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Episode 31: Welcome Back · College Hockey Mouth

• speaker-0: Hello, everybody, and welcome to year number two of College Hockey Mouth, the College Hockey South podcast, as we drop the puck on the 2026-2027 campaign here in the ACHA League and conference of College Hockey South. Devin Sarah joined alongside Jordan Manning, our new guest, and ⁓ Danny Boehm, ⁓ new host, I should say rather. You know, it I think this is ⁓ episode thirty one now, right? Like we have established this podcast and we've had a Brand new cast we brought in over the off season, including Jordan. So as there's another thing that goes off, you know what? We're just gonna keep rolling with it, because you know what? Whatever. It doesn't matter. It's fine. It's fine. I'm gonna get fired, but it's fine. Whatever. I'll edit it back in. But ⁓ we have a whole new cast of characters here for College Hockey Mouth. Jordan Manning, we'll start with you. We know you hosted Catfish on Ice and you've been around the Florida area. So tell us a bit about yourself and how was your summer? speaker-1: Yeah, yeah, Devin, I'm doing good. You know, I had some classes today, newspaper, very slow day. But ⁓ in terms of me, yeah, it's my first year or my ⁓ first year here at ⁓ Kalachalkee South and Kalachalkie Mouth. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm a big Predators fan. As you can see back here, Florida Gulf Coast, you know, you know, I've been here like my entire life practically. Been surrounded by FGCU for a hot minute. So I'm looking forward to, you know, this season, learning the league, you know, learning like the podcast and things like that. As you said, I did catfish on ice in the past about the Prayers. So yeah, I'm just looking forward to you know, a new like a new new league, new team, new season. All that speaker-0: Let's go, man. Happy to have you here. And certainly someone would be around the Florida Gulf Coast scene for a little bit this year. We know. ⁓ three, they did pretty well for themselves. And Danny Bohm, we're back at it again, brother. It's good to see you again. I know ⁓ you know, it it's been a while since we talked here and our audience has seen you. So what you been up to this summer and what's new for you? speaker-2: Just you know, regular summer activities, Devin. I mean, look, this is a hockey podcast as our as our producer Gavin would would like us to talk about. He only wants us to talk about the hockey. You know, we I I mentioned one little peep about college football and he jumps down my throat. So that's how you know it's college hockey season. Yeah, back for season two. It's exciting. ⁓ you know, it it and honestly, you know, when you said episode thirty one, like it's crazy because you know it still feels like it's it's infancy. Basically, this podcast. Excited for for season two. I'm speaking of seasons that just started up though. All right. Let me just get this out of the way. College football started up over the weekend, Devin. ⁓ and I know up north, you guys don't take it too too seriously. I mean, you guys play, you know, 60 minute games that and you can add on a second if you if you want to, apparently. You know, the the review crew can reach down from the heavens and say, you know what, we want to add one more second. But I'm so excited. So so excited the college football season. You know, the bands are back. The touchdowns, ⁓ my goodness, South Carolina. Kent State had zero chance. They they hung a bagel up on old Kent State. ⁓ man, Texas gotta win. They play Ohio State next week. So I and all this joy will be completely destroyed. And I'll be, you know, unconsolable and probably horrible to talk to on the podcast next week. If they indeed lose to Ohio State for a third straight season. They won't, though. They won't. Mark my words right now. And you know what? My predictions are always a hundred percent. If they go wrong, it's never my fault. It's the team that that lets me down. Never my fault. ⁓ I've never gotten a prediction wrong. ⁓ in in that spirit, I predict that this episode is only gonna go up from here. Back to you, Dad. speaker-0: It better. It wouldn't college hockey mouth without you talking about college football. And full disclosure, I am a Michigan State fan. I have no dog in the fight. If you saw what happened with Michigan and Western Michigan, you'd know that apparently the game is played, I guess, in sixty ⁓ sixty minutes and a and then second. You know, if you are Michigan, I mean, I can't say I like it. I hope, you know, in hockey you don't have that extra second. Maybe if a penalty shot happens or whatever, you know, overtime is a thing. So, you know, whatever. We'll we'll put it on the ice this year. You know, enough about college football. Things are fine here. But our group covering college hockey here in the ACHA and College Hockey South in another year since 2008. This has been one of the premier leagues now. And ⁓ great to have it back for another one. And everybody's under the same banner. So we're got straight to our news. Our offseason, we had a big one for teams, we had a big one for our own staff. And to start things off, we have to give a big, big kudos and a shout out to our Former head of social media and content for CHS, Kelly Kelbline. She joined the Texas Stars of the AHL this sea this ⁓ summer as a media relations assistant for the twenty twenty six, twenty seven season. Kelly will be heading to Austin, Texas to fulfill her new role and work closely with her organization. She'll also work with other AHL teams, ⁓ the league at large and of course ⁓ the team at Full Hockey that's stationed down there in Austin, Texas. I had a friend that went from the college, another podcast I I helped manage and ⁓ He works at full hockey now. So ACHA to the league. You know, the dream is alive and well, and Kelly certainly is flying the flag there for us for us, for a lack of better words. She steered the ship for College Hockey South Media and helped make it one of the most recognizable conferences around the ACHA. She opened doors for many young, aspiring content creators out there, different schools, executed a high level. We know she put on the playoff media for so long. We can't thank her enough for the work she has put in into making CHS into what it is. You know, Danny, I know You and I ⁓ have had many conversations with Kelly over text, over media. We've had a lot of fun and we're gonna miss Kelly and I think this is ⁓ very fitting for her. She deserves this and a whole lot more coming through. speaker-2: Yeah, you know what, Devin, and it