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. 0:23 Thank. 0:23 Good evening, and welcome to the season finale of the GPL Podcast. 0:47 The season's over, boys. 0:50 Kind of saw it coming, kind of didn't see it coming, but let me tell you, Veegs, I think this weekend was kind of a microcosm of the entire season. 1:01 Inconsistent, Jekyll and Hyde, you know, we saw it both nights. 1:08 What do you think? 1:11 Well, I thought they played a very patient game to open the Big Ten tournament. 1:16 I thought, you know, they didn't obviously have their A game right from the start. 1:20 They probably had the Jitters. 1:22 I think Ohio State had better legs right away, but, you know, they were able to persevere and have a great third period and win that one. 1:31 And then the Michigan game, you know, that penalty kill has just let them down the last five, six weeks of the season. 1:38 And they took some bad penalties. 1:40 I don't think they were taking away scoring chances with their penalties, and they just couldn't stop them. 1:45 So kind of a frustrating way to end the season. 1:49 But, you know, this team had that fine line all year. 1:53 They weren't talented enough to outscore their mistakes, and they made too many on Saturday. 1:58 Initial thoughts, Hammeh, on this past weekend? 2:01 Well, I mean, it's kind of like what you touched on, that it's kind of a microcosm of the entire season. 2:07 I mean, there just wasn't that consistency throughout the year. 2:10 I mean, like one game it looked good, the next game it would be like totally the opposite or mediocre. 2:16 And, you know, you're not going to go very far in the postseason when it's do or die when you can't put a streak of games together and good play. 2:23 And, you know, I was frustrated with Saturday. 2:27 I mean, it's pretty tough when you go into the third period with a lead and you blow it. 2:32 You know, you're one period away from the postseason and you screw it up. 2:35 You know, I mean, Michigan might have a lot of offensive talent, but you can't be making, taking boneheaded penalties at bad times and stuff like that. 2:43 Or leaving Cotner wide open all alone right in front of Shearhorn to make him look completely stupid. 2:51 Yeah, so I mean, overall, you know, I mean, it just, like you said, it's kind of just a snapshot of what the entire season was like this past weekend. 3:00 So it's not a huge surprise. 3:02 And I just kept thinking that the whole time, you know, when they first started the Ohio State game, it was slow, nothing's going on. 3:08 All of a sudden out of nowhere, they take over the game, four straight goals, win the game. 3:13 You're down 2-0 to Michigan. 3:15 Seems like another one of those games to get their butts kicked. 3:18 Second period, boom, right back into the game and lead, going into the third and then dropping off right again. 3:24 So inconsistency was definitely what the weekend was about for Minnesota and it cost them. 3:31 Their season's over, we're all done. 3:33 So from here on out, it's nothing but speculation on next season, I tell you that because, and we've got plenty of speculation to talk about. 3:43 There's a lot going on in Minnesota's world, the Big Ten world, and we're going to get to all of that. 3:49 But first, Tami, something's actually may have just happened. 3:55 Somebody, some breaking news or I mean, not official, but what is the grapevine telling you? 4:04 Well, I'm hearing that Brodzinski is going to leave. 4:07 I heard that not too long ago. 4:11 I don't know if there's been any kind of official confirmation with the coaches and things like that, but a pretty well-placed source has informed me that that's pretty much going to happen. 4:24 So I mean, I would, unless some real last-minute decision gets changed, I'd say he's pretty much gone. 4:32 So Brodzinski, sounding like he's gone. 4:37 I'm guessing this is not too bad with what they have coming in next year. 4:42 Is it, Tami? 4:44 No, I mean, they've got, you know, Lindgren coming in. 4:47 You know, I think that, to me, you know, I mean, granted, obviously, you're bearing in guys that are not as experienced and everything, but you know, he's that kind of dynamic guy that can play, you know, both defensively and offensively, so you feel good about that. 5:04 Oh, God, it's, what's, what's his name? 5:08 I can't remember his name off the top of my head. 5:10 It's been a long day. 5:12 Yeah, Zulsdorf. 5:13 He's coming in. 5:14 He's a good player, you know, very solid. 5:17 You know, I feel pretty comfortable with what they have coming in. 5:20 You know, I think that they'll have some pretty good depth yet. 5:22 And, you know, it's going to really depend on what we're going to see from a couple of the guys that frankly haven't stepped up their first couple of seasons, you know, especially somebody like Collins. 5:31 You know, Glover hasn't really been anything to write home about. 5:36 So I mean, some of those guys are really going to have to step it up if it's going to be an improvement. 5:40 You know, not that Brodzinski has been a shut down defenseman by any means, but nonetheless you still, you know, he's a guy that you can count on. 5:48 So you, so it's going to be, if it does become official, and I'm pretty sure it's going to happen, that, you know, it's a loss, but I mean, I wouldn't call it devastating by any means. 5:58 Well, that looks like besides obviously Brodzinski, obviously earlier this week Hudson Fasching signed with Buffalo, Veegs. 6:10 Yeah, Hudson's an interesting case because when he came to the university, he wanted to be on a three-year plan so he could graduate in three years and be done with school. 6:21 And he's on track to do that from Carlson School of Management, who graduated in May, and he is ready, I think, for the NHL. 6:29 Last year he played a lot of the second half hurt with a shoulder injury, and this year he's been healthy, and I looked at the highlight video, Gopher Sports put together for Buffalo, and there's a lot of big goals that he scored around the crease, and I think he's going to be able to continue to do that at the next level. 6:47 Hammey, thoughts on Mr. 6:49 Fasching taking off? 6:52 Well, I mean, I'm not surprised. 6:55 I think we all kind of been talking about it all year. 6:57 I mean, I think you kind of had hoped that he is very close to his family, and yeah, I always kind of hoped that maybe that will push things through the full four years, but I mean, you can't blame him. 7:09 He had a great year, and he's obviously developed in his time, and he certainly looks like he's ready to take the next step, and it's not like he's going to a NHL team that's stacked, you know, so he'll have opportunity. 7:22 So you really can't blame him, and he's a great kid, and you know, he's done what he can do from both educationally and then I think from a hockey standpoint in college. 7:33 So you just tip your hat to the kid and say good luck at the next level. 7:36 And I think that's kind of the key. 7:37 I mean, if he's finishing up his education in three years, more power to him, because you know, he must have been busting his ass to get that far ahead and to get done in three years and still be a participant on the hockey team. 7:51 So if he's getting his education, getting his degree, I think it's time for him to go. 7:57 There was no reason for him to stay another year. 7:58 So I'd agree. 8:03 I mean, you get the education done, I mean, he's played very well this year. 8:09 Yeah, I mean, I'm sure that he could still continue to work on his game and get better in college. 8:14 But I mean, it's when you can get a paycheck and you have a good chance at making an NHL team, I mean, you really can't blame a guy for that. 8:22 So I just wish him luck. 8:24 And he's been a good representative of the school. 8:26 And he's getting a good deal from Buffalo. 8:28 You know, he's going to burn the year of his entry level contract and get to play with Eichel the rest of the year. 8:33 Nothing wrong with that. 8:36 Nothing wrong with that. 8:37 And then you think of someone like a Connor Riley, who's also going to graduate this season. 8:42 It sounds like he's going to come back for his quote unquote senior year. 8:47 And then it looks like just keep his studies going into a graduate type of work. 8:52 Isn't that true, Veegs? 8:54 Yep. 8:54 Connor Riley said he'll be back. 8:57 One other player that could be back or might not be is Nick Seeler. 9:01 He's scheduled to graduate this summer. 9:04 So it's undecided whether he'll be back or not. 9:06 I know he met with Donald G yesterday when he was meeting with The Wild today. 9:12 Hammey, any other people coming or going? 9:18 There's a lot of speculation on different players. 9:22 I don't want to say too much because I promise. 9:24 But there's one player that's been thrown around that people are concerned about. 9:31 And I have been told that he'll be back. 9:34 So I don't want to go into too much details on it because I don't want to tick anybody off. 9:39 But let's just say it's good news. 9:42 Well, I mean, that's good then. 9:43 We won't pry any further. 