Latest / The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey / Episode 15: March approaches, plus Ohio State's Jenn Gardiner joins the show

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Episode 15: March approaches, plus Ohio State's Jenn Gardiner joins the show · The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey

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Usccho dot com. Layoffs are here everywhere around college hockey, and get ready
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for March because March comes fast. Hi everyone, I'm Todd Molesky. I'm
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here with Nicole Hosey and welcome to the podcast. Nicole. It's like I
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mentioned, we're turning the calendar to March. March is like just excitement in
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college hockey because you've got championships being awarded in conferences. Then it really happens
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fast that you've got an NCAA tournament that happens in two weeks and boom,
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it's done. A lot to be decided before then. But just give us
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your thoughts about going into March with what we've seen. I guess happened this
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season already, and you know what the build up could be to what's the
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home before we get to a champion in New Hampshire by really four weeks from
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now. Yeah, it all like you said, it all happens so fast.
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It's all sudden the regular season's over and before we feel like we can
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blink, it's gonna be the end of the season. And what's interesting is
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what I haven't loved the different calendars and everybody being on a different path.
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In this postseason. But it does mean that the excitement pretty much exists every
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week and nearly every other day until we get to the end of this season.
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So sometimes the opening round matchups aren't the most exciting, but that's not
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all that's happening this weekend. So it does mean that we are we have,
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you know, the chance for intrigue and happiness and sadness and all kinds
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of fun stuff pretty much every weekend, like you said, for the next
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month, which is just it's kind of hard to believe. But yeah,
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we we ended the regular season with a bang that eight PM Central one versus
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two games, Wisconsin versus Ohio State, and we're gonna go right into TOPOSTI
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and you know Cuple Conference has already had their opening rounds. You know,
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tournaments are going into semi biles already this weekend. It's it's a lot.
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Yeah, we've got midweek playoff competition coming up. Wednesday night, Hockey East
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has their opening round with a pair of games that set up then matchups for
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Saturday in the quarterfinals. There. But you did mention that number one versus
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Number two game, and we've got Jen Gardner from Ohose State coming up in
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our next segment, but just touching on that series, we were both there.
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It to me and we talked about this with Jen a little bit.
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It was some of the best hockey I've seen in a long time from the
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perspective of one intensity, two talent, and three just the feeling that,
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you know, those teams really want to be ready for the postseason, and
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I think they both helped each other get there over the weekend. Yeah,
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And you know what was interesting about those games is we often see games like
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those be really frenetic, and this was fast paced, but both teams in
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Fits and Spurts really like held possession and were completing classes and it wasn't the
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sort of like just hacking and whacking at pucks and hoping that it comes to
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your stick that you know, like maybe sometimes a border battle has been in
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the years past, things like that. It was really interesting that sort of
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ebbs and flows of the game. And you know that both coaches would say
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they wish there weren't as many ebbs and flows, but to see the way
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that both teams at different points made transition and like and like stepped up their
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game in like mid period, which we often see, you know, coming
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out of a period break. But yeah, that game was the very best
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of women's college hockey. I was very excited that it was nationally televised,
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particularly Saturday night. Yeah, we have watched a bunch of a ton of
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games, right, I've watched a ton of games that U eighteens at Senior
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Worlds in college hockey, you know how me frozen or as have we been
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to And that was jaw droppingly good hockey. Yeah. Ohio State won three
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to one on Friday with an empty net goal, Wisconsin one four to two
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on Saturday with an empty net goal. Ohio States win ended Wisconsin's winning Street
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Get fifteen. Wisconsin's win ended Ohio States winning Street Get sixteen. So a
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little bit of both sides getting getting ready for the postseason with some really high
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level play there. And it did feel like those teams are and we see
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it in the rankings. Ohio State has been number one for a long time.
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They're they're kind of locked into the top spot in the pairwise and Wisconsin
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established themselves as a really solid number two in both the us h O rankings
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and in the pair wise going into I guess week minus two whatever you want
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to call it from when the and the selection show happens. But so I
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think those were you know, you can see where those are the top two
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teams in the country are now and with good reason. Yeah, I think
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you know, Ohio State said, I need needing, Mazrel said, and
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that maybe like obviously they wouldn't want it to win, but like it's a
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pretty good place to get a loss that gives you that little bit of gut
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check that reminds you that, you know, like you went through the season
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with only two losses prior to that, but like you you aren't infallible.
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Like that's those are good lessons for a team to learn and and just to
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to really build off of. And and you know, like I said,
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there were sort of stretches where one team dominated the other and there's a lot
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of things for the coaches to teach on and in the players to take away
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from situations like that. The atmosphere in Labon sold out loud. Yeah,
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it was I think a really smart and interesting learning experience for both of those
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two teams in terms of like what they're capable. I think, you know,
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Wisconsin needed to know they could win that game on Saturday, that like
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at this point, as you said, the Ohouse State's been number one for
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ages. They were they're sort of like mythical top of the pile right now,
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and so I think it was, you know, for the Badger's confidence
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that they needed that in for Ohio State to come in and take you know,
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after really bad start to that Friday game, to come back and take
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control of that game and win it. There's there's there were a lot of
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gut chuck moments, a lot of things that they'll take away, and as
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you said, I think both of both teams will be better for having played
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that that series. Well, let's take a spin around what else we saw
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around women's college hockey last week. It was the first round of the playoffs
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in three of the conferences, but we also had to decide a conference champion
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in Hockey East, and Yukon led going into the final weekend, and Northeastern
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was chasing with only really a small hope of catching Yukon for the championship.
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But Yukon did wrap that up Friday with a feign thing win at bu It's
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so it's a conference championship for Yukon going into the playoffs as the number one
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seed and and and that is a pretty solid accomplishment for a Husky's team.
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That's well it's their first ever hockeys regular season championships. So congratulations. Yeah,
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been in the shadow of of Northeastern for a while now, as really
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everyone has in Hockey East for the last few years. But uh, it's
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an important step and to do that and with with a foreign you know,
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a shutout win and that just kind of solidify things, not really give Northeastern
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any hope going into the final day of the season. Uh, pretty strong
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statement there. Yeah, absolutely, I think you know, it could have
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gotten in their heads right that that they hadn't put it away earlier, that
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they had had a lead in the conference and that Northeastern had sort of climbed
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their way back. And I think it's is a lot that they went out
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and won those games this weekend. And then also you know, Northeastern didn't
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like even if you kind of hadn't won theirs, Northeastern didn't get those points.
