0:05 This is The GPL Podcast, sponsored by Vintage Minnesota Hockey, your exclusive source for throwback Minnesota jerseys. 0:14 Visit vintagemnhockey.com. 0:19 Now, here's Hammy, Vego and your host, Jupiter. 0:42 Good evening, and welcome to The GPL Podcast. 0:46 We're back for episode number 95. 0:50 We're getting close to 100 there, Veegs, getting close to 100. 0:53 Getting up there, we'll have a big celebration for the 100th, right? 0:56 Huge, gigantic celebration. 0:59 Well, we're just waiting for Hammy to get home from work, and then we'll add him to the broadcast. 1:04 But a pretty good start to the season up there in Alaska, Veegs, you know, a 6-0 win over Anchorage, and a 6-3 win over Fairbanks, a couple of days later, obviously, quite a few people that had not contributed before are contributing big time now, like the Gates, and obviously, like, a Pitlick and whatnot. 1:23 But overall, a good weekend. 1:26 Yeah, I think one of the most amazing things coming out of the weekend was Alaska, Anchorage had gone, like, 15 years without losing an opening night, and, you know, they usually get a decent team in there for that opening game. 1:39 So Minnesota really came through. 1:42 One of the things with this year's teams is they had so many returning players who kind of expected to be in the same role this season, and they all delivered. 1:51 I thought everything was clicking. 1:53 They had four lines going. 1:56 And then they put in a couple new guys on the Sunday game. 2:01 And I think they started off a little bit slower. 2:03 I think that's the trouble with the trip out to Alaska is that fatigue you get on the long weekend kind of sets in. 2:10 But everybody stepped up and they got two W's. 2:13 Well, definitely huge. 2:14 I mean, obviously, I never really liked those games in Alaska, like you said. 2:19 It just, you know, the crowd, and you were talking about it today. 2:21 You know, you mentioned through Twitter that Vinny said it was, it was almost like a morgue in there, wasn't it? 2:28 There was not very many people that can hear themselves. 2:30 And it's just, it's not the best atmosphere to kick off a season. 2:36 No, I think it's a tough way to do it, especially, you know, the programs are kind of on the brink out there. 2:42 You know, they might lose their funding. 2:44 So they're having a hard time recruiting there. 2:47 So I think that's a real tough environment to get up for it. 2:49 You know, Vinny did compare it to a morgue, which is Joe Louis Arena for the Big Ten tournament. 2:56 But the players found some energy and legs and got some goal scoring, I think, because they had a lot of possession, and they were good at getting pucks to the net. 3:04 And when there were turnovers, they were able to get in transition. 3:07 So I think that was a little promising start for them. 3:10 Where did Brent Gates Jr. 3:12 come from, Veegs? 3:14 He actually got to have an offseason this year. 3:18 He met with the media the Wednesday before the under-18 game, and he said that last year he just never ever felt right. 3:27 His whole offseason kind of got trashed recovering from his broken leg, and it really affected him. 3:33 And he said this year, you know, he had a good offseason, and he's not worried about his leg at all. 3:39 He's got lots of strength, and you know, when you're skating well and don't have any swelling and pain, everything's a little bit easier. 3:46 And he got rewarded by getting put up on the gold line for the U18 team game, and then it looks like he's going to be there again this weekend. 3:56 Well, it's definitely nice to see him scoring. 3:58 I mean, obviously, he struggled last year, and, what, did he have three goals on the weekend up there in Alaska? 4:06 I know he had... 4:07 Yeah, he's the leading goal scorer. 4:09 Yeah, and then he had a couple more goals in the exhibition game. 4:15 Obviously, Pitlik had the hat-trick in the exhibition game, but Pitlik had at least one goal up in Alaska, didn't he? 4:23 Yep, he had a goal and assist, and he looked really good in the Alaska games. 4:27 I was really surprised at his speed. 4:29 Yes. 4:31 He put on all that extra weight in the USHL last year, and I was a little concerned from some of the highlights I saw that he wasn't an elite skater, but he is really surprised. 4:41 He's got a lot of explosiveness, and everybody on the team and the coaching staff talks about his shot, which is definitely something that this Gopher team needs. 4:49 They need guys who can shoot the puck and score, and he looks to be that kind of player. 4:53 Well, his goal against Anchorage was definitely a sniper type of shot. 4:58 He had another one in the exhibition. 5:03 It's looking very promising for this pitlick kid, to say the least. 5:08 Yeah, he's definitely going to be a good player for them. 5:12 You know, Lucia says he's got that kind of elite talent, and he really rose up the draft boards. 5:18 He went from being a guy who was going to be like a fifth, sixth round pick to maybe being a free agent all the way into the second round. 5:25 You know, he got the exposure at the World Junior Evaluation Camp and at the Preds Dev Camp this off season, and he's just stepped into a nice role. 5:34 You couldn't have two better line mates than Bristedt and Lettieri. 5:37 Lucia has kept him at center because that's where he had all the success in the USHL, and he looks like a good fit there. 5:44 Yeah, with Bristedt and Lettieri, those are two hard working guys. 5:49 They're definitely going to get down there and get those greasy pucks out of the corner and set Pitlick up nicely. 5:56 Yeah, I mean, Bristedt's a battler. 5:58 He's one of the more tenacious floor checkers on the team, and they all bring a lot of energy. 6:04 Talking with Lucia today, he said they wanted Pitlick to feel comfortable in the center position, but they still will use Lettieri for his defensive role and the low man forward to help out at points. 6:19 But Pitlick looks good out there with those two. 6:23 Another thing that I did notice was not just the gates getting into it, but it seemed like we were fairly balanced in scoring up in Alaska. 6:34 Maybe the first line didn't do as much, but it seems like a lot of the supporting lines have really kind of stepped up their game. 6:40 I mean, fourth line putting up goals and that type of work. 6:44 Yeah, I think the fourth line outscored the first line in Alaska. 6:48 They kind of got off to a little start points wise on the Clues, Smetula, Camerata line. 6:55 And so I think that's one of the reasons why Lucia shook up the line up a little bit. 7:01 So we'll see how that pans out. 7:04 Well they come back from Alaska and had an exhibition game last Friday night. 7:09 Veegs, usually the USA under 18 team puts up a much better fight than they did Friday night because I've never seen them that bad before. 7:20 I mean, I know the Gophers are improved this year, but the team USA must be really down because they were just downright awful. 7:29 Yeah, this team doesn't have kind of the elite talent like Auston Matthews or Phil Kessel or anybody like that, and they don't have a great goaltender like a Thatcher Demko. 7:40 And I think the other thing is, playing Minnesota so early in the year, Minnesota still had something to prove. 7:48 They're still looking to get their lineup going. 7:51 I think the game meant more to them this year than it has in the past. 7:55 I think there's a lot of competition for spots on this year's team. 7:59 And so I think you saw a little extra jump out of Minnesota because of that. 8:03 It was 8-0 after two periods. 8:07 These games that we've always played with them, they've never been blowouts. 8:11 They've beaten us. 8:12 They beat us a couple years ago. 8:14 They're usually your 5-2, 3-1 type of game. 8:19 But 9-0? 