9:45 Right. 9:47 Well, guys, obviously a bad weekend, a bad end of the season. 9:52 What's your overall feeling on the entire season here, Veegs? 9:57 Well, I think looking back, you know, this was a different situation for Minnesota than we're used to. 10:02 They had so many new guys coming in the lineup, the question market goal, which turned out not to be a question mark at all and became a strength, and so many new guys coming on special teams. 10:14 I think the power play by the end of the year kind of got going, but the penalty kill was just inconsistent all year. 10:20 It was very much up and down throughout the season, and I think it was a growth year for a lot of the guys in the junior class, but, you know, this was a team that wasn't ready from the get-go, and the inconsistent play cost them. 10:35 Thoughts on the season there, Hamme? 10:38 Well, I mean, for me, you know, the frustrating thing was defensively, I expected them to be a little bit more solid. 10:44 I mean, we're lucky that Shearhorn came in and played as well as he did for a first-year guy. 10:50 Otherwise, it could have been even worse. 10:51 I mean, so to me, the defensive part, which pains me to say, because everybody knows I'm a big Gensel fan, but, you know, that you… 10:59 And I was actually about to ask you that. 11:00 I mean, is that a bad reflection on him? 11:02 No. 11:03 Well, I don't know. 11:03 I mean, I don't think you can… 11:05 What's the coach going to do? 11:06 I mean, he can coach them to the high heavens, but if they're going to make a boneheaded decision with a puck, I mean, are you really going to blame a coach for that? 11:13 I mean, yeah, they recruit the talent, so you kind of have to… 11:17 You know, if some guys aren't panning out or whatever, I mean, you kind of have to give them a little bit of the blame in that sense. 11:22 But at the same time, when you see mistakes on the ice, I mean, the coach can harp on those kinds of things time and time again, and it's not going to matter. 11:30 I mean, and let's be honest, it's not like Gensel lost his ability to be a good defensive coach overnight or something. 11:37 I mean, he's a good coach. 11:39 So I think ultimately, we have to look at the players, but certainly coaches are paid the money and they can't shirk responsibility. 11:48 So you have to bail out a little bit of the blame to the coaching. 11:52 So it is what it is. 11:53 Maybe the recruiting as well. 11:54 I mean, obviously somebody like Collins and Glover were kind of highly touted, and we haven't seen that from either of them yet. 12:04 Well, I think with Collins, that was one of those deals where you see a guy with size and he played at the national program, and you're like, okay, maybe you take a gamble on it. 12:13 Personally, I've never been a huge fan of those big trees in college hockey. 12:19 Maybe that works in NHL, but from a college perspective, just the Finleys of the world and those guys that are like 6'6, especially when you're playing against speedier, small guys, and on an Olympic ice sheet, especially, I don't know, I'm always a little bit of a skeptic in that. 12:39 I'd rather have a guy out there. 12:41 Granted, it's nice to have a guy with reach that can maybe lean on guys in the corners and in front of the net, but I don't know. 12:50 I've never been a big fan of having some of those big guys like that. 12:54 Well, I do think part of it was it wasn't like they missed on defensive recruits for these classes that went to other schools. 13:01 You know, Minnesota was probably just a little thin for recruiting prospects to pick from. 13:08 Well, and they didn't play Sadik enough to me. 13:14 I mean, granted, he might not have started right away. 13:16 I was kind of surprised we didn't see Sadik Saturday night. 13:20 With the type of skill and the type of speed that Michigan brings, I thought we would see him back there instead of Collins, who's obviously a little more immobile, I should say. 13:31 I don't know. 13:32 I mean, you know, it's always hard to say. 13:34 We're not the ones that are in practice. 13:35 And I mean, I don't see these guys every day to really judge. 13:39 But I just know that what I saw in games, that would have been a lot more confident, you know, with him out there than a few of the other guys just because, you know, I think he makes smarter decisions and, you know, he's not perfect and he's got growth to go. 13:52 But I just felt a little more confident in what he could bring to the table. 13:57 I do think Ryan Collins had a pretty good end to the season. 14:02 He had a really rough stretch after he got cut from the World Junior Team. 14:06 I think it was a lot of mental mistakes that he was making, you know, glaring mental mistakes. 14:11 And I thought he rallied in the last couple of games he played that were actually pretty solid. 14:15 You know, he wasn't putting himself in bad positions. 14:18 He was using his size as a strength and not chasing pucks and getting out of position like he was earlier in the year. 14:26 Well, we've got a few questions coming in via Twitter tonight. 14:30 Looks like little Patrick Sullivan, Gray Eagles little kid, wants to know how much of a jump does Novak make next year? 14:37 That's Young Eagle, right? 14:41 It is Young Eagle, yes. 14:42 Yes. 14:43 I call him Gray Eagles little kid. 14:44 Or we used to call him The Rat when he played hockey with us back when he was a little kid. 14:51 But Novak, what do you think, Hammeh? 14:53 He needs to make a jump. 14:55 Well, I mean, I think he had a pretty good year, man, 27 points. 14:58 And I mean, he had a little bit of that stretch after he got knocked out of Wisconsin game where he was probably a little sluggish. 15:06 But I thought he had a pretty good overall year. 15:09 I mean, he's a great playmaker. 15:10 You'd like to see him score a few more goals. 15:12 I mean, not that six is necessarily terrible. 15:14 But you'd like to see him kind of shoot the puck a little bit more. 15:18 But I mean, his forte has always been to be kind of a pass first guy. 15:22 And you know, but I expect him to really have another good year next year, probably in hopefully the mid 30 to 40 range. 15:30 I mean, he's going to probably get a little more playing time, I would imagine. 15:34 And some of the other guys that maybe are a little bit more, you know, some of the goal scoring type of guys. 15:40 But so, I mean, I feel pretty good about everything, you know, with his progress and hopefully with another season of working out the weights and everything, he'll be kind of a little bit more rugged as well. 15:51 Any thoughts on Novak there, Veegs? 15:54 I feel like of all the players in Minnesota's group who play forward, he probably has the most work to do in the weight room. 16:02 He's just a slight guy right now. 16:04 I think he'll really benefit from another year in Cal Dietz's program. 16:09 I talked to Cal a little bit last week and he said the biggest jump guys make is between that freshman and sophomore year, especially for guys who haven't really worked hard in the weight room before. 16:19 They can really make some huge gains if they're committed to it. 16:23 I thought his puck skills were really good all season and he was definitely a nice addition to the power play. 16:29 He had great vision, made some great plays. 16:33 Well, Hammeh, what about Taylor Camerata? 16:39 What about him? 16:43 I mean, I can't go on a rampage because it's not going to really do any good. 16:47 Although, maybe I can give him a send off for the off season and maybe it will make him be pissed for the off season and he will work hard. 16:54 I don't know, I'm just kidding. 16:58 He was supposed to be a big scorer and it just never happened. 17:03 Well, I mean, I will go back to the whole Spiehar thing I said a long time ago. 17:07 People ripped on him and he had actually a pretty solid college career and Cammie came in with some pretty high expectations even if they weren't necessarily realistic because he was going to have to play a little bit more of a two-way game on the college level. 17:23 But, nonetheless, you still expect a guy like that to produce a little bit more offensively and 19 points for a guy that's getting a pretty high scholarship amount, that's just not going to cut it. 17:34 He really needs to come back and if he's going to come back, maybe he's going to be frustrated and you never know with guys like that if they might just suddenly decide to leave. 17:46 I mean, I would be shocked if he did, but you never know this day and age, especially considering it's not like the Islanders are the biggest Gopher fans in the world. 17:59 But I mean, it's disappointing. 18:00 He had a disappointing year to me. 18:02 You just have to do better at the 19 points with that much scholarship. 