Latest / Inside Cyclones Hockey / SPECIAL EDITION PLAYOFF EPISODE: Truman Zerse, Aaron Nale, and Davis Polifka Join the Pod, and an Inside Look at the Rochester Series with Assistant Coach Luke Meyer

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SPECIAL EDITION PLAYOFF EPISODE: Truman Zerse, Aaron Nale, and Davis Polifka Join the Pod, and an Inside Look at the Rochester Series with Assistant Coach Luke Meyer · Inside Cyclones Hockey

• 0:00
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• 0:40
  SPEAKER_04: Your ticket in the Clone Zone includes a limited edition Bush Light Clone Zone beer mug and complimentary Bushed Light and Mikelobe Ultra from doors opening through 10 minutes remaining in the third period.
• 0:51
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• 0:56
  SPEAKER_04: Ice level seating with pub tables and general admission bar height chairs with an excellent view of all the action.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_04: Visit WASACyclones.com/slash bushlight clones zone to learn more today.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_04: Welcome to season five, episode 32 of the Inside Cyclones Hockey Podcast.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_04: The regular season has officially concluded, and it's time to gear up for the first round of the Central Division NA3HL playoffs, and we've got an action-packed episode for you to get you all the info you need for this weekend's series against Rochester.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_04: We got multiple player interviews, we got a coach interview, and we're breaking down all the action and all the activity going on for Cyclones fans this weekend with our director of business ops, Zach Sterway.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_04: It's a phenomenal episode, and you're not going to want to miss it.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_04: So for the first time for the playoffs this year, get ready because it's time to enter the storm.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_04: As always, with you every week on the pod, my name is Mark Robinson, your host, as well as the play-by-play voice of the WASA Cyclones.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_04: And guys, if you can even believe it, because honestly, I'm having a hard time believing it myself, the regular season has officially come to a close.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_04: The Cyclones have concluded all 47 of their regular season games for the 2025-26 NA3HL season.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_04: But lucky for us Cyclones fans, their season is not over.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_04: Cyclones are the three seed in the divisional semifinal round of the Central Division playoffs, which will feed into the Fraser Cup playoffs in a few weeks here.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_04: And we are not only looking forward to a very exciting competitive three-game series this coming weekend versus the Rochester Grizzlies, but as usual here at Wassa Cyclones Hockey, it's not just the hockey.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_04: We've got so much other stuff, so much other activity, so much other giveaways going on for you.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_04: With the playoff hockey heating up, the fun heats up as well.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_04: And with that in mind, I've got our director of business operations, Zach Surway, joining us on this week's episode of the pod to talk playoff hockey and get us dialed in for everything we've got going on for both the home and away games this coming weekend.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_04: So, first of all, Zach, I wanted to ask you if you're feeling the same way I'm feeling.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_04: Can you believe the regular season's already over?
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: I am.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: I was thinking about this a lot um last weekend uh during the games.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: It it always goes by so quick.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I know the other part of it while it feels but feels like it went by so quick is we had nine games in a matter of uh 30 days to close the the regular season.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: So that's another part why it felt like it um went so so quick as well.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: So excited for playoffs to begin here this weekend, and the excitement uh I know from our fans um and from our staff and obviously our coaches and players are looking forward to uh to getting it done here this weekend against Rochester.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, definitely very exciting.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_04: Uh the way that for those that don't know, the way that the playoff format works for the divisional rounds in each division, the top four teams make the playoffs.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_04: The one seed plays the four seed, and the two seed plays the three seed, and the higher seed plays host as the team that gets home ice.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_04: And if a third game is needed, they get that second game on home ice.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_04: So since we are the three seed and Rochester's the two seed, they will host the first game on home ice.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_04: We'll come back here to Marathon Park, host the second.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_04: In the event that both teams win one game and we split down the middle, we go back to Rochester.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_04: Just really quickly, the schedule for the weekend will be Friday, the 13th, at the Rochester Recreation Center, a 7 o'clock p.m.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_04: puck drop with the Cyclones traveling up to Rochester.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_04: And then after that game, we're back here in Marathon Park on Saturday, the 14th.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_04: That's same as every home game this season.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_04: 6'10 doors, 7'10 puck drop.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_04: It'll feel routine-wise, just like a regular season game, but I can assure you the atmosphere will be a lot more electric inside that building.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_04: And then, like I said, if Friday and Saturday somehow Wasa and Rochester split, they each win one game, and a tiebreaker Sunday game is required.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_04: The Sunday game will be up in Rochester and it'll actually be a matinee affair.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_04: Rochester will host the Cyclones for a 1 o'clock p.m.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_04: puck drop.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_04: So I just wanted to specifically highlight that Sunday game.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_04: If we do end up with a Sunday game and you're wanting to watch from afar, remember that it's at one.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_04: It's during the day.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_04: Don't get yourself into the normal routine of all the games at 7 o'clock and then accidentally miss it.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_04: So it's a 1 o'clock puck drop.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_04: But Zach, whether it's the Friday game up in Rochester or the Saturday game at Marathon Park, we've pretty much got something going on every single day for the first round of the playoffs.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_04: If you want to walk us through what fans can expect for watch parties and giveaways and attending playoff games this weekend.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so on Friday night, as you mentioned, that's game one in Rochester.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: That night we will have back home in Wausau, we'll have a watch party that'll be taking place at Troy's TikTok in Wausau.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that's on 1201 West Thomas Street, uh, just a couple minutes from the rink in Wausau.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um they'll be having some beer specials, and as always, they have a um, of course, with Friday nights, they have Christ Friday as well.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: So if you want to uh stop and buy a little bit before the game gets underway at 7, obviously we encourage you to do that.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um Choice is uh a proud partner of ours providing our bartending staff uh at all the the home game home games as well.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: I know there'll be a ton of Cyclones fans that are watching the the broadcast live, and I might even encourage them as well to put that uh the audio version, obviously, of yourself in the bar versus uh listening to the Rochester um audio uh from that game.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: So that'll be a lot of fun.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then of course on Saturday um for our only home game in the series, the first 500 fans are gonna receive a Cyclones playoff rally tell presented um by our friends at Lake of the Torches Resort and Casino.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: One other note I want to mention um with the game on Saturday is doors will open at 6 10 p.m.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: before that 7 10 p.m.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: there game.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh get there early is always seating as general admission.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um I know people have been really, really good at getting there early for our big games, even last Saturday night for fan appreciation.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um the stands were pretty cool.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um card to even warm-ups getting underway at uh at 6 40 p.m.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: So really appreciate uh everyone doing that and advising by that advice uh to do so.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: The one other thing I want to mention uh from our friends at Lake of the Torches Resort Casino.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um stay tuned.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's actually going on right now as we record that.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: We have a couple of like and share contests going on our Facebook page for opportunities to win tickets to the game on Saturday night as well as a hotel, free hotel say at Lake of the Torches Resort and Casino as well.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: So check that out.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um number of different opportunities for fans to be involved here on the Cyclones, whether you're going to Rochester on Friday night and making the road trip, or if you're staying home in Wassau, you can catch some and cheer and on um either way.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: So it's gonna be a lot of fun this weekend.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: I know I'll have uh some uh photos coming in from Troy's of that bar packed with Cyclones fans, so that's always awesome to see.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then I'll obviously two people making a trip to Rochester um here this weekend.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_04: It's gonna be a very exciting weekend of hockey.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_04: Obviously, the watch party is a great way to kick it off if you're local to the area and don't have the means to travel up to Rochester.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_04: I, you know, I don't blame you if you don't want to drive all the way up there just for just for one game.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_04: But um hopefully everyone afar, everyone watching from afar can support and rally for the clones to get that first win, and then everyone can pack the barn on Saturday night.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_04: Uh tickets for the playoff games are available at wastacyclones.com slash playoffs.