Latest / The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey / Episode 11: Goalie awards, PairWise and an interview with Wisconsin's Kirsten Simms

Transcript

Episode 11: Goalie awards, PairWise and an interview with Wisconsin's Kirsten Simms · The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey

0:05
Hi, and welcome to the Podcast, a USDCHO women's college hockey podcast.
0:09
I'm Nicole Hasey. He's Tom Aleski. We're going to talk about some very
0:15
interesting outcomes last weekend. We've got an awesome interview with Wisconsin's leading scorer,
0:20
Kirsten Simms, who currently sits a third in the country in scoring with twenty
0:26
one goals twenty seven assists for forty eight points. And then the third segment
0:30
we'll talk about some of the matchups coming up. But neck this coming weekend,
0:36
it's a we're a month out now essentially from the end of the regular
0:41
season, and that I can't I know right at I don't know if I'm
0:46
ready for that officially yet, but we're better figure this out fast because it's
0:52
it's all coming to it and pretty soon. And I feel like when we
0:59
get into February, the the overall intensity goes up, but we kind of
1:06
already got there a little bit last weekend, felt like just looking at some
1:10
of the results around the country and and some of the highlights, and it
1:15
felt like we're almost in a playoff kind of atmosphere already, especially, and
1:22
we're going to get into this in the second segment, especially the Wisconsin game
1:27
trailing War one against Minnesota luth after two periods and fighting back for a five
1:33
to four win. It did feel like that was like there was a Wisconsin
1:41
put a lot on the line there and and didn't want to just say,
1:44
well, okay, we we got our win on the road. They they
1:49
fought for those other three points in that series and they got them, and
1:55
that that to me kind of felt like a statement of Okay, it's it's
1:59
time to to be serious about where we're at. And we saw that all
2:02
over the country really last week, right, LU winning both their games and
2:07
overtime kind of had that same energy to me, like, you know,
2:10
we are we're very close, Like this is one versus two in our conference,
2:15
and we're we're not going away without that extra point, you know.
2:17
I felt I felt like that same energy came out of them in that game,
2:22
and and then probably the same in St. Lawrence Clarkson's Series two where
2:25
they they ended up splitting. But like the energy in those two games was
2:30
pretty pretty fun to watch even from a computer screen. Yeah, the the
2:35
l I U series you mentioned, uh two to one wins in overtime against
2:38
sant ant on both days. The first one overtime goes six seconds in.
2:44
I mean that was you know, I was going through the box scores like,
2:47
wait, is that right that it's six seconds and so I mean when
2:51
it's three on three, you can imagine how it just kind of happens.
2:53
You know, boom, you get win the face off and you you go.
2:57
But Mikaela Lanto, I believe, is the the goal scorer six seconds
3:01
in, so lu now up seven points on san Now and so in uh
3:09
knew ha and that that feels like a little bit of game yet right like
3:15
it feels like they exactly like they called game over. I feel like if
3:16
those games had edited ties, or if they had lost and in overtime like
3:21
it would have been, we wouldn't have had things settled. But it felt
3:23
like you know, when you're when you are that kind of team, when
3:27
you are a championship level team, like you you dig deep and you find
3:30
that little extra and you know, and like you said, six seconds is
3:32
all it took. And it feels like that was that five minutes intermission between
3:38
the third period and overtime where the teams at the at the bench and just
3:40
kind of hyping each other up, like we aren't losing this game, you
3:44
know. So yeah, just super important, I think, and and and
3:47
says a lot about who LAU is as a team. And you know,
3:51
unfortunate for Saint Ansel who was able to push the top team in their conference
3:53
that far and then and then not get it over the finish line. And
3:57
then uh the other one in that conference too. That's so interesting is that
4:00
the third and fourth place teams they tied twice to to uh so in terms
4:04
of like kind of keeping keeping your place and like not letting not letting things
4:10
change, and you know, st Ansel not gaining those points. Now Stone
4:13
Hills only three back, and they didn't let neither of the three or fourth
4:15
team lost any ground, and so not not quite a satisfying result, but
4:19
the same idea of like I'm not I'm not giving up any of this ground.
4:24
You're gonna have to take it from me. So a couple couple really
4:28
entertaining and ultimately fruitful games for LU in that weekend. The number one team
4:33
stayed the number one team because Ohio State is you know, just kind of
4:36
on a roll. Now. The four to two win over Saint Cloud and
4:40
then a three two winnow of Saint Cloud. I mean Sint Cloud, I
4:43
thought, you know, showed pretty well for themselves overall. And and you
4:46
know it's a team that that won a game at at Ohio State. And
4:50
not sure is that the last game Ohio State has lost. I don't have
4:54
the their schedule in front of me, but that's the last one. Yeah,
5:00
and the one was the first weekend, so that's you know, Saint
5:05
Cloud put forth a good effort there and got to within a goal, uh
5:10
and with a minute to go on on Saturday, but couldn't get the tying
5:13
goals. So Ohio State continues rolling along, uh still number one in the
5:16
poll and the pair wise and w C h A and it's I mean to
5:25
me, we could be on a collision course for the last weekend of the
5:29
regular season Ohio State at Wisconsin. Now, if things go as they are,
5:34
I believe Ohio Sate would already have clinched the number one seed in in
5:40
AH playoffs with six as six points ahead, so Wisconsin could theoretically tie four
5:46
they'll lead, but I believe that would still leave Ohio State with more with
5:51
the tie breaker. I'm not completely sure on that don't don't. Uh,
5:56
there's so a long way to go before we get there, but yeah,
6:00
that's one of those things that's out there as a big one that's coming up
6:04
in this this final month of the regular season. Yeah, Scott, it's
6:08
got a much harder path to take every possible point until then, but yeah,
6:13
it's it definitely could be interesting. I just wanted to say kind of
6:16
shout out to Saint Cloud, Like, obviously you're the number ten team playing
6:19
the number one team like Ohio State's supposed to win those games, but those
6:24
were not easy wins for Ohio State. Not taking anything away from Ohio State,
6:30
but like they didn't Saint Cloud didn't like turtle up and just have an
6:33
outstanding goaltending performance and come out with close games like those they were. They
6:39
had plenty of his own time. They were pushing back and forth. It
6:42
was it was a back and forth game, and I just think like Saint
6:46
Cloud really showed a that they're winn at Ohio State wasn't a fluke, and
6:50
B that they like they're a serious contending team. I mean, I think
6:54
they've been doing that all along, but I felt like they just looked really
6:58
good even in the loss that it wasn't they weren't being dominated, and Ohio
7:01
State wasn't like asserting their will on Saint Cloud and they were just having to
7:05
withstand it. Like Saint Cloud was able to play some of their game too.
7:09
And so I think when you're playing a powerhouse like Ohio State, that's
7:12
that's a huge accomplishment for I think really any teeth that's going to face them.
7:15
Yeah, Colgate another weekend with two wins, staying number two in the
7:23
pair wise, even know Wisconsin's number two in the rank in our the stral
7:29
rankings. I am just kind of like, and I guess the other thing
7:36
is that they have a was a three and a half point lead now in
7:41
the they always fun to figure out ec A C standings of half point games.
