Latest / The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey / College hockey's future gets ready to go on display and its present returns from the break

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College hockey's future gets ready to go on display and its present returns from the break · The PodKaz: USCHO Women's Hockey

0:04
Speaker 1: Usccho dot com. Hi, had, Welcome to the first edition
0:12
Speaker 1: of the podcast for twenty twenty six. My name is
0:15
Speaker 1: Todd Mollusky. I'm here with Nicole Hosey. We are from
0:18
Speaker 1: us cho dot com and we will be talking college
0:22
Speaker 1: hockey a little bit later in today's show. And well
0:25
Speaker 1: that's really what we do here, but we wanted to
0:28
Speaker 1: start this edition with an event that's coming up this weekend. Well,
0:33
Speaker 1: Nicole is not here in the US, Nicole, where are you?
0:37
Speaker 1: And for what?
0:39
Speaker 2: I am in Sydney, Kate Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada for
0:44
Speaker 2: the U eighteen Women World Championships. So I am this
0:48
Speaker 2: is We were just talking about this offline. I am
0:51
Speaker 2: four hours east of Halifax, was it? Which isn't the
0:54
Speaker 2: thing I knew you could do. Like I planned to
0:56
Speaker 2: fly to Halifax, but it's a four hour drive. So
1:00
Speaker 2: I am an island like past the mainland, but not
1:04
Speaker 2: actually I think I asked technically past meeting east of
1:08
Speaker 2: Prince Edwarg Island as well, closer to Greenland than I
1:10
Speaker 2: am to Wisconsin. Way out east Atlantic time zone. Holy
1:15
Speaker 2: time zoned me h. Yeah, So tournament starts on Saturday,
1:22
Speaker 2: and I got here a couple of days early to
1:23
Speaker 2: get settled in and explore a little, and then we'll
1:26
Speaker 2: be off with another version of the U eighteen World Championships, which,
1:30
Speaker 2: as most of our listeners know, is super relevant because
1:33
Speaker 2: tons of the players from this tournament will go on
1:36
Speaker 2: to play in the NCAA. Several of them are already committed,
1:40
Speaker 2: pretty much everybody from US and Canada except for the
1:42
Speaker 2: ones that are not like age eligible yet, and then
1:45
Speaker 2: several players from all of the other teams as well.
1:49
Speaker 2: I have those lists and where those players are committed
1:51
Speaker 2: up on the Victory Press, so you can check those
1:53
Speaker 2: out there. But yeah, so it's what my fifth the
1:58
Speaker 2: U eighteens in a row. So pretty excited to just
2:02
Speaker 2: be here and cover this tournament. I think it'll get
2:04
Speaker 2: a little more attention when we're in Canada, but that
2:07
Speaker 2: it has maybe one. I'm overseas and I'm the only
2:09
Speaker 2: one there, so that'll be exciting. But yeah, I love
2:12
Speaker 2: coming to see these players. You know, several players have
2:17
Speaker 2: gone right from their eighteen teams their senior national teams.
2:20
Speaker 2: I'm not done with my previews yet, so I'm not
2:23
Speaker 2: positive there may be somebody playing here that's not an
2:25
Speaker 2: Olympic team, but probably not just because of the closeness
2:28
Speaker 2: of the tournament to the Olympics this year. But you know,
2:31
Speaker 2: this is like Chloe Fromurano played in this tournament last
2:34
Speaker 2: year while she was already at Minnesota sou Yeah, that's
2:39
Speaker 2: where I'm at.
2:40
Speaker 1: So yeah, there's a lot of reason, like you said,
2:42
Speaker 1: to pay attention to this and to kind of, you know,
2:46
Speaker 1: to understand where these players are coming from and going.
2:49
Speaker 1: But I think one of the things that I always
2:51
Speaker 1: appreciate that you come back with from this is just
2:54
Speaker 1: a little bit more of an understanding of what these
2:58
Speaker 1: countries are doing to kind of we know what the
3:00
Speaker 1: US and Canada are doing, we see them all the time,
3:03
Speaker 1: but the other countries that are part of it and
3:05
Speaker 1: what they're doing to kind of try and take steps
3:08
Speaker 1: and to make their national programs, especially at these younger ages,
3:12
Speaker 1: a little bit better. What do you feel like you've
3:14
Speaker 1: seen over these last couple of years and the four
3:17
Speaker 1: previous years you've done this in person of just maybe
3:22
Speaker 1: how some of those other you know, the Czechias and
3:25
Speaker 1: Slovakias have grown and kind of put more importance on
3:30
Speaker 1: this event to help kind of foster that yeah.
3:35
Speaker 2: I think what's really interesting is all the countries will
3:38
Speaker 2: say what they're doing, but we've seen sort of different outcomes.
3:42
Speaker 2: Chechia sort of still being the benchmark for what some
3:45
Speaker 2: of the European countries have done in terms of really
3:48
Speaker 2: investing of their women's program, and for them that went
3:50
Speaker 2: down to YOU eighteens and even U sixteens, and so
3:53
Speaker 2: we've seen that from them. They won their first two
3:55
Speaker 2: medals in a row, the back to back medals, so
3:57
Speaker 2: they won bronze last year and silver the year before.
4:02
Speaker 2: So for them, I think they continue to be the benchmark.
4:05
Speaker 2: We see that at the senior level. It's no different
4:07
Speaker 2: at YOU eight teens. One of the biggest things is
4:09
Speaker 2: that their You eighteen coach Dushan is on Kyle McLeod's
4:15
Speaker 2: coaching staff with the senior team, like that is a
4:17
Speaker 2: fully integrated They all work and talk together. They know
4:21
Speaker 2: that some players from You eighteens will probably be playing
4:24
Speaker 2: at the senior level, and just the conversation and sort
4:28
Speaker 2: of the flow of information and the way that they
4:30
Speaker 2: are all tied together. And again down to U sixteen.
4:32
Speaker 2: I don't know that coaches them off the top of
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Speaker 2: my head, but they are all in conversation at all
4:36
Speaker 2: times and Dushan, as far as I know, is the
4:39
Speaker 2: only U eighteen coach that is also on the senior
4:41
Speaker 2: coaching staff. So I think that rate there is just
4:43
Speaker 2: a really huge Chadia just made that that full odd investment,
4:48
Speaker 2: you know, bringing in Terre's a Sadalova as their as
4:51
Speaker 2: their GM, and she just really you know, sort of
4:54
Speaker 2: forced their their federation to say like this is what
4:56
Speaker 2: we're gonna do, and they put in the investment and
4:58
Speaker 2: they started from the ground up. So we've seen that
5:01
Speaker 2: payoff for them at the senior level and it's been
5:03
Speaker 2: the same at EU eighteen's two. We were in Sweden
5:06
Speaker 2: in twenty twenty three, o't been getting those numbers right
5:10
Speaker 2: and they, you know, it made a big pushed and
5:14
Speaker 2: talked about their sorry, their federation and their investment. And
5:18
Speaker 2: one thing it's with Sweden is they're very focused on
5:21
Speaker 2: and this was pre the p WHL launching or maybe
5:25
Speaker 2: even being announced, was that like they need to focus
5:27
Speaker 2: on homegrown talent, and so that means like when players
5:30
Speaker 2: were coming to the SDHL, they still wanted to make
5:32
Speaker 2: sure that a large portion of most SDHL rosters were
5:36
Speaker 2: Swedish born players. I'm not sure they've seen the same payoff,
5:41
Speaker 2: but you know how we kind of talk about like
5:43
Speaker 2: that next level jump, maybe like the WCCHA. I feel
5:46
Speaker 2: like that's where Sweden is. I do feel like we've
5:48
Speaker 2: seen improvement from them. Particularly two years ago. They had
5:52
Speaker 2: a poor quarter finals showing and that was just like
5:55
Speaker 2: sort of unacceptable to them, and it went from like,
5:59
Speaker 2: you know, we could be playing for a medal to
6:01
Speaker 2: finishing I think seventh in the tournament. It just it
6:04
Speaker 2: really was, you know, the matter of like one poor game,
6:08
Speaker 2: and so I felt like they really pushed quite a
6:10
Speaker 2: bit last year. They lost to the US in the
6:12
Speaker 2: semifinals to one, they lost to Chechia in the bronze
6:16
Speaker 2: middle game to one, so ultimately the only improved they
6:19
Speaker 2: went from fifth to fourth in the overall standings. But
6:21
Speaker 2: I felt like they set a goal for themselves, which
6:24
Speaker 2: is to improve from what they had done, and I
6:27
Speaker 2: really think that they've shown that over the past two seasons.
