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, Vegoe, and your host, Jupiter. 0:40 Good evening, and welcome to the GPL Podcast. 0:44 We're here for episode number 97, getting closer to 100 every week. 0:50 And well, it's the week that a lot of people have been waiting for, guys. 0:54 It's North Dakota Fighting Hawks coming to town. 0:58 But before we get to that, obviously, we had some games out in the East Coast this past weekend, VEGS, and it wasn't pretty, especially Friday night, getting down 3-0. 1:08 They came back to tie and then win in overtime. 1:12 Same thing happened Saturday night, down 2-0, except they couldn't quite pull out the win this week against St. 1:18 Lawrence, but kind of a strange weekend. 1:22 Kim. 1:24 Yeah, I mean, they're playing teams in our... 1:50 We'll try to get it done both nights, so credit to them for that, for answering the bell and not packing it in. 1:55 Hammeh, did you get a chance to see the games this past weekend? 1:59 Yeah, I didn't watch the entire games. 2:02 I did catch some of it. 2:04 It's kind of funny, it was almost like a reversal of the prior week where, you know, you're getting up and then you blow the leads, and this week, this last weekend, it was the opposite. 2:14 You get that early, or you get the behind early, and you kind of have to rally. 2:18 And I was impressed at their willingness to battle it out for 60 minutes. 2:23 It kind of shows that maybe they learned a little bit of a lesson from some of the mistakes they made the prior week. 2:30 Yeah, I must say, after that horrible first period, Friday night, it was like clockwork. 2:38 People are already going, fire Lucia, fire Lucia. 2:41 I'm like, oh my gosh, people. 2:43 And even people were tweeting, shut down GPL. 2:46 It could be over. 2:46 I'm like, it's one period, folks. 2:49 But the thing is, they were awful. 2:52 They were awful at first period. 2:54 No effort, no jump in anything. 2:57 And the second period, they finally got it together, get an early tying goal in the third, and then a nice play to win it in overtime. 3:05 So obviously, the first period was bad, but the rest of the game was pretty good. 3:10 Yeah, I mean, they didn't get out shot in the first period. 3:13 I think it was even for shots. 3:15 The problem was they just made a couple really glaring turnovers and gave Clarkson three scoring chances where Shearhorn didn't have much of an opportunity to make a save. 3:26 They were all chances where he was moving the puck across the ice or a quick turnover or a failed clear, situations where the team could have bailed him out and they didn't. 3:37 So that was difficult to see. 3:38 You know, Lucia went back to the lines that he had had the week before going against St. 3:46 Cloud. 3:46 He had tried to shuffle things up and he just wanted to get them. 3:51 Yeah, it didn't work out. 3:52 And he just went to something where people could find some consistency. 3:56 And I think one of the things you saw is once they did that, they started playing more as a team. 4:01 They started anticipating guys jumping into space, guys doubling up on pucks, guys getting on the floor check and supporting each other. 4:09 Because in that first period, you'd see one guy on his own page doing what he wanted to do, and his line mates weren't picking up on it, and it cost them big time. 4:20 Hey, I mean, what are your thoughts on the actual comeback though? 4:23 I mean, that's got to be something positive, isn't it? 4:28 Yeah, I mean, I think anytime you get behind and face some adversity and then you come back and get somewhat of a positive result or an actual win, I mean, it's something that you can build on moving forward if you ever face those circumstances again. 4:43 And of course, we know they will. 4:46 So I think that's certainly something for them to build on. 4:49 And I think the other thing that people need to realize that, you know, it's a long season, we're not going to be great every weekend. 4:58 They have to build little by little. 5:01 Obviously, we've had years where we were great the first half, and then we kind of faltered in the second half. 5:07 And, you know, so I think that people just need to kind of keep everything in perspective week in and week out. 5:14 Even with this coming weekend, I mean, we don't know what's going to happen. 5:16 But I see people that I've seen comments on GPL with some people where they're like, going to judge where this team is, you know, how good this team is, based on one weekend or a couple weekends. 5:27 And it's like, you know, it's a long year. 5:29 And you can't just take a little snapshot and think like that's exactly how it's going to be back in on March or April. 5:36 Well, we move on to the game against St. 5:38 Lawrence and this game, I think they played pretty good. 5:45 They couldn't get it. 5:46 It couldn't get anything past their goaltender. 5:48 But I also think they didn't really have a lot of chances, Vegoe. 5:51 I mean, they played well. 5:53 They had a lot of chances along the outside. 5:55 But really, I don't think they challenged that goalie as much as they could have. 5:59 But then in the second hand, you know, their goalie was great at directing pucks off the side and preventing second chances. 6:07 Well, I think one of the problems in the St. 6:09 Lawrence game is they were so much on one side of the ice every time they tried to shoot the puck. 6:14 They didn't really get the puck moving laterally. 6:16 They didn't really get a lot of one-timers, you know, through traffic that would surprise the goalie. 6:22 And, you know, he performed. 6:24 You know, he didn't spill any pucks. 6:26 He played up to his capabilities. 6:29 So I think that kind of put them behind a little bit going into that third period, because they were just trying to generate whatever they could rather than create any quality. 6:36 And then once you saw them create some quality chances in the third period, you know, they got a couple goals there. 6:41 When's the last time you remember a boy, two goals with an extra man, with the goalie not in the goal? 6:51 I mean, that doesn't happen very often. 6:54 No, that's pretty rare. 6:55 I think it's happened where they've had the opportunity to do it, but I can't remember them getting two with an extra attacker in the last two minutes. 7:02 You know, you saw Lucia pull his goalie a little bit earlier than usual in that game, and that created the chance. 7:07 You know, they had been putting pucks deep most of the game. 7:10 And I know that St. 7:11 Lawrence is rolling three lines, and they played their All-American defenseman quite a bit that game. 7:16 So I think Fatigue started to play in. 7:18 You saw if you play that kind of style of game, it can pay off at the end. 7:23 Well, Hammeh, it definitely did. 7:25 I mean, I don't recall having two extra attacker goals, at least for the Gophers, at least not in a long time, not in recent memory. 7:35 But what are your thoughts? 7:36 I mean, too early. 7:37 Yeah, it's kind of like a Dean Blais or Patrick Roy, you know, kind of situation where they're, like, pulling the goalie with three, four minutes left in the game or something. 7:46 I don't remember the Gophers getting, you know, it's not often that they get one. 7:51 Yeah, I mean, yeah, it doesn't happen very often. 7:56 I can't personally remember from a Gopher perspective the last time it's happened. 8:00 I guess that would be something for the statistics gurus out there that like to research that kind of stuff to figure that one out. 8:06 But I certainly have not. 8:07 I don't remember in all the years I followed Gopher Hockey, I don't remember that happening. 8:14 I couldn't either. 8:15 I mean, it was, I mean, you're sitting there, it's 2-0, it's getting down. 8:19 You know, they pulled the goal. 8:20 Oh, you think they might get one. 8:21 But obviously, it was a, no, it was a, who scored the tying goal? 8:27 You know, it was originally given to Brishad, or not the tying goal. 8:30 The first goal, it was not Brishad, it was from the point, was it? 8:32 Sadik. 8:34 They gave it to Brishad, then they took it back and gave it to Sadik. 8:37 And then Brishad scored to tie it up. 8:40 No, you're getting your games mixed up. 8:42 Am I? 8:42 Easy on the chin. 8:45 Oh, I'm not on the chin. 8:47 I wish I was. 8:48 It is your birthday. 8:49 Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. 8:51 So maybe that's what it is. 8:53 That's right, you know, I'm thinking, yeah, that's right, Brishad was... 8:57 I think I need a drink. 