18:06 Well, I'll point this to you, Veegs, and obviously Friday night he had a pretty big game with two goals, so the game-winning goal, and I was out there trying to get some photos of him, and he's scoring huge goals here in that game, and zero emotion coming out of him. 18:22 I mean, you don't see any emotion coming out of him during the games or after the games. 18:28 It almost just seems like he's going through the motions. 18:31 Is there something going on with him? 18:34 Yeah, it's hard to know. 18:35 He's an odd duck with just kind of his personality and mentality for how he approaches the game and how to compete. 18:45 You know, I think every once in a while he does get pissed off and plays better because he starts playing more aggressive, but that's definitely not his character. 18:53 He's more of a passive guy and I think playing with a guy like Justin Cluse really helped him and got him going because Cluse does a lot of work and I'm sure he's on the bench getting camera out of going and, you know, trying to get him more involved in the game and more engaged with physical battles, you know, to win pucks with his stick and quickness because he's not a tremendous skater. 19:17 He's not going to, you know, get in the rush and get in transition and make things happen. 19:21 You know, he's got to, you know, pick his spots and so playing with Cluse was a big help for that, I think. 19:28 Yeah, well, we'll just have to see. 19:29 Yeah, I mean, that's, you're right about the emotion. 19:32 To me, that's always been the strangest thing about him is, you know, he's one of the few players that I've ever seen that scores a goal and it's like, it's almost like you ran over his dog, you know what I mean? 19:44 I mean, seriously, you would think like he just did something horrible. 19:47 I mean, there's like this really kind of emotionless, you know, response to it. 19:54 Like, you know, I don't know if it's the whole Barry Sanders, you know, act like you've been there before when you score a touchdown. 20:00 You know, I don't know, but to me, in hockey, you know, no matter what level you're at, everybody is excited and pumped up, you know, especially when you're the goal scorer. 20:12 And to see a guy that does that and just really shows a little emotion, it's like you just start to wonder, does this guy really have a passion for the game? 20:21 Does he really have a desire to be great? 20:23 And I don't know, it's hard to say that, you know, maybe you can't read too much into it based on celebrations and whatever, but you would think you would be really thrilled and excited, you know, when you show success on the ice. 20:36 Well, I know I was frustrated with them because I was trying to get a good celebration photo of him and he gave me nothing after those two goals Friday night. 20:45 So on a personal last sight, I was just pissed at him. 20:49 Give me something, Taylor, a smile, you know, a pumping of fists, anything, because, you know, I hate to tell you, we noticed this, you know, as a photographer, I noticed it. 21:01 And obviously you guys noticed it too, it's just, it is kind of worrisome that we're not seeing that, that raw emotion that pretty much all hockey players have. 21:11 I mean, even though the silent type guys, I mean, you look at somebody with Rao who off the ice was very quiet, very subdued, but on the ice, completely different. 21:21 We just see nothing from Camerata. 21:25 It's strange. 21:26 It's strange to me. 21:27 I mean, I don't get it, but it is what it is. 21:32 Any thoughts on any of the other players at the end of the season? 21:35 Let me see. 21:37 You know, I saw, I don't know if it was Butch Grouse tweeted, you know, how many points a lot of these senior-led teams had. 21:44 Maybe St. 21:45 Cloud had over 200 points for the seniors or whatever it may have been. 21:48 And then I looked at it and Minnesota had one point from their seniors this year. 21:54 So obviously, they're going to be bringing back quite a bit. 21:59 At least we hope they do. 22:03 I don't recall any years where we've had seniors be a complete non-factor on a team. 22:10 Well, let's be honest. 22:11 It's not like we had a huge senior class to start with. 22:16 I mean, Riley was there. 22:18 Who else was there? 22:21 It's Michelson and Riley, basically. 22:23 Yeah. 22:26 I mean, you know what I mean? 22:27 At least if you're going to call them official seniors. 22:29 I mean, I suppose you could, because he's been around an extra year because of his injury, I mean, I suppose you could take Connor Riley as well, but I mean, he's, you know, nonetheless, he's still considered a junior. 22:42 But I mean, I'm not shocked. 22:45 I mean, you didn't expect much out of Michelson, and nobody really thought that Ryan Riley was going to be, you know, pumping in the points. 22:51 So we did. 22:52 Well, back in the day, though, we thought Michelson was going to be a stud. 22:56 This is kind of a, you know, he peaked in high school, and that was it. 23:04 Well, I think, you know, I was just going to say, I think, you know, Michelson's biggest thing is he's just a straight line player. 23:11 You know, he's not real good side to side. 23:13 He's not real agile. 23:15 He's just kind of he's like that bubble hockey winger that just goes up and down on the rail. 23:19 And you know, he worked hard at the fourth line role. 23:22 But the fourth line scoring production really hurt this team. 23:25 You know, they couldn't get much done. 23:28 I think Romanko probably was the most dangerous of guys on that line. 23:31 And he didn't get a goal. 23:34 Yeah, I like Romanko's effort. 23:36 But like you said, no goals, obviously, you know, you know, we saw Ryan Reilly out there. 23:43 Was it Saturday night? 23:45 He was skating for somebody, was he? 23:50 Gates picked up, Ramsey picked up an injury during practice this last week. 23:54 And that's what they went with there. 23:58 But you know, Ramsey, Romanko, none of those guys, I mean, some of obviously they're freshmen. 24:03 But Michelson, boy, nothing. 24:10 Well, we all know that when the Gophers have their best teams, I mean, they usually have a fourth line that will pitch in, you know, I mean, they're not going to be doing it every game, but they're dangerous enough that they'll pitch in and, you know, get you maybe a goal or so in a weekend. 24:27 And, you know, we just didn't have that this year. 24:29 I mean, the depth just wasn't there. 24:30 You know, it's disappointing that third line wasn't as good as you wanted it to be. 24:35 I mean, we had two lines that I felt like, you know, you can you could count on to some degree and feel pretty good about. 24:40 But after that, you know, there was a big drop off and, you know, we talked about Cammie. 24:45 We, you know, we talked about some of those guys. 24:47 They just didn't really step it up the way that you expected. 24:51 Yeah, I think once they split up Clues, Fasching and Bristead on the three lines, you know, that kind of hurt, you know, the top six by trying to balance things out. 25:01 I thought Bristead and Leteri had some nice chemistry during the season. 25:04 And I think she did a great job on the first line, but they just didn't have enough depth or competition for spots in the lineup. 25:12 So, how does that change for next year? 25:14 Obviously, Lucia talked on his weekly show this week that he didn't talk about any forwards. 25:21 Only the two defensemen are for sure coming in. 25:23 So, who's coming in, Hamme? 25:26 Do we know? 25:28 Well, I mean, I think some of that is still kind of to be determined. 25:32 I mean, I know that people were talking about Pitlick. 25:37 And, yeah, from what I've heard, that that's something that's still being kind of thought about. 25:42 I mean, I think that they want to make sure that, you know, he's coming in at the right time. 25:47 And so, I think that there's still something to be thought about with that. 25:51 We have always talked about Middlestead and whether he was going to accelerate. 25:54 And I think that he kind of got a late start on that. 25:57 So, we might not know that for sure until kind of maybe even summer. 26:02 I mean, I don't think that we'll know that for sure by the end of the school year. 26:05 Maybe I'm wrong because that's not like I'm looking at his academics. 26:08 But, you know, I think that he's got a lot of work to do and I think he's ready. 26:14 It's just a question of would you rather bring him in one year early and get possibly three years out of him? 26:21 Or would you rather have him go back or play juniors or whatever and maybe only get two years out of him? 26:27 I mean, it's, you know, because he's going to leave. 26:29 He's going to be a high trip pick and he's not going to be a long time guy in college hockey. 26:33 So, you better get the most that you can get out of him. 26:36 And if he can produce next year, why not? 26:40 Hearing from Nate Wells, Gopher State saying, you know, we forgot about Brady Shea and obviously Wilcox would have been part of the senior class. 