Latest / College Hockey Mouth / Episode 15: Nina Molina | Clemson Hockey

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Episode 15: Nina Molina | Clemson Hockey · College Hockey Mouth

• College Hockey South: Welcome back everybody to College Hockey Mouth episode fifteen. And the first time we're returning after a weekend off. Happy Thanksgiving to everybody wherever you celebrated. Devin Sarah, rejoined by Danny Bohm and our producer Gavin Coker, the original trio. Fellas, how was your Thanksgiving weekend? Did you guys have fun with family or did you guys travel around? What would you what you had going on? ⁓ pretty pretty low key Thanksgiving. My family is a little bit of like a non traditional type. ⁓ like half the table are vegetarians and then the other half realized like three, four years ago, like no one eats the turkey. We just end up throwing up a throwing out a bunch of turkey, so why not just like what we want? So I had a bunch of steaks and I made the steaks, they were fantastic, you know, not a big deal. And made ⁓ some crab cakes, not Maryland style, but Definitely better than anything you'll get down here in the southeast. If anyone from the mid Atlantic knows if you're gonna get seafood down here in the southeast or if if it says like Maryland crab cakes on a menu down here, run for Z Hills, all right? Two words, food poisoning. Do not eat those. Do not order those. ⁓ yeah, so it was pretty good. But then next day I saw Texas takedown of the old sad university from ⁓ college station. That that was yummy. And ⁓ then, you know, I I Gotta ⁓ end the charade here. ⁓ I've gone this entire time asking our guest who's currently in the studio to come on the podcast without telling her that I'm a proud South Carolina game cock. ⁓ I saw the face she she just made. And after the ongoings of what happened over the weekend, I wanted to cancel this episode. 'Cause I like a few weeks out, I I saw I saw how it was lining up and I was like, This could be good. This could be really good. And then yeah, that happened and Yeah, definitely definitely wasn't looking forward to having a a Clemson person on, but ⁓ as a true game cock, I I have integrity and I will, you know, I'll I'll ⁓ eat my crow here and you know and speaking of integrity, we didn't have like much of any content come out last week. So the only interaction I had with our head of social media, Kelly Kilbart, was I was I was basically just sending her incendiary about the game. See, we're we're already letting it rip. ⁓ about Clemson. Just like the most vile stuff about Clemson. And kids, she did something that you should probably learn how to, and that just turned the other cheek. She didn't send anything back, which definitely took a lot of steam out of me. So but yeah, that sucked, man. Four and eight. Four and eight? We were ranked twelfth at the start of the year. That's embarrassing. Go ahead, Gavin. Yeah, ⁓ my Thanksgiving was good. Sister came home from USF. I mean, which isn't too far from Lakeland. So just had a Good time with family, my fiance. I miss hockey, you know. They have NFL football, but ever since I started watching hockey, it just doesn't feel the same. I don't care about Green Bay and the Lions. That game's whatever. But we're not gonna talk about it, Devin. I'll let you talk about it because Jordan Love is ⁓ the next coming. But anyways, that's all I'll say about that. But yeah, I just missed hockey and then just a good weekend. Got the Christmas tree. I have one back here. This is a fake one, but we have a real one out in the living room. So I'm ready for Christmas. It's in full swing once you eat turkey. So not only did the Lions lose, but all of Detroit sports across the board ate a pancake because the Pistons, who were on like a thirteen game win streak, I think they tied a franchise record, lost to the Magic. The Wings lose back to backs to Nashville and then Boston. And then the Lions game, I thought they were gonna find a way to overcome the refs and the Packers. But you know the saying, Detroit versus everybody. It is what it is. We kind of like being the underdog, so I'm not too upset. If anything, I feel right at home. All is right in the world. The Lions losing on Thanksgiving. I've seen it my whole life. So it's not the worst. Right. You know, other than that, it was awesome weekend. Went out to my friend's cabin in northern Michigan. Got to see family throughout the week and ⁓ was feeling under the weather on my flight back, guys. I had a Two hour delay getting off my flight as another plane was stuck at the gate I was supposed to land at. And then Fort Lauderdale, they don't have the best deplaning situation because it took them an hour to get me my luggage that was a checked bag. One suitcase, by the way. So not a great travel week of sickness that I'm now overcoming. I can't even know if you I don't even know if you can tell in my voice, but hopefully not too much. We can. Great. All right. Well, I hope people enjoy that. I'll make sure I keep this short. Fun weekend, much needed to get back home and see people. But enough about us. We have another special guest in our return. She is a member of the Clemson's woman team and right now one of the hottest players around the conference. Tied for first with goals, assists, and holds the sole spot with points. Thirty seven. Please welcome senior forward Nina Molina. Welcome to the pod, Nina. Thank you guys for having me on. Yeah, so glad to have you. This Took us a little bit of time. We had some rescheduling going on and we're so glad to have you here. And of course, to Danny's chagrin, a Clemson Tiger, proud and true, a fun place to be, a fun school, fun environment, and you guys have a fun team. We'll get to you guys and your squad a little later, but just about you. Tell us a little bit about your your journey. Spent time in Michigan, moved to North New Jersey, were telling us off air. So just tell us about your journey growing up and and playing hockey. So I started when I was five. ⁓ grew up in Michigan, played boys till I was twelve, played one year of girls there, then moved to New Jersey and I played for the Colonials. And then my sophomore year of high school, I decided to go to boarding school. So I reclassed and went to Lawrenceville. You probably don't know what that is, but went there. I was gonna play at Trinity and then I got injured, so things kinda just didn't work out. Technically I still need another surgery. So I decided I could play club though. So went south, changed the environment, and that's where I am today. You know, you know, tell us about that. Like you don't always see that. I don't know if people are familiar, the younger ranks, kind of that co ed style of play. What did you learn at that level that attributes now like you are a dynamite forward for that Clemson squad? So, you know, was it tougher playing against the boys than the you know the girls and and what was that like? I think at that age I kind of didn't recognize the difference. But it definitely taught me hockey IQ because I was a lot smaller than everyone else. I mean I'm I'm still small. So I think it definitely made me develop a strong hockey IQ and know how to move around the ice quickly without getting hit. Yeah, that's a that's a a different style of game, you know, transitioning from playing men's where checking is allowed to women's where you kind of have to learn how to angle your You know, your opponent off can't really throw a check per se. How has that affected you? Or is that so long ago that you don't really have I don't think it has. Yeah. I never was super I'll say I I I'm aggressive, but not in the sense of like hitting people. That was never my style of play. It's more smart. I gotcha. So your your eventual move to New Jersey, I I'm sure that was a lot to take in, just you know, preteen days. Like what was it going from Michigan to New Jersey and eventually Finding yourself playing at Lawrenceville. ⁓ I think it was honestly it was a smooth transition. I was definitely nervous at first because I didn't know how hockey was in New Jersey, but it was pretty equal in the level of play. So it wasn't too tough for me to transition. And then it was nice because my first year at the Colonials we still played boys' teams. We played boys and girls. So I kind of got familiar with just like what I already knew. And then going to boarding school, that's a whole different lifestyle. Obviously. But I