8:58 I think that's the problem. 8:59 Yeah, Zmichula scored, they had him, I think. 9:01 They credit him for both goals. 9:02 Zmichula was given credit for both of them. 9:04 That's who I'm thinking. 9:05 He was given credit for both. 9:07 Correct, correct. 9:08 Yep, I'm just on drugs. 9:10 It's okay. 9:12 I wish I was on drugs. 9:13 It'd make this day go by much better. 9:17 Oh, boy. 9:17 Yeah, what can you do? 9:20 What can you do? 9:21 But, you know, they haven't been out to the East Coast in a while, you know, a win and a tie. 9:28 It's good for towards the end of the season that, you know, they didn't get a loss there. 9:32 They're going back there at the end of the month to play Northeastern in Boston College. 9:37 A lot of traveling this year, Veegs. 9:39 Yeah, it kind of worked out well with travel situations. 9:43 They had all these road trips this year. 9:45 You know, this weekend will be just their second, third home games of the season, and we're into it pretty good here. 9:51 So it's the price they pay to get those teams on the calendar because, you know, Minnesota typically doesn't want to buy just two home games. 10:01 They want to play quality teams. 10:03 And so these teams want the Gophers to come to their buildings, too, and that's what happens. 10:08 So I think it's kind of good for these guys to get these early road trips and get that adversity early. 10:12 Nate Wells is trying to tell us that it was Wisconsin's past season, but then he's like, oh, the second goal didn't count. 10:19 But yeah, well, the second goal didn't count, Nate. 10:21 So there was not two extra goals. 10:23 So, ha! 10:26 And thank you for the birthday wishes, Nate. 10:28 What do you like? 10:29 Still like 22 or something? 10:31 He's such a youngster. 10:33 But he's had gray hair since 18, so. 10:36 I'm really hoping Hammey can still hear us right now because apparently he's having audio problems. 10:40 Can you hear us, Hammey? 10:42 Yeah, I think I'm having some interweb problems, so I dropped for a second. 10:48 Well, hopefully it gets a little better for you. 10:50 Or else I'll just keep calling on you, and it'll seem like you just not know a thing that's going on here. 10:55 Who knows? 10:56 Exactly. 10:58 All right, well, we're going to keep this podcast fairly short tonight because obviously a lot of people want to go watch the rest of the World Series and watch the Cubbies maybe win it. 11:05 So let's get to our sponsor. 11:11 vintagemnhockey.com is a proud sponsor of The GPL Podcast. 11:16 Well, what is Vintage MN Hockey? 11:19 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. 11:29 All information about any of those teams can be found on vintagemnhockey.com. 11:34 They also have great interviews with some historical Minnesota hockey figures like John Mayessich and Lou Nani, Glenn Sanmore, some of the greats of Minnesota hockey. 11:43 So make sure you check out those interviews. 11:45 It's a really great thing. 11:46 But as like I always say, I think my favorite part is the store. 11:50 The store you can buy a custom historical jersey from the Gophers or the Bulldogs or some of your favorite high school teams. 11:57 And if you do make a purchase, just use the code GPL Podcast, all one word, and you'll get 10% off your order. 12:05 So make sure you visit vintagemnhockey.com and follow them on Twitter at VintageMNHockey. 12:12 All right, boys. 12:13 Well, North Dakota is making their first trip back to Mariuchi since the last year of the WCHA. 12:21 Boy, that's the 2012, wait, not 2012. 12:26 Yeah, 2012-2013 Z's, isn't it? 12:29 I believe so. 12:30 Yeah, otherwise, they would have just faced them in the playoffs. 12:34 A couple of memorable games there. 12:36 Definitely faced them there, but it's been a while, and it's been another whole full year since they've been to the Ralph up in Grand Forks back in 2012, like January 2012. 12:50 So it's going to be almost a full five or six years to get back up there again. 12:56 But, you know, I know you're not as excited about this as many others have me, but the fans still are excited. 13:05 Well, yeah, I mean, I'm glad for the people that have been kind of pining to have that series start up again. 13:15 You know, I guess for me, the only reason I don't look at it the same way is it just doesn't have the same meaning. 13:21 I mean, there's not the league titles at stake. 13:24 There's not league points at stake. 13:28 You know, I'm sure that things will get heated quickly, and I'm sure that some of that bad blood will kind of start off pretty quickly, even if the players haven't really faced each other that much. 13:41 But it just, you know, because of the time and because of the lack of connection over this last handful of seasons, it's just like, for me, it's just another series. 13:52 It's like St. 13:54 Cloud or some of these other teams where it's like they're close, and yeah, you won the games, but it just doesn't seem to have that same meaning for me. 14:02 You know, I was actually talking with the SID from St. 14:06 Cloud a couple of weeks ago, and he kind of felt the same way. 14:09 You know, they like playing Minnesota and all, but it just doesn't seem to have that same gravitas that it did when we were all in WCHA. 14:18 And you know, it's going to be the same with North Dakota. 14:20 I mean, sure, it's nice that they're coming to town. 14:23 I'm sure there's still thugs like they always were, but you're right. 14:27 It's just not as much meaning because it's non-conference. 14:30 There's no points on the line. 14:33 It's just not the same, is it, Vegoe? 14:37 Well, it's funny. 14:38 We were talking about the 30 for 30 on I Hate Christian Leitner before we got started here, and it's because you see somebody again and again that you get that adversity, you get that hatred between a couple of programs. 14:52 I do think the North Dakota rivalry is unique in that a lot of these players that committed to both of these programs grew up kind of hating the other program, and just because they haven't played, I think there's still a lot of meaning. 15:07 Justin Kloos today at the availability had part of the quarter of the day, as Nate Wells agreed. 15:14 When he grew up, he probably played a million knee hockey games, and he was always a Gopher, and his buddies were the Fighting Who. 15:22 Did he really say the Fighting Who? 15:24 He said the Sioux. 15:27 But, you know, I usually try to avoid that one. 15:29 But it was funny, and he corrected himself as, you know, I guess it's the Fighting Hawks. 15:33 But, you know, you talked to Connor Riley, and he grew up wanting to play in this game. 15:39 Jack Ramsey, you know, his dad played against North Dakota. 15:42 You know, he has a lot of, you know, interests in this game. 15:47 So it's a big series for these guys. 15:49 Jake Bischoff, you know, he's got some family ties in this game. 15:52 And all these guys are excited to play this weekend. 15:54 You know, they don't have the history with their opponents, but they definitely feel it, and they're excited to be playing. 16:01 Well, you know, obviously it's been a while since we've played them. 16:03 But, Hammy, I know you're not as excited because of the same reasons that, you know, a lot of people aren't excited. 16:09 But they are still one of the best teams in the country and something to learn, something to grow upon by playing teams like this. 16:19 Well, definitely. 16:20 I mean, I do think that people need to put it a little bit in perspective. 16:25 This year's North Dakota team is not last year's North Dakota team. 16:28 I think I see comments here or there that I think to a degree kind of overstate this year's North Dakota team. 16:37 I think there's a lot more new blood there, a lot less proven players. 16:43 I mean, they still have some real high-end guys. 16:45 Don't get me wrong. 16:46 You have to respect them, of course. 16:48 But I think that some fans, no names need to be mentioned, but they get a little bit too far ahead of themselves when it comes to giving credit. 16:57 Every year is a new year. 16:59 Every team has got its hills to climb, and North Dakota is going to be no different. 17:04 I mean, they won last year, and you have to give them props for it, but last year was last year. 17:08 So I think that people need to kind of keep that part in perspective. 17:12 And they did lose quite a few players off that team. 17:15 I mean, obviously they had some senior leadership, and obviously a lot of guys left early. 