26:49 Christian Horn, Coyne, obviously Shea and Riley were the big guys. 26:56 Wilcox obviously a big contributor leaving early. 26:59 But obviously when you get those big guys leaving and leaving the crap, I would say, they just didn't contribute at all this year. 27:10 Well, I would imagine he's talking about just from a senior class perspective. 27:15 I mean, the coaches are pretty much, they knew that Riley was going to be gone. 27:22 They knew that Shea was going to be gone. 27:24 I mean, it's not like it was 10 years ago where you get blindsided by guys leaving and you don't really have diddly squad for time to kind of plan for it. 27:35 They've been planning for that stuff pretty well ahead of time. 27:38 And if there's a gap there, I mean, that's sort of on the coaches. 27:41 It looks like Ryan Norman, he says, is the only one who really contributed with any goals with two or three when he was on the fourth line. 27:48 But we need to have that. 27:50 And then we have the guy on GPL telling us that he should be a first-line guy. 27:57 The biggest addition next year will be Smithula jumping in the lineup. 28:01 He's a dynamic player. 28:02 He's a point-of-game player out east when he was there. 28:06 And now he'll be coming to the U. 28:07 And he looks good in practice. 28:09 I mean, he looks like he's got a lot of jump. 28:12 He looked like he is a hard worker for winning pucks, a little bit bigger than Kloos. 28:17 But he's going to be an effective player for them next year. 28:20 Well, I was told he's the best player on the team. 28:24 That's what I was told by somebody well-informed, that he is already the best player on the team. 28:32 So if that's the case, I mean, I'm not there to judge for myself. 28:36 But if that's really what that person believes and that person sees him pretty consistently, I have a tendency to believe it. 28:44 You've been talking to the Don, haven't you? 28:47 No. 28:47 The Don is your source, isn't he? 28:50 Maybe fake Don Lucia? 28:52 Come on now. 28:53 He's the one coach that doesn't follow me. 28:55 The assistants follow me. 28:57 But Coach Lucia, I'm just not good enough for Coach Lucia. 29:01 Does Coach Lucia follow anyone? 29:04 I don't know. 29:04 I haven't even looked, but he probably follows one or two things. 29:08 I still don't believe it's even Coach Lucia anyway. 29:11 It's probably just the SID, is that what you're saying? 29:13 It probably is. 29:16 I just don't see the Don getting on the Twitter, tweeting stuff. 29:22 I don't know for sure. 29:24 His tweets are pretty vanilla, so it could be the Don. 29:30 Are you saying Don's a little plain, a little vanilla? 29:33 He can be a little vanilla until the microphones are off and then he throws out the zingers. 29:39 I have heard that. 29:41 But the thing is, you see these tweets from the Don and they've got hashtags in them, they've got links to other Twitter accounts. 29:50 I'm like, I don't know about that. 29:53 Well, maybe he tells the guy what he would like to say and then let somebody else kind of do the hard work, like hashtagging. 29:59 That's probably what it is. 30:01 I don't believe for one second that the Don is getting on his phone or his computer and doing it, but who knows really? 30:09 Who knows? 30:11 Well, guys, obviously a disappointing end of the season. 30:15 Fasching gone, looks like Brodzinski is gone. 30:20 And now we've got a lot of changes just happening in the Big Ten. 30:24 And obviously just announced yesterday that Notre Dame is leaving Hockey East after next year and coming to the Big Ten. 30:32 Obviously we had kind of speculated this over the last couple of weeks. 30:35 The coaches have been saying, hey, we're going to be adding teams. 30:37 We're going to be adding teams. 30:39 And sure enough, here it is. 30:40 Notre Dame says goodbye to Hockey East and is coming to the Big Ten. 30:47 Thoughts, Veegs? 30:48 Notre Dame. 30:51 Well, I definitely think it's a good addition for the Big Ten. 30:54 Notre Dame has been a great hockey program the last decade. 30:57 They've got that great Compton Family Ice Arena facility. 31:01 They're off the ice stuff is tip top for them as well for training and all the player amenities. 31:07 And I think it's going to be a good fit. 31:10 It is making the Big Ten a little bit like the CCHA with Minnesota and Wisconsin. 31:16 But I do think the Big Ten needs more teams so that they can avoid these down cycles like this year when Ohio State is down, Michigan State is down, Wisconsin is down. 31:26 You have a few more teams and you have a chance for more teams being relevant every year. 31:31 Thoughts on Notre Dame, Hamme? 31:35 I called the shot, man. 31:36 A couple weeks ago I said, I heard that. 31:39 I actually had heard that a couple weeks ago that that was likely to happen. 31:45 I think it's a good move. 31:47 It's a brand name. 31:48 It's something that will get some interest. 31:52 The one thing you have to be leery of is they definitely have made inroads in Minnesota in terms of recruiting. 31:58 For them, it's important that they have a presence here. 32:02 I'm glad they're only playing the Gophers within the state as far as conference goes. 32:07 Nonetheless, it's something that they can use with recruits. 32:12 They'll get to play at home and whatever to some degree. 32:16 I don't know what the logistics are going to be as far as the television stuff and whatever. 32:21 I just think it's a good fit. 32:25 They have good talent coming in. 32:27 They have the facilities. 32:30 I think the interesting thing will be as the Big Ten grows in hockey, how is that going to impact the scheduling from a Gopher perspective? 32:43 Because we've been relying pretty heavily on Minnesota teams for non-conference or at least local in our area. 32:54 The more teams are added to the Big Ten, the less opportunities are going to be for non-conference. 33:00 Now it's for sure going to be what? 33:02 That's 17, so that's 24 conference games. 33:05 If they add another team, it's 28. 33:09 You're starting to cut down on the opportunities for non-conference. 33:13 It will be interesting to see what happens with that. 33:16 What I found interesting is that Deputy Commissioner of the Big Ten, Brad Traviola, I think that's how you say his name, was on with the Big Ten Network. 33:25 He was saying that TV-wise, they're going to keep their current TV contract. 33:32 NBC Sports Network, they have the choice of when Notre Dame is at home, when Notre Dame goes to the rest of the Big Ten schools, the Big Ten Network has coverage. 33:46 Another interesting thing is that it doesn't sound like there's any kind of shared revenue or anything like that. 33:52 It sounds like they keep their TV revenue, and obviously the Big Ten keeps their TV revenue, so I'm not really sure financially if they're gaining anything. 34:02 Obviously they might be saving some money on travel, but it was interesting to hear that they're really not gaining a ton from doing this. 34:11 They're just kind of keeping things as they are, at least on the TV side, and it sounds like on the money side. 34:17 Did you hear anything about that, Veegs? 34:19 Just that they'll keep their TV games. 34:21 So there will be even more Big Ten hockey on TV next year, or in two years when they join the conference. 34:28 But I don't think it's really a concern for the Big Ten to not get their TV revenue from Notre Dame. 34:35 I think that's kind of a minimal thing. 34:37 You know, Minnesota still makes $5 to $7 million a year, and that doesn't include the TV revenue numbers that the school gets from the Big Ten. 34:49 I can hear those hot tamales, Hammy. 34:51 Are they good? 34:52 Oh, yeah. 34:53 Well, you know, I haven't had dinner, man. 34:55 Give me a break, dude. 34:56 As soon as it's a podcast... 35:00 By the way, Hammy's in Dallas on work travel, so... 35:04 That's right. 35:06 Where in the world is Hammy? 35:07 You are. 35:08 That is true. 35:08 I mean, one night you were in your car driving. 35:11 Obviously, you're in Dallas this week. 35:14 We couldn't get you when you were in Vegas. 35:16 You were just too busy whooping it up, so... 35:18 I know. 35:19 It was my first week on a new job, so I kind of had to... 35:23 I didn't want to be a douche. 35:28 Well, you know... 35:29 I was just going to remark on the Notre Dame stuff. 35:33 For me, it's just more of a strategic move for the conference. 35:38 I just think that they understand that they have to grow the conference, they have to grow the presence. 35:43 I don't think it's really about the dollars in this case. 35:47 For me, it's just more they're trying to grow things. 35:53 Notre Dame fits. 35:54 We've always talked about how Big Ten in general has kind of courted Notre Dame for all sports, and that hasn't obviously happened because of football and their independence, but it's kind of a fit in that sense. 36:08 Well, I definitely think it's a fit. 36:10 Obviously, they've built their tradition a lot these last 10 years. 36:15 They've had the natural rivalries with your Michigan, Michigan States, Ohio States. 