Latest / The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey / The first November World Championship is here

Transcript

The first November World Championship is here · The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Uscho.com hi and welcome to the podcast again this is
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Todd Valesky here with Nicole Haase from uscho.com Nicole the
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: world championship starts Friday uh it is here it is
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: a new format of time of the year it's being
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: played it being played in November instead of April um
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: let's start there what do people need to know about
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: when this is being played why it's being played at
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: this time and well if you want to give some
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: thoughts on it go ahead.
• 0:43
  Speaker 2: Uh it's being played in november because of the pwhl
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: basically the ihf and pwhl came to an agreement because
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: it had been in april which meant the pwhl just
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: had to stop their season for two to three weeks
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: um which is really awkward because while there are a
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: bunch of players that left to play in Worlds, there
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: were still a bunch of players that didn't and just
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: kind of had to practice by themselves and wait for
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: them to come back. So, you know, in that way,
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: I understand it. We've often talked about the April timing
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: being not great in the past. Often the collegians that
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: were playing would have to go right from their season,
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: particularly if they were at the Frozen Four, straight over
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: to wherever Worlds was happening. So, again, as we said
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: in the earlier episode this week, this was the Four
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: Nations weekend. This is already a weekend sort of... The
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: IHF has a large calendar in which all of their
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: things have to fit. And so it's not like you
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: can just say, I want to play in this month
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: on this weekend. It has to be open on the calendar.
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: There have to be no other things scheduled. We're not
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: just talking top division, right? So you've got U18... boys
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: and girls, or you've got men's worlds, women's worlds, and
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: world juniors, and then several divisions at each level. So
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: like when we're talking this, we're usually talking top division,
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: but there's, you know, D1A, it goes down, down, down.
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: There's a promotion and relegation system. So some of that
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: has to all work together. Anyway, it's a convoluted thing.
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: They settled on using this weekend that had already been
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: set aside for women's hockey international break anyway. It's when
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: the rivalry series games used to happen this November area
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: too as well. So yeah, so that's why it moved.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: Their big thing is that none of the non-collegiate players
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: are in season yet, right? I don't think even the
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: SDHL has picked up. So you are, it's some from
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: column A and some from column B, right? Like when
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: you took them in April, they might be beat up.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: They would be tired. they're you know far into their
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: season it's not an ideal time to like pull someone
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: and have them be at their peak to play in
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: a world championship however no they are not in they
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: haven't ramped up at all they are at summer fitness
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: which is still far above all of us but they
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: are not at full game like you are not gonna
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: see the same amount of minutes the same pushes you
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: might have seen in Milan right like There's going to
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: be a big difference in sort of what you see particularly,
• 3:11
  Speaker 2: I would think, in those first couple of days of
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: the tournament. It's why the women's hockey tournament happened. It's
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: when it did. It's why we did the two U.S.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: and Canada games. You want to get up to the
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: speed that an international tournament plays at, but it's simply
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: not something you can practice. And so I think there's
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: just going to be ramp up for everybody. Um, the,
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: when it comes to us and what we care about
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: is it means we've pulled players from the NCAA for
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: camps earlier. Uh, and now we're going to be what,
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: three weeks without players minimum for this. So players were
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: pulled for pre-camp, then pulled for the, um, US candidate
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: games and the Euro hockey tour. And now they're gone
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: for two weeks for worlds because it goes from Friday
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: to the following Monday, meaning covers two weekends. So. Everybody following?
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 4:01
  Speaker 2: So that's where we're at. And I think those are
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: the sort of the concerns. The thing, the big thing
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: I think is just that like 90% of the players
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: aren't in international tournament game playing shape. They haven't played
• 4:13
  Speaker 2: professional games. I heard an interview with Taylor Fox, formerly
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: Taylor Heisey, who talked about like, if you play the whole,
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: you need to take pre-tournament games, the entirety of the
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: world championships, and then moving into PWHL pre-season and She
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: could play, like, 11 to 12 games this month. So
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: to go from 0 to 12 high-level games is a lot.