8:22 Something's going on over there in Team USA. 8:26 I didn't see that coming at all. 8:29 Yeah, I didn't see that coming either because they had played some games earlier in the season against Harvard and a couple other Division I schools. 8:36 It wasn't quite as bad as it was against Minnesota. 8:39 So it was probably just one of Minnesota's better games against the UA team and one of the UA team's worst. 8:46 Yeah, geez. 8:50 I was really surprised, to say the least. 8:51 Very surprised. 8:53 Well, we're getting questions coming in already, Veegs. 8:57 Skofar wants to know, question for the show, $130 ticket for UND Series. 9:03 I know they're defending champs, but Metallica was cheaper. 9:08 Well, there are more seats for Metallica. 9:11 That is true. 9:13 We've talked about this over the years, folks. 9:15 We know Minnesota is the most expensive. 9:20 We don't like it any more than you do. 9:23 But as long as the fans keep buying these tickets, they're going to keep selling them for these prices, don't you think, Veegs? 9:29 Yeah, I almost think if they don't, the scalpers are going to be the ones making the money and not the university. 9:36 They're not pulling these ticket prices out of thin air. 9:38 They're looking for comparable entertainment comparisons in the Twin Cities. 9:46 And if you want to go to the Guthrie, it's going to cost you about that much. 9:50 So maybe not a lot of people in the marriage are going to stand to go to the Guthrie, but they do have some entertainment money to spend. 9:58 And I think it's what the market will bear. 10:02 Even Goon, our favorite UND fan, is saying that's highway robbery. 10:09 Well, people are going to pay it. 10:10 I don't think there are many tickets left for that game. 10:13 People have been clamoring for this matchup for the past five years, basically, to get this game back on the schedule. 10:20 And they're going to deliver. 10:22 I'm sure North Dakota isn't going to be giving away tickets when the Gophers come up there. 10:25 No. 10:27 No. 10:27 Well, Nate Wells is wondering, he likes that you're doing all the analysis of the game against USA, but I was at the game and you weren't. 10:36 Well, Nate, I'm not a great hockey mind. 10:40 I just host the show. 10:41 I let Vegoe and Hammy have the great hockey mind. 10:45 You should know that by now, Nate. 10:48 There's a reason why we have Vegoe on and Hammy on. 10:51 They know they're shit. 10:52 I don't. 10:54 That's just the way it is. 10:56 And I just want to tell Nate, there was a BTN stream for that game, which is accessible to any University of Minnesota student, faculty. 11:04 They can log in with their VPN and then go to Big Ten Network and get a free stream all year. 11:11 Yeah, so there, Nate, what do you think of that? 11:14 I'm just glad Nate's listening. 11:16 I'm glad Nate's listening too, because he did pump me up a little bit today and got me over the 1,000 follower mark. 11:22 So I appreciate that, Nate. 11:25 Really, people, why aren't you following Vegoe? 11:28 At eVegoe on Twitter. 11:30 Go there now. 11:31 They just want you to retweet things, and that's what they think is important, maybe. 11:34 But get on there and just follow him. 11:37 It's not that hard, folks. 11:38 It really isn't. 11:41 Another question here, since Hammy still isn't online yet. 11:43 Geez, we might just skip him for the show. 11:45 Oh, wait a minute. 11:46 I'm seeing that he wants to be added to the call now. 11:49 Maybe we can get Hammy on here, who knows. 11:52 While I'm getting him on, Josh wants to know, after taking a step back last year, what can we expect from Ryan Collins this year? 12:01 I think one of the issues with Ryan last year was that he got into a mental hole. 12:06 You know, when he didn't make the national junior team, he started making a few mistakes. 12:11 It wasn't like he was playing injured or, you know, didn't have the ability to play well. 12:16 He just kind of got into his own head and started overplaying the puck, overplaying the body. 12:22 And I think he was just skating himself into trouble. 12:25 So I think, you know, he's got a clean start this year. 12:28 And if he doesn't perform, you know, they've got six other guys who can play D. 12:36 I'm sensing Hammeh is joining the call. 12:40 I'm in the house. 12:44 But Jupe has muted himself. 12:47 Yes, I've muted myself. 12:48 Sorry about that. 12:50 That was my bad. 12:51 I just never know. 12:51 Hammeh, are you there? 12:54 I am here. 12:55 I hear you in your car. 12:56 I hear your turn signal ticking. 12:58 Are you in the Civic? 12:59 Well, it was. 13:01 No, I am not. 13:02 Podcast from the Civic. 13:06 Oh, boy. 13:07 Well, actually, Hammeh, we were just talking about Collins. 13:11 What can we expect this year out of Mr. 13:12 Collins? 13:13 This is a question from Twitter by Josh. 13:15 What do you think? 13:16 Is he going to be in the lineup as often? 13:19 That's a million-dollar question. 13:20 I mean, last year, I was very optimistic about, based on how he looked as a freshman, I thought he would take a step up. 13:33 Yeah, well, like Vegoe says, he's got a little more competition this year, so there's always going to be somebody there to take his place. 13:43 Yeah, I mean, there's definitely more from a freshman perspective competition this year, and I think the depth is better. 13:51 But it's hard to say because, I mean, I had high expectations of him last year, and he just did not kind of step up to the dirt in the way that we thought that he would. 14:02 And I'm kind of anxious to see. 14:04 I mean, I'm a little bit, I've always said that I'm a little skeptical of those guys that come into college that are real tall because it just seems like they take longer to kind of hit their stride and grow into their body. 14:16 And he kind of has some of those limitations, especially with the puck. 14:21 So it's kind of hard to say. 14:25 I'm kind of really open about what I'm going to think that he's going to do this year because of the competition and whether he's going to have some of these opportunities. 14:33 His leash is probably going to be shorter this year. 14:37 Well expanding more on the defenseman, Vegoe, what did you think of Zules, Dorath and Lindgren up in Alaska? 14:45 I thought they both added a lot to the offensive play for the Gophers. 14:49 Seeing that, what was it, Lindgren who hadn't scored all last year? 14:53 It was Zules, Dorath, who didn't score all last year. 14:56 Then he gets two. 14:58 So I think there are a few jokes that he was going to tell Romanco how to score goals in college. 15:06 But I think the real test is going to be this weekend for those guys. 15:11 I think it's going to be a test for Sadek, I think it's going to be a test for Collins to play against a team like St. 15:16 Cloud that can get into transition and capitalize on mistakes. 15:20 In the Alaska series, guys could turn over to Puck, they could make a mistake, they could get caught out position, and the Gophers just had way more speed than anybody in Alaska to get back and recover. 15:32 When they're playing a team like St. 15:33 Cloud, those mistakes turn into odd man rushes, and we all know that St. 15:37 Cloud can convert on those. 15:40 Well, before we get on to St. 15:41 Cloud, let's listen to our, well, our broadcast partner, Vintage Minnesota Hockey. 15:50 vintagemnhockey.com is a proud sponsor of the GPL Podcast. 15:55 Well, what is Vintage MN Hockey? 15:57 Well, it's kind of the place to get all of your history of Minnesota Hockey, from the pros to the minors to the collegiate teams to even the high school teams. 16:07 All information about any of those teams can be found on vintagemnhockey.com. 16:12 They also have great interviews with some historical Minnesota hockey figures, like John Mayessich and Lou Nani, Glenn Sonmore, some of the greats of Minnesota hockey. 