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I think just mentally, ukuns in a really good place to for how
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they you know, they're heading is the top seed in their own conference tournament
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and you know, hopefully heading for you know, their first ever NCAA berth
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in e c A C hockey. Uh, it was a first round of
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just a single game to advance to the I guess quarter finals. Correct,
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I'm doing right, Yes, all four higher seeds won. That's Quinnipiak,
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Yale, Princeton, Brown winning at home. But Brown needed overtime to beat
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Rensselair won nothing. Obviously, that's the the eight to nine I was gonna
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say series, but game in the standings, and so that was a uh
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you know what you, I guess would expect to be the closest game,
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and it did turn out to be that way. Just Chirochi with the goal
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in overtime, Kaylee Doyle gets the shutout for Brown and it's move on time
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now and keep your season going for for a lot of those teams. Yeah,
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not only was that in overtime, you know, the only goal scored,
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but then it was reviewed as well. That game took the drama to
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the very top level. But I you know, I think I said this
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previously. Brown is a team that I would not want to face in the
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postseason. I think there's there's a ton of talent there. We've talked about
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it in the past, and so first of all great job by r P
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I for for really picking it up at the end of season and and forcing
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you know, Brown to have to go out and take that game away from
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them. But yeah, I feel bad for I think Brown is a team
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that I would be a little bit of af afraid to play upcoming, particularly
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in the best of three. They're going to be a fun team to watch.
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We'll get into all those matchups you know, later segment of so stay
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with us on that. In College Hockey America, the conference is a week
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ahead of everyone else, so they have their championship coming up this week,
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which means they had their semi finals last week, best of three series won
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by the home teams, Penn State and Mercy Hurst, but mercy Hurst had
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to go three games. After Robert Morris won the first game of that series,
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the Lakers came back and won games two and three to set up one
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versus two for the CHA championship. Yeah, and tons of scoring in that
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series. I mean, Robert Morris won that first game five nothing that mercy
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Hurst came back and won five to two and took the last game six to
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one. So just really interesting to me, you know how those like it
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was both a very close series and none of the games were close, So
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yeah, it'll be interesting that Penn State obviously had a little bit easier path
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and Mercy Hurst, I don't think it will be as well rested. So
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there's definitely that. But yeah, the fact that they're playing their championship this
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week is super interesting to me, and I think, like I wonder if
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there's something too like taking that week of rest and like putting them in a
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better position knowing that they're going to get one of the lower seeds in the
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tournament and have a tough task ahead of them. Yeah, like I wonder
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if that was strategic by the conference. It's it's definitely something that you can
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I think you can go over the pros and cons of right, you can
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you can say that, yeah, they'll be a little bit better rested,
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but that's also a good chunk of time. Yeah, they're going to be
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traveling, so there's you want to build that into you don't want to be
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if you're a team, Let's say you have to then play that Thursday game,
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so you might want to leave on Monday after If you're playing then Saturday,
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you don't have a lot of rest time then, so maybe that is
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taken into consideration that the CHA winner is more than likely you're going to be
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playing in one of the first opening round games in the NCAA tournament. And
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so yeah, I could see how that factors into that wanting to get at
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least a couple more days, because that would be a quick turnaround. It
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wouldn't then if you're like maybe assuming that you're coming to the Midwest versus you
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know, being able to stay in their part of the country. Just looking
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at the rankings, like if that's the sort of gamble that was played,
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Yeah, it's super interesting, and I like, I don't hate it particularly.
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Like you said, if they're going to play on Thursday, they're probably
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traveling pretty early. But yeah, we'll see what happens. It's much like
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the week off for the ECAC teams last week. It's the first time we're
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seeing it, and we'll see how it plays out. It's exactly it right,
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Well, well no more after this season now. In the New HA
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the three of the top four seeds advanced and we had an upset there in
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the five to four series. Franklin Pierce beats Sacred Heart, sweeping that series
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both games, winning on the Road, Long Island and stone Hill advanced sweeps.
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St Ansel needed three games to advance past post that Franklin Pierce Sacred Heart
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series Jill Hurdle shout out to her for thirty eight saves on Friday and a
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shutout on Saturday as Franklin Pierce advanced three to one and two. Nothing anything
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stand out there in nw hah in terms of what we're looking forward as as
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we'll look ahead to the semifinals about what we saw last week, well,
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I definitely think Franklin Pierce has made a case that Lau shouldn't be comfortable,
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right, Like, I am super impressed by the Ravens just coming out like
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taking care of that and immediately, like you said, huge series by Jill
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Hurdle, and that's not news, like she's been great for them for several
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years. But I thought the Ravens, I just like they came out and
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were super sort of poised and calm and didn't look like they were fighting for
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it, right Like they went out with like it was theirs and rightly theirs,
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and they were just gonna take it. And so yeah, I think
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it will definitely be interesting to see them against allow you particularly I think you
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know, when you play it a series where you're more well matched, like,
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how much does that prepare you versus a team that that might have had
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an easier path, And as we'll get into in a while, one game
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semifinals and nuw ha. So in one game, that's you put forward a
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really good effort and and all of a sudden you're through, You're into the
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championship. So I do want to point out too, did you see that
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scene Ansel put one hundred and sixty three shots on that in their three games
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series against Post, Like that's uh okay, that's some valume. Yeah,
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yeah, and they they're they're wins were I think what both to one?
