wrapped up their fifth regular season title in a row, Bigs, and that's only been done one other time by Boston University from 93 to 98. 6:17 So we may rip on the team, but, and the conference may be down, it's still, they won the last two years of the WCHA, and it's looking pretty good that they're gonna win the first three years of the Big Ten. 6:29 Well, you can only win the conference, you get put in new, right guys? 6:32 True. 6:35 You know, obviously those last years of the WCHA, they won the league, but I don't think they won a game at the final five those last few years, so that was pretty negative. 6:45 But I think the big thing for Minnesota this season has been their goaltending, you know, they lead the league in goals against, and I think that's probably the Achilles heel for Michigan. 6:55 You know, Racine is just not playing with any confidence, we saw that in the Saturday game against Minnesota, and you watch some of those highlights against Ohio State, and he is just rattled. 7:05 So I think Michigan's got a big issue there, and Minnesota's been pretty steady for the most part with Shearhorn. 7:12 Well, right now, Hammeh, it's looking like, I think we're almost, I don't know if we are mathematically eliminated, but if they want to get to the tournament, they're gonna have to win the Big Ten tournament. 7:23 Well, I mean, that's been the mentality for me for a long time, is because we just didn't play well. 7:27 I mean, I know that pair-wise can shake out and you can squeak in on the bubble, you know, depending on how you do in certain situations, and again, in the conference. 7:37 But nonetheless, I just kind of felt like, given how they performed outside of the conference this year, that they were pretty much gonna have to be kicking some ass down the stretch in order to make it. 7:46 And I mean, that's just kind of, and you know, let's face it, nobody's really expecting this team, even if they make it, to really do any significant damage. 7:54 So if they're gonna have any hope of going anywhere, you know, when it gets to be that time, they're gonna have to start doing something down the stretch that's unexpected and really kind of rattle off some wins. 8:05 But as we saw this last weekend, they just haven't been able to instill that kind of confidence in the fan base and certainly even in themselves. 8:14 And realistically, like you said, if they do get to the tournament, they're gonna be facing probably a St. 8:20 Cloud or a North Dakota right off the bat. 8:25 And I hate to tell you folks, but those teams are much better than Minnesota. 8:30 Well, you know, the one good thing is maybe that's the kind of thing that wakes the team up. 8:35 I mean, I'm not saying it's gonna rattle off anything of significance, but maybe that's something. 8:43 I mean, this team has the kind of talent where they can rise up in any kind of a one game situation, especially, you know, Shear Horn has played well this year, that they can beat teams. 8:53 It's just, can they do it consistently, you know, one after the other after the other? 8:58 That's the thing that they haven't really proven to do. 9:00 And I mean, Michigan is as potent as any team in the country offensively. 9:04 And, you know, we've beaten them a couple of times. 9:06 So it's not like they can't pull off victories against good teams. 9:10 It's just that they haven't been able to do it, you know, on a consistent basis. 9:14 Yeah, the consistency has definitely killed them. 9:18 Well, we've got a bunch of questions via Twitter. 9:20 So let's hit up some of those. 9:22 We've got Suffering Soda Fan wants to know, what's the most encouraging development for, it looks like he's, I don't know if he's meant this year, but he says for 2016-17, other than Shearhorn. 9:34 I mean, are things looking up for next year? 9:38 Hammy? 9:40 Well, I mean, I think that they'll have a couple of good defensive recruits to come in that are gonna be, you know, getting playing time. 9:45 So I think defensively, they're gonna be stronger. 9:48 I mean, you know, they might lose somebody like Brudzinski, but I mean, you know, offensively, he's good. 9:53 I don't know, defensively, he's great. 9:55 And I think that the depth on defense is gonna be, I think, better. 10:00 So I think that that's something to look forward to. 10:03 Certainly, I think that we've seen, I think a couple of the guys, you know, like Shehee and Novak have shown up this year, where I think that they're gonna be much more potent players as time goes along. 10:13 And, you know, I really think that if you look at potential departures, you know, fashioning is the big one that everybody wonders about, and I would probably think he's gonna be gone. 10:23 But other than that, you know, I think that a lot of the guys that you would expect to kind of contribute offensively will be back. 10:29 So I mean, I think that there's a lot to build on, but, you know, we just haven't seen that kind of consistency this year, and you just kind of hope that maybe some of these guys, they're gonna come back and be seniors, they're gonna, you know, kind of look at that as their last shot to really do something and kind of be inspired. 10:46 Veegs, anything to look forward to next year other than Shearhorn? 10:50 Well, I think getting Smetula into the lineup is gonna be a big bonus for this team. 10:55 I think him and Klus could be pretty dynamic together. 11:00 Definitely adding Zool Storf and Lindgren to the blue line will be a plus, you know, they'll have a little bit more depth there with guys who are more known for moving the puck and being great skaters. 11:11 I think the addition of Rem Pitlick could be good for this team, you know, he's been a big scorer in the USHL and, you know, as somebody whose development curve is definitely on the way up. 11:23 I think Tyler Sheehy was a big surprise this season for how effective he was stepping in the lineup, he's one of those older freshmen. 11:31 And then I think Novak hasn't been the same since his concussion, so I think another year under his belt will definitely get him a chance to return to form. 11:41 Okay, another question, we got Mark Erickson wondering, what's the timeline on Middlestead coming to the U? 11:47 Hammy, take a stab at Middlestead? 11:51 That's sort of to be determined yet. 11:53 I mean, I know early on in the year, the talk was that, you know, that he hadn't done enough to really legitimately accelerate, but now apparently, you know, he must have put in a lot of work here in the last few months, you know, because it sounds like he does have had that as an opportunity. 12:11 I mean, anybody who watched him at the state tournament, you know, obviously, he's, you know, well proven on the high school level, and, you know, I think that he's got enough skill and size that, you know, maybe he could accelerate and still be a pretty good contributor. 12:27 And plus, you have to really think about the fact that he's gonna be, more than likely, a pretty high first-round pick. 12:34 And, you know, if you don't bring him in next year, maybe you only get him for a year. 12:39 I mean, you know what I'm saying? 12:40 You don't know, when they get picked that high, you don't know when they're gonna go. 12:44 I mean, if you look at Besser with North Dakota, I mean, wouldn't shock me at all if he's won and done. 12:53 You know, he's had a really good year, and it wouldn't shock me in the least if he goes. 12:57 So, I mean, when you get those guys, you kind of want to make sure you get them as much as you can, and I think that he could contribute next year. 13:03 But if he goes to the USHL, that's cool too, but I don't think that decision has been made yet. 13:08 Thoughts on Middlestad Veegs? 