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_04: And just like some of these past games that we've had where we've put a major emphasis on purchasing tickets early, the wiener dog races, the corgi dog races, the fan appreciation night.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_04: This is one of those games where it's more likely than not that having your ticket before the actual game day is going to give you a lot more security.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_04: You're gonna be able to you're gonna be able to feel a lot more relaxed about actually being able to get into the game, no questions asked.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_04: So just also, you know, a big emphasis on getting those tickets early on and securing your spot, you know, especially for those that are coming into town from somewhere else to watch, that are coming to support a player, whether you're their guardian, parent, fit friend, family member, whatever it may be, uh the last thing that we want is for you to have to miss out on the game because we sell out because it's a playoff game and you didn't have a ticket.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_04: So for everyone listening that is really passionate and really adamant about going to Saturday's playoff game, I would highly, highly advise you to go get your tickets right now on our website.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_04: They're available for purchase, and that way you don't have to stress about securing a ticket and securing a spot.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_04: You'll already have it locked in and you'll be ready to go for Saturday.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: Well said, Mark.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: And and two, I I don't know, maybe it's a part of some people like being gamblers, you know, um and trying to see if they can get a ticket walking up.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: I will say one other thing is with um the game on Saturday night, too, is that I want let people know, obviously, like you mentioned, get your tickets ahead of time now.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you're if you're planning on coming, just get them.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then two, if you are maybe waiting last minute or like say you maybe you got some type of party going on, hey, you're not sure if you're gonna be able to get to the game on time, or or there's a reason that you're kind of holding off on buying tickets.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: I will say we will um shoot out uh messages across our social media and then our digital newsletter as well if you subscribe to that um regarding like low ticket inventory.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: So we'll give you a warning as well um on where the tickets stand in that case.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um say you're like I said, you know, there's a particular reason why you're kind of holding off on tickets um at that late point in time.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: So it should be a lot of fun.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: I know the playoff atmosphere is always something really exciting um in Waussau.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: And as we know, um, you know, in sports in general, markets a different level of uh of excitement as you get to the playoffs, and then we'll certainly see that here on Saturday night.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, definitely.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_04: So just a quick little recap before we have one more little surprise item of business to tell you guys about.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_04: Friday, we've got the watch party for the away game at Troy's TikTok, which is located at 1201 West Thomas Street in Wassa.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_04: And then on Saturday, we've got the Rally Tow giveaway with doors opening at 6.10 and puck drop at 710 for game two of the Fraser Cup playoffs in the Central Division.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_04: It's simply enough, either going to be a clinching the series scenario or an elimination game.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_04: So either way, there's going to be a lot on the table for the game Saturday night.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_04: We're either going to be rallying behind the clones to stay alive or we're going to be cheering them on to try to solidify a second straight win on home ice and lock in, getting to move on to the next round.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_04: And then nothing going on yet on Sunday, as we know quite yet, just because there's no way of knowing if there's a Sunday game.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_04: But the last item of business, Zach, you you briefly mentioned this when we were talking about the watch party.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_04: We teased a little bit last week, but we've got an exciting announcement for playoff coverage.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_04: I will be traveling with the team to Rochester on Friday night and potentially Sunday if a Sunday game is required.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_04: I will be bringing all the broadcast equipment, the audio board, the headset, all that good stuff.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_04: And I'll be setting up at the Rochester Arena and I'll be calling the game, which is listenable and technically viewable, but there won't be a video feed, it'll just be audio.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_04: But that'll be accessible to all Cyclones fans for zero charge, completely free if you pay per game on the NA on the NA TV streaming service, or if your subscription just ran out and you want to just listen to the home broadcast, I'll be up there calling the games on a live YouTube stream.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_04: It's going to be like a radio style call where you're listening and hearing everything that's going on from myself calling the game.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_04: And like I said, there just won't be any video feed.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_04: But I mean, Zach, like you said too, you could turn on the game and mute the audio and listen to the video feed of myself because I'm obviously going to be leaning much more in favor of the Cyclones versus the Grizzlies broadcast will be vice versa.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_04: But regardless, I'll be up in Rochester on Friday calling the game.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_04: We're going to be sharing the link to the stream all across our social platforms: Instagram, X, Facebook.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_04: It's going to be a live stream on YouTube, so you'll be able to watch it on YouTube.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_04: And we're definitely excited to provide this unique and quite frankly, extra coverage that we aren't able to do during the regular season for this first round of the playoffs.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it'll be a it'll be really cool.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I know too, just like you mentioned, is obviously nowadays, I know a lot of people are pretty used to having multiple screens.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_00: I know I am, and um be pretty simple, you can just pull up any HL TV on your TV at home.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um maybe you just have your phone uh in your hand next to you and and then on there pull up the YouTube feed for the audio with Mark doing the play-by-play.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_00: I know you probably are Mark, obviously, since getting into the business of broadcasting, but I for whatever reason I really enjoy listening to broadcasters, different sporting events, just listening to the audio version.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: I grew up listening to Bob Eucher, um the Milwaukee Brewers uh legendary broadcaster on the lake in the summer times, uh up in northern Wisconsin.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: Listening to him describe the game is uh another level.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: And too, I know from listening to you, you do a good job of of painting that picture for fans that obviously can't see with their own eyes and and letting them know what's going on is going on.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously in this case you'll have that background.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's something that you don't want to buy uh an NAHL TV uh subscription, and that's uh a way to uh kind of get around it and obviously get a feed of uh the audio instead for games one and potentially three as well.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_00: I know you'll I'm guessing you're gonna have a lot of fun on that broadcast, Mark, um making that call um and providing those images uh in people's brains for uh for game one.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: That should be pretty cool.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I'm personally really excited and I'm really grateful that we get to execute something like this.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_04: I I'm I'm on the same page as you, Zach, uh where I whereas I love as someone who likes to listen to sports just as much as I am calling them and involved and covering them myself.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_04: There's just something about radio that really itches my brain in the right way.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_04: I love listening to the to the broadcasters paint the picture and have that only like they're the only thing.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not having to look at a bunch of graphics all over the screen and I'm not having to pay attention to a million things at once.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_04: You're you're just locked into the one thing, and that's what this YouTube stream will be.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_04: It'll it'll essentially be like listening to the cyclones on the radio.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_04: If if that were ever something that we'd have in the future, this is the closest we're gonna get.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_04: It's essentially gonna be like you're tuning your radio to was the cyclones hockey, and I'm super grateful and excited to get to do that.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_04: So thank you as well for the kind words, Zach.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_04: I appreciate it.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_04: Been getting lots of good feedback this year, and I always love to hear all the all the compliments and everything.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_04: And I guess last thing I'll say too, if you are traveling up to Rochester, feel free to say hello and you know, communicate with me up there.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_04: I know I already talked to a few parents and a few relatives of the players that are going to be up there.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_04: So anyone that's up there, give me a wave, say hello.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_04: I'll be I'll be making the truck up with the team.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_04: But like Zach and I said, we'll be firing that link out to all our social media platforms.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_04: So there's virtually no way that you will miss it.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_04: And so that, along with our watch party at watch party, excuse me, at Troy's TikTok and the rally towel giveaway on Saturday, it's safe to say that we've got an action-packed weekend for you as the clones get ready to face off against the Grizzlies in the first round of the Fraser Cup playoffs.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_04: And Zach, the last thing I'll say to you is last year, I wasn't here, but I'm well aware of the reality that our season was ended in the first round of the playoffs by none other than the Rochester Grizzlies, and it feels like this year is the perfect time for revenge.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: They beat us in a three-game series and stole game one uh on home ice in overtime last night or last season.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: How about we steal game one over in Rochester and and get it done on done on Saturday now?