7:46
Uh never from the e SS is gonna come for us at one of
7:48
these points. Okay, we'll have a discussion about that. Then the it's
7:58
a now a a little bit of a buffer there at the top of the
8:03
ac AC. After Clarkson lost to Saint Lawrence, like you mentioned on on
8:09
Friday, I still don't want to like say though that I feel incredibly comfortable
8:16
about where that is and saying Colgates got like the the inside aid for them
8:24
here to the championship. It's it's it's there for them to take obviously,
8:28
but we've seen some results lately that you know, make you you feel like,
8:33
okay, that's this is not a sure thing, even though Colgates got
8:35
a pretty good run themselves. Yeah, I mean, I think this upcoming
8:39
weekend is is you know, they're most difficult when they've got at Clarkston and
8:43
at Saint Lawrence, but the rest of ec A C has shown that like
8:48
you can't you know, you can't take time off. They definitely will be
8:52
playing you know the teams, uh, teams lower in the standings than them,
8:56
but I don't think any of them are gimme games either. So I
9:00
think if Coldgate makes it through this weekend, unscate, I think, you
9:03
know, like that where we're at like ninety ninety five percent, saying like
9:09
they have that path towards the title. I think if they make it through
9:11
this weekend, I'm ready to go full one hundred percent. But yeah,
9:15
definitely not not just clerks in St. Lawrence, but you know, away
9:18
games obviously still New York and the Upstate. But yeah, I think it
9:24
seems like there's not much that's gonna slow down Colgate at this point, and
9:30
so you know, it's kind of like keep strong. They have that one
9:33
conference loss, so if they can they can make it through this weekend,
9:35
that's gonna be huge. Yeah, rough break for Quinnipiac lost to one and
9:41
overtime the Yale on Friday, Korea d' antonio power play goal and overtime to
9:45
win that one. And then Saturday it's a one to one game, believe
9:50
in the third period with Brown and then we have a Michigan goal. I
9:56
mean, you see those and it's it's it's a high no matter what.
10:01
But when it breaks a one to one tie in the third period in a
10:05
game that it was so gutsy it was, and it was a beautiful Michigan.
10:09
It looked flawless. It looked like there was no hitch, there was
10:13
no like the dig to pick up the puck. No, it was like
10:16
it was beautiful. Just Margo Nora had just an absolutely gorgeous goal, Like
10:20
what a huge moment for her. Their sophomore class this year is just,
10:26
you know, really interesting and talented and they've got multiple double digit scorers which
10:30
is it's like you can just see the growth happening at Brown and it has
10:35
gone from like they they're a team you can't overlook because they might beat you,
10:37
to like this is a serious team that like you, yeah, like
10:41
you have to be on your guard every time, and so love to see
10:43
that growth there. Very exciting and just what a great moment for for Margo.
10:48
Just you know, like that that goal went everywhere and was on social
10:52
media and you know they the ec A C did an interview with her and
10:56
that's on their social media. We'll have a column on u c Cho this
11:00
week about it. So yeah, just really, like you said, it's
11:03
not just that she scored a Michigan, it's the aid that it broke the
11:07
tie and really like broke that game open because they ended up winning five to
11:11
one after that, and then also that that it was just it was such
11:15
a beautiful Michigan, Like I mean, they're all good, but like seriously,
11:18
it was the the motion on it, the smoothness, the it was
11:22
all in one one stroke. And apparently, you know, her her family
11:26
had been going around I think her dad and her grandpa and she talked to
11:28
her coach about it. I think probably making sure it was okay to like,
11:31
if I have the opportunity, if I can try this, and and
11:35
Melrousy said, yeah, if you you know, if it's their try it.
11:39
So love the cheekness of it, love the guts and the confidence to
11:43
go for it. So I think people that are surprised that that can come
11:48
out of the women's game haven't been paying enough attention. Right, Hats off
11:52
Margot nor Had for the the the willingness to try it and the execution to
11:58
finish it, because that one definitely was highlight worthy and it got on all
12:03
the highlights. You're right, and I want to shout out. Boston College
12:09
got a shootout win over Providence on Friday. Poor Boston College. It's played
12:11
I think six shootouts and only one one so far the season. It's just
12:16
just so heartbreaking to take the game to the finish line. And we have
12:20
an amazing situation where the player that scored the game winner, Kiara Golding,
12:24
that was her first career goal. But shootout goals don't count to your stat
12:28
sheet, so she will have the amazing story of getting to tell about two
12:33
first career goals and this one. You know, I think Katie Crawley was
12:37
looking for something to shake things up, and so, you know, put
12:41
her confidence in Kara and she was the only goal scorer out of the six
12:46
in the in the shootouts. So just like what a boost for her,
12:50
What a boost for BC? Like they celebrated like it was, as you
12:54
said, sort of that playoff atmosphere. I think it was just a little
12:58
bit of a monkey off a back for them. And also to have it
13:01
be from a player in that sort of your least likely goal scorer in that
13:07
shootout. So I just I thought that was such a cool moment and I
13:09
was imagining that, like how cool will it be to be able to say
13:13
that, hey, I actually have two first career goals first one one a
13:16
game it just you know, technically didn't count. So yeah, good for
13:20
Boston College to sort of get off, that's get on those shutout shootout games
13:24
and hopefully the you know, that helps them find find a way to end
13:28
these games before it gets to that point. We will be back after the
13:31
break. We've got an interview with Kirsten Simms from Wisconsin. Nicole previewed this
13:35
before Wisconsin landing scorer, one of the nation's leading scores. She talks about,
13:41
Uh, you're gonna hear her voice is a little a little ragged from
13:46
last weekend series at Duluth. And she'll tell us a little bit why when
13:50
we come back on the podcast. Welcome back to the podcast. Todd Moleski
14:01
here with Nicole Hasey, and we are joined this week by Wisconsin leading scorer
14:07
Kirsten Simms. Kirsten, thanks for making them time to join us. Thanks
14:09
for having me. I understand that your voice is a little scratchy from last
14:15
week in Duluth. Maybe let's start there. I think anyone that saw the
14:20
game would probably understand how the third period would lead to you maybe losing part
14:24
of your voice with the Badgeries coming back from a four to one Definson after
14:28
two to get a five to one win improve the winning streak to nine games.
14:35
I'm curious whether you can just kind of take me through at what part
14:41
of that that you know, the belief really got to the point where you
14:45
got to thinking this, this looks like it's gonna happen for us. So
14:48
in between the second and the third in the locker room, we're all just
14:52
kind of like figuring out. We're like, oh, like what's going on
14:56
here, Like you know, like gotta put our foot down and just do
14:58
what we can kind of like go not go down without a fight. And
15:01
then before we were leaving the locker room for the third period, we all
15:05
just got like insanely like hyped up and like I've never seen our locker room
15:09
like that, like between the National championship game, like regional rounds like from
15:15
last year, Like our locker room was something I've never seen before, and
15:18
like we all just got like super excited. We're just like we're gonna do
15:22
this thing, like we are not like losing like this game, like no
15:24
matter what it takes, We're gonna throw everything at them. We just kept
15:28
saying we're not gonna let them sleep a wink tonight. And then we went
15:31
out there just believed in us, believes in our team, believes in our
15:33
capabilities and did it. Who was leading that hype up before you went out?