• 4:37
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's a lot anyway, like, when they're in season.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: It's an extra lot coming out of the offseason. And
• 4:43
  Speaker 2: a reminder, the PWHL goes to late May. So, like,
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: it's not like they've been done since March like the
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: Collegians have. It's not a huge rest time for the players. So, yeah,
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: those are sort of the things, I think, to watch
• 4:57
  Speaker 2: out for. You know, there's only one collegiate on USA,
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: Joy Dunn from Ohio State. But there are a total
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: of 40 collegians or collegiate commits on the 10 rosters.
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: One D3 player. So 39 D1 players or commits. It's
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: only four commits that I know of at this moment.
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: So I think the teams overall are a little older
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: than we've seen. Canada, conversely, went younger, but kind of
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: everybody else. We'll see an interesting mix. But yeah, you know, There's,
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: I think, like nine players on Czechia that are currently collegians.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: There's like seven on Finland, a bunch in Sweden, so Austria.
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: So we'll see collegians almost in every game played. Umeka
• 5:42
  Speaker 2: Odera from Japan is committed to playing at Maine. So even,
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: you know, the Japanese team, which we don't see a
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: ton of crossover to the NCAA, has a commit. So
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: I think they'll be, for NCAA folks, there's a lot
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: to see here, a lot to be interested in. But yeah,
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: it's it's definitely interrupting the collegiate season. We saw it.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: I mean, just listening to broadcasts with different play by
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: play and color people talking about players playing out of position.
• 6:10
  Speaker 2: It was just really obvious watching the games last weekend
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: and talking about them that there's a ton of players
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: that are like, well, they haven't ever played center or
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: they played center as a 14 year old. that are
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: just kind of having to play out of position and
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: adapt for this. And at this point, it's three weeks
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: to a month of the collegiate season. So it's pretty disruptive.
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: So I think it'll be interesting to see if they
• 6:32
  Speaker 2: did make this move and kind of commit to it.
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: And I'm a little surprised they didn't try a year
• 6:38
  Speaker 2: first and then sort of get feedback or decide if
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: it was going to work. But yeah, this is what
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: we're doing now. So November Worlds.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: I'm, I guess... going to reserve judgment because I would
• 6:51
  Speaker 1: like to see how this works and, and not just
• 6:54
  Speaker 1: until the end of the worlds. I want to see
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: how it works for the rest of the season. Cause
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: like you're talking about there, this, this changed the entire, um,
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: you know, not just the PWHL season and how players
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: go into that, but also it's, it's made changes to
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: college teams and how they have built their seasons up
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: because they're these first couple months of the year is
• 7:20
  Speaker 1: usually you're putting the pieces together. You're seeing what combinations
• 7:25
  Speaker 1: work and what your best lineup is and how it's
• 7:29
  Speaker 1: best structured. Well, we haven't had a lot of that
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: time yet, uh, in college. And so it, that is
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: now going to start to happen in late November, which
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: is usually, you know, Thanksgiving weekend. You don't get a
• 7:43
  Speaker 1: lot of games there anyway. Um, early December, it, it,
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: It ends fast there in December, and then you're into
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: that three-week holiday break. So you're coming back then in January.
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: You've got about an eight-week run to the end of
• 7:58
  Speaker 1: the regular season, and that's going to be really the
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: biggest runway teams have to get ready for the postseason
• 8:04
  Speaker 1: with still trying to maybe piece together what your preferred
• 8:09
  Speaker 1: lineup is for some teams. That, to me, is one
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: of the most... And I guess consequential parts of this
• 8:19
  Speaker 1: change as we're looking at it from a college perspective
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: is that it's really throwing off what we've normally seen
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: from a season and the development process. And so I'm
• 8:29
  Speaker 1: interested to see how that's going to turn out and
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: what coaches are going to say about it towards the
• 8:33
  Speaker 1: end of the season of how they've had to adjust
• 8:36
  Speaker 1: and how they might look at it differently next year.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's important for people to realize that
• 8:43
  Speaker 2: it's not just like, oh, a player or two was
• 8:45
  Speaker 2: missing at various points. Like the way that that changes everything,
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: including how some teams have structured their schedule to start
• 8:53
  Speaker 2: the year, meaning there has been little consistency because they're
• 8:56
  Speaker 2: scheduling their bye weeks to account for some of this.