13:10 Just I know Youth Hockey Hub reported that he is still pursuing the acceleration to get in next year, but again, it's not certain. 13:20 He's a 2017 draft eligible. 13:22 He's a late November birthday for 98, so he's not that much younger than a guy like Ryan Lindgren. 13:30 So I think he's ready. 13:32 I mean, you watch him play in that state tournament, and he's got the acceleration and the handle. 13:38 And I think he plays well as a center. 13:40 He gets down below the dots in his own zone and plays all 200 feet. 13:47 Okay, what else do we have here? 13:49 Oh, Tim has one. 13:51 Except he didn't please one GPL fan who was pretty critical of them after the state tournament championship game. 14:00 I think they got beat by depth. 14:04 When it came down to it, they were rolling four lines and Edenbury wasn't, and they just didn't have the gas, don't you think? 14:12 Yeah, he's a powder. 14:14 He's a bad sportsman, blah, blah, blah. 14:16 It's like, dude, he's 17. 14:17 Just chill out. 14:18 I mean, you know, like we all were perfect at 17. 14:22 Hell, I was out drinking beers on the weekends and being a crazy man, you know. 14:26 And having long hair, dude, that picture was awesome. 14:31 Yeah, I had the graduation photo. 14:32 Yeah, that's for sure. 14:34 But in any case, the point is that he's an angel compared to a lot of kids. 14:38 So, I mean, let's just kind of put it in perspective. 14:43 Well, I think they got beat by Goaltend. 14:45 I thought that, too. 14:46 I thought the goalie played really well, and I think that was the difference in the game. 14:51 Middleset created a lot of opportunities, but there weren't a lot of second shot opportunities. 14:56 So, I think that was the difference. 14:59 Kelly's Good Books wants to know, what happened to Tarek Baker? 15:08 Whose version do you want to believe? 15:10 I mean, I don't even know if I want to go there. 15:15 There's so much bullshit with that. 15:17 I don't know. 15:17 I just, look, you know what? 15:19 I think it's one of those cases where it's probably a little bit of a frustration on their part because there wasn't any guarantees being given that he was for sure going to come in next year. 15:32 If you've ever followed his step-dads, I mean, they're big Wisconsin fans in general, sports fans, including Badger Sports. 15:44 So I'm not shocked. 15:46 To me, you have to be, look, I'm not going to mince my words here. 15:49 You have to be a fucking idiot to want to go to Wisconsin right now with Eaves. 15:55 Granted, he's probably going to get a shit can, but to me, it's like, unless you're just dying to get your education there, which, hey, that's your reasoning, cool. 16:05 But as far as hockey goes, what the frick would you want to go play there? 16:08 I don't know, especially as a forward. 16:11 To me, you got to have your head examined, but whatever. 16:15 Well, we've got a bunch more questions coming in, VA Twitter, but before we get to those, let's hear from our sponsor. 16:22 Vintage Minnesota Hockey wants you to take a step back in time and keep the memories of Minnesota Hockey heritage alive forever. 16:30 vintagemnhockey.com features history from around the entire state of Minnesota. 16:35 One feature that I enjoy on a daily basis is the This Day in Minnesota Hockey history that is on their website. 16:42 They have tons of info on what's happening on any particular day in Minnesota Hockey history. 16:47 Now, for those of you who want that brand new gold jersey that just came out this season for the Gophers, the one with the Minnesota emblem on the collar, Vintage has it for you. 16:57 So make sure you visit the store and take a look at that jersey. 16:59 They just made it available within the last week. 17:02 You can get it customized with your number, your name, however you want. 17:07 If you use the code GPLPodcast, you can get 10 percent off your order. 17:12 So make sure you head over to the store and head over to vintagemnhockey.com. 17:18 Okay, boys, I'm seeing a bunch more questions here. 17:21 So let's get to it. 17:22 Wow, it's a busy week. 17:24 It is. 17:24 That's just fine with me. 17:26 Eric, we heard from him on the middle step, but he also wants to know, does hanging two Big Ten banners salvage the season? 17:33 It looks like they're going to hang the regular season. 17:35 If they want to make the tournament, they're going to have to win the playoff championship as well. 17:39 Does that salvage the season, Veegs? 17:42 Well I think you had to temper your expectations going into this season. 17:46 They had so many new guys to come in the line up. 17:50 Shear Home was such a question mark and goal. 17:52 I think them hanging a banner is a nice achievement. 17:54 It's not what the Gopher fans expect every year, but this was just a weird year for how the team is developing. 18:00 If they can capitalize this weekend, I think it's an achievement. 18:05 Any thoughts on that, Hammy? 18:07 Well, I think it depends on when you're looking at it. 18:11 I mean, right now, I don't think that many people would say, oh yeah, that's this wonderful, awesome achievement or whatever, but as I said on GPL, I'd rather see them hang in banners because 10 years from now, 15 years from now, if you think people are going to be like, yeah, that banner, I don't know. 18:26 I mean, the Big Ten was kind of shitty that year. 18:29 It's like nobody talks like that 10 or 15 years later. 18:32 They might say, you know, it's not a national championship banner or whatever, but nonetheless, people don't tend to look back a decade or more later and say, yeah, that year, the conference wasn't very good. 18:45 They're just happy to see more banners and more years and more history and tradition. 18:51 That's what people tend to look at. 18:53 And so, to me, it's great. 18:55 Obviously, at this point in time, it hasn't been a great season, so you kind of have to kind of keep it in that perspective. 19:03 All right, Luke Olson wants to know, better Gopher Badger moment, Erman Pendley shot or Kessel Goal at Madison? 19:10 What do you think, Veegs? 19:12 I just have to go with the Kessel Goal at Madison. 19:15 It was like one of the first times you've seen a player do that kind of celebration for the Gophers, and it just warmed the heart. 19:25 Take that, you stinking BADgers! 19:28 Yeah, that was my first trip to Madison, was that game. 19:31 So I was fortunate to be there for that one, and I was actually at the Erman one, too. 19:36 The Erman one was still pretty darn cool though. 19:40 We hadn't seen a penalty shot in ages, and the crowd was, the Gophers had just gotten back in. 19:46 I think they had just tied the game just before that, it was quite the cool atmosphere. 19:51 But I think I'm with you, Vegs, I'd probably stick with Kessel. 19:55 What do you think, Hammeh? 19:56 Which moment is your favorite, or do you have a different one? 20:00 No, I think from a Gopher arrogance standpoint, the Kessel one is real good, because you got that kind of trash talk in Madison, being the Madison kid, you kind of got to like that. 20:12 But then the Erman goal was awesome. 20:16 The Erman goal was awesome. 20:17 I mean, the crowd was so loud after he scored, and it was kind of a key moment and everything. 20:24 One of my personal favorite memories when it comes to the Gophers is when they beat them in the final five in Milwaukee, I think it was, back in the mid-90s. 20:34 Checos overtime goal? 20:36 Yep, that was Checo. 