16:22 So make sure you check out those interviews. 16:23 It's a really great thing. 16:25 But as I always say, I think my favorite part is the store. 16:29 The store, you can buy a custom historical jersey from the Gophers or the Bulldogs or some of your favorite high school teams. 16:36 And if you do make a purchase, just use the code GPL Podcast, all one word and you'll get 10% off your order. 16:43 So make sure you visit vintagemnhockey.com and follow them on Twitter at VintageMNHockey. 16:51 All right, Hammy, home and home with St. 16:52 Cloud. 16:53 St. 16:53 Cloud just was swept by Mankato. 17:00 Not a good start for the Huskies. 17:03 No, I mean, I think that you kind of had to expect at least early in the year, a little bit of a, you know, some issues because they are, they did lose a lot of veteran players, a lot of their best players from last year's team. 17:17 And obviously, there's going to be a transition early on to be able to kind of cover some of those losses. 17:23 And so not horribly surprised. 17:26 I mean, especially when you're on the road for your first real series of the year, and Mankato's, you know, got some good talent. 17:33 They're not, certainly it's not a slouch for a team. 17:35 So in that sense, they'll be a little bit more battle tested than the Gophers. 17:39 I mean, it's not like the Gophers had great competition up in Alaska. 17:43 And certainly it's nice to win a couple of games and start out the year that way, but they're not going to be as battle tested in that sense. 17:51 So I feel good. 17:53 I think the Gophers are a lot more veteran. 17:55 And I think that we have obviously much better depth this year. 18:02 Uh-oh. 18:05 I'm pretty optimistic about the weekend. 18:07 You hear me? 18:07 Yeah, we can hear you again. 18:08 We lost you for a second there. 18:11 Oh, sorry. 18:13 I just drove by the Viking's facility. 18:15 So maybe their Wi-Fi. 18:17 I don't know. 18:18 It's probably Cardinal's fault. 18:20 Wow. 18:20 Throwing cuddle under the bus. 18:22 You know, I'm taking cheap shots. 18:26 I know. 18:27 But yeah, I'm pretty optimistic about the weekend. 18:29 And I'm excited. 18:30 I mean, with the home and home, you're not really exactly guaranteeing a sweep. 18:37 But certainly, I feel pretty good about our opportunity to come out with a couple of wins. 18:41 But I'm sure St. 18:41 Cloud will be pretty hungry after last weekend. 18:45 Veegs, obviously St. 18:48 Cloud lost a lot of offense and a pretty darn good goalie from last year's team. 18:54 But I really was surprised that they were swept 4 to 1 and 6 to 4 in Mankato this past weekend. 19:00 What can we look for from the Huskies? 19:04 Well, I think you're going to see a team that's going to have to protect their young goaltenders. 19:09 Jeff Smith and Zach Driscoll look like the two guys that are fighting for the job. 19:14 Driscoll gave up five goals pretty quickly against Mankato last Saturday. 19:20 Monscal wants to try to find a guy that he can call his number one. 19:24 And I think they're going to be searching for a while. 19:26 So, I think you'll see St. 19:27 Cloud be a little bit more cautious than they usually are to try to limit chances on him. 19:35 And their power play is completely new this year, too. 19:38 So that's something to look for. 19:40 They were 0-4 on the weekend against Mankato. 19:43 The Gopher PK looked pretty good in Alaska because they got a lot of work. 19:48 And that was a problem for the University of Minnesota last year. 19:51 So I think that's a key to their game is to make sure they don't allow St. 19:55 Cloud's power play to get going. 19:58 And one big heads up for the Friday night game down at Mariucci, folks. 20:01 Well, obviously the game starts at 8 p.m. 20:04 But you've got a homecoming parade earlier in the evening. 20:07 You've got a concert at TCF Bank Stadium starting at 730. 20:12 It's going to be a complete cluster down at the US. 20:16 University Avenue is going to be closed for a while. 20:21 So get down there early. 20:22 Just get down there maybe either go to the parade or something like that or get some dinner. 20:26 But just know that it's not going to be easy moving around there Friday night. 20:32 So I can't stress it enough. 20:35 Get down there early because we need a full house there. 20:40 It's been a while since we had a full house there, Veegs. 20:42 And usually St. 20:42 Cloud would bring in a full house. 20:45 Yeah, you'd think so. 20:46 I was kind of surprised to see some single tickets still available for that game. 20:49 I know Minnesota's season ticket base dropped quite a bit. 20:55 I think it's about 6,200 this year. 20:58 So there are probably about 3,800 single game tickets for sale. 21:02 And I know that they were still working through those this week. 21:06 But, you know, maybe one of the bright spots of having a smaller season ticket holder base is you get people who get excited for the games they do get to attend and we'll see more ticket scan this weekend. 21:18 Yeah, except they're making people pay an arm and a leg. 21:24 Hey, if people pay an arm and a leg, maybe they're more likely to use the tickets. 21:28 I know, you know, the atmosphere for the regional that they helped out. 21:31 Talking like a true marketer. 21:33 When they played Ferris State, that was a great crowd for that game. 21:37 So maybe we'll see some new blood in the arena. 21:40 That would be nice. 21:41 That would be nice. 21:43 But Jupe isn't going. 21:44 I saw him whining about it on GPL. 21:47 Well, actually, my daughter has having her new phone delivered Friday, and I'm going to be getting it all set up for her. 21:55 And I'm like, I'm not going to complain and want to get up Saturday morning to do it. 21:58 She's going to want it when that phone arrives. 22:00 So that's what I'm going to do it. 22:02 And then I started thinking, do I really want to go down and mess with the cluster anyway? 22:05 I could just turn it on TV. 22:06 So I'm fine with it. 22:08 I can go to any game I want. 22:12 You heard it first there, folks. 22:13 He's not going. 22:14 He's bailing. 22:15 I'm bailing. 22:16 I'm just such a Fairweather fan. 22:18 And you're disgruntled that you can't take pictures in between the benches. 22:22 Don't get me started with that, man. 22:25 I don't need to get myself into more trouble bitching about that. 22:28 This is your forum to complain about the new policy not allowing you to take pictures. 22:34 Because Deutch will hear about it and he'll like suspend me again, so who knows. 22:40 No, I'm the problem child on the podcast. 22:43 No, no. 22:44 Trust me, I'm the one who got in trouble last year when I talked about what I heard on the bench. 22:50 Yes, but when I throw, when I get mad, they complain about me not being professional enough. 22:57 And I'm like, I'm not professional. 22:59 That's the whole point. 23:01 Well, at least, they really like you, Vig, so you're good. 23:06 I try to be a professional. 23:09 I just, I'm trying to get more of the fans perspective at times. 23:13 And when the fans are upset, we're not going to hide it. 23:20 I'm just not going to do that. 23:21 But I'm not going to get- 23:22 Okay, so what did I miss early on the podcast? 23:25 Oh, well, we basically just- 23:26 What are we talking about? 23:26 We talked about, you know, up in Alaska, the trip and- 23:30 Well, let's get your thoughts on- 23:32 Obviously, love you- 23:32 What were your takes? 23:33 What was the take? 23:34 Come on, I mean, who are we? 23:37 Well, my take kind of is- 23:38 Did anybody complain about Cammie this week? 23:42 We didn't even mention his name, except for Vegoe, you did mention that he was moved down to the fourth line when Brent Gates took his place. 