6:31
Speaker 2: So I feel like the growth is maybe a little
6:33
Speaker 2: slower there, but I do think they put that attention
6:37
Speaker 2: on and really did it. And then you know, kind
6:39
Speaker 2: of the other end of the spectrum is someone like Slovakia, right,
6:41
Speaker 2: who just has Nella and Nella the Pashnova and the
6:48
Speaker 2: nobody else in her team really reaches that level of talent.
6:51
Speaker 2: And that's absolutely nothing against her team. She's you know,
6:55
Speaker 2: at a higher level than most anyone that will hit
6:57
Speaker 2: the ice this weekend. But you know, she she clearly
7:02
Speaker 2: has put in the individual work to raise her game,
7:04
Speaker 2: but I'm not sure that the federation is done sort
7:06
Speaker 2: of the same thing. And she has talked about years
7:09
Speaker 2: ago that like you know, she means she was leading
7:11
Speaker 2: the senior big in Slovakia is like a fourteen and
7:14
Speaker 2: fifteen year old, and so I think I think she
7:18
Speaker 2: and a couple other teammates have come over to the
7:20
Speaker 2: US both for prep school and leading into the NCAAs.
7:24
Speaker 2: So hopefully we see that continued growth from them, sort
7:27
Speaker 2: of that trajectory that we saw maybe from Czechia ten
7:30
Speaker 2: years ago, where a couple of players came first and
7:33
Speaker 2: then it started that that rolling it down the hill,
7:37
Speaker 2: you know, pick it up all momentum. But yeah, I
7:39
Speaker 2: think that's sort of where we're at. And then an
7:41
Speaker 2: interesting one for me this week will be hungry because
7:43
Speaker 2: we've seen a couple of Hungarian players, you know Emma
7:45
Speaker 2: Christ at Minnesota and a few others. And they do
7:48
Speaker 2: have two players that are committed to the NCAA that
7:51
Speaker 2: I know of so far, and so they're just a
7:54
Speaker 2: program and a federation. I don't know a ton about.
7:57
Speaker 2: We haven't seen them at eighteen is a ton. They
7:59
Speaker 2: made a and pushed. They were kind of head and
8:02
Speaker 2: shoulders above everybody at the level below this to win
8:05
Speaker 2: that tournament. And so I'm hoping to talk to somebody
8:08
Speaker 2: from their federation and sort of learn more about what
8:11
Speaker 2: work they're doing.
8:13
Speaker 1: Yeah, we know that Canada and the US are the
8:16
Speaker 1: dominant teams at this tournament. Canada won last season's championship
8:21
Speaker 1: beating the US in the final. That's typically the way
8:24
Speaker 1: it goes, but not necessarily always it's a those two
8:28
Speaker 1: teams being in the final. We've seen a couple of
8:30
Speaker 1: years where it's or at least one year where.
8:34
Speaker 2: Checking upside Canada.
8:35
Speaker 1: Yes, Canada and make it in that one. But those
8:40
Speaker 1: two teams being the big players here, what do you,
8:44
Speaker 1: I guess, what are you looking forward to seeing out
8:46
Speaker 1: of the US and Canada for this tournament?
8:50
Speaker 2: I think in this m with the US's senior team's
8:56
Speaker 2: focus on young kers illiant. It puts like kind of
8:59
Speaker 2: a different perspective. I'm looking at these players and seeing
9:02
Speaker 2: them as that next gen that like if somebody that
9:05
Speaker 2: is heading into college next year could would be part
9:09
Speaker 2: of the next Olympics cycle. And so to me that
9:12
Speaker 2: just sort of makes me look at the group with
9:14
Speaker 2: maybe a little bit more focus or I'm not sure
9:19
Speaker 2: how to say that, but it does just sort of
9:21
Speaker 2: change the way that I look at I think for
9:23
Speaker 2: both teams in the last two years, they really some
9:27
Speaker 2: of the players I think graduating because of college, but
9:29
Speaker 2: like the players that aged out are some of the
9:31
Speaker 2: biggest names that have been on those teams in recent years.
9:33
Speaker 2: And are you know it's Chloe Privoriano, it is Josie
9:38
Speaker 2: Saint Martin, Mahi skianal Bell Finale, Like, there have been
9:44
Speaker 2: these really big names that have like people knew sort
9:47
Speaker 2: of outside of those of us the pay attention to
9:50
Speaker 2: you eighteens, and I'm not sure that there's like super
9:53
Speaker 2: huge names that either of these teams. I feel like
9:55
Speaker 2: it's a little more niche. There's definitely great players, don't
9:58
Speaker 2: get me wrong, but for me, I'll be looking to
10:00
Speaker 2: see who stands out and who sort of steps into
10:02
Speaker 2: that new role. There were a couple of players last
10:05
Speaker 2: year that were on the younger side on their rosters
10:08
Speaker 2: that had flashes of brilliance and also some boneheaded boobs
10:11
Speaker 2: because they're still teenagers. And so for me, I'll be
10:14
Speaker 2: watching for some of those returners to see how they
10:17
Speaker 2: have grown their game. Like on the USA May April
10:20
Speaker 2: is a third year player, and so I think we'll
10:23
Speaker 2: see a lot more from her, But she's not the
10:25
Speaker 2: same sort of like big personality, so I think she's
10:28
Speaker 2: going to be more of like that quiet leader. She's
10:30
Speaker 2: been like a fible London defender since she was like fourteen,
10:34
Speaker 2: Like she's just she's she's a defender in the style
10:37
Speaker 2: of Leila Edwards. Right, So now that we sort of
10:40
Speaker 2: know and see how Layla works in that position, I
10:43
Speaker 2: think I'll be looking for those parallels in terms of
10:45
Speaker 2: like the long reach and the stick and that sort
10:48
Speaker 2: of stuff and what you can do from the point.
10:50
Speaker 2: But yeah, I think it's about maybe seeing like who
10:52
Speaker 2: steps up and who stands out out of this next generation.