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So that's those are shots on that. I mean that means they faced an
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outstanding goalie. But yeah, Hannah Standers made sixty two saves in the post
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the win the game that post won. But yeah, I just that is
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there's a massive amount of shots, even like we see sometimes thirty and forty
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shots in a game, but one hundred and sixty three in a three game
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series is nuts. I don't even have words for it. I'm not going
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to see that very often. I don't think, no, especially in as
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serio as that goes three games. You know, if there's gonna be that
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much that many shots by a team, it's probably gonna be over in two
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games. But no, the credit to post are getting that the three So
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definitely you know, Hopestone Hills goal. He's already uh yeah, So we'll
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we'll see how that plays out as well. When we come back, we
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have Ohio State captain Jen Gardner to talk about the Buckeye season number one team
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for most of the campaign and how they're going into the playoffs and so stick
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around for that as we return on the podcast. Hi, welcome back to
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the podcast. This is Nicole Hazi. He's Todd Maleski, and today we
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are joined by Jen Gardner of the Ohio State University Buckeyes. Chen's a grad
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student and forward for the buck Eyes. She is a national champion. She
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was a top ten Patty Kaz finalists last season. We're really excited to have
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her here. Thanks for coming on, Jen, Yeah, thank you for
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having me on. I'm super excited. How did I guess if I can
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take you back a few years, and I guess this is kind of merging
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this season in the last few seasons. How has this season gone for you
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and for the buck Eyes compared to maybe, say, what your expectations were
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when you started at Ohio State five years ago. And I guess I take
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that. I mean that as a maybe if you can just describe how how
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your journey has gone through your five years at Ohio State. Yeah, I
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mean, I think Ohio State obviously used to be a team that was kind
16:51
of fighting for a playoff spot and not really as much on the grid as
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as people would have hoped for such a big school like this. But then
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obviously when coach Buz came and it took over, she made some changes and
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the program was on the map and that was kind of what the program I
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walked into was. We were ranked top ten, but not not top five
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or anything like that. And so just to have seen that progress over the
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past couple of years has been very rewarding. But obviously a ton of work
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going into it from both the athletes and the staff here that coach muz is
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hired and brought on, and yeah, the staff are second and none and
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I think that's really been a key part of our success here so far over
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the past five years. Kind of building and what Tad was saying, can
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you just maybe take us through, like what what makes this team? What
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makes this year this season different from years past. We've seen how the team
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is, you know, how the program has built out, how things have
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gotten better, But like, why is this team the team that is maybe
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going to go and win the title and be the be the one? Like
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what is what's different about the squad? Yeah? I think we have a
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special group this year, different than most. Obviously a lot of a lot
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of incoming transfers, but obviously highly decorated ones that have brought a lot to
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the table this year. I think just bringing in people like Barnes Bilka who
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have been on the national team before. They have that experience and all assets.
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So I think they've just brought tons of leadership and especially just in all
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of our fifty year transfers, we've seen a ton of leadership off the ice
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and on the ice as well. And the interesting thing about transfers, it's
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actually awesome. They all come in so open minded and really excited to just
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be a buck eye and be part of what's here and established already. So
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I think that's kind of something that's made our group so special. Is the
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amazing people that we've brought in, and again just everybody excited to be a
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buck Eye and excited to get on board with the idea of winning a national
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championship and willing to sacrifice everything to do that. How do you build that?
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I guess if you can take us into that as a captain when there
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are so many people coming in new You know this happens every year, but
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it seems like especially this year for you guys with transfers, how do you
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help kind of bridge that and bring them in and then let them know what's
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expected too. Yeah, I think the expectations are pretty clear here. Obviously,
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cookemas is pretty cutthroat, and so there's not really a gray area of
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what is expected from you as an athlete. So I think that's honestly to
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our benefit. Though everybody knows kind of what's at stake and what the goal
19:18
of the team is from the beginning of the year, and so obviously to
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get to a national championship there's a lot that goes into it. But obviously
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culture is a huge piece of that, and I think that what's been built
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here just through the years of girls that have gone through this program is unbelievable,
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and just as a captain in that position, you kind of learn growing
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up, learning from the leaders who have been through and kind of trail but
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blaze that path through myself. So leaning on someone like Liz Shepherd's gen C
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Dunn, live Soores Mmalta, some of those captains that I've had have just
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been super influential in my life and super easy to learn from. And yeah,
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we kind of have a program here that's everybody just get with it or
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I don't know, it's not gonna work out too great. So I think,
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yeah, just having a very very clear expectations is something that's led to
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a lot of our success. Can I talked to you Lession sort of your
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your Patty top ten profile, And when I talked to Muzzy, she talked
20:14
about how like you were, you were not a player that was necessarily scouted
20:18
or or necessarily planning to go play in the NCAA. Can you just tell
20:22
us a little bit about sort of that process, like when you're not really
20:26
being recruited in the person that comes to get you as nading Muzzrale, I'm
20:30
assuming that's an interesting experience, So yeah, can you can you just tell
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us a little bit about that and how like that path has led you to
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where you are now. Yeah, my my recruiting experience is definitely different than
20:41
most. I would say I was actually committed to play at a school in
20:45
Ontario, the University of Western Ontario, and I committed to play there when
20:48
I was in grade ten and at the time, there was no division on
20:52
offers for me. I quite honestly hardly even knew what the NCAA was because
20:56
it just didn't apply to me at the time. So yeah, that was
20:59
kind of a my plan at the time. And then obviously kind of got
21:03
invited to an under eighteen Canada camp and things started to bloom from there.
21:07
So I think once that door kind of opened, I got lucky enough to
21:11
be scouted by actually Peter e Lander because his son went to school out in
21:15
BC as well, so he kind of spent a lot of time at showcases
21:18
out there. So yeah, I got to know him a little bit and
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I think kind of got on the radar and it probably took some convincing just
21:26
because I developed pretty late as a player. So yeah, I was lucky
21:29
to get scouted by Peter and it was funny before I got on campus for
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Ohiose State to tour, I was like, there's no way I want to
21:36
go to a big school, like totally small school kind of girl. And
21:38
then I ended up here and toured and Liz Shepherd's was the one who toured
21:42
me on my own official visit and I'll never forget it. And I kind
21:45
of got to know some of the girls and saw the facilities and all that
21:49
Ohiose State had to offer with the resources, and yeah, I knew I
21:52
could call this place home and I'm really glad that I did. So what
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would you tell someone who's fifteen sixteen years old playing hockey in BC about NCAA
22:03
hockey, about Ohio State, about what it's like and maybe the things that
22:07
you didn't know then that you would you would like younger players to know now
22:11
about what's available for them. Yeah, I think it's just been a huge
22:15
opportunity and I've been super lucky and super grateful to be part of a team
22:21
like Ohio State. I think the resources here are second and none, and
22:25
just all the support that we have from our staff, coming from our athletic
22:27
directors to coaches, to athletic trainers, strength coaches, teammates just everything.