23:53 Well, it's actually Conor Riley up with the first line. 23:57 Okay. 23:59 Gates got put on the second line. 24:02 Okay. 24:02 Well, I can't keep track of which line is which anymore. 24:07 It's complicated. 24:09 We were impressed with Gates and obviously Pitlick. 24:13 We thought Pitlick was going to come in and make his mark. 24:15 That's great, but the surprise was Gates. 24:18 What do you think, Cammie? 24:21 Well, I mean, he was one of the guys that I mentioned in the first podcast that I thought might be a little bit of a surprise this year, mainly because last year he was coming off of the injury. 24:31 I don't think, not that I've spoken to him about it, but I really don't think that he was comfortable coming into the season with his health. 24:41 You know how it is when you start off, especially as a freshman, kind of on that kind of a foot. 24:47 You're kind of behind the eight ball early on, and I thought that maybe this year, having a healthy off season and the workouts and all that, that he might be able to contribute more. 24:57 And he's always had good hands. 24:59 Obviously, he's got a father that was a pro athlete, and so he has the genetics for some of that. 25:04 And he was a good baseball player, so the hand-eye coordination and all that, he has that. 25:10 So it's something that I'm not surprised. 25:12 I think he could really develop into something special from a goal-scoring perspective. 25:17 Yeah, so obviously we like Gates. 25:20 We liked Pitlick. 25:21 You know, he had a nice sniper goal up in Alaska. 25:24 I don't know if we could put too much stock in a hat-trick against Team USA, because Team USA is awful this year, but it was still a hat-trick. 25:33 Well, and you have to look at the way he scored the goals. 25:36 I mean, there were some sniper shots. 25:38 You know, I mean, it wasn't like it was some sloppy... 25:42 Yeah, I mean, we are talking about some good players. 25:45 Now, granted, they're not college guys, but when you're beating guys cleanly with great shots, I mean, you know, that's saying something. 25:53 So, and, you know, he's definitely going to be a guy that I think that we're going to be really excited to see progress. 25:59 And he might be, you know, given his size, he might be one of those guys that's going to be around a little longer than maybe what you're going to see from, you know, a Bugstad type of guy that's going to have that NHL prototype size. 26:13 Is he our goal scorer, Figgs? 26:16 We haven't really had a true goal scorer in a while. 26:19 We could use one of those. 26:21 It's been a long time since they've had a true sniper goal scorer. 26:24 I think probably Ryan Platoni might be the last guy who could really be counted on for that kind of stuff. 26:31 So he looks like he's definitely got the shot and the nose for scoring goals. 26:36 He's a completely different player than Camerata coming out of the USHL as a scoring champion. 26:40 So he's already showed that he can make a difference in a game. 26:45 It will be interesting to see how he does now with a little bit less time and space in a faster game against St. 26:50 Cloud. 26:51 But the potential is there and all the players talk about in practice that he does stand out. 26:57 So do you guys think they're pretty positive this weekend? 27:01 I'm thinking St. 27:02 Cloud is not as good as we thought. 27:05 They can't replace the scoring. 27:06 They're goaltending a suspect. 27:09 I'm thinking that Minnesota is right for a sweep of the Huskies this weekend. 27:14 Veegs? 27:17 The potential is definitely there. 27:18 I think St. 27:19 Cloud is in that situation that Minnesota was in last year where they lost a lot of their leadership. 27:25 And there was just that vacuum in the room. 27:28 And they had a freshman goalie. 27:30 So there's a lot of uncertainty going into the season with that team. 27:33 Getting that early sweep against by Minnesota State puts them in a tough spot. 27:38 So I definitely think Minnesota's got a chance to get two wins this weekend. 27:42 And they're going to need it. 27:43 I think the Big Ten's down this year. 27:45 And Minnesota really needs to play well during their non-conference games to get themselves in a comfortable position that pair-wides early. 27:53 Ham, are you home now? 27:54 It sounds like it. 27:58 Yeah, I'm home. 28:00 Hopefully, I don't get mugged as I walk in the dark. 28:03 I think you're taking your keys out. 28:05 I don't live in a bad neighborhood. 28:06 I'm good. 28:07 So what do you think? 28:08 Sweep? 28:08 Come on. 28:09 Call a sweep. 28:12 You know, I do think that there's a good chance for that given the fact that I think from a goaltending perspective, you know, we definitely have an advantage there. 28:19 I think they are very youthful compared to prior seasons. 28:24 So I think that there is a really good chance that it's a Gopher sweep this week. 28:29 There you go, folks. 28:30 It's gonna be a sweep. 28:31 It's gonna be a sweep. 28:32 I'm just going with it. 28:34 You guys have anything else you want to talk about right now? 28:37 Well, we got the Lucia contract. 28:39 Yeah, you know, just like you said. 28:41 You said on the podcast that it was usually last time you signed, it was right before the season. 28:47 And sure enough, the next day, it was announced. 28:50 Yeah, apparently, they had a deal pretty much set in stone in July. 28:55 And it just took a while to get it processed. 28:57 I think the Regents and COIL wanted to make sure that they had everybody on board before they got it signed. 29:04 And, you know, they got it done. 29:05 I thought one of the most interesting things in the contract, though, was Lucia says he wants to evaluate the entire program's coaching staff pay at the end of the season. 29:17 And in availability last week, he specifically mentioned Wisconsin as setting the bar for assistant coach pay. 29:24 And I think the assistants there are getting $200,000 a year. 29:28 And I thought last time we got information on the assistants at Minnesota, you know, it was like $120,000, $130,000 for Genzel and like $100,000 for Grant. 29:37 So that's definitely something they're going to be looking at at the end of the year. 29:43 Any thoughts on the contract signing there, Hammeh? 29:47 You know, what I had heard is one of the things that I actually had heard is that Lucia had, you know, so I'm not surprised about the, what Vegue said, because I heard that one of the things is Lucia was kind of holding out a bit more to get Petonia raised. 30:05 So whether that's, that was one of the rumors I had heard. 30:07 So that doesn't entirely shock me that that would be a part of it. 30:14 You know, I'm still wondering long-term if it ultimately matters to have that contract. 30:22 I just have a feeling it's, there is some sort of a plan in the works of some sort to make, you know, kind of that transition. 30:31 I don't know, but I just, from the things I've heard in the off season, I'm still not entirely convinced that he's going to finish out the contract. 30:41 It could be a perception thing, but of course in recruiting for college hockey, the recruits are so young that they're not going to, a lot of them aren't going to be on campus for another two, three, four years. 30:51 So it's not really as big of a deal, but for the perception standpoint. 30:55 But it's nice to have this, I don't have any issues with Lucia. 30:59 I do think that there has to be a point where you start thinking about that kind of transition, because I'm a big believer in fresh blood. 31:10 He's been around a long time and we're seeing what it's like at Wisconsin. 31:14 I mean, Wisconsin's maybe not right there yet, but there's certainly a lot of renewed energy, both in recruiting and as far as their team performance, and I think there's something to be said for looking forward to some of the things like that. 31:27 I got to be honest, I could not believe how much contributions he gets towards his retirement. 