0:05 This is The GPL Podcast, sponsored by Vintage Minnesota Hockey, your exclusive source for throwback Minnesota jerseys. 0:14 Visit vintagemnhockey.com Now, here's Hammy, Vegoe, and your host, Jupiter. 0:40 Thanks for. 0:41 Good evening, and welcome to the 92nd GPL Podcast. 0:48 We're without Hammy tonight, work called, and so he just couldn't seem to make it tonight, and that's fine. 0:55 We'll go on without him, won't we, Veegs? 0:57 We'll see what we can do. 0:59 Oh, boy, Veegs. 1:01 That Jekyll and Hyde team we have seen all season showed up the last weekend against the BADgers. 1:08 But you know, they do nothing for the first, what, 55 minutes of the Friday night game. 1:15 All of a sudden it gets real interesting at the end, some controversial calls, but it made a lot of people nervous. 1:26 Yeah, well, this team doesn't necessarily have the firepower or talent to get away from a bad start. 1:31 And falling behind 2-1 on the first period when they're not playing very well was a tough hole to dig out of. 1:40 They just weren't competing hard enough. 1:42 They weren't blocking enough shots. 1:45 Their power play got them the early goal, but they didn't come through on the other opportunity. 1:52 And a lot of drama at the end, but it was too little, too late. 1:54 Oh, I'll say a lot of drama. 1:57 I mean, obviously, Minnesota gets within one. 2:01 Wisconsin pulls their goalie or Minnesota pulls their goalie and they give up one empty net goal. 2:08 And then we're thinking, oh boy, this is over. 2:09 It's four, two, game over, we're done. 2:12 Not quite. 2:16 Minnesota makes it four, three, and it gets interesting again. 2:18 And then, and it appeared that Wisconsin had scored another empty net goal, but that one was called off. 2:27 And boy, I think it was a bad call. 2:29 It obviously went Minnesota's way. 2:33 Maybe the player should have probably waited for the empty net opportunity. 2:37 But for me, it looked like it was clearly onside for Wisconsin, and apparently the linemen did not feel the same way. 2:46 I think what that video replay did show though, is how close these offside calls are, and how when they're using the camera angles they are using, it may look definitive to us watching, but on the ice, if his foot's off the ice, in that screenshot you tweeted out, he's offside. 3:08 So it's a situation where I know the NHL for the playoffs is probably gonna put cameras right on the blue line, right at ice level, to try to get a better view of this offside stuff, but it's a hard call to make. 3:22 It looks offside to us, or onside to us on the replay, but it might not be. 3:27 It's hard to tell. 3:27 Well, this could have really been a disaster for Wisconsin in the end, because they had that call go against him, which I think he was probably still onside. 3:36 Like you said with the skate, you never quite know. 3:38 But then Minnesota follows it up with a goal with five seconds left, only to be called back on Vinny Leterri being offside, and you look back at the angle, the replay, blah, blah, blah, I think he was clearly offside. 3:54 I don't think it was a bad call at all. 3:56 But some kind of controversial calls both ways, I would say. 4:00 Yeah, I mean, it's a game of inches. 4:03 And Vinny looked like he was going in on the zone on the forecheck as a drawn up play. 4:08 And when Fashing saw that he could carry the puck across the blue line, he took it. 4:13 And they just weren't on the same page. 4:15 And not enough time for them to get back onside. 4:18 It's almost like one of those suicide squeeze plays where the guys aren't on the same page, and you just screw it up. 4:26 But it was too bad. 4:27 It was a nice play by Fashing and Novak. 4:30 It looked like it tied it up. 4:34 But just a crazy finish. 4:36 On the Kuhnen goal, though, I do think in a men's league game, I think the ref blows that offside just because, you know. 4:44 If you're cherry picking that last goal and trying to jump, you probably deserve to get blown offside. 4:50 That's just a silly play on his part. 4:53 Well, yeah, I guess. 4:56 What can you do? 4:57 It definitely was an entertaining ending of a game. 5:00 The rest of it I thought was just a complete bore. 5:05 I would say the one positive that did come out of that is Novak didn't get credit for that last goal. 5:12 He did get another goal. 5:14 I think that's good for his confidence. 5:16 Yeah, since his upper body injury, he has not really looked the same for the Mernon Gold. 5:23 You hope that last stretch of play there gets him going. 5:27 I thought he looked a little bit better on Saturday, and it helps that he's playing with Hudson Fashing, but hopefully he can get some confidence and get some rhythm to his game going into this weekend. 5:39 We need it, because with the Jekyll and Hyde team that they've been putting on the ice the last couple of months, it's obviously a do or die weekend, so oh boy. 5:51 I thought they had their backs up against the wall on Saturday, and they delivered. 5:56 I thought they came out and played a great first period. 5:59 I know the opening 10 minutes, they dominated the shot chart, and they're playing well, even though they gave up the goal. 6:05 And despite giving up the goal, they didn't get away from their game. 6:08 They kept playing, and they kept blocking shots. 6:10 And the power play got plenty of opportunities to get back on track. 6:15 I thought they changed their look a little bit. 6:18 We saw a big cannon from Bischoff, which was nice to see. 6:22 So I thought they did play well in that game. 6:24 The only thing is you get into these single elimination games, and you can't have one of those Friday nights that they've had this year. 6:31 I'm not sure if... 6:32 I think it might have been Friday night. 6:34 I don't remember. 6:35 But Vinny Loteri finally scored a one-timer where he didn't break a stick. 6:42 You know, we've seen him on that, on the, I guess, the goalie's right side all season, and a lot of times he's winding up for that one-timer and his stick breaks. 6:51 Well, this weekend I did notice that this time it did not. 6:57 Am I thinking the right weekend? 6:59 Yeah, he definitely did it on Friday. 7:02 Yeah. 7:02 He did break a stick on Friday, too. 7:04 But we have seen those big one-timers for him break quite a few sticks this year. 7:09 Since he's transitioned from CCM to Easton, he's broken far fewer sticks. 7:15 So many stick buyers out there are looking for something a little more consistent. 7:19 These Eastons apparently hold up better. 7:24 Okay, well, regardless, it was still obviously a nerve-racking weekend. 7:29 You should not be losing a game to Wisconsin. 7:33 Obviously they're improving, blah, blah, blah. 7:35 I don't care. 7:36 They should not be losing a game to a team that had won what, two or three games total this year, or in the league? 7:44 In the league, yeah. 7:45 Yeah, boy, they are just hapless, and it does make you nervous going into this weekend. 7:52 They did beat North Dakota. 7:54 Oh, forever ago. 7:56 Forever ago, but it was one of their eight wins, and they had eight ties, so they were better than they were last year, and I thought Bessie and Coonan. 8:04 That's not saying much, though. 8:06 I know, but they did stack their lineup with Bessie and Coonan, and I thought Schultze and Wichow played pretty decent all weekend. 8:14 I'm sure Eves was wishing he could put those two out there for the entire game like you would in a high school situation, but they do have to play 6D at times in college hockey. 8:24 Well, if you're listening live and have any questions or topics for us, just tweet us, and just use the hashtag GPL Podcast. 8:30 I see Nate Wells, aka Gopher State, wants to know Veegs. 8:35 What beer will you be drinking this weekend? 