Latest / The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey / National team camp impacts No. 1 vs. No. 2 and other Week 4 matchups

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National team camp impacts No. 1 vs. No. 2 and other Week 4 matchups · The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey

• 0:04
  Speaker 1: Hi again, everyone. Todd Boleski and Nicole Haase here welcoming
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: you to the podcast for our second edition of the weekend. Nicole,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: this week is a big one in women's college hockey
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: because we've got another matchup of number one against number two.
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: Of course, that's Wisconsin and Ohio State because... they're really
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: the only two teams that have been number one and
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: number two in the last three years. That is the
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: big series on the schedule happening in Columbus Friday and Saturday,
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: but there's going to be some players who are not
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: going to be available for that.
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: For each team.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: It stems back to the change of the World Championship
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: going from April to November, and that now has led
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: Canada to have a training camp in October this week,
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: happening this week in Quebec. They invited 48 players to
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: that camp, which seems like a big number when you're
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: going to have, what, 25.
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: In the team? I guess I'm just interested in your
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: thoughts on that. Yeah, it's basically double. Yeah.
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: Oh, I mean, I think it's excessive, and... I just
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: don't even know where to start. Here's the thing. The
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: change made sense for the Pro League to move the
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: World Championships ahead so the PWHL does not have to
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: take a World Championship break. The thing is, as we
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: talked about with Ryan Adelsky in our interview... there are
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: not fully developed players ready to star in and feature
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: in your league without the NCAA and period end of story.
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: Like there's just, there's just not like what it, I
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: don't remember the exact number, but the percentage of players
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: that are going in, what in this last draft that
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: were NCAA developed players is, you know, above 90. And
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: so at this point, Ignoring or not taking the NCAA
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: into account is kind of insulting, honestly, I feel. And
• 2:18
  Speaker 3: as Brian Adelsky said, the NCAA or colleges or however
• 2:22
  Speaker 3: you want to word it, they don't have a seat
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: at the table when these discussions are happening. When you're
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: talking about sort of like global decisions made about the
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: women's hockey calendar and about the game at large, the
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: NCAA just isn't a part of the discussion. And it feels...
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: I just find it really frustrating to... I could tie
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: this to like the calendar, the PWHL calendar came out
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: or schedule came out. They are playing four games on
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: NCAA Frozen Four Sunday, which was the championship game. Now
• 2:55
  Speaker 3: is the semifinal game. And they're playing a game during
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: the national championship game as well. And that has happened
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: every year. We've played in cities that host, that have
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: a PWHL team. there's a day between the semifinals and finals.
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: And yet, like when we were in Minneapolis, there should
• 3:11
  Speaker 3: have been a frost game. There should have been more
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: tie in there.
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: Yes.
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: And, and there wasn't when we have been out East,
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: there could have been a fleet tie in very easily.
• 3:20
  Speaker 3: We were, we all flew into Boston to get to
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: where we were going. Uh, you know, this next year
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: in Connecticut, we will all fly into New York city
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: to get to sacred heart. Um, So there's just like
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: this huge missed opportunity, I think, but also just a
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: real lack of care or concern. It's really frustrating to
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: me because I just watched the PWHL tout KK Harvey
• 3:46
  Speaker 3: and Layla Edwards and Abby Murphy and all of their
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: new stars. And those players are all as talented as
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: they are because they got to spend... multiple years developing
• 3:58
  Speaker 3: in programs that are doing the work that Hockey Canada
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: and USA Hockey don't have to do, and quite frankly,
• 4:06
  Speaker 3: are not equipped to do. When the 2017 boycott happened,
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: when the U.S. women were going to skip the IHF
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: World Championships hosted in Plymouth, one of their big pushes
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: was about development. It wasn't just about what the senior
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: team could get, but about the setup that needed to
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: happen to develop younger talent. You know, there's a whole
• 4:30
  Speaker 3: NTDP program for the men that happens in that arena.
• 4:34
  Speaker 3: And I'd like to point out we are now nine
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: years later and yes, I will make some exceptions or
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: some leeway for the pandemic having sort of screwed all
• 4:42
  Speaker 3: of the timelines up and also really affected finances, but
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: it's nine years. So you can't use all of that.