was only a matter of time. You know, something that that came to mind immediately when I heard this news is, you know, the the cream rises to the top. Like the the passion and talent that she has for this, it was only a matter of time before she found a job at this level. You know, I started ⁓ working with Kelly two seasons ago now, when I was the head of the writing team and she was one of the writers. And ⁓ it was pretty clear from the first article she submitted that this was something that She could do professionally. And she started with Clemson, working for their newspaper and you know, running social media and pretty much everything for their hockey team. And, you know, it seems season by season her opportunities have grown. And, you know, she continues to, you know, climb that career ladder. To see her from joining CHS two years ago to now, getting this opportunity, super, super proud of her. ⁓ but yes, we will miss her because she's always a great time, always a great time busting her balls. Because, you know, Clemson, South Carolina, it's always and you know, that's not gonna stop, by the way. Because, you know, not not to go back to college football, but Clemson, my God, what in what in the world did they do? speaker-0: It's a bad day to be a a tiger from that death valley. They ⁓ they go tigers very well. Go tigers. Yeah. speaker-2: real Death Valley. Sorry Kelly, I I had to. But ⁓ yeah, she absolutely awesome. ⁓ great person, completely deserves it, and she earned it most importantly. So congratulations, Kelly. You're gonna do a great job. I I know it. speaker-0: And ⁓ certainly we'll still be within our, you know, communications and I'm sure she'll be watching all year long what happens around this league and hopefully this podcast, if we don't annoy her too bad. Seriously though, she's opened the door for so many, including this internship program, which brought in, you know, a lot of our great staff for the podcast now. And and we thank her for her service and bringing on interns this summer. So ⁓ you know, big things for her and and we'll continue to cover the league as as she would want. So, you know, with that being said, let's do that hockey thing as Gavin likes to say, ⁓ we had some big shakeups within the conference and teams. And we're going to start first with the departures from College Hockey South this year. Florida M2 and Clemson from the M3 divisions moved to the ACCHL this offseason. The Gators are joining the SEC Conference and Affiliate Division of the ACC. They're sort of still under the ACC umbrella, but they will compete within that group of teams. The likes of South Carolina, Alabama, Old miss at the ⁓ two level, among others. And they will be division two for ACHA, still, you know, eligible for nationals, which they just missed out on last year, getting bounced in regionals. Clemson joins the ⁓ two elite division ⁓ within the ACC and will play in the Paul Medal division with Charlotte, East Carolina, Georgia Tech, and St. Thomas, who we know we had some news in the offseason that they might have been joining CHS, but if you weren't aware, they instead went to the ACC conference over there. So That's some of the moves there. We had some interconference movement. ⁓ M3 teams moved to the ACC, ACDC level, excuse me, the American Collegiate Development Conference, second year conference ⁓ for the ACHA league. And Florida Southern was the most probably the biggest news in my mind for this. They moved their only collegiate ice hockey team to the ACDC DC. Jeez, I'm gonna have a tough time all year saying that. I I need to slow down on it. It's it's a mouthful, but UCF. They formed an ACDC squad alongside their M3 team. They've got a a new head coach this year in Mark Renner, who moved over from Florida Atlantic. They had a record turnout, 62 players at tryouts, including 10 goalies, as reported on their website by Sofia Markova. Exciting things. Love to see UCF's program make big strides there. And I'm sure they're going to be able to compete right away as far as you know ACDC goes. We'll have to see how Florida State turns out. Reigning champions from that division over there. And You know, last thing of team shakeups, the women's division, they added three new teams this year. UNC, Wilmington, West Lane College, and the College of Charleston will be joining for the twenty twenty six, twenty seven season. They're now the biggest division among the four with seventy teams. You know, guys, that was a mouthful right there, just right off the bat. So, you know, instant reactions from you guys about all of the shake ups within teams in the conference. Like speaker-1: Yeah. I love the expansion. I love how many, you know, teams are coming in here. I mean, it's just, you know, they're a growing league and I really I love seeing like expansion teams come in, like new teams come in, see new faces, like I said earlier, new storylines. We could figure out, you know, who these players are and g and like get them on the radar. speaker-2: Yeah, exactly. You know, Florida Gulf Coast ⁓ three was ⁓ a little bit of a different story last year because they were already established. You know, these are a little bit different, but still as exciting 'cause, you know, as Jordan mentioned, new faces, you know, new schools. And as you mentioned, Devin, you know, considering where the women's division was at when I started here, ⁓ to see them as the biggest division now, man, it you know, it makes me smile. You know, that that continues to grow. You know, I felt like The writing was on the wall in terms of Florida and moving on to the SEC League. You know, it was kind of a shock last year that they they stuck around and credit to them, you know, otherwise, you know, the div division two would have been in shambles pretty much. But Clemson seemed like a like a surprise. You know, that that one ⁓ didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. But alas, ⁓ you know, I guess now now that Kelly's out, they're they're dipping out too. ⁓ Kelly was the only thing that was keeping him around. But, you know, good luck in in their league. And Florida completes ⁓ an SEC league that'll be pretty intriguing at the ⁓ two level. speaker-0: The thing that I would thought about with Clemson was how you say it's a surprise in that they were one of the better M3 teams. Like they were competing. They went to their playoff. They didn't have it so good, but they, you know, they they had to play a really good FGCU team. For me, it comes down to probably their schedule availability and who they want to play and the eligibility. Now, what that means is