8:37 Well, I will be at the Excel for all the games Thursday through Saturday, but after the games, I will be seeking out Todd the Axeman, which is a surly beer. 8:46 Some of the people call us surly sheepies, but it is truly an outstanding beer with lots of Citra and Mosaic Ops. 8:53 It's quite tasty. 8:56 I'll just take your word for it, I guess. 8:58 You might not like it. 8:59 I'm just, I'm a weirdo. 9:01 I don't like beer too much. 9:02 You like gin, so. 9:03 Well, I like good gin. 9:06 I got a good one for you. 9:08 Really? 9:08 What's that? 9:09 A little Vicara cedar gin from Duluth. 9:13 Local too, because I just found the local J. 9:15 Carver Distillery gin a couple weeks ago, and it was phenomenal. 9:20 The Vicara cedar is pretty good. 9:24 Plus, I like, you know, support the local companies. 9:26 That's all good. 9:27 Oh, Nate's happy. 9:29 He likes it. 9:30 It's a great beer. 9:30 He likes the Todd the Axe, man. 9:32 He likes it. 9:34 What do we have here? 9:35 Boy, we've got, well, Nick wants to know, will fashion possibly stay for senior year to use that out clause and become an NHL free agent? 9:47 You know, obviously, they can't declare early or something along those lines. 9:52 Well, he's got to play four years after his high school graduation to get there. 9:59 So for him, he wouldn't be able to come a free agent until, I think, September 15th of the year after his senior year. 10:07 So it's a little bit different situation than the one the other guys have used. 10:11 So this would be like the traditional, like holding out, waiting to sign. 10:17 I see. 10:18 I see. 10:19 Well, obviously, we'd love for him to come back. 10:22 I think he still has a lot to prove, but with the money these days, it's hard to turn it down, isn't it? 10:28 Hard to turn it down, and he's improved so much this season. 10:32 He's healthy this year. 10:34 He's really stepped up to his game. 10:37 He's playing well below the dots in the offensive zone. 10:41 When he was playing with Brustad, those two were quite the combination for what they call riding time in the offensive zone. 10:49 I think he's ready. 10:50 It'd be great to have him back for another year, though. 10:53 He's fun to watch. 10:55 Eric wants to know, speaking of BigTen with all the talk about BigTen Expansion, which two schools would be joining us? 11:04 I don't really see any current schools joining us. 11:06 There is a lot of steam about Notre Dame possibly joining the conference. 11:10 Yeah, we do have that steam, but current BigTen teams, I don't see it happening for a while. 11:17 Yeah, I don't think you're specified if they're going to be BigTen schools, just BigTen Expansion. 11:23 And the coaches definitely want it. 11:25 They want more than six teams in the league. 11:27 Yeah, because there's less chance of all six being terrible. 11:31 When you get more teams in there, there's a better chance of a team being good. 11:33 And obviously, Notre Dame would be a pretty good get. 11:36 I mean, they are in a crowded, what, Hockey East right now? 11:40 Yep, and there's a lot of travel for them in Hockey East. 11:43 Yeah, it would be pretty much like that. 11:45 None of the other teams in that league really have to deal with. 11:48 Yeah, yeah, but obviously, you get those Notre Dame people who've always wanted nothing to do with the Big Ten, especially when it comes to football. 11:58 Maybe they'll see it differently with Hockey. 12:01 They've done stuff for other sports. 12:03 It's mainly the football that they care about because we know that Hockey is a cult and it's a different crowd. 12:10 Definitely different, definitely different. 12:12 Oh boy, what have we got here? 12:15 State of Hockey. 12:17 If Hudson returns, his goal should be the Hobie agree. 12:21 Well, I think that's the goal for any player. 12:25 But seeing that he's not even a finalist, I don't think he was on the radar this year. 12:31 If he does come back and is worthy of being a finalist of the Hobie, then it's a good thing for Minnesota. 12:40 It'd be great for Minnesota. 12:41 Not a lot of underclassmen on the list this year for the Hobie. 12:46 Well, except for Mr. 12:48 Cotner. 12:49 Well, he might be gone for the NHL next year. 12:52 He's something special. 12:53 He should be gone, yeah. 12:54 Yeah. 12:55 But it'd be wide open. 12:57 He had a good year this year, and next year Minnesota should have more depth so he won't be on an island supporting other players like Luchias decided to do this year, splitting up Clues, Fashing and Bristette. 13:10 Maybe he puts some guys together and has like a CCM line next year. 13:15 So we'll see. 13:16 I mean, it'd be pretty amazing to see Spatula, Clues and Fashing together. 13:20 It'd be a lot of offense. 13:23 Well, obviously we've needed some offense this year. 13:27 It's been a struggle at times. 13:28 Obviously, this past weekend they did get back on the power play scoreboard to say after not scoring for a month on the power play. 13:40 But they definitely need some offense. 13:43 Well, this team is going to struggle with that because the way that Lucio likes to run his team, he likes to run four lines as much as he can and he likes to run 6D. 13:51 So for them to be able to do that, he's got to split up some of his talent. 13:55 And luckily, those guys have been able to continue scoring the second half of the year. 13:59 But if they're going to be successful, they're going to need to score on the power play. 14:02 They're going to need to kill penalties and they're going to need to get good goaltending. 14:10 Definitely a need all the above there. 14:12 Obviously, one good thing that came out of this week for the Big Ten, Eric Sheerhorn, Goalie of the Year. 14:19 I think he had a pretty good year. 14:21 Obviously, lately, I think his stats have been a little down. 14:25 But when you compare to the rest of the Big Ten, he's probably the obvious choice, isn't he? 14:29 Yeah, for sure. 14:30 I think he's had a really good year considering the team in front of him. 14:33 It's not like he's getting 30, 40 easy shots a game. 14:37 He's getting a lot of rushes coming at him on the penalty kill. 14:41 He's been having to get a lot of tough looks. 14:44 And then we always talk about the breakaways he sees. 14:46 So I think for him to post the kind of season he has is pretty impressive. 14:52 I mean, Kyle Conner and Michigan kind of inflated those goals against for just about every goalie. 14:59 But Sheeran is still under 3 and his safe percentage is still above 90. 15:05 So that's pretty good. 15:06 Yep, yep. 15:08 Well, before we move on, I just wanted to let some people know that if you haven't been to GPL lately, we've kind of changed the home page. 15:17 I know you like it a lot better because you can post stories quite a bit easier. 15:20 But we've gone to WordPress for the home page. 15:23 Allows us to do a few different things. 15:24 You can find us on Google Search a lot more these days. 15:28 And you're liking it too, aren't you, Veegs? 15:31 Yeah, it's great. 15:32 You know, people, if they get on Google, they can search Gopher Hockey and GPL does come up there on that first page. 15:38 So hopefully it expands our community a little bit so we don't get so my outback on Gopher Hockey. 15:45 Well, I've been trying to post some previous articles. 15:49 And one thing I reposted was your, you know, your rink renovation story this week and put it back out there because it's, you know, it's coming back into the top. 16:00 People start to talk about it again, it looks like phase one of the renovation is going to start happening here around April, April 11th, I believe they're going to start demolition of the whole locker room area and kind of start improving that and then over the next couple of years they'll go phase two, which is I believe the weight room and some other areas. 