Latest / College Hockey Mouth / Episode 10: Christina Stafyleras | Florida Atlantic Hockey and Battle at the Beach Preview

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Episode 10: Christina Stafyleras | Florida Atlantic Hockey and Battle at the Beach Preview · College Hockey Mouth

• speaker-0: Welcome back to the College Hockey Mouth Podcast, College Hockey South series, episode 10. Another one of these big tournament preview episodes, joined by Danny Bohm, Gavin Coker, the original trio. Boys, how was your guys' weekends and what's going on in your world? speaker-1: I'm I I was just starting to get over a cold and the weather started getting colder here, starting to get a little windy, starting to feel like autumn all of a sudden. And one of the things I do every day, 'cause I'm a sicko, is I run outside. And at at the track I I run at it just so happened that as soon as I start to get healthier, the wind starts blowing directly into my face. So now I've got a sore throat. So I you won't be able to see it on video, but I'm sipping this honey lemon tea out of my heart mug. on the episode tonight. Hopefully my throat will be better for battle at the beat. speaker-2: Yeah, and then ⁓ for me, ball break. So a little break from the grind from school. I'm enjoying it. ⁓ I got to put a little bit more time into ⁓ the podcast this week. So I'm pumped. This is gonna be a great episode. I'm really excited about this one. Yeah, just getting right for battle at the beach, super excited for that. speaker-1: He's a little down right now because the lightning have been so terrible to start the year. speaker-2: You know, I had a bright spot though. I won my fantasy league. Thank you to the Blackhawks for winning in overtime and making Lucas Dostel lose three points. So I win my matchup. But that was that was the highlight of my week. The lightning might suck, but it's okay. They've got like a lot more games left. So we're okay. We're okay. speaker-0: As long as you have Andre Vasilevsky, you'll have a season. I'm also doing pretty well in my fantasy league. I guess our fantasy league. Two and ⁓ but I've got a big week again coming up. And I beat Danny last weekend. I've got some bragging rights on both of you with the Red Wings and the Fantasy League. speaker-1: What the the Red Wings. The the Blackhawks are doing are doing well. I I know the Red Wings are, you know, probably the surprise of the season so far and the one rookie what's his name? He's got like a funny last name and he's he's ripping it up right now. You know how I'm talking about speaker-0: But I think you're talking about Emmett Finney. You could pick between like five different Red Wings rookies right now, and a lot of hyphened names. Bransig Negard comes to mind. I'm happy. They got trounced in game one to Montreal. And since then they woke up. It's some feeling I haven't had in a long time. I remember they went on a win streak last year, then went on an insane losing streak. I want to see less of a roller coaster ride from the wings. For now, it's fun, and I'm rocking the cap. With the wing wheel on, just out of support. They're playing Buffalo tonight. speaker-1: You to put the Tigers you had to put the Tigers hat away because the the season's over. speaker-0: Yes, the old English D is retired for now. Let's sign school bowl. We'll get it back rolling when spring starts back up. We're in the thick of the hockey season and we're in the thick of College Hockey Mouth. We have a terrific interview coming up to preview all things battle at the beach with a bit of a different side and a different perspective in the college hockey world. Next, we're going to be joined by a member of the FAU operations team. And we'll bring that interview to you now. This is episode 10 of College Hockey Mouth. speaker-1: Still. speaker-0: We are pleased to be welcomed by a member of the Florida Atlantic Hockey Program. She is the Director of Operations and Communications for both club hockey programs. Please welcome to College Hockey Mouth, Christina Stafaliris. Christina, how are you doing? I'm speaker-3: I'm good. I'm definitely excited for the weekend. I think after last year with some issues that arose, we're definitely trying to plan ahead because as you know, no matter how much you plan, something always goes wrong, whether that's the carbon monoxide alarms going off or there's amboni dying on the ice during a tournament. So definitely planning ahead as much as we can so that way when stuff does happen, we can just deal with it and figure it out. speaker-0: Here comes our buzzword of the pod. You just set the tone for this episode. We were just gonna ask you how you're doing about yourself, but you're already thinking ahead. It's right on cue for how busy you are. But Christina, introduce yourself a little bit to our listeners. speaker-3: So my name is Christina, as Devin mentioned, and I am the director of hockey operations and communications for the FAU Ice Hockey Club. So both teams ⁓ fall under that realm. With that, I oversee all of our game day staff. So our ticketing operation, merchandise, our scorekeepers, penalty box attendants, clock operators, communicating with the refs, coaches from our team, other teams. the different partnerships we have, whether that's our on-campus partners from FAU, our community partners, and kind of just ⁓ overseeing that all of our game days run smoothly, ⁓ and kind of overseeing everything from the back end. speaker-0: You're a person of many hats and you run around and fly different ones at the same time and at different points. But about yourself, you're from New Jersey area, how the heck do you end up all the way down here in South Florida and become involved with this program? speaker-3: So I I'm from Jersey. I grew up there. My parents moved to Florida actually like literally ten days before I was starting at FAU, but I kind of always had an idea that I wanted to go go to school in Florida because I really just did not like New Jersey and like the cold and the weather and everyone's like, ⁓ you don't go to college to go to the beach. But I mean it's right here, so it's just an added bonus. FAU wasn't actually my first choice school. It was not even in the my mind because I didn't even know it existed until I toured USF and I wasn't really a fan of it. The campus wasn't really my style. So then a family friend reached out and said that FAU was in Boca and the beach was right there. I found out they had a great business program. So I was like, okay, I'll check it out. I toured and ended up falling in love with it. So again, FAU wasn't even my first choice initially. And then actually like I had no idea we even had a hockey program. So my first weekend at FAU, they have this event for all of the freshman students, which is required. And I'm sure a lot of people don't go to it. And although it sounds like kind of silly, I always stress to people like go to these events because you never know like what you're gonna find out, whether that's like meeting people or a different organization. So FAU hockey was tabling as they always do. They have the bright red tablecloth with the palm trees that if you ask anyone on the breezeway, they will know because we're usually flagging people down and badgering them to come to our games. But they handed me a schedule card, told me to follow the Instagram and that night they actually posted on social media and Kim Casey, who is our social media marketing manager who I work very closely closely with today, still running the socials at that time. She posted a graphic. They were in need of help. I was like, you know what? I don't know what I'm doing. I hate being bored. So I applied, got an interview the next day. And then within the next couple of weeks we had the start of the season. ⁓ and I absolutely fell in love like with hockey itself. I really had gone to a couple hockey games in Jersey, maybe one devil's game in like my entire time living there. ⁓ and so really FAU and FAU hockey is kind of what brought brought me ⁓ into the hockey community and my love for hockey. speaker-2: And you mentioned growing up in Jersey, so we have to ask, you went to one Devils game. Are you a Devils fan or do you like another NHL team? speaker-3: At this point I would say I have to say I'm a Panthers fan. I at this point in like where I'm at career wise, I kinda wanna work for the Panthers. And being in South Florida, I've been to more Panthers games than Devils games. So I know it's unfortunate to hear, but speaker-2: Cancel cancel the cancel the episode. We're done. I'm a lightning fan. speaker-0: You discovered you discovered and watched your first Panther games in 2023, 24. Is that is that correct? That confirms it. Fans since 23. Jokes aside, congrats, by the way, on the Stanley Cops. It was a a fun spectacle to see down here. You know, event you talked about getting involved with the program, right? At just a tabling event. And somebody that was really instrumental in the program in general was the former director of ops and Kendall Rickert. speaker-3: Yes. speaker-2: Yeah. speaker-0: What kind of impact did she have on you and you evolving into the role you have now with this program? speaker-3: So I'll kind of go into how I started out, like in my role. So I started out as a general game day staff member. I remember I