got recruited to go there, so I was like I might as well give it a chance. One thing you mentioned ⁓ I asked you before the podcast, ⁓ you know, some of your favorite hockey memories. One thing you mentioned is ⁓ getting an invite to national camp. Yes. You wanna ⁓ tell that story a little bit and ⁓ you know why it still sticks with you? Yeah. ⁓ so we have tryouts for our district and then you make it to district camp. And from district camp, I think so long ago, I think there was maybe Two or three girls from our district that made it to national camp. And then obviously at national camp that was awesome experience. It's like the best girls in the country all playing together. And from there you could get chosen to go to the eighteen you camp and make it that far. But I don't none of no one in our district did. No, I mean that that's a super cool, you know, not to have in your belt for sure. Yeah, yeah. It was awesome. So when you're going through this this movement Lawrenceville, the national camps, like are there any players that you ⁓ got linked with and eventually found yourself ⁓ playing against or do you know anybody that went on to play, let's say those some of those national teams and maybe even like the P dub? There's one girl that I grew up kind of playing against, Haley Wynne. If you ever heard of her? She was awesome. I mean, played on the national team, went to Clarkston. So good. She was awesome. But I think just her and then I obviously have friends that went deep and you talked about getting recruited by Lawrenceville, but what made you decide to go there? I think that it was the academics of it too. My parents really pushed me for it. They're like top ten in the country for academics. So they kinda knew that if I went there, even if hockey didn't work out, like I would be in a good place for college. So you eventually think about college, right? Why Clemson? You know, why do you have to go to Danny's rival school? What's the appeal there? And we we have gotta acknowledge it. We have gotta acknowledge it. It's awesome. It's really it's a crazy story. So I was getting recruited to go D one when the portal opened. And then I found out I tore my labrum and my hip. Got the surgery. I was out for seven months. It didn't feel better after the surgery. So I kinda just thought, Okay, I'll go I think D three is more attainable. I was committed to Trinity. It was during COVID. all of that stuff going on. Mm-hmm. If I'm being honest, schools in the North were a little bit more strict, obviously. So I just randomly applied to Clemson and I was like, all right, that's where I'm going. Yeah. I've as someone that was at South Carolina during the pandemic, I I know that schools in the North were were more yeah strict. So that's really what made me decide to go to Clemson. I applied to Clemson on a whim. I mean I applied when I was already committed to go somewhere else. I just applied for So did you like go on a visit or anything like that or no, you you just did you just just spontaneously chose Cornwall? My academic advisor was like you should just apply to a few fun schools, like apply to one in the South, apply to Michigan. So this is like Claire Carson esque, you know, mentality here. You don't know d next to nothing, right? And you just take it on a whim like that it had to have been like an instinct, right? Yeah. I it was it was in August. Like I was I mean basically all I'm hearing is is that Clemson is a better school than South Carolina. She said it was a more fun school and Okay. Okay, okay. I think so. I think so. Well, here we go. I mean, what are the best parts? Like like let's let's compare apples to oranges here. Like what's really the appeal here? Okay. The bars. It's safe for football, clearly. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. We're not doing this. I don't like Columbia as a whole. So maybe I'm biased. I've been there a few times. I just don't like it. If Columbia's not a a few times experience. You gotta you gotta dig your heels in and really just like you I think you need a few weeks. You might need a few weeks, but no no no. So I've I've been I've been to Clemson a couple of times. And it's definitely got like the classic college town vibe. Like if you're going to Clemson, South Carolina, not talking about the university, you're going there for the university. Right? Like you could go to Columbia because it is the state capital. You could go to Columbia just ⁓ you know, do whatever. You don't have to necessarily be visiting s ⁓ someone in South Carolina or just going to football games. So I can see how some people might prefer Clemson. Yeah, I like that it's a college town. If I wanted to have something that was in a city, I could do that in the north. That's true. Yeah, okay. Yeah, I mean I feel like the only one that in the north that's a college town is Penn State. Yeah, definitely, ⁓ definitely ⁓ you probably get a better city atmosphere in the north. But ⁓ so you end up at at Clemson and they don't have a a hockey team the first three years you're there. So did you were you just on the shelf this whole time or did you find ways to to, you know, get that hockey fix? Were you playing in a league or anything like that? No. I'm straight off the shelf. Yeah. I've skated probably like twice a year with my younger brother. I mean, that's a pretty amazing footnote. To ⁓ this ⁓ early start for you with all these. So we're you're telling us that you go from like being virtually done, like three years almost, and then you're just like, Yeah, I'll play and you immediately get like what are you on now, three or four hat tricks? Holy cow. Possibly. I don't know. Honestly, I I haven't kept track. But yeah, I really I played golf. Like I didn't continue playing hockey, just skating around once in a while. I feel like it's like riding a bike though. You skate once and you're kind of back. The endurance is not back, but Yeah, yeah. But you you mentioned you had the the hip injury though. So like it's one thing to just like hop on the bike and start riding, but if you know, if there's a integral part of the bike riding that's injured, I feel like that can be a little bit of an issue, right? Yeah. I mean, okay. At first it definitely hurt during the games, but I skated with the injury my senior year as well at Lawrenceville. So it kinda I'm used to it. I think. So y you mentioned the golf instructing too. ⁓ it sounds like you're tough as nails here. Like how good at golf are you? Like what's give us like your your ⁓ comparison to hockey. Like are you a better golfer than a hockey player? No, definitely not. Definitely not. Definitely not. I shoot in like the low eighties. Spectacle. Yeah, I'm all right. I can't putt to save my life though. Well that's that that makes two of us. Yeah, that's where it goes wrong for me. Actually I think also I'm a lefty in hockey. Me too. And I'm a righty in golf. That's interesting now. Okay. So so you're you're swinging top hand ⁓ top hand is left down, correct? And you're shooting the puck opposite that way. Okay, wow. Yeah. I've heard that a few instances. Does that translate to your game at all? Like your your hip movement or just the side there's so many more details in golf, obviously, but ⁓ you know, what's the comparison? Honestly I don't think so. I've been playing golf for a while too, but it was always recreational, like for for fun. I really picked it up once I quit hockey. What was the ⁓ the last round you played? I haven't played since the summer. I think I shot in eighty three. Go ahead. Eighty f I was gonna play over the weekend because the winter prices are are much better. Amazing. Like a a couple of days before I tweaked something to my neck and I was just like I just so I didn't get to go out there and shoot a one ten and and and ⁓ you'd push back the pace of play for all the groups behind me. I can see Danny calling the pro shop. He's like, Hey, what's the ⁓ course record? ⁓ okay. Exactly. I shot a one forty. And then I I four putt on the on on the first hole and I can't say anything, I don't golf, so Danny's the type of guy that's gotta use the sand wedge almost every single what do you call it, mid drive instead of irons. I'm really making fun of myself because that's how I play golf. I I play with graphite clubs, but you know, that that's that's regardless. I feel like an old man when I golf. You so getting back to the hockey scene, right? So you come in technically