that for scheduling reasons, Florida is a traditional SEC school. It kind of makes sense for them from a brand standpoint to stick that way. And I know that they have plans for that conference to really be more of a presence in the ACHA, do more within the ACC. Now, Clemson's gonna be interesting because I mean, Charlotte, like you could argue the geography there with, you know, East Carolina, ⁓ you know, Georgia Tech. So I I really do get it. The other counterpoint though, and I'm sure a lot of people that follow ACHA are aware and and maybe thinking about the ACC. was I guess criticized for technically not my words, but you know, coaching or poaching teams and players to their conference. Now that was a criticism I've heard from a couple of people around the ACHA. I don't know how much valid validity there is with that, but I know that their league is huge. They have as many ACHA and AAU teams still as you can think of on the men's and women's side and there's too many divisions to count. I think there's like seven for ⁓ two alone. It's just a weird time. And I think that conference has a lot of plans. And, you know, same thing for St. Thomas. It might have just been their availability. We hate to see them leave. It's ⁓ certainly something to to take interest on as the year goes on. We'll see how they do there. I think Florida's gonna do pretty well for themselves. You know, they they had a great set of wins against high point this past weekend and in week zeros, last week one of the ACHA. Wish them nothing the but the best. Sticking with our conference though, you know, we we we had some action from games this week for, you know, September fifth on. First off, we had our first game of the week, and it seems like we always start off with Embry Riddle at you know, Day in Daytona. Their barn is always rocking. They throttled Miami eight to three on Thursday. ⁓ they completed the series win on Friday, six to four. You know, ⁓ some quick notes about that, right? Like Miami was close. They kept things alive. They were leading at one point. They had a completely different game in the third. Embry Riddle, they exploded six goals. They had three of those within a minute and a half of each other. Matias Buck had the highlight of the game, his first one with with Embry Riddle. I know that, you know, our good friend from the pod, Bob Joyce, they've had a lot of changes. They've tried to bolster that roster and make them a little bit better. ⁓ overall, this was pretty, I wouldn't say it was the showing out party for Embry Riddle, but both them and their ACDC team, they swamped Miami and took wins in all four of those games across M3 and ACDC. You know, guys, I don't know if you had the chance to watch it or how much you you saw about it. You know, what do you take away from either Ember Riddle being so good in this series or Miami? Like the bad start they had for both teams. speaker-1: Yeah, I mean just like to start off, like I remember first turning on the game and like I had to go somewhere like like around like halfway through the first period. And then when I came back to check the score, it was like eight to three. And I was like, What the hell happened? And I looked at it and I ⁓ I I you know, I watched the highlights and I saw, you know, that buck goal. I I thought it was like the coolest thing or like the coolest way to kick off the season. I mean, it kinda gave hints of Bobby Orr to me. I don't know if it was, you know, just me, but like You know, the way, you know, Deking around the defenders and then, you know, like you know, like gliding over and scoring the goal. I thought it was sick. It also reminded me of like the ⁓ Alexandro Vechkin goal. I don't know if you remember where ⁓ you know Gretzky s saw it and stuff. And ⁓ it was a very cool way to kick off the season for me. speaker-2: Bob Joyce hockey. ⁓ ki kind of like where well, I I was gonna say Ember Riddle had, you know, af after a slower start to the season last year, they picked up some momentum and really carried that through, but they kind of petered off. I don't know if you remember this, Devin, but we did our playoffs ⁓ qualification by ranking, and they nearly missed the playoffs because of some, you know, late season, late regular season performances. You know, it looked like they were a shoe in, like a team that was already clinched and They just about missed it and then lost in the first round. So almost seems like ⁓ I don't know, trying to recapture that middle of the season Bob Joyce, you know, good feelings hockey. I just like saying Bob Joyce hockey. I might might say that I mean speaker-0: If we can make it a thing, look least he was our f one of our favorite guests last year. I mean, he's a really stand up guy. I you know, the thing that I relate to you in in that point is when they upset FAU at Battle at the Beach, you know, I I think we were all thinking, whoa, this is a new look for them. And they sort of not regressed, but played about how we expected the rest of the year. You know, they didn't really make much noise late, especially in that playoff. I really think though, with with what we were told about, you know. The their their power playability, right? Logan Jackson was terrific for them and their explosiveness, that could be a hallmark. Now, maybe that's Miami, who I know last year struggled to keep leads and their program is still trying to figure it out. This is certainly a step forward for them. And with the crowd they had, I really think that that bolsters their school and what's now going to be, you know, a a more competitive base for them. And and speaking of competitive, like their ACDC team, I think could really be better this year, especially. They had Some really great games, ⁓ four to two and seven to one wins. ⁓ you know, we talked about Andrew, I'm gonna butcher this, but Nechi Perenko, hopefully I said that right, he had a well speaker-2: You did pretty well. speaker-1: Game. What's that? Yeah, sounds about right. speaker-2: I think you did pretty well with that. I I don't think I would have done much better. speaker-0: I for some reason my mind was going to like like Teresenko. It it it rolled off that way in the the end of his name. But well, you know, point is he hit he scored twice in the second in the game two. He had two apples, four point game. Their goaltender Carson Phillip was close to a shutout. These feel like really good steps for them because I feel like they don't get enough attention from us necessarily in a media standpoint. Also to see them start the year with the game of the week and then, you know, both teams send their home