was handed the scorekeeping iPad and I was told, okay, you're gonna be putting in goals, penalties, shots on goal, like SOG goes right here. And I was like, yeah, like I got it. And I kid you not, I went, I walked away, I turned around and I was going to the box where I had to go and I was looking at my phone up in my phone. What is a shot on goal? Like literally had no idea. And so again, I started doing score keeping. I started doing PA. And Kendall at that time when I started was actually the assistant director of hockey ops. So she wasn't really even in charge. She was shadowing our previous director of hockey ops, Carrie, who was again instrumental to the both of us. But as she kind of grew, and then after she became the director, I kind of started to follow her around. I was like, ⁓ like this is cool, like this operation side of it where you're overseeing all these different departments where like in an NHL for an NHL organization. These are all separate departments with completely separate staff and run very differently. But again, because we're on a college hockey scale, like now you have one person who's overseeing it all. So I was kind of in awe of like how she could handle it all. And it was really amazing. So her and I actually became very close friends like through the process. ⁓ and I have to say, like everything like I know and understand how to operate is because I worked alongside her and because of the great job that she did as overseeing the operation. speaker-1: Yeah. So what what when was your first year? speaker-3: ⁓ twenty tw the twenty twenty three seasons. ⁓ I'm trying to remember that was so two seas this is my third season with the team. speaker-1: Okay, so you've been through some of the ups and and downs as far as like the team's success. How was it finally seeing them climb the mountain and win nationals back in March? speaker-3: So actually this is really personal because I did travel to Nationals. I was there most of the week, but I actually was in preparation for my grandmother's funeral because at the time I knew she was at the end of her time here, like on Earth. So I went through the week like knowing that I was gonna have to leave at some point for the funeral. So if they won on Sunday, I left on Friday or Saturday morning. So I I actually wasn't there when they won. But it was really amazing to like be a part of this team and have like the group of guys and the staff and our coaches and everyone. It was such an amazing support because like my grandmother and I were like best friends. She was literally like probably one of the closest people in my life. And like her loss was incredibly hard on me. But having that team and literally I remember them being like, okay, like we're gonna go win this for you. Like the amount of work that they put in and the amount of work I put in and Kendall and Kim and all of our staff, it was really, really beautiful and amazing to see them win. I mean, I didn't I wasn't physically there, but then knowing like Again, it's so much bigger than just hockey itself and like the family and the the team aspect is really amazing. speaker-2: Yeah, and you mentioned they've had a lot of success and you've seen those ups and downs, but how have you seen game days change fan wise over that span? speaker-3: ⁓ so definitely when I first started and when I got in to and started working with the program, I think we definitely started having ⁓ more fans than we had in the past. Like I I've heard stories where they literally were playing in front of 10 fans. And I remember my first season, we had a record attendance number at our last home game of the season of nine hundred and seven people packed into the ice den, which we'll we will be at this weekend for ⁓ Battle at the Beach. That ranked capacity is probably what, three, four hundred, if even that. ⁓ so it was incredible that. I mean, I'd be trying to get into the box and literally shoving and yelling at people to get out of my way because the period's about to start and they're all blocking, which is great. But also again, it kind of makes operation a little bit difficult. But definitely last season we kind of saw a downturn in our fan engagement. There was I think again they lost the national championship the previous year. And then as we started to again gain that momentum with the season we had last year, then we started bringing fans back. And ⁓ again, this season, like we had our home opener, we We're able to drop down the national championship banner, bring out the trophy. We can see now the fan ⁓ engagement and like the interest in the sport is definitely growing. I speaker-0: Guess with how much you've you've been involved with the FAU program now, like surely the favorite memory can be a variety of things, so many successful moments, but what stands out to you a as the best in your mind? speaker-3: I would say nationals, just being right there. Like Kendall and I were right by the bench and and seeing like the and I would say nationals as a whole because like the difference obviously during the regular season and like the grind they have, it's they're very like on they're very much ⁓ they're working for it and they want it. But then again, like nationals, like it's sink or swim. Like there's no other option they have to win. So like again, you see guys who are they're beat up, they're worn down, like some people are injured and whatever the case is, like they want it so bad and like they as a team like really came together. ⁓ and again it for us as staff, like we really become part of that team. And actually one of my favorite memories of that would be Keith Goldberg was one of our ⁓ really inf influential guys on team last year, very big blue guy. ⁓ we he presented Kim McKendall and I with jerseys with our last names on them, like right before nationals. So again, like they really include us as part of the team. So like being there for at nationals and seeing how hard they work makes us want to work even harder. Cause like again, it's college hockey. This is unpaid a lot of times, right? Like it may not seem upfront. what you're getting out of it. But at the end of the day, like the experience and the team of it really just makes it all worth it. speaker-0: You said it best. It's not just you learning how to operate for a real world experience you want to have. You're their biggest supporter, their biggest fan at times, sometimes the only person in the building screaming their name. And we see that in full throw of you know, what do you see about the team this year? It's still a lot of guys that were on that national championship team and ⁓ two, but you also have the ⁓ three squad. So what is your impression of both of those teams and, you know, how they've done so far this season? speaker-3: I would definitely say that there's a very big personality difference in the two teams, right? Like M2 is very much an older group of guys. A lot of them have been on the team for multiple years. Some of them won the national championship, whereas M3, like they're still kind of getting their footing. ⁓ so it's it's cool to see M3 and and their aspect of like they're still all growing because a lot of them are freshmen sophomores, like younger guys, ⁓ who are really getting to see like that this is such an amazing experience that they have. That where the difference with M2 is like, They just won a national championship and like they want to win again. So it's not that their goals are so different, but again, they're kind of on different levels of their, I guess, personalities. I so with the season so far, definitely making the jump to ACHA, ACA, there's definitely a difference in the level of competition, which is blessing and a curse. Like, right? Like we just won. So obviously, like you want to kind of ride that out, but also moving into a league that's more competitive, it's not gonna be so easy to just kind of go and win it again, which I think it's honestly a good thing because again, the more the guys kind of figure out how to play together and come together as a team, the better they'll play. And honestly, like I really see us having a successful season as we progress on. speaker-1: You mentioned some of the the highlights of working in this game day operations position. Now maybe some of the maybe not want to use the term lowlights, but you mentioned it briefly at the beginning of our conversation. There there have been a few ⁓ incidents that have happened in last year's Battle at the Beach and then our most recent time at the Panthers Ice Den. What have been some of the more interesting debacles you've encountered? speaker-3: ⁓ I would have to say those two probably top the rest. Like being at the rink for hours on end and then having to evacuate and stand outside while we see if, you know, the building is filled with carbon monoxide is probably ⁓ right up there with number one. But I think it it's it makes for the fun of it. Like in the moment it's stressful, you're aggravated, you're like, what am I doing this for? And then afterwards you're like, wow, how the hell did I get through it? And you do, and everyone kind of is joined together, even like right, like so if we're FAU's operation, we're working with Lynn, we're working with other schools, I think it really brings everyone together because right now you have this