first year, but you're already part of that leadership crew with Clemson, vice president. So how involved were you in putting the team together and what was that process like? I was there. I was probably one of the first five players to say that we would do it, but I tried to attract a few girls. Other than that, honestly, it was all Jenna. She was great. She set up the whole thing. Because I I'm a senior. I was like, I'm not gonna start a hockey team and like it not really get off the ground if that's what I'm gonna do. I really didn't think we had that many girls that played hockey here. I I I'll I'll just add something. It it was towards the end of last season that it wasn't really like you guys weren't getting the the kind of traction you wanted. To get the amount of players for the beginning of next season. Yeah. So there were there there were definitely some question marks for, you know, if you guys would have enough players to field a team. And our very first episode of this podcast, we were previewing your series against Tennessee. And I remember us like th the way we were talking about your team, we were like, hey, you know, it's their first series, you know, don't worry about the result necessarily. And then we see the first score posted. We were like, What is going on? What Who do they have on this team? Yeah, we have some really good players, honestly. Obviously, yeah. Yeah, one of ⁓ a girl I played with growing up, she's on the team. She played for Colonials as well. So I've known her. We have a few other good players too. Yeah, and obviously that led to a six and no record and you guys outscoring teams seventy one to five. Dan just mentioned that first score. ⁓ but do you guys feel like winning that much are you Do you guys like winning by that much or are you looking for some more stiff competition maybe in the second semester as a team? I think I'm excited to play some teams that are better. For sure. Like a Tampa or USF. That will bring out the competitive drive in me. I haven't really reached that point yet. It's more it's been more for fun. Like, ⁓ we go out there and we win by X amount. It's just been skating around having fun. When we play someone with more competition, I think it'll be Well, if this hasn't brought out the competitive drive in you and you're putting up Patrick's, I'm I'm scared to see w w what happens when you do play Tampa or we do see Bama, USF. Yeah, so okay, I'm I'm gonna read off your rap sheet a little bit. If you want to call it a rap sheet through the first semester here. First star of the week and week one and eight, second star of September and first star of October. I I guess you had a bad November. I actually don't think they played any games, but ⁓ it's the only reason why she wasn't one of the stars. ⁓ did you expect to have this ⁓ kind of success the first semester? ⁓ and you mentioned that, you know, it's been a few years since since you played ⁓ in organized team hockey. So did you do you expect to kind of pop off this way? I wanna say no, but also I wanted to push myself to like get there to back to how I w used to skate and back to how I used to play. So I guess kind of. I expect a lot out of myself, even if it is we're just playing club. I still am gonna try to put my best foot forward always. Well, I I definitely think that that's been the case. One thing I have to I have to say, I and I mentioned this another thing I mentioned on our very first episode, something that's coming up in the first few weeks of next semester. Very first time ever, South Carolina versus Clemson women's hockey. Is that has that been marked on on your calendar? It has. We've talked about it a bit. Yeah, that I've been excited for it. I'm I'm excited to see what that looks like. Yeah, they're a good team too, right? Well yeah, definitely. They've got ⁓ I think they they've lost a a couple of players, but ⁓ you know, they've got a a pretty full roster now. You know, they've had for what like whatever circumstances, ⁓ you know, players miss weekends against better teams and they you know, they don't get the results they want. But ⁓ yeah, they're pretty solid for sure. Yeah, I think that's our issue. We're a little short on the bench. Nina, I I don't know if it's just me, but I I could feel you like scheming like, okay, I'm trying to get a feel for where this team is so that you're battle ready. And you're gonna take I'm not gonna give you a scouting report. I am I am a game cock, all right. I already lift them up, don't worry. I was just seeing if you're gonna be honest. Every player's past week, every pa player past players, month, year, you name it. ⁓ man. Honestly, like, can you tell us any like good road stories you've had where like you've been on the trip with this Clemson team or elsewhere? I don't have any good stories. Not that I can remember off the top of my head. I haven't played in like six years, so Six years? Is that an exaggeration? No. An actual six years? Maybe maybe. Like five. Cause my senior season I I was kind of out. And we didn't play that often because of COVID. Devin, we're dealing with Clemson Math here. So you gotta bear with her a little bit. No, you're good. ⁓ I do have a good story actually. Just came back to me. So at Lawrenceville. ⁓ On the road, we would make each player do a dance that was new before the game in front of everyone. And my first game at Lawrenceville, I'm pretty sure that's when I tore my labrum was during my dance. ⁓ my god, what was it? What'd you do? I did the splits. So probably not the smartest idea. Not the smartest idea, but I I thought I had to go all out. I didn't want to embarrass myself. I wanted it to be a good dance. So I did the split cartwheel into the splits. ⁓ And that was when my hips started acting up, so I did it to myself. Okay. Devin, Gavin, prepare your answers. If we start to implement this this ⁓ this new ritual before the next podcast, you have to do a dance. What would it be? Well that's a that's a tough one. I don't I don't know. I can't dance like I and I have no rhythm, so that that wasn't the question. Well that's the answer. I know that wasn't the question, but that's the answer right there. I have no rhythm, so you're not seeing me dance. I'll I'll produce every episode and never talk again on the podcast. If I can get out of you can't do a cartwheel in the I can do a cartwheel, but I can't do the splits. I can do a cartwheel. Devin's deep pondering. So so look, ⁓ I may or may not have a double life where I've been asked to perform on stage in front of an entire well, I guess you can call it class, high school class. ⁓ and I've also been in a lot of circles. ⁓ On stages. Not stages, on the dance floor. So if I had to pick one to do for the pod, that's semi good. I mean the Macarena. See you could have said something like that, Gavin. You could have said the YMCA. That's easy. Okay. If we're talking like that, I'm pulling out the Cha Cha slide. That's what I'm talking about. I don't know how to move the Cupid. ⁓ the Cupid Shuffle? I could I could pull the Cupid Shuffle out. Absolutely. I didn't know we were talking that easy. Nina went to went to difficult level ten for hers and and it cost her dearly. Yeah. We had to choreograph the dance. You couldn't just do a dance that was already made. Maybe we have to we have to switch the fantasy punishment. Choreograph dance on the ice at at CHS Playoffs? No, I don't I don't think so. So N Nina, this might actually happen before one of your games, but we have ⁓ we have a CHS fantasy league with our With some of our interns and the ⁓ the punishment for whoever comes in last is they have to sing the national anthem before one of the playoff games in February. And the two girls that are duking it out for last are on the South Carolina women's team and the Tampa women's team. No. So they might be in uniform singing the national anthem. That'd be great. I know, right? Interesting. Wow, wow, we took a spin in this. I ⁓ we've been everywhere. Golf, ⁓ New Jersey, we've been to, you know, dance battles. You got some ideas for us, but we wanna ask you this, you know, do you have any players current or former that you're are your favorites nationally or ones you played with? My favorite player of all time is Pavel Datsuk. That's a great answer. I knew you're I knew you would like that. ⁓ yeah, I met him when I was younger. I just love him. Love the way he plays the game. Did he ⁓ like speak like fluent