17:19 So you are right, and they probably learned this past weekend by getting swept up in Duluth that maybe they are not quite all of what they thought they were. 17:29 Yeah, well, I don't know what they think they are. 17:31 I mean, as a team, as in the locker room, I am sure that, I would suspect that they probably have pretty level heads. 17:38 But nonetheless, I think from outside of that perspective, you hear a lot of people, whether they are North Dakota fans or whether they are fans of other teams just looking, you know, at the big picture of the entire season. 17:51 And they kind of state things a little bit too quickly or go too far based on past results versus what is going on with the current team. 18:01 And Vegs, you know, they obviously have a good team. 18:04 They might not as be as good as last year, but we do know one thing. 18:06 They are not going to be happy after getting swept in Duluth for the first time in a long time this past weekend. 18:13 No, I think they kind of had an easy road in their first couple of games of the season. 18:17 And you play a team like Duluth. 18:19 Yeah, you play a team like Duluth who has got great transition, a lot of talent up front for scoring, and it turns out they have a pretty decent goaltender in that. 18:31 And that's a team that's going to expose you, and I think that's what happened to North Dakota last weekend. 18:38 The big thing with this year's North Dakota team is their defensemen aren't very experienced. 18:43 They've got a lot of young guys there, so I think that's something that Minnesota needs to take advantage of this weekend. 18:50 It's going to be somewhat boring hockey for some fans, but I think over the two nights, if they get pucks behind their D and get pressure and get the forecheck going, that's going to pay off throughout the series. 19:03 Well, there's kind of been a running joke ever since the old WCHA, when they created posters that had the North Dakota state listed on it, and it's come back a few times on national networks and whatever. 19:16 And unfortunately for North Dakota, it came up again this week. 19:19 For anyone with Comcast, it's showing that the Gophers will be playing the North Dakota state bison this weekend. 19:27 Vegoe, this just never seems to go away. 19:30 I don't see how somebody can mess this up so many times. 19:32 I don't know if somebody is doing this on purpose, but it seems to come up every year. 19:36 Somebody puts a bison logo in place of North Dakota or whatever it may be. 19:42 It's getting to be ridiculous, but it's still funny all the same. 19:46 I'll take it. 19:49 Clearly, I think the cable company must have a Minneapolis person setting that up. 19:54 DirecTV got it right. 19:55 I didn't even have a logo on mine. 19:58 It was literally just a generic hockey thing. 20:00 It definitely does speak to North Dakota not being on everyone's radar nationally. 20:07 This is their big deal. 20:09 They have a hockey team. 20:10 That's where they put all their resources in. 20:13 There's a reason why they can sell 11,000 tickets a game for these guys. 20:17 It's the only show in town. 20:19 It's their premier sport. 20:20 We've seen ESPN do it too. 20:24 ESPN has done it in the past by accident. 20:28 It's kind of a running joke, but hammy, it's getting to be funny. 20:31 I'm liking it. 20:32 Well, let's be honest. 20:36 We all know hockey is not some nationwide sport or whatever. 20:41 As much as North Dakota fans probably don't like to hear it, it's like from a national perspective, nobody really cares about North Dakota hockey. 20:52 They actually do care more about football. 20:55 So North Dakota State, with all of its success in recent years, is naturally going to be gaining from a national perspective more of that brand recognition and name. 21:07 So I can see to some degree why there would be that kind of mistake. 21:13 From a national ESPN, I can see the mistake. 21:15 I don't know why that would happen from a local perspective. 21:19 That's kind of a big boo-boo because this is a hockey area and people do know who North Dakota is in hockey in this area. 21:28 It's interesting. 21:30 I remember the poster, right? 21:31 Wasn't there a Final Five poster? 21:33 The Final Five poster said North Dakota State. 21:35 I don't believe it had a logo or anything like that. 21:38 But I do know it said North Dakota State and that's kind of where it all started. 21:44 Yeah, I remember that. 21:47 That was 10 years ago maybe, wasn't it? 21:49 But did they have, what were the colors on that? 21:53 Were they still North Dakota State colors though? 21:54 Boy, my memory is failing me. 21:57 I'm not sure. 21:58 We've got to get Russ Miller to get a photo of it and put it on Twitter because I know he brought it up today. 22:06 And then like you said, it just kind of happened once every couple of years like ESPN or like just recently. 22:12 Boy, it's just the ongoing joke that just keeps on giving. 22:18 And especially with their obvious identity crisis the last few years, they had to drop Sue and they had no name and now they're the fighting Hawks, which they just love. 22:31 So it's just this gift that keeps on giving and I love it. 22:35 Have they finally shelved the whole... 22:37 I mean, I don't pay attention to that crap anymore, but it was like so old every year. 22:42 It was the nickname, the nickname, the nickname. 22:45 Have they finally given up on that? 22:47 I mean, is that finally dead and buried, please? 22:52 We think so. 22:54 Or is there some random idiot, you know, old school fans that are still like... 22:58 There's always going to be that. 22:59 There's always going to be that. 23:00 I mean, that's just the way it is, I think. 23:04 I'm pretty sure Grand Forks Herald got a letter of the editor from a parent, you know, who was never part of that tradition. 23:12 They'd always been a fighting hawk or just North Dakota saying how it was too bad that they can't share that. 23:17 And of course, we'll never see the Fighting Hawk logo on a hockey uniform ever. 23:21 You don't think so? 23:23 No, I think they stick to the UND logo in North Dakota. 23:29 While we're still around. 23:30 I think eventually they'll have to. 23:33 I don't think so. 23:35 They tie so much of their hockey history to that thing that it's hard to imagine them embracing something new. 23:43 I don't know. 23:45 I just think eventually they'll have to do something just for maybe just for marketing to sell jerseys. 23:52 Yeah, I think you give it five, ten years. 23:54 I think they still sell the old logo jersey in their bookstore every couple of years or something like that, because they have to keep the trademark supposedly. 24:03 Yeah, it's the gift that keeps on giving. 24:07 They're never going to give it up. 24:08 So what can you do? 24:11 Well, to the actual games, what do we think is going to happen this weekend? 24:14 We got that Besser kid who plays for North Dakota, who obviously decided to leave Wisconsin. 24:21 His commitment to Wisconsin was up to Minnesota and North Dakota, and he's gone to obviously North Dakota. 24:28 Boy, Hammy, this Besser kid is the real deal. 24:32 Yeah, I mean, he's always been a great goal scorer, certainly kind of a rugged kid in terms of the way he plays. 24:39 He's certainly going to be, I think, a pretty good pro player, especially if he continues on the path that he is for development. 24:47 So, you know, I think they're pretty top heavy with that top line. 24:52 So I think that if the Gophers, you know, having the last change, it should be kind of a, hopefully they'll be able to kind of match things up to their advantage. 25:01 I like the Gophers' depth in terms of scoring, so I feel pretty good about that in this series. 25:08 But certainly from a top end perspective, a top line, I mean, they're going to have that advantage, especially with a guy like Besser on that line. 25:16 Who else should we be looking at, Veegs, from North Dakota? 25:20 Well, I think you're going to look at Gersh and Poganski and Yost. 25:24 There's other guys to watch. 25:26 Osmos on their blue line is kind of their returning guy there. 25:30 And Lannan, he's another good defenseman for them. 25:34 But I do think it's their depth that's concerning. 25:36 I know that Barry split up on the Yost-Besser combination against Duluth at times. 25:43 I know that their power play is pretty reliant on Besser. 