shared experience throughout the league of like up what's gonna happen at the next tournament. And I always tell people, and especially when I'm like interviewing our staff, like you need to be able to adapt because everything is so unpredictable, no matter how much you plan for. If you see the game day assignments I send out every single week, I have everyone in our specific place at a specific time. I know where everyone is and then something goes wrong and you just have to deal with it. But like again, The Zamboni dying on the ice in your last game of a playoff after you've been there for three days on end is really still not ideal, no matter how much you can put a positive spin on it. speaker-1: Yeah, I i if I can follow up guys. Could you dive into the carbon monoxide? Because Devin and I were there for the Zamboni dying and that that was obviously an all time moment, but where ex was it in the middle of a game that the carbon monoxide incident happened? speaker-3: I wanna say was the second period of Tampa and I don't remember who they were playing, but again, it was at the end of the night, and I guess there was a smell, and someone noticed like something was just off. So they're like, Okay, like at first it was like, all right, maybe it's not an issue. And then people started to feel like lightheaded and they were just again, the smell was progressing, and they're like, Well, maybe we should, you know, kind of figure out what's going on before we put everyone in this rink at risk. And you know, we still have another day to play. So then they ended up taking everyone out of the rank. We're Trying to figure out if we're even gonna get back to playing because again, we still have like half a game left. the fire department was there, the ambulances. I remember one of the staff members had like passed out and was like being wheeled out on a stretcher. And we're like, ⁓ great, like just another night of called chalky. And then I think they said it was something with the Zamboni where it was like leaking fumes and it wasn't carbon monoxide. But regardless, like everyone, we were pretty concerned. I just remember like sitting on the curb outside the rink and being like, wow, like this is it. This is the time of my life. speaker-0: Like two other day. speaker-1: Like in game operations, there's nothing you can do to prepare for that. No. It's just like a read and react type of situation. It's no one's fault in actuality. That's just like a a story that I thought was like you nowhere else can you encounter this, right? speaker-3: No. And the thing is, like I remember the day was running like relatively smoothly. Like we had again, we were like, okay, like there's no issues. Everything is going great. And then all of a sudden it was like someone's like, hmm, what's that smell? And the whole thing fell apart. speaker-0: There's a song by the Who probably depicts this kind of scenario perfectly. What's that smell? For this upcoming tournament, God forbid anything like that happens again. What are you most looking forward to helping run the tournament this year from your vantage point? speaker-3: I would say probably the championship games. Cause I feel like at the beginning, right, like everyone's competitive, but then when you get down like to the the real end of it and like for my team at least, and I am gonna brag that we have won the last two years. So like now we have two teams in it. So it's a little bit ⁓ it's a little bit it's gonna be a little bit different, but it's again, it's such a great experience. And I wasn't there the first year that we had battle at the beach. So ⁓ getting to be just involved in the whole thing and kind of seeing the operational side, 'cause again I was helping out a little bit last year, but now being more involved and I think that's what I'm most excited for. speaker-2: I gotta ask, how did Christian Kucia change the dynamic of the ⁓ two team after moving up from ⁓ three last year? speaker-3: ⁓ I think he was already had like really good camaraderie with the guys that were already on the team. So it's I think just helped kind of again more glue. We lost ⁓ some of the guys we had playing last year who won the national championship, they were on the team for ⁓ multiple years. and so again they had a really good, ⁓ solid core that everyone was really pushing for each other. So again, it's a little bit different that we have a lot of new guys, but again, bringing up guys like and ⁓ I think Georgie also moved up last season from D three. So They definitely have been really impactful and again, really building that like ⁓ team first mindset. I mean, overall everyone has been, but bringing up those guys and like that the fact that they already knew the people on the team, I think definitely makes a difference. speaker-1: All right, so you're you're relatively new to the sport, but you've been around the guys closer than than most people would. Have you picked up any hockey terms or phrases that that you like? Any favorites? speaker-3: I have this really bad tendency of calling people buddy and like I know it's like somewhat of an insult, but like my roommates are like, What are you saying? And even like I'll talk to the guys and I'll I'll call ⁓ buddy and they're What are you like, what are you doing? And I'm just like, just ignore me. I'm trying to think of any other ones. I did pick up a nickname, which I wasn't really a fan of at first, but my throughout my whole life, like it's all it's Christina, so it's always like Chrissy or Tina. And I was like, No, just Christina. I never really liked nicknames. ⁓ so one of the guys started calling me Tina last season and it kinda just stuck. So now like when there's new like especially with the new guys, they're like, ⁓ Christina. And then some people are like, What are you talking about? And then they're like, ⁓ Tina. And then it it's so again, like, I would say that's been something where even like ⁓ again, like some of my friends now call me Tina, and I'm like, This is something I never would have imagined because I was always so against nicknames. speaker-0: I gotta ask you this one. What is the boy's addiction to rice crispy treats? speaker-3: Honestly, I don't even know myself because like I will probably there have been times when I've eaten like five a game. And it's like I think it's more of the ⁓ it's not the fact that like they're eating it. It's like rice crispy itself. Like I rem last year I would go to Costco and I would buy boxes and boxes and boxes of rice krispies and they would go through them and like a weekend we probably go through about like 200 rice krispies because like if we had multiple games, right? I think it was kind of just like, ⁓ like hand me a crispy. Like it was it wasn't really the fact that like, yeah, they're good, but at some point, like you could only eat so many. I I really don't know what the the obsession is, but like it kind of started and on even on trips, like some of the the moms would come and they'd be like, ⁓ I bought a r box of rice crispies. And like everyone just kind of knew. But I'd we'd be on the near the bench and they'd be like, Tina, you got a crispy? And I'd like throwing them on the bench, pulling them out of my pockets. I'm like, is this really what I'm here for? Like I'm just throwing snacks at you now, like this is All I do. speaker-1: We've gotta we've gotta follow up with the rice crispies. Is it always just like the original flavor? Do you dip into like any like chocolate ones or speaker-3: Well, sometimes we'll do like cute little things with it as like, you know, team managers. So like last year, ⁓ Kendall bought a box of I don't know if they heart shaped or the minis or the Valentine's ones, and we wrote like Love the Staff on it and we like handed them out to them on the bus. I don't know if you've ever done flavors. Maybe that's something we'll bring into it. But I also don't know if I really wanna mess with things 'cause they're very superstitious. So usually it's just the plain rice crispy treats, just a big box and then I'll be like, Okay, manager tax and I'll take a couple but speaker-2: And you mentioned going to Costco and just buying giant boxes of Rice Krispie Treats, but what's the most abnormal item you've ever bought for the team that they've requested? speaker-3: Okay. So actually I would say, and I don't know if it's abnormal unless you it's not abnormal if you explain it, but again, if I just I have to get a lot of mustard last season, the guys would have like have cramps. And it's very strange, but like mustard is a very quick relief for that. So like I kid you not, before we start before I started buying bottles of mustard, I would literally be like by the bench ripping packets of mustard open and handing them to them and they're taking them, like downing just ⁓ like and they'd be Taking it down, drinking the water, and it's like disgusting. Like I'd have it'd be all over me. It's I'm like, this is just wow. And then we decided that having bottles of mustard would be more effective. So there were games though where we forgot the mustard. I'd be running over if there like a bar or a snack shack or whatever. I'd be literally taking the mustard off the tables and putting it on the bench because they needed to have mustard. So speaker-0: You're saying the secret to winning a national