• 8:59
  Speaker 2: Like it is pretty far reaching how much this is
• 9:02
  Speaker 2: affecting things just overall. And like you said, then there's
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: just so little runway to like bye weeks when they
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: get back to games in mid-January, to like conference games,
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: because we'll have some New Year's stuff and some non-conference,
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: like when they get back to the real stuff in
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: early to mid-January, like most teams would like to be
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: where they need to be heading to the playoffs. Like
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: that should be a short ramp up. There should, they
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: should be set. And I just don't think that's going
• 9:28
  Speaker 2: to happen here. So yeah, it's forcing everybody to adjust.
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: And I don't know that there's any perfect answer. I don't,
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: I'm not trying to act like the NCAA should and
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: how it affects collegians should be the be-all end-all. I
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: just don't love that it seems to be inconsequential to
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: the decision-making powers overall. And again, I just think, I
• 9:50
  Speaker 2: really think when every federation and like kind of the entirety,
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: like I said, 40 collegian players on these 10 rosters,
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: so 40 out of two, isn't nothing but more but
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: probably at least half to two-thirds were collegiately prepped went
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: to the NCAA when you are the IHF and all
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: of your international talent that you tout um is being
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: developed in the NCAA for free to you all, to
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: the federations, to the IAHF, to not even consider the
• 10:25
  Speaker 2: NCAA and how this affects not just individual teams or seasons,
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: but really the development of players and how they come
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: through the system and how they may or may not
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: be injured, may or may not get different opportunities, all
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: of the sort of trickle down that comes from what
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: we're talking about. I just think it's kind of really
• 10:41
  Speaker 2: disrespectful and galling that the NCAA doesn't even have a
• 10:45
  Speaker 2: person at the table in these discussions and that You know,
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: decisions were made based on the P-Dub. And I do
• 10:51
  Speaker 2: get that to some extent. But again, I just think
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: the NCAA should have a person in this conversation. And
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: at the moment, they do not. And I think it
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: sucks that, like, nobody seems to care. Jeff is just like,
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: you don't matter, basically. It feels like a little bit
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: of a brush off. And it's, I just think, frustrating overall.
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: I know the coaches are frustrated. I know that players
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: feel like they don't, they can't be frustrated and they
• 11:17
  Speaker 2: don't have a choice. Like they, these are, they want
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: to be collegians. They want to learn here. They want
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: to get chances with their national team. Like what are
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: they going to do or say? But yeah, I just
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: think when you are really relying on the NCAA to
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: create the future of your sport, it's really interesting to
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: then just sort of ignore that, the impact that you
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: are having on the NCAA.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: That has been the biggest complaint I've heard is that,
• 11:42
  Speaker 1: you know, we understand that scheduling is tricky. Things have
• 11:46
  Speaker 1: to move around, but at least loop us in on it.
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: And so we can maybe say, look, maybe it would,
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: could be better if it happened this way for everyone,
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: for the entire ecosystem of women's hockey. Not to say
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: that that would mean anything, but at least let college
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: personnel have some say in the matter is really all
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: they're asking. I think, well, It's all they're asking now.
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: Maybe if they have their say and nothing changes, they'll
• 12:14
  Speaker 1: have a different ask. But they haven't even gotten to that.
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: But right now, I think it's just, yeah, you're ruffling
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: a lot of feathers unnecessarily, it feels like, to just leave. Yeah,
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I feel like I'm saying the same
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: thing over. We all have heard how I feel about this.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: It's just, yeah, I think, you know, the peanut too.
• 12:32
  Speaker 2: I think there is some fault there for them also.
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: I mean, we've talked about how It doesn't make sense
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: when we play in or near a PWHL city that
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: a PWHL game is not tied to the Frozen Four
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: when there's a day off between the semifinals and the finals. Like,
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: I don't think the PWHL does a great job of
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: communicating and being in the loop with the NCAA as well.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: And again, when you're already touting the seniors, like, pre-draft, like,
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: when you're already, like, using those players to help sell
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: your league and get people excited, it's pretty galling then to, like,
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: not pay any attention to the programs and the programs
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: that are developing those players and do things like, you know,
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: last minute calls to media and some of the stuff
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: that we know behind the scenes is happening. And so
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: I think all of that is what goes into some
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: of the coaches being really upset about this, because it's
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: not just IHF and it's not just PWHL. It's sort
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: of all of it all around. And like I said,
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: I think there's just a level of disrespect that's felt
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: in it. And I don't like you said, maybe once
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: they get at the table, they would feel like it
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: would change the tune. But I do feel like the
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: idea of just, you know, asking, inviting people in would
• 13:40
  Speaker 2: go a long way at this point.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: The U.S. is the defending, well, international champion because they
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: won the Olympics last season beating Canada. And do you
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: think we're headed for another U.S.-Canada final?