20:38 I think he got the pass from the defensive zone from, I think it was Eric Rasmussen. 20:44 Caught the pocket about around the red line in full stride and kind of just threw it down to his stick and got in on the breakaway and scored the game winner. 20:53 And that was pretty sweet because I think that BADger team, if I remember correctly, they were really hot. 21:00 They didn't have a great year that year, I don't think, but they were really hot at the time. 21:04 And so they were a threat to actually make the NCAAs. 21:07 And I think that ruined their season, ruined their opportunity, knocked them out of their contention. 21:12 So I mean, that was certainly in Wisconsin, something that I remember pretty fondly as well. 21:17 But there's a lot of good memories over the years. 21:19 We've had a lot of success against them and it's been fun. 21:23 Gopher State himself, Nate Wells, he likes the Tony Lucia diving tip-in or maybe the Nate Schmidt goal ahead goal. 21:30 I mean, the Nate Schmidt goal was pretty darn cool too. 21:34 The way he saved it at the blue line and just, you know, deeked and blasted it, that was pretty darn cool. 21:41 And on the Schmidt goal, there's that classic Eaves reaction afterwards. 21:45 You can find it on YouTube where he's just like, you got to be kidding me. 21:50 I can't believe that just happened to me again. 21:54 Well obviously, the BADgers are coming to town this weekend guys. 21:58 As we know, they are terrible. 22:01 I mean, really bad. 22:05 Does Eaves make it past Thursday night of the Big Ten tournament, guys? 22:12 I don't know. 22:12 Does Wisconsin really give a shit about hockey anymore? 22:15 I mean, I don't know if they'll play Thursday afternoon or Thursday night or whatever, but I don't think they're going to win that first game. 22:25 And will he have a job Friday morning? 22:27 Who knows? 22:30 I mean, honestly, to me, it's like they kind of make excuses. 22:38 The last year, the fall guys were the assistants, and it's like, well, what's going to be an excuse if they do keep home this year? 22:44 Is it like, oh, well, we didn't give them the whole staff enough of a chance to make a dent in things? 22:51 The we were young excuse? 22:54 You know, but I just, like I said earlier, to me, any kid who just wants to join that disaster, I would be like, unless you're really dying for your degree to be from that school, it's like, you're crazy. 23:08 I don't get it, but. 23:12 Oh, boy. 23:13 Yeah, well, let's just hope, you know, the Gopher Sweep this weekend are in their third in the row, regular season championship, build some momentum going into the tournament, because, like you said, after this weekend, it's, you don't want the tournament, season's over, because you're not going to get in any other way. 23:33 So who knows, boys? 23:36 Who knows? 23:37 What else do we have coming in on Twitter here? 23:40 A couple of things. 23:48 Tim Hapke wants to know, was anyone coming in next year that can help improve the power play? 23:54 Well, I mean, it depends on, you know, what's going to happen from a defensive standpoint. 23:59 I mean, a couple defensemen that are coming in that, you know, have some more skill than, you know, some of these other guys. 24:05 And so like a Lindgren I could see being on the power play unit. 24:08 I mean, I don't know. 24:09 I mean, obviously it's a long way off, and we don't know how some of the freshmen are going to shake out, you know, once they come in. 24:15 But that would be one of the things that would come immediately to mind is, you know, some of those, a couple of those defensive guys that are able to kind of contribute right away. 24:25 And I'm sure that they'll get opportunities because it's not like we've been stellar in that department this year. 24:30 And, you know, so that's one of the good things for those guys. 24:34 And, you know, it also depends on, you know, what, you know, who's returning and, you know, what's going to be the top six and guys like Pitlick coming in. 24:42 And we talked about Middlestad and, you know, if he was going to come in. 24:45 So I just, you know, want to see, but I think that there'll be more skill next year. 24:49 I think there's no doubt about that. 24:55 Are you on mute again? 24:57 Sorry, I was. 25:00 Question from John Candles earlier today, I don't know if that's how you pronounce your name, but he's wondering is how hot is the seat for Lucia? 25:10 I mean, obviously, this next season is last year of his contract, but there's no AD right now. 25:18 I mean, would they even think about doing anything? 25:25 You know, I mean, that's like the million dollar question that we've been talking about. 25:30 I mean, no coach wants to kind of come into a lame duck season. 25:35 You know, that's not going to help. 25:37 You know, it doesn't help the program, frankly. 25:39 You know, I mean, because when you're out there recruiting, granted, it might be a little bit different for, you go for hockey because kids probably are picking the program as much as anything. 25:48 I mean, they're not as, I think, they're probably one of the few programs where it's more just about the overall situation as opposed to it just being coach driven. 25:57 So I think it probably wouldn't hurt them quite like it might a lot of other places, but nonetheless, you still don't want a lame duck kind of situation. 26:05 I don't know. 26:06 To me, he hasn't earned any additional years. 26:09 I mean, it's not like anyway is going to be convinced by this year that he's made a better case for more time, but I don't know. 26:18 Until you know who the AD is and what their philosophy is, who knows? 26:24 I guess it would be safe to say, Veegs, that he might be on the hot seat with the fans, but it's just TBD with the administration. 26:32 Yeah, I think it is a little bit, but at the same point, they win. 26:36 They've sold out the building ticket-wise. 26:40 He's not in charge of the scholarship seating. 26:42 He's not in charge of raising ticket prices. 26:45 His players graduate. 26:47 They've gone on to the NHL. 26:50 This year isn't what the fans expect, but he's done a pretty decent job, and I don't see any issue with them giving him an extension next year. 26:59 Who? 27:01 That's just it, man. 27:03 Well, it also depends on when are they going to hire somebody to take over the AD role. 27:10 If that happens to me, if that happens this spring, I could see a move being made, but if it's going to happen later than that, it's kind of like, do you really want to make any change that late in the game? 27:22 I don't know. 27:23 Well, they are making decisions. 27:25 They gave John Anderson the extension as a baseball coach. 27:28 They decided to let Patino get past his buyout date. 27:32 They hired Tracy Clays. 27:34 If it comes to a head and Lucia forces this situation, I think Kaler makes a decision, but I don't think that's something Lucia wants to be doing during the season. 27:42 Well, to be fair, though, with Patino, that was a financial decision as much as anything. 27:47 I can't see the U throwing away, what was it, like $7.5 million? 27:51 They had an option to get rid of them before that buyout kicked in. 27:56 Well, whatever the case may be, I don't know. 28:00 I just think if something's gonna happen, it's probably gonna be booster driven and some of the heavy hitters behind the scenes saying, look, we gotta make it change. 