title is rice crispy treats, mustard, and a dream? Yes. speaker-1: Yeah, you might as well save some time and just put the mustard on the rice crispy treat, am I right? speaker-3: Well, see, not all of them not all of them like the mustard. Some of them would rather suffer through the cramps than take the mustard. Which is honestly like it is gross to if you think like if you're just drinking mustard, but speaker-1: We had this conversation of a few. speaker-2: The worst condiment. It's the worst condiment. This was a hot take that we had earlier. And this is I'm glad this is coming back right now. Worst condiment. speaker-3: Yeah, but what's that much worse is when you're standing on the bench and it's all over your hands and your jacket and you smell like it and you can't do anything because they're in the middle of a game. speaker-1: Yeah, that I I I can't even imagine just like being stuck on the bench and and you're just smelling mustard and and like soggy hockey equipment. speaker-3: Yeah. God. Well the mustard at that point is also the least of all of the smells, so That's true. speaker-0: This is like a limp biscuit song rolled into one. For you, I guess I guess you've you've been there, done that with it all. So this was one more we got from from an anonymous source we'll mention. Probably know who we're talking about though. How many cups of coffee do you go through on game day? speaker-3: Well, it depends on the day. So usually I have a a routine. Always on the way to the rink, I stop for Duncan. If we're not winning that weekend, I will change it up so like a couple of weeks ago we weren't doing too well. ⁓ and I got McDonald's coffee on the way. Well, usually and and when we travel, it's worse. One time I bought a forty ounce bottle of cold brew and drank it in one day, plus like a couple other cups of coffee. I think my max was like six because we had a game starting at like nine o'clock. And I we are on the bus all day and I drink a lot of coffee. Like you can ask the guys. It doesn't really matter. I love coffee and I'm very particular during like the week, but on game day, like it does not matter. I will be taking shots of espresso. I will drink the rink coffee. I will drink iced coffee. I'll drink canned coffee. Literally give me a coffee and I'll drink it. speaker-0: We are in South Florida, so you've had I should say we you are in South Florida. So how many times have you had a what do they call it? Those ⁓ those little what do they call the Cuban shots of yes. How many of those have you had? speaker-3: Bonus. I don't know if I can ever say I've actually had one. Yeah. So maybe this is something I need to implement for this week. speaker-0: Really? And I will next time I'm in Miami for my real job is I work with the Miami Heat Marlins on the br television side. So if I go down there and I get some ⁓ some some creamers and some cups, I'll I'll bring some back for you guys and you can try some. They're delicious. speaker-3: Well now now D three has a coffee machine in their locker room, so I'll just tell them, ⁓ I need a coffee and they'll make it for me and it's great. speaker-1: So like for example, the last time I think I texted you was I needed pictures for the game of the week when it was Tampa and FAU. That they played three times that weekend and then also ⁓ D three was playing. So I think it was a a five five game weekend. Yep. What was the caffeine intake for that weekend looking like? speaker-3: Okay, so if like my morning I drink coffee in the morning as well. So like it's not like the first coffee of the day isn't at the game. It's usually like two shots of espresso in the morning, two shots of espresso before the game, or Duncan, like a big cup of Duncan, and then probably like another two shots of espresso at the game. Every game, s or every night. So if like that's three nights, that's a lot of coffee. Your speaker-0: Popped up like the Energizer Bunny, it sounds like on game day. Yeah. You need it though, considering you wear I don't even know how many hats you said, like twenty, as director of ops and communications. So to leave it here, Christina, Battle of the Beach, all of the places you've been, if somebody was thinking about coming to Florida Atlantic and doing what you do, player, new student, never watched hockey before, what would you say to them that's if they're looking for a career in sports? speaker-3: Honestly, I would say like it's so lucrative down here because right, like where FAU hockey is in such a great location. We're right near where the Panthers practice, where they play. And honestly, like I have to say the environment is what is kind of like a make or break for me at least. Like you're gonna be miserable if you're playing if you're ⁓ in other states, right? You're up north, you're playing, you're in cold all the time, you're in the rink cold. Here you you're in the rink all day and you get to walk out and it's nice and warm. Before you're I mean, I don't know about if the guys are doing this before their game, but you can go lay on the beach and tan and then go right into the rink. The lifestyle here is what really makes it because it's like you could still have that hockey community and like that be such an ⁓ intricate part of your life. And then also the lifestyle of like South Florida is and being in Florida in general is just so amazing. And I always say to people, like, especially we'll be on the Breezeway, which is like the ⁓ it's kind of like an outdoor hallway on FAU's campus, but like literally standing out there telling people like you need to come to a hockey game, giving the cards to them, forcing them to take it. ⁓ but I always say, like, you come to one game and you'll want to stay for more. Cause like really the atmosphere that we generate and with the fans, with the staff, the players, everyone who's involved like truly loves it. It's an again, it's not something that's done because it has to be done. Everyone involved is voluntarily giving up their time. And it it really is for a great cause. Like so it to become part of the FAU hockey community is I feel like a seller in itself. And then you got South Florida with the weather and the beaches and ⁓ Paradise essentially. speaker-0: Appreciate all of your insights and more to come. We still got an entire year to play here. So we look forward to seeing you in Coral Springs this weekend. Thanks so much for coming on the pod. speaker-3: Thank you guys for having me. Looking forward to this weekend as well. speaker-0: Thanks so much to Christina Stafaliris for coming on College Hockey Mouth. Guys, what a fun interview. Different. The operations side is something that a lot of people maybe don't think about. Her role wears a ton of hats, like she said. The things about FAU being fueled by odd foods i is really sticking in my mind right now. speaker-1: Yeah, so I I went ahead and ⁓ I I'm ready for the second half of this episode. I went and got a Rice Krispie treat, covered it in mustard, and I I choked that thing down. So I'm ready to go for the second half of this episode. speaker-2: And we saw it on the camera. No one else can see that. And I think I threw up in my mouth watching Danny do that, so speaker-0: Diabolical. Well, aside from my stomach churning hearing that, we're gonna get ready for a big week. The Battle at the Beach is coming. It's part of our preview in this episode, but first we gotta talk about what happened around week seven of College Hockey South. Fun one. We saw the champion versus champion matchup to start things. Tampa traveled over to Missouri to take on the national champs from ACHA Men's Two and Lindenwood. The Lions get the sweep over the Spartans in this one. Tampa made this one very close. They had a one nothing lead in game one. Linden would eventually flex their muscles a bit and Tampa penalties hurt. For sure. speaker-1: think this series would have looked a lot different if Tampa could have kind of maintained their composure a little bit. At this point of the season, it's kind of their game. They take a lot of penalties. They spend a lot of the game on the penalty kill. And I think if they want to reach the heights that they did a year ago, ⁓ in terms of, you know, making a run to the national championship at this level, they're gonna have to look inwards and address that because Lyndonwood was a team that, you know, it it was a A tight game five on five. Lindenwood definitely had the majority of the chances, but Tampa obviously d you know, they were winning the majority of that game. But once they started racking up the penalty minutes, it it was a foregone conclusion. speaker-2: Yeah, and we're seeing it. You know, we talked about College Hockey South playing some of these ACHA teams and this was a matchup we were looking forward to, you know, seeing two different national champions and seeing where the skill lies of Tampa and I mean there's plenty of upside for Tampa. The penalties obviously hurt them really bad and that's that's gonna change a game entirely. So if Tampa can just clean up their game and play a little bit of a cleaner, smarter game, then they have potential to go really far in A C H A. speaker-0: Give a shout out to Ben Cleary for a nice breakaway tuck on Lyndon Wood in game two. They tried to mount a comeback, lost that second one five to three. They were