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: Marathon Park is gonna be up for grabs on Saturday night.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: If we do have the opportunity to clinch on uh on Saturday and and and move on.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: I know uh people are really passionate about this team and wanting to see them succeed in the in the postseason hasn't come.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um we haven't been able to win the playoff series now.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, last year, the previous year we did win one.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um actually in three of the four years, or excuse me, yeah, three of the four uh postseason appearances that the Cyclones have made in their team history.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um it has ended at the hands of the Rochester Grizzlies.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: So we kind of owe them a little bit of uh revenge for some past demons, and hopefully we can conquer them here this weekend at Marathon Park and over in Rochester.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_04: We're looking forward to it, and we can't wait to have all of you guys with us, whether you're with us on the stream or at the watch party or at the rink for the game Saturday or all of the above, whatever it is, however you're able to get involved.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_04: We're excited to have you and we're excited that there's more hockey in the future, and hopefully it keeps riding for the next few weeks.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_04: All right, Zach, do you got anything else for us before we wrap up on this segment?
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's all it go clones.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_04: All righty.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_04: Well, Zach, thanks so much for hopping on and giving us the scoop on what we need to know for this coming weekend.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_04: Like I said, everyone, get your tickets at wassacyclones.com slash playoffs.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_04: Check out the stream this Friday and potentially Sunday.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_04: Dial in for that watch party and for Saturday's game.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_04: And we cannot wait for an electric weekend of hockey.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna kick it to break here on the Inside Cyclones Hockey Podcast.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_04: We'll hear from a few of our sponsors, and we'll return here on the pod shortly.
• 21:41
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• 22:36
  SPEAKER_04: Alrighty, welcome back to the Inside Cyclones Hockey Podcast, everybody.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_04: We've got a very special and a very exciting playoff segment.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not just joined by one, not just joined by two, but I'm joined live in person by three different players on the WASA Cyclones this year.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_04: We're going to be talking all things playoffs as the team gears up for this weekend's big best of three series against the Rochester Grizzlies.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_04: I am pleased to welcome sitting in the room with me, defenseman Aaron Nail, Centerman Truman Zurce, and defenseman Davis Polifka.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_04: All three in the room to break down everything going on in the playoffs this weekend.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_04: Guys, thanks so much for joining me.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, thanks for having us.
• 23:20
  SPEAKER_06: It's an honor.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_06: Happy to be here.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: They said it best.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_04: All right.
• 23:26
  SPEAKER_04: First thing I want to talk about, Davis, I hate to put you on the spot here, but this last weekend, absolutely robbed of a gnarly goal up at the blue line.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_04: One of the most controversial calls in the sport of hockey.
• 23:43
  SPEAKER_04: It doesn't matter if it's the NHL, the AHL, the NA3, goalie interference cannot seem to be figured out.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_04: I just wanted to ask you and then get the other guys' thoughts too.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_04: From your perspective, how disappointing was that call after you just buried one from the blue line?
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, it was uh pretty tough.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't realize till, you know, a couple seconds, well, probably 20 seconds after I scored the goal.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: I uh had got a little fun in the moment and hit a nice little celebration.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, I don't know what happened.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I was kind of focused on just you know, the puck ended up on my stick and just saw a lot of net and shot it and you know, couldn't really tell, obviously, because I was just focused on shooting what happened with the goalie, but he was definitely out of position.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_01: So talking to most guys, it sounds like yeah, I was pretty controversial on if the goalie was out of his crease or you know, because if he's out of his crease, he's kind of you know, it's kind of fair game in a way, but not really.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, I was called off pretty quick, so kind of a disappointment, but you know, that's baseball at the end of the day.
• 24:47
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah, it is what it is.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, like I said, I've watched uh goalie interference get called it at this level, at the NHL level, and I just I feel like nobody can seem to figure out what it is.
• 25:01
  SPEAKER_04: What what'd you guys think of the the goal, the celly, and then the fact that it just got completely, completely taken away.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_04: Dave Daveo absolutely robbed.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, I was extremely pumped when I saw that, and I saw him winding up for the for the celly, and he goes right into the fans, opens up the chest, sweeps the arm.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_03: It was pretty awesome.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_03: And then immediately on the bench, Ois is like telling us all that they're calling no goal, and I couldn't help but giggle a little bit.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_03: I mean it it obviously sucked, but you can find some humor in it when you come away with the W.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_06: I didn't really have a good angle on the goal.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_06: Uh I was wasn't on the ice.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_06: All I saw was Dave's massive celly, and I got pretty fired up seeing that because he's usually pretty composed, but you know, he let loose for the celly and he definitely got the bench all rattled up.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_06: So a little bit of a dagger.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_06: Uh it getting called off.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_06: So it's whatever at the end of the day, you know, he still came out with a win.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_06: So that's all that matters.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_04: No pun intended on the dagger, huh?