31:34 It was- 31:35 Not a bad gig if you can get it, right? 31:36 It was like, was it over 200 or 1,000 a year? 31:42 Wow. 31:43 I don't know. 31:43 Veegs is the expert. 31:44 Ask him. 31:45 He probably hasn't memorized. 31:48 I just- 31:48 I know that's more money than I'll be making. 31:50 Yeah, I know. 31:52 I just could not believe how much- 31:54 You know, obviously, that goes straight into his 401K or whatever kind of retirement they have. 31:58 But I want to say it was almost two-thirds of his current yearly salary going into retirement each year. 32:06 I'm like, holy buckets. 32:09 Yeah, it's about half of his base pay, so. 32:14 Boy, we could all just dream of something like that. 32:20 I thought you get that, man. 32:23 What did you say, Veegs? 32:25 Well, he's got to put up with guys like us and Jason Gonzalez. 32:30 I don't know if anybody caught the audio of Lucia and Gonzalez going after it in the first availability, but Lucia was giving Jason an awfully hard time. 32:39 Why is that? 32:41 There's a little tension there, I think. 32:45 Well, speaking of that. 32:46 What happened? 32:46 What happened? 32:47 I didn't hear anything. 32:48 What happened with that? 32:50 He just was asking Lucia if having unsigned contract influences his decisions with how he runs the program. 32:59 Lucia had signed the contract the day before and knew it was coming. 33:05 He started needling Jason if he has a contract with Star Tribune and if that affects his thinking. 33:12 They're going back and forth a little bit. 33:13 Yeah, I actually remember that now that you say that. 33:16 Because we had that, we always had Vegoe captures audio every week, and I added to the end of the podcast. 33:23 So if you're listening live, you can't hear it, but if you could download it later on. 33:27 Vegoe, you were there today, you captured some audio. 33:30 What can you tell us about what you captured today at Media Availability? 33:35 Well, we got Vinny Lettieri doing his best to throw a lot of cliches at us. 33:40 This weekend with St. 33:41 Cloud and how it's a fresh start this year, and they're not concerned about the past. 33:48 One game at a time. 33:49 One game at a time. 33:51 The most important game is Friday, and then after Friday is done, the most important game is Saturday. 33:57 Leon was a little bit more colorful. 33:59 He loves going to St. 34:00 Cloud because of the energy in the building. 34:03 I know those St. 34:03 Cloud fans get there early for warmups and try to get in the Gophers' heads. 34:07 Hint, hint, Gopher fans. 34:10 Sorry. 34:11 Yeah, well, you hear that a lot. 34:13 You see an early arriving crowd for that 8 p.m. 34:16 game, so. 34:16 I mean, you hear that a lot. 34:18 I'm sorry, you do. 34:18 You hear these students say, you know, I like to go to Grand Forks. 34:21 I like to go to St. 34:23 Cloud because of the atmosphere, because of the crowd. 34:26 But you don't really hear him saying too much of that about Marriottchi. 34:31 I don't know. 34:31 No, the visiting teams like to play the Gophers because the Gophers are the Yankees in college hockey. 34:37 It's not because of the crowd. 34:40 Yeah. 34:41 So you get Bristedt, and obviously I bet you, Lucia gave you about 5, 10 minutes of audio today as well. 34:50 Yep. 34:50 He talked a little bit about the new guys, Pitlick and Gates playing really well. 34:55 Kind of give an update on the lines are going to be similar to what they were last week. 35:02 He's probably going to rotate some guys in out of the lineup, kind of predetermined for Friday, Saturday. 35:07 So it won't really be a reflection on their play. 35:10 I think he's a little concerned with Gopher getting back into game shape. 35:14 So you might not see him this weekend. 35:15 You might see the same six defensemen because they've played well so far. 35:20 Okay. 35:21 Well, remember, we add that to the end of the podcast. 35:23 So Vegoe sends that audio over every week. 35:25 So we've got plenty of all the Lucia and Bristedt and Lettieri. 35:29 We'll add that at the end. 35:31 So make sure you tune in after the show. 35:34 Do you have something else to say there, Bigs? 35:36 Yeah. 35:36 Lettieri and Lucia both also talked about how well Ramsey and Romanko played in the opening couple weeks here. 35:44 And they do such a great job of playing below the red line. 35:50 Really cycling the puck in the offensive zone and controlling the game. 35:54 And he said those guys probably had made some of the biggest jumps on the team. 36:00 Well yeah, you know, actually post game against Team USA, that was the media availability. 36:04 It was Romanko and Ramsey. 36:07 I don't think I'd ever seen either of them after a game before. 36:10 So it was kind of refreshing to see those guys and hear what they had to say. 36:14 So, Hammey, you got anything to close up here? 36:19 Not too much. 36:20 I'm sure that you guys pretty much covered this last series and I'm looking forward to this series. 36:25 I think it's going to be exciting. 36:27 I think St. 36:27 Cloud has that kind of brand of play that I think we all generally like to see, that kind of skating more offensive style. 36:34 And I think that will kind of play right into our strength. 36:37 So I'm just really optimistic for the weekend. 36:40 Anything to close up there, Veegs? 36:43 Just had me have any comments on the recent recruits of Hannes and Koster. 36:50 I believe it's Kester, actually. 36:52 Kester? 36:53 Yes. 36:54 I learned that from young players. 36:56 I can't say I have. 36:57 I mean, I don't have anything. 36:59 They're so young right now. 37:00 I mean, the only thing I could really say about it is that I know we've had this big discussion on GPL, and we've had it on prior podcasts about recruiting really young and the pros and the cons, and yeah, I'm just a little concerned about the amount of that what we're doing. 37:17 I think that it's not necessary in some instances. 37:21 I just really believe that we need to be a little bit more particular about the kinds of guys that we are doing that with. 37:27 And I don't know that, I'm not saying that these guys won't turn into really good players, don't get me wrong, but I'm just, I'm not sure that I like doing it as often as I've, as we have seen lately. 37:38 So, I think I'd like to see them a little more selective on that, but hopefully it works out for the best. 37:43 You know, I think they should be good players, they're good players for their age, but you just kind of have to start to wonder if we're doing that a little too often. 37:52 Well, I can't argue with that. 37:53 And like we talked about a couple weeks ago, you know, a few proposals getting out there about recruiting at a much later age and setting up some rules for it. 38:01 So, I know I would be a big fan of that. 38:05 I'm guessing some of the minor schools would not be, but, yeah, it's too bad. 38:09 What can you do? 38:10 Well, I think the NCHC is also one of the drivers for that, you know, legislation. 38:16 So I think it could happen. 38:17 You know, if you get the big schools voting that way and you get some of the NCHC schools voting that way, it's enough to get a majority. 38:27 I would hope so, because I think it's a good rule. 38:28 I think it's a good rule for, you know, basketball and all the other sports, football and whatnot. 38:32 So, we shouldn't be... 38:34 What did you say last week that Florida State recruited, like, a ninth grader? 38:39 Eighth grader? 38:39 I mean, come on. 38:42 I can see hockey, because hockey, you see it pretty well, but football, that's just... 38:48 I just don't understand that. 38:51 Well, we'll be back next week to recap this Home and Home series of St. 38:55 Cloud and preview the series out east against St. 39:01 Lawrence. 