16:19 Eventually we're hoping that they get to the ice. 16:22 I believe they do have to do something with the ice eventually because of the coolant system won't be up to EPA standards, but at least this year they're getting to the area for the players. 16:36 Yeah, I think that will be nice for the team. 16:38 There have been so many improvements to North Dakota, St. 16:42 Cloud, Minnesota State, Omaha. 16:45 A lot of their peers in this hockey community have made upgrades. 16:51 For Minnesota to get better team areas will be nice for the players. 16:55 Next year, I talked to Cal Dietz this week. 16:57 He's super excited about having the new equipment in the weight room to train players. 17:03 He does some really cutting-edge stuff, a lot of metrics, a lot of analysis. 17:09 He's excited to buy all that stuff and put it in the room. 17:14 I was listening to one of the radio broadcasts a couple months ago and they had Cal on. 17:20 Was it Cal Dietz? 17:22 Yeah, they had Cal Dietz on. 17:25 They wire these kids up and they see how they're getting so many metrics just from putting them sensors on these guys these days. 17:32 Yeah, they put the catapult sensors on the players for practices and games and it gives them a lot of real-time data on how players are performing. 17:42 The big thing that Cal said is the data helps them understand how hard to work to players and when to back off. 17:51 One of the things he's found is that it's not necessarily just the workouts that are stressing the players, but travel, exams, classes, girlfriends, whatever, and all this data kind of shows that. 18:07 So it's not just exactly the workload that the players are going through. 18:11 It's all the stress in their life. 18:13 So this allows them to kind of back off. 18:16 He noted they haven't had any soft tissue injuries this year, no groins or anything. 18:22 He thinks that having this data is helping that. 18:25 A knock on wood on that. 18:27 Well, yeah, it's definitely going to be a big thing. 18:29 It's not going to be part of phase one, but I'm guessing, you know, maybe after next season, they'll get to a few more things that they'd like to get to. 18:38 Yeah, but I think a little bit is timing for how to get into Mary Eugene and do the work. 18:43 I'm pretty sure they have the money for these first two phases. 18:46 I think they're still working on the money for the rink size issue and the refrigeration. 18:52 But the other two phases are already done and planned for. 18:55 Eric Raymond must be listening. 18:57 He just tweeted us, Why do some people think it's so important for us to decrease the ice size? 19:02 Well, I would say first off, you're never going to play a Frozen 4 on an Olympic size sheet of ice. 19:13 You're never going to play probably even a Big Ten tournament unless they come to the home teams on an Olympic size sheet of ice. 19:22 So it's really kind of an outdated thing to have that large ice because when it comes down to it, you're going to be playing on these standard sheets of ice. 19:29 So it's probably your best idea to get your rink down a bit in size. 19:35 Yeah, I think it's just to get the players used to it in all the game situations. 19:39 The extra width, I think, is a nice thing for player development because it allows them to make more plays with the puck rather than just chip and chase and chip it out of the defensive zone and off the glass. 19:51 So I think the extra width encourages playmaking and makes for a better product. 19:57 And then the other thing is people, they want to assess players on the smaller sheet when they're evaluating them for pro potential. 20:06 I believe when they do switch it over, it will be obviously not quite 85. 20:10 They would go down to about 92 and a half feet was the last number I heard. 20:17 And the radius and the corner would be changing a bit too. 20:21 It wouldn't go to the full NHL radius, and obviously they wouldn't keep it at its current radius. 20:27 They'd kind of go halfway in between. 20:29 So the corners won't be as deep. 20:31 There'll probably be an extra row of seats along the sides of the arena. 20:35 But obviously they don't have the money for this yet, and it would definitely be an off-season type of thing. 20:40 I'm thinking obviously not this year. 20:42 Probably not next year. 20:43 Maybe two years out, I'm guessing. 20:45 It might take that long to get the money. 20:47 It could be a while. 20:48 It'll be similar to Notre Dame's ice sheet. 20:51 They've got the little extra width, and I think it'll be a good change for them. 20:55 And I believe Cole Center or something like that too, isn't it? 20:57 About 92? 20:58 I think that's pretty much close to Olympic. 21:01 Oh, OK. 21:01 Cole Center. 21:02 So yeah, back when the Gophers were in the WCHA, they were playing 80% of their games on the big sheets. 21:08 It seemed like almost everybody had them. 21:10 Well, yeah, you had Alaska, CC, Mankato at the time, St. 21:17 Cloud. 21:18 Anyone else have the Olympic size? 21:21 Minnesota, at least half the league had it. 21:23 Yeah. 21:24 So it was a lot of games. 21:25 And it made sense. 21:26 And obviously, Minnesota, back in the day when, you know, when WUG was kind of pushing the arena created, you know, it was a standard. 21:37 They say the NCAA had recommended you go to Olympic size. 21:41 They were sending players to the Olympics because they were still using that, using that size in the Olympics, and they were using amateur players. 21:50 So back in 93 or the early 90s, when they even concepted the rink, I guess it made sense. 22:01 Not anymore, though. 22:03 Not anymore. 22:05 Well, Veegs, before we move on to the Big Ten tournament, we need to hear from our sponsor, Vintage Minnesota Hockey. 22:13 Vintage Minnesota Hockey wants you to take a step back in time and keep the memories of Minnesota Hockey heritage alive forever. 22:21 vintagemnhockey.com features history from around the entire state of Minnesota. 22:26 One feature that I enjoy on a daily basis is the This Day in Minnesota Hockey History that is on their website. 22:33 They have tons of info on what's happening on any particular day in Minnesota hockey history. 22:38 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. 22:48 So make sure you visit the store and take a look at that jersey. 22:50 They just made it available within the last week. 22:53 You can get it customized with your number, your name, however you want. 22:57 And if you use the code GPL Podcast, you can get 10% off your order. 23:03 So make sure you head over to the store and head over to vintagemnhockey.com. 23:09 Yes, I know I need to record a new advertisement, but I have seen those new jerseys at Mariucci. 23:14 Some people are wearing them already, so they are very nice looking, let me tell you. 23:19 Obviously Nate is telling us that the S-Cole Center is 97 feet. 23:23 Minnesota State is now 85. 23:25 It was a little easier for Mankato to fix their rink because the sides of their rink, their bleachers are movable, not built in like the concrete at Mariucci. 23:38 So they were able to change the size of their rink a little bit easier than Minnesota. 23:45 Veegs, we have the big tournament this weekend. 23:46 It's do or die for Minnesota. 23:49 Yeah, just like five of the teams in the tournament who all seem to be playing their best hockey. 23:54 So I think it is wide open. 23:56 Don Lecce has said that. 23:58 There's some good goalies for these teams that haven't played particularly well during the season, but are playing better now. 24:05 And so I expect some low-scoring, tight games for pretty much everybody except a Michigan game. 24:12 Well, it starts off tomorrow, 4 p.m. 24:15 We've got Wisconsin taking on Penn State. 24:19 Wisconsin actually, didn't they just split with Penn State a few weeks ago? 24:24 Yeah, I feel like they've been playing better. 