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_04: So I I I I think I sent you the clip, Dave, but like I I called it, I thought I called it pretty well, and like I was pumped because I was waiting for you to get one up at the blue line.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_04: I had messed one of your calls up earlier in the year.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_04: I like had this whole gas up call, like polivka from the blue line scores, but it got tipped on the way and I didn't see the tip, so I like I don't remember who it was, but I totally robbed someone of a goal call because I said the entire thing was you.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_04: But yeah, very unfortunate.
• 26:41
  SPEAKER_04: Luckily, the call is still electric.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_04: I let it ring out for quite some time before realizing it got called off.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_04: I was like, polivka, the dagger, the celly, what a goal! And then I realized I was like, oh, they're calling it off.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_04: But, anyways, didn't matter.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_04: You guys finished the year strong.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_04: Before we get into playoff talk, I want to just send the microphone around the horn here, talk just about your guys' thoughts, your perception on the season in general looking bigger picture.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_04: Now that the entire regular season's concluded, you guys have played all 47 games.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_04: There's been some ups, there's been some downs.
• 27:16
  SPEAKER_04: Finished third place in the division, 29 wins in your 47 games.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_04: Just from all y'all's perspective, what did you like about the season?
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_04: What did you guys think your strengths were throughout the year?
• 27:28
  SPEAKER_04: And what were your perceptions on how you guys finished your 2025-26 NA3 campaign?
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna start with the rook, Aaron Nail.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, so definitely had ups and downs.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_06: You know, you started the season off pretty hot, and then we faced a lot of adversity.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_06: But I don't know.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_06: I think we're a pretty good team uh with facing adversity.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_06: We come out on top quite a bit, and like if stuff gets thrown in our face, I think we're pretty good at handling it.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_06: Um there's obviously offs, like some off nights, but I mean that's with every team.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_06: Um but yeah, I think we've held it pretty well this entire year.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_06: You know, we've had a good, pretty good season.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_06: I think all the guys are pretty happy with how it turned out.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_06: And yeah, I mean, we got a good group of guys that can handle that stuff, and you know, it's gonna definitely help us in the benefit come playoffs.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_03: Uh yeah, like you said, we've uh we've faced our fair share of adversities this year, whether it was injuries, suspensions, other sort of things, but I think uh come this time of year, we've got uh everyone buying in and guys maybe filling roles that they wouldn't have to, and knowing what they've got to do to pull the rope in the same direction as a team.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_03: And so I think going in against a roch I know you said not getting into playoffs yet, but going in against Rochester, a team that we're uh four and four against on the season, I think we're pretty confident that if we're playing the way that we can and we know we should, that um it looks it looks in our favor in the next weekend.
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'd say those, you know, to add on to those guys, um you know, I think we've only had maybe two or three games this year where uh everyone's been available between you know injury and suspension.
• 29:21
  SPEAKER_01: And those have come pretty recently.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I'd say that's something we've kind of dealt with, but you know, just looking through our whole season and the sample size, I mean, we know when we're playing our best and what it takes and uh the stuff we have to do in order to play good.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, we've had all the variations of systems and line changes and all that stuff, and I think we're at a spot now where we've kind of settled in to know what works, and um, we're just ready to go for playoffs now.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it feels like it's coming at the right time in the sense that the lineup's dialed in, the lineup's healthy.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_04: I don't think anyone's on a sussy right now after this last weekend.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_04: Nobody got ejected or anything.
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_04: Ernie had that one game sussy in the Friday game, couldn't play, but everybody's healthy, everybody's ready to rock and roll, and you can have a great season, you can get your spot in the playoffs, but all that really matters at the end of the day is when the playoffs start.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_04: It's like a whole new season, it's a whole new start getting dialed in for this weekend series right now.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_04: And so with that, let's dive a little into the conversation of going up to Rotch and facing off against a team that the competition has been close, very close this year, and there's been some history in the past of struggling in the playoffs.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_04: So just to start with this year and this series that we look forward to this weekend, what are your guys' initial thoughts, initial reactions that you're facing against a team that you've beat in their barn, you've lost to them in their barn.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_04: They've beat you in your barn, you've lost to them in your barn.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_04: It's been so close.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_04: The competition's been very knotted up all year.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_04: What are the initial thoughts and perceptions of getting to play against Roch in the playoffs?
• 31:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, like you said, you know, the the season restarts.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone's, you know, zero and zero.
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, it's a it's a race of two games.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we're excited to go into their place on Friday.
• 31:13
  SPEAKER_01: They they have a pretty big rank and they get some good crowds, and it's loud in there.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I think we kind of enjoy going into those settings where not too many people are rooting for you.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but yeah, like like you said, Rochester, it's been a tight series all season long where we're four and four against them, um, two and two in each building.
• 31:32
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, we just gotta stick to our game and uh play, you know, some hockey where it's uh the hard stuff.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um and that's playoff hockey, you know, getting pucks in deep, hitting, all that stuff.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_01: Rocha's a physical team, so it's just you know, matching their energy and kind of going back and forth with them.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_01: And yeah, like I said, it's it's a race of two wins, so we're excited for it.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_03: Uh yeah, like you said, um it's even playing fields in each rank.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I don't think we're thinking too much about um the locations of the games because I think we're confident no matter where we go.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_03: And like he said, the the energy in both Barnes and the playoffs, like they they pack their rank, we pack our rank, and we can feed off of that no matter where we are.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_03: So I think as long as as we're playing the right way, um we've got a pretty good matchup against them, and we're all excited for it.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, I don't have much to add on from what these boys said, but they're they're a hard-nosed, gritty team, and just a team you can't take a night off against.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_06: But when we play our best, you know, we can play with anybody, and we're really excited to take on Roch.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_06: It's a great opponent to play first round playoffs.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_04: So I feel like the um answers to this question might echo a little bit of what you guys just said, but like a little bit more of a specific approach to looking into the series, just like how you guys are talking about as a team, how you're getting ready to have an extra jump.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_04: You're gonna play harder than you usually do.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_04: It's the playoffs, it's a different level of intensity, it's a different level of physicality.
• 33:10
  SPEAKER_04: It's a safe bet that Rochester's gonna have the same exact approach on the other side of the ice.
• 33:15
  SPEAKER_04: And something that I've talked about with you guys off the air that happened in the recent weekend series in Wassa when Rochester was in town.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_04: Like I could hear it up from the booth.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_04: There were chirps coming from their bench in that second game when you guys won.
• 33:29
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, don't worry, fellas.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna end your season early real quick.
• 33:32
  SPEAKER_04: And they sound like they're ready to bring a very physical game.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_04: How do you guys combat that and how do you guys approach playing against a team that is most likely gonna bring a lot more of a jump now that it's playoff time?
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think you gotta we gotta be confident in our identity.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_03: Um, gotta take pride in what we're doing if it's winning a puck battle, laying a hit um after a defenseman makes a pass or finishing your plays all over the ice, a back check, a forecheck, whatever it is.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_03: I think um that we can combat their playstyle pretty well.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I think we're pretty evenly matched with them in that regard.