39:02 I can't remember what it was. 39:03 Clarkson. 39:04 Clarkson. 39:04 Yeah, there we go. 39:06 Until then, make sure you follow Vegoe, at EVegoe and Hammy, at Hammy Hockey on Twitter. 39:11 Thanks for listening, folks. 39:45 Vinnie, you played St. 39:46 Cloud last year twice, but this is a vastly different team than the one we saw last year, isn't it? 39:52 Yeah, I mean every year we, us and the teams around us, have new players coming in, new players graduating, or old players graduating. 39:59 So I think it's important for us just to focus on our team rather than theirs. 40:03 I know we're gonna get a pre-scout from our coaches on what their tendencies are. 40:07 Maybe there's some the same from last year, maybe some of them changed, but we're just focused on going into this game. 40:13 Worrying about us Friday night, and then after Friday we're worried about Saturday. 40:17 Do those results last year though, do they resonate somewhat heading into these games? 40:21 No, we don't like to look at the past. 40:23 It's a new year, new players, and we're starting off fresh, and I think we're just worried about us and worried about what our identity is as a team. 40:32 Have you learned any lessons from your experience playing Minnesota schools in the past, and handling that better? 40:38 Yeah, whether they're good on the year or not, whenever you play Minnesota teams, you always have the extra boost with every player in the locker rooms on both sides. 40:47 So whether they're good, they're having a good year or a bad year, it's always going to be a game just because they insulate rivalry, and we're both looking forward to it. 40:54 So I'm really excited for that and we're just going to take it one game at a time. 40:58 Vinny, is there an emphasis from the guys to really have more success this year than non-conference games? 41:04 Yeah, that's definitely a big aspect that we want to look forward to is non-conference, so it helps us go into the Big Ten tournament. 41:12 A couple of pretty small crowds in Alaska and are you looking forward to playing in maybe a little better atmosphere this weekend both in your building and up in their building? 41:19 Yeah, definitely. 41:19 It will be a lot better than that. 41:20 It reminds me a little bit when we were in Detroit playing the Big Ten. 41:23 You can just hear yourselves out there talking to each other. 41:25 It's like a practice, but it's just one of those things that you can't worry about the fan base around you. 41:29 You just got to worry about what's going on on the ice and what's going on with your team and just focus on the game itself. 41:36 You had the opportunity to play a few games around the public. 41:38 So far, what do you like from him? 41:39 And how's it been going? 41:41 Yeah, I actually played with him a little bit this summer, too. 41:44 And so I knew what kind of player he was coming in. 41:46 And he's a fantastic player. 41:48 And once again, I have Leon playing on the other wing with me. 41:51 So it's exciting to get these us three together, because I know they're two really fast skilled guys. 41:57 And I can give them a puck and just go to the net and not worry about getting it back, because I know it will be on my tape at some point. 42:02 Last season, you played a lot on the line with Brent Gates Jr. 42:06 What was it like playing with him on the line? 42:07 What would you like to talk about? 42:09 I like to talk about Gates a lot, because he's improved so much as from his freshman year, sophomore year. 42:14 I've seen him in the summertime, all putting his extra work in the weight room and with current skiing dynamics. 42:20 And it's unbelievable just how much he's improved with his skating and his shooting. 42:25 He's having a great year so far. 42:27 We only played three games, but you can just see the improvement in his shot and his speed, and he feels more confident. 42:31 So, he's developing so well here, and I can't wait to see what he's got this year. 42:37 How have you improved? 42:39 Well, I think my speed's gotten better, and I've been working on my shot a lot, and Cal's been helping me a lot with my strength in the weight room. 42:46 So, I've been doing the current skiing dynamics too growing up. 42:50 So, I mean, I think I've been doing the same stuff as I have been in the past, and I just think that you keep working hard on the off season, it'll show in the regular season. 42:58 Is there an over or under for how many sticks are you going to break this year? 43:01 Hopefully not close to what I had last year, that's pretty disappointing, but I don't know, hopefully it doesn't happen to me. 43:08 I don't have much to say about that. 43:11 You guys have 21 goals in three games, what's working so well with this offense? 43:14 Why are you guys starting much better than you did last year? 43:18 I think it starts with our blue line, the ground game and working below the goal line, it's been amping the rest of the lines, and like, Romanko, Ramsey, Gates, they've been playing so well together down there, and I think just them leading the example of how to play down low has been amping some of the lines up, like my line especially, we need to get below the goal line more, and we have great D that are coming and shooting more too, and they're scoring a lot of goals, so I just think the way we're moving the puck to each other and getting more shots, that's why we're scoring a lot more. 43:52 Office has been a strength for you guys early this year. 43:55 What's working so well for you guys? 43:56 Yeah. 43:57 I think we've been very effective so far, you know? 44:00 I don't know how many goals we've had, but when we have our chances, we put it in the net. 44:05 Like against the US team recently, we were even in shots almost, but we got the goals, they didn't. 44:10 How much does that help confidence to be able to score that much early on? 44:13 I think you guys had 21 goals in three games. 44:15 Obviously, that's perfect. 44:16 Last season, we opened the first three and we had, I think, one. 44:20 Now, we opened the first three and we have 20-ish, maybe. 44:23 Well, obviously, it gives us confidence and also proof of what this group can do in the future. 44:30 What do you know about the St. 44:31 Cloud team? 44:31 A lot different than last year. 44:32 Yeah, I don't know much. 44:34 I know they had a couple that left. 44:37 I know they still have a good group of guys and guys that can score. 44:43 Good power play, good off the rush, but we'll go over the scout here in the next couple of days. 44:49 Can you feel the intensity when you play those in-state rivalries? 44:52 Does it feel different? 44:55 Yeah, obviously, it's rivalry, and that's number one, which makes the game different. 45:00 And also, it's like we know we're playing a really good team, a good ranked team, and we have, since I got here, we've been a little bit up and down against St. 45:09 Cloud, so I'm really excited to get going. 45:12 What kind of lessons have you learned from those battles with the in-state schools for this year? 45:17 You know, it's, you can always take away things, but I don't think there's anything different between, it doesn't really matter who you play, and I just think you can learn from every game, and this year is a new year, a new season, and a new group of guys, so we're just resetting and starting over. 45:35 This year, you're playing on the line with Vinny and Rem Pelle. 45:38 What have you seen from Rem's early on so far? 45:40 Obviously, as you guys can see, he has a really good shot. 45:44 You know, he'll have to score the puck. 45:46 He's a little bit like me in the game, I think. 45:49 He's fast, he's quick, he's pretty smart. 