28:08 I don't mean the guys talking to city pages, I mean just like the new nannies of the world and whatever, that if they don't feel like this is the right path to be taken, and those are the guys that are really gonna count when these decisions are made and there's no AD around to full-time AD, so I guess we'll see. 28:29 Another question from Luke Olson who's been tweeting us quite a bit tonight. 28:34 How about for you, Veegs, anyone from the high school tournament this past weekend who may have been under the radar for you? 28:40 I thought Tyler Jette from Farmington stood out as a defenseman who might be an option for Minnesota in the double A bracket. 28:49 Then Deb McCabe from St. 28:51 Paul Academy, he had that great bar down goal in the tournament. 28:56 I think he showed up as a player to watch as well. 28:59 Now, was that the first trip for St. 29:01 Paul Academy? 29:02 That was their first trip at the Minnesota State High School League. 29:05 From your alma mater. 29:07 Yeah. 29:08 So it was nice to see the boys get there. 29:11 I know Matt Funks done a great job with that program and they've got a group of kids there who are really talented and work hard and Deb McCabe is probably the top player from that group. 29:22 That's too bad you were sick. 29:23 Didn't get to enjoy the game very much, did you? 29:26 Yeah, I got to watch it on TV, so that was a plus. 29:31 I wish I could have been there. 29:33 The Hermantown game was a bit of a mismatch for any team in Class A, I think, this year. 29:40 Oh, but the Hermantown Whiners finally got their tournament victory. 29:43 I mean, after ten bajillion years of taking second place, they finally get to win, everyone gets to be happy. 29:52 Now we got the people bitching, you know, move up to double A, move up to double A. 29:58 And they can't next year because of the way the High School League does things, you know, it's a two-year cycle, so they're going to be in A again next year, and the team looks just as deep next year. 30:09 Hammey, let's go with this one for you. 30:11 Tim Hapke wants to know, do you think Jackson Nelson will make the US. 30:15 National Development Team? 30:17 Is he going to go back to school, or is he done with high school? 30:21 I think it's probably pretty safe to say he's done all he can in the high school level, where he goes to school at least. 30:27 I mean, I think, I don't know if he'll make the USA team, because frankly I don't have enough of a feel for what the national landscape is, as far as, you know, the best forwards that are going to go on to that tournament, or that tryout, I should say. 30:40 Who has his junior rights? 30:45 Is it Sioux Falls or something like that? 30:47 Off the top of my head, I don't know. 30:50 I don't know. 30:52 Vegoe will find it. 30:53 He always finds things quick. 30:56 Yeah, where's Minnesota State of Hockey? 30:57 He usually does that stuff. 30:59 I don't know. 31:02 But this kid's a superstar, isn't he? 31:05 Wasn't he only a sophomore this year? 31:08 Yeah, actually, I don't know if he's even been drafted. 31:11 Maybe he has been. 31:11 I don't know. 31:13 I thought he was just a sophomore in high school, wasn't he? 31:16 Yeah, I don't know if he's been drafted. 31:17 You know, off the top of my head, I don't know. 31:19 But as far as if he's been USHL drafted, somebody probably will say something somewhere. 31:24 But you know, I think that he's pretty much, there's no reason for him to go back to where he's been. 31:30 I mean, it's great to see you guys have a lot of success, and you know, even if it's against weak competition. 31:37 But to me, at some point, if you're going to be getting a scholarship, especially to a Big Ten school, like the U of M, I mean, you've got to start proving yourself against higher competition when you start creeping into your, like, junior and senior years. 31:48 And he's not going to get that in high school where he's at. 31:51 So he needs to move on. 31:53 So this is why we broadcast live, folks, because we've already got Gopher State Nate Wells telling us he's a 2000, so he doesn't get drafted until this year in the USHL. 32:03 Yeah, that's what I thought. 32:04 I mean, that's why I was kind of like, I don't know if he's been drafted. 32:06 So I kind of thought that in the first place. 32:08 But yeah, I just think he needs to move on. 32:11 And if he signs a tender somewhere or whatever, I mean, that would to me be the wise move because it's going back and playing high school again after what he's already accomplished. 32:20 It just seems like it'd be a wasted development year. 32:25 Okay, boy, we've had a lot of questions tonight. 32:28 I kind of enjoy that. 32:30 And yes, he is a sophomore. 32:31 Geez. 32:33 That is young. 32:35 Is he a one and done hammy? 32:37 Is he a what? 32:38 Is he a one and done? 32:40 We're probably way too early for that. 32:42 I mean, let's be honest. 32:43 We saw what Seth Ambrose was like, you know what I mean, back in the day. 32:46 That's true. 32:48 You know, so you got to just wait and see how it kind of pans out a little bit more. 32:51 And even with Ambrose, it's not like he had a crappy career in the USHL. 32:56 He did pretty well when he was in that league. 32:57 So even that's not necessarily a guarantee. 33:00 But I think Nelson, I think he's a better player at the same stage. 33:06 But nonetheless, that doesn't necessarily mean anything. 33:09 So we'll just have to see how it pans out over time. 33:12 Yeah, I think Nelson's got a little bit of work ahead of him. 33:14 He's not going to be quite a one and done player. 33:16 He's probably more like a Blake Wheeler type player in his development path where he's going to need some time playing NCAA hockey to get where he needs to be. 33:27 We're fine with that. 33:28 We're more than fine with that. 33:31 We can use these guys to last a little longer at the U. 33:35 Or actually when they get to the U, they actually perform like we hope they do. 33:40 Because obviously we've had quite a few guys come in and just not quite get there. 33:45 Well, you know, the thing for me, I've always been very skeptical about the bigger players that dominate because of their size. 33:53 And not that that's Nelson completely, but I've always been real careful about going after those guys that are too early, like 15, 16 year olds that clearly have a very healthy size advantage on their peers. 34:07 And so I've always been leery of going after those kinds of guys. 34:11 So it's kind of like be careful what you do in those situations. 34:17 All right, let's get back to the BADgers coming to Town Veegs. 34:20 Do the BADgers have any hope to win a game this weekend? 34:24 I guess you never know what the way the Gopher has been playing, but the last time we played them, we pretty much embarrassed them in Madison. 34:32 Yeah, I think everything went right for Minnesota that weekend. 34:36 So you kind of be cautious about that because Jurisac has been playing better, I think, for Wisconsin the last couple weeks. 34:42 Minnesota's power play has been pretty ineffective the last month. 34:47 So those are reasons for concern coming in this weekend. 34:49 I still think they get three points and win a conference title. 34:53 I'm not confident enough to say they'll sweep though. 34:57 Do you think Sheerhorn plays Saturday night if they win Friday night? 35:02 No, I bet they give somebody else a look in that if they get the title on Friday locked up. 35:08 I mean, I believe Nate said that they played all four goalies this year. 35:13 Yeah, you don't see that happening too often in major D1 sports. 