Latest / Game Day Collective / North Dakota vs Minnesota Headlines a BIG College Hockey Weekend | Between the Pipes
Transcript
- Ep 1: What is up everyone and welcome to the very first episode of Between the Pipes, presented by Game Day Collective. I am your host, Jeremy Russell, and here on Between the Pipes, we're gonna be talking about college hockey. So sit back, grab a cold one, grab your favorite snack. Because on today's episode, I'm gonna be going over three particular games that are scheduled for this upcoming week. So you do not want to miss these games. I know there's some really, really good games for this upcoming weekend. I if I had all the time in the world, I would cover all of them, but I'm gonna be picking out Three particular games that have stuck out to me the most. But before I dive into today's episode, this episode is presented by Outlier, the sports betting research platform that helps you compare odds, analyze trends, value across the market. Click on the link in the description below to try 30 days completely free courtesy of Outlier. So now let's get diving into this episode of Between the Pipes. Like I said, I'm gonna be covering three games and There could be a lot more games in the upcoming works. And if you guys want me to cover a particular game that you see later down the road, make sure to leave a message, drop a comment, and we can definitely sure see what we can try and do to get it into the slate. But like I said, the first game that we're gonna be covering is actually going to be a battle of the state of Minnesota. We got the Minnesota Mavericks versus the St. Thomas Tommies. It's like I said, it's a battle of Minnesota taking place first going up. To St. Thomas up to St. Paul, excuse me, take on the Tommies versus the Mavericks. Then the the next night, they on Friday night, they go down to Mankato to play down at the Mayo. Then this is an intriguing in-state hockey matchup to say the least between Minnesota State Mavericks and the St. Thomas Tommies. both programs are a little bit different in strengths. I mean, the Minnesota State Mavericks have a strong history of success at the Division I level. While St. Thomas, they have been building their identity to come to be competitive in this now since moving up to D1. And the matchup could honestly come down to the defensive structure between teams. Special teams, which teams capitalize on its scoring chances. I mean, there's so many little itty bitty things that you have to look at between this game and who's gonna be coming out the winner, whether it be one game or if you're trying to sleep this weekend or whatever the case may be. But Let's talk a little bit about the history between the two teams. As of their last meeting, when I had to do a little bit of research on this to dig back, on March 20th of 2026, Minnesota State and St. Thomas have played 47 times against each other since December of 1975. The Mavericks lead the all-time head-to-head record 32 to 13. The last meeting was not the way that St. Thomas wanted it to be, was the 2026 Mason Cup Championship, which Minnesota State took that championship and won four to one. I mean, that definitely is a stinger to a lot of those returners that have to go into their bar down the May open Mankato. I mean, a lot of those guys, they can definitely walk into and remember what happened there, but they're trying to put that behind them and they're trying to focus one game at a time here. Now let's talk a little bit about the strengths and weaknesses of some of these teams. First I'll start out with the Minnesota State Mavericks. The one particular strength that I'm looking at and I actually get the fortunate ability to go up to Mankato over the weekend. So if you happen to see this episode and happy to see me at the at the mail, make sure to reach out if you want to say hi or whatever and give me a little bit of a little bit of a pep talk about this episode. I'm always open to hearing your guys' predictions or ideas or recommendations or whatever the case may be. But like I said, back on the episode. starting off with the Minnesota State Mavericks. The offensive potential can be really, really huge here. I the Mavericks scored five goals across our first two games against Merrimack. They have shown that they can generate offense, although sustaining it consistently remains a challenge. I will admit that. But the Minnesota State Mavericks, they have had a really big school history and really, really great coaching. Head coach Lou Stran, he sure does know what he is doing. I mean, I've had the fortunate opportunity to get to talk with him, get to Have a lot of conversations with him. He is definitely a absolutely humble of a guy and a coach. He he knows what to do. He's there to mean business and he's gonna be sticking around Mankato for quite a while. So get used to get used to seeing Luke Strand and his style of play. Then he definitely is a unbelievable coach and an even better a person. So I do have to say that about Luke Strand. But another thing to even talk about for the Minnesota State Mavericks for a strength of them is the opportunity to rebound. I mean, the upcoming home and home series with St. Thomas. offers a chance to regain confidence and build their momentum before the schedule continues and get deeper and deeper and deeper into the heart of the season. And of course, the one thing that is on the Minnesota State Mavericks mind and even on the St. Thomas Tommy's mind is trying to make it to the NCAA tournament because then that frozen four spot. I mean the Minnesota State Mavericks have have made it to the frozen four tournament. They have at least membership to me corrected they have not been into the frozen or not even the frozen four, but into the championship in in a fair number of time. But I know Minnesota State is on the verge of a potential career to where they can get back into that frozen four championship