• 4:48
  Speaker 3: And we are, as far as we know, and as
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: far as sort of has been talked about and, you know, like,
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: maybe stuff is going on behind the scenes. When I
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: ask questions, I don't get answers. Not much has changed
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: for what exists for development in USA hockey that existed
• 5:04
  Speaker 3: in 2017 versus now in 2026. So I, you know,
• 5:08
  Speaker 3: obviously have a lot of feelings about this and could
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: talk about it for a long time, but I just,
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: it feels really, I mean, USA hockey managed to have
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: their camp and not impact the NCAA season. And I like,
• 5:21
  Speaker 3: I'm not saying that, Hockey Canada should look at the
• 5:24
  Speaker 3: calendar and choose which games to interrupt. But it just
• 5:27
  Speaker 3: feels particularly galling that it's one versus two that is
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: missing so many of these players. I think it would
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: be bad any weekend. I want to be clear on that.
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: But it adds just a little extra sort of kick
• 5:39
  Speaker 3: in the knees that it happens to be during this
• 5:42
  Speaker 3: series as well.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: It seems so unnecessary. i am going to be really
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: mad when that roster comes out and we see how
• 5:51
  Speaker 3: few because i just think it's that's the case how
• 5:53
  Speaker 3: few collegiate players actually make the roster meaning that they
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: did all this and pulled them from their teams it's
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: such a crucial situation um to go to a camp
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: that didn't need to happen during the collegiate season so
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: yeah i you know i think it's very clear how
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: i feel about all of this i just it's it
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: is just galling and it's stuff that we've always sort
• 6:14
  Speaker 3: of talked about. But when, when Brian Adelsky brought it
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: all up, it just really sort of crystallized for me
• 6:19
  Speaker 3: how like, it's not just that I am busy and
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: petty that like, this is some big problem. And, um,
• 6:25
  Speaker 3: it's something that like that, that it keeps, it keeps happening.
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: And it just keeps showing that like you're fully you,
• 6:33
  Speaker 3: meaning the federations are fully okay with, you know, taking
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: these players from the schools fully developed and ready to become, um,
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: you know, their superstars and put them on all their
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: promotional materials and tout having them. Um, and, but don't
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: have a respect for the programs or those situations that come, um,
• 6:50
  Speaker 3: from those programs that are handing over those players to them. So, um, yeah,
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: I don't like it. I'm mad about it. And, uh,
• 6:57
  Speaker 3: I think, I think we're, we're, we gotta be reaching
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: a precipice on this. I think the conversation, I think
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: we're pushing towards the tipping point on this where we're, um,
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: It's so hard to cause like, what does the team
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: need to do? Like refuse to send, let their kid go.
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: Like no coach is going to do that because they're
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: there to help develop these players. And that's a huge
• 7:20
  Speaker 3: opportunity and getting invited to see national team camp and
• 7:23
  Speaker 3: getting the opportunity to be a world championship roster and
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: thus be an Olympic roster is the lifelong dream for
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: every one of these players. So like no coach is
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: going to say no, but it's also just like, man,
• 7:34
  Speaker 3: like they're putting them in such an awful position.
• 7:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, there's so many layers and levels to this that
• 7:44
  Speaker 1: we could go on for a long time. But I
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: want to bring it back to the fact that this weekend,
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: there will be eight teams that are missing at least one.
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: Player that play.
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: Eight teams that play this weekend will be missing at
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: least one player. 14 of those 48 players in the
• 8:01
  Speaker 1: Canadian training camp are currently playing in NCAAs. Wisconsin has
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: three of them playing at Ohio State. Ohio State has
• 8:10
  Speaker 1: two of them playing against Wisconsin. But then Northeastern, Minnesota,
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: Minnesota Duluth has two, Clarkson, UConn, which is off this weekend,
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: has one. Penn State has two for two players missing
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: for a series at Syracuse. Colgate has a player missing.
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: It is around the country of NCAA women's hockey. It's
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: not just the WCH, not just the the big series
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: this weekend. It's touching on a lot of series this weekend,
• 8:38
  Speaker 1: a lot of games this weekend.
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: And it goes into the....
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: You mentioned the seat at the table and that there's
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: no leverage really for college coaches because they're not going
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: to tell a player, no, you can't go. But there's...
• 8:58
  Speaker 1: I think a chance you're hurting... The product, you talked
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: about the development layer there. You're hurting your product, your
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: future product.
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: If you're the PWHL, by.