• 34:11
  SPEAKER_03: And we know that they're gonna come physical.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_03: We know that they're gonna come ready to play.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_03: So um it's no surprises on our end.
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_03: We just gotta do what we can do to handle it.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, um they uh they're a confident group, I'll say that.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_01: Like they've they haven't uh been shy telling us how they've ended our year last year, and they plan to do the same this year.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, they're confident, they're a confident group, they're well coached.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you know, so are we.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_01: We're confident in our ability.
• 34:41
  SPEAKER_01: We we believe in both our coaches and OCMIZ to prepare us as as well as you know our leadership group with Savvy and Ernie and Najee, along with you know the other age outs and returners to get us ready to you know go for the weekend.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I think that's what makes makes playoff hockey so special is you know, we want to win just as bad as they do, they want to win just as bad as us, you know.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_01: So you're getting everyone's best hockey game, and that's what makes it so exciting.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_04: So looking ahead to the weekend, I want to talk a little bit about this last weekend to close out the regular season against the Mustangs.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_04: Mustangs are obviously a team that's been struggling this year.
• 35:26
  SPEAKER_04: Seven regular season wins, three of them came at the showcase against non-divisional opponents.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_04: And at the end of the day, this doesn't really matter because you guys got both wins.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_04: You finished both games.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_04: But it seemed like, from my perspective at least, there were aspects of that game that you wouldn't want to take into the roch game because both games were so close.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_04: You're letting a team that's bottom of the division stay in it the entire time.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_04: So, just from your guys' perspective, what about those games do you learn from and do you take away and that you're going to get rid of some of those habits?
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_04: Because obviously, like a few short-handed goals got given up, some breakaways, broken plays in the neutral zone.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_04: How do you learn from finishing the regular season with two wins but narrow ones where it's kind of going back and forth the entire game?
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, like you said, with the seven regular season wins, they're not the most intimidating opponent.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_06: And I know you can say like don't take them lightly and stuff, but I mean the stats kind of get to your head, and sometimes you don't play as hard as you can.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_06: And I know we still came out with the wins, but we didn't really play our best hockey.
• 36:31
  SPEAKER_06: And so definitely gonna have to fix up a few things, come with a different mindset when we come to Rotch, and I'm sure the outcome will be a lot different for us.
• 36:40
  SPEAKER_06: Um, but yeah, I mean it's nice still ending the season with two extra wins on our book.
• 36:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think you know, with Peoria, um their record's not great, but at the same time, I thought, you know, their record doesn't really give them credit for you know kind of how good they can be.
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_01: They have some good players that you know if you give them chances and looks, they're gonna finish on it.
• 37:01
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, it's just tightening up all those things.
• 37:04
  SPEAKER_01: And at the end of the day, like, you know, those two games, whether it's the last two games of the year, the first games, the showcase, like you know, next week and none of that matters.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um everyone's zero zero and it it's a race of two.
• 37:18
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just solidifying our game for you know the playoff weekend, and we think we're ready to do that.
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_01: And we're not really looking back on the pass in any games of the 47, but uh just looking forward to the next two or three this weekend.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, like Davo said, it's uh kind of taking pride in the details, um, managing your mistakes.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_03: If you make a mistake, don't make the second one.
• 37:44
  SPEAKER_03: And it's the hustle plays, the intensity, it's those sort of things that I think we struggled with a little bit this weekend that we can't take lightly against Rochester because they will capitalize on all those mistakes and more.
• 37:56
  SPEAKER_03: So I think it's really having everyone be dialed in, same intensity, the same drive to compete um every night this weekend against them.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_03: And I think if we all do that, we can come out on top.
• 38:13
  SPEAKER_04: So this constant conversation of everyone has the same, everyone has the same mindset in the room, everyone feels the same motivation, intensity, excitement to get to play against Rotch.
• 38:27
  SPEAKER_04: And it seems like all of you know what's at stake, what's at hand, and what you have to do to accomplish that.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_04: I wanted to ask each of your perspective on how much you think these games are gonna come down to goaltending at the end of the day, because you guys are very similarly matched up.
• 38:43
  SPEAKER_04: The teams both play a very similar style of hockey, very physical.
• 38:48
  SPEAKER_04: And at the end of the day, it might just come down to which goalie can make the most important stop at the end of the day.
• 38:54
  SPEAKER_04: And obviously, you guys have had a very consistent rotation within the goalie tandem.
• 38:58
  SPEAKER_04: You have three solid guys in Kunst Fail and Bon Janeur.
• 39:02
  SPEAKER_04: What's your guys' confidence in the goaltending this weekend and how much do you think it's gonna weigh on the outcome of the games?
• 39:10
  SPEAKER_06: Yeah, uh, like you said, we have three solid goalies, which we're very fortunate to have.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_06: You know, they can have they can all play on top of their heads any given night, and so it's really nice for us to play in front of them.
• 39:21
  SPEAKER_06: You know, you got confidence in your goalie, and so you mean they can win us big games, and so I mean, if we play a tight game, I mean it definitely will come down to the goalies, but I think we definitely have the stronger group of guys when it comes to goaltending, and that'll definitely be beneficial.
• 39:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, like Naylor said, I wouldn't trade our goalie tandem for anyone in the league.
• 39:42
  SPEAKER_01: We have all the confidence in them, and um, I think you kind of saw it with the Olympics this year, you know, between USA and Canada, like Canada outplayed US like crazy, and Hellibuck, you know, stood on his head and kept him in that game.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_01: So hopefully it's not the games aren't like that, but at the end of the day, we have the ultimate belief and who who's ever between the pipes for us that you know they're gonna keep us in it.
• 40:04
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think when it comes down to it, we have full faith in all three of those guys in our room.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_03: And I think at least from what I see, they play at their best in the high pressure situations.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_03: So if it does come down to it, if it's overtime, a one-goal game late in the third, I think that we can count on them to make those big saves and keep us in games.
• 40:24
  SPEAKER_03: Um and I think that we have a I don't want to say clear, but I think that our tandem is noticeably better than Rochester's.
• 40:35
  SPEAKER_03: So I think um we've got confidence in them.
• 40:40
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, it's exciting to think about how the whole, I mean, just like you guys have said, the whole entire system within the team, the health, no more sussies, the goalie tandem, and all that stuff, it's all coming together just at the right time, which poses a lot of excitement for getting to dial in for this weekend and this game.
• 40:58
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, last thing I want to ask about just getting ready for Rotch in general.
• 41:04
  SPEAKER_04: Um actually, first of all, before we talk about the next thing I want to say, this is just a quick hitter, but how pumped are you guys that you don't have to go to St.
• 41:13
  SPEAKER_04: Louis?
• 41:14
  SPEAKER_06: Insanely pumped.