10:57
Speaker 1: So this tournament starts on Saturday, runs through Sunday, January eighteenth,
11:02
Speaker 1: So over those eight days, there's I mean, I think
11:04
Speaker 1: there's four games right away on Saturday, and then at
11:06
Speaker 1: least two every for all the days between then unless
11:10
Speaker 1: there's a day off, so we'll get there off days. Okay,
11:14
Speaker 1: how can people follow what you're going to be doing
11:17
Speaker 1: throughout the tournament?
11:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, so all of the games will be all of
11:23
Speaker 2: the US and Canada games. OD this gets so complicated.
11:27
Speaker 2: TSN is the one that covers this, so folks in
11:30
Speaker 2: Canada should be able to always sign it on TSN
11:34
Speaker 2: US games and they will carry US games. Canada games
11:38
Speaker 2: and then quarterfinals on US games should also be on
11:43
Speaker 2: NHL Network and they will carry the TSN feed. I
11:46
Speaker 2: will say that what I went looking for links for
11:50
Speaker 2: NCAA games to get prepared for next weekend.
11:52
Speaker 1: There were some.
11:54
Speaker 2: World Championship things on ESPN Plus, no details, they were
11:58
Speaker 2: on the calendar, so obviously you will know until it happens,
12:03
Speaker 2: but I have hope for folks and that it'll be
12:05
Speaker 2: at ESPN Plus, which is at least easier to zee
12:09
Speaker 2: a lot of times. The Finland Games will be available online,
12:13
Speaker 2: so obviously it's finished commentary, but at least it's free
12:15
Speaker 2: online and I have all of those that was linked
12:18
Speaker 2: up on Victory Press, and then I will be live
12:21
Speaker 2: tweeting for lack of a better word, on both Blue
12:23
Speaker 2: Sky and Twitter. I would love to get off Twitter,
12:27
Speaker 2: but that's where all the highlights get shared IHF and
12:31
Speaker 2: all the veterans. Uh, So that's so I will be
12:37
Speaker 2: sharing IHEF does not allow video taken during game time,
12:41
Speaker 2: so I'd up personally taking video, but I do try
12:44
Speaker 2: to get like school celebrations and things like that non
12:47
Speaker 2: gameplay stuff and then lots of pictures. So definitely follow
12:50
Speaker 2: along on both Blue Sky and Twitter where I am
12:53
Speaker 2: at Nicole Hasey, and then also on Instagram, both the
12:57
Speaker 2: Victory Press Instagram and my own personal which is Nicole
13:01
Speaker 2: has fourteen. I will try and share both tournament stuff
13:05
Speaker 2: and the things that I'm doing my side plusts while
13:07
Speaker 2: I meet.
13:08
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's that's as for me. Almost as entertaining as
13:14
Speaker 1: the hockey is is what you get, what you find,
13:18
Speaker 1: and some of your travel excitement of how you get places.
13:23
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I have a car this time, so that's
13:26
Speaker 2: at least nice, and they're more in one city, but
13:28
Speaker 2: we are, you know, super remote. My the place of
13:31
Speaker 2: veryting has snowshoes, and they are supposed to get some
13:34
Speaker 2: more snow, so I'm hoping we'll do some some nature
13:37
Speaker 2: stuff falling here.
13:39
Speaker 1: Sounds good. Okay, So that's the U eighteen tournament. But
13:42
Speaker 1: we're also getting some news lately about the Olympic rosters
13:46
Speaker 1: for the tournament that will be starting in well just
13:50
Speaker 1: about four weeks now in Italy. I have seen seven
13:56
Speaker 1: of the ten teams with rosters. Haven't seen Canadas in
14:00
Speaker 1: Italy yet. Canada is coming on Friday as I understand it.
14:05
Speaker 1: The other two not totally sure of the timing there.
14:08
Speaker 1: But from the rosters I have seen, I've counted twenty
14:14
Speaker 1: nine current NCAA Double A players from sixteen nca Double
14:20
Speaker 1: A teams that will be in the Olympics this season,
14:24
Speaker 1: which is I mean, you think that there's forty five
14:28
Speaker 1: programs playing top level NCAA women's hockey. To have sixteen
14:33
Speaker 1: of them sending at least a player to the Olympics
14:35
Speaker 1: is telling you something that there's there's some pretty good
14:40
Speaker 1: the talent is around the country for college hockey. That
14:45
Speaker 1: at least that was the the what I took out
14:49
Speaker 1: of that when I was just kind of counting around
14:52
Speaker 1: seeing there's a DOUBLEHF page that is tracking all of
14:57
Speaker 1: the rosters are being really and so having seen that,
15:02
Speaker 1: it's that stood out to me.
15:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it's not certainly not surprising in terms
15:08
Speaker 2: of we know that we've seen the growth of NC
15:12
Speaker 2: players coming from international schools, but yeah, or from international
15:16
Speaker 2: you know what I'm trying to say, rosters I haven't
15:18
Speaker 2: paid as much of attention. It's just because of the
15:21
Speaker 2: eight teens and traveling on trying to keep up with it.
15:24
Speaker 2: But yeah, I think it's just really exciting, and it
15:27
Speaker 2: continues to show the importance of paying attention to the
15:29
Speaker 2: collegiate game and the role that it plays in developing
15:32
Speaker 2: international talent, particularly when the federations are putting in that
15:37
Speaker 2: type of time and effort. So yeah, it's it's why
15:42
Speaker 2: I think all I mean, there's a through right here.
15:43
Speaker 2: Right like we started with you eight teens, and I
15:45
Speaker 2: normally talk about college and talking about the Olympic. There's
15:48
Speaker 2: like there's a very clear connection and through line, and
15:50
Speaker 2: it's it's why we love, you know, talking about it
15:52
Speaker 2: and making sure people know about these players because these
15:54
Speaker 2: are the ones that are going to make be in
15:55
Speaker 2: bad hm on.
15:57
Speaker 1: The US roster. There are seven current collegiate players out
16:05
Speaker 1: of that group of twenty three, which does tell you,
16:07
Speaker 1: like you're talking about there's a youth I don't know.
16:10
Speaker 1: I don't know if the term youth movement is right
16:12
Speaker 1: because there's still a lot of real quality veteran players
16:16
Speaker 1: on that team.
16:17
Speaker 2: But there's not that young anymore either, Right, there's pretty
16:21
Speaker 2: when they were sophomores at the World two years ago.
16:24
Speaker 1: But yeah, right, But Wisconsin has four current players going
16:28
Speaker 1: to the US team Minnesota as one Ohio state, as
16:31
Speaker 1: one pet state has won. So that's a pretty good
16:34
Speaker 1: indication of that there's some well right there in the
16:39
Speaker 1: w c h A, there's there's six players who are
16:42
Speaker 1: going to be gone for a month, and we've talked
16:45
Speaker 1: about how that's going to change the dynamics of the league,
16:51
Speaker 1: but it's also going to be a pretty good raising
16:56
Speaker 1: of the level of their play for when they come back,
16:59
Speaker 1: and they get in the playoffs too that I'm really
17:01
Speaker 1: looking forward to seeing that of what they come back with.
17:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, and I one of the interesting things will
17:08
Speaker 2: be how I mean they all talk about the speed
17:10
Speaker 2: of the game being different when you come back for
17:12
Speaker 2: fast slow that game is going to feel nice and
17:15
Speaker 2: slow to that to down and like someone like KK Harvey,
17:20
Speaker 2: who the game slows down for her anyway, right, like
17:22
Speaker 2: the way that she's it what it is actually physically
17:24
Speaker 2: slower too. Like that feels scary for anyone that has
17:27
Speaker 2: to face some of these players just because it is
17:30
Speaker 2: going to allow them. They're going to have so much
17:31
Speaker 2: more time in space than they're prepared and used to.
17:34
Speaker 2: So can you you know, you mentioned those were just
17:37
Speaker 2: the US players, like all of the teams you mentioned
17:39
Speaker 2: are missing players from other countries as well.
17:42
Speaker 1: Right, we will have more to talk about the Olympics,
17:45
Speaker 1: probably after the UA teams as we kind of start.
17:48
Speaker 1: You know, we got to handle things in the order
17:50
Speaker 1: that they arrive right right, one thing at a time here,
17:53
Speaker 1: So let's let's get through the UA teams, but also
17:56
Speaker 1: be on the lookout for those rosters that I We
17:59
Speaker 1: will have a full rundout on usc jo dot com
18:02
Speaker 1: eventually of where all these players are are coming from
18:05
Speaker 1: and where they're going, yes, because that will be important
18:09
Speaker 1: as we're looking towards the end of January and then
18:12
Speaker 1: in the start of February. Really, you know, the good
18:15
Speaker 1: portion of February, while those players will be gone from
18:17
Speaker 1: their teams, and that's obviously going to have an impact
18:20
Speaker 1: on the way the final weeks of the regular season
18:23
Speaker 1: play out here in NCAA hockey. So that is going
18:27
Speaker 1: to wrap up our first segment. When we come back,
18:28
Speaker 1: we're going to look back at what we missed over
18:30
Speaker 1: the break, and then we'll look ahead at what's coming
18:34
Speaker 1: up ahead here at NCAA Women's hockey. Stay with us
18:36
Speaker 1: on the podcast. Welcome back to the podcast. Todd and
18:46
Speaker 1: Nicole with you for another look back at what we
18:52
Speaker 1: didn't kind of have a chance to talk about during
18:54
Speaker 1: the break that we were off for a couple of weeks,
18:57
Speaker 1: or a couple of games that we missed during that time.
19:00
Speaker 1: But really it was last week when things picked up
19:02
Speaker 1: again around NCAA Women's hockey. And I want to start
19:06
Speaker 1: with a a series between number two Ohio State and
19:10
Speaker 1: number four Penn State Ian Columbus last week. The Buckeyes
19:13
Speaker 1: come out with a pair of wins in that one
19:16
Speaker 1: five to one on Friday and for to one on Saturday.
19:20
Speaker 1: That Saturday game, Testigianiky cut the deficit of two to one,
19:24
Speaker 1: but Mira Junker scored right after that to make it
19:27
Speaker 1: three to one and late in the first period, and
19:30
Speaker 1: off the Buckeyes went for that win. This is a
19:37
Speaker 1: I was looking forward to this to see, we know
19:40
Speaker 1: how good Ohio State is, we still want to know
19:44
Speaker 1: where Penn State fits in that picture, and I think
19:48
Speaker 1: we saw that. You know, there's they're not at Ohio
19:53
Speaker 1: State level. It's it's could you say they're just a
19:58
Speaker 1: little bit below that because they're right there with teams
20:01
Speaker 1: like you know, Northeastern when they went to Boston and
20:03
Speaker 1: played them and split a series there. Yeah, I mean
20:06
Speaker 1: that's that's that next level. But I feel like maybe
20:11
Speaker 1: they they Penn State, got a little bit of knowledge
20:14
Speaker 1: of where they need to be agreed.
20:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would. You know, we should preface this all
20:19
Speaker 2: by saying, like Penn State's still a very good team,
20:21
Speaker 2: Like no offense to them, but like it's just clear
20:24
Speaker 2: there's a gap, and I think it's very hard to
20:26
Speaker 2: try and bridge that when you never play at that level.
20:30
Speaker 2: Like again, like there's it's hope. We always I always
20:34
Speaker 2: feel guilty and feel bad having these conversations like we're
20:37
Speaker 2: calling people out, But I just like Pen State does
20:39
Speaker 2: not get the opportunity to play at the pace that
20:43
Speaker 2: that game was or with the pressure. I mean, I
20:49
Speaker 2: think a lot of teams give a lot of pressure,
20:51
Speaker 2: and I think Ohio Date is the one that does
20:53
Speaker 2: it the most. Like that is the hardest sort of
20:57
Speaker 2: test you're going to get in terms of like losing
20:59
Speaker 2: time and space and having to make quick decisions and
21:03
Speaker 2: sort of resetting. I feel like those scores are maybe
21:06
Speaker 2: a little generous to a how to how close those
21:10
Speaker 2: games actually were. I think Penn State just really struggled.
21:15
Speaker 2: I mean, if they got the pup out of the zone,
21:17
Speaker 2: then they immediately had to go chat and then Ohio
21:20
Speaker 2: State was sort of right back at it again. And
21:22
Speaker 2: so I think you said, I think it's it's a
21:25
Speaker 2: huge learning opportunity and it shows you exactly like where
21:28
Speaker 2: you need to be in three months time. Like it's
21:30
Speaker 2: a really good time to go do that and get
21:32
Speaker 2: that gut check and know like what you have to
21:34
Speaker 2: work on. Penn State has you know, made the NC
21:37
Speaker 2: Tournament twice now and then not gone as far as
21:40
Speaker 2: they would like to, and so what is it going
21:42
Speaker 2: to take to make that next step? And like I
21:44
Speaker 2: think it was just sort of very clearly on display
21:47
Speaker 2: in that series what they would need to do. I
21:49
Speaker 2: thought katid Sub played really well. I thought the defense
21:52
Speaker 2: played pretty well. But Ohio State just owned pup possession
21:56
Speaker 2: for most of those two games, and it was good
22:00
Speaker 2: play from the defense and the goalie that kept them
22:02
Speaker 2: from being you know, sort of more of a blowout
22:05
Speaker 2: than they were.
22:07
Speaker 1: Penn State did get a one nothing win over an
22:09
Speaker 1: over ten Cornell right before New Year's December thirtieth. Disa
22:15
Speaker 1: made thirty five staves to that shut out, and that
22:17
Speaker 1: was a you know, every one of those wins where
22:21
Speaker 1: they they beat a team that's still kind of in
22:23
Speaker 1: the upper levels of the NPI, it's going to be
22:26
Speaker 1: important for them as they build kind of that that
22:30
Speaker 1: numerical argument for for you know, being in the top
22:34
Speaker 1: five spot in the NPI when it when it's all
22:36
Speaker 1: said and done. So that I thought that that was
22:39
Speaker 1: a even though it came before that Ohio State series,
22:42
Speaker 1: that was a point in their favor that they did
22:46
Speaker 1: get that one done. Yeah.
22:48
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think for them now it's about bouncing back
22:50
Speaker 2: to eight. Like you got you got snapped on a
22:54
Speaker 2: little bit, like you you know, lesson learned, Like how
22:56
Speaker 2: do you react to that and what does it do
22:59
Speaker 2: for you? Into you who adds the season goes out. Now,
23:03
Speaker 2: let's talk about the.