25:47 Everything runs through him. 25:48 So I think if Minnesota can really focus on actually checking a line this weekend, that could be a good strategy for them, at least match up a deep pair against Besser. 25:59 Because I think one of the issues with Minnesota last weekend is their freshman D did get hemmed in their zone a couple of times. 26:06 We saw Lindgren get hemmed in a little bit too much, a little struggle at times. 26:13 So I think they're going to need to protect those guys at Mary Eugene. 26:16 Having last changed, they'll be able to do that. 26:19 Are we going to see Fire Wagon hockey this weekend? 26:23 Because that's the games I've always loved between Minnesota and North Dakota. 26:27 The tempo was always good. 26:29 It was back and forth hockey. 26:31 Great hits, checking, close hockey. 26:35 Are we going to see that this weekend, Hammeh? 26:38 Sure, I guess that's the million dollar question. 26:44 I don't know. 26:45 When you have it early in the season, everybody's still trying to get their bearings on what they have. 26:53 It can be a little bit difficult to judge. 26:58 I don't know that the Gophers really want to get... 27:01 I'm not saying it because of who they're playing, but I just think right now, I think that they would be wiser to button up things on the defensive end and try to play a little bit more intelligently with respect to that part of the game, as opposed to just being wide open and leaving yourself with odd man rushes, having that risk. 27:23 And so I just think that personally, I would like to see them kind of just play a solid all around game and not get too heavily focused on the offensive end of things because I just think that that's where they get in the trouble at times. 27:35 What do you think, Veegs? 27:36 Fire wagon hockey? 27:38 I don't know if it will turn into fire wagon hockey with odd man rushes being traded both ways, although from what I can tell that's happened in North Dakota in a couple of these games already this year. 27:50 But I think you're going to see a physical game. 27:52 I think you're going to see aggressive four checks from both teams. 27:55 I think you're going to see a lot of finished checks. 27:57 I think it's going to kind of remind people of a USA-Canada World Junior team game where they're trying to establish their presence right away in the first period. 28:07 I think everybody's itching to get that. 28:10 One thing about playing on the Olympic ice is you can't really sit back too much when you have two teams like this with this much skill. 28:17 It's hard to do anything in the neutral zone if you sit back because ice is so wide. 28:23 Kerry Ring on Twitter wants to know, who's more excited or who's more looking forward to this series, the teams or the fans? 28:33 Hammy? 28:35 I think it's the fans. 28:37 Yeah, I think honestly, I mean, I'm not saying that the players don't care, especially the ones that are from Minnesota on both teams. 28:45 And I'm sure that they're getting plenty of the speeches and hype about what the rivalry means and all that kind of stuff this week, whether it's from the coaches or ex-players or hearing it from classmates or whatever. 28:58 So I'm not saying that the players don't care, but I think it's probably more, you know, the fact that they, from a fan perspective, I mean, we're the one consistent over the course of the years. 29:09 That's true. 29:09 You know, fans on their side, fans on our side. 29:12 I mean, that's the one consistent. 29:14 Coaches come and go and so do players and the fans are the ones that are always there on both sides. 29:20 So to me, it's definitely going to be more important from a fan perspective. 29:25 And only Riley, Cluse, Latteria and Camerata have played Vig. 29:29 So those are the only guys who even know what it's like to play against North Dakota. 29:34 Yeah, and those guys didn't play big roles back when they started with this program. 29:40 So, you know, it's a chance for them to take stage and try to make an impact. 29:44 I know Cluse talked about that, and Lucia talked about that. 29:48 He said, you know, there's a couple times we played North Dakota where some of the little guys, you kind of have to throw them back out on the ice and pull them out from under the bench. 29:56 And Cluse admitted he was a little intimidated back then when he was a freshman. 30:00 So, you know, this is a chance for these guys to make their mark in this rivalry. 30:03 It's going to be going on for at least the next seven years. 30:07 So it's going to be something for the players and the fans to build on. 30:10 And with West Regional at Fargo this year, you know, it's a team you might see at the end of the season as well. 30:18 Indeed, we might. 30:20 So what do you think happens this weekend, Hammy? 30:23 I think this thing's got split kind of written all over it. 30:27 Yeah, that's kind of the way that I feel about it, too. 30:29 I mean, I think that, you know, early in the season, I think that the Gophers certainly will be up and be successful for one of the nights. 30:39 I'm sure that North Dakota will, you know, certainly, if it's a Gopher win on Friday, they'll certainly rebound with their effort. 30:47 I just feel like it's gonna be a split. 30:48 I think that there's been enough mistakes and there's still enough things that need to be cleaned up that it's hard for me to imagine the Gophers sweeping this series. 30:59 But, you know, it wouldn't shock. 31:01 No result really would shock me this weekend, especially we've talked about a million times in the past that usually, like with Wisconsin, for instance, is that it doesn't matter how crappy one of the teams is or whatever in any given year. 31:14 It seems like those rivalry series, you can kind of throw the records out and you never know what's gonna happen. 31:20 So nothing would surprise me, but I would suspect a split is most likely. 31:25 In the last ten games with North Dakota, Minnesota is 6-3-1, so they've done fairly good against the Fighting Who, but what happens this weekend? 31:37 I really think that we're gonna see a win and a tie for Minnesota. 31:41 I think this team is playing the right way right now. 31:43 They've learned a couple lessons. 31:45 They've gotten up to speed faster than North Dakota has with their team and their season. 31:51 I think we've seen in the past, a lot of times North Dakota teams start out slow, and by the end of the season, they get going full speed, because it takes a lot of learning on their side to figure out how to play as aggressive as they do without giving up all the chances to their opponents. 32:06 And I think Minnesota is a veteran group. 32:08 They have a lot of guys coming back who've been in a lot of tight games the last two and a half years, and I think their special teams are improving. 32:17 I think the penalty kill is a huge key for Minnesota this weekend. 32:22 They've had so many games where their forwards are getting trapped on the wall and giving up the middle of the ice. 32:27 I think this weekend is going to be really key for them to take that away and keep Buster isolated on the wall. 32:33 We'll see if they can do that because Buster does have the ability to win a game or tie a game by himself. 32:46 Is Jupiter on mute? 32:47 Sorry, I muted it again. 32:49 He's on mute. 32:50 Yeah, I could feel it. 32:51 Yeah, I know, because you hear nothing. 32:54 Well, what I was trying to say before I was not being heard, Veegs, Media Day today, you sent me quite a bit of audio. 33:01 A lot to be said, huh? 33:04 Yeah, you know, the players were talking of, they had a good weekend. 33:07 And so you've got Conor Riley talking about the rivalry, how the series is one of his favorites from growing up, and how he thinks the intensity is there. 33:17 Bischoff talks a little bit about the rivalry as well, and how physical he thinks it's going to be. 33:23 Cluse is another one of the guys who kind of talks about the intensity and dreaming to play this series. 33:30 Lucia gives some of his favorite memories, including the jersey pullover, some bad blood in the handshake line, things like that. 33:38 He rallied off like five or six great memories. 33:43 And then we got some bonus Jack Ramsey at the end where I got him one on one for a little bit. 33:47 Oh, okay. 33:48 That's great. 33:48 And we always put that audio at the end of the podcast if you're listening. 33:52 So make sure you stay tuned after the podcast. 33:57 That Ballard jersey pullout, we may see that this weekend. 