15:39
Oh Brett a start that one. I mean, obviously her is our
15:43
captain, but just her as a person too, that's like exactly how she
15:46
leads. So what other examples of that in British curls have you seen in
15:52
your in your two years with the team of you know, when when she
15:56
talks to us in the media, it's it's really you know chill, yeah,
16:02
chilled down, you know, very controlled, very you know, flat
16:06
lined to a lot of a lot of the degree. But it sounds like,
16:11
you know, when she's in the room, she can she can bring
16:14
an edge there too, the kind of like the way she plays, Yeah,
16:17
for sure. I mean overall she's just a very calm, relaxed human
16:21
being, like out her everyday life like that just kind of how she rolls,
16:23
like nothing ever really gets to her. And that's kind of how she
16:26
is in the locker room too, Like, no matter where we are in
16:30
a game, like if we're up, if we're down, like where we
16:32
are, she's kind of always that even keel, but she knows exactly how
16:34
to get our team going, and like thats exactly like what we need from
16:37
the group to kind of get us where we're at, like mentally rather than
16:41
like physically like for like our games and stuff. And yeah, she brings
16:45
like an energy in the locker room all the time, but she still has
16:48
that like call me demeanor that kind of just separates throughout the entire room and
16:52
kind of brings everybody like at that relaxed like point that she's in and we're
16:56
like, oh, we're gonna do this thing while getting like the energy going
16:59
as well. How much has the fact that you guys went through some of
17:03
this last year and and you know, had a little bit of a down
17:07
you know, I'm not a full slump, I wouldn't say, but just
17:10
you know, like had a down downturn and heading into the second part of
17:14
the season. How much of that is helping you guys sort of stay cult
17:17
and cool and collected this season. Yeah, I just feel like that overall,
17:19
it was a learning experience last year, so like we could use that
17:23
like going into this year, especially our returners and stuff, and kind of
17:27
just like whatever happens, whatever hits us, like we know we're gonna be
17:30
able to battle through it and kind of just help us like end up on
17:36
top at the end of the day, Like it doesn't really matter. Loss
17:38
is common goal. Like obviously getting downing games like we just did it just
17:42
kind of show us from last year and this year now like how deep our
17:45
team is and what we're able to do even through some like like even through
17:52
some like rough times throughout the season. You scored the goal ahead goal with
17:56
about ninety seconds to go last Saturday in Duluth. That give you, guys
18:02
the five to four win if you won two to one on on Friday.
18:07
But that one probably not your most memorable goal in Soil Arena. I'm guessing
18:12
you had a pretty big one last day of the season last year. What
18:18
I mean when you look back at that, having scored the only goal in
18:21
a one nothing game in an NCAA championship game, I mean, those are
18:26
as a freshman, those are like, that's stuff dreams. Isn't it that
18:30
that that you're You're in the books forever as being the game winning goal scorer
18:36
in the national championship game? How have you? How did you process that?
18:38
Man? I was like it took a while. Definitely a processed that
18:41
that was the case. But at the end of the day, like I
18:45
always said this, like it didn't matter who scored that goal, Like,
18:48
it's just the fact we came out on top. Obviously it's very meaningful,
18:52
and like I'm very grateful that I got the opportunity to be the one to
18:55
put the puck in the nut, especially just at the end of the day
18:56
that I ended up winning the whole thing, and I mean, looking back
19:00
on it, that was last year, but obviously I'll never forget that and
19:03
going back into the rank, I'll never forget those moments with my teammates last
19:07
year. So you have like even you know, at you eighteens and as
19:14
a freshman, you sort of feels like you just really know who you are.
19:17
You're just sort of like competently confidently, you like, not too cocky
19:22
or anything like that. I'm just curious about like having the poise to be
19:25
able to score that goal in that position and sort of know who you are
19:27
at that age. Can you just like kind of tell us a little bit
19:30
about, you know, sort of how you came to be who you are
19:32
as a player. I just think, honestly, this year my confidence has
19:37
kind of come out of me more than I think it did last year.
19:38
I think last year it took a while for me to kind of get comfortable
19:41
at the college speed and just college hockey in general, like it's a whole
19:45
new game. Like as much as you want to say, like you can
19:48
do whatever you want to prepare out of youth hockey, but you get to
19:51
that college level and you're just like, yeah, this is different, this
19:53
is faster, everyone's better. But as the season went on last year,
19:57
I think I just kind of started to find my game more and more as
20:00
time went on and started to get more comfortable. So then leading into this
20:03
year, I was just like, all right, started to get that confidence
20:06
going. I was like, I know I can do my thing out there.
20:08
I know the coaches trust me to do my thing out there, and
20:11
I'll just kind of walk into every game and just kind of have that mindset
20:14
where it's like, just play, relax, you know what you're doing,
20:15
like you don't got to overthink it too much. I'm curious as to your
20:22
how before you got to Wisconsin last year, and correct me if I'm wrong
20:26
here. You played with first something like four or five teams in the five
20:29
years before, but before you started college, right, And and I wonder
20:34
how that kind of forms you when you when you're always adjusting and always kind
20:40
of changing. How do you think that that made you kind of or did
20:45
it did it help you develop that? You know, when you got to
20:48
college, you can kind of grow a little faster having it. Maybe it
20:52
doesn't take as long to get up to speed with a new team and and
20:56
literally get up to speed. Yeah, I think overall, like development wise,
21:02
getting to play for many different coaches in youth hockey isn't necessarily like like
21:06
some people look at us like, oh, like you played for a lot
21:07
of people like blah blah, you bounce all over Like at the end of
21:11
the day, I think getting a bunch of different looks from different coaches ended
21:14
up being a good opportunity for me because I got to learn different concepts and
21:18
stuff from different coaches that I was playing with, whether it was like work,
21:22
ethic, skill, like just like little things in the game, Like
21:25
I got a bunch of different looks on that as well as like teammates and
21:27
players that I was with. There was different players like older girls and stuff
21:30
that I got to look up to throughout the years and kind of look after
21:33
on different teams and be like, oh, like this person does this,
21:36
like kind of like developing those areas by learning from others as well, like
21:40
in different programs, especially at the same My time at Sex Academy was huge
21:44
just because like you were always there with like the older girls, like the
21:47
older team, So I got to learn from a bunch of those girls who
21:49
are obviously super successful now, and I think those people have taught me a
21:52
lot of like who I am as a player, like and as a person.
21:56
So like going into college, I guess the transition of just like beyond
22:00
new team like kind of used to that, having to get comfortable around new
22:03
people in a new area and like a new coach. So it's like having
22:07
that experience prior to that, I guess helped a little bit into a transition
22:11
standpoint. Okay, so I want to ask about, like you love a
22:17
toe drag, but I want to ask about like when you are you're sort
22:19
of in between the faceoff dots, you kind of flipped so that you are
22:23
skating, you know, backwards across the slot area, and just about that
22:27
move that I feel like, I know KK does it a little, but
22:30
I feel like you don't do it more often, but just why. I
22:33
mean, obviously I understand it keeps the puck on your forehand and things like
22:37
that, but why is that It's to me, it's like your signature move.
22:40
I feel like I've been seeing you do it for years and it's so
22:42
effective, right, Like, I feel like it's pretty simple what you're doing
22:45
with a toe drag and with that move, but it gets you so much,
22:51
it gets it's so successful. So can you just talk a little bit
22:52
about like what you're looking for when you decide that, like maybe moving backwards
22:57
is going to be easier. What it is about that move that that you
23:00
are able to be so successful. I think it's more I'm looking at like
23:03
the d's feet I'm coming in so like usually I'm crossing over on my backhand,
23:08
and the second I see that D either like hesitate their feet turned one
23:12
way. I know if I like make that stop and get my momentum going
23:15
backwards, that kind of creates like a hole like freeze in the play,
23:19
and the D usually freezes thinks the shots coming right away like whatever, So
23:22
it opens up either a shooting opportunity for me or myself being able to pull
23:26
around the D. Like whatever it is, whatever I see is open and
23:30
as well too, like it also like confuses the goalie a lot, like
23:34
off that freezing like motion then getting like the pull in like for like the
23:38
toe drag, like it changes the angle of everything, so goalies don't really
23:41
expect it. So I just think that and you can kind of like hide
23:45
it in a very good way where like the d just doesn't always see it
23:48
coming, and like you can kind of confuse them right off the jump.