down by as much as five-nothing. It's not like they didn't go down without a fight. I think the conference can say they're proud of Tampa for putting on a solid performance against a really strong Lindenwood team that is gonna be in the national conversation in March. Moving things along, this one could have easily been our game of the week as well. Middle Tennessee. Traveled to their rivals over in Tennessee. Blue Raiders are rolling again, guys. Six to four win in game one. Nine-nothing in game two. They are picking up where we thought they were gonna be after somewhat of a rocky start to the season. speaker-2: I think my favorite thing about MTSU is their social media response after winning the first game. I mean, there was a poll that came out, everyone thought Tennessee was gonna win and they s they screenshotted it, they kept receipts, posted it on their story, you know, and then after winning six four, another post said same state, different standard. I love the social media response after knocking Tennessee off and then sweeping ⁓ too was just I mean, MTSU is rolling and they're they're looking really good. Yeah. speaker-1: I think it's important to note though, Middle Tennessee beat the ⁓ two Tennessee team in game one and then it was the ⁓ three team in game two. But nonetheless, it they have a ton of momentum right now. They lost the first two games of the season to UNC Wilmington and haven't lost since. And they scored a lot of goals in the process and against a Tennessee team that was super, super impressive at a higher division last year. And they, you know, they took care of business. speaker-0: Business. An M2 Tennessee team that beat Tampa just a week ago. Very impressive. Keenan Roses had a hat trick in game two, followed with the Grant Williams 28 save shutout over M3 volunteers. Really strong performance from the what was last year? The M2 champions for College Hockey South. Bit of an upset this weekend, guys. Miami, the Hurricanes, traveled to Clearwater Ice Arena to take on Tampa M3. And the Hurricanes get the upset win seven to four in game one. Lots of goals in quick succession. Ellian is still in with the hat trick in that one and a highlight reel dangle. Tampa gets the split on night two. What's your reaction to this? What we think is a really big win for Miami, considering Tampa's looked speaker-1: Great. Well, you you look at Miami and the last year and I guess the month now, kinda a little bit of a letdown. You you think about two seasons ago, what this Miami team did in a national championship year at AAU where they steamrolled everybody and they moved up divisions and you thought they could really challenge and maybe even contend at that level and they've they've really sputtered, lost in the first round of conference playoffs and in the beginning of this year. Haven't really found the results, but This is something that could be a turning point in the season. Tampa was undefeated before ⁓ this point. And, you know, their program, my goodness, at every single level seems to have teams that just will always contend and be the front runners. So let's see how Miami handles this. They lost the second game, but getting a split is is huge here. speaker-2: And I mentioned it earlier this year. Miami's one of those teams where they can have an off night and then they can turn it on and be a really good team. And and we saw that in game one with that seven four win. And it's really backed by a stool in who is kind of the the key point for that team. If he can get going and they can feed him the puck and he can get scoring goals and start to fill the game out really well, then that Miami team is on a whole nother level. And it's just it's really about getting a stool in going. Yeah. speaker-0: They've got some solid leadership, right, along with Max Mensimer. It's gonna be important for them to get some momentum off of this, Gavin. They play kind of like an NHL team that you like a whole lot to start the year. Interesting record there, two, three, and two. Proud of the Miami guys though, going into what's a tough place for most teams to play and getting a a key win in game one. speaker-2: I'm even prouder that they didn't flood the arena, you know? They went to Clearwater Ice Arena and they didn't break a strankler. So so far we're still clear. It only happened once and I'm still waiting for it to happen again, but the hurricanes did not did not make that happen. So speaker-0: Florida Tech took on USF N A C D C matchup. Guys, this is the I guess you can call it surprise team. Florida Tech has not had a whole lot of success in their previous history, but this year they are on a heater. I think they're five and one to start the year, guys, and they get a clutch win over South Florida. What is going on with this this group out in ⁓ Melbourne? speaker-2: Yeah, they're they're an exciting team to watch. I'm definitely really excited because now all this is building into battle at the beach. And so I'm really excited to see them compete this weekend. And there's just there's been a lot of goal scoring. I mean, we have it here on the sheet, five five or more goals in all but one game, averaging six point one four, if you want to if for the math nerd, six point one four goals a game is the average for them. But Braden Curry has taken over star of the week twice. And he's just he's lighting it up for them and that's that's propelled them. I'm not saying he's the only reason there's a lot of great players on that team scoring goals, but he's constantly lighting up the score speaker-1: As yeah, as Gavin mentioned, there's a lot of contributors on the team that have been there for a while now with Steven Rossi and ⁓ Derek Morgia, but Brayden Curry's been the the talk of the early part of the season and it's straight up, you know, mid eighties Edmonton Oilers hockey. You're talking about six goals a game and oftentimes they're not really shutting teams down on the other side. It's fun to watch, mix in some penalty minutes there too. But yeah, Florida Tech will be a a team to watch going into this weekend and you you won't have to You won't be short on actions for whoever's calling that game. speaker-0: The Panthers are rolling, guys. Five and two, I'll correct myself from earlier. On social media they had an interesting post though. Last weekend they had this countdown started with a player, his visor reflecting what looked like a rocket ship going up into the air. Could this be alluding to something we see at the battle at the beach? Well speaker-1: Well, as you said, that it could be something at Battle the Beach, maybe new uniforms. Space themed. Florida Tech, they play at the what is it called? The Space Coast Ice Plaque? speaker-2: seen ⁓ we've seen a NHL team do that this year. Kings came out, opener surprised everybody in new jerseys. We got a warning for this one. So all eyes will be on Ball at the beach. Do Florida Tech, pull out new jerseys. If so, that's gonna be exciting. I'm gonna be pumped. I I can't wait to see what they come up with. And like Devin mentioned, that post is insane. Like whoever whoever made that props to you, that was amazing. speaker-0: You know what, you can say this on my record. Honestly, they they're a little overdue for new s new tarps. We're not gonna say that's what it is. You'll have to watch on College Hockey South YouTube or attend live in Coral Springs to find out what the big reveal is for Florida Tech, but rolling in their start to the season. Some other ACDC teams we saw with Florida, who is improving to a perfect five-no record in conference play over the Lions, six-nothing shutout in game one, seven to two victory. in game two. This is still the same cast of Florida guys that went to the college hockey south final at ⁓ three last season and they come back to Coral Springs with a with a game plan and a and a good start. speaker-1: Yep. Yep. They they're they're feasting on conference opponents so far and that's what they'll they'll be facing in ⁓ their first round game against Florida State. We'll talk about that in a little bit here. And with a little side note, but yeah, good stuff from Florida this weekend. speaker-2: We mentioned Florida and Florida Tech really battling it out. And there there's an opportunity we see them in the championship game at Battle at the Beach, which would be a huge matchup this weekend. Two of the top teams, and we always mention it setting the tone for the rest of the season. I'm the one who normally says it. I'm gonna say it there. I think whoever wins that game later down the year, when we get into the playoffs at the end of the season, we'll see those two teams battle again for for potentially the championship. speaker-0: The rest of our game recap, South Carolina took on Clemson. This was an M2 Gamecock team that took on the Tigers. Pretty profound rivalry. It's always chippy. We previewed it like it was gonna be that. It was that kind of game. They'll play later this year. Seven nothing win, though, for South Carolina. Danny, Gamecock, and you're right. Not a college hockey South team anymore. What was your reaction to what was a su all South Carolina game? speaker-1: I don't think anything about the score was necessarily surprising and I guess the second part isn't so surprising, but what stood out to me was just the intensity and ⁓ the