English and everything? He didn't say a word when I met him That's powerful. His secrets are kept. Is that why we you were ⁓ thirteen? Yeah. There you go. There you go. Talk about the same thing. Right. Right. What's your favorite Datsu goal or moment? That's tough. Definitely one of his shootout goals. Yeah. Datsuki. Yeah. Yeah, the the one he he he's done it a couple of times. He did it once in a game. I think it was the first time he did it in a game where he does that pull back forehand move. But that's like You have to like the the amount of work you have to do with your edges on that, insane. But my you didn't ask me, Devon, but you watch like the Datsuk highlight videos that can be like forty five minutes long, whatever, but I just go back and watch old highlights 'cause I'm a hockey nerd. And you'll pick a random Red Wings game and find the high or like find a just like a run of the mill play that's just like in the middle of the game and it's just like, How did he just do that? Like what That guy's not human. Like he's an alien. That's that's ridiculous. Yeah, I I'd say, like, I'm with you. It's hard to pick one moment, but I think the one where he dances around the San Jose defenders is my favorite because I think it's like the first clip I'll show anybody of like, what was Pavel Dad soup like? And I just like that was on a nightly basis. You know? Like you'd put you'd pull on a Red Wings game and like even the wings will be losing bad. Like he's still just yeah, hands of God. So that's awesome. Pavel Dadsook, I love that. Final thing I think we want to ask you with. What you know, with this being kind of a you know, long break for you guys, your program is still developing. What do you think is the goal for you as a player and your team as a program and where do you want to see Clemson at the end of the year and in the future? ⁓ for me personally, I think just scoring as many goals as I can, playing the best that I can. I don't know if you guys do like an ⁓ V P for the end of the year. Maybe that then. For Clemson. Winning all of our games so possibly we can get more funding from the school 'cause that's an issue for us. Just with us being in the South, it's not a big thing here. Starting, we didn't get a lot of funding. So we weren't able to play a lot of games. So hopefully just winning every every game so we can show the school that this is a good program, be able to play more games next year, travel more places, maybe establish ourselves so some girls get interested in playing, even if they're just coming here for fun. Yeah, love that. Yep, I think just bringing awareness is I mean, I had no idea that we were starting it. My friend is the one who told me about it. So like I I wouldn't even have known if she wasn't on the team. Shout out to your friend. Seriously. She's great too. Well, Nina, keep yourself healthy with the dance battles. Good luck in the golf scene, but especially good luck with your chase for ⁓ college hockey south women's MVP this year. And we look greatly look forward to seeing you and Clemson and all your success the rest of the year. Thank you guys. Thanks for having me on. Thanks so much again to Standout Talent, Nina Molina for coming on the pod and a great addition to that Clemson team that is rolling undefeated right now, six and ⁓ to start their campaign in the first semester. We got some stuff to get to, a very light last two weeks, considering everybody's starting sort of their break periods in ⁓ here in December. But the ⁓ two rankings came out and we got some movement among the three teams, two of them at least. Tampa stays at the number two spot where they have been all year so far. After splitting a series for a shootout win and then a loss to Farmingdale State, which we'll get to in the recap, but reasonable to see them stay here. The T S C HL, some of the teams in the Midwest, like Ohio State, Indiana, Ohio with some movement, so they go up and down and make up the bulk of the top ten. And considering that Tampa did pretty well against the Northeast number two team in Farmingdale State, I think they deserve to be where they're at. Yeah, absolutely. Just a little concerned about how or two other teams got shuffled down, you know, considering how they've done against the teams above them in the rankings. But I'm I'm sure there are other things to factor in and the way the computer calculates these things. I don't know. I'm a simpleton. When I see a one and one record against an opponent, I consider them pretty even. So when I see Florida, how many spots behind Tennessee and South Carolina, I don't know. That's just that's confusing me. Nevertheless, yeah, Tampa ⁓ seems like they just have ⁓ Yeah, they've cornered the market on that two spot behind Florida Gulf Coast. And yeah, yeah. Well that'll likely hold for a while now. Yeah, and we t and we talked about Tampa having a little bit of a rocky start coming into the season. You know, they go win a national championship. You kind of expected them to keep that pace going, but at the same time, there was a little bit of fall off, but it doesn't show in the standings currently. They got back on track, they got some big wins. And we mentioned the Farmingdale series, they get a win kind of over that. Team they played in nationals against so that kind of resubmitted them when we look at it in the northeast, Farmingdale's number two there. So good wins for Tampa that allow them to stay right behind FGCU. In simple terms, my take on Tampa or not Tampa, Florida Atlantic and Florida dropping spots is that you're seeing that strength of schedule start to take fold in the southeast. You're starting to see some of the teams that are playing top ranked teams among themselves start to make noise. ⁓ Ohio State just won the Chicago Classic out in a tournament among a couple of teams there in the likes of Indiana, Ohio, ⁓ a few others I'm forgetting, but them going undefeated and winning those games by large margins is helping their game performance score. That's why you see Ohio State all of a sudden jump to number six. And naturally with you know them moving up along with some other guys like Georgia and Tennessee, that causes those other teams to drop. Now Florida Is a weird one because they have a different record than their overall. They're six and seven in the standings, and then they're eight, six, zero, and one overall. And of course they are right now third in the division. So what this all boils down to is that they don't have really games going for them, not at least greatly strengthened schedule, but a matchup that we'll get to has a lot to do with where they placed. So that is your ⁓ two rankings. So and you know it You know what this sounds like? You know, we're recording on Wednesday. It sounds like the college football playoff discussion from Tuesday night. ⁓ so you can talk about strength of schedule for the Ohio States and the Indiana's. That's all fine and well. That's not necessarily what I'm I'm questioning. Florida has played both Tennessee and South Carolina. FAU has played Florida. FAU won all three games against Florida. And Florida split their games with South Carolina and Tennessee. I just don't underst like strength of schedule is one thing. But when you've played the teams and you have the head to head matchups, that's where you start to lose me a little bit, right? Because nothing the game isn't played on paper, it's played on ice. And we saw what happened on the ice. So look, ⁓ my opinion doesn't matter in these things, but I just have to know. This is our forum to talk about things and ⁓ gotta stick up for our teams, right? I I agree with you whole wholeheartedly. And you know, Florida, I guess we'll get to it now, ⁓ why they are where they are. I they Split with Tennessee, six to four win, which was awesome for them. But then they have an eleven to two final, and that goal differential really hurts them. considering that Tennessee right now is a top ten team with them. ⁓ so I think that's gonna play some factor in that. There's still a lot of games to go. They still have to play Tampa again, they still have to play Florida Atlantic one more time. So they have the opportunity, and what really matters is they have to stay within that top twenty to make the regional tournaments. At the end of the day, hopefully they can hold their spots and make themselves known. And, you know, as time goes on here, we're going to start to fade away a