spot. But now looking onto the positive sides one thing, but let's take a look at the one thing that not a lot of not a lot of people like to talk about is their weaknesses. And A lot of these weaknesses can make or break it for the other team because they can capitalize on those weaknesses. The first weakness that I can pick out for Minnesota State is their defensive breakdown. Minnesota State allowed a not so great of a number that you want to see them allow, allowing 20 goals in its first four regular season games. An average of five goals per game, the eight to two loss to Merrimack, highlighting the need for better defensive coverage. it's one thing to it's one thing to let a sloppy goal do to the defensemans or whatever the case may be. But I mean, being on that kind of a breakdown, just being able to communicate between your D partner or the forwards communicating with the D partners or even the goalie trying to communicate to the D partners, whether it be a two on one situation whether the goalie's saying, I got shooter, I got shooter, then the other D men slides over to the odd man. I mean There's definitely gotta be some big time changes coming up for the Minnesota State Mavericks and they gotta do it quick. And even talking about a goalies a little bit, I mean the goaltending consistency. I mean, the team needs more reliable results in the net to better protection in front of its goalie. I mean, the early goals against numbers are really, really concerning, although they don't establish that goaltending alone is to blame. But I mean, you look at the history of what the Minnesota State Mavericks have had in the net. one particular guy that I can think of off the top of my head is Alex Tracy. A lot of him a lot of people looking at him, he was a real, real stud, even looking at before him, looking at Dryden McKay. both of those guys were absolute studs up in Minnesota State. They they had the stamina, they had the ability to make something out of nothing, and they can just literally make your jaw drop and hit the floor just in the blink or the snap of the finger just like that. it's definitely gonna be one of those things to where What can Minnesota State do on the defensive breakdown and get a better better lack of trying to make those little itty bitty things to make themselves stronger and look for the open look for the back of the net and light the lamp and try and come out with this weekend, maybe with a sweep, maybe with splitting St. Thomas or whatever the case may be. Now looking on the other side, speaking of St. Thomas, talking a little bit about them, looking at their strength is one. one big thing is having experienced defensemen, having defensive having senior defenseman Mason Pullman bringing coming back and bringing experience on the table is one thing. While the rosters also include players such as Colt Miller, Nick Williams. I mean their ability to move the puck and limit opposing scoring chances will definitely be really, really important. Now another thing to even think about is the contributions from multiple forwards. David Roosevelt, a a graduate forward Quinn Reddick Each score on their first goals as the Tommies took the four to two win over Air Force. Another guy to even mention Jakob Aldricher also scores shorthanded in their opening game. I mean, that gives St. Thomas several potential scoring scoring threats to monitor. I mean, having those guys come back and just ball out the very first game in Light the Lamp, that's one thing that's always really, really nice to see those guys do, and especially in the first game back. But Like I said, now this is the one thing that Minnesota State likes to talk about that St. Thomas doesn't like to talk about is their weaknesses and what they could do a little bit better on. The first thing that comes to my mind is the defensive consistency and the goaltending. I mean, the Tommy's have allowed five goals in their season opener against Air Force. they improved in the rematch, allowing only two, which is good to see, not allowing more than two goals. But the challenge overall is the sustaining that the improvement. against stronger opponents. you can come in and see these guys play, Lake Superior State, Bowling Green, whatever whoever you guys see them play against. I mean, it could either be a really, really good game or it can be a really, really bad night. So it can really go down one way or the other. I mean, even another thing to think about is the consistency five on five scoring, talking about scoring a little bit. I mean Saint Thomas scored just once in the opening loss before producing four goals in the rematch. It needs to show that it can honestly generate offense consistently rather than relying on a single strong performance. That's the one thing that a lot of the coaches do preach in night in and night out. That we need to play one period at a time. We need to just focus on 20 minutes. Who cares about the rest of the game? Once gigs are done with that period, then we can go from there. We can adjust, we can try and make we can try and make adjustments here, and then we can try and go See what those adjustments do going into the next period. But overall, this game is definitely like I said, it's gonna be a battle between Minnesota, between the Minnesota State Mavericks and the St. Thomas Tommies. This is a game that you do not want to miss, starting off Friday night, then going into Saturday night. Like I said, Friday night up in St. Paul, and then going down to Saturday night down to Mankato and Minnesota. It's definitely gonna be a fumble between the battle of the Minnesota. But moving on to the next game. of the slate. This one when I saw the schedule, this one had me smiling a little bit ear to ear just because it's the North Dakota Fighting Sioux versus the Minnesota Golden Gophers. I mean the Minnesota the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the North Dakota Fighting