23:04
Speaker 1: Friendship Series in Belfast, Northern Ireland last weekend, where the
23:09
Speaker 1: four team field included number five Minnesota Duluth and number
23:13
Speaker 1: eight Quinnipiac. And they did play on the second day
23:15
Speaker 1: of the tournament, but it was for a third place
23:17
Speaker 1: because they both lost well, they both did not advance
23:20
Speaker 1: to the championship game. Duluth lost three to two in
23:23
Speaker 1: overtime to Harvard, Quinnipiac tied BU two two and then
23:28
Speaker 1: lost in the shootout. That of course doesn't count towards
23:32
Speaker 1: the result, but counted towards who made it into the championship.
23:37
Speaker 1: Quinnipiac did win that third place game three to one
23:40
Speaker 1: over Duluth. Emerson Jarvis s broke a one to one
23:43
Speaker 1: tie with thirteen fifty seven left and Killin Marsh scored
23:47
Speaker 1: her twenty fourth goal of the season into an empty net.
23:50
Speaker 1: We'll hear that number twenty four again in a minute,
23:53
Speaker 1: because we're getting up there with a lot of players.
23:56
Speaker 1: And then BU won the championship with a three to
23:59
Speaker 1: two win over Harvard. Neelie Nicholson with the goal ahead
24:01
Speaker 1: goal seven to fourteen left in that one. So we've
24:04
Speaker 1: talked about bu not having the first half the way
24:09
Speaker 1: I would have thought, right, and yet here they are
24:12
Speaker 1: winning the championship the hop in the second half, So
24:15
Speaker 1: that's something for them to build on. It's it's a
24:18
Speaker 1: real uphill battle for the Terriers in the second half
24:22
Speaker 1: given the record that they had in the first half.
24:25
Speaker 1: But is there some concern here for Minnesota Duluth in
24:30
Speaker 1: that I had to come from behind in the game
24:34
Speaker 1: against Harvard just to force overtime. We're down to nothing,
24:37
Speaker 1: scored twice in the third, got fifty seven shots on
24:41
Speaker 1: goal and only scored twice. Ainsley Toughie with fifty five
24:44
Speaker 1: saves in that one, and if you were watching that
24:48
Speaker 1: that the gentleman who was doing the play by play
24:51
Speaker 1: was doing an amazing job of calling out those saves. Yeah, yes,
24:59
Speaker 1: yes it was. And we'll talk a little bit more
25:04
Speaker 1: about this in a couple of minutes. But now de
25:06
Speaker 1: Luth comes home as Wisconsin coming into their building, there's
25:11
Speaker 1: really no time to wallow in things right now for
25:15
Speaker 1: the Bulldogs.
25:17
Speaker 2: No, I think I think the concern probably needs to
25:20
Speaker 2: be about like shot selection and sort of puck protection.
25:28
Speaker 2: Like if you just shoot the puck because you can
25:31
Speaker 2: and you wildly, you still net and then the other
25:33
Speaker 2: team gets it, Like what was that shot for? What
25:37
Speaker 2: did it accomplish besides a turnover? And so UMD is
25:42
Speaker 2: not a team that usually puts up fifty seven shots
25:45
Speaker 2: that stuck like not their mo o. So the whole
25:48
Speaker 2: thing was just really weird. I mean, they hit some post,
25:50
Speaker 2: they had some bad pup luck for sure, but yeah,
25:54
Speaker 2: I will be it will be for now. It's a
25:57
Speaker 2: hump and I'll have some questions. But I feel like
26:00
Speaker 2: it could be the first data point and in some
26:02
Speaker 2: you know, something as time goes out. I mean you
26:05
Speaker 2: could it Could it be traveling and could it have
26:07
Speaker 2: been you know, obviously can You and I were talking
26:10
Speaker 2: about being sick. They were going through you know, every
26:12
Speaker 2: team's going through the same thing. But yeah, it is
26:16
Speaker 2: also bigger ice, and I did feel that at times
26:20
Speaker 2: you could tell that, like people were exhausted on all
26:24
Speaker 2: four teams, to be fair, but like Minnesota Ta Blooth
26:29
Speaker 2: plays at sat Club State. It's not like they never
26:31
Speaker 2: play on big ice. So of those four teams, the
26:35
Speaker 2: Bluth should have been in the best position for it. Yeah,
26:37
Speaker 2: I don't know, I thought it was weird, but I
26:39
Speaker 2: felt like it was one of those things where like
26:41
Speaker 2: then they just started gripping their sticks too tight and
26:43
Speaker 2: they were just really trying to force it and then
26:45
Speaker 2: they really got out of their game and what they
26:48
Speaker 2: tried to accomplish. But I think, yeah, but big thing
26:51
Speaker 2: has to be about just sort of smarter decisions with
26:54
Speaker 2: the puck overall. And then you know, like in that
26:58
Speaker 2: overtime they had a th reda on one where they
27:01
Speaker 2: didn't even get a shot, Like what happened there, it
27:05
Speaker 2: was just like so out of it's it's not what
27:08
Speaker 2: I expect from them, it's not what we use are
27:10
Speaker 2: used to seeing, and so stuff like that makes me
27:12
Speaker 2: think that there was you know, sort of maybe more
27:15
Speaker 2: going on or that it's you just get in your
27:17
Speaker 2: head at that point. But yeah, that they did that,
27:20
Speaker 2: and pretty much the next play Harvard went down and
27:24
Speaker 2: wanted like, hey, good for Harvard, And I feel like
27:26
Speaker 2: Harvard is having there's a lot of going on, and
27:29
Speaker 2: Harvard you know, probably isn't going to lean a thing,
27:32
Speaker 2: so maybe we like not getting enough attention. But the
27:34
Speaker 2: turnaround there over the last two seasons, like they're having
27:37
Speaker 2: a stellar season compared to where they were in the
27:40
Speaker 2: last two years, right, so that's a huge win for them.
27:44
Speaker 2: But also I just wanted to say, I think it's
27:45
Speaker 2: really funny that be you and Harvard went to Belfast
27:47
Speaker 2: to play each other for a championship game. Like there's
27:52
Speaker 2: a mile and a half between those two campuses, right, well.
27:56
Speaker 1: Long way to go, but I mean, but it looks
27:59
Speaker 1: like an awesome trip. I would I'd love to do
28:02
Speaker 1: that at some point.
28:03
Speaker 2: To I want to just go sit next to the announcer. Well, yeah, no,
28:07
Speaker 2: I mean, aside from his absent, which was a plus,
28:10
Speaker 2: he just there was an enthusiasm about like every bit
28:13
Speaker 2: of it. He was so excited to be watching high
28:16
Speaker 2: level women's hockey, and it came across in everything and
28:19
Speaker 2: like you said, every great block, every safe that up
28:23
Speaker 2: he made. It was like the most fun I've had
28:27
Speaker 2: watching a sort of like regular game and just like
28:30
Speaker 2: a game with nothing on the line. Just because his enthusiasm,
28:35
Speaker 2: it was joyful. It was so much fun.