24:28 And obviously Penn State kind of got their asses kicked last weekend against Michigan, so Penn State is not going to have an easy time with Wisconsin, at least I don't think they will. 24:40 No, I think Wisconsin's been playing better. 24:42 I think Bessie and Coonan have really been playing well for them. 24:46 Jurisic's played better for them. 24:49 If they can rely on Wichow and Schultze on defense, they're going to be right in it. 24:54 And for Penn State, they lost their big freshman defenseman, Vince Pedri. 24:59 They lost him just before the series last weekend against Michigan, and that's a huge issue for them, because I don't think their defensemen are very mobile and very active in the offense. 25:10 And so they don't have a lot of team speed as is, so I think that really hurts them. 25:15 They'll be relying a lot on Luke Gajucha, and that's about it. 25:19 And then in the nightcap tomorrow night, we've got Michigan State taking on Ohio State, and they just played a series last weekend, a win and a tie for Ohio State. 25:30 I believe that Michigan State did get the extra point in the shootout, but obviously Ohio State's been one of the hottest teams in the country lately, and obviously Michigan pretty much killed Minnesota five-zip just a couple weeks ago, so either of these teams, I don't think Minnesota really wants to see right now. 25:52 No, not so much. 25:53 Michigan State has got a good goaltender in Hildebrandt. 25:58 He gives them a chance. 25:59 He's been playing better, and Ohio State's found some goal scoring. 26:03 I mean, to keep up with Michigan in a series, home and home with them, is pretty impressive. 26:08 So they've been put up a lot of points, and they're a good skating team. 26:12 I think they proved that when they played Minnesota, going to OT as often as they did, and when they went down and beat BC and Cornell. 26:20 So they're an explosive team. 26:23 Yeah, boy. 26:25 And one problem that we've seen in the last eight years, folks, is that Minnesota has not won a tournament, a league tournament game at the X since defeating CC 2-1 in overtime back in 2008. 26:42 So it hasn't been very positive in the tournament there for Minnesota for a while, Veegs. 26:50 But they did win a regional to go to the final four. 26:52 Yeah, but I was just talking about the league tournament. 26:55 Obviously they did a couple win, win a couple regionals. 26:58 You're just going with lies, lies and dance statistics on us. 27:02 I don't think it means that much. 27:04 They didn't do anything in the last few years of the final five. 27:07 Two years ago, Ohio State took them out after being the number one seed. 27:11 Could happen again this year. 27:13 They just have not played well in their league tournaments in the X in eight years. 27:18 That's quite a long time. 27:20 Yeah, it's been a while. 27:21 Usually Minnesota comes in a situation they don't need to win it. 27:25 They've usually had a good enough season where they're high enough in their pairwise, where there isn't that back up against the wall situation like there was last year at Jolt Lewis. 27:33 So maybe with that kind of pressure on them going into this weekend, they'll play better. 27:37 I know they didn't play very well at the North Star College Cup. 27:41 Two forgettable games for them. 27:44 They didn't play well. 27:45 I'd be interested to see what Cal Dietz's brain waves were going into that weekend with guys getting back in the class. 27:52 If that was something that made them lose their energy. 27:56 Spring break this week. 27:57 Yeah, no excuses this week. 27:59 They should be coming in off spring break and off a big win and a conference title. 28:04 I feel like they should be good to go. 28:06 But you never know. 28:07 This is a young team with a bunch of quiet leaders. 28:11 If they're loose enough going into it, we'll see if they can do damage. 28:16 Like we've been saying all year, it's really been a jiggle and a hide team. 28:19 They play a great one night. 28:20 They play terrible another night. 28:21 We just don't know which of those nights they're going to show up. 28:24 The good team or the bad team. 28:28 That's what Don says. 28:30 When they're on their game, they could probably beat anybody. 28:33 But when they're not, they could lose to anybody. 28:36 We just don't know what to expect at all. 28:39 Well, I think with such a young group and clues struggling early in the season, they didn't really have a vocal presence on their forward core. 28:48 Because you can't tell guys to do better when you're not doing very well yourself. 28:53 So it's hard to lead from the back. 28:55 And so now that Clues has been playing a little bit better and Fashion's been playing a little bit better, I think they're able to be more vocal and get these guys going because they do have a lot of quiet guys up front. 29:04 There isn't a Kyle Ryle Chirpin and getting everybody involved in the game. 29:08 Definitely not a Kyle Ryle Chirpin. 29:10 We could use some of that right about now. 29:12 Matt Robert wants to know, what kind of crowd are we expecting for Friday night's game? 29:20 I'm not expecting a great crowd at all. 29:22 Apparently, they're not even selling tickets in the third level of this tournament. 29:27 So that's telling me that the demand is not that great. 29:32 Obviously, I think tomorrow it will be a ghost town there. 29:35 It will be obviously better Friday night. 29:37 But I wouldn't expect to see anything, you know, 12, 14,000. 29:42 I think it's going to be under 10 or around 10. 29:46 Yeah, it's going to be a tough crowd I think this weekend, you know, with the Big Ten being as down as they are and as much negative commentary is out there on the Big Ten. 29:57 You know, it's not going to draw your common fan because I think I've read about six negative articles about Big Ten teams this season. 30:04 If it's not, you know, Michigan State or Wisconsin, it's the Pioneer Press, it's the City Pages, it's the Star Tribune. 30:11 You know, we could probably do one on GPL if we wanted, you know, just to pile on, but, you know, the fact of the matter is they're not going back. 30:19 You know, the WCHA is gone and, you know, it is what it is now with tech, you know, leading the way for them. 30:27 But it's just not going to be the same. 30:28 So until, you know, the Big Ten takes ownership of this tournament and makes it better, we're going to see low attendance for these games. 30:37 Well, really, the only thing you could do to make it better right now is you need quality teams. 30:43 I mean, I mean, why, yeah. 30:46 Michigan's pretty good this year. 30:48 Minnesota is obviously below the bubble on the NCAA tournament. 30:55 I guess, you know, we could tell the fans to move on, but they're just showing that we're not going to buy tickets because we're still pissed off. 31:04 Obviously, people are going to have to change if they want to support the Gophers, but are they showing how pissed they are by not buying tickets to this thing? 31:12 Well, I mean, part of it, too, is the Wild aren't involved in selling tickets for this like they were when the WCHA Final Five really took off. 31:19 I mean, they did a great job selling tickets to the Wild season ticket holders and then getting more people involved, and it was just something that people did every year. 31:29 You know, it took a while for that tournament to take off. 31:33 Oh, yeah, it did take a while, but, you know, I don't think they're going to, you know, the first tournament two years ago, I think they outdrew the NCHC. 31:43 I don't think they have a chance of outdrawing them this year. 31:47 Yeah, I think the NCHC's got their dream scenario with the three local teams, and they're all playing well and having good seasons, and UMD needs to do well this weekend to get in, so they'll get a lot of fan support. 31:59 And it's St. 32:00 Patty's Day, so that's like a national holiday for North Dakota. 