little bit from the M2 ranking talk just because we don't want to be redundant. But of course, we'll keep you updated if any changes do come about in the following episode. And by the time you see this, you might see some new M2 rankings. Speaking of new rankings, M3 is set to release theirs. We haven't got a release from this recording on Wednesday night. So stay tuned to the Acho website for what they do rank. The standings go through November 30th for the third ranking period. So at some point they're gonna release those. And I have a feeling that one's gonna have a lot more movement than we saw out of M2. Be sure to go to acahhockey.org to find those standings and more. So with all that being said, we did have some games go on the last two weeks. So this is a two-parter. Starting with our previous game of the week, guys, the Northeast number two team, Farmingdale State, traveled down to Clearwater Ice Arena, took on Tampa. For a set and the Spartans in the n rematch of the national championship game from AAU Division One got the overtime or shootout win rather against Farmingdale State. Now they controlled this game early on, but Farmingdale State, Danny, you and I were texting, we're helping Kelly with some of the social media. They just hung around in this game and found a groove late to eventually tie this in it. And it took some heroics from their leadership on the Tampa side to get over the hump. Yeah. ⁓ so you you definitely have to tip the cap to the Farmingdale goalie. ⁓ I don't remember the the gentleman's name, unfortunately, but ⁓ held him in early. ⁓ it the the first five, six minutes, it was like it it was looking like it was gonna be a a skunking, ⁓ one of those like ten one type scores. But still Tampa controlled the the pace of play and really controlled the play in my eyes. They just didn't help themselves with the penalties and just some sloppiness, some turnovers in their own end. Or neutralize. And yeah, Farmingdale, you know, but hey, if you if you're gonna take the the bus ride or the the plane ride, whichever it was, all the way down there, you're not gonna give in on any of these games. So they hung in there. ⁓ they were d they down four two hidden hidden into the final period and ended up tying it. Danny, you know what's the craziest stat that I found out of this game? So these teams were virtually identical in the shots at the end this fifty seven apiece. Both goaltenders. Stopped fifty-three of fifty-seven. Drew Barron for Farming Dale State, you mentioned, had some highlight reel saves. But Kyle Meyer had to play just as good because for some reason Tampa's defense had a lot of odd man rushes they allowed. ⁓ they ended up getting some help with their ⁓ split goal scoring. Holden Havlovic, Nathan Hargis, their ultimate captain to Robbie Seawagen was clutched with a goal and an assist. It was as good in my mind as a game of the week as we've had all year. And I think I tipped the cap to just both sides on what a competitive one they provided for us. The next night though did not go Tampa's way. A six to two win for Farmingdale State. And really early on, you could tell that Farmingdale State had more of the jump. They got Tampa into some penalty trouble to power play goals. And this one they they had a tough night, right? Kyle Meyer and Sebastian Fontana both were in net. Meyer ti picks up the L, but I think Tampa gets a good benchmark of where they're at at the mid part of the season. play definitely has to ⁓ clean up for them to be for them to reach the heights they did last year, certainly, or to even, you know, be successful at regionals or conference playoffs with with their style of play and what made them successful last year was was really stellar team defense. And it was not that, you know, two weekends ago. Ten goals allowed in in two games. And it wasn't just the fact that they gave up ten goals. Like sometimes that happens. It was the the turnovers and just like some of the head scratching plays and You know, how does that guy get open? That type of stuff. So Nick Kuzlik and and and staff has they've gotten some they've gotten the results more often than not in this fall semester, but definitely could ⁓ see some improvement. And another ⁓ two team that saw action was the Florida Gators, number thirteen in the Southeast, taking on Tennessee from Community First Igloo, a rare home series for Florida. A win game won six to four in a good way, but then an eleven to two trouncing. ⁓ in that second one it you know, simply put, I don't know. Tennessee's a wild team. Like they beat Tampa earlier this year and then had themselves an off night there. They they seem to be a really up and down team, but you know, I of unfortunately don't have any footage on this game, but just looking at that box card it stands out like a sore thumb. Like that's that's that's a that's a crazy one to see. Yeah, I mean you mentioned the eleven two, but when you give up five power play goals, you're you're gonna see a score like that. And we talked about in the Tampa series where penalties kill teams. And it's any given night in college hockey south and just the ACHA and club hockey in general. And that's why you see Florida six four win and then next night Tennessee turns it on and runs away with the game. Yeah, and perhaps I offer a theory, gentlemen. Six four Florida win on Friday night. Saturday night, Tennessee football, the Tennessee football volunteers go into the swamp and win for the first time since like two thousand and three, I think. They didn't just win. They they demolished that Florida team. You think you think the Ice Falls in Florida didn't take any motivation from that? Like, you know what? Let's leave with a win us two. Come on now. It's it's hard to argue with the theory when it's eleven to two final. Well, correct me if I'm wrong. Isn't Tennessee and Florida like historically, at least in football, top three rivalries in the SEC? Like some of the documentary I saw about I think it was the the Gator Kings, the you know, documentary about Urban Meyer and all of the Florida players, like that was pretty hated for a long time. Top three is stretching it. As someone who's gone to s a school in the SEC and has lived in SEC country for a while now, there's just way too many ⁓ heated ones to put that one in the top three. But I mean just about everyone hates each other. So it's like Florida and Tennessee, Tennessee, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Georgia, and the list goes on and on. ⁓ that it it's definitely a a a really unique one, just because they're not like Geographically, other than the fact they're both in the Southeast, they're not like that close. But, you know, they battled and th there's a history here between these two teams for sure. The headlines, Mike Calabres with three assists in game number one, and Gavin, you mentioned the five power play goals for Tennessee. Absolutely killed Florida. Kyle Stober gets a hat trick there and the Voles make their case known within a very strong Southeast division and was still within the top ten in Florida. Still ⁓ trying to stay within reach within all of those teams. Switching things to the M3 side and keeping it here in the state of Florida. Florida Southern took on number twenty-four UCF. And I know you're very proud of this one, Gavin. A six to five Florida Southern win in game number one. UCF gets the split nine two, nine to four. Will Marshall doing Will Marshall things. This is the fourth or fifth time we've set a Will Marshall hat trick here. Game number one. He's all over it. Give us your debrief on this series. Yeah, I think game one was a lot of UCF not playing a full sixty minutes, which their coach even mentioned. I saw it in an article somewhere where he said they didn't play the complete game. They got into it in the second period, had a big second period. I mean, Mox were up four nothing. Will scored, I think, three goals in two and a half minutes of game time. So, you know, he was really seeing the game really well. And then UCF got back into it late that fifth goal. think they scored it with under a minute left. So they were they tried to get back into it, didn't play a complete game, but they didn't let it stop them. You know, get ⁓ back to home ice, Orlando iced in. They love to play there. And Solar gets back and puts a hattie of his own. So it was really the stars for both teams on both nights, making big plays and and Florida