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: Not letting players develop with the teams that they play
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: with and putting them into these small, quick tournament kind
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: of situations where they have to maybe be something else
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: than they are for six months of the year with their.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: I'm going to call them full-time team, their college team.
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: And then you're going to take them in and out
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: of those situations a couple of times during the season.
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: And that just feels like a bad developmental strategy when you're.
• 9:42
  Speaker 3: Talking about it.
• 9:43
  Speaker 1: But the other part of it is that Brian Adelsky
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: brought this up. The calendar is going to have to
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: change for NCAA women's hockey. And how much can the
• 9:51
  Speaker 1: calendar change? Can it go back two months to match
• 9:57
  Speaker 1: a PWHL calendar where you're starting in December and finishing
• 10:01
  Speaker 1: uh basically at the you know middle or end of
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: may that seems unlikely but that's really the only way
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: you're going to avoid the the world championship.
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: The collegiate school year ends early may so we're we're
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: yeah yeah.
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: I mean that that.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: You know, you think of baseball and track and softball,
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: and there are sports that go on beyond the school
• 10:23
  Speaker 1: calendar year. But it's just, is there an appetite among
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: NCAA personnel, administrators, schools, you know, school administrators, school coaches
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: to move the calendar that far back? Or are you
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: just going to have to live with the fact that this,
• 10:43
  Speaker 1: you know, big gap is going to happen in the
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: middle of every season?
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: The logistics of what that means on a campus from
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: ice maintenance to ushers to just like the logistics of
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: moving the season that much feels like I can't imagine
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: any university says, yep, we're good with that. Like they're
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: just going to say, sorry, you're missing players a couple
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: of times. Like I don't, I fully just don't see
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: it happening from a, you're talking so many moving parts
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: for a non-revenue sport at some big universities. So there's that.
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: There's the needing to fit your cog in there. And
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: then at the smaller universities, it's kind of the opposite problem,
• 11:25
  Speaker 3: but still the problem, which is like you still need
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: all of those people and they're not easily there at
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: that time. I don't. Yeah, I'm just I'm very frustrated.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: It's another part, though, is that you probably don't want
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: to start your season in late November or December because
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: you've got you've got exams right in this, you.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: Know, schools have well school. to deal with in December.
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: And so there's... Yeah, we usually take a break, an
• 11:52
  Speaker 3: almost month-long break from beginning of December to beginning of January.
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: Could that be less, that break? Yes.
• 11:58
  Speaker 1: I think that could be something where they could say, well,
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: instead of three or four weeks off, do we have
• 12:02
  Speaker 1: two weeks off? More along the lines of what we
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: see in NCAA men's hockey, where yes, there's a break,
• 12:10
  Speaker 1: but it tends to be shorter than it is in
• 12:12
  Speaker 1: women's hockey.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: Could happen. Will it happen? I don't know.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: It's one of those things where, again, I don't know
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: how much the appetite is there for that kind of change.
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: On the men's side, that then tends to be non-conference
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: games in that stretch, yes? Right. Tournaments and things. So
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: then when, like, the non-conference stuff moved from the beginning
• 12:30
  Speaker 3: of the season into that block, and that's where we... Yeah.
• 12:33
  Speaker 3: Very interesting. I mean, there's a... I don't. It's just.
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: I think for me this bit is particularly galling, and
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: I will, I guess, you know, eat crow or however
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: you want to say it if I'm wrong, but Canada
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: has not often put collegians on their roster, so it's
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: just not really their MO. And to be fair, like,
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: it has been a little unusual on the U.S. side because,
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: you know, you don't leave K.K. Harvey at home. But
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: I think part of what's so, like, 48 players for
• 13:05
  Speaker 3: a 25-person roster that... history has told us is not
• 13:09
  Speaker 3: going to include but maybe two if I'm generous collegiate
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: players like it's just it's so unnecessary I mean I
• 13:18
  Speaker 3: just that's that's the thing like there are there are
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: a lot of other things that also I think need
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: to change I think you're right that we have to
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: have calendar discussions and all that sort of stuff but
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: also like a choice was made here that just didn't
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: have to happen like if you weren't a bigger camp
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: for all those players like you can do that you
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: just don't have to do it in mid October, like
• 13:38
  Speaker 3: USA hockey did it before the college season started. I mean,
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: like it's, it's just possible. And also they all do
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: national festivals in July. So like you did just have
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: them all, um, in front of you. So it's not
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: like you haven't seen these players for six months or
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: eight months or however you want to say it. I
• 13:53
  Speaker 3: don't know. I like, I think that's the part that's
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: particularly frustrating to me is that like, it is clear
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: that this did not have to happen, um, this way
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: to pull that many players from that many squads. And again, um,
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: for a slim chance of them making the national team
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: and playing in this world championship. And, you know, I can,
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: I will, I will apologize, however, whatever, if, if a
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: bunch of them do make the squad, but it's just
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: really not been candid to them all. So I, I
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: don't see that happening. And yeah, it's just the way
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: that it's going to affect. I mean, we, we just
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: had the conversation about how one game or one winner
• 14:28
  Speaker 3: lost could, could, change things at the end of the
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: season for so many teams, and then we're turning around
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: and taking these players out.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 14:36
  Speaker 3: We're going in circles, and I could say the same
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: thing over and over again. It's crap. I'm mad about it.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: This discussion will continue.