32:06 Well, one thing I did notice is that people were talking about how North Dakota chose to play the afternoon game, which is something I believe that Don would love to do, have the choice of what game they would like to play, because if he did, he'd choose Friday afternoon, definitely not Friday night. 32:24 Well, you're giving up atmosphere at the game when you do that. 32:27 I think North Dakota will still draw fans for that, but it won't be quite as rowdy as it would be if it was the 730 game. 32:35 But it's a coach decision to get more rest for the next one. 32:40 And I believe the afternoon team has won every year so far for the Big Ten. 32:45 And I think that game, that weekend, is really important for North Dakota, because I think they'd much rather play a team like Robert Morris than Minnesota in the first round. 32:55 Well, if Minnesota does get in, if they do win a tournament this weekend, there's a really good chance they're playing North Dakota the following weekend. 33:03 I mean, technically, should they get a Robert Morris? 33:07 Probably. 33:09 Will they? 33:10 It brings in a lot of tricky things that USCHO will have to try to predict, because it goes into a lot of things that they mess with, protecting them on one seed, protecting attendance, not sending a team too far away if they're a high seed. 33:27 So it will be interesting to see what happens if that scenario plays out. 33:30 Well, I'm thinking either way. 33:32 I mean, obviously, Minnesota would be in the West Regional, and maybe it could be a St. 33:38 Cloud, but I think it's either St. 33:40 Cloud or North Dakota either way, don't you? 33:42 Yeah, it's got to be one of those two. 33:44 It kind of depends what they do with North Dakota. 33:46 If they want to send them, I think it's Cincinnati this year. 33:50 They could send them there. 33:51 They obviously could. 33:52 So that's an option, but we'll see. 33:55 It will be interesting this year. 33:57 Well, basically, none of that will matter if Minnesota doesn't win this weekend. 34:01 I mean, obviously, the biggest test is going to be Friday night, I think. 34:05 If they can get through that, I think they could win Saturday night. 34:10 But Friday night is going to be the toughest game because obviously they know they've struggled at the X in tournaments, or I should say league tournaments for a while here. 34:22 Ohio State took them out a couple years ago, so I believe if they can get through Friday night, I think they can beat Michigan on Saturday. 34:31 What do you think? 34:32 I think that's definitely the case. 34:34 Racine did not look very good in that game against Minnesota, so he might have a few demons coming out that night. 34:40 So I think Minnesota matches up well with Michigan. 34:43 I think Clues can match up against the Conner line and really frustrate them. 34:49 I know the Minnesota defense has taken a lot of shots on GPL this year, but I think they have been playing better. 34:55 I think Steve Johnson has made huge strides this season. 35:00 He might even get some power play time this weekend. 35:03 I think Bischoff and Brudzinski have been pretty solid, so we'll see how things shake out this weekend, but I think they match up well against Michigan. 35:10 Will we see Collins at all? 35:14 It's going to be tough. 35:15 If they're playing Ohio State and Michigan, those are two real up-tempo teams, which isn't a great fit for Collins. 35:23 His confidence has been down a little bit this second half of the season since not going on the World Junior team. 35:32 I know that they're trying to keep his head in it and keep him playing, and I think he's looked better the last couple of weekends, but I think with these skating teams, Sadik might get a chance. 35:45 Yeah, I'm right with you on that, obviously. 35:49 You do have some growing pains with Sadik. 35:51 He's not always making the best defensive decisions, but right now he would be out there because of his offensive decisions and moving the puck out of the defensive zone to get things going. 36:06 Well, I think he's also been good at the offensive blue line, stepping up to control play in the offensive zone, which is so key for this team, is to have some sustained offensive zone time. 36:17 And I think with the six guys who played Sadik against Wisconsin, all those guys are pretty good at jumping up and keeping the puck in the zone. 36:25 All right, what are your predictions then, Vig? 36:31 I think Michigan's going to walk through Wisconsin in the top half. 36:37 So Penn State's done, huh? 36:39 Yeah, I think they've just had too many injuries this season. 36:42 I think losing Piedri is a big factor for them. 36:45 And I think Wisconsin has been playing better. 36:47 So I think Wisconsin will come through in that one. 36:51 Then Michigan will come through on that side of the bracket. 36:53 And then I think Ohio State gets by Michigan State. 36:56 And I think the Gophers do come out to see Michigan and get through the tournament. 37:03 Pretty bold. 37:04 I hope it happens. 37:07 Either way, we will be back next week because, well, we're going to close it down. 37:13 Next week will be our last show of the year just because I'm going to be doing some moving in the next couple of weeks. 37:20 My internet situation could be weird. 37:21 So if the team happens to continue, I wouldn't be able to have a show anyway. 37:26 So we'll be back next week regardless. 37:31 Any other thoughts on your mind for this weekend? 37:34 That could be the last BigTen tournament at Excel. 37:38 They could be something like on-campus sites down the line to guarantee some atmosphere and ticket sales. 37:46 So if you want to catch it at Excel, this might be your last chance. 37:51 Or, you know, obviously in Detroit it was just a disaster. 37:58 It's possible they could maybe go full-time at the X, but if the fans don't show up this weekend, that doesn't put a good case to make it permanently at the X. 38:08 So if you folks want to see the BigTen tournament, return to the X. 38:14 Get to the game this weekend. 38:17 Yep, I know they're doing student rush tickets for $10 for this weekend, so if you can pass as a student and get that U-Card out or some other college ID, you can get in pretty cheap. 38:28 But I think unless attendance this weekend is really surprising, it's going to be a tough argument for them to come back again. 38:34 I completely agree. 38:35 And do people really want this thing to go on campus and see it once every five years, four years, whatever, depending on how many teams? 38:45 I don't. 38:46 So get down to the X this weekend. 38:49 I don't care if you go to the other games. 38:50 The other games are entertainment. 38:52 Of course, it's one session anyway, so you can go to all the games. 38:57 But don't complain if hardly anyone shows up and then you start bitching that, oh, we don't have the Big Ten tournament at the X anymore, blah, blah, blah. 39:05 Well, get to the games. 39:06 Get out there and watch the games because the Big Ten is watching. 39:11 Obviously, if this is bad, like it will be in Detroit next year, say goodbye to it. 39:16 It's going to go to campus or I don't know where else they would go besides campus. 39:22 But if you want it, get out there and go to the games. 39:26 That's all we can say. 39:28 Yeah, just like watching them on TV. 39:29 If you want to see them on TV on a regular basis, they need better ratings. 39:35 That is the truth. 39:37 We've heard from Rick Pizzo himself. 39:38 He's come on to GPL and posted, you know, Big Ten Network has brought their coverage down this year. 39:45 No pregame, no postgame, fewer games. 39:49 And the reason is that they have found that only the Minnesota fans are watching the games. 39:53 So that's great for us. 39:55 But the Wisconsin fans, Michigan fans, all the other fans of the other teams are not watching the games. 