23:51
So it feels like too you're pulling the goalie kind of the app and then
23:55
you shoot for that fire post like they're coming, you're pulling the changing the
23:57
angle. And I also wanted to ask, like, are you how oftener
24:00
are you? Are you pulling it like along your blade and like looking to
24:03
get it down to the toe or is that just based on each play?
24:08
Just kind of based on each play what I read what the goal is like
24:11
angle is a lot of things are being processed off my head for sure,
24:15
those moments that you don't even realize. But yeah, kind of all the
24:18
above. Cool. There's been a lot of those kind of plays this year
24:23
and last year too, where it it feels like you're able to create quickly
24:29
and make those decisions quickly. How has has that always been something with you
24:33
where you've been able to kind of like process in the moment in a very
24:38
high speed And how does that? How do you get better at that too?
24:42
When you're reaching a new level and reaching new speeds of the game.
24:47
I think for me, like since I've been younger, like Hokaya. Qus
24:51
kind of been a huge part of my like learning and like just kind of
24:53
like knowing those like two or three steps quicker as well as when I was
24:57
younger, I played with the boys, and that helped a lot too,
25:00
because that speed just like they're bigger, stronger, Like that's just the case,
25:03
so like you have to automatically think quicker, and so I think that
25:07
kind of helped transition to girls that it was almost like slowing the game down
25:11
of it is what I like to call it, is like I kind of
25:12
like to slow the game down where I'm like trying to think ahead of like
25:17
what the next play is going to be before the puck's even there. And
25:19
that's kind of what I do. Like going into college obviously was a little
25:22
quicker, so when you have to get used to like people being on you
25:26
quicker, like having to make quicker plays. But it's all just like adjusting
25:30
and then like doing like video and stuff, rewatching games, like just little
25:33
things like that. Just kind of always trying to add to my game whatever
25:37
it is, to kind of like help grow in every area. And then
25:41
obviously, you know graduations, you got your chance with the senior team,
25:45
I mean, is it the same sort of adaptability that we've already been talking
25:48
about to be able to move up to play with the women's national team,
25:52
And it felt like you looked comfortable and were able to play be who you
25:56
were even in that new situation. Yeah, for sure. I mean,
26:00
obviously it's the highest level that you're gonna get to play at, so I
26:03
didn't really know what to expect, but obviously getting a few practices in and
26:06
stuff definitely helped getting comfortable, especially around the team and just on the ice
26:10
and kind of knowing what that speed's going to be like. So when it
26:12
got into the games, like obviously the confidence isn't as crazy there, but
26:17
like still slowly built and then you just get more and more comfortable as you
26:21
get more touches at it. Did anyone from the more veteran side of the
26:25
team ever pull you aside and say, hey, welcome, but you know,
26:29
here, here's some stuff that maybe might help you out as you're getting
26:33
started. I mean, it wasn't necessarily that, but I just feel like
26:37
they're very welcoming for the jump, Like it was almost like they never act
26:41
like you're like the new person. Like it's kind of just like, oh,
26:44
you're here here on the team, like cool, do your thing,
26:45
Like they know everyone's there for a reason, Like they know what you got,
26:49
they know what you can do. They just expect you to walk in
26:52
and be able to like show it basically and just hoping that you have the
26:55
confidence while being very welcoming and very good teammates as well. And I think
26:57
it also helped having so many of my WISCO teammates there just because that lot
27:02
a level of like comfortableness just for people I could fall back onto while trying
27:04
to get used to everyone else with where I mean, it kind of feels
27:11
ridiculous to me that we're talking about the end of the season, but we
27:12
are. How important was that come from behind when at this time of the
27:18
season with the upcoming schedule that you guys have, Like how important is it
27:22
having sort of that mindset and learning that lesson and sort of being able to
27:26
believe and know that you can do it? Like where does that set you
27:29
guys, your individual mindset and the team's mindset heading into the rest of the
27:33
season. Yeah, I think it just showed us like what this team can
27:37
do, like no matter what is throwing at us. Like we're going to
27:41
find a way out of it, and that we all have like the grit,
27:44
the tenacity, and the passion like everyone just like it comes from like
27:48
within at some point. It's like not just necessarily our talent and skill on
27:52
the ice, it's literally just that like want to win, and especially coming
27:55
into these bigger games coming into the end of the season and then going into
27:56
playoffs, like that's going to be huge. And to see that out of
28:00
us at like mental endless season against a really good team is definitely big for
28:04
us. Having that confidence going into these like really big games coming up.
28:08
You've got three of your last four series of the regular season at Lebon Arena.
28:14
And I was kind of struck earlier this season by Anna Wilgrin talking about
28:18
after she transferred from Minnesota State to Wisconsin, the difference between being a visiting
28:26
player at Lebon and being a member of the Badgers at Lebon, and she
28:30
talked about how it just felt like you were in a fish bowl as a
28:33
visitor, that you know, everyone right on top of you, because I
28:36
mean, look, if you've never been to Lebon, it goes straight up,
28:37
the roads goes straight up, and people in the back row are still
28:41
right on top of you. But I wonder what that feels like as a
28:48
if you can put in the words what it feels like for you as a
28:52
as a home player at at Lebon to have just be in that environment and
28:56
being kind of like this wall of fans all the way well on three sides
29:00
of around you anywhere. Oh my god, it's amazing. Like our fan
29:06
base is incredible. Like honestly, I think that like just having them there
29:11
helps us get out of games because they just bring that energy, like we'll
29:14
have it on the bench, but then we get our fans stream behind us
29:17
and we're like, oh my gosh, like we gotta not only do this
29:18
for us, but we gotta do it for them, to kind of thing,
29:21
and just it's just incredible, like every little thing they do, like
29:25
even getting to talk to super fans after games, like just all that,
29:29
Like it's awesome. Like there's nothing better than playing at home at Lebron.
29:34
Mark, you know, Mark Johnson always talks about the batteries. Coach always
29:40
talks about building towards the end of the season, where you know you you
29:45
want to be better every week and then by the end of the season,
29:47
you hope you're at a point where you are at your best and can compete
29:52
for a championship or championships. I guess how throughout the season do you measure
29:57
that and and do you I feel like as we're going into the last month
30:02
of the regular season here Wisconsin, is it is at where it's It's where
30:08
you guys thought you would be this point this season in that kind of growth.
30:12
Yeah, So I just think from start, obviously, it takes a
30:15
little bit to get things clicking and stuff with the new team obviously, and
30:18
then getting a few games under your belt obviously starts to get better and better
30:22
as time goes on. And then obviously this year, like later on in
30:25
the season, we got some of our tougher games at US, which was
30:27
nice to kind of see where we're at before the break. Then after the
30:30
break we come back, kind of get everything together again and kind of just
30:34
keep going with practices and stuff, get those first few games back under our
30:37
belt for the second half of the season, starts to feel out where we're
30:41
at. And then coming into last month, I feel like it's just kind
30:44
of at a point where it's like everything's clicking, Like everything just like feels
30:47
right, and it's like we're making minimum mistakes, like we just kind of
30:51
know we're there and everything's just coming at the right time. And I feel
30:53
like that's what happened last year too, and I feel like we're going to
30:56
be in that spot this year as well, where we're just kind of at
30:57
a point of peaking. I know that you said a little bit about just
31:03
like coming into the season more confident and that sort of thing, but it
31:07
is there anything else, like maybe something you work done or that you can
31:11
attribute to, just like you know, being one of the top scorers in
31:14
the country, like why things have come together particularly this year. I just
31:19
trust my training overall, and like last year too kind of falling under and
31:25
like watching the older girls and how they roll, especially watching like britt Us
31:29
specifically, like just seeing how she is in her everyday life training wise.