28:37
Speaker 1: Yes, love to hear that. We had a a rash
28:42
Speaker 1: of hat tricks over the weekend as well in some
28:46
Speaker 1: games that were really really uncompetitive. Clarkson beat Saint Michael's
28:52
Speaker 1: twice fifteen to nothing and then nine to nothing. Sarah
28:57
Speaker 1: Manis with the hat trick in the first game, Edrew
29:00
Speaker 1: Andrea Trinkova five assists in that first game. Princeton beats
29:06
Speaker 1: stone Hill ten nothing. On Saturday, is he wondered four
29:09
Speaker 1: goals and to assist Mackenzie Alexander three three six, and
29:14
Speaker 1: Minnesota beat Sacred Hard fourteen to two on the road
29:17
Speaker 1: on Saturday, Abby Murphy with three goals and four assists.
29:22
Speaker 1: Nellie Layton in three goals to assists Abby Murphy. That
29:26
Speaker 1: three goal game got hurt a twenty four goals so
29:30
Speaker 1: for the season, so that that races is continuing to
29:34
Speaker 1: evolve as we get into the second half here. But
29:38
Speaker 1: there were there were some big numbers put up over
29:41
Speaker 1: the weekend in the a non conference start to twenty
29:49
Speaker 1: twenty six that wasn't exactly pretty sometimes.
29:54
Speaker 2: I mean, we rehad We went over this at Thanksgiving
29:57
Speaker 2: with the in games in Nashville. So I don't know
30:03
Speaker 2: that we want to go too far on it, but
30:04
Speaker 2: just to point out that like that was not a
30:06
Speaker 2: one off and we should stop doing this. It's bad,
30:09
Speaker 2: it's not good. It's I don't I just I don't
30:13
Speaker 2: like it. Saint Michael's has one win all year, Like
30:15
Speaker 2: there's just there's no they don't they don't deserve having
30:19
Speaker 2: to go through that. And uh, you know we went
30:23
Speaker 2: back and forth and you know about all of the reasons,
30:25
Speaker 2: but I just seeing all those scores this that this
30:28
Speaker 2: past weekend, it was like I and then you know,
30:32
Speaker 2: then when we start talking about awards and things at
30:36
Speaker 2: the end of the year. You know, we we had
30:38
Speaker 2: this conversation last year about like should some of like
30:40
Speaker 2: the blow wins not like should those goals be counted different?
30:45
Speaker 2: I don't know how you want to say it, but
30:47
Speaker 2: like if you're gonna if you're talking about Amie Murphy
30:49
Speaker 2: Dway was scoring numbers, well seven points and fun game
30:53
Speaker 2: is like a you know, kind of absurd for anybody.
30:56
Speaker 2: So like, well, it just it's used things a big
30:59
Speaker 2: things toffen Colton also, I just like it's just this
31:02
Speaker 2: isn't fun for anybody. Let's stop doing it. Can we
31:05
Speaker 2: stop doing it? I will get done. You know, we
31:08
Speaker 2: gotta talk to who are.
31:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, who are the people who are making these decisions.
31:12
Speaker 1: We needed to get get to them with that information.
31:15
Speaker 2: Could we also say though what was in Minnesota doing
31:16
Speaker 2: in the first gear?
31:19
Speaker 1: How is that? I just thought, get from four to fourteen?
31:22
Speaker 1: Or was it four? I think of the first day?
31:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, four, Not that I'm like, why didn't you blow
31:28
Speaker 2: them out more? But also like I have busted them.
31:31
Speaker 2: I did not get to watch, but I have watch.
31:34
Speaker 1: I wouldn't imagine that at some point when you're trying
31:37
Speaker 1: to chase around Minnesota for one day, the second day
31:40
Speaker 1: of trying to chase around rough you get pretty tired
31:43
Speaker 1: of of of doing that.
31:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, kind of how I figured the second day in
31:47
Speaker 2: belt Pass weren't like you're all jetlagged and pointing on
31:50
Speaker 2: big ice and over time, and I don't think those
31:55
Speaker 2: second days a result, say much?
31:58
Speaker 1: Right, one more result I want to get to. On Tuesday,
32:02
Speaker 1: number fourteen, Yale beat number six Northeastern three nothing. Samson
32:06
Speaker 1: Fry with a twenty two save shutout for Yale, which
32:11
Speaker 1: I mean we we had talked about Northeastern before the
32:15
Speaker 1: break kind of going in on a pretty good run
32:18
Speaker 1: and the a midweek game kind of you know, when
32:25
Speaker 1: they ended up hurting them in the numbers. As as
32:27
Speaker 1: it as it progresses through the season.
32:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like that is you know what we've
32:32
Speaker 2: talked about in terms of like ECAC games, where they're
32:35
Speaker 2: all really important rate and you can't overlook them, and
32:38
Speaker 2: I feel like they got it by that year. Yeah,
32:41
Speaker 2: I again unfortunately didn't get a chance to watch, what
32:44
Speaker 2: with the traveling to Far East Canada.
32:47
Speaker 1: But yeah, I.
32:50
Speaker 2: Don't I don't know that there's that it's anything we
32:53
Speaker 2: haven't covered, which is that like these games just are
32:55
Speaker 2: really important. Yale's been flirting with the bottom of the
32:58
Speaker 2: the standings, the pull, you know, for the last three
33:01
Speaker 2: or few weeks. I think it's just it's on any
33:04
Speaker 2: given day. I mean, hockey sloves those Tuesday games, and
33:07
Speaker 2: I think they've got to be really difficult. So I've
33:10
Speaker 2: always thought that's not really fun for those student athletes.
33:14
Speaker 2: But yeah, I don't know. Do you have many thoughts
33:18
Speaker 2: on this one?
33:20
Speaker 1: My thought is that Yale is I don't think this
33:24
Speaker 1: is the last we're gonna hear of Yale either. I mean,
33:26
Speaker 1: they feel like there's gonna be a team that's gonna
33:29
Speaker 1: throw a real challenge at a lot of the yeah,
33:34
Speaker 1: at the top of ec AC as the second half
33:37
Speaker 1: goes on. So that that's my thought on it. Is
33:43
Speaker 1: I I don't know how much to put into these
33:47
Speaker 1: first games back after break necessarily all the time, because uh,
33:52
Speaker 1: you know, for a team, if a team's been off
33:54
Speaker 1: three weeks, four weeks, sometimes it's nuts. That's rough that
34:00
Speaker 1: try and get the speedback right away when you're playing
34:02
Speaker 1: another team instead of just practicing against your own team.
34:04
Speaker 1: And so I feel like there's some grace there on
34:08
Speaker 1: the Northeastern side, but I do like, right right, that's
34:15
Speaker 1: that results gonna count no matter what.
34:16
Speaker 2: So yeah, like I don't think that's anything bad about
34:20
Speaker 2: where Northeastern is in their production, but I do know
34:23
Speaker 2: that it's gonna hurt them.
34:24
Speaker 1: So it's what it's yes and yes, exactly. Okay, we're
34:30
Speaker 1: gonna step out for another quick break when we come back,
34:32
Speaker 1: look ahead to what's coming this weekend in NCAA Women's hockey.
34:36
Speaker 1: Stay with us on the podcast. We're back with the podcast.
34:46
Speaker 1: Todd Nicole wrapping things up this week with a look
34:49
Speaker 1: at what we have coming up on the schedule. Let's start.