• 41:16
  SPEAKER_06: That that bus ride is brutal.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I think uh all you guys are pretty fired up when that matchup was eliminated from possibility.
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_03: And I mean, I think it would have been a weird schedule, like a Thursday game or something.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_03: So it would it would have been it would have been weird.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean West Bend's schedule um ends up being they're playing Friday and West Bend and then Saturday in St.
• 41:39
  SPEAKER_01: Louis, so uh it's pretty nice to avoid that long bus trip, but you know, it is what it is.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_01: We're we're excited for the journey.
• 41:48
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and for I feel bad for West Bend because they gotta go to St.
• 41:52
  SPEAKER_04: Louis, come back, and then go again.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_04: Like that's like that's a lot of time on a bus.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_04: It's like 30 hours across going down and back both times.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_04: Um and it's the playoffs.
• 42:04
  SPEAKER_04: You never know, anything can happen.
• 42:06
  SPEAKER_04: But if you guys are able to get through this weekend, it's most likely, in my eyes, gonna be a West Bend Wasa matchup because West Bend is just a wagon.
• 42:17
  SPEAKER_04: They're they have three regulation losses.
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_04: They'll probably be able to get through a St.
• 42:22
  SPEAKER_04: Louis team that has had some fluky games to end the season.
• 42:26
  SPEAKER_04: And so not only do you guys not have to go to St.
• 42:28
  SPEAKER_04: Louis again, like I said, it's not confirmed, who knows, but you'll get probably the biggest test of all your guys' NA3 careers in taking a team to a three-game series that has dominated the division all year.
• 42:43
  SPEAKER_04: But we're not gonna talk about that quite yet because we got to get through this weekend first.
• 42:47
  SPEAKER_04: And as we close out the conversation around the Roch series, for those that don't know that are listening to the pod this week, last year's playoffs for the Cyclones, it was a first-round exit against the Rochester Grizzlies.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_04: And it was a weird three-game series.
• 43:02
  SPEAKER_04: The first game was at Marathon Park, and Rochester stole a game in a very odd fashion.
• 43:07
  SPEAKER_04: They only had 24 shots on goal.
• 43:08
  SPEAKER_04: Cyclones had 50, but it was a 3-2 overtime loss.
• 43:13
  SPEAKER_04: Cyclones stole the next game up at the Rochester Rec Center 5-2, but then the Grizzlies came back into the Marathon Park and stole another one to secure the series 5-1.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_04: And I was talking with our director of business ops in the previous segment, Zach Surway, about just playoff history in general, and he made it pretty clear that Rochester's been the primary team that's ended playoff hopes over the last few years.
• 43:35
  SPEAKER_04: So as we wrap up the conversation around dialing in for this playoff series for all of you guys, but you know, even more specifically, like for you, Truman, who's aging out, how much of an extra jump does it give you that you're trying to get a huge upset against a team that's ended your playoff hopes in the past?
• 43:53
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I mean, it's huge.
• 43:54
  SPEAKER_03: Like coming back against that team last year after that series, it was a hard fought battle to the very end.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_03: And and it does give that extra motivation um in your game.
• 44:05
  SPEAKER_03: And hearing those guys all game talking about, oh, we ended your season, we're gonna do it again.
• 44:09
  SPEAKER_03: Like that does nothing but motivate us um even harder.
• 44:13
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that that extra jump is gonna give us an an advantage in this series.
• 44:22
  SPEAKER_04: Well, it's exciting to think about how you guys are gonna be able to come in and try to play the best hockey you can.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_04: I've seen it, I've seen you guys dominate Rochester.
• 44:32
  SPEAKER_04: It's a tight competitive series that we're gearing up for, and I'm looking forward to it.
• 44:37
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, I know I've told you guys it's off the air, but I'm coming on the trip, which is gonna be super fun.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_04: Calling the games on a YouTube live stream that uh all the all the home fans, all the people that don't want to hear the roch broadcaster, all they can all listen to that and it should be should be a good time.
• 44:54
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah, we're gearing up for an exciting playoff series this weekend.
• 44:58
  SPEAKER_04: And like, I mean, we've talked about it all on this segment, but it seems like there's just uh a known common mindset within the locker room that you guys know what you need to do to take care of this team and move on to the next round.
• 45:10
  SPEAKER_04: That's pretty much all I got for you guys as we gear up for getting ready for this weekend.
• 45:14
  SPEAKER_04: You guys have any final thoughts, anything you want to say before we close things out?
• 45:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I would just say we're uh looking forward to the weekend and obviously our home game on Saturday, so hoping you know we can sell that out and get some loud fans in the building and put on a show.
• 45:30
  SPEAKER_04: Alrighty.
• 45:31
  SPEAKER_04: Well, we are getting ready for some exciting playoff hockey this coming weekend.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_04: Friday, 7 o'clock at Rochester, Saturday, 710 at Marathon Park with a rally towel giveaway.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_04: Get your tickets early at wassacyclones.com slash playoffs.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_04: That way we don't have to turn you away at the door.
• 45:48
  SPEAKER_04: It's gonna be a packed house, it's gonna be a playoff environment, and we're absolutely pumped for it, gearing up for some exciting hockey this coming weekend.
• 45:55
  SPEAKER_04: That's gonna do it for this segment.
• 45:57
  SPEAKER_04: Davis, Truman, Aaron, thanks so much for joining me live on the pod this week.
• 46:01
  SPEAKER_04: First time we've had multiple guys on an interview.
• 46:04
  SPEAKER_04: It was great to chat with all you guys about what we got coming up this weekend.
• 46:07
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna kick, gonna kick it to break here on the Inside Cyclones Hockey Podcast, and we'll return shortly with an interview with Assistant Head Coach of the WASA Cyclones, Luke Meyer.
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• 47:14
  SPEAKER_04: All right, welcome back to the Inside Cyclones Hockey Podcast, everybody.
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_04: Appreciate taking the time to hear a quick word from some of our sponsors.
• 47:23
  SPEAKER_04: And also want to give one more huge thank you to Davis Palifka, Truman Zurce, and Aaron Nail for taking the time to hop on me on this week hop on with me on this week's episode of the pod.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_04: Great to hear their insight, their thoughts on gearing up for this weekend's first round of the divisional round of the playoffs.
• 47:40
  SPEAKER_04: And on that topic, we've got another awesome interview on this week's episode of the pod, continuing to talk playoffs and get as much insight as we can as we gear up for this weekend series, but it's not a player view player interview this time.
• 47:52
  SPEAKER_04: Instead, we've got assistant coach of the Wasa Cyclones, Luke Meyer, joining us to talk all things Rochester versus Wassa as we look ahead to the playoffs this coming weekend.
• 48:02
  SPEAKER_04: Thanks for joining me here, Luke.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_05: Not a problem.
• 48:05
  SPEAKER_05: It's a pleasure to be here.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_04: All right.