22:33
And I think obviously from the outside, Ohio State might not have the biggest
22:37
and shiniest rink, but it sure doesn't mean anything, and it doesn't say
22:40
anything about our group, and it's not holding us back, and we love
22:44
our rank for the record, but yeah, I think it's just super exciting
22:48
and I definitely would hope to encourage every girl to continue pursuing their college hockey
22:52
dreams as well. I was going to say, you've made that rink your
22:55
own. I mean, that's the home ice advantage of all hallways advantages in
23:00
Yeah, yeah, I think only the only other rank that might be nearly
23:04
as loud as Wisconsin where we just played this past weekend. But obviously they
23:07
had a pretty good crowd there. So yeah, we love our barn,
23:11
that's for sure. I just think you guys deserve better. I would like
23:14
to say also, I did not enjoy climbing the ladder into the press box,
23:18
but that is a separate Yeah, I can only imagine from a staff
23:22
point that's funny. But yeah, I know, definitely some some changes that
23:26
could be made moving forward, or if there's a new facility in sight,
23:30
but we make it work. That's for sure. Yeah, you guys have
23:33
like really developed and like gotten that dedicated fan base that that makes such a
23:37
huge difference there. Yeah, for sure. I was actually just talking the
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other day with some of the girls, and I'm like, my freshman year
23:45
when I came in, we definitely didn't have as many fans as we do
23:48
now. We'd get close to selling out for the big weekends, the big
23:52
matchups, but on a Saturday afternoon game or against kind of a not ranked
23:56
opponent, there's we would have like a handful of parents or fans in the
24:00
stands. It really wasn't much, but it's awesome now to see every game
24:03
basically turning people away. So yeah, it's been a huge change for sure.
24:08
Can you tell us a little bit about Surrey, BC and what it
24:11
was like growing up playing hockey there? Yeah, not a ton of girls
24:17
hockey in Surrey. A lot I meand a lot of good friends and a
24:19
lot of good memories. But honestly, I grew up playing in the boys
24:22
game and kind of faced the typical adversity that any girl did playing in the
24:27
boy dominant sport, just kind of being cut from teams due to being a
24:33
female and yeah, it was. It was tough, but kind of I
24:37
got lucky when I found the team that I played from in high school grade
24:41
ten, eleven twelve on which is the Greater Vancouver Commets and was coached by
24:45
Mark Taylor there who now coaches at the Delta Hockey Hockey Academy. But yeah,
24:49
I know all of my success to him in hockey, and he really
24:52
was the one who showed me how to play the game, how to love
24:56
the game, and just how to grow the game. And I think it's
24:59
just been Yeah, it's kind of been an uphill from there, and it's
25:02
great to have had the support from my high school coaches ever since. Can
25:04
you just talk a little bit about your growth at Ohio State, Like you
25:08
individually as a player obviously like kind of like the breakout year that you had
25:12
and then and and now like in a kind of a different leadership role,
25:17
but like you have really grown as a player there and like you said,
25:19
just like a lap when we were heading into college, But like, what
25:22
is it what have you learned? What is it that about like nading systems
25:26
and her as a coach and just the team and all of it that have
25:30
helped you become the player that you are now in your fifth year. Yeah,
25:34
I mean it's hard to sum up into a couple of words. All
25:37
this place is done or meant for me, But I all my success to
25:41
coach mas that's for sure. I think when I first came in at Ohio
25:45
State, there's no way I even saw a future making a national team camp,
25:48
let alone playing in a rivalry series and possibly more down the road.
25:52
So I think just a ton of success is owed to her and all that's
25:56
here at Ohio State. But like I said earlier, this place is a
26:00
grind, that's for sure, and there's it's probably not cut out for everyone,
26:03
but I think, uh, since the expectations are laid out in the
26:07
bar set very high, it's it's pretty hard to fail. I think if
26:11
you work your hardest and you're going to be pushed every single day. So
26:14
I think that every player can grow here if they're willing to put in the
26:18
work. And I think that that's something that I bought into as a freshman,
26:21
and I'm just thankful to have gotten the opportunities from coach muz And and
26:23
to just continue to grow here and learn learn from those older than me and
26:29
I think that's something that I hope to h embody for the younger girls looking
26:33
up to me as well. I know one of the things that muzz has
26:37
talked about is your skating. Is that something like before as you were growing
26:41
up that you focused on. Is it something that you, like, are
26:44
still working on developing? Like what what can you give people a little bit
26:48
of insight in terms of like what you work on, what you focus on,
26:52
how you can improve that, like even at this point in your career.
26:56
Yeah, I think, uh, skating is probably one of the biggest
27:00
assets to college hockey so far that I've noticed. I think it's something I
27:03
mean, we skate a lot as a group every single day with conditioning and
27:07
just at practice in general, but power skating is definitely something that I focus
27:11
on every summer when I go home. Still, I skate with a coach
27:15
named Kim Marfleet at home and she's been phenomenal for me. And then actually
27:19
how I first got into hockey was I started out figure skating and I didn't
27:22
like the pink outfits and the girly girl type style. So that's kind of
27:26
how I got into hockey in the first place. So I was lucky to
27:30
start it out on the right foot with figure skating, and I think I'm
27:33
just talking with a lot of teammates. Actually that's kind of where most started
27:36
as well, So I think that that's probably a common theme, starting out
27:40
figure skating and getting those techniques down and then transitioning into hockey. But yeah,
27:44
I think skating is just so important and definitely something I love to work
27:48
on every day. The season has gone, you know, pretty I mean,
27:53
it's hard to imagine it going a lot better for you guys. You
27:57
know, twenty nine three in the regular season, you're going into the WHG
28:03
Tournament as regular season champions for the second series season, You've got a number
28:08
one spot in the pair wise, it's pretty much all but wrapped up.
28:15
How would you say just the progression of the season has gone for the Buckeyes
28:21
this season, because it you know, you start with a loss one thirteen
28:25
in a row, you lost one, you won sixteen in a row,
28:27
and then you finished with the loss in Wisconsin and one of what was one
28:32
of the best games I can remember seeing in person in a long time.
28:36
And really those two games at Wisconsin were both great. How has this season
28:41
I guess from your eyes progressed. Yeah, I mean, I think starting
28:45
out, obviously with that loss at Colgate wasn't exactly how anybody imagined the first
28:48
weekend ago for us, But I think it's just showed a lot of a
28:52
character how our group's come along throughout the past. The whole season, honestly,
28:57
the whole body of work is kind. I know what we talk about
29:00
in the WHA, which we definitely believe is the hardest conference in the NCAA,
29:04
and just how we're challenged every single weekend. Any opponent that we're playing
29:08
is going to be a tough game, as we saw a team like Saint
29:11
Cloud this year stealing games from people on the Upriser obviously are very well coached
29:17
over there and a super, super talented and hardworking group of girls. So
29:21
I think just being challenged in our conference each weekend has been something that's put
29:25
our character to the test and just challenge us all to bring our best foot
29:27
forward every weekend. But yeah, it's been a special year for sure,
29:32
just with the group that we have and the amount of depth that we have
29:34
on our roster and seeing every single weekend having different players contribute different goaltending.