35:16 Well, that's in North Dakota and you're getting rid of goalies, but back in the old... 35:22 I don't know. 35:24 Four goalies is, I mean, obviously, they were in reprieving Sheerhorn when he's been a little shaky, though. 35:31 I don't know if... 35:32 Did Lucia address that in all this media day yesterday, Veegs, about why he pulled them? 35:38 Was it more for the team or did he think he was having a shaky night? 35:42 No, he just thought the first goal was kind of a soft one and the third one was kind of a soft one. 35:47 So the way the team was playing, there was no sense leaving him out there if he wasn't on his game. 35:52 So they wanted to give another guy a look. 35:55 And as usual, you got audio for us from Lucia, Connor Riley and Hudson Fashing, I believe, this week, right? 36:03 Correct. 36:04 That's good. 36:04 Remember, we always put that at the end of the podcast. 36:07 So if you're listening live, too bad, you'll have to download it. 36:11 That's just the way it is. 36:13 What else, Hammeh, what are your thoughts on this weekend? 36:17 Sweep or go home? 36:19 Well, I mean, I think that they, I would kind of win both games. 36:22 I don't, you don't have, they don't have the luxury of taking the foot off the gas given the fact that they haven't exactly been consistent. 36:28 So, to me, it's like, you put, you know, your main guns out there, both games. 36:33 I don't really give a damn about clinching. 36:35 It's like, you gotta, you know, build some consistency and try to build some momentum because, like we mentioned, if they're not gonna win the Big Ten tournament, they're not gonna be in the NCAAs. 36:44 And even if they make the NCAAs, they gotta, you know, have to have some kind of confidence and momentum. 36:49 And so, to me, you keep playing all your big guns, no matter if you do clinch that first night or not. 36:57 Oh, one thing we haven't talked about, and speaking of big guns, is old Leon Brischtod got the boot for Saturday's game. 37:05 I'm sure that's what caused them to lose 5-0, but after going back and seeing what he did, it was probably deserved, huh, Vee? 37:13 Probably deserved, but you don't usually see those kind of suspensions handed down from the Big Ten. 37:18 And you don't usually see it, like, a couple hours before the game either. 37:22 Usually would happen in the morning. 37:24 Right. 37:24 Lucia Stoddy had no idea that the suspension was coming, and he doesn't even have his phone on him during the afternoons before games, and I know they had to track him down to let him know and get a hold of him. 37:36 So I think it was kind of a surprise, and they had to juggle the line up, and they juggled the lines right after the first couple of shifts as well, and they just never recovered. 37:46 But, you know, probably a dirty play. 37:49 Just surprising to see the suspension. 37:53 Did you see it at all, Hammeh, the replay of Leon's little stick work? 37:58 I did not catch that, so I cannot comment. 38:02 But if it was, I'll take your word for it, if it was worth the suspension, and you know, hey, we look at this stuff from other teams' perspectives, we got to hold our guys to the same standards. 38:15 I think most people were just, you know, some people might have said, oh, it shouldn't have been called. 38:19 I'm like, you know, it should have been called during the game, obviously. 38:23 And I don't have a problem with them coming back and looking at stuff like that and suspending guys either. 38:26 I mean, I would actually prefer they do that. 38:29 I think it was just kind of the lateness and the day, like you said, they couldn't get a hold of people and the fact that they didn't know until just a few hours before the game that he wasn't going to be playing and they didn't had no idea was even coming. 38:41 I think that's where people had some problems with it. 38:46 Also, truth. 38:48 Yeah. 38:49 All right, guys, anything else or are we good? 38:54 I mean, it's not exactly like it's the big series, rivalry series, given how Wisconsin has been this year and last year. 39:03 It's kind of hard to get super excited and jacked up for it. 39:08 Wisconsin's got to get its shit together so we can actually feel very passionate about this rivalry again. 39:16 In the conference? 39:17 Yeah, I mean, you know, it's not like we don't enjoy beating them still, but it's just not quite the same when they're, you know, as crappy as they've been. 39:26 Well, we'll be back next week to recap what I'm going to call a sweep and another Big Ten regular season championship. 39:35 Remember, you can always follow Hammy at Hammy Hockey on Twitter, Eric Vegoe at eVegoe on Twitter. 39:42 We'll be back next week to recap that sweep because it's going to be a sweep, and we'll preview the Big Ten tournament. 39:48 It's going to be do or die, folks. 39:51 So just keep your fingers crossed. 39:54 Until then, thanks for listening. 40:21 At this point of the season, do you take a game like Saturday and kind of throw them away? 40:25 Well, I mean, yes and no. 40:27 I mean, they're continuing to be learning lessons in games throughout the season, and that's what you wouldn't want to do. 40:35 You know, there's good and bad. 40:36 I mean, you're disappointed you don't win on Saturday, but you're happy, you know, you end up splitting on the road. 40:41 And in the Big Ten, we ended up 7-3 on the road, which is pretty good. 40:46 You know, we knew Michigan State was playing better, and they certainly showed that better than how they played this weekend, and played more like a team. 40:52 I think we all expected them to be from their goaltender on out. 40:55 They have a pretty veteran group. 40:56 And, you know, the previous couple of years, we've run and tied, and this time we've won and lost. 41:01 But, you know, I think this year we had more points against them than we did in the previous couple of years. 41:05 So we put ourselves in a good spot. 41:07 So now we come home and play our final home weekend. 41:10 How do you guard against overconfidence or anything like that? 41:13 Knowing where Wisconsin is, knowing what your team needs to do to... 41:15 Well, I mean, I don't see how we can be overconfident about anything. 41:19 We've proven that we can beat anybody and we've also proven that anybody can beat us. 41:23 We certainly are a team with plenty of flaws. 41:26 But when we are on, we play a pretty good brand of hockey. 41:32 Wisconsin is a much improved team over the course of the season. 41:35 They're not the same team as what they were a year ago. 41:38 All you have to do is look at the shots are even this year. 41:42 They haven't been able to win on a consistent basis, but a lot of ties, one-goal games or just beat Penn State here the last weekend. 41:50 So with a young group, you see how they've improved throughout the season. 41:55 We were able to beat them a couple of times, Hanley and Madison, but for me, that was just one of those weekends where everything went our way. 42:01 We've all been in games and in our sport plenty of time. 42:04 When Vegoe has a bad game, you really don't have much of a chance to win. 42:07 That's just the way it is. 42:09 He struggled a little bit, especially on the Saturday we were there, but he's had a nice, the Jurassic has had a really nice freshman year for them, you know, coming in and so for us, you know, we got to try to win a game, obviously. 