40:03 So really, they show a lot more Minnesota games because they know they'll get the ratings. 40:07 But you know what? 40:08 If you want this league to succeed, these other schools need to start chipping in sometime here. 40:15 So... 40:17 Sioux Falls will take the tourney, really, Tim? 40:19 That's what Tim Hapke says. 40:21 He thinks the Big Ten Tournament is going to move to Sioux Falls. 40:25 Yippee, skippy. 40:26 Let's move it to Duluth. 40:28 Let's go to Duluth for the weekend. 40:29 Wouldn't that be great? 40:31 I'd love it. 40:32 Great town right now for craft beverages. 40:36 Always thinking with your beer mind, aren't you? 40:39 Exactly. 40:42 Well, we will be back next week. 40:43 Hopefully, Hammy will join us and we'll either be wrapping up the season or previewing hopefully a tournament run. 40:52 We'll just have to wait and see, I should say. 40:55 Until then, thanks for listening, folks. 41:24 How's everyone today? 41:25 Very well. 41:25 Coach, how are you? 41:27 It's live in advance, right? 41:29 That's all you can hope for. 41:38 Who was first? 41:40 On the conference call, Redd said he voted for you for conference coach of the year. 41:44 How do you react to that? 41:46 Well, I mean, you're not going to vote for yourself. 41:49 So, I mean, I was actually happy for Redd that, you know, sometimes you're near at the elite program, so you don't get the recognition that you deserve. 41:57 I don't know if he was ever coach of the year in the CCHA all those years. 42:03 You know, it's be interesting what he ends up doing at the end of the year, but he's had an unbelievable career. 42:08 They obviously are a very elite team, and, you know, obviously, when you look on paper, anyway, probably the team to beat this weekend. 42:16 How closely do you watch the game before you with the bye? 42:19 I mean, you can't make a whole lot of changes at this point. 42:21 No, I mean, I think that the hardest part, you don't know who you play, and so it's not like you can spend a week preparing for one team versus the other. 42:30 You know, the nice thing is we've played four games against both of our opponents, you know, for the most part, all the games have gone down to the third period. 42:39 Just played Michigan State two weeks ago. 42:41 Played Ohio State last month. 42:44 So, I mean, we have a pretty good idea of how they play, but you get to this time of year, it's more about your own team. 42:49 Not like you're going to change everything, how you play when you get to this point in the season, so it's more about execution. 42:55 And I've always said that, you know, when the game starts on Friday, the team that played the day before has got an advantage early, and then you hope you have the advantage late with the extra rest. 43:03 Shearhorn's had a lot of big game experiences, career with international tournaments, Clark Cup. 43:09 How much will that help him this time? 43:10 Well, we'll find out at 10 o'clock on Friday night, won't we? 43:14 You know what? 43:15 He's been a lot of different experiences. 43:16 He left home when he was 14 or 15 years old to play midget hockey and was at Shattuck and certainly Muskegon. 43:23 And, you know, that's one of the reasons why we liked him, the amount of games that he had played, the experience he's had. 43:28 And, you know, he kind of put the team on his back last year for Muskegon when they were, I think, fourth in their division and they went all the way to the finals in the USHL. 43:38 So, you know, you get to this time of year, you have to have that. 43:41 You have to have goaltending. 43:42 I mean, you're not going to go anywhere without your goaltender playing well. 43:45 But, you know, the team's got to do a good job in front of you, too. 43:48 With those four overtime ways he had that you mentioned on the conference call, what do you put your finger on as kind of a commonality between those? 43:54 You know, we won the right ones in some ways because those were the conference games. 43:59 We ended up four and three. 44:00 I don't know if I've ever had a year where we didn't have a tie during the course of our season. 44:05 So, you know, we get into overtime. 44:07 They haven't lasted long, one way or the other. 44:10 And, you know, I wouldn't be surprised if some of these games are going to go into overtime this week. 44:13 And when you look at how close teams are, some teams have improved. 44:17 I mentioned in the conference, there's a lot of young teams in the Big Ten this year. 44:20 And they've improved as the year has gone by. 44:23 And that's why I think as you head into this weekend that anybody's capable of beating anybody else on a given day. 44:30 And you may see that happen this weekend. 44:32 You've gone into the postseason with teams that are experienced. 44:34 You've gone into the teams that have less experience. 44:37 Does it matter? 44:37 Is it a factor that doesn't really count this year? 44:40 Yeah, I don't know. 44:41 I mean, it's so year to year. 44:42 I mean, you really don't know how kids react. 44:47 In some ways, we were on the road last weekend. 44:48 It was kind of nice for us, refreshing, to just be on our own. 44:52 And it was nice to play the afternoon game and have the extra rest for game two. 44:56 We've played at Ohio State in the semis two years in a row. 45:00 We'll see if that's who we end up playing or not. 45:02 I think it's, you look at, you know, Ohio State and Michigan State have each played, what, four times and each, there's been a couple of wins and two or three overtime games. 45:12 So, I mean, that'll be a real tight game too. 45:15 But, you know, you just want your guys to play free. 45:18 I mean, that's a term. 45:19 You don't want them to play tight. 45:20 Obviously for five of the six teams, you got to win or your season's over. 45:25 So, but just play your best, play relaxed and, you know, see what happens. 45:29 Was playing at the XL an advantage to your program? 45:32 I don't know. 45:32 I mean, it seems like we've been streaky there. 45:34 It seems like we've really played well or played poorly. 45:37 Kind of no in between. 45:39 Obviously we've had a couple NCAA regionals that played well and advanced out of there. 45:44 And they've had some tournaments where, you know, you're won and done at the same time. 45:50 So it's more the week by week, you know, we know that we have to win on Friday in order to get to Saturday. 45:57 So, you know, we have to play well, you know, when the puck drops on Friday night, you know, for us, you know, the recipe is we have to have good goal tending, we have to have strong specialty team play. 46:06 And, you know, for us, we've been a little bit streaky offensively. 46:10 And when we've scored some goals, we're in good shape to win games. 46:13 And then we go into spells where we just can't score. 46:17 And for us, it will be critical that our top guys score for us this weekend, like every team in the tournament. 46:23 Does how the team finished with the Big Ten coming from a third period tie to win the trailer season, does that kind of help with this one in a single home nation? 46:32 No, I don't think it matters much what you did the previous weekend. 46:35 I mean, you go through different scenarios in tournaments where, you know, somebody finishes and you're hot, but then again, it's a one and done. 46:42 Or even you see teams where you get knocked out in your own playoffs and then they go on deep in NCAA runs. 46:49 So you just, there's really no rhyme or reason. 46:51 I always feel like the first game's the hardest, you know, to get through that first game and get settled in and on the weekend. 46:58 And that's why, you know, we want to make sure that we play our best. 47:01 Hopefully we can play our best hockey on Friday night against a good quality opponent. 47:05 Do you mention the need to win the tournament to get to the NCAAs or not? 47:09 No, I mean, they know, I mean, they follow it. 47:12 They understand the stakes. 