29:40
I think that's something that should allowed us all to succeed and trust and lean
29:42
in on everybody when things are going as well as they are, and when
29:48
you guys are kind of working so well, hitting on all cylinders, all
29:52
of that sort of stuff. What are the things day to day that you
29:56
are talking about as captain that you guys are working on. How do you
30:00
like, what is the motivation? How do you sort of keep pushing for
30:03
that final goal? What are the small things that you guys are focusing on
30:07
and talking about to make sure that you're still getting better when your ceiling is
30:12
like when you've done so well already. Yeah, yeah, for sure.
30:17
I think just treating every weekend the same, Like, no matter who our
30:19
opponent is, we're doing film Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, we're
30:22
going We're doing the same practice plan, working on special teams, working on
30:27
the four checks, breakouts, just no matter who it is, we're always
30:30
tuning into our own game. I think that's something we've really focused on,
30:33
is it doesn't matter who who our opponent is or what their game plan is,
30:37
Let's just focus on us and focus on growing ourselves. And obviously the
30:41
regular season is kind of that first chapter and we've got that over with.
30:44
But I think our team has just gelled and grown so much throughout the whole
30:48
season that it's really going to help us leading into playoffs. And obviously we
30:52
know most of our opponents that we're going to see coming up. We know
30:56
them, we've played them before. But again, it just comes down to
30:57
us and how we've gelled as a team and will continue to grow. Your
31:02
team obviously won a championship two years ago. It fell a game short of
31:07
a repeat last season. I wonder, having had both of those experiences,
31:11
does the does one of them serve as more of a motivator than the other.
31:17
I mean, you'd love get back to the you know, the championship
31:21
feeling, I know, but does not wanting to feel the second place feeling
31:25
almost serve as more of a motivator sometimes? Yeah, I think as a
31:30
motivator for sure. Last year's national championship loss. I think just especially playing
31:34
Wisconsin four times throughout the regular season, it's kind of like a blood battle
31:40
every time we see them, just because it's almost like revenge from the National
31:42
championship and it's a battle for number one in the country for sure, And
31:47
I think definitely a motivator, but also looking back on that twenty twenty two
31:52
national championship, it was just a very exciting season just with the group that
31:56
we had as well, and it was special. So I thinkful for that
32:00
one, but the past year's loss was definitely a motivator for all of us
32:04
moving forward and all those new girls who came to our program just wanting to
32:07
get to that spot as well. God mentioned and I just kind of wanted
32:10
to ask. We both have watched a lot of women's college hockey games,
32:15
and I would agree that, like those two games this weekend, like that
32:19
was some of the best most fun hockey to watch from our standpoint in both
32:23
directions, and I think we probably would have felt that regardless of any of
32:28
the outcomes, Like it's just two very good teams playing each other. What
32:31
is it like as a player, do you get to like, do you
32:34
get that feeling out of that or is it just a we're mad about the
32:37
loss, We're mad about the things that we didn't accomplish, or are you
32:40
able to enjoy that? Like that was high level hockey that was nationally televised
32:45
one verse two to end the season. Yeah, I know, definitely feeling
32:49
the same as you, just feeling grateful to be part of such a matchup
32:52
like that this past weekend. I mean, win our loss, those are
32:55
two phenomenal games to be part of, and even earlier in the season when
32:59
we faced them our rank as well. You've got sold out crowds both sides,
33:01
and whether they're cheering against you or with you, it's just a super
33:06
exciting weekend to be part of, and and playing in Wisconsin's rink is actually
33:09
just very cool. I know they're all cheering against us, but it's just
33:13
so loud in there, and to have the two best college hockey teams fighting
33:15
it out, there's really nothing better than that. So yeah, I think
33:19
obviously the weekend and go the way that we plan, but I think,
33:22
you know, in a way, we're kind of talking about how it might
33:24
be good for us moving into playoffs, just to have that learning moment and
33:28
to move forward as a group and understand that we will face some adversity and
33:32
we're going to grow from this for sure. My last question for you is,
33:37
I guess what's what do you see being your future? What would you
33:40
like to play pro? Would you like it? Or is this for you,
33:44
It for you what I guess, what's what's down the road? Yeah,
33:46
No, I would love to have the opportunity to play professional and to
33:51
play in that new league. It seems phenomenal from what I've heard from all
33:53
of my friends who were in it, and obviously getting to watch it on
33:55
TV every single night, it's super exciting and it's not something that I ever
34:00
thought I'd get to do turn on the TV and watch a professional female hockey
34:04
game. So I think it's just exciting and something that I'm almost sad at
34:07
and get through part of the inaugural season here, but just excited to join
34:12
and and thankful for those who trailblazed the path and created this league, and
34:16
just excited for the generations that are going to get to continue to play and
34:20
something as awesome as this kind of building off that you know you mentioned like
34:24
NCA, it wasn't necessarily on your radar, like what you thought you were
34:29
going to do in year ten versus where you are right now, both with
34:31
what you have accomplished and what the landscape of women's hockey look like. Can
34:36
you just are the words to even describe that? Like what when you look
34:39
around, can you imagine that, like you'd be talking about like going pro
34:43
next year and competing for a national team spot and just all of that.
34:47
Yeah, No, definitely not. I think maybe looking back, I probably
34:52
would have thought I'd be playing for something like the Calgary Inferno and the CWHL,
34:55
But obviously the landscape has significantly changed. That's the But yeah, just
35:00
to even have a fighting spot for the national team and to be part of
35:05
such an amazing and c DOAA team, I'm very grateful for it, and
35:08
I'm super excited for what the future holds for all of women's hockey. I
35:12
think it's going uphill, and it's just exciting that there's money involved and there's
35:16
televising media. It's just super awesome that girls are going to get to live
35:21
out their dreams playing the sport that they love. We really appreciate you making
35:23
the time to talk to us. We will definitely be watching to see what
35:27
you guys continue to accomplish here in the postseason. Awesome. Thank you guys
35:31
so much for having me on. Welcome back to the podcast. I'm Todd
35:42
Malesky along with Nicole Hasey, and it is awards season officially in college hockey.
35:47
The conferences are starting to roll out their Player of the Year, All
35:52
League Teams, Coach of the Year, those kind of awards. Will see
35:54
that over the next couple of weeks before conference tournaments wrap up up. But
36:00
there's also Patty Kasmier Award and Women's Goalie of the Year awards national awards to
36:06
be thought of as well. Nicole, You've got some dates to mention that
36:13
people might want to know when we'll be hearing some more out of those.