42:22 It's important to try to win the Big Ten. 42:24 It's important for, you know, the end year with the NCAA is where we're sitting squarely on the bubble, so the more we can do to help ourselves, the better off it is for us. 42:32 But, you know, it's that point in time where you either do it or you don't. 42:37 Are special teams more important this time of year? 42:41 Only if you score on them, right? 42:43 Yeah, I mean, we've been very streaky on our specialty teams, both our power play and penalty kill. 42:48 Where, you know, it seems like we either give up a couple on the penalty kill or we don't give up any for a few games. 42:54 You know, all of a sudden, the power play, we haven't done a whole lot. 42:57 We haven't had a lot of chances, you know, all that we did on Saturday, but it was a little bit disruptive not having me on and having to move things around. 43:04 But, you know, it's important. 43:05 I mean, you want to be able to get a power play goal every night you play. 43:08 It just becomes more difficult to score five on five. 43:11 And, you know, if you get that power play goal, it can give you momentum. 43:15 It makes your top end guys feel a little bit better about their game too. 43:18 When did you find out about the unsuspension? 43:20 Did it surprise you at all? 43:21 Yeah, I found out about two o'clock Saturday afternoon. 43:24 So it was, I think I had a text on my phone around a little afternoon, but by then we were at our meetings. 43:31 And normally I don't even look at my phone in the afternoon. 43:34 It's on silent because I take my afternoon nap. 43:36 So I did look at it. 43:39 I saw a note from Piotrowski, and so I followed up with a phone call. 43:43 So I did not have an inkling that that was what it was about. 43:49 So he told me and he sent me the link of what happened. 43:54 I did not see it happen in the game. 43:56 So he made the decision that he couldn't play that game. 43:59 You touched on not being overconfident or deserving not to be overconfident. 44:03 But how much have you seen the guys regain their confidence over the last month or so? 44:06 Well, I mean, it's, you know, we take a couple of steps forward and take a step back. 44:10 Take a couple of steps forward and take a step back. 44:12 That's kind of how it's been throughout this season. 44:15 And so it's like it ended. 44:16 They'll come to work Monday through Thursday. 44:18 And you hope that they play the way they can play on a Friday and Saturday night and get rewarded. 44:24 You know, we've certainly had our fair share of ups and downs throughout the course of the season. 44:28 But I give our guys credit that, you know, they've hung in there and put themselves in the position that we have just last weekend of the season. 44:37 How much pride should the guys take? 44:38 And even the guys dating so many years back and the fact that you potentially, if they get a win this week, you can continue this during your conference. 44:44 Well, I mean, it's, I mean, we have a chance to win five in a row. 44:47 I don't know when that, the last time that's happened. 44:49 So, I mean, we talk about every year, the goal is to try to hang a banner. 44:53 And you basically have three chances to hang a banner. 44:55 So the more you can do that, the more you can feel good about yourself. 45:00 Although, you know, we all want to be in the NCAA Tournament. 45:02 And that's the real focal point. 45:04 But still, to be able to look up in the rafters and say, you know, when I was a part of that, that's important. 45:10 You were the first WCHA coach to win three titles in a row. 45:13 Now you're looking at potentially five if you win a game this weekend. 45:15 What does that mean to you? 45:18 You know, consistency that our players have been able to bring it, you know, through a lot of different players, a lot of different teams. 45:27 And, you know, it's not easy to do. 45:30 I mean, we've said it many times at, even with this group. 45:34 I mean, are we the most talented team in our league? 45:36 I'm not sure we are, but we're in a position to do something. 45:39 You know, whether we get it done or not, we'll find out. 45:41 But, you know, I think as you look back to, you know, last year in the WCHA, that was important to save your part of the last one. 45:49 And then, you know, in the first year in the Big Ten, you know, that's all something brand new. 45:53 And you want to try to win that first one. 45:55 And you just, you know, you want to keep winning as much as you possibly can, because we all know, winning never gets old. 46:01 And being a part of a championship never gets old. 46:04 Big guys training, is there might not be any room for error? 46:07 You know, it's one game, I mean, at a time. 46:09 I mean, I think it's fair to say that any more stumbles, then we'll probably have to be in a situation to rely on, trying to win the Big Ten the following weekend. 46:17 But you know what, that's two weeks away. 46:19 We're not gonna worry about what's gonna happen. 46:21 Two weeks away, you know, I think we're all in the near begin. 46:24 So you want to try to finish in the top two for seeding purposes and not have that play in game on Thursday. 46:29 Not that it matters a lot on Friday, but I think it can come into play on Saturday when it becomes a game three situation. 46:36 You know, so we've been able to do that. 46:38 And you know, now we put ourselves in the position that we have based on our Big Ten record to try to do something special this weekend. 46:45 So, you know, it's senior weekend and that's always a special day on Saturday night. 46:50 So, you know, hopefully our guys can go out with another banner. 46:53 Any flashbacks for you to your first year of Colorado College, where you put yourself in good position to win the conference title, and yet you may have more work to do? 47:00 Yeah. 47:02 Jamie Ram's not playing, is he? 47:06 There's a name for the passing. 47:10 We'll worry about next weekend, next weekend. 47:12 You know, that was a little bit different situation when you go back a long time, about 1993, 94, and because of some of the parameters, they, for whatever reason, they had that year, they took them out. 47:23 If they wouldn't have had those, we would have been in. 47:25 And so, you know, all we can do is worry about this weekend and we play Wisconsin, it's arrival. 47:31 We have to try to win a game on Friday night and move on to Saturday and then the regular season's over. 47:37 You know, it may or may not come down to having to win two games the following weekend, but you know, if you don't win on Friday night, it's all a good point the following weekend. 47:44 So we'll worry about this week and get our preparation and then, you know, see what happens around the country to see the position you're in. 47:51 But, you know, we need to win games and there's no question. 47:54 With the number of early goals coming up the past two weeks and passing them off, is there an added emphasis to get one early and just plan a good time? 48:00 Well, I mean, yeah, you put yourself, I mean, it's this day and age. 48:03 You don't want to be chasing the game. 48:05 And, you know, last four games, we've given up the first goal. 48:07 It's in some ways a surprise that we've been able to go two and two in that situation. 48:12 So, you know, some of them have just been some just clean, you know, here you go giveaways. 48:17 Nothing that the other teams, I think three of the four actually have been that way. 48:20 And, you know, that's just kind of uncharacteristic. 