34:02 There may be some video. 34:03 I'm not sure if it's going to be at Mariucci or on TV or something like that, but that is one of my all time favorites. 34:09 Ballard pulls the jersey over his head. 34:11 And I think Shepard goes right through the view. 34:13 I mean, he goes right by ignoring it. 34:16 And what, 10, 15 seconds later, Ballard's the one scoring the game winning goal to end North Dakota season. 34:23 One of my favorites of all time, obviously. 34:26 So if you're having- 34:28 Do you remember who did he pull the uniform over? 34:32 Do you remember? 34:32 I don't know. 34:33 I made that- 34:35 The resolution's not great on that either. 34:37 Well, the animated GIF I made, I literally made it in 2002. 34:42 And back then, a lot of people were still on dial-up. 34:46 So I needed to keep it really small. 34:50 Keep it really small and not large file size. 34:53 So that's why it's always been terrible. 34:57 We'll probably see a better resolution one on Friday night is what you're saying. 35:01 Excuse me? 35:02 We'll probably see a better resolution video. 35:05 I believe so. 35:06 I think they're trying to get the original Fox video from that. 35:10 Hopefully they show the whole sequence. 35:12 Cause you know, obviously I just did the Jersey poll cause that's the funny part. 35:15 But obviously the whole sequence, Ballard pretty much just ended their season on his own. 35:22 So it was one of my favorite moments. 35:25 Obviously there's tons of others, you know, from both sides. 35:28 I mean, it's just, it's a great series. 35:31 And like you said, it's tough that there's no points in the line, but maybe over these next few years, they start to build up that rivalry again. 35:39 Could be. 35:40 I mean, you never know. 35:40 I know we'll see them more regularly in that sense, but I think it's gonna be tough to kind of top the old days where there's actually a little bit more than just, you know, some bragging rights on the line where there was positioning and league titles and some of that kind of stuff. 35:57 When there's hardware on the line, it just seems to add to the overall rivalry. 36:01 So I don't have those kinds of expectations, but certainly I think it'll help, you know, the familiarity will kind of get things going again. 36:11 I do think there's pairwise considerations here. 36:13 This is a chance for Minnesota men's hockey team. 36:25 Honestly, that's probably the most important thing. 36:28 It just will be. 36:30 True. 36:46 Well, we'll just have to see, guys. 36:48 We'll just have to see. 36:49 I mean, obviously, there's no games next weekend, so we'll be taking the week off. 36:54 We'll come back and recap, you know, this series and whatnot in a few weeks. 36:59 Remember, you can always follow Hammy on Twitter, at Hammy Hockey, and follow Vegoe on Twitter, at eVegoe. 37:07 But we'll be back in a couple weeks, and we'll recap this game with the Fighting Hawks, and preview this series with Minnesota State. 37:16 Until then, thanks for listening. 37:46 You've been through this series a lot with North Dakota. 37:47 A lot of your players haven't. 37:49 How do you prepare them for this weekend? 37:50 Well, I think the most important thing is that your preparation shouldn't change no matter who you're playing. 37:55 You have Monday through Thursday to get ready. 37:58 I don't think you amp up anymore for one series versus another, other than continue to work on the areas of your game, you have to get better. 38:06 We know, I mean, you don't have to really put in a video of North Dakota or they're gonna play. 38:12 They're gonna play through you, they're gonna play with pace. 38:16 They're gonna be strong on the puck. 38:17 They're skilled. 38:19 You know, they're defending national champions. 38:21 So, you know, it's exciting to get them back in our schedule and we're looking forward to the series. 38:26 With the three-year break in between, would you expect this is gonna pick up right where it left off in terms of the battery? 38:32 You know, that's a great question. 38:34 We have played them, I think, two out of three years in the NCAA tournament, obviously big games. 38:40 But, you know, normally, you know, that part of it, the more you play somebody, you know, all of a sudden you're playing somebody four or five times in a season versus once every couple years. 38:50 You know, so that's always the interesting part of it. 38:54 You know, how that the game is played. 38:58 You know, when you're playing for points, it's obviously big. 39:00 You know, so all of a sudden you play non-conferences that have a different feel because of that. 39:04 You know, I doubt that it will. 39:06 I think with, you know, the coaches certainly having played in the series and, you know, over time and, you know, our seniors have played each other, you know, in that national semifinal. 39:17 So I think they have a pretty good understanding of what the weekend's all about. 39:20 Obviously, when you look at the price of the ticket, you know, they've got a great North Dakota following and there'll be a lot of, I'm sure, North Dakota fans in here, too, with the alumni base in the Twin Cities. 39:31 So it'll be a fun atmosphere for everybody involved. 39:35 Rivalry is come and rivalry is go, and obviously this one has been played for a few years. 39:39 Why do you think the anticipation is still there, despite not playing? 39:43 I just think because of the big games we played over the years. 39:49 I mean, even with the three-year break, I mean, look when we played. 39:52 We played in a game to get to the Frozen Four, and we played in a game to get to the National Championship. 39:57 So when you continue to play important games, I think the other thing that's fun with the rivalry is it's been pretty evenly played over the years. 40:06 I mean, some team might wrestle away for a couple of years, and then it gets wrestled back. 40:10 But over time, it's pretty even. 40:14 And I think that's what makes, for a fan standpoint, I've always said, when you go to a game as a fan, and you really don't know who's going to win, and you've got that little nervousness in the pit of your stomach, like players and coaches, I think that's a good thing. 40:27 And then obviously in this day and age, they can go trumpet on the internet, and we're better than you, or vice versa, and the fans have more fun with it as well. 40:37 So I think that's a part that will continue. 40:40 How are you going to keep the team's emotions in check, and just keep it business as usual? 40:44 Well, I talked about the preparation. 40:46 I think that's the most important thing. 40:48 You want to make sure that you prepare Monday to Thursday. 40:50 Now, the coaches may be a little bit more amped up, and more detail-oriented this week than normal, but I think that has as much to do with the team you're playing as anything else, and we know they're a good team, and they talk to the defending national champions, and we have to be at our best, and we have to keep improving. 41:10 Coach, your penalty kill on 9 of 10 last weekend, last season, with it going through some struggles, do you feel like it's getting back on track to where you'd like it to be? 41:16 Yeah, I think it's, you know what, Mike's done a really good job. 41:19 He really takes pride in it, and I know it was frustrating for him, and I think without question, we've worked on it more this year than we ever have before because it's such an important element, and, you know, we've done a pretty good job of eliminating scoring chances. 41:33 We haven't given up many. 41:33 We have a few short-handed goals, and so we like the direction that it's going right now. 41:39 The guys did a really good job last week, and the only goal we gave up was off the rush last weekend at Clarkson, so we need to continue to do that. 41:48 I mean, especially teams. 41:49 We all know how important that is in tightly contested games. 41:52 When your penalty kill is really working, what clicks for them? 41:56 I think that they're moving as a group of four guys. 41:58 You know, that they're good up the rink, but more than anything else, they're anticipating where the play is going to go next, and their movement is good. 42:05 They're jumping on loose pucks. 42:07 And then you have to have your go and make a save. 42:09 I mean, that's the most important penalty killer there is. 42:13 And, you know, your goaltender is going to have to make some big saves on the penalty kill and bail you out once in a while. 