• 48:07
  SPEAKER_04: So before we dive specifically into playoff talk, I wanted to get your thoughts just bigger picture because now the regular season's wrapped up.
• 48:15
  SPEAKER_04: All 47 games are in the past.
• 48:17
  SPEAKER_04: 27-19-1-0 was the final line.
• 48:20
  SPEAKER_04: 55 points, outright third place in the division, which gives you the three seed in the playoffs.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_04: From your perspective, standing up on the bench, watching the team for all 47 games this year, and considering you also have a lot of experience coaching the team over the last few years, what did you like about this year, this team, and what you guys were able to accomplish within your division?
• 48:41
  SPEAKER_05: Uh this team, this team's been great.
• 48:43
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, the locker room's been fun.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_05: These these guys are fun to be around, and I think that helps just on a camaraderie scale.
• 48:51
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, it's huge for a team.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_05: Um third in the division, you know it's not where we wanted to finish, but it is what it is at this point.
• 49:00
  SPEAKER_05: We play the games in the playoffs, and we'll see what happens.
• 49:03
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, this team has proven that it can play with the best teams in the league, and it's proven that it can struggle at times.
• 49:10
  SPEAKER_05: So it's just finding that balance, finding that team that that will show up and compete every night, and and we know what's in that locker room, and we're looking for two wins this weekend.
• 49:22
  SPEAKER_04: And it's an exciting series to prepare for Cyclones and the Grizzlies facing off in the first round of the Central Division playoffs, the one in the four-seed play and then the two in the three-seed play.
• 49:33
  SPEAKER_04: Rochester is the two seed, WASA's the three-seed.
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_04: Uh West Bend and St.
• 49:39
  SPEAKER_04: Louis will play for the other side of the divisional round as well.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_04: But uh, from a coaching perspective, Luke, about as knotted up as you could possibly be with another team in your season series with Rochester this year.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_04: You split four and four, four wins, four losses.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_04: You won two games in their barn and lost two games in their barn.
• 49:59
  SPEAKER_04: You got beat in your barn twice, but you also won two in your barn.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_04: Like I said, it's about as close as you could possibly get.
• 50:06
  SPEAKER_04: What about this competition and just how close these games have been excites you for what the team can potentially do and how can how they can potentially accomplish two big wins this weekend?
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, this this series is gonna be it should be pretty tight.
• 50:23
  SPEAKER_05: I mean, four games for each, and it's it's been close for five of the eight games, I believe, and it comes down to mistakes.
• 50:33
  SPEAKER_05: It's the team that makes the less less mistakes or the is the team that's gonna win.
• 50:38
  SPEAKER_05: Um you know the competition, it's gonna be tough, it's gonna be hard.
• 50:43
  SPEAKER_05: We know Rochester likes to play fast, they like to play in your face, and we need to have that pushback like we had on, I think it was the 28th of February, where we kind of took it to them a little bit more physically, and we kind of played we played our game the way we want to.
• 50:57
  SPEAKER_05: So it's it's gonna be the team that comes out and competes for 60 minutes, and who makes the least amount of mistakes is gonna win the series.
• 51:06
  SPEAKER_04: So, speaking of that game that you're referencing, I actually wanted to bring that game up because it has the potential to reflect itself because you have an opportunity to win two out of the three games.
• 51:21
  SPEAKER_04: You can, you know, you can this obviously isn't the most ideal thing to happen, but you can long term when you look back, you can lose one, but still correct mistakes and get on the right track and get out of the series in a w with a win to move on.
• 51:35
  SPEAKER_04: So it was February 27th and February 28th when you guys wrapped up the regular season against Rochester.
• 51:40
  SPEAKER_04: They came into Wassa first night at Marathon Park, and a lot of the players put it in a they put it in a good comparison, like a good phrase that I'm gonna echo.
• 51:52
  SPEAKER_04: They were like, We got we got bullied on our own rink.
• 51:54
  SPEAKER_04: We got beat up hard.
• 51:56
  SPEAKER_04: That was a 4-1 loss to your point just a second ago, second of the two-game series of the weekend.
• 52:02
  SPEAKER_04: You guys come back the next day and you completely flip the narrative.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_04: You beat them 5-2.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_04: It's a comfortable game, you're leading the whole time.
• 52:09
  SPEAKER_04: From a coaching perspective, what was the change from you and Oistie in between Friday's loss and Saturday's win?
• 52:18
  SPEAKER_04: What were you able to say to the team?
• 52:20
  SPEAKER_04: What were you able to preach that allowed them to go out and play so much better the next day?
• 52:24
  SPEAKER_04: And how do you see that translating to a potentially similar situation this coming weekend in the playoffs?
• 52:32
  SPEAKER_05: Uh after that game, we had a we had a good conversation in the locker room.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_05: Uh, we we opened the floor up to the players to kind of see, just kind of let them talk about what they're seeing on the ice, what they can improve on.
• 52:45
  SPEAKER_05: Because our message hasn't changed all year.
• 52:47
  SPEAKER_05: It's competing, it's being prepared when the puck drops.
• 52:52
  SPEAKER_05: Um, so we let the floor open to the players and they kind of let some things off their chest.
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_05: And ever since then, I think we've turned a corner, we haven't lost since, I believe.
• 53:02
  SPEAKER_05: And you know, that's that's the team we want to be.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_05: We we let the players dictate what they wanted to in the locker room, and after that, things have been good.
• 53:15
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and that that is accurate.
• 53:17
  SPEAKER_04: You guys haven't lost since you got that win against Rochester, and then you rode out the rest of the season in the win column.
• 53:25
  SPEAKER_04: I did want to briefly talk a little bit about this last weekend because obviously you guys you guys won both games.
• 53:31
  SPEAKER_04: You came out on top, and that's all that matters at the end of the day.
• 53:34
  SPEAKER_04: Finishing the game, finishing on top, and finding scoring scoring opportunities.
• 53:39
  SPEAKER_04: But from my perspective, it seems like the way that those two games went against the Mustangs, you'd want a few of those goals back, letting a few short-handed goals get in, a few broken plays in the neutral zone.
• 53:52
  SPEAKER_04: With those types of things happening, how do you approach that from a coaching perspective and try to preach getting rid of those type of types of mistakes when you enter into essentially win or go home scenarios with the playoffs starting this coming weekend?
• 54:10
  SPEAKER_05: It's it's all a mentality, it's all it's all right up here for the players.
• 54:15
  SPEAKER_05: It's it's showing up ready to work every day.
• 54:17
  SPEAKER_05: It's for the coaches, it's coming in being light, being being fun, being energetic.
• 54:23
  SPEAKER_05: You know, there's we don't want to put pressure on these guys.
• 54:27
  SPEAKER_05: Um, but last weekend, I think we got off to some slow starts.