• 14:42
  Speaker 1: We will, I'm sure, talk about this more times, but
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: I do want to pivot towards what's coming up this week.
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: Some games to keep an eye on. Number 8, St.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: Cloud State, it looks to extend to 4-0 start. Two-game
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: series at number 14, Colgate. Clarkson, number 13, after dropping... Yeah,
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: dropping a few spots last week, looking to rebound with
• 15:06
  Speaker 1: a non-conference home-and-home series with St. Lawrence, and newly ranked
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: number 15 Vermont playing at Franklin Pierce on Friday and Saturday.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: But the big series, as we've mentioned, of the weekend
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: is number one Wisconsin at number two Ohio State. Friday
• 15:21
  Speaker 1: and Saturday, it's going to be a of the 18th
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: and 19th straight times that the two teams have met
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: as the number one and two teams in the USCHO rankings. Um,
• 15:35
  Speaker 1: the last seven NCAA champions, they've played each other for
• 15:38
  Speaker 1: the last four finals.
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: You guys all know that.
• 15:42
  Speaker 1: If you're, if you're listening to the show, you know,
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: all of these, these details that I'm giving you, but, uh, yes,
• 15:48
  Speaker 1: I'll throw them out there anyway. Um, what should we
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: be looking for here? Um, I mean, before we go there, do.
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: You want to tell us which players are missing in
• 15:57
  Speaker 3: this series?
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely. Good idea.
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: Ava Murphy, Emma Venucio, and Rosalie Tremblay are missing for Wisconsin,
• 16:04
  Speaker 1: and Jocelyn Amos and Haley McDonald for Ohio State. So
• 16:08
  Speaker 1: two defenders, two of the top four defenders for Wisconsin out,
• 16:12
  Speaker 1: and two of, I believe, top six forwards for Ohio
• 16:15
  Speaker 1: State being out. Rosalie Tremblay has been a.
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: It has looked good in her first couple of weeks
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: with Wisconsin, but she's a freshman. She's, you know, there's,
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: there's still some, some growth that's going on there. So
• 16:30
  Speaker 1: I think the defenders are the bigger concerns for Wisconsin
• 16:33
  Speaker 1: and the, well, the forwards are the bigger concerns for
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: Ohio state. So it's, it is a massive series. It's
• 16:42
  Speaker 1: going to, you know, set the tone for the WCHA
• 16:46
  Speaker 1: race in the first half of the season and, These
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: teams play again on the last weekend of the regular
• 16:51
  Speaker 1: season in one game in Madison. One at Lambeau Field
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: on who knows what that ice is going to be. So, yeah,
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: there's a lot going into these two games being important
• 17:05
  Speaker 1: tone setters.
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: I mean, I think, well, lucky for Wisconsin that Ava
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: McNaughton seems to have not be a major injury and
• 17:16
  Speaker 3: return to the ice pretty quickly because if they were
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: missing her and two defenders, I think we'd be having
• 17:21
  Speaker 3: an even bigger discussion. But yeah, I think those two,
• 17:23
  Speaker 3: I mean, defense has at times been a little wobbly
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: for the Badgers and they're lucky they can score a
• 17:30
  Speaker 3: lot of goals to make up for some of that.