36:17
Yeah, well, we are recording this on Tuesday, the twenty seventh,
36:21
and coaches received their updated ballots for the Patti Caz today. Those have to
36:27
be due by the end of the week, so they will select a top
36:30
ten players and those top ten finalists will be announced on Thursday, March and
36:36
that is also the day that the Goalie Awards will announce their semi finalists,
36:40
so we're definitely coming up on that. Yeah. Like cha named top three
36:46
finalists for all their awards, which I feel like might be the first time
36:49
we've seen that. I can't remember it, but it seemed unusual ECAC put
36:54
out their third team, so I imagine we'll be rolling out other awards as
36:58
the week goes on, but definitely something to keep an eye out as well
37:01
as we march towards the end of the season. There are some different strategies
37:07
that the different leagues do in terms of how they roll out awards. Some
37:09
of them do do the the well name finalists first and then cycle back with
37:14
the winner a couple of days later. Some of them do just rolling out
37:16
one team at a time, and yeah, it's uh, there's a few
37:21
different ways you have to keep up on to know, well, where's the
37:24
rest of this awards. Well, it's coming. They'll get there by the
37:28
by the time that their their trophy is handed out, I'm pretty sure they've
37:30
announced everything. Yeah, I mean it's not the worst I to roll it
37:35
out slowly, particularly when the conference ruments end up being, you know,
37:39
sort of all the same dates. Definitely a way to make sure that your
37:43
your players get their their moment in the spotlights. So just seriously, was
37:49
not in the mindset to start thinking about awards until I got those emails today
37:52
and I was like, oh, that's right. As we said in the
37:54
first segment, March March is here and it all happens very quick. At
37:59
the need you can stay up on it all on us EHO dot Com.
38:02
We'll have awards news Nicole will have you know all of the details on what's
38:07
happening around the country, so make sure you're checking in with the website to
38:12
stay current on everything. I have one post that is just a sort of
38:16
a generic what each conference does for their tournament, and then I have another
38:22
post that I am updating with results as I happen, so you know what
38:27
teams are playing, when and where. So if you just want to understand
38:30
you know, the structure of the ECEEC tournament, there's something for that.
38:34
And then, as I said, I'll keep updating as we go along because
38:37
we have you know, Hockey East games already midweek this week, so that's
38:42
that's pretty exciting that we're jumping right into it. Yes, we do good
38:45
and lead in there to what we have night and Hockey East opening round.
38:50
That's Holy Cross at Boston University and Merrimack at Maine. Those are the teams
38:54
that finished seventh through tenth in the conference. Everyone gets into the tournament this
39:00
season, but they have to play down to those four teams play to see
39:05
who joins the top six in the quarterfinals. All single games happening in Hockey
39:13
East and they're doing I guess four rounds over two weeks, correct, is
39:21
that? That's yeah? So midweek this week weekend, game on Saturday,
39:25
although I think there's one on Friday. So midweek weekend, midweek weekend is
39:31
how this tournament is going, if I am understanding it right. But you
39:35
can check that out on Nichole's HL dot com. It's very on brand for
39:39
Hockey East. They you know, they place, they tend to play some
39:43
midweek games. That's how you know bean Pot goes too. So I actually
39:46
kind of like it. It feels it feels very Hockey East of hockeyst to
39:50
do it this way, So I appreciate it. If you told me somebody
39:53
was playing it like this, I would that's the conference, I would guess,
39:57
yeap use the geography when you have it there for you. Yes.
40:00
And then so we have two of the quarterfinal matchups already set in Hockey East.
40:06
That will be Providence at Boston College, Vermont at New Hampshire, and
40:10
then the top two seeds Yukon and Northeastern are awaiting the winners of those Wednesday
40:16
games. Again, single games this weekend. Also the Wendy game single game,
40:22
and then this weekend to determine the semi finalists. In Hockey East,
40:28
what are you looking for there? I mean, obviously you kind of Northeastern
40:30
are have have to wait and see who they who they find, Providence,
40:35
BC, Vermont, n H. They all get a week to prepare.
40:39
I don't know if if there's a you know, advantage to that or or
40:45
not when you're when you're kind of looking over the course of a two week
40:49
tournament. No, I mean, I think when you're talking conference, they
40:53
know each other well, right, so it's not like oh, having a
40:55
shorter amount of time to to look over tape or whatever. I think they
41:00
are pretty prepared for each other. So in that way, I'm not too
41:04
I don't think it's an advantage or disadvantage. I do think that this is
41:07
probably the most wide open of the tournaments I do. You know, obviously
41:13
you put your faith in Yukon, but in Amination there's a lot of root
41:19
for chaos, which I'm a big fan of obviously, But I just think
41:22
there are teams that have hockey eth maybe more than any other other conference.
41:28
Like I feel like you can't predict based on record or based on standings how
41:34
one team will go against the other. Like there's just certain teams that have
41:37
other teams number you know, like they're like Vermont is one of those programs
41:42
that I think on any given day can be anybody else in their conference.
41:46
They you know, kind of took it to Northeastern this weekend. So they
41:51
just they have the goalkeeping, the defense, the offense, they have all
41:57
the pieces that when they come together really well, I'm a very scary team.
42:00
Obviously, Northeastern made their huge push, you know, to get back
42:05
into it. So I I do think that this is one of those tournaments
42:07
that and even before they changed the format and before we were when we were
42:14
talking about Northeastern sort of into the given I thought that this was the most
42:17
fun conference tournament because I do think that at any given time, these teams
42:22
seem to there doesn't seem to be I'm a reason or for who can beat
42:25
who when. Yeah, if you're a looking at it as a neutral observer,
42:30
that makes it pretty exciting to Yeah, it's a lot of fun.
42:34
If you have a rooting interest, that doesn't make it feel great when you
42:37
know it's a it's a one shot game, and uh, you know,
42:39
anyone can win in one day. But uh yeah that that let's if when
42:45
you're when you're looking at it from a national perspective, let's see some chaos,
42:50
right, that's let's see some uh some upsets. Yeah. And I
42:53
think like this is a conference that has tons of ties, has had tons
42:57
of overtime, you know, like Boston College has five ties, Providence has
43:01
five times, Vermont and Yukon each have four ties. I think there's all
43:06
there has these the margins have been so slim. But I think we'll make
43:10
this fun is that we kind of don't know what we're going to get.