31:32
I was like, all right, that's kind of like a pro mindset that
31:34
I want to get into and be like you don't realize, like you can
31:37
do all the training in the world stuff and you hockey, but that first
31:40
year college makes you realize a lot and you're just like okay, like this
31:44
is it, Like this is legit. Like you gotta get into like that
31:47
mindset that's going to be like just keep taking you to that next level.
31:49
So just kind of trusting that, trusting myself, trusting my training. Throughout
31:53
the summer, I thought I a pretty good summer, and then kind of
31:56
just being in my second year, like I keep saying that confidence just like
32:00
more comfortable and more comfortable to school, more comfortable on the ice, more
32:04
comfortable around the team. Just kind of all contributes to be able to be
32:08
myself on the ice. Last question for me is, over the course of
32:15
your hockey playing career, has there been a favorite building you know, not
32:20
necessarily when you play in all the time, like Lebon or you know,
32:22
any of what you've grown up playing in, but a favorite visiting building you
32:28
like really enjoy going into just because of either the the atmosphere or what you
32:34
are expecting or anticipating out of the visiting team. M M all right.
32:40
People are probably gonna hate on me for this one, but I love rhetor
32:45
I'm not gonna lie. I do love going to the Gophers drink just because
32:49
they get a lot of fans. Our fans travel, so it's kind of
32:52
that like back and forth like Wesco, like Minnesota Battle. Obviously Border Battle
32:55
is huge, so like that environment, that energy is there, that the
32:59
kind of just at a different standpoint, and so it's like obviously super fun
33:04
to play. And plus it's obviously a really good game no matter like when
33:07
we're playing them in season and playoffs, like whatever. It is like it's
33:09
a it's a grind. So that's definitely my favorite in my past years.
33:15
Do the fans I mean, did they get on you there? I mean
33:17
it because you it's it's a smaller building, so they're right on top of
33:22
you there too. And uh any strange experiences that way, No strange experiences
33:29
like their chance but like other teams got to deal with those chances at Lebon
33:32
too, so every team's got to deal with it. I'm gonna go sort
33:37
of way off topic and i want to talk about, you know, my
33:39
pet project of why there isn't more women's hockey college hockey in Michigan, and
33:46
uh, just I get maybe just your thoughts in terms of like what what
33:50
it would mean and why it's important and there's there's such great girls youth hockey
33:54
in the state of Michigan and all of you all have have had to go
33:58
find other places. And that's not to say that you necessarily would have stayed
34:00
there. I don't, you know, not questioning where you went to school,
34:04
but just I just think it's so important, such a shame that you've
34:07
got like two huge universities there, but even some of this, there's so
34:09
many men's programs and we're down to the one D three women's program there.
34:15
Yeah, for sure, that's a huge thing. Like I'm I'm very big
34:19
on that, just because Michigan developed so many girls hockey players, like from
34:23
such a young age, like and on, and like obviously you have to
34:25
see them going to different programs like out of stay and stuff. And I'm
34:29
sure plenty of us, like plenty girls from Michigan would want to go to
34:32
University of Michigan or Michigan State or wherever. And plus on top of it,
34:37
like it's a great school, it's also like great program like whatever,
34:40
like it would draw a lot of people not only from Michigan but from all
34:44
over I think. So, I think it would be huge if they could
34:47
eventually somehow get a Division one program and at least one of those schools just
34:52
because too like their men's teams are awesome there too, so it's like it
34:55
would just be a great thing like here, Like we're obviously like ranked really
34:59
high in our team is doing really well this year. It's obviously a big
35:01
draw and it's super fun to be a part of. And I just wish
35:05
that like younger girls in Michigan would get that opportunity just because there are so
35:08
many of those players out of there, Like it's kind of like a Minnesota
35:10
just a little bit smaller. Awesome. Thank you so much, Christon.
35:15
Yeah, well, Christon, thanks so much for joining us, and rest
35:19
your voice. You know you've gotten another series with Saint claus Se coming up
35:22
this weekend, and then best of luck continuing on into the rest of the
35:27
regular season and then the playoffs. Thanks for joining us. Yeah, thank
35:30
you. Hi, welcome back to the podcast. This is Nicole Hasei.
35:42
He's Ton Maleski. We thought before we got into talking about some of the
35:45
upcoming games this weekend, we take a look at the National Women's Goalie of
35:50
the Year Award watch list, which was released. What's really interesting this year
35:55
with this In full full disclosure, I do vote for this, but what's
36:00
really interesting to me is this watch list. There are only three goalies of
36:04
the twenty some listed that have played twenty or more games. So we just
36:08
are seeing more and more teams that are splitting time and nets. So of
36:14
sort of the top like fifteen names on this list, most of them are
36:19
the vast majority are women that have split time the net and only have you
36:22
know, eleven, twelve, thirteen starts and so it'll be interesting to me.
36:28
This one is also interesting. Where is what the patty kads my award
36:31
voting? You have a phone call and discuss the top ten. We don't
36:36
discuss this. We just pay per vote. And so there's it. I
36:40
like that with the Patty because there's always something that you haven't noticed that somebody
36:44
else might point out, and there's you know, kind of get the lay
36:46
of what other people are considering or how they're looking at it. And with
36:51
this award this year, how do you weigh the amount of starts? Like?
36:57
Does so? For instance, Logan Aingers from Quinnipiac has you know,
37:01
twenty three games played, twenty two starts has faced, you know, double
37:07
the amount of shots of several of the players on here, So does her
37:12
like lowers eight percentage or higher goals against how do you weigh that against say
37:16
Saint Clouds Sonia Hola, who's played or started ten games, you know,
37:22
faced fewer Like so, for instance, Ingers has five hundred and ninety five
37:27
shots faced a whole it has two hundred and forty six, so a hole
37:30
is goals against average is half what logan angers is. But like, where
37:35
do what's the what's the skewing that comes with not having played as many games?
37:38
And I am picking on those two because they're at the top of my
37:42
list here, But the conversation is the same for you know, any any
37:45
goalies that you're going to compare this year, and so yeah, to me,
37:49
it's a very interesting sort of conundrum to think about when voting comes around.
37:53
Todd, who has told out in net for you this year that you
37:58
think needs to be in this conversation, Well, I don't know that this
38:00
is a year where you can really discount people for being part of a rotation
38:06
or a split for goalies because there's just so many of them at all of
38:09
the schools that are competing for the top spots in the country right now.
38:14
I mean, I would say it's splitting. Colgate is at least somewhat splitting
38:20
correct, and I don't know if I'm at least seventeen starts. Yeah,
38:24
yeah, yeah, Wisconsin is sink Cloud, Yeah, sink Cloud is Minnesota,
38:32
is It's it's it seems like it's it's everyone, And I don't know
38:36
if that's you know, by design where coaches are just feeling like they don't
38:43
necessarily have a true number one, and so they want to, uh,
38:49
you know, maybe play play the rest game and and and make sure when
38:52
the goalie gets sixty minutes it's her best sixty minutes of a weekend. So
38:59
I don't know that I would necessarily downgrade someone for only being in you know,
39:07
half of their team's games this season. But I mean from a numbers
39:15
standpoint, it still is impressive when you have goalies that are, you know,
39:22
nine fifty five and up, nine sixty and up in the save percenter
39:27
sometime. I mean, Gwenneth Phillips from Northeastern. They don't have the record
39:32
that they've had in previous years, but as of as I'm looking at it
39:37
right now, latest numbers as we're recording this week, nine to fifty five
39:43
save percentage won, twelve goals against in twenty six games played. I mean
39:46
that still says something that you know, Well, what I think it says
39:52
is that there hasn't been the goal support for a lot of Northeastern games.