48:24 And some of them are just nobody's within 20 feet of us. 48:26 And it just kind of dribbles off our stick and here you go. 48:29 But that's this time of the year, you can't give away goals like that. 48:34 I think that was the frustrating thing last Saturday is that, you know, I felt certainly a couple of the goals, we just here you go on a silver platter. 48:41 And you just get to get beat when you do that. 48:44 When you look back to before Big Ten play, how unexpected is it to be in position like this with the chance to win the title? 48:50 Well, you know, I think when the year began, everybody kind of pointed to Michigan rightfully. 48:54 So it was deeply talented and, you know, we knew Penn State was going to be better. 48:59 We knew, I mean, I think we thought Michigan State was going to be, they fought for the crown the very last weekend and had a nucleus of their team coming back. 49:05 But every year is a new year. 49:07 I mean, you don't know how guys are going to respond. 49:09 We knew we had a whole new turnover with a lot of different guys. 49:11 And that's hit home for me when we're at Michigan, looking at ten different guys in our lineup versus the Big Ten playoff title game of the previous spring. 49:20 But, you know, the guys have come along in some areas. 49:22 I mean, we've done some good things this year. 49:25 We've had some disappointments this year. 49:27 But it's kind of been a year that I expected, to be honest, with the ups and downs. 49:31 But I'm proud of our guys. 49:33 They've been able to win the right games. 49:35 We've been fortunate to win four overtime games in the Big Ten to put us in the position that we're in today. 49:42 Mike, he's under some fire at Wisconsin for what they've done the last two years. 49:45 What's your relationship like with him? 49:47 Have you talked to him at all this season? 49:48 No, I mean, Mike's kind of a private person. 49:51 So, I mean, he probably opens up a little bit more in the spring, in the off season, than he does during the season. 49:56 So, you don't interact that much. 49:58 And, you know, that's probably a little bit different with what coaching is like today than maybe it was 20 years ago. 50:03 I remember I was talking to Dr. 50:05 Suri last week, and he still remembers the story of playing at the old Air Force Academy. 50:09 And, you know, I think we meet him on Friday night before the game on Saturday. 50:13 My wife brings him a bag of chocolate chip cookies. 50:16 Those things don't happen to me anymore. 50:18 It's a day in age. 50:20 And so, you know, that was a little bit of a throwback age. 50:23 It was a little more congealiality, or what I'm looking for in the interaction. 50:31 Today, it's a little bit more, you know, you're worried about your own program, and trying to have your own success. 50:37 Have your own health this weekend? 50:39 It's good to go. 50:40 Eric's confidence okay after being lifted on Saturday? 50:43 Yeah, I think that's fine. 50:44 It was one of those games where, you know what, he probably just wasn't quite feeling it, and you're down 3-0, and you get more important games to go, and there was an opportunity to try to get Brock a game. 50:54 And so, you're playing the odds a little bit at that point in time. 50:58 You're down 3-0. 50:59 We're not the most high-scoring team. 51:00 And why leave him in there if it's one of those games where maybe he's not quite on? 51:06 It's happened before, usually every time. 51:09 He's bounced back and played really well. 51:11 What's a fun weekend for you as a former WCHA hockey dad? 51:14 You know what? 51:15 It was interesting. 51:15 I was at the regional final and I was texting Mario and the scores and I think that he's... 51:25 I get him grief sometimes because I was fourth number in the state tournament and told him he was. 51:29 He did. 51:30 Even his nephew did at St. 51:31 Claude last year. 51:31 So, he gets a little needling. 51:34 So, he was pretty pumped at WCHA was going. 51:36 And I think that he still mentions that's the one thing that really bothers him in this career, that they lost that game to Ian Prairie in overtime in the regional final. 51:44 But he was happy for it. 51:46 I was really happy for Pat. 51:47 You know, I'd better be careful. 51:49 I don't want to break any insidiousness. 51:54 Wow, even that. 51:56 You know, I was going to text him. 51:59 I was going to tweet something. 52:01 And it's like, oh, right, right, you can't do that. 52:05 So, I mean, you can't. 52:06 It's not this. 52:08 I mean, Pat played for me. 52:10 I'm part of the National Champion, so, you know, you're happy. 52:13 Can you call him or you just... 52:14 Oh, yeah, no, I texted him. 52:15 You just can't do it in public. 52:16 Yeah, I can't do it in public. 52:17 So, I recognize him because of his prospects. 52:20 Right. 52:20 Of success. 52:22 So, I can't do it. 52:23 So, the same for another expo for Grand Rapids. 52:26 Pardon? 52:26 Another expo for Grand Rapids, for example. 52:28 Yeah. 52:28 I mean, I texted coaches, good luck in the graduations. 52:35 It's hard to believe it was 40 years ago as me. 52:37 1876. 52:39 I looked at that picture. 52:41 When did the Afro come on? 52:43 I never had an Afro. 52:44 Are you kidding me? 52:45 That was probably in DeCenso. 52:47 It wasn't me. 52:49 You didn't have one in 1976. 52:51 I'll tell you that. 52:52 What? 52:52 You didn't have one in 1976. 52:54 No, I didn't have one. 52:56 It was in the military. 53:05 What do you expect from Bucky this weekend? 53:07 We expect them to come out hot. 53:08 We obviously went there and swept them in their buildings. 53:11 I think they're going to be pretty upset with us at this point. 53:14 They're going to come out strong and we're going to be ready for them. 53:16 Is that a playoff beard going? 53:18 A little bit. 53:19 I just haven't shaved in a while. 53:23 Did you just take last Saturday's game and put it away? 53:25 Yeah. 53:27 We just got to move on. 53:28 It's tough. 53:29 Games like that are definitely not what you want going into a weekend. 53:32 But it happens and sometimes bounces don't go your way. 53:36 You don't play your best. 53:38 It's definitely not what you want. 53:39 But we put it behind us. 53:40 We've looked at video. 53:41 We've seen the mistakes we made and we've kind of moved on. 53:43 And we're looking at Wisconsin this weekend and trying to win a Big Ten championship. 53:47 You guys kind of feel like maybe there's no room for error going forward? 53:50 Excuse me? 53:51 There's no room for error going forward. 53:52 A loss against Wisconsin would be rough. 53:54 And then maybe you do need to win the Big Ten. 53:56 Yeah. 53:56 Yeah. 53:57 I mean, I think at this point of the year, we kind of we got to try to get that mindset out of us as best we can. 54:02 You know, we just got to play confident, make sure we believe in ourselves and we just keep playing for the team. 54:08 And I think that's one of the main focuses for us is to play for each other out there. 54:11 You know, you make a mistake, make sure you build that guy back up and we get everybody back in line and we play together. 54:16 Tom touched on how you guys maybe don't deserve to be overconfident against a team like Wisconsin, but how much has your confidence grown over the last month considering? 54:23 Yeah, yeah, no, I mean, no doubt we can't be overconfident, but I feel like we believe in ourselves as a team and we do believe we can win and we can make a run here. 54:31 And I think we've had some tough losses this year, but I think we've also had some really good wins. 54:37 I think that kind of shows the ability we have when we can come together and play as a team and play as five guys as a unit on the ice and not just individually. 