Sioux. I mean they they they're they traveled down and the state of hockey in in Minneapolis against the Minnesota Golden Gophers, like I said. I mean this is a major early season rivalry matchup between the two historic college hockey programs. North Dakota comes in unbeaten, which is a big thing to come in come in four and And while Minnesota is looking to turn its season around a little bit, I know it's kind of crazy to see Minnesota currently being three-and-one, but I mean there's also a lot of things that you gotta think of. How many new co head coach Brett Larson? I mean, just losing some key players, then just trying to get everything acquainted with all the news. the series is especially important for the Gophers as they open a nine-game home stand. That's also another big thing to think about. It's one thing to play a couple games here, then go play a couple games on the road, then they come back. But no, they're starting they're gonna give it off with a nine-game homestand. That's definitely gonna be a big time thing that they have to think about. I mean, talking a little bit about the history again between the two teams. I mean starting off of UND, I mean the Flying Hawks have and the Minnesota going Gophers have one of honestly, like I said, one of the college hockey's historic rivalries. Both programs have long traditions, passion of fan bases, and multiple national championships. I've seen North Dakota's fan base in person when they came down to UNO and played them. Their fan base is second to none. If I honestly had to say when I physically saw them, it was it seemed like you were up in Grand Forks up in North Dakota watching a game up at the Ralph. I mean, that is one of those one of those fan bases that surely travel to sh show support for their teammate. It was honestly a fifty fifty kind of kind of arena when I was going down there, I honestly thought it was just gonna be a few fans here and there, but I was definitely wrong. So shout out to all the North Dakota fans when they're traveling that you guys are true college hockey fans. But another thing to even think about between the two the two teams, they've combined winning thirteen NCAA Hockey national championships. But looking at a North Dakota has a little bit of an edge between them. They have eight compared to Minnesota only having five. But that doesn't that doesn't matter to them. They're looking for they're looking for one game at a time. Then once it gets closer down the road, if it comes down to the time to where they can play for a national championship, they're gonna be giving everything that they got to try and make it into that frozen four tournament. And then they're gonna be trying to do, like I said, trying to do whatever they can. To make it to the national championship and hopefully raise that trophy above their head. But starting off a little bit, like I said, with North Dakota, slogan some of their strengths mean North Dakota, it's it's easy to say they have strong depth and offensive pressure. And North Dakota is scoring the last three goals in every single game and putting up five goals in each of its last two games, even to think about it against Bentley. the team has also averaged thirty seven shots per game, giving opposing goalies plenty and plenty of handle. it's one thing to see it's one thing to see college teams put up maybe twenty-twenty-five shots or whatever the case may be, depending on who they play. But I mean, averaging thirty-seven shots per game, that is definitely a workload for those goaltenders. But another thing to even think about is like their strong and early goaltending for the team's defense. North Dakota has allowed only five goals in the first four games. I mean, goalies have combined for a point nine three zero save percentage. And the team has limited opponents to about just under twenty shots per game. I think last time I looked, it was just about seventeen, eighteen shots per game. I mean, that's definitely huge for their goaltender. I mean, just to give him a little bit of time to breathe. And just even allowing the the defenseman just to make w make it easy, honestly, for light I wouldn't say light work, but just Minnesota and North Dakota, it's one of those standouts that you do see a lot of these teams do, and they have really, really good offense, a really, really good defense, a really, really good goaltending. No no disrespect to any of the other college teams, but I mean a lot of people look between North Dakota, Minnesota, BU, who and whoever. But I mean, it definitely is nice to have all of those guys just being able to play dominant and make it a little bit easier for your goaltender trying to try just but just try not to make it too easy to where he's getting bored, but whatever the case may be. But another thing to think about, like I was mentioning on the last topic, is the one thing that no one likes to talk about is the weaknesses. Looking at it a little bit, their defense may be good, but they gotta say consistent. My biggest thing I want to think about is the defense and consistency. I mean, North Dakota allowed three goals in each of its two games against Bemidji State. the team will need to tighten up defensively against stronger offensive opponents. They definitely do need to just communicate between the two and just look at the big picture. It's one thing to try and make yourself really, really shine, but overall at the end of the day, we're there's a there's no eye in team here, and you have to play together as a brotherhood and as a family. And another thing to even think about is the tougher competition will be the real test. Like I mentioned, North Dakota's early win are argu are encouraging, don't get me wrong. But its performance against higher ranked opponents will show more about its ability to contend in the NCHC title and make it up deep in the NCAA tournament run. a lot of these guys they would n love nothing