36:21 We've been playing them for the last four years here, so geographically, I think it's great. 36:30 Now, it's just a wait and see if they're going to add an eighth team. 36:33 All the big rumor is they're going to add Arizona State. 36:38 Personally, I'm not big on that, because obviously, that's a three and a half hour flight to there, and who knows if that will actually work, and do we want to bring in a potentially brand new team like Penn State? 36:53 Because obviously, Penn State took off real quick. 36:55 Is Arizona State going to do the same? 36:57 Who knows? 36:59 But Vegs, thoughts on the Yates team? 37:02 Do you think they should hold off right now? 37:04 I think they should. 37:06 Well, I definitely think Arizona State is going to be way different than Penn State. 37:10 You know, Penn State, they had the money to build a facility and do everything right. 37:16 Arizona State still doesn't know what they're doing. 37:18 They hired their club coach to coach them in their transition. 37:21 It just doesn't seem like a good fit. 37:25 The other schools that have been rumored are a school like UConn, which is another big school with a big athletic program, a big university. 37:32 You know, that would be a good fit, I think. 37:35 Hockey-wise, I don't know how travel-wise that would work out. 37:38 And then Miami, Ohio would be the other one. 37:41 I think Miami might work, but UConn, I mean, really? 37:48 I think they've made a big commitment to their program the last couple years. 37:52 I'm sorry, what? 37:52 They're getting better. 37:54 Yeah, but haven't they pissed the fans off enough? 38:00 I mean, really, you bring in a UConn, nobody is going to care about a UConn. 38:05 They won't care about Arizona State either. 38:07 And most likely in Miami, Ohio, sure they've been a decent program these last 10 years, but that's not going to do much for people either. 38:17 I think Notre Dame is definitely a good plus for the league and for the fans, but all these other teams, I don't think it's going to do much for the fans. 38:28 Well, it's hard to know because when Minnesota plays St. 38:30 Cloud and only 6,100 people come to the game, there's issues that are bigger than just who they're playing. 38:37 Yeah, we're going to get to that in a little bit. 38:40 Well, I mean, I don't think the other thing is, I mean, this isn't really, to me, it's not really being done for attendance purposes or anything like that. 38:50 To me, this is more just about trying to grow the footprint of your conference and trying to add a few teams. 38:57 I mean, none of the teams we've talked about are going to excite anybody in particular. 39:03 I mean, I don't give a damn about Miami. 39:04 I mean, they've obviously not really been particularly great after the conference changes, and they've kind of underachieved in some respects. 39:14 And I'm not interested in UConn and Arizona State. 39:17 It's too early to really tell. 39:18 But I mean, at the same time, you kind of do have to think about fit and some of that other stuff. 39:25 And I mean, there's obviously better hockey programs that you could ask to join the conference, but it's not really about that. 39:31 I didn't think it was interesting coming out of the Notre Dame discussion was that they weren't asked when the Big Ten first formed to join the conference. 39:39 I think a lot of people had assumed that the Big Ten had reached out to them when all that relignment was happening, so the Big Ten could have eight teams, and it came out that they didn't. 39:49 So I thought that was the interesting news coming out of that more than anything. 39:52 Well, I think that's just because of their lack of knowledge of how college hockey works. 39:58 I mean, I think they just said, they assumed, hey, this is the Big Ten. 40:02 We're going to be a great conference. 40:03 And boy, these first three years have been a struggle and not what they expected. 40:07 So, you know, it sounds like Traviola was saying, they talked with the coaches last summer. 40:13 They said the coaches want more teams. 40:16 So they went out and got Notre Dame. 40:18 I think that the reason they didn't ask them in the first place is just for that. 40:21 They're like, hey, we're the Big Ten. 40:23 We're going to be great. 40:24 We don't care what other people think. 40:26 And now at least it looks like they're starting to look at these other things. 40:31 See, I don't know that I agree that they just... 40:34 I think it was just more a matter of, okay, let's see. 40:38 Let's put the conference together. 40:40 Let's see what happens. 40:41 And it's kind of like when you're doing product development. 40:44 I mean, you're not going to know right away. 40:46 It's going to be a little bit of trial and error, you know. 40:49 And I think that they just saw that, okay, you know, here are some of the issues that we have. 40:53 We need more teams. 40:54 We need to have, you know, make some of these kinds of changes because it's not going to be, you know, a 100% hit all the time, you know. 41:02 And so for me, I don't think it was so much of an arrogance thing as much as let's just start, let's just get going with this and see what happens and then we'll kind of make changes as we go. 41:12 And I think that that, to me, is more than anything what's happened. 41:17 Sorry, Biggs. 41:18 Well, I was just going to say, I don't know if the poor performance of the Big Ten really is caused by the Big Ten forming. 41:27 It just is, it's a correlation that this is happening. 41:30 You know, obviously Wisconsin's making the move by getting rid of Eves and bringing in a new coach. 41:35 I think Minnesota, you know, it's just this recruiting cycle, you know, didn't have the put together roster at the start of the year. 41:41 I don't think these things are because of the Big Ten. 41:44 I don't think that the attendance issues at Mariucci are caused by the Big Ten. 41:49 I think it was, you know, happened with the scholarship seating happening at the same time. 41:54 So it's just like there's all these factors that come into play, and I think it's wrong to just blame it all on the Big Ten. 42:00 Well, right, I mean, I totally agree. 42:02 I mean, I think some of it's bad timing. 42:04 I mean, you know, nobody could have ever predicted that Wisconsin was going to suck ass the way that they have. 42:10 I mean, nobody would have foresaw that. 42:12 I mean, you know, I think Penn State has made progress. 42:17 Everybody kind of expected Minnesota and Michigan to be, you know, at least NCAA caliber types teams. 42:23 And for the most part, they have been. 42:25 I mean, we obviously didn't get that, you know, this year. 42:28 But, you know, we've been good the last few years. 42:30 And Michigan, you know, it's been, you know, maybe a little bit inconsistent. 42:34 But nonetheless, they have obviously had a good year. 42:36 And so I just think that you don't blame it. 42:40 It's not the conference that's making the teams not performing to the level that we expect. 42:46 I mean, that's just kind of the teams themselves. 42:50 Well, I want to get more into that in a second here. 42:52 And obviously some people tweeting at me on Facebook this weekend. 42:58 Time for a little revenge by me. 42:59 But before we do that, we want to hear from our sponsor, who's been sponsoring us all year, Vintage Minnesota Hockey. 43:06 We appreciate them doing this. 43:09 And hopefully we've been doing a lot of good stuff for them still. 43:12 Come back next year. 43:14 But let's have a listen. 43:15 Vintage Minnesota Hockey wants you to take a step back in time and keep the memories of Minnesota Hockey heritage alive forever. 43:23 vintagemnhockey.com features history from around the entire state of Minnesota. 43:28 One feature that I enjoy on a daily basis is the This Day in Minnesota Hockey History that is on their website. 43:34 They have tons of info on what's happening on any particular day in Minnesota hockey history. 43:40 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. 43:50 So make sure you visit the store and take a look at that jersey. 43:52 They just made it available within the last week. 43:55 You can get it customized with your number, your name, however you want. 43:59 And if you use the code GPLPodcast, you can get 10% off your order. 44:05 So make sure you head over to the store and head over to vintagemnhockey.com. 44:11 Yes, I know the commercial is a little out of date. 44:14 They've had these jerseys for over a month now. 44:16 But I figured I'd just play the commercial anyway because they're great jerseys. 44:21 So make sure you check them out. 44:23 Definitely thank Vintage Minnesota Hockey for sponsoring us this year. 44:28 It is greatly appreciated. 44:30 Now, after the game on Saturday, a famous Gopher fan said, season's over, F the Big Ten, as if to say it's the Big Ten's fault that Minnesota's pissed. 44:46 This kind of ticked me off a bit. 44:48 I mean, I'm kind of like you, Heming. 