45:53 I think his transition from junior hockey has been good. 45:57 Obviously, we still have a lot of things to work on as a team and as a line, but I think we have the pieces, now we're just going to lay the puzzle. 46:05 What have you guys been doing to help him come along as a line? 46:10 Not much, actually. 46:11 You just treat him as anyone else, and I think that's how you want to be treated. 46:16 He works hard, he stays out after practice, and he makes sure that he takes care of himself. 46:20 So he makes sure he does that, and we try to help him as good as we can, and he's going to be in the team here in no time. 46:28 I like the speed that you're lining has, it just looks like everybody, not only your line, but everybody, is faster this year. 46:34 Yeah, I think we're going to, that's probably Cal's, what do you call it? 46:40 Because of Cal, you know? 46:41 Working hard over the summer, and he's a great strength and conditioning coach, so works a lot of speed, and not as much on power and stuff, so I'll give that to him. 46:51 What have you learned to love most about these in-state rivalries, coming from the outside? 46:56 Just the fans, I would say. 46:58 Going up to St. 46:59 Cloud, you're going to play in a packed barn, student section is probably going to be full in the warm-up, it's loud, it's also great scoring. 47:08 What can you compare it to from your home? 47:11 From my home? 47:14 There is a, well, actually, I can compare it to a game or rivalry we had with the team when I was 12. 47:24 Just hated them really, it wasn't good. 47:26 I was nervous for weeks before that, and obviously, I'm not nervous and stuff like that anymore, but you really want to win, and that's the comparison. 47:37 What team was that? 47:38 What team were you? 47:38 What team was that? 47:39 I was Stuxent, which is a team in Northern Stockholm, and they were Dundee and Uruguay, so it was like the same district, kind of, and so we were on the left side of the highway, and they won the right side of the highway, and we were probably the two best teams in the country, and I went to school with a couple of guys, and you wanted to win those games. 48:00 Bragging rights, right? 48:04 You have to buy a program to figure out who these Huskies are, huh? 48:07 Well, Bob and I actually talked, they've got some new guys this year, but you know, at the same time, they have a great nucleus returning. 48:14 A lot of guys that were younger last year as freshmen, maybe played behind those seniors, but still scored 25, 30 points each. 48:22 Five of their six defensemen are returning. 48:24 Probably the one area that they're new is in the nets. 48:28 We're losing both our goaltenders, and you know, similar situation we were in a year ago with some of the turnover, but I think that probably the one thing that hurt them last weekend more than any other is they didn't play any games a week before. 48:39 You know, Mankato had played a couple of games, and you know, it does take a while to get back at that tempo and that pace. 48:46 Not to diminish the games in Alaska, but you know, full houses this weekend, TV coverage, is there almost a sense of this is kind of the start of the season? 48:56 I think that yes and no. 48:58 I mean, I think anytime you're playing games, you feel like the season is going, moving forward, but at the same time, obviously the home. 49:05 You know, you go on the road and you play a couple of games, and you play an exhibition game, it's not the same feel as when you're playing at home. 49:11 And this is obviously going to be different this weekend from a standpoint of our first real home game and then really difficult road environment to play in. 49:20 And our guys haven't been up there for a few years, and St. 49:23 Cloud's a difficult place to play in. 49:24 That will be their home opener, so they're going to have a lot of juice. 49:27 So it's going to be a lot more difficult. 49:29 The speed limit is going to go up. 49:31 The skill level, when you make a mistake, you're going to pay more when you make a mistake this weekend. 49:38 How do you prepare for that in practice? 49:40 Well, just you have the competitiveness of your practice, the speed and tempo that you're practicing at. 49:46 You know, that's going to be critical. 49:48 We know that when we play St. 49:50 Cloud State that if you mismanage the puck, they're always a really good transition team, good off the rush, and they're going to make plays. 49:58 And so if you're going to turn pucks over, that's the difference. 50:02 I mean, maybe you played a team the opening weekend that weren't going to make you pay for your mistakes. 50:07 But when you're playing a more highly skilled team, that's going to happen. 50:11 Then they're going to make you pay. 50:12 What was made about your record versus in-state teams last year? 50:16 Do you look at it that way, or is it just non-conference games that you have to? 50:18 Well, it's a little both. 50:19 I mean, what happened last year really is last year. 50:22 I mean, this is a different year. 50:24 And we look at it more, I mean, non-conference is important. 50:29 And it doesn't matter who we're playing. 50:31 And going up to Anchorage is important not to give a game away. 50:34 It's important to have some success to St. 50:36 Cloud. 50:37 And then you're on to Clarkson, St. 50:38 Lawrence. 50:39 So we know we have 16 non-conference games this year. 50:43 And that's critical, especially how we've talked about in our league, at least up till this year, that they're all front loaded. 50:50 So you want to get off to a better start. 50:53 Has that been a point of emphasis, especially with the schedule, where there's several ranked teams in this rest? 50:58 Well, we haven't gotten ahead of ourselves. 51:00 I mean, we haven't talked about anything moving beyond this weekend. 51:03 I think we just, you know, what we do as coaches and players, I mean, you just kind of live in the moment. 51:08 And, you know, you prepare for weekend and then Saturday's over. 51:11 And, you know, Sunday, you kind of sit back and, you know, the players can have a day off and then it all begins on Monday. 51:17 So it's so much week to week. 51:19 And you're going to have good weekends, you're going to have bad weekends. 51:22 And, you know, when a weekend's over, good or bad, you have to have a little amnesia and just move forward and prepare for the next weekend. 51:28 But, you know, what we do non-conference is important. 51:31 I mean, we gave some games away non-conference. 51:34 It cost us come the end of the year. 51:36 And, you know, now we're two and 0 non-conference and 14 more to go. 51:40 All five Minnesota programs are ranked. 51:42 Do you remember the last time that happened? 51:44 No, you know, I think that just speaks volume of, you know, they're good programs, they're all good programs. 51:49 And, you know, we've all found success, you know, as we've branched off. 51:54 And, you know, Bemidji and Mankato might be the two best teams in the WCHA this year. 51:58 Obviously, St. 51:59 Cloud's been very successful in their league. 52:02 So, I think it's good for hockey in our state. 52:06 You know, we talked about, you know, I think you look at the commitment the schools have to their programs, you know, the new buildings up in Booth and Bemidji and, you know, the renovations at Mankato and St. 52:18 Cloud that, I mean, they're premier programs in the country. 52:22 I mean, that's the reality and that's why they're having the success they're having. 