Southern just got into penalty trouble on the road. And that's what kills them ninety percent of the time. For Florida Southern to have any hope at making the playoffs, ⁓ they're gonna have to find some more results like this against teams that are, you know, highly ranked, not just ⁓ you know, nationally, where UCF was in in in the current rankings, ⁓ number twenty four, but ahead of them in the CHS rankings. So that's a big one for F for Florida Southern. ⁓ we'll see how much that moves them and see if that gets them into playoff position or at least knocking on the door of it. But This same weekend, ⁓ a a team on the brink, a bubble team, got a big win in the Sunshine State as well, Devin. That they did, and that goes into our conversation about the conference standings. Here's Alabama, a team that was one and eight to start the year. ⁓ they were getting dominated left and right. They have ⁓ some coaching changes, some internal roster, ⁓ switch ups, and they go into Florida Gulf Coast and man, they take it to them. Seven third. Period goals. ⁓ the end Florida Gulf Coast four-game win streak with a statement performance. FGCU had a goaltender change late in the second period. Jeff Wasco came in for BJ Ricardi and Finn Forster picked up a hat trick. And you know, when you talk about two teams that are fighting for that same real estate, Alabama holds that final spot right now in the top 12 that go to the college hockey south playoffs, which is based on national rank. Alabama was at number 47 and at 78. So Gavin, they needed a win against the top twenty five team like UCF, but FGCU one higher, a couple higher, ⁓ 21 in the nation. So Alabama gets themselves in good position, I think, to make the playoff just with this series alone. ⁓ they end up ⁓ getting the split as Ford Golf Coast wins game two. But just what a turnaround for them. I'm so happy for that Alabama team because It's been nothing but rough waters for them to this f this first semester. Definitely. ⁓ and what a letdown that has to be for Florida Southern. I mean, all you can do is play the team in front of you, but you finally g gain some ground or so you think, and then the team you're chasing gets a big win like that. And Florida Gulf Coast, what their bread and butter is is playing three to two, sometimes four to three, but keeping it relatively low scoring. So to get seven third period go I mean I you hearken back to one of our games of the week earlier this year when South Florida went down there and they held South Florida to four goals and three goals, which is which is saying something considering the offensive firepower they have. So no small feat for Alabama and you know, maybe the tide, they're starting to turn the tide. They're they're starting to play their best hockey of the year. And you know, Gav, I'm gonna keep it straight with you here. Alabama is gonna have a tough second semester. They're gonna go play South Carolina and Clemson four games against the Game Cox. While Florida Southern's gonna have a series with USF and I think Florida Southern has done everything they can to this point. They'll also play Embry Riddle. So opportunities are there for both sides. And I think we're gonna be talking about this bubble obviously later in the year and well, I guess the start of the new year in January and then into February. Yeah, and Florida Southerns made some moves. I mean, obviously they had a series against Slyn two weeks prior to the UCF series, which they split. So that was another a win that they needed to pick up. I mean, every series I feel like now for them is you need to win at least one of the games. I mean, I think the most exciting series in this f in the next semester is gonna be Miami. Those teams do not like each other. They played at nationals for division three three years ago. And so That's always one of those matchups where we mentioned it. Miami can turn it up and win both games, or they could not show up and get blown out. So every every series you feel like for Florida Southern now is important moving forward. That is a number twenty Miami team. So both sides, Alabama, Florida Southern, will have some games coming up against ranked teams and we'll be sure to follow it all for you. Let's turn the page to our previews. I believe this is ⁓ week thirteen for the conference. And starting things up, we've got an interesting game of the week day. I don't think Danny was too happy with this being on Sunday at noon, December seventh. I know Danny, we've had a lot of game of the weeks Friday nights, maybe Saturdays. I don't think we've had a Sunday yet. It's USF in Tampa though, in the Battle for Tampa rematch. This is number three versus number four. Yes. Arguably the most heated rivalry in all of CHS. Two teams that just go at each other. The linesmen, the referees, they'll be most likely busy. ⁓ I don't want to forecast any any type of stuff like that, but it's more than likely to happen. We we do we have had one prior Sunday game of the week and that's exactly why I wasn't looking forward to this one being on Sunday. It's just ⁓ I don't know. It it it's the it's the end of the weekend, you know, you kinda just want everything to be wrapped up and you know, you're still yeah I don't know. This will be an exciting matchup. Don't want to take any steam away from this game. Looking forward to this matchup, and Devin, as far as I know, you're going to be on commentary. Yes, no, maybe so. For now, that is the plan. By the time you hear this, I will probably be on the road, headed from Fort Lauderdale towards Tampa. And you know, we had some scheduled changes. Originally this was gonna be the Florida Jammerie. It was gonna be ⁓ teams like Niagara, UCF, still in the mix, ⁓ but that could change. But what is gonna happen that we know for sure is this USF and Tampa game. And you know, what I what I think of here is is you get a Tampa team that had their toughest tests, right? Their their biggest pill to swallow. I mean, we were talking about another, I think game of the week was, you know, Tampa and Florida Atlantic ⁓ a week later, but Tampa really struggled against the top talent of USF, the guys that we mentioned, we're gonna say his name again. I'm sorry, people, but it's Grant Dietz, it's Maxwell Mudge. These are just Tampa guys that overwhelmed the Spartans. And since then they've held their own ground. Ryan Koch has been really solid in net. I think Luke Inch has been as good for Tampa. And I think where these two teams are at right now sets up a better matchup than we've seen really in both games so far. And I think one thing that's interesting is the first time these two teams played, Tampa was ranked higher. Than USF and USF went and swept the series. So I'm interested to see if Kampa uses the rankings as motivation to turn it around and f and sweep USF. It seem it seems, Devin, that USF plays a much more complete style of game this year versus last. ⁓ last year was their first year with Brandt Deeds, he who shall not be named. By the way, we were speaking to someone that is probably on Chonchikov Island. Nina probably is one of the cast offs on Chenchikov Island, along with Grant Dietz and Chloe Valente and Braden Curry. Anyways, but yeah, USF ⁓ playing a lot more of a mature game this year, a lot more lower scoring, at least for their opponents. You know, they're they're not giving as mu given up as many goals. But this is this is a rivalry game. Crazy things can happen and likely will, and the hatred is there. It's definitely there. No doubt. Just one thing I want people to take note of is Tampa. despite themselves losing nine to five were perfect on their power play. Four chances there and they made the most of it. And I think Yanni Satsulis, Trace Coward are guys to watch in there. Super excited. I know it's on a Sunday, but ⁓ it's at noon Eastern time. So hopefully you can join us there on Black Dog hockey with the rest of the crew. And ahead of time, thank you to the Tampa staff for allowing me the opportunity personally to travel over there and watch this one in person. Also going on will be Tampa versus UCF, but stick with us for some of the scheduling in that. Don't be upset at us at the time of this recording if things change. And moving along is Kennesaw State and Tennessee. So a Vets Cup matchup here, two teams that were there but didn't play each other. When you look at this guys, Kennesaw State and Tennessee are neck and neck right there in