43:15
Well, what we will get in the CHA is our first entrant to the
43:20
officially to the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, when Mercy Heres plays at Penn State
43:25
championship game. There, it's a Penn State has been the team that's kind
43:34
of you know, at one point seemed like was pulling away in the CHA
43:37
for a lot of the season, but it had had a few stumbles here
43:40
and there, and so I don't know that obviously you have to look at
43:45
Penn State as a favorite. They're playing at home, but I don't know
43:49
how much of a favorite you you would consider them to be What do you
43:52
think about that? I think the team that has Testa Janik, he probably
43:58
always has the little of the advantage just the fact that, I mean she's
44:04
a full on game changer in terms of like she could take overall no offense
44:08
to anybody on Mercy Hurst. But yeah, I think, you know,
44:12
the Testaganicky factor sort of tips the scales even more. But yeah, I
44:17
mean it lost a few players to the transfer portal and it definitely has been
44:22
a different season for them, and it took some time I think for them
44:25
to kind of find play well with Tessa and that can just you know,
44:31
help elevate this squad. So I think it will. Yeah, it could
44:35
be interesting. And Mercy Hurst is that the team that I always say,
44:38
like, I would never count them out, like to see out of anything.
44:43
I just he's got so much experience and has just been so successful as
44:47
a coach that, like, I think he is at his best in the
44:51
postseason and gets the best out of his players in that situation. So that's
44:55
the first championship that will take place. There's one other league that is playing
45:00
single elimination games this week, and that is a new HA semi Finals Saturday,
45:07
Franklin Pierce at Long Island Stone Hill at St Anselm. We were talking
45:10
a little bit earlier about how Franklin Pierce, after beating Sacred Heart on the
45:15
road in the first round, winning in two games has built up a little
45:21
bit of confidence. I would imagine going into the top seed l IU so
45:27
and when you're now talking about one game and just having to put together a
45:30
really good sixty minutes, I guess anything can happen. I mean, obviously
45:35
LU is going to be the team that a lot of people expect to move
45:39
through into the championship game, but you just don't know. In single game
45:45
eliminations, you don't And you know, we were mentioning awards, like LU
45:50
has named all their awards for the season, and I mean rightly so Tindriholme,
45:53
Lau's goalie is the new Hog Goalie of the Year, and I think,
45:58
you know, she is the X factor here. She statistically been one
46:00
of the best goalies in the country all season, and just they have had
46:06
depth, and they've had scoring and stuff, But in a single game,
46:08
what you need is a goaltender that's gonna, you know, sort of stone
46:12
cold anybody that she's gone up against, and so I think if I were
46:17
wondering about if you were trying to be signed as much as I was high
46:22
on Fringlin Peers, I just think tincher home is probably the X factor here
46:27
in the ECAC and WHA, they'll be best of three series in the quarterfinal
46:34
rounds for both those leagues. ECAC has Brown at Colgate, Princeton at Clarkston,
46:39
Yale at St. Lawrence, Quinnipiac at Cornell. The one that stands
46:44
out to me is because both of them are in NCAA tournament positions. As
46:47
we're talking about now, is Quinnipiac at Cornell And I wonder if we'll be
46:53
able to say the same thing at the end of the weekend, because one
46:57
of those teams is going to have to lose twice and we'll see what that
47:00
does to NPI numbers and therefore the pair wise. But uh, some some
47:06
really interesting interested observers around the series. I would imagine, Yeah, you
47:15
also have the is it Yale at Saint Lawrence as well, and so Saint
47:19
Lawrence when you're looking at MBI you've got Cornell at six or well at six,
47:25
Saint Lawrence at seven, Quinnipiac at eight, and at this point where
47:30
I think top eight teams go. Obviously that's the the default that we assume
47:37
at conference tournaments. But so you know, those are precarious positions and less
47:40
than a well just a little more than a full NPI points separate Cornell from
47:45
Quinnipiac, and so yeah, Minnesota de luth is looking on super interestedly and
47:52
just you know, fighting to keep their position as well. And so yeah,
47:55
Cornell Quinnipiac is an interesting one. I think Cornell has gotten so strong
48:00
as the season has gone on. There probably the team on other than Clerks,
48:06
and that like the strongest going into this weekend is sort of the most
48:08
secure and ensure Saint Lawrence is built as well. But yeah, I think,
48:15
uh, Quinnipierre Cornell. Again, it's gonna be goaltending with Annilly Spergman
48:21
for Cornell, and you know, having a rookie goalie going into the postseason,
48:23
but she she really seems to have found her stride and gotten comfortable in
48:28
the net for them, and and Isy Daniel up front, one of the
48:30
top scorers in the country. And yeah, Quinnipierre, I found a way
48:38
to put it all together, like what is your take on? And I
48:40
feel like the pieces were there, they were really strong to start and now
48:45
it's like the the eye test on Quinnipiere for me, just it isn't there.
48:51
I don't know how to I don't know if I'm seeing it right and
48:52
like, and I certainly feel bad saying stuff like that sometimes, but I
48:55
just they like they don't go out there and show themselves to the best of
49:01
their ability. I feel like it feels like, you know, at one
49:05
point in this season, they kind of stabilized and you're like, Okay,
49:07
this is a team that's that's gonna be gonna be there in the end.
49:12
They're gonna make the tournament. Shouldn't be a problem. But then it it
49:15
just never felt like they really they they got back to that kind of confidence.
49:20
Confidence or maybe it's not confidence, but it's it's like just that they
49:24
weren't able to put together long stretches of really good play at least that's that's
49:29
from a from a distance and seeing results, and so you wonder, then
49:35
is it, you know, is that just the factor of the league that
49:38
they're playing in and and being uh, you know, every weekend, every
49:43
other weekend, you're going to have a really competitive game and you're gonna have
49:45
to be at your best, and if you don't, you're gonna find yourself
49:51
in the position that Quinnipiack is in, which is going on the road for
49:55
the quarterfinals. So I'm I guess I'm kind of like in that position of
50:01
like i'd like to see it. I guess I would not be surprised if
50:06
they emerge out of this series, but I don't know that I have a
50:12
great feeling about that that you know, wouldn't make me pick them, I
50:17
guess out of to go on the road and beat Cornell two out of three.