crowds happy. So four and ⁓ for them on the weekend are You know, next one that I think really we could get into more of a discussion about guys was Middle Tennessee. So huge offseason. I believe they had half or or all all but one of their top six forwards leave, graduate, or go somewhere else, and they brought in a lot of new people. They had their first weekend with Arkansas, three team, very competitive, missed out on nationals by a couple of spots, but they get quote unquote upset in this series. Three two in the home opener. They Could not get back even late. They had Jake Bemback for the Razorbacks with two goals there. Arkansas took the series in game two with the 4-3 win. You know, once again, I mean, they started slow last year against UNCW, but that was an M2 exhibition. And this one, I don't know if if you can say it was a a middle Tennessee loss. Arkansas played really well, especially on the special teams. But the bottom line is it has to be something to say for them starting 0-2 again like last year. speaker-2: Most definitely. It's gonna be really difficult to replace the production they've gotten in the past two season when ⁓ the past two seasons when they were really successful and made it really far and were contenders at nationals. I'm thinking Coach J. J. Murray's gonna have to get on the horn with Lane Kithin's lawyers to try and get a extra year of eligibility, get some T R O's for these for the, you know, the Lyndon Palmers and Brendan Ogles of the world. That T R O is temporary restraining order for those who are uninformed. Because yeah I it's gonna be really difficult to replace that ⁓ production. You know, it seems like Chunchikov Island is on his own island right now. And, you know, guys that played in, you know, a bottom six role or, you know, even lower than that are gonna have to pick it up a little bit. Guys like J. Landers. speaker-1: Yeah. I mean, I will say, like l like you said, you know, ⁓ and two, that's what they w had before. I will say that these games, they were only divided by one goal. And it seemed like mo the games were both, you know, back and forth. Like w one team would score and then the their team would respond. It was just consistent back and forth hockey. Going on to game two, I think Landers definitely a standout player. I mean, all three goals he contributed on. It's just a it's mainly of like a chemistry thing. Like, you know, not a lot of the players came back that were in that top six. So people are gonna be filling in roles. They got a reingain chemistry with, you know, their teammates from from before and like the new teammates who just came on. So I mean, I think it's a honestly, even though it is ⁓ and two, I think it is a an all right start. I mean, one goal, you know, is a you know, the ⁓ dividing factor for both of these games. You know, if they can actually get that offense going, get the chemistry juice all together, I think it'll be a pretty good season for them still. speaker-0: And talking about that game, game one or series rather, game one, Arkansas 3-2 win. You said it back and forth. MTSU had the opener with the power play in the first. Arkansas had an answer 17 seconds later. Tells you right there how quickly Arkansas was able to to stick with him in and what was gonna feel like a track meet, but ended up being kind of that you answer, I punch back. And you know, Arkansas had the lead after a man advantage goal in the second. Blue Raiders answering the power play. With, you know, an another special team's goal. Maybe this could be a hallmark for them. I know their power play was lights out a year ago. It could be again, certainly. Defenseman Daryl Smith had the game winner for the Racerbacks to take it. And then game two, it was Arkansas hot. They had three unanswered goals, one in the first, two in the second. JJ Lander nearly turned it around for them. He had contri contributions to all three of their goals. He ended the weekend with five points, two goals. Three apples, three assists. Arkansas, they added another in the third to give them that one goal cushion. So if you want to put that silver lining, maybe this is somebody that's gonna be more of the contributor for them. They did have Tommy Chunchikov in this game and they're gonna have him back for this year. Danny, you and I joke about Chunchikov Island. That's when somebody is just too good to be left off the, you know, three stars, and we have to keep putting it back on there. I guess we can put JJ Lander on the Chunchikov Island for this week, even though his team did lose. Both games. You know, I I I had the the question here, but I don't know if it's appropriate to ask it. I guess I will anyway. They made nationals last season. They were quote unquote upset by Grand Valley State. Do you guys expect them to to be at that level again this year, where they're one game away from making a semifinal? Sure. speaker-2: I don't think it's out of the question because there's still so much data, if you will, to intake. There there's so much and and we don't know at this point. Arkansas could end up being, you know, a a top of the line team. And I think that's what's that's what's going to, you know, dictate where Middle Tennessee ⁓ ends up eventually, or I guess w potentially. Because it if these are are two teams that are if Arkansas is a is a nationals bound team and you know, MTSU is on that cusp, they lost a couple of games by just a single goal. And, you know, Devin, as we talked about ad nauseum 'cause, you know, that we were perplexed often by these rankings, strength of schedule, you know, game score, all these factors come into play. So speaker-0: I would say this. Arkansas, in my mind, now might be a favorite in the Macha. Mid-American conference there. Has a lot of good teams in there this year. Drury, Nebraska, Omaha was at nationals. Dort, another nationals team. Could be tough, but you know, credit to them. And I'm sure Middle Tennessee will try and get back on the foot, ⁓ the right foot really soon. They've got a a game against West Virginia we'll get to in a second. But, you know, continuing on sort of our games that happened this past weekend, South Florida visited Florida State, had a game for ⁓ in Jacksonville at the Community first Igloo. Battle of West Florida. Kind of ironic they played this in Northeast Florida. Game one, South Florida won six to four. Lozan Slizak opened the scoring. Florida State, Blake Kratenstein. It's been really good for them a long time. Had ⁓ two goals in this game. UCF, they tied it with 18 seconds left in the first and really set the tone for what was going to be. There