44:50 I'm kind of sick of people blaming the Big Ten for all of the problems. 44:55 And what ticks me off even more is that this person, well, I haven't seen him at the arena in years, yet he's bitching about the team. 45:06 You know what? 45:08 There's a lot of fans bitching about the team, and they're not even showing up at the games. 45:12 And they just say, oh, it's Big Ten, blah, blah, blah. 45:14 Well, you know what? 45:16 These kids don't care what conference they're in. 45:18 They just want their fans to support them. 45:19 So it kind of ticked me off. 45:22 And then a drunk hockey guy starts to get on this, say, I'm picking on these guys. 45:26 I'm just pissed because I'm getting divorced. 45:28 All this bullshit will fuck you guys because I don't give a shit. 45:33 If you're a fan, get behind the team. 45:35 Don't blame it on the conference. 45:38 Get to the games. 45:39 Obviously, a lot of people are not showing up. 45:41 We're going to talk about this. 45:42 But to think I'm emotionally unstable because I'm getting divorced has nothing to do with this. 45:49 Quit bitching about the conference. 45:51 Support the team and just shut the fuck up. 45:54 Sorry, I set the kid at that off. 45:56 Well, I mean, I don't blame you. 45:59 I mean, look... 46:00 I'm sick of it. 46:01 People are bitching about it. 46:02 So I went after them. 46:03 I said, you know what? 46:04 Show up at the games and support the team. 46:07 We haven't seen you at the games in years. 46:09 Get to the games. 46:11 Bluff. 46:12 I'm just sick of it. 46:13 People bit, you know, I kind of blocked the big mistake guys because they were going off too. 46:18 But you know what? 46:19 Those big mistake guys, they were at least at the games all weekend. 46:23 They might not like the conference, but you know what? 46:24 They're still there supporting the team. 46:26 And it's apparent by the attendance at the BigTen tournament this weekend and the no-show showing up at Mariucci that people are pissed. 46:36 Well, support the team. 46:38 They need your support. 46:39 You know, do you think these players like coming out, the pride on ice and there's frickin half the place is empty? 46:46 But this weekend, you know, mostly empty? 46:50 I'm just sick of it. 46:50 Everyone's always the Big Ten and always the Big Ten. 46:52 Shut up and support the team. 46:55 Well, I mean, I think it's just kind of like it's old. 46:58 I mean, I get it when it was, you know, right at the time that the decisions were going on or, you know, maybe the first year or so when people are trying to transition. 47:09 But I mean, we're three years into it now. 47:11 It's kind of like the people who whine about it. 47:14 For me, it's just like, you know, I think if we've used the analogy before, it's like, you know, if a girl dumps you in high school, you're still going to complain about it 20 years later? 47:24 I mean, it's like, get over it, you know? 47:27 I mean, I'm not saying to anybody, if they don't want to spend their money on tickets and whatever, so be it. 47:34 You know, I'm not going to tell anybody how to spend their money, but it just, the whole whining part of it to me, it's just like, you know, do you get joy out of it? 47:44 I mean, does it really create any joy? 47:47 The ones that bug me are the ones that will, would rather go watch other teams play that they have, apparently have no cheering affiliation for. 47:57 Like, they would rather go do that than support the Gophers. 48:00 Because to me, what kind of a fan are you? 48:03 If you're like, you have an opportunity to see your supposed team that you cheer for and you would rather go elsewhere. 48:10 To me, that's like, how can you really call yourself a fan of that team at the end of the day? 48:14 That's my opinion. 48:17 Well, for me, I'm just kind of bored with it. 48:22 You know, the fans need to get back out there. 48:24 Obviously, the ticket prices aren't that great. 48:28 But you know what? 48:28 Quit bitching about the league and support the team. 48:31 That's just my feeling. 48:32 Any thoughts on that, Biggs? 48:35 Just that people need to focus on what can they change. 48:39 Obviously, the Big Ten is not going away. 48:41 But what are some things that the university can do to improve things? 48:46 I know that they're pulling their hair out trying to figure out how to get a better atmosphere in the building. 48:51 We saw that the last two weekends when they did the $10 standard room only tickets. 48:56 You know, they do want to try to fix things. 48:59 I think they do realize that having the different TV times is an issue. 49:02 You know, they want to try to figure out a way to be on Friday and Saturday night as much as they can and get a pregame and a postgame. 49:10 These are things that they want to try to do, but these people who make these unrealistic demands and expect results out of it, it's just numbing to me. 49:18 I don't understand it. 49:20 Well, let's get into it. 49:21 You wrote an article on GPL today talking about the actual ticket scan. 49:25 It's kind of a follow up to your article last year. 49:29 And for me, it's just mind boggling. 49:32 From what you found out, the ticket sales actually went up this year on average. 49:39 But obviously, the scanned tickets, the number of people actually showing up decreased as well. 49:46 From what your number is saying, on average, 28% of the tickets are going unused on a given night. 49:54 Obviously, they're selling tons of tickets, but when you have 2,500 to 3,000 people not showing up every night, something is wrong. 50:03 And figuring that out is, I have no idea what to think. 50:07 And it sounds like the U doesn't know what to do either. 50:10 Yeah, it's amazing that people will be willing to fork out $50 a game on average for tickets to see Gopher Hockey, and then not go almost a third of the time. 50:22 So I tried looking at the schedule to see if it was wild conflicts, because we thought that that might be a factor and a cause the year before, because it seemed to correlate with the data. 50:33 But that's really not there this year. 50:35 There's only four games where the wild conflicted with the Gophers, and it wasn't a big impact on the number of people showing up. 50:43 The only game that was really a big impact that was surprising was the Sunday game with St. 50:47 Cloud when they had the 6 o'clock Sunday game, because I think it was a football conflict on the 28th, and that had a pretty low attendance. 50:57 But it is just surprising to see that the number of tickets not used is continuing to fall. 51:03 Well, I think the thing that you have to kind of ask is, is it a matter of the people who are buying the tickets, like, I don't know, I mean, almost it's like if you have that kind of money that you can just piss away and not show up, it's like, well, are those the right fans to be targeting? 51:20 I mean, I know that the you cares just about the money probably, but it's kind of like, you know, I mean, you have an average fan that buys those tickets, and they're going to be using them all the time because it's like, hey, man, I paid for these tickets. 51:34 I got to use them. 51:35 But if you have some, you know, whether it's corporate or whatever it is, if they just have money to piss away, I mean, obviously it's not going to matter to them as much. 51:44 It's almost like you wonder if it's almost like the ticket prices themselves in some way are kind of edging out the people that you really want to have at the rink. 51:56 And the ones that do buy the tickets are the ones that really are sort of lukewarm because it's for one reason or another, they have other things they want to do. 52:04 I don't know. 52:05 Well, the other surprising thing was the number of season tickets has declined. 52:08 You know, it used to be that you couldn't get a season ticket. 52:12 Well, last year it went from 7,400 down to 6,700. 52:16 So they're still selling 3,300 tickets, single game tickets for these games, and people are still not showing up. 52:24 So I think that was a big issue this year. 52:26 I think one of the things the university needs to look at is how to do a resale market, because they try to do the standing room only sale at the end of the season to try to get more people in the building. 52:38 And I think it worked. 52:39 Three of the biggest crowds were the last three games when they really were pushing that. 52:44 But I think making it easy for people to resale their tickets so that people can get an assigned seat when they come to the rank. 52:55 I'm already getting chirped by Drunk Hockey Guy. 52:57 Oh darn. 53:00 Apparently I pissed people off. 53:03 I don't care. 53:05 Apparently I'm emotionally unstable. 53:09 By the way, I had it confirmed from a second source that I'm confident in that Brodzinski is gone. 53:19 The podcast listeners heard it first. 53:24 Well, what are we to do about this thing? 53:29 I'm guessing there's a lot of corporations and they buy these tickets and they try to give them away. 53:36 Maybe it's a case where I don't want these tickets. 