50:22
I'm glad you It sounds like it's sort of the same feeling, like
50:24
I know that they have the talent to win it, but like my gut
50:28
says, this team hasn't shown me that, like sort of they have that
50:32
sort of instinct and what's interesting to me, and like we can get into
50:37
this, like we're gonna talk bractology next week, but to see when it
50:40
comes down to like looking at those final bids, like if if Quinnipiac is
50:46
eight in Minnesota, Duluth is nine and they're virtually tied. Do you take
50:51
a fifth ECAC team, especially when the fifth ECAC team is this team that
50:55
we're saying like, ooh, do they pass the eye test, like I
50:58
don't like my gut on them says no when you look at like their worst
51:02
losses is brown they want lost to Yale. And then you look at Minnesota
51:07
Duluth, who you know has gotten points off the ranked teams and their worst
51:12
losses actually to Quinnipiac. So yeah, I just that's an aside. But
51:16
like looking at those two teams, if we're talking about them fighting for that
51:21
last space, I'm gonna be really interested to see if that sort of like
51:25
gut test that we're talking about the Quinnipiac just I'm not sure they feel like
51:31
if I'm the selection committee and I have those two teams to decide against,
51:35
like do I just is or do I say like this is a virtual and
51:38
PI tie and you know I test says Minnesota Duluf over Quinnipiac. I don't
51:45
know. Those are kind of questions we're hoping to have answered next week.
51:47
Where you've been trying to get someone from the NCAA committee UH to join us,
51:53
so hopefully we'll we'll get that squared away and have some answers for you
51:59
next week on on what's I guess what's allowed and what isn't. We can
52:04
read it in the pre turnerment manual that comes out that kind of spells out
52:08
everything. But it's it's gets different, right, It's a little different when
52:14
you're actually on the call and trying to talk through individual scenarios sometimes. And
52:17
so hopefully there's a tease for next week. Join us next week. Well,
52:22
we have those answers for you, or at least what we can find
52:27
for answers right now. A tangent, but yeah, it'll be interesting.
52:30
You know, Quinnipeac can buy it all, all of that by winning this
52:34
weekend. And so yeah, well those those games all carry a lot of
52:38
weight. Yep, you'd mentioned Minnesota du Lutha as being a really interested observer
52:44
in that they are playing Saint Cloud State hosting Saint Cloud State in one of
52:49
the four w c h A first round series this week. The others are
52:52
Butmiji State at Ohio State, Saint Thomas at Wisconsin, and Minnesota State at
52:59
Minnesota. So again, you know, it's no breaking news here that they
53:06
the series or the games that are between the two closest seeds are usually the
53:10
ones that generate the most drama or the potential for drama, I guess,
53:15
And that figures to be the case this weekend in the WHA because we've seen
53:22
this season where Saint Cloud State can be really good. We've seen lately where
53:28
it hasn't. It's been challenged to get there against the better teams in the
53:34
league. So what do you think we're going to see out of Saint Cloud
53:38
And what do you think we're going to see out of the luth knowing that
53:42
they're playing for their tournament lives there too. Yeah, you know, when
53:45
we were talking about this, like we haven't necessarily talked about Saint Cloud State
53:49
and that conversation, but they aren't that far back in the NPI, and
53:52
if they were to take their weekend series, I think they'd be forcing themselves
53:54
into the conversation. And is that enough? I mean we you know,
53:58
we talked about, like Briana Elki in the way that Saint Cloud State has
54:00
just kind of felt beat down. So I think it just depends on the
54:05
mental game here. Which of these teams can come into this series, uh
54:08
with their season on the line basically improve that they're the team that should be
54:13
getting the consideration. You've got some of the most outstanding goal attending in the
54:19
country on those two teams, but sort of on two ends of the spectrum.
54:22
Saint Cloud State with to really experienced veteran goalies just totally bank to the
54:30
word I wanted there, sorry, veteran goalies, where Minnesota loose goalies are
54:34
a freshman and a sophomore. So does that make a difference when you're talking
54:38
playoffs? So that's definitely going to be the most interesting series, both within
54:44
the conference and I think possibly you know, in the country references a few
54:50
minutes ago. But we've been talking all this time like the top eight teams
54:52
are going to get chance that that's not necessarily the case, because if we
54:59
see it team that's not another team that's not currently in the top eighth go
55:05
wild here and win a conference championship, say at Yale, then all of
55:10
a sudden you're talking about the top seven, and so that cut offline moves
55:13
up one. I don't know that I would project that to happen or what
55:21
the you know, even that I would give it, you know, decent
55:23
odds of happening. But this is why we played, is right, This
55:29
is why we love March because it it's out there for everyone as a possibility.
55:35
You put together two really good weeks, you've got a championship, and
55:38
you've booked yourself a ticket into the tournament. So I think that's what everyone
55:45
has as their you know, their hope going in these two weeks, and
55:52
that's the motivation, right, that's what's going to drive every one of these
55:54
teams yep. And so there's a it's all out there for him. If
55:59
you can go make it happen, your season keeps going right. And we're
56:04
talking at this point, like I think, you know, Minnesota and up
56:06
in the ranking, those top five are probably pretty secure, but there's a
56:09
big you know, drop an MPI from from five to six there. So
56:13
you're talking several tournament at large bids up for grabs. Well, it's gonna
56:21
be fun. I don't know how uh how many games you'll you'll be able
56:25
to want this weekend, Nicole, but I'm gonna put the over under it
56:30
at eleven and a half. Okay, I'll let you know. I'll take
56:32
photographic effidence. So definitely check out Twitter and I'll try and put some stuff
56:37
on Instagram too, But yeah, it's uh, it is both the most
56:42
as a writer for both like it's the most stressful timing year and like when
56:45
we're talking about March being crazy, like we're seeing that because like we're making
56:49
plans for four weeks from now and travel plans and all that sort of stuff.
56:52
Like for us, it's chaotic and it's amazing, Like I wouldn't trade
56:57
it, but it is a lot. So yeah, it's but it's it's
57:01
why we do this. This is the best time of year, Like the
57:04
next four weeks are going to be some of the best hockey that you'll ever
57:07
see, and so that's that's why you tune in, and that's like why
57:12
we talk about it. I will second that, and we hope you enjoy
57:16
the hockey this weekend. Join us here next week as we kind of by
57:21
then we'll be looking into the last week and then we can see selection Sunday
57:24
happening within the next week after our next show, So make sure you join
57:31
us for that. Until then, enjoy the hockey. Fornicle Hasey, I'm
57:36
Todd Maluski. Thanks for joining us on the podcast.