39:55
But to be playing all of those games and still putting that up that is
40:02
impressive to me. Right. But that's where I think the like, not
40:06
that you would downgrade somebody who has played less, but like, if you're
40:09
looking at somewhat close stats, doesn't someone who has those lower numbers over double
40:15
or more the number of games like don't doesn't that have to like balance some
40:19
of that out. Yeah, I think it does, but it also I'm
40:22
not willing to say, well, Gwenda Phillips is the only one that qualifies
40:28
here because she she on this list that's played all the games. I don't
40:30
think that's the case this season too. I Mean, I have fair Santi
40:35
a Hola in in this conversation because I feel like the bang for the buck
40:42
there is a lot more for Saint Cloud in terms of how they've performed and
40:47
what she's had to do to uh to get the wins that that she when
40:53
when when she's been on the ice. I do feel like Reagan kurrk Is
41:00
and and the Tily. I mean it's it's you know, Kirk has the
41:04
better numbers, so that probably puts you, uh in more of the category
41:10
of of of putting maybe her ahead of that. But I do think too,
41:17
I'm always interested to know how the coaches vote for the first team goalie.
41:23
Uh when it comes to that point by the end of the regular season,
41:27
that that tells me a lot of you know, the coaches see a
41:30
lot more of this than than I ever will, So I tend to think
41:36
that they get a lot of those right. I'm not going to say it's
41:39
always uh that that there. It's infallible there that they're not going to you
41:45
know, you know, miss someone. But it feels like some of those
41:50
races are gonna be kind of close this year for conference first team goalie.
41:54
And and because of these uh you know, how do you await this player
41:58
against this player in terms of only playing one game a week. Yeah.
42:05
And then the other thing that because as you said this, this kind of
42:07
hasn't come up much where we've had you know, sort of two goalies making
42:10
it through the whole season, is then we have the conundrum that you get
42:15
into with the Patty where it's like two teammates. So it's not just how
42:20
do they weigh against each other or way against else elsewhere in the country,
42:23
but how do they weigh against each other? So yeah, it's just it.
42:29
As you said, it just hasn't come up much. So even just
42:32
as I was looking at this list as a voter, I'm thinking like,
42:35
oh my goodness, how do I There's just a lot to consider in a
42:38
way that I think voting for this in years past maybe hasn't And so I
42:44
mean, it's certainly fun and it's what will be interesting to me is to
42:46
see how far this goes because just in recent history when there's been the goalie
42:52
duos, right like last year, Jane Gervai got injured and Ammy Kronish became
42:55
the number one for Wisconsin by default, and then you know, before the
42:59
year of O for that, Ohio State was splitting in Teeley was the younger
43:01
goalie and then kind of got the hot hand, and is who Ohio State
43:05
went with, you know, through through the end of the postseason. And
43:07
so at some point usually the tandems break down and the coaches go with somebody,
43:15
And so I'd be in it will be interesting to see, you know,
43:17
as the we're so deep in the season, if that will happen in
43:22
any of these situations. And I will say I want to I want to
43:25
shut out Clarkson's goalie, and I, for the life of me, do
43:29
not know how to say her last name. And there's not a pronunciation guide
43:30
on their website. So I apologize. But Michelle, Michelle pe will say
43:36
at Clerkson, I think you know, she's one of the few that have
43:38
played most of the season, and we know how well Clarkson has played recently,
43:44
so I think you know she's to me, she's one of the top
43:47
goalies in the country. And so I just didn't want to go without saying
43:50
it, just because I couldn't remember how to pronounce your last name. I
43:53
feel like I wrote this down, I think, but I didn't. I
43:59
was worried and I didn't want to go there. That's right, Sorry,
44:01
Michelle. I did go to your I did go to your her roster on
44:05
the Clarkson page and was hoping for a little pronunciation and there's not anyway.
44:12
Uh yeah, So I just kind of wanted to point that out. You
44:15
know, the watch list is it's essentially like thirty people along at this point,
44:19
and so there's there's a lot of pairing down that will come and as
44:23
we get in these these final weeks, but certainly something to think about and
44:27
if anyone's got serious thoughts of that, we haven't considered. I hadn't considered
44:30
about, you know, how to weigh some of this stuff and and and
44:34
how much, you know, should the goalies that are playing more, you
44:38
know, does that how much does that close the gap to someone that is
44:44
has better stats. We're definitely open to hear them. I do feel like
44:49
at some point coaches kind of weigh in on this on their own. And
44:52
not to say that there's necessarily promotion that happens for a lot of awards in
44:59
women's hockey, or really there's not none anymore, but there's not none,
45:02
right, So then you do get into if you have two goalies that are
45:07
you know, close to each other on this list, do you promote one
45:09
or the other? Do you pick one kind of say well, let's let
45:14
the voters figure it out for themselves. I mean, or you know,
45:17
if you if you ask, you know the coach, well, you know,
45:22
who's your better goalie? Who who's who would you vote for? Are
45:25
they going to be honest with you? And are they some messages and let
45:30
you know what I hear see if anybody answers me, no, Yeah,
45:37
it's it's just is it really brought to the forefront how how different the goalie
45:43
landscape is the season in a way that I hadn't sort of completely thought about,
45:46
Like obviously knew that everybody was doing duos, but how much more that
45:52
had been And how like you said, we're a month left on the regular
45:54
season and most everybody is still still going with both and that's that's quite unusual
46:00
and interesting to just sort of like note and Mark to see if this is
46:04
a trend going forward or just an unusual year. Definitely, let's I think
46:13
there's a let's take a look at this this coming week before we wrap things
46:19
up here. A big one in the ECAC and in the pair wise because
46:27
Colgate, like I mentioned, for Coldgate number two, Clarkson number four in
46:30
the pair wise, they're playing on Friday. I believe at Clarkson. If
46:37
Clarkson can can win that one, they close the gap on Coldgate in ECAC.
46:44
But they can also things are so tight in the numbers between Wisconsin at
46:51
three and Clarkson at four and really throw in Minnesota at five in the pair
46:57
wise, there could be a lot of shuffling going on on this weekend in
47:00
terms of who's who's sitting where, and as we know, three, four
47:05
and five are pretty big spots in the pairwise the way that the bracket shakes
47:09
out, and you if you can an eleven team bracket, right, if
47:13
you can, you love to be in the top five as a starter,
47:16
because that means you don't have to play the first round game. You'd love
47:22
to be in the top four because that means you get to play your first
47:23
game at home. And you love to be in the top three because that
47:27
means you're not playing five or five game, right, So I guess degrees
47:34
of escalation there in terms of what you'd really like to happen. So that
47:38
chase is going to be fun to watch over the last month and then through
47:43
the first through the two weeks of the playoffs, for sure. And I
47:46
feel like we don't I don't remember exactly what pairwise was this last week,
47:52
but within the last two weeks, like Wisconsin was as low as five,
47:55
right, and so like the point where that Clerkson lost the game, Wisconsin
48:00
won two games. Changed that much this weekend, like one set of outcomes,
48:06
shuffled the pairwise that much with a month left is kind of nuts.