47:13 So, you know, for us, it's, we're happy what we were able to accomplish last weekend. 47:18 And, you know, to be able to do five times in a row, you look at a program like Wisconsin, the tradition they have in their history, in their program, they won a conference title three times in the history of their program. 47:30 So it's hard to do. 47:31 And we feel good about that. 47:33 But at the same time, that's over. 47:35 And now we move on and try to play our way in a very similar scenario to a year ago. 47:39 We went on the road to Detroit and we're able to do it. 47:43 And now we'll see if we can put ourselves in a position to do it again. 47:48 You mentioned last night that you're still tinkering with your power play. 47:51 What are you looking to change and get out of it? 47:53 Well, I think we felt, I mean, we made some changes in the third period on Saturday with Bischoff on that unit and he did a nice job. 48:02 So we haven't practiced our power play yet. 48:04 We'll probably spend a little bit of time on it tomorrow more in the next couple of days, but it's more, for me, it's settling in on maybe another unit. 48:12 We might throw two defensemen instead of one. 48:15 So we'll probably work six, seven, six probably guys on one of the units the next three days and see what we ultimately want to decide to do. 48:22 I think Kloos has appeared in 115 straight games for you guys going into this weekend. 48:27 What keeps him consistently successful to get on the ice? 48:30 I think that he's got a high motor. 48:34 He plays at tremendous pace. 48:36 He's very competitive. 48:38 He's a thick kid. 48:39 He's in the midst of everything. 48:41 So if you haven't missed games yet, you've got to be a little lucky too. 48:45 I mean, there's some bumps and bruises, but he's muscular. 48:48 And with his speed, he doesn't put himself in real vulnerable situations. 48:53 And Justin's been a terrific player for us. 48:55 What we expected when we recruited him. 48:56 And really like the way he's, the leadership of those four juniors that have kind of run the team and guided our group along and watched the improvement. 49:06 And I think that's been one of the most enjoyable parts for me this year, is that we weren't very good in October when the year began, but we have gotten better and hopefully we can play our best this weekend. 49:19 How have you seen Shearhorn develop as both a player and person over the course of the season? 49:24 I think he's a pretty confident kid, very quiet. 49:26 Even Keele, he's not a quirky goalie. 49:30 You could think he plays any other position on our team too, but I just think the maturity of being away from home a year out of high school too, he's added that and I think he's got a quiet confidence about him. 49:43 I think one of the things that I've been impressed with him is whenever he's had maybe a subpar game, the next night he's bounced back and played extremely well. 49:52 And I think that's a credit to a little bit of his mental toughness that he brings to the game. 49:57 Everyone healthy for the week to play? 49:58 Yeah, I mean we are, we are, everybody's available to play, so we're in good shape as far as that's concerned. 50:04 I was kind of unfortunate with the season where they've only had a couple injuries compared to like a Penn State where it seems every week that they have something. 50:10 Yeah, I haven't followed them. 50:11 I mean I've read something, they were missing some guys against Michigan. 50:14 I mean, hey, you have to be healthy this time of the year. 50:17 I mean you can play in a game and lose a couple key guys. 50:21 You know, I've been on the flip side of that too where, you know, at the not a good opportunity you lose a key guy to your team and it has an impact. 50:29 And this is a year that, you know, when the year began, especially up front with some key guys who would have been in real trouble had we lost a key guy for an extended period of time. 50:37 You know, if there was an injury in the back end, maybe we could have sustained a little bit better. 50:42 I mean really the only, we lost Steve Johnson for about a month with a high ankle sprain. 50:46 But other than that, you know, maybe a game or two here or that. 50:49 But we've been pretty fortunate this year as far as injuries. 50:53 You said your team plays better when they communicate well. 50:55 What are you going to be looking for Friday night? 50:57 Well, I mean, I think that will be an indication of, you know, when the game begins. 51:02 If they're talking, they'll be loose. 51:04 I mean, the one thing you always worry about with all these young guys too is that, you know, are they going to, you know, when you get tight, do you climb up? 51:11 And so we want to guys that play as free and loose as we possibly can on Friday when the puck drops. 51:18 You can't win unless you're playing on your toes. 51:19 You can't be afraid to win this time of the year. 51:26 Yeah. 51:30 Maybe a little bit. 51:31 You get used to having a guy like Cox around for at least my first two years here and the seniors, you know, first three. 51:37 So, having Shearhorn step in actually since the first game and being really solid, it's really been one less thing to worry about, I guess, a little bit. 51:47 So, he's been, you know, kind of rock solid for us all year, even when we've struggled a little bit. 51:52 So, it's been huge. 51:53 How is it going in this thing not knowing you're going to play? 51:57 We've played everyone four times in the Big Ten, four times last year, four times the year before. 52:01 So, you know, we're pretty familiar with the way teams play and, you know, how they're going to play whenever we see them. 52:08 So, it doesn't really matter, I don't think. 52:10 So, we're just, we'll keep an eye on Thursday and see what we have Friday night. 52:15 Playing at the X, big deal or not a big deal? 52:17 Where you haven't been real successful recently? 52:19 I don't think it's too big a deal. 52:22 We haven't had a ton of success recently. 52:24 But, I mean, at least for, you know, us juniors, we also earned a Frozen Four appearance there two years ago. 52:31 So, you know, there's a little bit of success still, a little familiarity. 52:35 So, I don't think it's a huge deal. 52:37 A lot of guys have played in the state tournament. 52:38 A lot of guys have played in that ring before and had success. 52:41 So, I don't think it's too impactful. 52:44 Does winning the Big Ten championship take away some of the pressure or does it add to it? 52:50 I don't really think either. 52:52 I mean, I think it's just kind of, you know, that was one thing. 52:55 One of our goals this year was to, you know, win that tournament. 52:58 One of our goals was to win the Big Ten conference tournament. 53:00 One of our goals was to make the NCAA tournament and, you know, go as far as we can there. 53:04 So, that was, we checked that one off the list and we're going to have, I'm sure, a couple wars this weekend to try to get that next one checked off. 53:12 Obviously, you guys are focused on the Big Tens, but do you look at all the other leagues and the NCHC with as much depth as they have, do you look and see how the two conferences stack up? 53:23 Yeah, a little bit. 53:24 I mean, we, you know, there's a ton of Minnesota kids in those leagues, a ton of guys we've grown up playing with, played with in junior, so, you know, we keep an eye on and see how they're doing. 53:34 And then, you know, obviously that league is very deep. 53:36 There's, you know, some really strong teams in that league. 53:39 So I'm sure there are tournaments over at Targson. 53:42 I'm sure there will be some really good games over there. 53:44 And if, you know, all goes well, I'm, you know, just expecting that we'll probably see one of those teams our first game in the national tournament. 