it is. There, there, the first one of the year. Gavin, I hope you're smiling about that. Set the tone. That's I think we used that word about two million times last year. So he's like, Scored two more in the second. He had a hat trick. This is officially the first one of the College Hockey South season for USF. FSU got two back in the third, and Kevin Topakov finally iced it with an empty net goal. Two seconds left. USF takes it six to four. Then game two, seven to three. Bulls jumped out with two goals in the first. Slizak scored again. Get ready to hear his name a lot for this ACDC team. FSU, they pushed back. Dylan Sinclair. Maintained it for USF. He scored in the middle there. FSU tied it with 43 seconds left into the third. USF, though, boat raced him four straight in the third. Sinclair had a hat trick. USF had two different hat trick scores in the same weekend. So that's pretty awesome for them. ⁓ Tompakoff finished with three primary assists in game two, puts him at four points. And I think the big one that I looked at from the in the game score of this was USF's goalie Chase Odeoff. Fifty one saves on fifty four shots. I believe this was from game number one. Insane response. And really the score maybe doesn't tell that story just in the X's and O's, but perhaps we're looking at our early goaltender of the year candidate for that di ⁓ division. speaker-1: Yeah, I mean like even to like NHL standards, like fifty one saves, it's kinda k crazy. ⁓ whether that says anything about the defense or not, I still think that's impressive regardless. speaker-2: Yeah, this was the division last year that was most defined by ⁓ you know, nineteen eighties level of scoring. ⁓ you know, having to calculate the stats ourselves, you know, primarily me and Gavin, the save percentages and goals allowed averages of the the goaltenders last year were pretty shocking. ⁓ which like as Jordan mentioned, it may not be indicative of their performance necessarily. It could be, you know, the team defense or what have you. But we see more of it and in this series. Twenty goals in two games combined. Yeah, that that's ⁓ yeah, that's pretty ridiculous. speaker-0: And a big answer for USF that was okay last year. They take down the reigning champs though in ⁓ in week one. That's pretty awesome stuff there. And should be interesting to see what kind of response Florida State is. I can't name off the top of my head who returned and who didn't. I know they had a senior heavy team last year, so could be interesting how how that team that has to travel two hours, you know, to play their practices and and do their play their practices, do their practices, play their games every year. It does go do the hop. Do the hockey thing, right? And just like college hockey mouth fashion, words are hard. Maybe I'll get better, maybe I won't. Or maybe somebody else will take over that does it better. Let's get to our last game recap. Tennessee and Clemson. I say game recaps, and this is also like series. So technically series recaps would be better. The only one we had for the women's preview, or yeah, Clemson took game one, 10 to 3. We're back on this train of this Clemson women's team. When they play teams that they are superior in, they put them up. Because this one was insane offensively. Amanda Regina had five goals. They she's she scored twice in the first. Olivia Yoder assisted on three goals here. Regina kept it going in the second with a shorthanded goal. Another even strength. They led eight to two after two periods. So they really had their tune up game. And I I hate to talk about Tennessee in a bad light. They're still figuring it out. Let's remember year two, right? They, you know, they had a lot of games last year that didn't go well. speaker-1: Really shows, yeah. speaker-0: So we're gonna add that grain of salt. Tennessee did get a power play goal with it though. So 10 to 3, final there. And then game two was six to one Clemson. Amanda picked up where she left off. She had more goals in this one. You know, I I talk about the stat line. Six goals, seven points. She's gonna lead college hockey south, at least going into week two for the woman's side. Probably our best individual performance. And that leads us to our three stars. She had star number week or star number one of the week, six goals and assists for seven points. JJ Landers from Middle Tennessee. We talked about him trying to push it over. He had two goals, three assists, and their two losses. Logan Sluzak with the hat trick, four goals, four points, didn't have an assist. And Danny, I'll ask you about week one three stars. Do you think that this is a a precedent? Because we've got a big goal scorer, we've got someone that did a lot but lost in a game, and then a hat trick. Does that mean we're gonna have a hat trick on here or a hat trick every single week? speaker-2: I mean a a hat trick usually gets the job done, but you know, we had some crazy offensive performances last year. We'll just have to see how it goes. But I'll pose a question to you, Devin, as you know, you were, you know, heavily involved with you know, doing the podcast coming into last season. Can you remember a time or a season where it felt like there was more turnover in rosters at like the top of the conference? Because it feels like, you know, going over Clemson, ⁓ And looking at their roster and their, you know, their ⁓ offensive contributions, they lost two huge pieces. You know, Nina Molina, who was one of the prime candidates of ⁓ Chunchika Violand, and also Alyssa Lavrino, and then you look at Florida women's who lost several players, and then Tampa women's. Tampa ⁓ two lost a ton of seniors. And then you look at Middle Tennessee, who we just talked about. speaker-0: We just talked about MTSU. That's a great point. And and something that maybe is worth saying, we didn't just have people graduating. We had transfers. Jackson Neuendike at Florida Atlantic went to Oklahoma State. It's probably the biggest story in the ACHA if you don't follow the league regularly, because of their are they gonna go NCAA? Are they paying pay paying players? What is the deal? It's like and and not to be that guy. I just don't know if These rosters all expected that, these programs. And certainly what you say about conference winners and even a national champion like Tampa, yeah, it's it it's certainly something to to think about. Now, I like that and that maybe we're gonna have some new three stars. And, you know, if Tommy Chunchikov doesn't get on eight times, it's gonna be a new cast. So that that's that's definitely a great point there about teams