48:08
And I think we're going to continue to see that because so many of these
48:13
teams are playing each other still. Wisconsin's got to play Ohio State and Minnesota,
48:17
you know, Clarkson and Colgate and Cornell and Saint Louis all are playing
48:21
each other, and so you're talking quality win, bonus points sort of everywhere,
48:27
which really, you know, just shake things up a little bit more.
48:30
And you know, Wisconsin was in a position where they haven't played the
48:34
other the other top teams in their conference the second time, and so you
48:37
know they are looking to get those bonus points that like Ohio State has been
48:40
racking up because they've played some of those games already and won them. And
48:45
so yeah, I think it will be It will be super interesting, and
48:49
I just I'm not used to the pairwise shaking up that easily. I think
48:52
moving so much, moving the dial so much over one weekend to games was
48:55
was pretty I mean, it's it's delightful. If you're I'm a fan of
49:00
the game, I'm sure, if you're a hardcore for any of your one
49:02
teams, it's it's nerve wracking. But like, if you're just looking at
49:06
this as a whole, like this is no lose situation for fans, because
49:09
there's some pretty amazing teams here in this top ten. Yeah, I'm still
49:14
getting used to the NPI being the number to really look at because that's what
49:21
I feel like we should say pairwise by habit. Yeah, and really really
49:25
NPI is a component of the pairwise, but it's right now, the pairwise
49:30
is essentially the NPI because there I don't think there's much of a difference one
49:34
through I'm looking at this quick one throwy one through twenty, there appears to
49:40
be no difference between the NPI and the pairwise. And the NPI is new
49:44
over the last two years, where I don't really know what to expect in
49:49
terms of number change based on a win or a loss. We're still learning
49:54
how that. Yeah, yeah, and so you know, is you know
50:00
point four of a gap? Is that getting made up by you know,
50:05
one game? I don't know the answer to that night That of course is
50:08
different when you're talking about in January than it is towards the end of the
50:13
season because more games are in the formula by that point. Yeah, please
50:19
do not get into the math of it. But A, I have a
50:22
primer on us HL from last year, and B I will just say that,
50:25
like the math kind of goes in infinity. And so that's what Todd's
50:30
point is about there being more more data for and more games for it to
50:35
use because of the way that the formula repeats and why we yeah, why
50:42
we say don't look at the pair wise in October because there aren't enough games
50:46
in it for it to mean much. So by this point of the season,
50:51
Yeah, you're starting to see where it's where. The uh, it's
50:54
becoming more of a solid framework of who's where. Yeah, And one of
51:00
the I just want to point out, like for newer fans, like one
51:02
of the reasons this is great is the so the Parawai is when it was
51:06
developed, like was developed for the men's game, and like by it was
51:10
just sort of passed over to the women's game when it started, and the
51:16
data set was smaller for the women's right because there were there's so many few
51:20
there were so many fewer teams. Now that we're up to forty some teams.
51:22
That helps, but the NPI sort of helped solve some of that problem.
51:28
And listen, math, I'm a journalist for a reason. I do
51:30
not math, but just kind of want to point out that this was changed
51:35
last year and it is a positive thing, we think, based on the
51:38
set of the better the information that we have. But yeah, so it
51:45
changes. It's simpler and cleaner, and I think helps make this framework that
51:52
wasn't developed for women's hockey, and the NPI is across the board, but
51:55
I think this change helps take away some of the problems because we don't have
52:01
as much. The way that the conferences of course sort of silo and don't
52:06
play across each other was difficult within the pairwise. I don't know if that
52:08
gets too complicated, but as I said, maybe I'll tell I'll have Todd
52:13
put this link, this USHO link from last year in the in the show
52:15
notes, so that you can go and read up on NPI and the change
52:20
and sort of there's been a lot of change in what the postseason looks like
52:23
in women's college hockey in the last couple of years, and someday maybe we'll
52:29
get to that that twelfth team and just kind of be done with that,
52:36
and they added the team on the men's side. I was like, h
52:39
on the D three Yeah, right, yeah, that's a change that happened
52:47
really midstream. I mean they were requesting it early, I think before the
52:53
season, but the Championship's cabinet or I forget what it's called, that the
52:58
D three level didn't approve until just just not too many weeks ago, and
53:01
so I didn't know for sure that how many teams that were going to be
53:06
in the NCAA tournament at the D three men's level until recently. And so
53:09
that's always happened last year for us, right, yeah, we found out
53:14
mid year that we were going to eleven. Yeah, I felt like that
53:17
was before jayah, yeah, it'll be yeah, and it'll be interesting because
53:25
we keep adding programs on the women's side, right, Oh, I have
53:29
it in December twenty twenty one is when they announced the expansion, so not
53:32
that far ahead that it really Yeah, anyway, now that we went far
53:38
far afield. The point is really, of course, the sorry folks.
53:44
The point is there's some really interesting games this weekend with with top teams that
53:46
will have implications both within the conference but in national rankings as well, which
53:51
I think makes you know, makes a lot of fun to watch. So
53:53
if you're like me, and we'll have multiple screens up, We've got Clerkson
54:00
ate at clerks and Friday at six, Cornell at Saint Lawrence Friday at six
54:02
eastern time on those, and then you have Colgate at Saint Lawrence and Cornell
54:07
at Clerkson Saturday at three eastern. And then to add into that fun,
54:10
we also get Princeton at Quinnipiac Saturday at three eastern. So pretty much all
54:16
the ECC action all at one time, and all the ranked teams playing against
54:20
each other, Which isn't to say that the other games aren't interesting, uh,
54:23
just that these are going to have some more implications, big implications in
54:29
the CHA this weekend too, with Penn State hosting Mercyhurst, Penn State two
54:34
points ahead in first place. Friday Saturday series in Saint College or State College.