the college hockey south standings. I believe they're a ⁓ 10 and 11. Kennesaw State is number 32 nationally Tennessee thirty-three nationally, that can change, obviously. What are things some things you look at with two rosters that have had some similar chemistry to start the year? Well, I think about if you're gonna lose the game, one of these two teams will lose this game and they're gonna be on they're on the bubble right there with the previous teams we mentioned. You just don't wanna get blown out, right? You don't want the goal differential to end up, you know, damning you in the end. Because team like Florida Southern is looking at that and they're licking their chops. They're looking at this matchup like one of these two teams is gonna lose. So they Florida Southern and Gavin, I don't know if you know he's a proud mock, a moccasin. You can see it in his face, he's a proud moccasin, rooting for a blowout. I think it's the type of game where you only get one this weekend. It's on a Saturday at Kennesaw State's place, like could swing your rank, could swing your things. I believe it's gonna be pretty close considering Kennesaw State four and eight in their conference play. Tennessee hasn't had as many games, but they've been competitive where we've seen them. I have a feeling that Tennessee will make importance of this in what's a rare only their fifth ⁓ three game of the year, guys, and or I'm excuse me, your fifth or sixth rather. I'm all over the damn map. But you know, the the point stands, like they're they're similar in that they give up a lot of goals, but they've been scoring a good amount. So a fun ones on tap there. And I think for being a lighter week, we've got some interesting games with smoke here and M3 to watch. And that, you know, leads us into kind of our three stars of the month. And we'll go division by division here, starting with the women's. Marissa Benilla for Florida had 12 goals, four assists. Always a crazy stat line with these women's players. Three games for her. Second star went to Joey Burns for Tampa. Seven goals, two apples and nine points and three. And Beth MacArthur for Florida for five goals and an assist. No, Nina Molina on this list. What the heck, Danny? We're just pumping her tires about being on Chechikov Island, but it's all Florida here. Well, yeah, Chomp Chomp. ⁓ they they made their biggest ⁓ impression in this month. I think it was definitely the the win over South Florida when they didn't have Marissa Bonilla, who obviously she her shooting percentage My God, it it's gotta be more than fifty percent, right? If if if it's not more than fifty percent, she's shooting it from everywhere. ⁓ but yeah, that ⁓ Florida definitely was the story of the month on the women's side. Our men's division looked very similar in the stat lines, although not as many goals to their names. ⁓ two starting with had Danny Griffin, the captain for the Spartans, eight goals, five assists, thirteen points in seven games where Tampa was all over. They played against, I believe, the Gators in this month. They had that series with Farmingdale State and he was good enough there. Jackson Neuwendike for Florida Atlantic got second star here with the six goals and one assist, seven points, a very stellar performance against the Florida Gators a couple of weeks ago now for him in that group as they went on and swept Florida. And Jack Fortescue for the Gators had nine assists through seven games over the course of November. ⁓ a young forward, his brother plays for Tampa. So you like to see some of the youngster guys getting involved in this. Danny's obviously a veteran guy. Newndike just a newcomer to the league, but Fortescue, a freshman, making their names known in them too. Yeah. And so the the the thing about it is, and and we'll get to these other divisions in a little bit, but the the majority of these players are new players, whether they're, you know, seniors or not, or you know, freshmen, new players to the conference. Marissa Bunia, ⁓ Joey Burns, Beth MacArthur, Jackson Newendike, Jack Fortescue, Nathan Walker of Florida Gulf Coast. These are all new players, which is super exciting. And, you know, it lets you know that hey, if you want to come and play hockey and and college hockey south, not only are you gonna get a pretty decent platform, but you can come in and make a pretty instant impact and be recognized for it. Amen to that. ⁓ you know, Danny, which I said they played Florida, but they were actually up in the northeast playing ⁓ Up against some like Klnipiax and ⁓ Fairfields. I think what Danny Griffin, we were talking about Tampa being a key is that ⁓ even when that group's not one hundred percent, they need someone to step up and it's showing that their biggest players are contributing when they need it. ⁓ and that goes for the other two teams as well, and every single team at MT represented ⁓ in this three stars of the month, which is even more exciting for everybody involved. On the M3 side though, some familiar faces are here as we've gotten to know them this year. First star on the month goes to Grant Dietz, nine goals, eleven assists in six games. Kieran Ogle, Metal Tennessee States, eight goals, nine assists, seventeen points. And third star, Nathan Walker for Florida Gulf Coast, eight goals and seven apples with 15 points in six games. So I don't know, Rock Chalk here. It's always floor it's always USF and Middle Tennessee it seems. We can't help it. Can't help it. Also, I I forgot to shout out these guys from the ACDC list as new players under the conference this year. Sebastian Powers and Augie Pescatori. I I love that. That that's a great hockey name. I'm I'm a big fan of Augie Pescatori. It's gotta be fun to say on commentary. And Gavin, you'll get you'll get the chance to say that ⁓ with Saint Leo this weekend. Yeah, you ⁓ better be listening 'cause I'll ⁓ I'll make sure I say it a bunch just for you, Danny. Augie Pescatori. It's got a good rhythm. It does. I was looking at it and I think that was my favorite name on the on the sheet today. You're gonna see more of him. You're talking about our ACDC three stars with powers at the first one. Andy Coleman for Ember Riddle picked up second star with three goals and four assists over the weekend. And Augie Pescatori. Yeah, it does roll off the tarn pretty well. Five goals and an assist to his name. So great representation here in the Three stars of the month. Congratulations to everybody involved. And the most active month we've had until we're gonna see January. And then we're really talking about the crunch time. And as you guys know, it's late in the year when we really see the most impactful performances from leaders around the conference. That's your three stars of the month for college hockey south. So as we wrap things up here, let's give some stick taps to a big time announcement. Danny, Gavin, Everybody in the conference is so excited about this. It's the annual CHS European Trip. College hockey South All-Stars are gonna travel to France January first through the ninth to play games against international competition. They'll engage in training sessions and participate in cultural excursions. Danny, we keep joking to Kelly and we're gonna get her on for an international episode. I don't know if we're gonna get that far. We had a pretty heated conversation with her about it, but I mean, just give us your two cents about what it means to you to go travel with these guys overseas. Yeah, it it it's definitely a a really, you know, once in a lifetime opportunity, ⁓ you know, to to play some of the ⁓ teams they'll be playing. You know, those are announce those are announcements that are set to come. So I pose a question to you both. So the five players we've announced already, so we have Rocco Bruno, Kyle Meyer, Will Marshall, Trace Cowert, and Cole Velis. Do gentlemen have I'll give you three guesses each. I know what the roster is, okay? And I'm not even gonna let on whether you're correct or not. Do you have any guesses at who who might be the other players? Well, I have a feeling that they wear green and gold. Gavin, go ahead. I'm I'm gonna spit out names. I feel like I've got I think I'm gonna see Robert Renner from UCF. Robert Renner Robert Renner from UCF, okay Robert Renner from UCF. I think we'll see Solar as well. I think we'll get two knights and then I get a third I get a third shot in the dark. I'm I'm gonna say I'm gonna go with Liam