rivalry. We saw some I wanna s ⁓ I don't wanna say fisticuffs, but some rough stuff and the crowd at at the Irmo, Ice Flex ⁓ gets fired up there and definitely adds to that atmosphere. You know, you don't wanna encourage it necessarily. You know, I think look, ⁓ sports are are built on rivalries and this kind of stuff always It's exciting. speaker-0: It continues a trend that we've seen, South Carolina winning in this series. Both sides had players thrown out of this one. And when they play later this year, Clemson's also going to take on that M3 team, and that's going to be the one that really matters for their ranking. I wonder if Clemson uses this as some sort of motivation going the rest of the way. Our only women's game to talk about was Auburn versus Tennessee. Tigers bounce back in a big way. Series sweep of the Volunteers with five different goal scores in game one. speaker-2: Yeah, and we'll get into it in a little bit with the three stars of the week, but Avery Zong had a natty hatty ⁓ to open the game, by the way. Just three straight goals, rattled them off in the first period. And she only played one game in the series, but she put up five goals and two assists, which is just absolutely insane. And Auburn also lost Cassidy Cross over the weekend too. I don't know if you guys saw that, but she's out for a little bit. So Auburn is good. gonna have to have someone step it up and Avery Zong did that in the second game of the series. speaker-0: Kevin, you said it. Three stars of the week. First one went to David McDonald from Eastern Kentucky, the Colonels. Seven goals, three assists, ten points over the weekend. Second star was Braden Curry from Florida Tech. Mentioned them rolling. Big part of that group. Five goals, three assists in their weekend with USF. And our third star, you just mentioned Avery Zong. Five goals, two assists, and seven points in game two in their eight to one win over Tennessee. speaker-1: Well i if if if the first weeks have ⁓ set the tone, you can't just be a a point per game player and expect to get a star of the week in in CHS. You gotta put up some serious numbers. I know David McDonald had an eight point game, Avery Jong with with seven points in one game, five goals. Are you kidding me? And Braden Curry's putting up, you know, Gretzky numbers. I hate to throw that name around so so easily, but Look, you either have to be a middle Tennessee state blue raider or you gotta put off insane numbers to get a three star. speaker-0: Was about to say what I love about this three-star list is it's a different one that we've seen. It's every week it's felt like we've had a middle Tennessee, a Tampa women's player, South Florida, not to be mistaken with Florida Southern, who have also had some some involvement there. But this one is three teams that we really haven't seen yet. So hats off to all of those players. Now, guys, it's time for us to do our little preview of Battle at the Beach, the second of our tournament series for the conference. This one happening from the Panthers Ice Den Saturday and Sunday, Coral Springs, Florida. It's also where we'll host the conference tournament early part of 2026. But our game of the week is at 7.45 Eastern Time on Saturday. It's Florida ACDC taking on Florida State ACDC. And guys, debut appearances for both teams. I think with what we just talked about, Florida rolling, Florida State, one of the best programs around College Hockey South. A lot to love here. speaker-1: year. Definitely. And what we see this year for the first time in the ⁓ three year history of this tournament are two different divisions. And with the mixing of it could be confusing, not necessarily all division two teams in the same bracket or so there's a little bit of mixing. So the top bracket referred to as the battle division and the other bracket referred to as the beach division. And in the semifinal of the beach division we see Florida and Florida State, the Chop versus the Chomp I don't know if that works as as the name of the rivalry. I'm not a fan of either teams. But it'll be interesting for sure. Florida returns to the scene of ⁓ what was, you know, a heck of a run. ⁓ you know, we saw it firsthand, Devon, ⁓ to the conference championship game. They fell short South Carolina. But you know, they've done really well against AC D C opponents and this this one this one stands out. You know, this is the opponent, right? This is their arch rival. speaker-2: Yeah, and we got to talk to Ryan Chombre earlier this year and he's excited about what Florida State brings and he's excited about this matchup. He's excited to see what they have. And this is a great opportunity for them at Battle of the Beach to put the AC D C on notice. I mean, their season they just had their home opener, if I'm not mistaken, a week or two ago. So they're ready for Battle at the Beach. They're excited for this matchup. I mean, everyone loves a good Florida, Florida State matchup. speaker-0: Like a preview of when they're gonna play again in two weeks' time out in Jacksonville, Battle of the Jacks. Like Florida State's a veteran program, but Florida now has a bit of playoff experience. Like this really could go either way, it feels like. And Florida, like you mentioned, Danny, has a returning cast of guys that were big for them. Hugh Leahy, the hero in last year's conference semi final game, and they're upset over Florida Atlantic returns. Ryan Chombra, you mentioned for Florida State. Expect fireworks and we'll be Live for it all weekend. You can catch that and other games on the College Hockey South YouTube channel. For the first time, boys, we're all gonna be in the same area together. I'm excited to finally see you guys in person again. It's been a while. speaker-2: I'm excited to ⁓ for you to show us the town, you know? Maybe show us some of the spots. I feel like you got the connections down there, so you know, we always talk about what we're supposed to do, but now you're leading the way, so speaker-0: Well, over there Pantherland, right, near the sunrise, the only thing I could think of that would be fun is there's like a giant mall out there and ⁓ I think it's like the the largest in the South Florida area. But they have like I guess like the Panthers exhibit, they have this like giant rat statue that's kind of wild and like a bunch of other things to do. We're gonna be locked in though, like Christina. I mean, this is a this is an all hands on deck operation. But for our college hockey South game of the week, all lies will be Coral Springs for Florida and Florida State. But also going on some pretty interesting matchups around the rest of it. You've got in the battle division side the back-to-back champions, Florida Atlantic, M2, taking on an M3 Embury Riddle team that has won a couple in a row, guys. So could we be looking at a sneaky competitive game here? speaker-1: Sneaky competitive, sneaky competitive, led by, of course, our most recent podcast guest, ⁓ before Christina, Bob Joyce. But shout out to Coach Joyce. That was an awesome time. Yeah. ⁓ when a team is is confident and believes in themselves, that's when they're most dangerous. And Embry Riddle's coming off some wins. Definitely still the underdog. I think most would would agree with that sentiment. ⁓ coming into ⁓ a game with FAU who national champions, they're back to back champions of this tournament. But we'll see. speaker-2: Yeah, I'm excited. This will be a good physical matchup. I know Emory Riddle plays a a lot of physical hockey, reminiscence of that ⁓ 88 Bruins team that y'all ⁓ talked about last week. We keep we keep getting clips from Danny during the week. He was just so pumped about that interview, just keep sending us 88 Bruins clips. But yeah, I mean it'll be good and FAU is going to bring it. I mean, Rocco Bruno talked about it earlier this year. He's got that hunger. I mean, yeah, I know he wants to take another picture with the trophy, another little Kobe pose maybe, or maybe we'll see something different. Some Jalen Hurts. I know he's a big Eagles fan, so maybe maybe s photos reminiscent of that. speaker-0: FAU's coming off probably the most adversity they've faced for that ⁓ two group in a long time, right? You get three games swept by your rivals in Tampa. It's gonna leave a bad taste in their mouth, and they want to punch back. So this is their their opportunity seven thirty PM Eastern time. Both games will be going on simultaneously. You mentioned the YouTube channel, so you can flip back and forth to see what's going on on those ones. Gavin, you'll have the call in this one, I believe. So enjoy that. Tampa and Lynn, two ⁓ three teams. We'll duke it on the battle division side. This is actually the first game of the day, I believe. Forty five PM Eastern on Saturday. Tampa won the last series over Lynn. They are favored. So Lynn, this is kind of their backyard too, guys. I would expect them to put up a fight in this one. ⁓ speaker-1: I would expect a very physical matchup. All teams really in this tournament have a reputation of ⁓ not laying down to ⁓ to a physical game and they don't back down. So I would expect ⁓ a lot of physical intensity throughout. But this Tampa team, the division three well and and their division two team does as well, but we're talking about division three. This team really is intense with their