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: Probably. I mean, you know, they've played in all but
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: one of them. Yeah. I mean, the U.S. is also
• 14:03
  Speaker 2: the reigning world champion. They won the last world championships
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: as well. I did find it interesting. I went and
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: looked every world championships after an Olympics. And a reminder
• 14:12
  Speaker 2: that we didn't used to play world championships in an
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: Olympic year. But every world championship after an Olympics. So,
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: you know, 2019, 2015, 2019, 20... What year did we
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: actually play in? 2022. So, 2022.
• 14:27
  Speaker 1: The U.S.
• 14:27
  Speaker 2: Won every one, basically, of the last few. Like, every
• 14:30
  Speaker 2: year after an Olympics, the U.S. won the World Championships.
• 14:32
  Speaker 2: They've won two of the last three. It's like seven
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: of the last ten. As a general rule, the U.S.
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: has done better at World Championships over Canada, and Canada
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: has done better at the Olympics over the U.S. Canada
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: made a lot of changes. They also have a ton
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: of injuries. I think they are in transition. I think
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: they're very similar injuries. in the start of the quad
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: to where the U.S. was in 2022 when they were bringing,
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: you know, a pretty young group when Layla Edwards and
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: Kirsten Sims and KK Harvey and Abby Murphy were all,
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: you know, sophomores, give or take. Like, it was a
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: young group. So I think, you know, that's where Canada's
• 15:09
  Speaker 2: at now. I think, obviously, their objective is always to win,
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: but I also think that this tournament is in service
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: of future growth and development and plans. And so I
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: think their objectives are not necessarily gold medal and then
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: a big space. I think there's a whole lot in
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: there that if they achieve all those things, they would
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: be far less upset about taking silver. But also everybody's
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: very competitive and they want a gold medal.
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: Let's be clear. I think that's the goal. But I
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: do think that Canada is in service of a lot
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: more things with this tournament. And again, with Poulet injured
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: and Nurse is out. There's just a bunch of players
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: not playing. And then on the U.S. side, it is,
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: you know, 20 of the 26 players from Milan. But,
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: you know, have a couple new players or a couple
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: players making their debut. You've got a couple players getting
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: put back in. You've got Kendall Coyne-Scofield out, who's long been,
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: you know, kind of the heart of the team. But
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: also Hillary had said she might retire and she's back.
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: So I think there's just an interesting... dynamic looking there
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: in terms of like the heart of the team but
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: like also getting Hillary back and I think it'll be
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: interesting I think you know there's a lot of moving
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: parts in this first year of a quad.
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: Yeah so that starts Friday runs through the 16th championship
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: game on the 16th and you can catch a lot
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: of those games on NHL Network and I assume Nicole
• 16:37
  Speaker 1: you'll be following it for Victory Press as well and
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: having some articles there.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll put up previews for both groups on Victory
• 16:46
  Speaker 2: Press this week, and then I'll also try to have
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: some links. There's some online links for finding NHL Network
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: will show US and Canada games. There are two rinks,
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: and each group will be playing simultaneously at the two rinks,
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: so that will be interesting with some of the broadcast.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: TSN says they're going to show every game. I haven't
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: seen a schedule yet when I went and looked for it,
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: but there's a Finnish channel that you can usually watch
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: on a free stream and a few others, so I'll
• 17:08
  Speaker 2: try and have all of that up at Victory Press
• 17:10
  Speaker 2: this for people to see and follow. And, you know,
• 17:14
  Speaker 2: check me out on Blue Sky because I will be home.
• 17:16
  Speaker 2: Most of the games are at 8 or noon Central Time.