54:45 I think if we can sell out and really come together as a team, we can make a run here. 54:51 So last weekend at Mariucci for the season, what does it mean for the team to end it on a good note? 54:56 Yeah, yeah, definitely. 54:58 We started on a tough note with Vermont off the bat, so I guess conversely we want to kind of finish it on a good note. 55:03 And we got to let the locker room remodel and all sorts of other stuff going on here. 55:07 And so we really want to just finish off strong at home. 55:10 And it means a lot to us as an organization. 55:13 As an assistant captain, how do you make sure that the guys don't get wrapped up in trying to get back at Wisconsin for the type of hits and kind of controversy you guys have had the last few meetings? 55:22 Yeah, yeah, no, for sure. 55:23 I mean, we got to focus in. 55:24 I mean, I think one of the things we can use to start to focus is our ability to win a Big Ten. 55:29 I think that's something we need to focus on. 55:31 I think Senior Night is another thing we can use to just kind of play for our seniors, play for the people that have put a lot into this program and given up a lot of their time and energy for us as a team. 55:40 So I think we can use other things as kind of diversion to focus our attention. 55:44 Power play needs to get going for you guys to be successful. 55:47 What are you guys doing well and what do you need to work on? 55:49 Yeah, yeah, well, when our power play is doing well, we're moving, we're making plays. 55:53 When we're out there with Cluess and Leon and those kind of guys, they need to be moving. 55:56 We need to be having energy. 55:58 I think some of our issues kind of stemmed from just kind of being stagnant and stationary on power play, you know, trying to be, we're so focused on trying to be set up that we kind of lose the creativity sometimes. 56:07 So I think that if we can get that energy going, that can be very helpful for us. 56:14 Why did you guys decide to go through a race? 56:18 Yeah, I mean, it wasn't, we didn't play our best and we know that, but we got to move forward here and have a big weekend against an arched rival, which we're very excited about. 56:27 And we got an opportunity to win a conference championship here. 56:30 So that's the main focus this week. 56:32 What's your level of confidence going into these two games against a team that's in the basement of the league right now? 56:38 Yeah, I mean, I think we're confident now. 56:41 I think we believe in our group, but we also understand and we fully got to realize that we had to play a certain way, like coach says, meaning we got to play harder to compete and we all got to be working as a unit of five for us to be successful. 56:52 So there isn't a lot of room for error. 56:56 Like, for example, we can't be given away costly goals or mistakes that we have been at certain times, but we went and went and we're playing together and as a unit of five on the ice, so we're excited and confident going into this weekend. 57:10 How unexpected is it to be in this position compared to where you were before Big Ten started? 57:16 Obviously, coming in every year, you want to raise banners and win a conference championship. 57:20 And so I honestly think we're in a pretty good spot, having a chance to close out this weekend and raise a banner and do it for the guys in the locker room. 57:29 And then after that, it's obviously the conference championship. 57:33 It's obviously going to be a huge weekend, but we can't look too far ahead right now. 57:36 And we're looking forward to Friday. 57:39 Is it an odd position to be in, knowing you're in a good position to win the conference title, and yet that might not be enough to get you in the NCAA title? 57:45 Yeah, it is a unique situation, but we can't focus on too much like that. 57:52 We should focus on the data and processes and where we are right now. 57:55 And we still control our own destiny at this point. 57:59 We can still accomplish what we want to accomplish. 58:02 It just comes down to doing it. 58:05 What lessons did you learn from this past weekend where you guys were able to come back Friday, but you kind of just struggles out of it? 58:12 Yeah. 58:13 What we got to realize is we, like I said, we have to play as a unit of five. 58:17 So puck support has to be good. 58:18 We have to be communicating. 58:20 There has to be a lot of chatter on the bench. 58:21 And you guys got to be playing with energy. 58:23 So we realized the way we had to play in order to succeed. 58:28 Obviously, it's the end of the season now. 58:30 So there's the time to do it and be consistent just right now. 58:32 Because if not, we could be done playing in two weeks or we could continue our season. 58:38 So it's always a crucial time of the year. 58:40 With how the team has kind of played in the first 10 minutes, given up goals the past four, I think six, the past seven, is there a lot of emphasis to come out and play strongly Friday and Saturday? 58:48 Yeah, it's one of the main talking points at every one of our meetings. 58:51 The first 10 minutes of the game sets the tone. 58:53 We try to get around 10 shots and not give up too much. 58:56 But it's tough coming back when you're giving up a goal in the first 10 minutes. 58:59 And it's not the way you want to start a game. 59:00 So we definitely got to do a better job of that. 59:04 The power play struggled to put in the puck on the net. 59:06 What's been positive for that group and what are you guys still working on? 59:09 Yeah, obviously, I feel like we've had a decent amount of chances. 59:13 I don't think we've executed very well. 59:15 I don't know if we've had opposite on the back door, right in front, rebounds. 59:21 It just comes on to finishing. 59:22 I don't think we've done a good job enough of that. 59:24 And obviously, we have to have our power play going for us to keep succeeding moving on because special teams is huge. 59:32 This time of the year, defense special teams comes on and will win new games at this time of the year. 59:39 So, I think we've got to start delivering pucks and finish when we have the chances. 59:43 What challenges does Wisconsin bring? 59:46 They compete hard. 59:48 They're a young group. 59:48 And you know, they're always going to give their best ever, just because we're rivals. 59:53 So, they should have done well defensively and they really clog up the neutral zone. 59:57 So, we're going to play with speed and pace this weekend, and I think we'll be okay. 1:00:02 A couple of other guys have taken themselves out of the lineup with various hits against the Gophers. 1:00:08 Is that in the back of your mind as you're going into this week? 1:00:10 Not really. 1:00:11 I mean, we know what's happened. 1:00:15 Yeah, past few meetings, actually. 1:00:16 But it's not something we focus on. 1:00:19 If they're going to be doing that, it's just the way it is. 1:00:21 We just got to respond and worry about ourselves and move forward. 1:00:24 So, how important is it to not buy into that, considering you have the Big Ten tournament coming up? 1:00:28 You can't get guys thrown in the mix. 1:00:30 Yeah, we can't be worried about taking personal liberties or anything like that. 1:00:35 We got to be focused on the team and what we can do to be successful. 1:00:38 If we're worried about getting guys back or from what has happened in the past, we're not going to do what we're supposed to do. 1:00:47 Thank you.