that have turnovers. Definitely worth studying some rosters if you have the time or want to and who's gonna be coming back and who's not. I guess that's our job. So We'll have to see as we go on with the year. And that did it for our our game recaps. Pretty good start, all things considered. Some games that were down to the wire and you know, some blowouts there, but we kind of expect that. Game of the week for this one coming, and that leads us into our games to watch. It's gonna be Central Florida, UCF, taking on ⁓ three Florida Gulf Coast at the Orlando Ice Ten, late night, nine PM puck drop. Now, Jordan Manning, FGCU. ⁓ I I know ⁓ You know, you you have some knowledge about, you know, that school and their ability. We saw a lot out of them making nationals at the the cut line last year. We didn't know if they'd be in. This is UCF. It feels like a new program with they're not a new program, but it feels like they're new with a new coach, all these recruits, bigger expectations, maybe. Where are you at with this game to watch? speaker-1: Yeah. I mean, I definitely can't see like a bunch of scoring with our team. Like from what I've, you know, like talking to like the players and, you know, the fans there, there's a very like tight knit culture there. Like Florida hockey ha has one of like the deepest cultures in all of, you know, the sport. And, you know, we see that with like other schools. Like FGCU mainly, hockey, I mean, we don't have a football team here. Hockey is like our I would say our most successful sport. So, you know Our players wanna come out and represent, you know, that successful culture. So, you know, they definitely wanna get out there. You know, we got a handful of new players. So I would say, you know, that chemistry and that culture is really gonna come in clutch. You're gonna see it on the ice, you at the warm ups, players smiling and stuff. Even, you know, on the bench, you know, if a personal scores, it seems like they're, you know, a big old family. So I I really think that culture is gonna come in clutch this season. Yeah. speaker-2: ⁓ FGCU, huge year last year, both programs. ⁓ three joining CHS, very successful, made it to nationals. And then ⁓ two obviously doing the damn thing. Yeah, incredibly successful. And this will be a first time conference matchup for FGCU. ⁓ they were a pretty late edition last season, so they didn't get to add many conference opponents to their schedule. ⁓ it's a different story this year, which is really exciting. ⁓ get to see some some fresh matchups, including this one. ⁓ and yeah, the I mean, beginning of the season, conference matchup, interstate rivalry. And I could tell you what, there was a an energy, Devin, that FGCU brought to playoffs. Their games, they were loud on the bench, they were chirping nonstop. Even when they were up big against Clinton, they were still chirping. It was super contentious against ⁓ USF in a game that was probably my favorite of the entire playoff weekend. That was just like a a phenomenal level of intensity and, you know, back and forth chaos. ⁓ and with all the turnover that we just talked about, I think FGCU is a really interesting team to look at for, you know, potentially being the dark horse in division three and CH. speaker-0: The thing I I look at with FGCU, you know, their defense in my mind looks a little bit different. They still have Wainman, Djurkovich there, a couple of new faces. They still have BJ Ricardi, who is, in our minds, still the number one guy in ACHA M3 for college hockey south. think that's huge. And they re returned a lot of the offense, right? Like Liam Donahue's still there. Nathan Walker, Jordan Palacio does a lot of good stuff for them. I think this game sways towards FGCU just because I don't know what to expect from UCF. I don't know what their forward groups are going to look like. Knowing this F this this M3 team though, and the schedule you mentioned they have coming up. I mean, this is a true test of it being game of the week in the first weekend for them, but they're gonna play Farmingdale State. They're gonna play UMass, they're gonna play more of the interconference with Tampa and FAU and then Miami, Ohio. Like there's a lot of mixture there. And this is a really important game for them weekend that matter to to establish to to us and themselves what that identity is. Nationals team, whenever you get into nationals and then you're trying to get back, there's a little bit more of that chip. And other teams know that you are a nationals team. It'll be fun to watch 9 p.m. Eastern time. There should be a broadcast for this one. I know UCF does a pretty good job with that. Stay tuned on the College Hockey South website. And by the way, New Look website. Can't believe we didn't even get to this. But our our illustrious leader and our great commissioner Kyle, now with the help of many others, put together an overhaul of the College Hockey South website. It's beautifully laid out. You can see every game on there easily, where it's happening. And the cool thing in between, I don't know if any other conference is doing this. They give you highlights if there's a broadcast for the game. And with that, you can get a DK detailed recap of not just the game center. speaker-1: It looks beautiful. speaker-0: But what happened in between and seeing that, love it for our purposes. But I know fans from all of those teams are gonna love it this year. And I'll ask you guys, I mean, what was your instant reaction to the to the website change? speaker-1: Yeah, I mean it's definitely I heard it was very like NHL inspired and I can definitely see that. Like, I mean you have like the stats tab, you can actually see the stats without, you know, having to do like a deep dive. You could, you know, pick the team you want to see the stats for. I mean, it's very advanced stuff. And honestly, the layout just looks nice. And the fact that you could also like, you know, like seal the stories on there and stuff, you know, I've written a few, but like the layout itself actually looks like pretty clean. speaker-2: Yeah, somet something we we talked about ad nauseum last year was the the struggles of the scorekeeping and keeping stats and you know, I won't go into it, but yeah, it it it's it's awesome to to see this level of ⁓ innovation, if you will. You know, ⁓ like we've mentioned it's it's a very sleek look. ⁓ and it's you know, really cool for the conference to have all these different gadgets and such ⁓ to help the the viewing experience. ⁓ 'cause it's really cool, man. For these for these games to be more accessible. speaker-0: Note Gavin, our