• 17:19
  Speaker 2: And I plan to be sitting at 8 a.m.
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: Sorry. Yes. Important distinction there.
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: Okay, let's take a look at what's coming up this
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: week in NCAA women's hockey, a load of a lighter schedule,
• 17:34
  Speaker 1: because this is the weekend in November that had been
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: four nations slash rivalry series slash whatever international weekend for
• 17:43
  Speaker 1: a while now built into the schedule. But there are
• 17:46
  Speaker 1: some really important games, especially looking out at ECAC hockey.
• 17:50
  Speaker 1: I'm looking at Number five, Princeton. And number six, Quinnipiac,
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: taking turns hosting. Number eight, Colgate. And number 14, Cornell.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: That just feels like big, big weekend written all over
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: it for me. I would be interested to see if
• 18:10
  Speaker 1: there is a chance that... Because Princeton, we talked about
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: in our last episode, started six at all. They are
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: continuing to be challenged. And you wonder... and they've been
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: in so many close games, is there one that just
• 18:24
  Speaker 1: does not go their way at some point that they'll
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: just have to say, well, didn't go our way, move
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: on to the next one. And we'll see how well
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: they can do that.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and counterpoint, if they sweep the weekend, I feel
• 18:36
  Speaker 2: like they are leaps and bounds ahead and well on
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: their way to a regular season championship just because of
• 18:44
  Speaker 2: how much those top teams do beat up on each other.
• 18:48
  Speaker 2: You know, we talked early in the season and in previews,
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: how we think, uh, that every point is really going
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: to matter. And again, hockey, uh, ECAC uses points in
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: their standings. So quite literally every tie that is like,
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: anytime you don't get your sort of your full amount
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: of points, it's really, it has an impact and it
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: really hits hard. Um, so I feel like if anyone
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: can come out of this weekend with a full set
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: of points out of those two games or four games, um,
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: I think it will go a really long way. I
• 19:16
  Speaker 2: think we would look back at those games when we
• 19:18
  Speaker 2: come to February and point out where the lines were drawn.
• 19:22
  Speaker 2: So I do think, aside from the undefeated record, I
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: think Princeton has the pressure on them because if they
• 19:30
  Speaker 2: can pull off a full set of a weekend sweep,
• 19:33
  Speaker 2: then I think it puts them in the driver's seat
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: towards the end of the season.
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: Hockey East series to watch for me is... A home
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: and home series Thursday and Friday with UConn and Boston College.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: UConn number 13, Boston College number 15. That Thursday game
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: is at 2 o'clock Eastern start at BC and then
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: Friday 6 o'clock Eastern start in Storrs. We've talked before
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: about how Boston College doesn't exactly do things in a
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: straight line when they're We're talking about growth coming off
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: of two wins last week. It seems like that if
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: there's a time when they're going to.
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: What to believe.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: Find ways to connect things. Here's a great chance for it, right?
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly. And I think also it has not gone
• 20:24
  Speaker 2: as well as Connecticut would have maybe thought or liked
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: when they looked out at the start of their season.
• 20:30
  Speaker 2: I don't think we want to say must win, but
• 20:31
  Speaker 2: I do think these are important games for them to
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: get some points from. So that puts just sort of
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: some extra added pressure on both teams. I think UConn
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: really needs to sort of gain some momentum and right
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: the ship a little bit. Like you said, the one
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: goal against two games in that series, across two games
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: in that series last weekend just isn't you know what
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: they would have wanted and so I think they really
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: need to I think it's a very interesting top of
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: the table in hockey east and it just feels pretty
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: wide open like you know the northeastern has continued to
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: build but has shown that they're beatable and so I
• 21:04
  Speaker 2: just feel like not just the top spot like but
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: one through four it's just going to be a really
• 21:08
  Speaker 2: interesting battle and I think Vermont's in that conversation in
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: BC and Connecticut wants to be in the conversation and
• 21:14
  Speaker 2: so um Vermont is playing Northeastern this weekend as well.
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: So I think that's just two really interesting hockey East. Again,
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: like I think those are games that we might look
• 21:23
  Speaker 2: back on when it comes to the end of the season.