• 17:32
  Speaker 3: And having those two out, like it's not a super
• 17:35
  Speaker 3: solid veteran defense on that team right now. And you're
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: taking two of the most veteran players out So I
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: think that is, and combined with the sort of relentless forecheck,
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: constant pressure that Ohio State puts on a team, that
• 17:53
  Speaker 3: you're now going to have some younger players experience for
• 17:56
  Speaker 3: the first time ever. So, yeah, I think that is
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: sort of the key is how Wisconsin handles that. What
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: those pairings look like, how those players handle the pressure. And,
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: you know, you just have no time and space. So, yeah.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: That bit is, I think, going to be the biggest.
• 18:14
  Speaker 3: I think we're going to see a lot of turnovers.
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: I think you're going to see a lot of loose
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: pucks and a lot more battles there than maybe we
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: might have not without this situation. But yeah, I think.
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: I think Wisconsin's missing more. I think, you know, we
• 18:31
  Speaker 3: talked about like Hilda Svensson and Joy Dunn just scored
• 18:34
  Speaker 3: all those goals. Like we didn't mention Jocelyn Amos, which
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: isn't to say that she's not a key part of
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: their offense, but it's just to say that they have
• 18:40
  Speaker 3: a lot of great offensive players. And I think kind of,
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: you know, sort of make up for that, those holes
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: that they're having. So yeah. And they'll be on home ice.
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: We know that Wisconsin, Mark Johnson hates, he always says
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: he thinks that ice is smaller than it is. So
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: there's just a lot of like all the little weird,
• 18:59
  Speaker 3: to that as well so ohio city at home yeah
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: i think i think wisconsin is gonna have to work
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: really hard if they're gonna pull any um points away
• 19:06
  Speaker 3: this weekend and and um you know i think that
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: if they can get a split they should be happy i.
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: Think the um when these teams play there's always something
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: unexpected i mean which is so weird because they're.
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: Um, because they know each other so well. Yeah.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: And we've seen them play in big games so many times,
• 19:29
  Speaker 1: but like the championship game last season, it's Maria Picard
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: feeding Clary Enright for the winning goal, which no one
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: would expect with the big.
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: Names on both those teams.
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: Um, and in, in other games, it's been, you know, a,
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: strong goaltending performance. It just feels like there's whatever you
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: might be expecting. It's going to be something else that's
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: going to decide these games.
• 19:54
  Speaker 3: Well, with all the offensive firepower, they're rarely like 6'5
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: or whatever. Like they're rarely huge offensive output games, which
• 20:03
  Speaker 3: is kind of fascinating. Yeah. I think special teams will
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: be a big one. I think that that came in huge.
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: I mean, gosh, the last two national championships, we've also
• 20:11
  Speaker 3: had weird sort of fluky plays, you know, the covered puck,
• 20:17
  Speaker 3: whether Lacey Eden's foot was hovering over the blue line. So, yeah,
• 20:23
  Speaker 3: you couldn't imagine what's going to happen and figure it
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: out any better. Yeah, I think. It's, yeah, it's impossible.
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: I assume that it will be a slit at any
• 20:36
  Speaker 3: given time, like no other factors who's going in, those
• 20:38
  Speaker 3: two teams playing. I think like it's, you know, 50-50
• 20:42
  Speaker 3: pretty much every time on who's going to come out ahead.
• 20:46
  Speaker 3: And I think, you know, sort of whoever loses the
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: first game then comes back with that fire in the
• 20:51
  Speaker 3: second game. So that being said, I do think, I
• 20:56
  Speaker 3: think Wisconsin has a lot of work to do with
• 20:59
  Speaker 3: that defense and figuring out getting everybody sort of up
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: to speed. I think that's a huge question mark and
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: sort of the most wobbly part of this equation right now.
• 21:11
  Speaker 2: It should be good. We know that much. It'll be fun.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: The two dominant teams in NCAA women's hockey over the
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: last seven years. So let's see what happens. I know
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: I'll be watching, you'll be watching. I hope a lot
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: of people get a chance to check those out on
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: Big Ten Plus or This week's games. You can check
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: out the entire schedule at uscho.com. Nicole has a lot
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: of content there as well, as well as her content
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: on Victory Press. Anything you want to mention before we
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: go this week?
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: No, I just hope everybody enjoys tuning into the games,
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: watch some more great hockey, and come back and listen
• 21:49
  Speaker 3: to us next week to find out everything that happened.
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: All right. For Nicole Haase, I'm Todd Molesky. Thanks for
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: joining us on the podcast.