34:54
Speaker 1: Let's start a w c h A this week where
34:57
Speaker 1: we've got three series between teams that are ranked in
35:00
Speaker 1: the top fifteen. Ohio State playing at number fifteen Saint
35:04
Speaker 1: Cloud State, number three Minnesota with a home and home
35:08
Speaker 1: series against number twelve Minnesota State and then number one
35:11
Speaker 1: Wisconsin at number eight Minnesota Duluth. And we talked a
35:14
Speaker 1: little bit about this before, but I am really looking
35:18
Speaker 1: at d Luth and how they bounce back from losing
35:22
Speaker 1: a couple of games in Belfast last week, and you know,
35:26
Speaker 1: knowing that they probably should have beaten Wisconsin in Lebon
35:33
Speaker 1: earlier this season, had a lead in going into the
35:36
Speaker 1: last minute of a game and somehow lost it in regulation.
35:43
Speaker 1: I feel like there's you know, obviously a team there
35:47
Speaker 1: that can beat Wisconsin and can put up the goals
35:50
Speaker 1: and be you know, physical enough to throw Wisconsin off
35:56
Speaker 1: of its game. We just need to see whether that's
36:00
Speaker 1: gonna be the loot team that we see on the
36:03
Speaker 1: IIS week.
36:05
Speaker 2: Yeah, And like maybe a mend a little what I
36:08
Speaker 2: was saying before in that, like I do think um
36:11
Speaker 2: D needs to take more shots against Wisconsin. I do
36:13
Speaker 2: think they can get a little picky. So I think
36:16
Speaker 2: it's about finding that balance, right, So maybe maybe I
36:19
Speaker 2: amend that a little, But it's about putting all of
36:22
Speaker 2: those bits together. It's like I feel like when they
36:24
Speaker 2: play really great defense against the Badgers, then that really
36:28
Speaker 2: takes away from their offense, and they haven't been able
36:30
Speaker 2: to and against the team like what good than you
36:32
Speaker 2: simply have to score goals Like I don't mean like one,
36:35
Speaker 2: I mean several goals. You're gonna have to put the
36:37
Speaker 2: buck in the net. And so I feel like they
36:41
Speaker 2: haven't progressed to the point where they're putting all of
36:44
Speaker 2: those little bits together, where they're playing great defense, where
36:46
Speaker 2: they're being really physical, and where they're being their best
36:49
Speaker 2: offensive selves. And so it's a matter of them if
36:52
Speaker 2: they We've seen them do all those things in other games.
36:55
Speaker 2: It's about if they can put all those bits together.
36:57
Speaker 2: But also Minnesota Louth, there's almost like all of the
37:02
Speaker 2: other top w c h A teams, maybe the one
37:04
Speaker 2: that's given Wisconsin the most regular trouble year after You're
37:08
Speaker 2: the last four to five years, which you said, I.
37:12
Speaker 1: Mean Ohio say, it's obviously been a pretty consistent foreigner
37:16
Speaker 1: Wisconsin's side, But yeah, I mean de luth says, uh
37:21
Speaker 1: if not taken gave them the overtime a couple of
37:24
Speaker 1: times from whatever they've they've won a couple of games
37:27
Speaker 1: in the Luth and I feel like they did they
37:30
Speaker 1: win a one nothing game at lebon A couple of
37:32
Speaker 1: years ago too, So yeah, there there's been opportunities for
37:37
Speaker 1: for the Bulldogs to, you know, to show that they're
37:41
Speaker 1: right there on that same page and and they've done
37:44
Speaker 1: it a few times.
37:46
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I it'll be interesting. Like there's just there's
37:49
Speaker 2: wal going on, Like the Wisconsin players have had all
37:52
Speaker 2: the little bit bnouncement and there's stuff there, and those
37:54
Speaker 2: players have been off doing other things and you know,
37:58
Speaker 2: like we talked about, luth has to do has needs
38:00
Speaker 2: this dis bounce back a little, and so I think
38:02
Speaker 2: there's a lot of sort of aside from just head
38:05
Speaker 2: to head on the ice, there's a lot of other
38:06
Speaker 2: stuff surrounding it. And I think it's how both of
38:08
Speaker 2: the teams handle some of that stuff that will really
38:11
Speaker 2: be important here.
38:13
Speaker 1: The Minnesota and Minnesota state home and home. I believe
38:19
Speaker 1: I'm remembering right that the Mavericks won both ends of
38:22
Speaker 1: that first time the team's played on a weekend this season,
38:28
Speaker 1: and I'm sure that the Gophers remember that, and so
38:34
Speaker 1: I have to imagine they will be a little charged
38:36
Speaker 1: up to make sure that doesn't happen again, or that
38:38
Speaker 1: the Mavericks don't get a win this week.
38:44
Speaker 2: Yeah, but as you were saying, those first games back
38:46
Speaker 2: can be really difficult and double checking myself, but I
38:49
Speaker 2: don't think either of those two games have played yet,
38:51
Speaker 2: have they?
38:52
Speaker 1: The Gophers did play Sacred Heart last week?
38:55
Speaker 2: Oh? Yes, that's right. I apologize. We did just talk
38:58
Speaker 2: about that. Can you tell? But too many things happening
39:02
Speaker 2: at one mm hm, I apologize.
39:04
Speaker 1: Yeah.
39:06
Speaker 2: I can't imagine in Minnesota State is able to pull
39:09
Speaker 2: it off again, just because I go first that a
39:12
Speaker 2: lot of pride on the line here, and I think
39:15
Speaker 2: as soon as that weekend finished, this weekend that circled
39:17
Speaker 2: on the calendar. So yeah, I think it'll be interesting.
39:22
Speaker 2: Like clearly Mankato had some stuff figured out about the Gophers,
39:26
Speaker 2: and so usually when you talk to Brad frost about
39:30
Speaker 2: playing like Nadine or Mark, it'll talk about the chess
39:34
Speaker 2: match because they know each other so well that there's
39:37
Speaker 2: like no secrets anymore. I feel like this one's gonna
39:39
Speaker 2: be a really interesting chess match in terms of like
39:41
Speaker 2: what Minnesota State figured out last time and now Frosty
39:44
Speaker 2: trying to counter some of that, but imagining Minnesota State
39:47
Speaker 2: has prepared for some of that. So I think there's
39:49
Speaker 2: gonna be some interesting machinations happening there to try and
39:53
Speaker 2: you know, sort of figure out what's the key that
39:55
Speaker 2: turns of luck.
39:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, some important games happening E C A C hockey,
40:02
Speaker 1: uh this weekend involving number eleven Clarkson going on the
40:05
Speaker 1: road to number ten Cornell on Friday, and then number
40:07
Speaker 1: thirteen Colgate on Saturday. Uh. These are I just feel
40:13
Speaker 1: like you're a little bit of a measuring stick right
40:16
Speaker 1: now for how the second half is going to go
40:18
Speaker 1: for for really all three of those teams, they're all
40:22
Speaker 1: in that uh, that that space that you don't like
40:26
Speaker 1: to be in in that that that next group of
40:31
Speaker 1: teams in the rankings after you're looking at you know,
40:37
Speaker 1: at large bids. Let's let's see if we we get
40:44
Speaker 1: in more clarity coming out of this week, because we
40:46
Speaker 1: know that doesn't always give us that, So we'll have to,
40:53
Speaker 1: I guess look back into it next week and see
40:56
Speaker 1: if we know anything more or if we're just kind
40:58
Speaker 1: of gonna have to push that down the roan a
41:00
Speaker 1: little bit more to be able to tell who's going where.