53:52 Going into this, you've played in 115 straight games. 53:56 Can you wrap your mind around that kind of streak? 53:59 I don't, I mean, that's kind of wild. 54:01 I've been fortunate for most of my hockey career to have some decent health, so hopefully it keeps going, but I don't think there's any trick to it. 54:09 Just, you know, trying to keep my body, you know, healthy and rested, I think, I guess, is all I can do and hope for, I guess, maybe a little bit of luck to stay healthy. 54:19 So you're kind of like the Gopher Ironman. 54:21 I don't know about that, but you know what, we'll see if the streak keeps going. 54:27 This team has had incredible swings, highs and lows, in the last six weeks or so. 54:32 After those lows, as captain, what have you done to keep the guys together? 54:36 Because you seem like you're still playing as a family. 54:39 Yeah, we've been pretty resilient all year, especially just the way we've lost games this year, the Heartbreakers. 54:45 All of a sudden, this offsides rule has bit us twice, as that happened ever in Gopher history. 54:52 It's just been kind of wild, the way we've lost games this year. 54:56 So I think it's not an individual thing as far as the captain's keeping everyone. 55:01 It's just camaraderie with the whole group. 55:03 We've been able to stick through it together, and I think it will help us in the long run. 55:10 Obviously, the long run is Friday and Saturday, so hopefully all the stuff we've been through this past five months is going to come out on display and will play really well. 55:26 You had a pretty successful run with Muskegon in the playoffs. 55:29 How does that experience help you going into the tournament? 55:32 Yeah, it's a little different format in the USHL, so not the quite same feel as we'll have here, but it helps that I played in big games last year throughout the playoffs, so kind of have that experience to draw from. 55:45 So yeah, that'll be nice. 55:47 Having carried a very heavy workload this season, how are you feeling physically? 55:51 I feel good. 55:52 We make sure to take it a little easier in practice this time of year. 55:57 I mean, practice are only about an hour. 55:59 Just try to get short quality reps in and control, make sure I'm not bagging myself out there. 56:06 Do you approach the single elimination format a little differently than the back-to-back weekend? 56:12 I mean, yeah, every game matters that much more now, but I just think personally, you can't take any game, you can't think about it too much. 56:20 You just gotta play your game that you've been playing all year and not change anything at this time. 56:25 Me too, win the goaltender of the year in the league. 56:27 Yeah, it's obviously a big honor. 56:29 I mean, I don't put too much weight on individual awards like that, but I mean, I guess anytime you have something like that, it's pretty cool. 56:36 Is that kind of a goal coming in? 56:37 Did you think that was a thing you could accomplish? 56:41 Yeah, I thought it was something that I could accomplish and I think it's something that you sit out wanting to do. 56:45 You wanna be the best goaltender in the league because if you do that, you're gonna be able to get your team wins. 56:50 So, I mean, again, it's cool, but it's not something that is super important to me. 56:56 What did you learn in your first two games at the X back in January about playing there? 57:01 Yeah, boards are bouncy. 57:02 So, yeah, boards are really lively. 57:04 You gotta watch that. 57:05 Obviously smaller rank than Mariucci, so everything happens a little bit faster, but other than that, it's hockey. 57:12 You just gotta play it, so. 57:13 Do you think your guys play better in front of you in a smaller rank? 57:19 I think, I don't think it really matters, you know. 57:23 I don't think anything has shown this year that we play any better or worse on a smaller rank, so we'll just have to go out there and get done. 57:29 How has your game developed over the course of the season and what have you learned from Coach Johnson? 57:35 Worked on controlling me a little bit more at the start of the season. 57:37 I was a little wild, I guess you could say, kind of out there with coming out a little too far sometimes, being all over the place a little bit, so I think we've done a good job of controlling that and making me more controlled than that. 57:50 How do you feel about where your game is now and progress that you've made this year? 57:54 Yeah, I feel good. 57:55 Last weekend, I felt really good. 57:57 Even on Friday, you don't like giving up three goals, but I still felt pretty good seeing the puck well. 58:04 Saturday, I felt good as well, so I think that was a good weekend to kind of springboard me into the playoffs. 58:10 You've seen one thing that Coach mentioned was kind of the four overtime wins that you guys had being in the role of winning the conference. 58:16 How much does that kind of clutch of times mentality carry forward here in the playoffs? 58:21 Yeah, I mean, we're used to playing in those kind of pressure situations. 58:25 I know it's not the same as playoffs, but I mean, you have pressure in overtime games and league games when they matter, so that was big for us, and we got the job done in four games, like you said, so that's good to see. 58:37 You seem to enjoy facing guys on breakaways. 58:40 Is that accurate? 58:43 I mean, I don't mind it. 58:44 It can change the game, and I like that. 58:48 It can give your team big momentum swing. 58:51 You can get the crowd into it, so if you can single-handedly do that, yeah, I like it. 58:57 It's fun. 58:57 So when it's coming at you, what's the first thing that goes through your mind to get yourself ready for the challenge? 59:02 Just kind of say, here we go. 59:04 Where are you going? 59:05 And just kind of read and react from there. 59:07 You can't think about it too much. 59:09 You just kind of let instincts take over. 59:11 Another thing that's defined you this season is that game at Wisconsin, when you took that shot to the mask, got split open, went over and yet came right back into the game. 59:20 Can you tell us about what happened that night and how did it feel and how were you able to just soldier on through that? 59:26 Yeah, I mean, it really was. 59:29 I wouldn't say soldier on. 59:31 It really wasn't that. 59:32 It just took a square shot to the forehead. 59:35 It was Bessie. 59:35 He's got a heavy shot. 59:36 So, and it's never happened to me, anything like that before. 59:40 So it just kind of, I took it and it hurt. 59:43 I felt it, but all of a sudden I had blood dripping down my face. 59:47 So I was like, what's going on here? 59:48 And it's, I mean, it was just a little cut and easy fix. 59:51 So, it wasn't too bad. 59:54 With the, having the bye this time, do you, how do you approach this look? 59:58 Are you going to just be able to scout the Thursday game or do you mind or do you keep an eye on her? 1:00:03 No, I don't really care. 1:00:05 I mean, I'm just trying to focus on what we need to do. 1:00:08 We've seen the teams enough to kind of know what they have and know what they bring to the table. 1:00:13 So, I don't think seeing anybody on Thursday is going to change much. 1:00:19 How did you choose Minnesota and what has this first year in the Gopher program meant to you? 1:00:24 I chose Minnesota just because their history of winning, history of moving guys on and the atmosphere of Mary O'Gee renaming, you can't really beat it, kind of showed last Saturday. 1:00:36 But the first year has been great and everything that I kind of imagined Gopher Hockey to be. 1:00:42 I mean, obviously we'd want a few more wins, but we have a regular season championship under our belt now and we're looking for the next one, which would be big. 1:00:55 You're welcome.