Wickishwa. I feel like that's just a a young stud and CHS who I could see going overseas. And another fun name to say, by the way. And another fun name to say. Devin. Okay, so so you want me to pick names here because I don't know all of the schematics of who is going based on just pure selection or who is able to go. Asking you who you think's gonna be on the roster, sir. That's what I'm asking you right now. Well, if I was picking, it's obviously gotta be Grant Dietz. Grant Deets, okay Okay. That that that makes perfect sense in my mind. Jacob Duhaim, and I know I'm picking bulls here, you know, th those are pretty elite guys. Is Yanni Set Sulis in consideration? Is he a member of a college hockey south team? He is. He is, then he's in consideration. He sure is. Okay. Well, we can check back in ⁓ the next episode. When that comes out, we'll have the full roster available. And it's gonna be exciting. We're gonna go numerically. ⁓ we're not playing favorites. So we already know who five of ⁓ are and I forget the the total number, but it's it's gonna be exciting. Really excited for the the teams and and the guys in particular. I sincerely hope you've reached out to and I hope he listens to this. I hope you've reached out to James Kravis. Or Christian Sousa. Kravy. Wait. ⁓ Kravi and ⁓ and ⁓ Christian Sousa from K S U. They're I believe they're both healthy. They're they're both in consideration for sure. I I can't confirm or deny if ⁓ if these guys are gone. We can revisit these. Perhaps I should be writing these down. So Gavin, you you were Renner, Solar, and Licaswa and Devon. You were ⁓ you were Grant Dietz, Jacob Duhaim, and our friend with the Greek with the Greek name. I'm not even gonna try and pronounce it. Yanni Satsulis. Yanni Satsulis. And if that's not Greek, I do apologize. I know that because I said it about twenty times before I got it right. ⁓ the kids of stud? Kids of stud. Alright. Well w we will revisit these. One other topic I wanna I wanna jump into and we've been going for a bit. I I apologize, Gavin. Producer Gavin, who does a great job. One thing I saw, ⁓ there was one team in particular, maybe in the Blue Jackets. A bunch of the young players came out warm-ups without their buckets on. And they the team wound up ⁓ Paying a pretty hefty fine. Where do you guys stand? You guys are gonna correct it doesn't matter. Which does it look like I care if if if I get the team right? I just have I have to say it was the sharks. It was the sharks. It was the sharks. Okay, what what is your opinion on whether or not the players should be required to wear the buckets or not? And this could be a CHS question as well. Do you know where that that ruling originates from? Why players can't go into worms with without buckets anymore? I don't. Because Taylor faced or Taylor Hall got his face stepped on. Right. So so Taylor Hall, a f league MVP, a guy that has been on numerous playoff teams, got his face stepped on. Proving the point it can happen to anyone, right? But here's my point. How many other times has a player been injured in warmups and has it affected the lineup? Less than one percent. Okay. And now there's some nerd nerd out there that's gonna hear this and be like, well, actually, but look, I think Freak accidents happen in hockey and I think Taylor Hall wiping out and getting stepped on ⁓ is not a thing that should dictate the NHL to go, everybody has to do it now, because we don't want to get, you know, facing fines or a lawsuit saying we couldn't prevent this. Because that's really what it's about. My opinion, and it's just my opinion, is that if you're in the show, you more than likely know how to escape better than ninety nine percent of the world. So you should be allowed to go out there without buckets. At any point in any warm up. Matter of fact, the NHL should allow the guys to wear whatever they want in warm ups, aka heritage jerseys and breast cancer awareness jerseys. But the NHL doesn't want that either. So I'm anti league on this one. I think it was a bold move and I I love the Sharks a little bit more for that because it's showing that they are a fan favorite team. And the guys there are young, but they really don't care. And that's the ultimate way to say we're beauties. That's my two sets. Gavin have the floor. You know, for me, I I can see both sides of it. I mean, we've seen freak accidents happening off the ice that injure players. I mean, you've seen but you've seen stories of guys getting pucks to the head in warm-ups. I mean, I can't tell you how many times I've been in a game and you mentioned the guys knowing how to skate. And I see a player blow a tire or run into a teammate in warm-ups and just smack down on the ice. So I could see both sides of it. I don't necessarily think it's like, ⁓ find the team. I do think at some point there does need to be a line where it it is about the player's safety. I mean, especially if you're Jack Hughes. Get that guy in bubble wrap. He should be out there in a guardian helmet, guardian cap out there. I mean, dude's getting hurt at team dinner. Guardian guardian helmet. Forget about his his head. He need to he needs to wear oven mitts to dinner. But the guy sliced his finger off. If this guy's breaking flood my opinion. And okay, well go ahead. Yeah. My opinion. So th these freak accidents they do happen. And so you talk about, you know what, someone's backskating and you know, guys are off in their own worlds during warmups. Sometimes you run into each other, say someone doesn't have their helmet on and they whack into somebody, they they you know, they lose an edge. They could hit their head on the ice. Could really happen. All right. There there's less than th there's a greater than one percent chance that that could happen. And you're mitigating that risk by just telling them, hey, you gotta wear your helmet. However, the boys just look cooler with with the helmets off. I'm sorry. You gotta let the boys be boys. Eklin Celabrini and I know ⁓ Connor Bedard did it for his very first NHL game. He was like, you know what? To hell with it. You know, to hell with the fine. I'm I'm going out there with no bucket and I'm gonna let I'm gonna let the hair go. By the way, I didn't ask Gavin for a hair check before this started, but I think it's holding up pretty well. My official opinion Is let the boys be boys. If they wanna do it, they wanna do it. But that's not how the world works, I understand. And you know, you gotta be mindful of player safety. So it is what it is. If you're getting hurt in warm-ups and team dinners and having your mental fortitude cracked open by talking to Tate McCrae, then how do you expect somebody to win the Stanley Cup when they gotta go round for round, pound for pound with the best in the league? It by the way, there's been like three instances of injuries away from the rank this year. It's been a it's been an instant there was a f there was a Florida guy, there was Jack Hughes, and then ⁓ recent recently there was ⁓ I think it was Torupchanko from the blues. Like, what is going on guys? These guys are participating in extreme sports away from the rank. Like, what are you doing? Well, dude dude's barbecuing on a Friday and gets burned on his legs. Like what are you barbecuing? Why he had the He had the foreman bro on his lap. Like Michael Scott. Michael Scott cooking cooking bacon. Man, I wonder yeah, I wonder what the events were. I mean I I don't recall there being a whole lot of all five incidents this early in the year. So I think I've got you there too. And we're still by the way, another news, the the Olympic rink's still not done. That's been a big story in hockey. So you know what? Maybe the only international players this year will be the college hockey South All Stars. I don't know. We're not saying that's gonna come true, but ⁓ Hey, they gotta represent the US somehow, right? So college hockey south to the world. What a fun episode. What a lot of great discussion, boys. For a lighter week, we really packed it in this one. So good luck with the edit, Gavin. And ⁓ good luck with your listening ears. We appreciate poor Gavin. It doesn't get easier for him. But he's getting experience and he's getting better. So that's why we love him. And we love you for Sticking with us in this one. This has been another edition of College Hockey Mouth, episode fifteen. A sit down with Nina Molina. We'll talk to you all again soon. Have a great rest of your week.