41:05
Speaker 2: Well, I think importantly too, not just in national ratings,
41:09
Speaker 2: but in conference standings, right, Like, yeah, the ECAC conference
41:13
Speaker 2: standings have been so crazy. I mean at this point
41:15
Speaker 2: Colgate is what seventh as with their teeth country, I
41:19
Speaker 2: mean it's it's the ECC standings are wild at the moment,
41:24
Speaker 2: and so and we're still popping. So Colgate in seventh
41:27
Speaker 2: is less than six points behind Princeton in first, and
41:30
Speaker 2: so yeah, it continues to be. I feel like we
41:33
Speaker 2: could end up with ties, and like you said, we
41:35
Speaker 2: kind of don't actually learn anything when all of a
41:38
Speaker 2: sudden done, nobody really has pulled away. But I do
41:40
Speaker 2: think that, I mean, every one of those points and
41:43
Speaker 2: half points is going to be really important. And so
41:46
Speaker 2: that I think, more so than than national clarity, is
41:50
Speaker 2: we might see some movement in the ECAC standings. And
41:54
Speaker 2: as we just talked about, like the sort of quote
41:56
Speaker 2: unquot lower half of their standings are simply dangerous to
42:00
Speaker 2: that have already beat brings schools this season and so
42:03
Speaker 2: when it gets down to it, like they have to
42:05
Speaker 2: be earning all those points. And also the postseason is
42:08
Speaker 2: going to be I think really scary in the ECAC,
42:11
Speaker 2: Like you could really end up getting some damage, you know,
42:14
Speaker 2: with an early ECAC Tournament loss, and so that's why
42:17
Speaker 2: those standings I think are ultimately so important.
42:22
Speaker 1: In the Atlantic Hockey standings, we have Penn State and
42:28
Speaker 1: Mercieres one and two. There's a pretty big gap there.
42:31
Speaker 1: But Mercierris is hosting the Nittney Lions this week Friday
42:35
Speaker 1: and Saturday. I will be watching to see how Penn
42:40
Speaker 1: State rebounds. This is a little bit of a like
42:44
Speaker 1: we're talking about with Minnesota coming back after having lost
42:47
Speaker 1: twice to Mankato. Penn State, after having lost twice to
42:52
Speaker 1: Ohio State, now knows what level they have to play
42:56
Speaker 1: at and can you know, maybe start to build up
43:01
Speaker 1: towards that this week. Even though Crean well, I don't
43:07
Speaker 1: mean to sound flippant here, but playing Mercis is not
43:11
Speaker 1: playing Ohio State. But you have to treat it like
43:14
Speaker 1: it is. And I think that's that.
43:16
Speaker 2: That's the only team in their conference that's been able
43:19
Speaker 2: to beat them over the last couple of years. And
43:21
Speaker 2: so I don't I do think that Punn State is
43:24
Speaker 2: you know, above and beyond it. Do you think they're
43:27
Speaker 2: the best team in their conference? But I don't think
43:29
Speaker 2: these are Gama games at any point. But particularly coming
43:33
Speaker 2: off you know, those two losses like this is as
43:36
Speaker 2: so far as bounce backs go for a uh in
43:39
Speaker 2: in ah a conference like this is the stuff as
43:42
Speaker 2: it gets for Penn State. So yeah, I think there's
43:45
Speaker 2: there's a lot here that they have to I mean,
43:47
Speaker 2: can they afford to drop the points, Absolutely, But I
43:49
Speaker 2: just think in terms of for conference standings, but in
43:53
Speaker 2: terms of their MPI and also just in terms of
43:55
Speaker 2: their like mentality, I really think they have to have
43:57
Speaker 2: a strong weekend here.
43:59
Speaker 1: Yeah, and just to look ahead to next week early
44:02
Speaker 1: in the week the bean pot starts on Tuesday, semifinals
44:07
Speaker 1: at Walter Brown Arena, Boston College, who gets Harvard and
44:10
Speaker 1: then Northeastern against BU so could be a no idea
44:16
Speaker 1: what's going to happen? Yeah, I mean I feel like
44:20
Speaker 1: that's that's a wide open field. I mean, Northeastern is
44:23
Speaker 1: obviously the the highest ranked of those teams, but right
44:34
Speaker 1: and we will, we'll find out more a lot more
44:38
Speaker 1: about Northeastern through the second half of the season, now
44:40
Speaker 1: that they're the nomads of of college hockey without a
44:44
Speaker 1: home rink of their own and having to play the
44:47
Speaker 1: rest of their games somewhere else.
44:50
Speaker 3: So lots to be found out there at least two
44:54
Speaker 3: for the Olympics, possibly more my head someone right for Switzerland.
45:04
Speaker 2: Don't they have a French player as well?
45:06
Speaker 1: Well, now I'm going yeah, and now I'm going to
45:08
Speaker 1: my spreadsheet that I've put together here, I had, you know, eighteen.
45:12
Speaker 2: Hour traveled it yesterdays. I really we really should not
45:15
Speaker 2: rely on my.
45:17
Speaker 1: Right. I see one as I'm looking real quick here,
45:22
Speaker 1: but that may be h well, anyway, there maybe.
45:29
Speaker 2: More Lassie a bachelor from Switzerland.
45:33
Speaker 1: Yeah right, so yeah, so that'll be fun to have
45:39
Speaker 1: some Tuesday night hockey next week to to watch, and
45:45
Speaker 1: we will, uh, I'm not sure. We're not totally sure
45:48
Speaker 1: what our schedules are like with you'll maybe noticing that
45:50
Speaker 1: the podcast is coming out a little later in the
45:53
Speaker 1: week than the normal, you know, Nicole being traveling and
45:56
Speaker 1: and us both being sick and having others schedules.
46:00
Speaker 2: I listen to us with how we sounded earlier in
46:02
Speaker 2: the week, at least for me, So I apologize for
46:04
Speaker 2: the schedule, but know that I would have been a
46:07
Speaker 2: frog in your ears and you would not have enjoyed it.
46:09
Speaker 2: So our apologies. But yeah, things are a little little flexible, right,
46:12
Speaker 2: now with the U eighteens, I was just going to
46:15
Speaker 2: pull up the schedule again. Four game days at the
46:19
Speaker 2: U eighteens are or well, So yeah, well, we'll do
46:24
Speaker 2: our best to keep bringing everything. But yes, we'll be
46:27
Speaker 2: on an interesting schedule for the next couple of weeks.
46:32
Speaker 1: Yes, but make sure you follow Nicole on social and
46:36
Speaker 1: follow the tournament her coverage at Victory Press, and make
46:40
Speaker 1: sure you check everything out at us h O dot com.
46:43
Speaker 1: We will have more Olympic coverage as as those rosters
46:47
Speaker 1: get finalized and look ahead to that tournament when when
46:51
Speaker 1: that happens as well. But we'll make sure to keep
46:54
Speaker 1: you updated on the NCAA Gays follow all they scores
46:58
Speaker 1: and standings and stats and everything over there, and we
47:01
Speaker 1: appreciate you listening and or watching the podcast. So for Nicle,
47:07
Speaker 1: I'm Todd. We will talk to you next week.