42:18 Roughly a month into the season, what are some of the other areas where you've seen the most improvement? 42:22 Well, you know what? 42:24 The last couple of weeks have been interesting. 42:26 You know, we talked about it. 42:27 Let's see. 42:27 We've been ahead by three in loss, been behind by three in one, been behind by two in tied, been ahead by two in loss. 42:35 So that's in a four-game segment. 42:37 So our swings have been, you know, pretty great in the course of the game. 42:41 I think we've played two good periods maybe. 42:43 I can't say that we've played a real consistent six-period game or three-period game in the last couple of weeks. 42:50 I do like the fight that we showed last weekend, especially after the disappointment, giving a game away, especially at home. 42:56 And the fact that it's November, we've had one home game. 43:00 We've been up to Alaska, we've been to New York, we've been up to St. 43:03 Cloud, so we've had to play five or six away from home. 43:06 We knew that with our schedule this year. 43:07 We're going to get some home games back next year, but we knew when you only have four games through Thanksgiving, it's not an easy start to the schedule. 43:14 But I felt with our veteran team in a lot of areas that they could handle it, and so far they've done a pretty good job. 43:20 But I think there's another level we can get to. 43:25 Don, this is the second week that all five day one teams in Minnesota have shown up in the top 20. 43:30 This was Hurtbrook's vision for hockey in the state going back 30 years. 43:35 And what ways of having five strong, vibrant programs, all in either renovated or fairly new buildings, benefit hockey in the state as a whole? 43:44 Well, I think that's part of the benefit of splitting off into three leagues. 43:48 I think that's helped allow that to happen, where teams can go find and maybe be at the top of the league that they're in. 43:56 Obviously, if you go back to the old WCH, you're not going to have all five teams probably in the top five of the given league. 44:04 But I think that the commitment to the programs, I've always said that it doesn't matter if you're a Division I school or a Division II school, what is the commitment that the administration has to this institution? 44:14 And when you look at whether it's UMD's got a new facility, Bemidji's got a new facility, Makedo just did a renovation, St. 44:21 Cloud just did a big renovation to their facility. 44:24 So the commitment is there. 44:25 It is their, you know, it's their BigTen sport on campus, is hockey. 44:30 And it's treated that way. 44:32 There's obviously a lot of, I mean, people have their niche. 44:35 Some programs are a little bit more out of state than others. 44:37 Some are up in Canada more than others. 44:38 But it's like anything, you find your niche and where you can recruit them and attract the best players you possibly can to your program. 44:46 But I think it's a good thing. 44:47 I've said it from the beginning that the stronger hockey is in our state, the better it is not only from the collegiate program, but all the way down through the youth hockey because they have something to look forward to. 44:57 I mean, it is a different day and age where, you know, now there's more regional support. 45:01 Obviously, you know, we're a state institution, but, you know, in the St. 45:05 Cloud area, they're rooting for St. 45:06 Cloud. 45:06 I mean, there's probably not a lot of Gopher fans in Duluth or the Bemidji area. 45:12 Or you get up in northwest Minnesota, there's a lot of North Dakota fans. 45:15 So the Legions are more split probably than they ever have before, but, you know, probably in the long run, that's good for all the programs. 45:22 And for the kids growing up, they have a lot of opportunities. 45:26 You know, the days of a JV program that had, you know, so 50 players in one school and 25 not even playing, that's over. 45:34 And so those kids get a chance to play at a lot of different places, whether it's within our state or out of our state is a good thing. 45:40 You know, having the NHL back, I think, has been a good thing, and especially how they've embraced college and youth hockey in our state. 45:47 So I think we have the pyramid the way we want it. 45:49 I mean, youth hockey through the NHL, and it's all strong. 45:55 I asked some of the players, that's what their favorite memories of North Dakota series growing up. 45:59 Obviously, you've been a part of many of them. 46:01 What are some of yours? 46:03 Oh, boy, that's a good question. 46:05 You know, opening up the Ralph is one. 46:09 That's obviously a big memory to, you know, Keith Ballard pulling the jersey over a guy's head and, you know, proceeding to score in the second game in overtime. 46:17 You know, Justin Hall's goal, Blake Wheeler's diving goal, you know, some unpleasantries in handshake lines. 46:29 Let's see what else. 46:30 I mean, losing in overtime in a regional final on a wraparound goal. 46:34 So, I mean, you're on both sides. 46:36 I mean, hey, there's been games we've tattooed them and games we've tattooed them. 46:40 I mean, going up and winning a couple back-to-back, and, you know, Danny Erman and Ryan Patoni going back up there to play. 46:46 So, there's a lot of memories, you know, some good and some kind of nightmarish, you know. 46:51 I've always said, you know, you go up and play at the Ralph, you find out who the men are. 46:56 And, you know, some games you've got to look under the bench and pull a few guys out from under it and get them back into the fray. 47:04 And so, but they're fun games. 47:05 Obviously, I think it's fun for the fans that, like I mentioned, that I think it's a week that they really look forward to. 47:13 And it's good that they're back on our schedule and back on our schedule for the foreseeable future. 47:18 Everyone healthy this week? 47:19 Yep. 47:20 Right now, everybody's healthy. 47:24 Thanks, Andy. 47:24 Thanks, Joe. 47:25 So one of the guys that's played in this series before, what do you tell your teammates to get ready for this week? 47:34 Yeah, I mean, I tell them it's one of the best rivalries in college hockey, if not the best, and there's so much history and tradition, it makes it so fun and exciting. 47:42 I mean, fans on both sides are so passionate. 47:45 It makes it for a very memorable weekend. 47:48 Did you guys miss it over the past few years, miss playing these guys? 47:53 Obviously, every year you can play in North Dakota, it's obviously a weekend you're in a circle, just because, like I said, there's history and tradition, but it's great to have them back in our building for two games, especially early in the season, to get our fans into it and hopefully give them a good show. 48:07 What are your own memories from the Rallery, growing up or playing in the one you played with? 48:11 Yeah, this is definitely my favorite series, watching, growing up. 48:15 Obviously, all the fights and how hard everyone played sticks out. 48:18 It just seemed to be such competitive games, and this is a series I grew up watching and really hoping to play, and obviously that's why this weekend's going to be so fun. 48:28 Were you here and did you watch the one you redshirted? 48:33 Yeah, I think we tied, or one Friday night tied Saturday. 48:37 That was a tough one to be out just because obviously it's such a big weekend. 48:43 I remember that weekend particularly, everyone was so excited, so happy, just with how hard we played and how everyone came together that weekend. 48:51 Aside from the rivalry, what do you guys expect to see from them this weekend, and what can you learn about yourselves playing an opponent like this at this point in the season? 48:58 Yeah, we obviously know they're a very deep team. 49:00 They've got a lot of returning players off their title team, so we're expecting a very hard fought game from the get-go. 49:06 It's going to be a full 60 minutes both nights, and it's going to take all 20 guys each night to hopefully have some success. 49:15 Intensity and practice seems to be picking up. 49:17 Are you guys trying to prepare for the puck battles, the wall battles, and all the pressure that comes in a game like this? 49:22 Yeah, that's certainly been an emphasis. 49:25 Starting last week, we started emphasizing wall playing down low and being stronger on pucks. 49:31 Coach Gensel and the coaches really set the tone Monday, just with the intensity of practice and the energy they brought. 