54:37
I don't know if I said Saint didn't mean to State College. So
54:43
that's you know, you talk about big series towards in the final weekend or
54:49
final month of the regular season, that's that's the big one, really,
54:52
yeah, yeah, And you know Penn State there are times like this last
54:58
weekend, you know, they put a sixteen goal on the board and then
55:00
and then you know, last weekend had the They've had the lost the two
55:04
weekends before that, lost an overtimed r A T lost free one to Syracuse,
55:08
and so it makes me feel like I'm not entirely sure what we're gonna
55:13
see. And they have they have the injury to Josie Boffin as well,
55:15
their goalie. They're like very good all c Cha golds Under I believe is
55:22
out for the season. And so yeah, not not a great tim on
55:25
that for them, unfortunately. And so yeah, that's I think that's a
55:30
big asterisk circle. Pay attention to those games this weekend. Yeah, that's
55:37
uh. In w c h A, it's you know, really the only
55:42
series between two ranked teams is Wisconsin hosting Saint Cloud State Saturday and Sunday afternoons
55:47
three Central Saturday for Central on Sunday. I never really am sure what to
55:55
expect out of Wisconsin Saint Cloud series, to be honest, especially and I
56:00
believe it was last season Saint Cloud came into Wisconsin won a one nothing game
56:05
at the Cole Center. That was still the ball Yeah, right, the
56:07
you know fourteen fifteen thousand, you know, attendants on that one, which
56:15
feels like it always happens that Saint Cloud comes to Madison and whoever their goalie
56:20
is has a magical performance in front of a big crowd. So I'm almost
56:25
kind of expecting to see something like that, and they obviously have the goalies
56:30
to do that this season again, right and again they obviously a lot of
56:36
that was predicated on the goaltending performance. But that was also just a really
56:38
flat game from the Badgers. Like my husband was talking about sitting there with
56:45
one of our friends and watching that game and just like kind of hating that
56:47
they were like we're mad, we're here kind of thing. It just was
56:52
a very like it wasn't the type of game that they were expecting from that
56:57
team and from you know, the eventual national champions. So it was it
57:01
was a painful game to watch for what you knew that the Badgers we could
57:07
and should be able to do. And that's you know, obviously credit to
57:10
Saint Cloud State what they're able to do on defense, and I think for
57:14
them knowing how to use that extra ice on the bigger sheet and things like
57:19
that. But yeah, it. Uh. Cloud State sort of has Wisconsin's
57:22
number that way in terms of like their defense matches up really well against Wisconsin,
57:27
and they know what to do to to sort of shut down what Wisconsin
57:30
wants to to be able to do in terms of zone entry and moving through
57:32
the neutral zone and things like that. So yeah, you said, I
57:37
don't know what to expect from this game. I think as much in recent
57:42
memory, it's as much of a toss up as I can remember feeling like
57:45
the weekend could be like and I both. I feel like both teams could
57:47
win both games. I feel like if Wisconsin plays like they did forteen minutes
57:52
uh in Deuluth like that, that's going to make them hard to be beaten
57:55
by anybody. But like you can't wait till the final fifty minutes of most
58:00
games, and so yeah, and and they were lucky that they could,
58:05
you know, sort of dig down deep and find that, but it's gonna
58:08
wear them down and they will be frustrated, and so yeah, it definitely
58:14
will be interesting to see to see how that plays out that game. Last
58:17
season, Madison was really one of the building blocks of that first season for
58:21
Brian Dlski, the coach, at Sinkley and we've seen where it's kind of
58:24
carried over into this season and where they're you know, right now a top
58:30
ten team and and you know, in conversation for an at large spot in
58:36
the NCAA Tournament, you need to you know, there's some some work that
58:39
has to be done there. But I mean, really just big things have
58:44
happened there. You're talked about year year to year really of the course of
58:49
of of two seasons, uh in making the Huskies a you know, more
58:55
of a a a team that feels like you can be in a lot of
59:00
these games like we saw with them against Ohio State this season. Yeah,
59:06
I mean just truly like the fact that he came in, he came in
59:09
kind of late to that job last season somebody else entirely's roster, and what
59:14
he was able to do, and you know, it's so sometimes I think
59:17
coaching changes are like, you know, it's not the coach or you never
59:21
kind of know like if that's the thing that's going to change things. And
59:24
certainly no disrespect to the folks that were at Saint Cloud State before, but
59:29
I think definitely you know, speaks to what Brian can do and what you
59:34
know his style. I think, you know, we saw him do very
59:37
similar things at North Dakota, and so I just like just so impressed with
59:42
how players react to him, how well he reads the game and knows how
59:46
like you know, again no disrespect to Saint Cloud State, but like if
59:52
you you match up their roster against some of the team's ranked ahead of them,
59:54
like you would, they wouldn't necessarily come out ahead on those head to
59:59
head matches. Yet he's as a whole, his team is just you know,
1:00:01
always better than the some of the parts, and they they play their
1:00:06
strengths well, they scout the other team really well, and play a game
1:00:10
that frustrates their opponent and keeps them from doing what they want to do.
1:00:14
And so I think that it's just so impressive to you don't necessarily always see
1:00:20
the impact of a coach from year to year, right, Like a lot
1:00:23
of our coaches are long time coaches. A lot of them you know,
1:00:25
have been doing what they've been doing for a while, and so I just
1:00:28
I feel like it's just super impressive to see what's happened there and then the
1:00:31
steps they took from last year to this year. Now that you know he
1:00:35
was able to bring in a few more of the players that he wants to
1:00:37
be coaching. So I don't think this is by any means the peak that
1:00:42
we will see from them. I think a definitely Coach of the Year candidate
1:00:45
there both w and national picture. Yeah, he should be. Even if
1:00:51
he's not, he should be. I also wanted to point out a couple
1:00:55
of the Hockey East games this week are on Nesson. They're focusing on a
1:01:01
lot of college hockey there this weekend. Obviously the men's teams in Boston are
1:01:07
doing pretty well, but yeah, it looks like Boston College at BU Friday
1:01:12
at six since Saturday at two eastern. Saturday's game is on Nesson, and
1:01:16
then followed by u n H at fifteen Northeastern at four thirty eastern, also
1:01:21
on Nesson. So for the os on the East Coast or those of you
1:01:24
that have really good cable sports packages, those that those are available nationally which
1:01:28
is pretty cool. Also part of the ESPN Plus package, which is really
1:01:31
awesome that you know you have that and you can just slip on during the
1:01:36
pretty much all day Friday and Saturday, there's something to watch. Women's college
1:01:40
hockeywise, Yeah, I understand why WHA is on the Big ten network,
1:01:47
but man, the part where you can go into ESPN Plus, which is
1:01:52
really reasonably priced and see, you know, in midday on Saturday twenty different
1:01:57
women's college hockey games is pretty amazing. And it's fun to be able to
1:02:00
just splip around and flip back and forth and see, you know, check
1:02:04
in on everybody. So that's usually what I have on my tablet because it's
1:02:08
it's easier to switch around on there than it is on my TV. One
1:02:12
day, We're going to talk about your how you do, because I think
1:02:17
this is what I was I read a story I don't know, a couple
1:02:22
of weeks ago, a month ago about people who do sports gambling and the
1:02:29
TV setups that they have to mondor as many games as they want to,
1:02:31
and I would imagine you're probably not much different, probably rivaling that kind of
1:02:36
thing, not for the same purpose, but for the same watching of games.
1:02:40
So yeah, I mean, I would love everything didn't happen all at
1:02:44
once, right like, because I'm reading these easy ac you know, all
1:02:46
three ranked teams start at the exact same time, like awesome things for that
1:02:51
guys, you know, I wish that wasn't the case, but it is.
1:02:54
And so I mean, obviously, no one you can't actually watch all
1:02:57
of those things, but it's nice to have them up and to be able
1:03:00
to sort of switch your focus if interesting things start happening, right, and
1:03:05
it allows me to keep an eye on a lot. I I always feel
1:03:07
weird talking about it, but like I mean, I just I watch more
1:03:10
of these games than probably pretty much anybody else, right, because like coaches
1:03:14
can't are busy and and so I'm just doing my best. So I appreciate
1:03:17
ESPN Plus particularly, but also the leagues for giving me access to to a
1:03:23
lot of stuff too, so that I can check in on everybody. But
1:03:25
yeah, I have a two TV living room and a tablet and my laptop
1:03:29
normally at any given time. And also, you know, bless my husband
1:03:37
that he puts up with it because because it's it's it's something I don't I'm
1:03:39
not sure it's healthy, but it happens. We all appreciate it. Well,
1:03:47
that's what I say. I watch a lot of bad hockey streams.
1:03:52
Yeah, I mean it feels like they've gotten better of but it's still Yeah.
1:04:00
Yeah, I listen. I complain because I care, and also because
1:04:02
I watch a lot of them, y'all, I watch some really bad streams.
1:04:06
So yeah, so when I'm when I'm complaining about an announcer about a
1:04:11
camera feed, just just know that A it comes from face of love,
1:04:14
because I want everybody to have better. I want the girls deserve better,
1:04:16
the women, the players deserve better broadcasts for people to be able to watch
1:04:21
them. But also I spend a lot of time watching these and I would
1:04:25
like better to Sorry, not sorry, right right exactly. Well, we
1:04:30
hope you all want enjoy your hockey watching experience over the weekend, be that
1:04:34
on TV, on a stream, or in person, and we will be
1:04:40
back with you next week on the podcast.