• 54:31
  SPEAKER_05: Um, I think we didn't assume Peoria was going to come in and play as hard as I did.
• 54:36
  SPEAKER_05: Credit to them.
• 54:37
  SPEAKER_05: They played really well.
• 54:38
  SPEAKER_05: They didn't give up, they didn't take the weekend off.
• 54:41
  SPEAKER_05: They came in and played two hard games.
• 54:42
  SPEAKER_05: Credit to our guys for battling back.
• 54:45
  SPEAKER_05: I think we were down two goals after the first period in both games.
• 54:49
  SPEAKER_05: So I think this team has the mentality to be great when they should when they want to be, and we're gonna need that coming up in this series.
• 55:01
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
• 55:02
  SPEAKER_04: And you know, I was talking with, I told you I had a few of the guys on for another interview segment this week, and I was talking with them about similar, but a similar question in that even though you guys were able to get both wins and you played hard and you finished the game strong, there were avenues of the games that you can tweak and find corrections in.
• 55:21
  SPEAKER_04: And they phrased it really well in that they talked about how it was an opportunity for everybody to learn from mistakes in the now that are relevant that are gonna potentially need to be fixed by next week, and you were able to do it while still winning, securing the three seed, and adequately preparing for the playoffs.
• 55:41
  SPEAKER_04: So it's exciting to think about you know how you guys are gonna be able to take the three-game win streak you have and hopefully ride it into the postseason, which is uh super exciting.
• 55:50
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, another thing I wanted to ask you, uh the guys I interviewed earlier today, they were talking about uh just the competitive atmosphere up in Rochester, how a lot of fans pack it into that rank, and it's it's a tough, it's a tough crowd to play against, but a lot of the guys were pretty transparent with me in the sense that they said they actually really enjoy going up to that rank and playing against a big crowd that's playing against them because it kind of lights a fire under them a little bit, it motivates them a little bit more.
• 56:16
  SPEAKER_04: So, from your perspective, what's it like for these players to get to play in a building with a ton of fans that are pretty much all rooting against them?
• 56:24
  SPEAKER_04: Do you see that as a way for the team to be even more motivated and come out with even more of a punch early on in the game?
• 56:31
  SPEAKER_05: Yeah, it's gonna be great.
• 56:32
  SPEAKER_05: It that place is it's a fun place to play.
• 56:35
  SPEAKER_05: It's it's a hard place to play, but winning in arenas like that, there's nothing better than going in into a tough arena with a bunch of fans cheering against you and and kind of sticking it to them.
• 56:47
  SPEAKER_05: We felt that early in the season where we beat them on the road, and that's that's a great kind of push for us, a motivator for us to play hard, play well.
• 57:00
  SPEAKER_05: Um, there's nothing better than winning on the road.
• 57:03
  SPEAKER_05: And when when you do that, it's it's a great feeling.
• 57:07
  SPEAKER_05: And they came into our rank last year in the playoffs, game one beat us in overtime, so we have a little bit of revenge to take out on them uh game one on Friday night.
• 57:17
  SPEAKER_04: So I'm glad you brought that up.
• 57:19
  SPEAKER_04: That's gonna be the last question I got for you is looking back in the history books, most recently, like you mentioned last year, you guys were first round exits by the hand of the Grizzlies.
• 57:33
  SPEAKER_04: And it looks like some games and some moments that you want back, you know.
• 57:38
  SPEAKER_04: You guys had 50 shots on goal, Rochester had 24, but they were able to squeak out a win in overtime at Marathon Park, and then you guys go up and beat them at the rec center, but then they come back and they get that third win.
• 57:51
  SPEAKER_04: So just thinking about the history of it and the competition this year and the fact that they knocked you out last year, and I believe they've knocked you out in past years as well.
• 58:00
  SPEAKER_04: How much of a little extra juice do you think that gives you guys as a coaching staff, the players out on the ice, in that there's a little bit of a vendetta and a sense of revenge that you guys are trying to accomplish against Rochester?
• 58:14
  SPEAKER_05: Uh it's gonna be a war this weekend.
• 58:16
  SPEAKER_05: It's we're we're coming, we're coming to to win two games.
• 58:20
  SPEAKER_05: That's all that matters.
• 58:21
  SPEAKER_05: It doesn't matter how we do it, it doesn't matter what the score is.
• 58:24
  SPEAKER_05: It could be one-nothing, it could be seven to one.
• 58:27
  SPEAKER_05: It it doesn't matter.
• 58:28
  SPEAKER_05: We're we're coming in with our axes shined up and sharpened, and we're gonna we're gonna take it to them.
• 58:34
  SPEAKER_05: We're we're coming to win.
• 58:36
  SPEAKER_05: We we want game one.
• 58:37
  SPEAKER_05: Game one's so important in a best of three series.
• 58:40
  SPEAKER_05: We found that out last year with losing game one.
• 58:43
  SPEAKER_05: We had to put everything on the line in game two, and I think we just ran out of gas in game three.
• 58:48
  SPEAKER_05: So game one is so important to to at least compete and try and get that win, and then we'll see what happens Saturday night in our barn.
• 58:57
  SPEAKER_04: And it's very exciting to look forward to it.
• 59:00
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, we've mentioned it many a time on this week's podcast, but I'll rattle it off again real quick.
• 59:05
  SPEAKER_04: Friday at the Rochester Recreation Center.
• 59:08
  SPEAKER_04: It's a seven o'clock p.m.
• 59:09
  SPEAKER_04: puck drop.
• 59:10
  SPEAKER_04: You can watch that on NATV.
• 59:12
  SPEAKER_04: Saturday at Marathon Park.
• 59:15
  SPEAKER_04: Get your tickets at wassacyclines.com slash playoffs, seven ten puck drop.
• 59:19
  SPEAKER_04: And then if a set if a Sunday game happens, it'll be at the Rochester Recreation Center at one o'clock PM.
• 59:28
  SPEAKER_04: Luke, thanks so much for joining me.
• 59:29
  SPEAKER_04: I'll be joining you guys on the road trip this weekend.
• 59:32
  SPEAKER_04: So I'm super excited to go up to Roch, get to call the game from an away standpoint.
• 59:37
  SPEAKER_04: I'm excited to see you guys hopefully steal game one and uh best of luck to you and the rest of the week prepping and getting ready for a marquee playoff series.
• 59:45
  SPEAKER_04: Awesome.
• 59:46
  SPEAKER_04: Thanks a lot, Mark.
• 59:47
  SPEAKER_04: We'll see you Friday.
• 59:48
  SPEAKER_04: Absolutely.
• 59:49
  SPEAKER_04: All right, we're gonna kick it to another quick break here on the Inside Cyclones hockey podcast.
• 59:52
  SPEAKER_04: We'll return in just a moment.
• 59:54
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• 1:00:25
  SPEAKER_04: And as always, go clones!