49:37 So I think we've had a great week of preparation so far, and we're going to continue that until Friday. 49:43 How is the team going to keep their emotions in check to keep, I guess, the mindset sort of business as usual? 49:49 Yeah, you've got to play your game. 49:51 We're going to take a couple of punches. 49:53 There's no need to retaliate at certain points. 49:55 We know it's going to be competitive. 49:56 There's going to be net front battles, but it's all part of the rivalry. 50:01 What lessons did you learn from the trip to New York where you're able to come back one game and two goals a tie in the last minute? 50:08 Yeah, biggest takeaway is that we definitely got some fight in us. 50:13 Clarkson, we're down three-rip after one, and I think you show a lot of character and commitment to come back and win that in overtime, and then also to score two goals in a minute with six on five, and that's a character we ended up tying, but it does say a lot about our team that we're not going to give up no matter what the score is. 50:33 Looks like intensity in practice is already high for this week. 50:37 How much preparation is that going to help you? 50:39 Yeah, you know, I think coming in this week, we all know it's a big week, coaches and players, everyone in the organization, you know, so I think that just naturally that the intensity is going to be a little higher. 50:49 Everyone's going to be a little more driven and, you know, just try to do what we can to get ready for this weekend. 50:55 Is that battle level in practice different than you've seen here, than in the past? 50:59 Yeah, you know, I think everyone's competing hard, you know, and I mean, at the same time every week we want to be competing hard too, but I think you can feel a little more intensity this week with all you guys. 51:11 Jake, I know you didn't get a chance to play against North Dakota, but what do you expect out of the intensity level in this series? 51:17 Yeah, no, I'm excited. 51:18 I'm expecting a, you know, it's going to be physical, it's going to be a hard fought game, you know, you're going to have to fight for every inch of the ice out there I think, and no, it should be fun, you know, you grow up hearing about the rivalry and that kind of stuff, so I mean, getting to be a part of it should be a good time. 51:33 Your dad must have passed on a story or two, huh? 51:35 Oh yeah, yeah, he used to love playing North Dakota. 51:39 What are your own memories of the rivalry growing up? 51:43 I mean, just, you know, every game, every game, you know, you'd be watching it as a kid and cheering on the Gophers, that would be anyway, but I mean, yeah, I just remember it being super intense, you know, I mean, all the players would be getting into it with each other and all the games would be really competitive, so it was always fun as a fan, you know, watching growing up and cheering for the Gophers, but now getting to play it should be pretty unbelievable. 52:08 It's been a few years since the two teams have played. 52:09 What do you know about this edition of the North Dakota? 52:14 Yeah, I mean, obviously, we haven't had a series with them since I've been here, but, you know, obviously, they're going to be a good team. 52:20 They won it last year, and they got some great players coming back, so I mean, it's going to be a hard fought match out there. 52:27 Did you watch them win it last year? 52:28 Like, did you watch the... 52:29 A little bit of it, yeah. 52:30 I mean, it was sort of hard. 52:32 Tried to get off social media, off my phone once we weren't there, but I mean, at the same time, I watched a little bit of it. 52:39 This game has typically been a pretty physically hard fought game. 52:44 How do you handle the physicality and how does this team absorb physicality with it? 52:50 You know, I think we just got to take it and give it back. 52:53 You know, we're going to get hit out there. 52:55 You just got to be ready to play the body when you can too, you know. 52:59 I mean, you got to make it tough on their forwards and not make them dread, you know, coming down on us as defensemen. 53:05 So, I mean, you just got to take it and give it back next time you can, I think. 53:10 What are the keys? 53:11 Are you hearing a lot of buzz about the series from friends, families, students? 53:15 Yeah, no, I think a lot of people are excited. 53:17 I mean, all my family is really excited, you know, to come down and watch. 53:21 I think they were, I got a big family, so they were sort of fighting for the tickets that we have, I think. 53:25 But, no, it should be, it should be a lot of fun, you know. 53:28 I think a lot of people, a lot of my friends were back home, that kind of stuff, texting me, you know, good luck this weekend, that kind of stuff. 53:34 So, it's definitely, definitely a rivalry that a lot of people are aware of, and we'll be watching. 53:40 What are your keys on puck retrievals against a team like North Dakota? 53:44 I think it's just communicating with each other and working it out, you know. 53:47 I mean, got to rely on your partner going back for a puck, and he's sort of got to be your eyes and ears out there and just let you know what to do. 53:54 I think talking is going to be super important, you know, just letting them know who's on you, where to move the puck, that kind of stuff. 54:03 This is likely to be a pretty big test for your team at this point in the season. 54:06 How ready do you guys feel to face an opponent of caliber from North Dakota? 54:11 You know, I think we feel ready, you know. 54:14 We've been working hard the last few weeks. 54:15 Obviously St. 54:16 Cloud was a little bit of a setback, but I think we've came together since then. 54:20 We've been working hard. 54:22 We had a last weekend, I think we showed a lot of, I don't know what the word is, coming back from a couple goals each game, you know, that kind of stuff. 54:32 But I think we've been coming together and should be ready to go. 54:37 You guys came back twice last weekend from a 3-0 deficit and two goals in the final minute to tie. 54:44 What did you learn about your team? 54:47 We're pretty good at playing from behind, I guess. 54:49 I mean, we played ahead a lot of the weekend before, but I know you don't want to get in the habit of that. 54:54 But, you know, we're pretty resilient. 54:56 Even, you know, some of the struggles last year, you know, we were a pretty resilient group. 55:00 And after, you know, sometimes we took a little bit of a beating, we were able to get it right back the next night. 55:06 So it was good to come back, but, you know, you expect a little more and come out with two wins, especially the way we played that second night. 55:13 What do you think the keys are to get you guys going right away after the first? 55:19 Probably a combination of things. 55:21 Maybe, you know, things, tough bounce in the first, and then you kind of sit back a little bit. 55:26 You get frustrated, and so getting back after might be, you know, one thing that especially us older and leader guys that can work on with the team is, you know, not getting down and staying up and getting back after when things don't go your way. 55:40 So that can be one thing we can work on, and I think it, you know, just situationally in the first period that things didn't go right for us, and I don't think we're going to be a slow starting team regularly. 55:56 What are your own memories of the series growing up? 55:58 I know you got a chance to make your own in Philadelphia. 56:00 Yeah, obviously these are the ones you highlight. 56:03 These are the ones you dream about. 56:05 I'm sure I played a million knee hockey games being, I was a Gopher and then my buddies were the Sioux, or I mean the fighting Hawks, one way or another. 56:15 So yeah, these are the ones you dreamt about. 56:19 I didn't get a chance to come to many of these games, so I'm just pumped to see the atmosphere here on Friday night and learn a little bit about what it's about and hopefully make an impact. 56:29 Have you guys missed not having them on the schedule for a few years? 56:32 Yeah, of course. 56:32 I think everyone has. 56:34 It's an unbelievable rivalry. 56:37 It's intense and mean and hard-fought every time they touch the ice. 56:42 The one time I played in it my freshman year of the rivalry, it was an unbelievable game. 56:49 I was probably a little shy that first game, a little nervous playing them, and hopefully I've gotten over that stage and ready to go to battle. 