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: This weekend, I think could have a big impact on
• 21:28
  Speaker 2: how the standing shakeout.
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: There's a makings of a good series in new high
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: this weekend to first place assumption while tied for first
• 21:36
  Speaker 1: place assumption. It's 6-0 with 18 points in conference play
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: tied with Franklin Pierce. They go and play Long Island,
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: which is in third place at 4-1-1 and 14 points.
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: Friday and Saturday could shape some of what the race
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: in Nuha looks like. We're going to be looking at
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: Assumption Franklin Pierce as the big series when that happens,
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: but this is one of those kind of interim steps.
• 22:03
  Speaker 2: Great. And I think LIU is a team that has
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: been sort of consistently good since New Haas started and
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: has sort of been in that top tier. And I
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: think just leading from the front thing is kind of
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: new for Assumption. And so I feel like sort of
• 22:15
  Speaker 2: these are the games where they get to learn a
• 22:17
  Speaker 2: little bit what they're made of and prove that they can,
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: you know, sort of race to the front and hold
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: that position all season. So I think that's where it
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: becomes important, not just from the points, but from the
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: sort of the mental grind of leading teams. from the
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: front and not being sort of an underdog or any
• 22:33
  Speaker 2: of the things that they've been in the past. And
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: it's a pretty new program. So all of this is
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: sort of brand new to them and they got to
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: learn as they go. So I think that'll be super interesting.
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: I have no idea what the outcome is going to be,
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: but I think it'll be a fun game to watch.
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: Anything else on the schedule this week that you're keeping
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: on your radar here? It is a much smaller schedule
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: than we're used to.
• 22:58
  Speaker 2: No, it's interesting because it's a small schedule, but there's
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: some really interesting games. And I, you know, I said
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: it in at the beginning of the week episode, but
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: I just think at this point, anything that's happening in
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: Atlantic hockey is interesting because at no point is it
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: clear who's going to win. And so I just think,
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: you know, Lindenwood showed some real length to start the season.
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: So now they've got Syracuse, we've got Mercyhurst, Delaware and
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: RIT and Robert Morris. And I think at any point,
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: any of those games are a toss up. And so
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: that always makes it fun as far as I'm concerned. Yeah.
• 23:31
  Speaker 1: Well, we're so close to the world championship starting that
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: I can kind of hear the I double HF double
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: IHF theme playing in my head over and over again,
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: because that is the experience of every commercial break international
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: international hockey event. Yeah.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: And we'll see the last few eight teens. We didn't
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: have a power break. So that's, they usually have a beard,
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: very loud. And they like any stoppage in play, they
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: go power break. And we didn't have one in Canada.
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: So I was like, I don't, are they gone? We'll see.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: Because that would always.
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: Get stuck in your head. Yeah, it would. That's always
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: good for laugh. And usually there is one song of
• 24:13
  Speaker 2: the tournament that gets played over the stadium speakers. So yeah.
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: It'll be interesting to see what the current song was
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: because up in Nova Scotia, it was Golden from K-Pop
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: Demon Hunters. I can't hear that song without thinking of it.
• 24:26
  Speaker 2: So it'll be just for, you know, as an old,
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: I always like to know what the popular song is
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: going to be. Plus, when it's in Europe, it's always
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: just usually something that we're not super familiar with. So
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: that'll be fun and listening to see if goal songs change,
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: that sort of stuff. Always the little fun stuff that's
• 24:42
  Speaker 2: an aside to Worlds. And, you know, Denmark hosting after
• 24:46
  Speaker 2: being promoted. Like, it's just, there's a lot of cool stuff.
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: I mean, everyone will be focused on U.S.-Canada, but I'm
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: pretty excited to just be able to get up pretty
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: much every day and watch a few hours of international
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: hockey starting at 8 a.m., like, for the sickos.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: There you go. Well, if you're a sicko or just
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: a common fan, we know you'll enjoy it. Check out
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: all the schedule... of this week's games, NCAA games on uscho.com
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: and make sure you check out everything Nicole has up
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: there from last week too. So we hope you have
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: enjoyed this episode of the podcast. Thanks for joining us
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: for Nicole Haase on Todd Molesky. We'll talk to you
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: next week.