53:39 This team sucks. 53:40 I don't want to see Big Ten teams. 53:41 Maybe that's something. 53:44 It's not like the U is going to not accept money from corporations and all those fine seats in the middle of Mariucci. 53:51 Is there anything else they could do besides maybe a type of resale thing, Veegs? 53:56 I think they're kind of stuck here. 53:59 Well, I know that some organizations have basically revoked people's season tickets when they don't show up at the building. 54:06 I know that's been done in the NFL with people who no show or with people who buy tickets just to resale them a scalpel market. 54:15 And it's something I think the university has to take a look at if they want to improve the atmosphere in the building. 54:20 Because I think that's something that drives attendance. 54:23 You know, if it's something where it's a great place to be and a fun hockey game to watch, you know, people are going to want to show up when, you know, there's only 6,100 people and there's a lot of empty seats. 54:34 You know, it just doesn't have the attraction that it, you know, could have. 54:39 Minnesota does play an attractive game. 54:41 You know, they have defensemen who get up in the rush and they trade chances and it's an exciting brand of hockey and they've got great recruits coming in the next couple of seasons. 54:49 So I don't think that should be holding them back. 54:55 So obviously the attendance is down. 54:58 They're not sure what to do. 55:01 I'm guessing the U is really not going to do anything, Veegs, until they start seeing these ticket sales go down. 55:07 I mean, obviously when you've got 3,000 no-shows, it sucks, but they're still getting their money. 55:12 If they're losing 2,000 to 3,000 ticket sales in this upcoming season, I think that's when the panic mode may start for them. 55:23 Well, I don't think that they're ignoring it. 55:25 I think the $10 standing room tickets at the end of the season shows that they care about the atmosphere in the building. 55:31 It will be curious how they move forward, trying to get people in the building, and I think that that showed that they do care. 55:38 I know that the coaching staff cares. 55:40 It's something that they want to have. 55:41 They want good atmosphere for their games, because it's tough to recruit to an empty building. 55:46 I think Wisconsin's seen that. 55:49 They're in a way worse shape than the University of Minnesota is. 55:53 I think Todd Maleski's thing said that they had almost 35% of no shows, and their attendance is down 20% from last season. 56:05 Ouch. 56:07 That's not good. 56:09 Well, they play a boring brand of hockey, so it's not a fun team to watch, but Minnesota doesn't have that problem. 56:16 I think they're going to try to find ways to get people in the building consistently. 56:21 Well, we'll have to see, I guess. 56:23 Well, guys, let's talk about some good news. 56:25 I'm sick of all this attendance and all this other stuff. 56:27 Obviously, we don't talk about them much, but over the weekend, the women's team did win yet another national championship, and in doing so, they took out a team that was going for an undefeated season, Boston College, 40-0, number one all year. 56:46 Minnesota beat them 3-1, starts the game 13 seconds in, they get a goal after. 56:52 Obviously, it was just literally, I think, an amazing run. 56:57 Four championships out of the last five years, wow. 57:01 What else can you say about that program there, Veegs? 57:04 Well, I think Amanda Kessel was a big boost to them at the end of the season. 57:08 This team was something where they were having trouble scoring goals in some of these games against Wisconsin, and I think getting her back in the lineup was a big boost. 57:18 Her goal in the championship game was pretty impressive, and she's a special player, so I think it was nice to get her back and put them over the top, because I don't know if they could have done it without her. 57:29 Well, I would agree with you on that. 57:32 I mean, obviously, to get a world-class player back for the last few months of the season, probably put them over the top. 57:41 And I still don't think she was even close to 100%. 57:46 I think if she had played the entire season, they might have been even more dominant than they were. 57:52 But boy, it was a big boost to them, and it was great to have her come back. 57:57 She wins her third title. 58:00 But geez, I mean, maybe when the Don goes, can we get Brad Frost as the coach, Hammy? 58:06 Nah, I wouldn't go there. 58:09 I mean, first of all, I think he's got a sweet deal there. 58:12 I think he does. 58:14 You know, he's basically got the creme de la creme job for women's college hockey, and you know, he's got the facilities, he's got the recruiting grounds, I mean, everything that you would want. 58:28 And let's be honest, you don't really have quite the depth of competition, you don't have the real kind of battles in recruiting. 58:38 I mean, you know, they have recruiting battles, but it's nothing like it is in men's hockey. 58:42 And you know, and plus, you know, you don't really have, it's just a different, you know, ball of wax between men's and women's game in terms of who you're recruiting and what contacts you have and all that kind of stuff. 58:55 So that's a little bit of silliness for me when that gets brought up. 58:59 If you're going to bring somebody in, it's going to be somebody that's already existing within the men's game. 59:05 It's not going to be somebody that you're bringing it from the outside. 59:08 And actually, some people have speculated that Mark Johnson is a good candidate to take over for Mr. 59:16 Eves in Wisconsin. 59:18 And I keep thinking, boy, I think Mark Johnson's got a great gig, too. 59:23 Why would he want to go to the men's team over there? 59:26 I mean, he's the highest paid coach in women's hockey. 59:28 He's got the same kind of deal that Brad Frost has. 59:31 I mean, he's got a good gig. 59:34 Would he want to mess it up going to the men's program over there in Wisconsin? 59:37 I think it's going to be Osiki. 59:40 That's what I hear. 59:41 I think that's, I mean, I know that, you know, it's not like that's a surprise name, but I mean, everything that I've heard is that he's the most likely guy. 59:49 And that's coming from people that probably know a lot more about it than I do. 59:54 So, but, you know, I'm sure they'll go through their due diligence and, you know, find the right guy for their program. 1:00:04 Well, congrats to the women's team. 1:00:06 Obviously, they're a dynasty. 1:00:09 I mean, they're just that good. 1:00:10 We'll see if they can continue it next year. 1:00:12 I mean, they lose quite a few players, but obviously they just literally reload, both them and Wisconsin reload every year. 1:00:22 It's too bad that they haven't had, they keep playing each other in the semifinal or before that. 1:00:28 And it's clear, I think it's clear, that both Wisconsin and Minnesota are the best two teams. 1:00:32 Boston College, they're not a bad team. 1:00:36 I just didn't think they played the competition. 1:00:40 And that pretty much sealed their fate. 1:00:42 All of a sudden, they're playing a team who plays top ten teams, top five teams, week in, week out. 1:00:48 And Boston College played one top ten team all year. 1:00:52 Obviously, they defeated them a couple of times. 1:00:54 But they just didn't play the type of schedule that both Wisconsin and Minnesota played. 1:00:58 And to a lesser effect, a team like Bemidji and North Dakota, also excellent teams, probably kind of getting short skirted, but not even getting into the tournament. 1:01:09 But that's another whole topic. 1:01:12 Obviously, Minnesota and Wisconsin are the powers in college hockey and women's hockey. 1:01:19 What an accomplishment. 1:01:20 Just an amazing thing. 1:01:21 And I bet you they had a lot of satisfaction in preventing BC from becoming the second team to go undefeated in a season. 1:01:30 Well, I think you kind of touched on it. 1:01:32 I mean, they didn't really have, BC didn't really have the competition. 1:01:36 If they had been out in the West, there's no way that they would have been undefeated. 1:01:40 You know, playing Minnesota and Wisconsin several times, that just never would have happened. 1:01:44 So it's just not the depth of competition out East that it is in the West. 1:01:50 Yeah, that's just how it is. 1:01:51 I think you look at some of the Team USA World Championship teams, and you see two-thirds of the roster is from Minnesota. 1:01:59 And that just speaks to the depth of Minnesota hockey and developing these players. 1:02:04 And Brad Frost gets the pick of that team as well. 1:02:08 And, you know, I saw the replay of that effort by Potomac on Friday night to defeat Wisconsin. 1:02:15 Well, I wish we'd see that kind of effort out of some of the Gopher players, or even some of the wild players at times. 