56:59 How's the team going to keep their emotions in check just to make it business as usual? 57:05 Yeah, I think that will be a lot to do with the older guys and leaders is kind of settling down. 57:10 The first five minutes will be huge. 57:11 I think both teams are going to be racing both when it comes to their body and their feet and their mind are going to be racing, and it's going to be which team that plays the smartest and hardest combination of those two. 57:21 So just settling everyone down. 57:24 Like you guys have mentioned, we haven't really been in the series much either, so we don't totally know what to expect, but we've been in some pretty tough atmospheres and we've had some games where it's been really intense, so I expect us to deal with it pretty well. 57:41 This will be your toughest opponent to date. 57:44 How ready do you guys feel for this matchup, and what do you think you guys can learn about yourselves this weekend? 57:49 Yeah, we feel ready. 57:52 I mean, we've had a good week of practice. 57:54 We played pretty well last weekend, and it just comes to how hard we're going to fight on Friday and Saturday night. 58:01 So I'm really looking forward to it. 58:03 Hopefully everyone steps up, and I think the fans as well are excited to see what we're going to bring to the rink Friday night. 58:11 This series has always been known to be physical. 58:13 How do you guys absorb that physicality? 58:16 You just got to give it right back. 58:17 We're going to take some punches, and we just got to give them back. 58:21 They're a good team, obviously. 58:22 They're the defending college hockey champs, I guess is the best way to put it. 58:26 So we got to come in ready to go and fight and stand on our feet and give back punches when we receive them. 58:36 What are you picking up as points of emphasis in video going into this week? 58:39 They play hard. 58:40 They're talented. 58:42 I think there's a lot of parallels in the way we want to play and the way they want to play. 58:45 They want to play fast. 58:47 They want their fours to do a lot of the work when it comes to forward checking and swarming the puck and making and just being a really resilient team to play against an offensive zone. 58:56 You know, teams like that, they wear you down eventually and that's kind of the mentality we take is, you know, when it gets to Saturday, second and third periods, we should have the advantage because the way we've been beating on teams is kind of the emphasis on points of emphasis that our coaches take and our team tries to focus on. 59:13 I think they do the same thing as well. 59:15 Do you think your power play is continuing to improve and feel more comfortable together? 59:18 Yeah, our power plays are good. 59:19 I think coaches and us players as well have been happy with the way we've played so far. 59:24 We had a ton of chances. 59:26 Saturday night we got two last Friday, and then Saturday, I don't know what the scoring chances were, but we had to have seven or eight. 59:31 So we're moving the puck well and getting pucks in that, and I think we're going to need to bury a couple this week and have a successful one. 59:40 As kind of one of the leaders on the trench line, how do you get your teammates to play that style going into this weekend where it's going to be that kind of game? 59:48 I don't think we need to do anything to get the rest of the team to play like that. 59:52 I mean, it's just going to be in the water. 59:54 There's going to be blood in the water for both teams, and guys are going to want to hit and bang and just knock guys all over the ice. 1:00:01 So it's going to be a grind type of game. 1:00:03 There will probably be a lot of penalties and whatnot after whistle scrums, but that's what the series is used to. 1:00:10 We talked to Leon about this last week a little bit about when there's a chance to make a skill play or get the puck deep and then try to make another skill play. 1:00:18 What goes into that decision? 1:00:21 Well, I mean, you get the puck deep and you play the right way, and that leads to skill plays. 1:00:25 Coach talks about that a lot of the time. 1:00:27 You can't go skill play after skill play because you're going to have to turn it over. 1:00:31 So you get it deep, you get it in the forward check, and that will create an opening, a soft area in the slot where you get the puck, then you can make a skill play and score a goal. 1:00:38 What are your keys when you go into a battle for a loose puck? 1:00:40 What are you thinking about? 1:00:42 These bend, low center of gravity. 1:00:44 If you can initiate contact first on the guy, kind of catch him off guard. 1:00:47 That definitely helps. 1:00:49 And if he's behind you, maybe stick your butt out, try to get in his chest. 1:00:53 Try to create as much separation between the puck and the other guy, try to get it as much as possible. 1:00:57 And then what's kind of the next step? 1:00:59 Once you get a position in the puck? 1:01:01 If you can spin off that guy or escape, do that, or run off the wall. 1:01:06 If your teammates are calling for the puck, maybe cycle it to them, move it to the point. 1:01:09 Moving it to the point is always a good way to give it and get it and go. 1:01:14 Open some space for yourself. 1:01:16 You're one of the guys on the team with a family connection to the program and the history. 1:01:20 What are you hearing from family and alums and things like that going into this weekend? 1:01:25 Are there any tickets we can get to the game? 1:01:27 That's a lot. 1:01:29 Over 50 requests yet? 1:01:32 I have a lot of requests past few days. 1:01:34 I've already given my tickets away two weeks ago. 1:01:36 But there's obviously a lot of history. 1:01:39 Even my sister playing for the women's team, they hated North Dakota. 1:01:43 So it doesn't matter what sport you're playing. 1:01:45 Minnesota hates North Dakota. 1:01:47 North Dakota hates Minnesota. 1:01:49 I know all about the history of my family. 1:01:52 Nothing really needs to be said about that, but my dad told me a couple of stories. 1:01:57 I know what I need to do going into the weekend. 1:01:58 Does he give you a perspective going into the games like this? 1:02:01 Yeah, definitely. 1:02:02 I mean, back then they were playing without cages and stuff like that. 1:02:04 So he may view it as a little soft now or something like that. 1:02:08 Kind of an old time saying something like that. 1:02:10 But yeah, no, he definitely has told me things about the series in the past. 1:02:15 Do you have any favorite memories? 1:02:19 I mean, obviously, he only played at the U for one year, so that national championship game was the biggest thing. 1:02:26 Not specifically about him, but I remember the game-winning goal. 1:02:28 We have photos all over the arena of that goal. 1:02:32 And watching videos of it, it's incredible. 1:02:35 Such a skilled player back in 1979, so it's pretty cool to watch. 1:02:38 Do you have any going to games? 1:02:42 Did you make it to many growing up? 1:02:44 I mean, yeah, I'm only 20 minutes away from Chanhassen, so I made it to as many games as I could. 1:02:50 I don't remember if I can specifically remember any North Dakota games, but it seems like whenever I turned the TV on when I was a kid to watch a Gopher game, it seemed like it was always against North Dakota or something like that, and there's always bad blood and there's always something, you know, handshake line or something like that. 1:03:06 So you never want to take your eyes off the screen because you might miss something. 1:03:10 How do you keep this like any other game and not try to do too much or get too physical or go over the edge? 1:03:17 Yeah, I know there's definitely a line that can probably easily be crossed, you know, hit a guy, you know, achieve or something like that, take a penalty. 1:03:23 So you definitely have to have a level head going in and try to keep a level head throughout. 1:03:29 I bet, you know, I'm thinking that the team that can keep their mind like that, keep a level mindset going in, is probably going to do better in the start of the game. 1:03:37 So it's obviously hard to approach it like another game with so much tradition and what not. 1:03:42 But I guess go in and just play your game. 1:03:45 If you try to play something else or play too extraordinary, it's going to hurt you. 1:03:50 Thanks.