producer, let us know Florida Tech's head coach actually helped design and code the website. That's pretty cool stuff there. Love to see that interacting with our people in the conference. So big assist there, and it's gonna be great for us to navigate. Again, go to collegehockeysout.com to see all of those. We've got a great group of interns writing the recaps for you, giving you previews, talking about everything you need to know. I don't know if any other conference, I'm serious. There's a lot of them out there in the ACHA. But nobody does it as detailed, as organized as CHS. Hats off to Colinell, everybody involved in making this a success. So let's rip through with the help of collegehockey south.com. Some of our schedule for this week. And boy, this is the true week one. It's week two, but really week one in my mind, because we've got most of the teams in action on the men's and women's side. We're going to start with M3 Len taking on M2 St. Thomas. Great test for both programs. Lynn, they struggled last year. They missed out on CHS playoffs. They're going to get a crack with the brand new program in what is it, Miami Gardens? Yeah, St. Thomas. They're going to play Friday at 6:45 p.m. Eastern from Baptist Health Iceplex, practice facility home of the Florida Panthers. Also on Friday on the men's side, M3 West Virginia travels to M3 Vanderbilt. There's bit of a road trip for West Virginia. They're coming down to the southern states in their area. Play Vanderbilt in Middle Tennessee. This is the first of their weekends. So they'll play Vanderbilt on Friday at 645 and then on Sunday as well. Could have been our game of the week. It was last year. This one with M3 Florida taking on M3 Embry Riddle. I'll correct myself. M2 Florida played M3 Embry Riddle. This one is an interconference matchup. ⁓ they're gonna play at Daytona Ice Center, Ice Arena, 7 p.m. Eastern there. Really good. Also another one for Bob Joyce's squad. This is a better team. Florida was very fun to watch in M3 last year. Hope to see a good one there. Austin P takes on AAU Alabama Huntsville from the Ford Ice Center in Clarksville. On the women's side, Tennessee takes on Georgia on Friday, 8 30 p.m. Eastern puck drop there. You mentioned our game of the week, Florida Golf Coast UCF at 9 p.m., 10 p.m. These are the late ones. South Carolina and Clemson, Palmetto Cup, right out of the shoot. Why not? Clemson put up some amazing ⁓ stats this week with Anna Regina, of course, we talked about. Courtney Caputo will be one to watch in this game. Fascinated to see how South Carolina answers this year after heartbreak last year in the conference semifinal. And then finally, UNC Wilmington takes on North Carolina at polar ice in Wilmington. Saturday, Alabama and South Carolina M3. Boy, Alabama, we dogged on them middle of the year because I think they started like eight and one or something and then turn it on late. South Carolina M3, we know how good they are, Danny. Very much so probably our one of our contenders for the conference this year. That's going to be at noon Eastern from Flight Adventure Park in Ermo, South Carolina. Also on Saturday, M3 Flor South Florida takes on M2 St. Thomas from Baptist Health. So you get a mix of teams there for the the new one we mentioned that didn't join CHS but went to the ACC instead. Austin P finishes up with Alabama Huntsville as well. on that day and then West Virginia and Middle Tennessee aforementioned. Only five games on Sunday to mention it is those finishing up for the series of Alabama, South Carolina, South Florida, St. Thomas, Clemson and Georgia on the women's side. M3 S Virginia finishes with Vanderbilt and finally ⁓ three Embry Riddle and Florida from community first Iglo this time. Boy, a lot to look forward to. I know we we run through this and we did in years past, but which matchup or set of them Intrigues you guys the most. speaker-1: I will be kind of biased. I mean, obviously FGCU's matchup is my, you know, go to matchup to look out for. You know, hometown team, I'm looking forward to it. But if we're not including my bias in there, I really am looking forward to the Clemson Georgia series. Like, can like Regina, you know, keep up, you know, with like with the hype she produced in week one. Like it's it'd be very interesting to see if that team in like in general could actually, you know, you know, keep up with that hype. But of course, you know, I have to root for my Eagles here at FGCU. So that's gonna be my game of the week. Or series of the week, I should say. speaker-2: Okay, well I'll introduce a little bit of professionalism here, Devin. That's clearly lacking with you too. I would have to say we'll we'll ⁓ get a ⁓ a glimpse at UNC Wilmington, their first game as a program. ⁓ first it's not a conference game against North Carolina, but it'll be exciting to see how they do there. Always excited to see how the new teams perform, ⁓ whether it's struggles or, you know, ⁓ they're they prosper like Clemson did last year right out of the gate. ⁓ you know Definitely want to temper those expectations. It's just cool that they're gonna have a team out there and you know, been having conversations with them back and forth for a while now. And, you know, they finally get to do the the fun part, which is just, you know, playing playing the game. So ⁓ looking forward to UNC Wilmington and since they're playing a non conference team, we can root for ⁓ So yeah, fuck North Carolina. Just believe me. W whatever. Leave it in. Let's be more unfiltered this year. speaker-0: All right. I think being a little more unfiltered is just fine. And certainly we will be rooting hard for ⁓ that team out of the Carolinas. I'm really looking forward to the Palmetto Cup, South Carolina. You know, we have a lot of friends in the pot. Alison Art Slick Go for South Carolina. It was an emotional end for them. They went to the wire. You know, they gave Alabama a really good run for it. I think they're just as good of a team, if not better. You know, Zoe Elwell is there, ⁓ not to mention Mackenzie Cronin. I think they have the edge in that game, in that series. I think Clemson though really has something to answer. They did well against teams they should beat and then were sometimes the unfortunate side in big scores last year. So I would expect this one to be a competitive one. I also think that just and of course, non-biased here, like I think South Carolina was one of my favorite teams to watch. But this Alabama group, I really think if they have a better start. There are more on my radar this summer or this fall now, I guess. They don't have the