1:02:20 I mean, she basically picked her pocket, and it was over, out of nowhere. 1:02:26 Very impressive play by Potomac. 1:02:28 Well, we did see a couple of those in the Minnesota-Iowa State game. 1:02:32 So, you'd just like to see it more often, wouldn't you? 1:02:35 Yeah, I would. 1:02:38 I will say Tyler Sheehy had a great Big Ten tournament. 1:02:41 I don't think we talked about that really at all, but he had a phenomenal tournament, I think, for Minnesota. 1:02:47 He's going to be a good one. 1:02:47 He's only six months younger than Hudson Fasching, and he's just getting started at the U. 1:02:54 Well, any other thoughts on this season as we wrap it up here, guys? 1:02:57 I mean, obviously, obviously, inconsistent is kind of the key word of the year, but any other final thoughts, Hammeh, or are you just looking forward to next year already? 1:03:08 I mean, that's pretty much all we can do at this point. 1:03:12 I mean, I think that we'll have, you know, I think we'll have better depth up front next year. 1:03:17 I think that, you know, from a scoring perspective, if Pitlick and Middlestead come in, you know, I mean, I think that that will be of value. 1:03:27 I think that, you know, losing Fasching hurts, but I think I expect, you know, pretty much everybody to be back. 1:03:33 Defensively, you know, we will bring in a couple of talented young guys that, you know, are going to probably have to learn on the fly. 1:03:40 They'll probably get a lot of ice time, but, you know, increasing that competition level, and I think some of the returning guys will improve. 1:03:47 And, you know, I think the great thing that we have to count on is Shearhorn has proved himself to be a good goalie of the future, you know, and that's something you really, that's the one thing you always want to feel confident about when you're going to a season is that you have a good goalie, and we definitely have that. 1:04:03 So, you know, I think the interesting thing in the off-season will be what's going to happen with the coaching situation, simply because, you know, whoever they bring for the athletic director, you know, are they going to want to add any more years to Lucia's deal? 1:04:19 I'd be surprised if that happened, and it's pretty atypical to have a coach going into a year, kind of a lame duck, so that'll be interesting. 1:04:30 To me, that's the number one thing to look at this off-season, is, you know, really what happens with that if anything does happen at all. 1:04:37 Well, I get the impression from Lucia on Monday night on his radio show that he definitely wants to be back, and he's probably looking for at least a couple more years on his contract. 1:04:47 Well, I mean, of course, he wants that, but at the end of the day, he's not the one creating the contract and making the offer, you know, and so... 1:04:55 I guess I'm just saying, he's not looking to walk away himself yet. 1:05:02 I mean, a lot of people thought that he may want to try to, you know, I think I'm done with all this, maybe try to move on, but it sounds like he's still in the game himself. 1:05:14 Well, I mean, I'm sure he is. 1:05:15 I'm not questioning his, you know, dedication to the program and wanting to win or anything like that, but it's just a matter of, you know, are the results there to the level that, you know, whoever's going to be coming in, you know, and if it's going to be an insider already there or somebody that's, you know, being brought in from the outside, I mean, it'll be interesting to see what that decision is going to be. 1:05:40 Veegs, any final thoughts? 1:05:43 Just an interesting year for development. 1:05:45 I thought that Steve Johnson grew a lot this season. 1:05:49 I thought Jake Bischoff grew a lot this season. 1:05:52 I assume both those guys will be back next year leading the defensemen. 1:05:57 I thought they handled Sadek pretty well over the season, getting him games and allowing him to develop. 1:06:03 I know some people wanted to see him in the lineup every night, but I think as we're seeing with some of these early departures that they're going to need all those guys back next year playing, because they're going to need depth at defense. 1:06:17 I think this year's team was pretty lucky avoiding injury. 1:06:21 We just had a couple broken bones, I think, during the season, so I think that speaks well to the work that they're doing preparing themselves. 1:06:29 And it's a young team, so another year of development and weight training is going to be huge for these guys. 1:06:34 And I think with recruiting, they're going to start doing the facility stuff here in two weeks. 1:06:40 And so that's going to be a big plus for Minnesota as a recruiting tool. 1:06:44 They're going to start with the locker room and kind of the team amenities, like a lounge and nutrition stuff available right there. 1:06:54 And then next year, you'll see that new weight room put into place. 1:06:59 Definitely something for the players to look forward to. 1:07:00 I know that the facilities have been kind of a sore subject for Lucia for a while, and at least it's starting. 1:07:08 That's something positive, I'll tell you that. 1:07:11 And the money is there to do it too. 1:07:13 Yes. 1:07:13 So that's a plus. 1:07:15 I think a lot of stuff that came out in the City Pages article where people don't like Don Lucia, don't like that he did the fundraiser for Notre Dame at his house, well, part of the reason he did that was to learn how to do it. 1:07:27 And they've been successful raising some money for some of these amenities that they want to put into the arena. 1:07:35 Yes, I would agree. 1:07:37 Well, before we close it down, obviously we had quite a bit of a tragedy happen at the WCHA Final Five this weekend. 1:07:46 Was it Butch Mousseau? 1:07:47 I think that's how you pronounce his name. 1:07:49 He was getting ready to ref a game. 1:07:52 They had just come out for warmups. 1:07:54 The team's done all that. 1:07:56 As the teams were leaving, he decided to do another lap, skating backwards, had his hands in his pocket, and he took a stumble and cracked his head on the ice. 1:08:05 Unfortunately, he's been in critical condition ever since then. 1:08:10 There's a website out there you can donate to his family because it's just not looking good for him and obviously quite the tragedy. 1:08:16 The funny thing is Saturday night, that was the first thing we saw on all the refs. 1:08:20 They were all wearing helmets during warmups, whereas before they were never wearing helmets. 1:08:26 It just goes to show, things can change real quickly. 1:08:29 There's been a lot of support. 1:08:31 I think it's been over $10,000 that's been raised for his family so far. 1:08:35 I tweeted out some links of how you can donate if you want. 1:08:38 Hopefully it will get better soon, but hopefully he comes back because that is quite the tragedy. 1:08:44 It's definitely something you never want to see happen. 1:08:46 It's agreed. 1:08:49 Yeah, it's a bad deal. 1:08:51 I guess I never really noticed myself that the refs never wore helmets in warmups. 1:08:56 I mean, I guess they just never felt they needed to. 1:08:58 But like you say, all it takes is one little trip and you don't get your hands down to protect yourself. 1:09:04 And, you know, I mean, he's in critical condition. 1:09:06 They've had to medically induce him into a coma and to drill holes in his head to take the pressure off. 1:09:13 So it's a very serious deal. 1:09:16 So get better, butch. 1:09:18 Hopefully we'll get to see you back and back on the ice next season. 1:09:21 Who knows? 1:09:22 It's just kind of a sad deal. 1:09:24 So if you see links out there, get out there and support his family because he probably needs it right now. 1:09:30 Probably needs it. 1:09:32 All right, well, that's going to do it, guys. 1:09:34 Obviously we're done for the season. 1:09:38 We'll be back probably somewhere around October or so and start to preview the next season. 1:09:44 By then, we should know who's coming to the team by then. 1:09:48 Obviously we'll keep you updated throughout the year. 1:09:51 Obviously, Hammy, follow him, at Hammy Hockey on Twitter. 1:09:54 He'll keep you updated. 1:09:55 Vego, eVego on Twitter. 1:09:57 Vego is writing articles for GPL off and on here in the off season. 1:10:02 Obviously, he just had the ticket scan article today, so make sure you check that out. 1:10:08 Good season, guys, at least for the podcast. 1:10:12 Yeah, it was great to have a sponsor, and certainly it was enjoyable, even if the product on the ice wasn't to the standards that we all expect. 1:10:20 Well, it allows us to go on rants and get pissed off and have an explicit podcast. 1:10:25 Yes, word. 1:10:27 Which it will be tonight. 1:10:30 All right, well, that's going to do it. 1:10:31 Like I said, we'll be back next fall, and hopefully we'll have a sponsor again then. 1:10:40 Let me tell you, we appreciate all of you tuning in, especially those of you who listen to us live every week. 1:10:49 We'll see you again next year, folks.