physicality and you know, necessarily after the whistles as well. They're they're pretty active after the whistles and, you know, with the chirping and all. I would expect this one to be very heated. So look at look out for that in this game. speaker-2: And Danny mentioned the chirping. I got to see it firsthand earlier this year when Tampa went to Florida Southern. They get active after whistles and they draw penalties. They'll get under your skin and they do that for a full 60 minutes. So Lyn's opportunity is gonna come from staying cool, not getting too hot, not ending up in the box. I mean, you get a couple of 10-minute game misconducts, a couple key players thrown out, and Tampa, Tampa thrives on that. They're deep. They remind me of the Panthers. They get under your skin and they get scrappy goals and they and they battle hard. Full sixty minutes. So Lynn's gotta stay clean. They've gotta play a really clean, smart game if they're gonna even have a chance against Tampa in this one. speaker-0: Final game to talk about on Saturday. Florida Atlantic M3 will make their debut with Florida Tech, one of the hottest teams in the conference, five PM Eastern on Saturday in the beach division. Now FAU, they themselves are trying to find their identity, and Florida Tech looks like they have it. What can we expect, I guess, from a different look Florida Atlantic team that has some new guys in their roster? speaker-2: I think this one is gonna be high scoring. I mean, Florida Tech has we've seen those games between the two. So I think there's a lot of potential for FAU to put up a lot of goals in this one. And we might see a barn burner, maybe overtime, maybe even a shootout. We saw it at Columbus Classic. I'd love another shootout at Battle at the Beach. But it's really gonna come down to FAU being able to put goals in the back of the net. They struggled in some games earlier this year to do that, and that's led to some losses. So they've got to get their offense going early and honestly put the first goal in the back of the net and just get that momentum rolling. speaker-1: What can we expect from this, Devin? We can expect a relatively like high scoring football score. That's what we can expect. Last shot may win in this game, and both teams have scored a lot of goals this year. When FAU is ⁓ stepped up and ⁓ maybe face some higher level of competition, they've struggled to score, but still a lot of offensive talent and haven't done a great job of keeping the puck out of their net. Quarter tech to a lesser degree has has struggled with the same things, but they score a ton. So I think we're gonna see, you know, one of those games where it, you know, maybe it's a high scoring baseball score. You know, football might be a little bit, you know, maybe an exaggeration. But yeah, we w wouldn't be surprised if one or both teams hit double digits. speaker-0: Know if we mentioned this stat earlier, but I read something crazy that Florida Tech has scored five or more goals in all but one of their contests this year so far through seven games. Definitely could be like the 10 to seven realm game. No disrespect to either side goaltending. That's just what it could come down to. But knowing that we're announcing these could be some broadcasters' jinx. We're gonna find out on Saturday with all these games. That all leads us. Based on the results of day one, day two, we start the day off with the beach division. The third place game will kick things off. So the loser of game two and game four will play at ten a.m. And the championship with the winners half an hour later at ten thirty. Battle division third place game will take place roughly two and some change hours later, twelve forty-five p.m. Eastern for the third place game and one fifteen p.m. for the championship. So to cap it all off, what do you Both of you most excited for making the trip down here to South Florida? speaker-2: It'll be my first time at the Panthers Istan and to get to experience that. So I'm excited to be down there for the environment. I've been following college hockey south, but I think the furthest I've gone is honestly ⁓ Lakeland. So it'll be exciting to get to down to South Florida and just experience Battle at the Beach and everything it has to offer. speaker-1: I'm excited for functioning Zambonis. How about that? We didn't ⁓ I that's one regret I had. We didn't dive into that. We got we got some really good stories out of Christina, but we didn't dive into the Zamboni. We've kinda gotten into it at length on the podcast already. But ⁓ yeah, that was our l our ⁓ last trip there. But ⁓ you know, these are some exciting matchups we have here and you know, the tournament format always brings out the best in in terms of competition. It's great, you know, a bunch of teams. from the same state descend on the same arena. So it'll breed a lot of competition and this will be fun games for sure. speaker-0: The Zamboni you're alluding to broke on the stadium side, which is where the championship games will be. Great. Panthers Ice Den's gotta get their reputation back up. They're on the hot seat right now. We'll find out if they live up to that standard out in Coral Springs. Be sure to get your tickets online at collegehockeysout.com. You can also pay at the door when you visit us there. So around the conference for week number eight, Middle Tennessee will travel to Alabama. For an ⁓ three showdown at the Pelham Civic Center guys. Second series between these two teams, Middle Tennessee got the sweep earlier this year, back in September at home. Alabama needs a resurgence, but they were close games, the first series. speaker-1: Yeah, definitely. Middle Tennessee's rolling, really feeling themselves on social media and on the ice. I wouldn't be surprised if they if they have some some snappy, smart alecky post ready about Sweet Home Alabama or Dixie Dixie Land Delight, something to that of respect. But these are these are important games, conference games. Let's see what happens. speaker-2: Yeah, and I think the Bama home crowd might be what kinda changes the tide in this one. If those fans come ready, you know, MT MTSU is a good team on on the ice and they don't really care about where they play. They're ready to win games and they're ready to get rolling and continue that win streak. speaker-0: Certainly. We finally get the ⁓ two matchup with Florida and Tampa as well at Clearwater Ice Arena. The Gators are two and two with ⁓ two teams so far, and Tampa coming off, getting swept by Lindenwood, needs a bounce back. Feel like s little bit of smoke in the water. This is a door opening for Florida, no? speaker-1: Certainly. These are opportunities for both teams, especially in the in the conference scheme when you don't have as many opponents to f to face. You know, you gotta jump on ⁓ and really be ⁓ opportunistic with the ones that you do have. But for for Tampa, you know, you wanna snap back in a gear as quickly as possible. It wasn't I'm sure they they wanted to win both games or at the very least get a split, end up dropping both, and that's that's a team that doesn't lose back to back games very often and now You know, coming off the Tennessee series as well, that's three out of four. And that's not a familiar feeling to them. So they wanna get back to winning and ⁓ they've got a Florida team coming to town that is ⁓ looking to pull off an upset. Yeah and speaker-2: You mentioned Florida two and two splitting both of their series against ⁓ two teams this year. And they beat Florida Atlantic and we saw Tampa sweep them. So, you know, if that's an indicator of what we might see, this could be another split for Florida. That's best case scenario, honestly, for Florida. I mean, obviously they could go in, sweep the series, and that and for me, Tampa's so complete and this game is gonna mean more to Tampa because this does affect playoffs. with it being an end division game. But it means the same thing for Florida. And Florida would love to be the team to go and sweep Tampa and pull off a big upset. speaker-0: We've talked extensively before about long term. Who is up for the regional later in ⁓ two. Do they get there for Florida, especially? Good opportunity for Tampa. They've got to get back on track and establish their dominance in what's been so far looked like their year with some very, very high caliber wins. All happens in Clearwater Ice Arena this coming weekend. USF and Clemson ⁓ three. Sneaky good series as well. Clemson is two and two against M3 teams, Gavin. And I mean, for the Bulls, they were our game of the week against Florida Golf Coast, Grant Dietz. We've talked about him I I think every single week. And I'm sorry to both the USF people and other listeners because they have a lot of other guys on that team. What do you think about the possibility of Clemson bouncing back? speaker-2: You know, it's gonna be a tough one. USF has a lot of momentum in this season already. And you mentioned it, Grant Dietz, but also Jacob Duhaim's leading at this point from what I've seen when I've been looking at score sheets, he's leading CHS ⁓ three and points on the month. So it's gonna be stopping those two guys and bouncing back from that loss to ⁓ two South Carolina. I mean, that's a good ⁓ two team, so maybe there's a lot of Things that they learned in that game that will translate into