more to host I mean to hoist a NCAA championship above their head and go to the respective place of where it's being played at. But I mean, at the end of the day, you gotta do what you gotta do to get a win, but Like I said, communicate communicate, play as a team, be look at the big picture, just focus one game at a time, then look at the look at the tougher games later down the road when he gets closer to it. Now, looking on the strength side for the Minnesota going Gophers, it's a proven goal scorer. There's I'll just start off with Brody Zemer. I mean, Minnesota has a lot of really, really good players, but I mean Brody Zemer scored 23 goals last season and is back As a team captain. He scored twice in Minnesota's two to two tie against Minnesota Duluth on the 17th. showing he can generate offense even when the team is under pressure. I mean, you're gonna see a lot, a lot of pressure between these two teams and just any team in general. But the biggest thing is how can you handle it under pressure? And even looking at another big thing is their goaltending experience. look at the Pasco returns after recording a point nine ten save percentage last season. mean, he made thirty-four saves in the recent tie with Minnesota Duth, like I said, giving the Golfers a goalie capable of keeping them in games. he's definitely had a lot to think about. I mean, looking at for last season, he was a real, real stud. Then this so far this season's not the strongest that they want to see, but there's plenty of college hockey left and they can honestly flip in the switch just literally just like that. I mean, you can see these teams they can go on a on a six game lose streak or whatever the case may be. But then all of a sudden the next day comes and the next weekend series that they play, they can just keep that train rolling and they can just honestly make it look like they can just shake it off. So you gotta give a lot of a lot of credit to a lot of these teams. Then don't worry about, like I said, I I know I've kind of repeated this a lot, but you gotta think about it. You gotta take one game at a time, then you just gotta go focus on that period and just keep it going from there. But Now talking a little bit about what Minnesota could honestly do a little bit better is their their defensive zone breakdown a little bit. Minnesota, the one game that I was really, really surprised is Minnesota lost 7-1 against Minnesota Delut the 16th and allowed 36 shots in the following night's two to two tie. the Gophers need to clear rebounds, protect the slot, limit quality chances or whatever the thing, whatever the case may be. But You can't be you can't be letting in those kind of goals that a lot of people just call dirty goals or whatever the whatever you want to call them. I mean i it's one thing to let in a goal that shouldn't be let in like you see a goalie make a routine save, but it's a it's another thing to see a goalie not have not have the defense help him out a little bit, whether it hits a rebound, then just see him get on the back on the backside, then just get a Easy tap in the net. Those are the ones to where they're gonna make you a little bit frustrated. just any goal really is gonna make it frustrated. But you gotta do what you can, communicate, whatever the case may be, then just focus on it and just keep rolling. But another thing, even like I was just talking a little bit ago, is the slow start. That's the other thing I was gonna talk about in the coaches system. The Gophers open the season with three losses and one tie, with having he Brett Larson taking over as head coach and several new players joining. the lineup, the team is still having to adjustments to make. Now, I've talked a little bit about this from other people. You see a lot of these teams, they can do what's called a miniature revamp, and you get a lot of new faces into this, and you don't see them start off right from the jump how you saw them last season. I mean, it's okay. A lot of these guys, they they're still getting used to playing with each other. It's one thing to play against them in practice. But it's a complete different thing to play against another team in an actual game. that's one big thing that I think about. Then obviously, just giving it time between between games and give it some time just to adjust and adapt to the collegiate level, whether you jump from down the USHL, then you go straight to D one college hockey. I mean, there's definitely gonna be some Different things here that you can see coming from, say, like I said, for a mention for a USHL to the to the NCAA D1 level. I mean, those are some big time things that you gotta think about. And of course, the one thing is competitiveness level. I mean, some of these guys, they they can see them going into the NHL. I mean, heck, you can see some guys getting a lot of looks in the NHL, whether it be down in the USHL or the OHL or whatever whatever sanction that they're in. But I mean, this is where it gets even more and more competitive. Competitive, just excuse me. This is where it gets even more and more competitive to just try and get your name out there to try and boost your draft stock, whatever the case may be. But moving on to our last game of the weekend that we're going to be talking about in today's episode. It's another really, really good one. We have Boston University, the 15th ranked, going against the number 16th ranked Yukon Huskies. Boston Yukon play against each other Thursday night in Connecticut, then they go out to back to Boston to play again on Saturday night. these two teams, they both know how to put a lot of they know how to put the puck in the back of the net. They know how to make it a really, really exciting another two good teams that have an amazing fan base. I mean, the rival the rivalry between B Boston University and Yukon, I mean, is honestly become a competitive matchup in the hockey east. I mean, with