returning goaltender, which sucks for them. And then one more to mention, Lynn and St. Thomas. I wanna see what St. Thomas is. If Lynn doesn't give them a good crack, you know, maybe we're gonna see a better one from USF, who is one of the better teams with Grant Deets. That's somebody we mentioned a lot and I think those are games that intrigue me more. Yeah, that's right. I'll digress. It's gonna be fun to see guys this entire week. Week two, we're into it here on College Hockey Mouth, and we get into it. Conference play is at large. So only news that I had to get to as we finish up the episode here. No guest for this week since we're just getting back in the swing. Sort of our welcoming back with our staff. Tampa, ⁓ two, one of the only two teams in ⁓ two this year for this group. Dropped perhaps probably the sickest sweater I've seen in the last three years. Pirate Ship Galore. You could call it a Gasparilla jersey. You could call it just a third jersey. This one was sick. It's got the eight one three on the sails of the pirate ship, a red hull, black sails. They've got the red trim, the white striping. They're classic white. And of course, the the black we've all come to know and love with the tampa on the front is still good. But I mean, guys, th this is up there for one of the best I've ever seen in the ACH. speaker-1: Yeah. I mean like it's definitely like Jasper inspired. I really love, you know, the contrast with the the black and the red. I mean, I definitely it just it's beautiful in my opinion. I I really like how it looks. speaker-2: Tampa as a whole was like a lightning rod for new jerseys, uniforms, the whole program ⁓ across all their teams last season. It had the creamsicle inspired ones for M3, which were got mixed reviews. Someone said it they looked like Virginia Tech at one point, and then I couldn't unsee it. M2 had their their third jerseys, which were basically just grape practice pennies. Which was interesting. And then my favorite, which were the Gasparilla ⁓ jerseys and entire uniform set that Tampa women's had. And to be honest, I hope they still wear those as their primary uniforms. ⁓ you know, I have sources inside ⁓ you know, their program, not the women's program, just Tampa in general, that they have to do some sort of rebranding as ⁓ you know, as club teams to fit, you know, the logo branding that they need to do. speaker-0: Classic AC ACHA tale, by the way. How many teams we don't see enough on this pod, have to fight the school for the naming rights of the logo? Just another case of life in the ACHA for us. speaker-2: Dude, one specific instance I remember, we were talking to Marissa Bonilla and how they had to get their their logo on their jersey for Florida women's, by the way. They couldn't have an F, like a full like, you know, blocked F on like their jersey. So they had to put like a hockey stick that was blocking like a quarter of the F so that it wouldn't violate like club sports, ⁓ copyright issues. It's like, man, is it really that serious? Like these teams are You know, scraping up as many dollars and cents as possible. Do we really care if there's a F showing on your uniform? speaker-0: Yeah, it couldn't have said it better. My my thing is always because some teams get away with using the primary logo. Some have to use like a and not putting them on blast as an example because I don't like it. It's just a good one. South Carolina women's, they use a different logo, just like the men's teams have to. So every every school sometimes has this sit down where it's okay, you can use the logo if it's ultra, like you mentioned, or You can go with signature or lettering that's different, which is why you get in the ACHA a lot, those baseball style, you know, slugger jerseys with just the front logo. It's not a bad thing. I just think a lot more club sports need to just say, Hold on, these teams aren't making money yet. If it comes down to money, maybe then we have a conversation. It's always so ridiculous to me when a school buds in and saying, You can't use our logo. It's against our rights. It's against our rules. Doesn't that give you free PR for your school? Doesn't that make you look way cooler and bring attention to your school? I don't get it, dude. I guess I'm not a lawyer. I guess I'm not in the copyright infringement world. It's just the stupidest argument in the world when a school doesn't want a school to use their lo or a team rather to use their school logo on the sweater. Because everybody knows hockey jerseys are the best. And that's it for my soapbox. I'm done. That's just where I'm gonna put it. speaker-2: Sure, Jordan. No, you're you're you're a hundred percent right. Like it's not it's not for nefarious reasons. The you know, all we're trying to do is, you know, put together a a nice uniform. Like there are hockey fans at all these schools down here and they want nothing more than like ⁓ a t ⁓ an official jersey that has the official logo on it. Like how cool would that be? But instead, like, no, you have to put the word club on it. It has to be visible, you know, it's gotta be a different font. Like, come on, man, let's you know, let's just all be friends here. speaker-0: Hey Jordan, can you can you push a committee argument to FGCU to get the ⁓ three team to use the main Eagle logo again? 'Cause I loved those jerseys when they had ⁓ a couple of years ago. speaker-1: Yeah, I mean I've seen photos. They do look sick. I mean, I'll see what I'll see what I can do, honestly. But I will say the jerseys that we did have last season were I think they were like the pink ones. We used like the pink Florida ones. They look they they look kind of cool. I mean, the logo, I mean, you know, the Eagle, it's pretty iconic. So but again, that's just biased there. But I would try to stay unbiased at that. But I do really think, you know, they should at least have the ability to put a better logo on that. speaker-0: No doubt. I really hope that more teams give us good reveals this offseason. Tampa came out swinging. That's gonna be a hard one to up for any of our teams. But everybody's back in into the things. We're doing the damn hockey. And we're back in College Hockey Mouth. It was so much fun to talk to you, Danny and Jordan. Get everybody back into the scoop. And as time goes on, hopefully we'll have some new faces on here and talk to more personalities around the conference. So for all of us here at College Hockey Mouth, say Thanks so much for listening to episode thirty-one. Welcome back of College Hockey Mouth, a College Hockey South podcast. We'll talk to you soon. Have a great rest of your week.