this series and give Clemson an a speaker-1: Important ⁓ context to add here, Clemson was eliminated in the semifinal of the Division II playoffs by South Florida in what was what I would consider an upset. That Clemson team was very, very good and because of ⁓ a suspension they were s they were serving for the fall semester last year, they didn't meet the minimum game requirement move on to nationals. So conference playoffs were their nationals. And to lose in upset fashion ⁓ to USF in the semifinal really left a bad taste in their mouth. We saw them leaving the rank that day and they were super emotional. And ⁓ an interesting note about that game, penalty minutes, sixty-five for Clemson and six for South Florida. You're not gonna win many games with that kind of penalty minute differential. And especially with how USF has been snapping around offensively to start the year. Clemson's gonna have to play clean, they're gonna have to play motivated and keep that spite and determination from a year ago because USF is flying to start the year. speaker-0: Looking at our two women's games on the slate to preview Georgia Southern travels to Clemson. We just talked about the M3 side. Clemson is three and ⁓ right now, heading to the series. Georgia Southern, though, starting their tenure, starting their season. First impressions we could see out of that Georgia Southern group. I mean, Clemson's a very we've seen it a lot. I mean, they put up what was it, like thirteen goals to Kennesaw State, something crazy. speaker-1: It's been a ton of goals. They're they're probably the enigma of the women's division to start the year. This is their first season. Didn't know what kind of team they would be able to field, but they've put up some eyebrow raising scores and have made the other teams in the conference take notice. So maybe Georgia Southern has the opportunity to do the exact same. They're kicking off their season here against Columpsum. speaker-2: Yeah, and we've said it. Clemson is you know what they're deserving of it. They're a wagon. They're they're rolling three and ⁓ putting up big numbers. And I don't know if GSU is gonna this is not the game you want on your schedule if you're GSU. But then maybe it is. Maybe they have it circled. Maybe this is bulletin board material. Maybe we're providing it. I don't know. But you know, if I'm GSU, this is a tough game to go into with Clemson having put up the goals that they have. But maybe Clemson gets a little complacent and takes it slow or which I doubt. But GSU has a chance to get their season started on the right note and also put the rest of the women's division on nose by knocking off Clemson, which I know a lot of teams are looking forward to playing Clemson this year. speaker-0: Georgia Southern versus Clemson. If you would ask me what I think this matchup is, like you know how in football Clemson, the power five football teams, power four now would play like some smaller schools. I feel like we'd see this. We could end up with a football score. I don't know which side. I'm not putting a hit on either team, but I'm just saying the women's every single week it's been like ten nothing, eleven to two. Somebody gets a safety and a field goal scores. It it's it's it's off the charts right now in that women's division. Georgia and Auburn will play. Interesting. I want to know your opinion on this, Gavin. Georgia lost to them five to two in the Columbus Classics, so they're looking for some revenge here. Isn't this one of the oldest rivalries as well in the South? speaker-1: Deep South so oldest rivalry. Yeah. speaker-2: Game mentioned it, oldest rivalry, but this game obviously had Cassidy Cross in it at Columbus Classic, and I mentioned that an injury taking her out for Auburn. So Georgia has a chance to come out and flip the script, get revenge for that loss at the Columbus Classic. They they've got they've got the team to do it. And this one will be exciting. I expect this one to be dynamic and honestly probably a high scoring game between the two teams. speaker-1: Yes, yes. As we previous previously mentioned, it's a very high scoring division and you know, with the the north part of the women's division is extremely crowded now with ⁓ the amount of teams that have been added and ⁓ you know the the playoff spots are gonna be limited and these are the teams that are both on the bubble. So these games are gonna be incredibly important. Even though it's gonna be it's late October and the playoffs are in February, you might not have the same urgency, but These are going to be huge ⁓ huge points to come by. And one thing I I want to add here, Devin. University of Florida women's hockey playing their their first games this weekend. ⁓ they're playing against Tampa and USF. So shout out to ⁓ University of Florida women's hockey. ⁓ well first first CHS games. They played some exhibitions last year. ⁓ had some some really competitive exhibitions for you know the limited amount of skaters they had. So let's see what happened. speaker-2: I will say something interesting about that is UF is playing them both on the same day, a morning game, and then they are playing a night game. So that's that's a loaded loaded schedule for that team. I think it'll be interesting. I mean, we saw a double header and I'm pretty sure it was Clemson's first series, played it two hours apart, but work out well for Clemson. But this one's a little bit more spread out, about six hours, so some rest time, but still speaker-1: It did speaker-2: I mean two games in one day, it's exhausting. speaker-0: That's what you call a ⁓ a a baseball doubleheader, like gosh, to to honestly for them, like start your college hockey south season. It's a little we'll call it late. Good luck to them. Hope the best for that group and for all of our teams this week. Busy stuff. It's gonna be a a a great week eight in the conference. Also wanna give a note before we get ready to sign off the episode. If you have your score sheets in, please, for the love of God, send them to the ACHA website. Put ⁓ in. It's not a perfect system. It's not game shit anymore, guys. ⁓ my God. We've had so many discussions about this off air. How do we get more teams results in the Acha website? ⁓ speaker-1: I don't know. I I've said my piece already, you know, we're we're like two months into the season. You kinda just like it is what it is. You know, that phrase gets overused, but look, it it is what it is and we have to adjust now, right? Like this is this is how we do things now. So it's gonna be really important, you know, a as far as you've explained it, Devin, for teams to do this because i if you be laxadaisical and don't submit these things, it kinda just looks like you're not playing games. speaker-0: Considering it's a new league and teams might want to go to nationals, might want to compete for them, make it happen. All kidding aside too, if you need help, be sure to reach out to anyone at the league offices, acahockey.org. And if you're new to figuring out where all these standings come from, that's where at some point you're gonna be able to find out all of the metrics and facts about every single team. We try to do our best on the pod. I don't know, I I just not dedicated enough to have my own Excel spreadsheet of all. conference teams, men's to women's. Well we'll figure it out. I th I I believe in the conference. I believe in these teams. speaker-2: Yeah. I I would appreciate them doing it. I mean, I I love learning Excel day but week by week as I've been scrolling through all the score sheets. I haven't even finished what last week. I I've been scrolling through trying this that way when we go to do ⁓ players of the month, it's not scrolling f through fifty score sheets like it was last ⁓ last month. That was ⁓ beast. But we learned from that. So we've got an Excel spreadsheet now. speaker-1: Gavin, you can't you can't divulge our our secrets here. Our secret sauce, you know? We're a we're a very high level organization that that has many people that it that crunch numbers. We we aren't doing last second stuff, man. speaker-2: No, never. Prior planning permits peak performance, you know? That's my that's one of my motto. speaker-0: I don't think it's something to be ashamed of. All the interns worked their rear ends off. Club hockey is college hockey. This is just par for the course. This is how it is, guys. But you're in the throes of it. Christina was in the throes of it. We're going to be in the throes of it this weekend out in Coral Springs. Bell at the beach is happening. We're going to get a party going. We're going to get people traveling down. Show up. Say hi to us. And be sure to watch on College Hockey South YouTube channel. And of course, good luck to all of the teams out there with your games. Also, don't be afraid to send us content. Send your stuff in. Tag the conference social media. We shouted out Kelly last week. They've been working overtime. I feel like I see five new posts every single day of the weekend from Thursday till Sunday. We look forward to seeing all of you, seeing your content. Weekend coming up, Battle at the Beach in Coral Springs, Florida. This has been episode ten of the College Hockey Mouth Podcast for Danny Boem, Gavin Coker. I'm Devin Sarup. Thanks for listening to another episode. We'll talk to you again soon.