52:28 You mixed up the line up a little bit after the Alaska trip. 52:30 Are you pretty happy with the way things sorted out? 52:33 You know what? 52:34 I like our lines right now. 52:36 You know, I think that, yeah, I really like the way some of our sophomores are playing right now. 52:43 I think that's the thing that I'm most happy with. 52:45 You know, you look at a guy like Ramsey and Romanco that, you know, didn't make a real strong impact in our team last year, but, you know, this year they're different players. 52:54 I mean, they both scored in the exhibition game, but they both look really good up in Alaska. 53:00 They're really good penalty killers. 53:02 They understand their role. 53:04 You know, obviously Gates getting out of the, no pun intended, Gate and scoring five goals in the first three games, even though the couple didn't count this weekend. 53:14 That just, you know, he's still young. 53:15 He just turned 19 years old. 53:17 And I've seen a noticeable difference in his game as well, too. 53:21 So, you know, I think we have some more options up front than what we had a year ago. 53:28 But I mean, it's still early. 53:29 It still can change game by game. 53:31 And, you know, we'll see. 53:33 We'll have a little bit better idea after this weekend, you know, what's good and bad about our team. 53:37 Regarding Gates, what improved the most, do you think, over that, from this last year to this one? 53:41 Well, I mean, he missed the year before he came in. 53:44 He missed half the year because he broke his leg. 53:46 And so, I think it took him a long time for that leg to get back to 100 percent. 53:51 So, I think his skating is better. 53:53 Another year in the weight room, you talk about age, I mean, he started his freshman year of college and he was 17 years old. 53:58 You know, just turning 18, I think, his birthday is in early September. 54:01 So, I just think that extra year of maturity, the health factor, he scored, you know, quite a bit in USHL before he got hurt. 54:09 And you could see the way he could shoot a puck in practice. 54:11 But, you know, he wasn't in a position to get there all the time. 54:13 And I think he's learning how to, you know, compete at a higher level, day in and day out. 54:18 I think that was important for him, too. 54:20 You never want to take penalties, obviously. 54:22 But knowing Bob's teams and that reputation for that power play, I mean, going back to when he was here, does that change, you know, what you say to guys or what you post the game? 54:30 I think it's an emphasis no matter who we play that, I mean, you don't want to give somebody six or seven power plays. 54:35 I mean, you're just playing with fire in that situation. 54:38 And, you know, if you could maybe have to kill three or four a night, we're not a team that, you know, we're not going to run people over. 54:47 I mean, we're more of a speed-based team. 54:49 We're not the biggest team. 54:50 We have to still learn to go through some people. 54:52 I think that we have to do a better job with that. 54:56 But I think the one thing you take away from the first couple of weekends of how the game is being called is that you have to play the game with your feet. 55:02 The minute you start reaching with your stick, the minute you start grabbing in the corner, you're going to get a penalty. 55:08 And, you know, you just can't do that. 55:10 And, you know, it's an emphasis of something we talk about. 55:13 But you just, you need those games to see and evaluate how the officials are going to call. 55:17 Because we all know how it works. 55:19 I mean, the players will adjust. 55:20 It's just, you know, if the referees call it tight, the players, you know, have to back off some of the things they do. 55:25 If they start to let the game go, well, you know, the players are going to start reaching with their sticks. 55:29 And I think it's good that we're going in that direction and emphasizing how we want the rules to be called. 55:35 And now it's up to the players to adjust to that. 55:38 Otherwise, are you kind of expecting they're going to be the same line up that you did in Alaska and with the UA teams? 55:44 Well, I mean, I think you'll continue to see us probably rotate some players this weekend. 55:49 You know, Gophers back and available now this weekend. 55:53 Now we've got to get them back into, you know, game shape and leaning on somebody. 55:57 You know, but I like the way the guys have played on the back end so far this year. 56:03 You know, same thing up front. 56:04 I mean, we got in 15 forwards in the game last weekend, but, you know, barring injured, you know, we're not going to get 15 forwards in the games this weekend. 56:13 The 21 goals in three games, given one is an exhibition, but is that confidence in the bank compared to the last year? 56:20 Yeah, I think when you start out the year, I think any player, I mean, you want to get that goal. 56:25 I mean, you watched that wild game last night in Palmdale score, right? 56:28 I mean, he was pretty happy because would it take him 20 plus games last year to get that first one? 56:32 I think when you're an offensive player, the sooner you can get the first goal, you're just like, I got that early if I scored a goal. 56:39 Now, somebody is asking me eight games in the season, when are you going to get your first one or later? 56:45 And I think that's the load off in mind. 56:47 So, the more you can get on the board early, I think the better it is mentally for a player. 56:53 As a coaching staff, how does that help you identify who your scorers are going to be? 56:56 Well, I think you see that in practice, but again, you have an idea in practice, but it still comes down to who's going to do it in the game. 57:03 I mean, you can say, jeez, I scored all these goals in practice, but it still comes down to, you got to show me in a game. 57:09 And the guys that are starting to put the puck in the net, they'll find their spot in the lineup elevate. 57:15 And the guys, the elevator can go up and down on a different line. 57:19 And we don't really have set lines or anything right now. 57:23 This is kind of how it's fallen out to give us some good balance. 57:26 I think we talked about that our team was best last year. 57:29 We had good balance. 57:30 And the one thing I see this year is, I think we have better balance through four lines. 57:34 Last year, for the half year, we kind of had two lines. 57:36 Then at the end, we had three. 57:39 But now I feel like I have a lot of confidence in all four lines and pretty much in the situation. 57:44 You get a guy like Raymond Freshman contributing the way he has. 57:47 It's got to be a good feeling. 57:49 Well, I mean, he's an elite player. 57:50 I mean, I think he has a chance to be a real special player. 57:52 And you see the explosiveness, his vision, his hands, his hunger to be an elite player. 57:59 And I think that's infectious on everybody else. 58:01 So that's been a nice boost to our guys up front. 58:06 Because even for us as coaches, it just gives you more options of what you can do. 58:11 So now up the middle, if you got Clouce and Novak and Rem and Romanco, I mean, that's four pretty good centers, different types of players. 58:19 But all are going to contribute in their own way. 58:23 Vinny was one of the best face-off guys in the country last year, and Rem's kind of slid into that center spot. 58:29 What went into that decision to have him in the middle? 58:31 Just because of the success that Rem had playing center a year ago, and he's going to move the puck. 58:39 We don't have a lot of right shots, so we needed somebody on the wing, and Vinny's played center, played wing. 58:46 He's still going to take some draws. 58:49 He's still going to be the first guy low sometimes in our own zone, so we're not too concerned about that. 58:54 But that's where we all have to be a little unselfish, and that doesn't mean Vinny's not going to play center down the line. 59:01 But as of today, we kind of like the way it's fallen out with our lines.