several important postseason games that we see in regular years. I mean, Boston and Yukon have won five NCAA men's hockey national championships combined. But the one thing that hurts a little bit for UConn is Boston's won all five of them. Yukon has never won an NCAA title. I know a lot of those guys would sure love to be able to raise that NCAA title over their head at the end of the season. But moving on, talking about a little bit of the strengths and weaknesses looking at these two teams. Start off with Boston University. I mean Just looking at just high end offensive talent. I mean, Captain Jack Harvey, he led BU returning players with 21 points last season, including 13 goals, having experience. He should be important for a roster with several young players like Caleb Malhorta selected third overall in the 2026 NHL draft. I mean, he's giving BU a high talented offensive prospect. Tiny Lawrence, also the thing about him. I mean, he's returning after being selected 11th. overall by the same those blues. I mean, Boston has a lot of firepower and they have a lot of talent. But the biggest thing is for UConn, can they can they match that level of play against these talented players? And another even thing to think about talking about really good players is their goaltending. Having really good goaltendings fans like Mikhail Yogorov. I mean he returns for his junior season. It's hard to think that he's only a junior, but I mean he's established a goalie can help be you stay competitive. when the defense gives up quality scoring chances. I mean, Yorgi Yorgioff is a really, really stud of a goaltender. He's he's a brick wall in between the pipes and he just has incredible vision and just being able to adjust to whoever they're playing against that respective day. I mean, he just he knows what to do in big time game situations. And i it just completely baffles you that I say, he's a junior and he still has another year of hockey left and we obviously wish him nothing but the best. Then we just we just hope he can keep that we can keep that positivity going up. But like I mentioned, now the one thing that nobody likes to talk about on on BU's side is Boston University's weaknesses. they may be having some really, really good firepower, but the defensive zone breakdowns one thing that I kind of want to look at a little bit in particular. I mean, BU struggle with turnovers, I mean poor defensive positioning. On man rushes last season that there's no there's no hiding behind that. It's last season. But I mean, those mistakes can honestly turn a close game into a multi-goal deficit quickly. It it really can't happen in the blink of an eye. You can all of a sudden look at the scoreboards, it's three to two, then all of a sudden you let in another one, then it's three to five or three four to two, whatever the case may be, then you really you really, really have to be strong and those defenses don't break down. I mean, even Just losing some big time key players and the departures of Cole Hodson and Gavin McCarthy. I mean B you must replace really, really good defensive production and just being able to adjust on the change on the blue line. I mean, a a lot a lot of defensemen, they know how to handle the blue line, especially for these guys that have been playing for quite quite a while. Then you just gotta do whatever you can to defend that balloon line just because you're that line of defense, then If you don't get it right, then the goalie's gonna be facing a sh a breakaway on bull one on one. We're gonna see how it goes. But another thing to even think about is the youth and consistency. I mean, even just with returning players, BU remains being the youngest roster in the country by an average age to start on the season. I mean, young players can bring speed and skill, I will give it that, but consistency under pressure is something to watch BU has plenty of. They have like I said, they have a lot of good goal scores, but the team needs to honestly be dependable scoring wise across the lines after than relying on a few players just to create most of its offense. I mean, i it definitely has a lot of big things to look at. Like I said, having a lot of young kids and how fast they can adjust to the style of hockey. But I mean, we're just gonna have to find out and wait and see. But another another thing to talk about flipping on to their opponent wise is the Yukon Huskies. looking at them, they're an elite goal scoring team, elite goal scoring threat. One partic excuse me, one particular player I can think of is team captain Joey Mul Maldani. I mean, he scored 17 goals and 29 points last season. I mean, he also scored 29 goals in the 24 or 25, demonstrating that he can carry a major share off of the offense. I mean, re another big thing to even think about is UConn returning 16 skaters from last season. Just to name a few, Caden Sheehan, Ethan Woodcomb, Trey Scott. Like you said, that's just to name a few. Then another big time a big time contribution to have is competitiveness home environment. I mean, the Huskies play at the Toscano family ice forum in stores. I mean, the rep they resent the with the recent postseason runs, familiarity with the home rank gives them a solid setting for building momentum. that arena is an absolutely stellar, stellar arena. If you have not seen it, I haven't personally seen it, but I've seen documentaries about what it's like inside that arena and it is second to none. So if you get the opportunity to go and check out that arena, do it. You won't regret it. now looking at all the positivity things for Yukon, the one thing that they don't like to talk about and be and Boston University wants to capitalize on is their weaknesses. And the one thing that I can kind of think of is their goal their goaltending uncertainty. UConn s lost their starting goaltender Tyler Mazilic ple I'm I'm not the greatest in name, so please bear with me. he he played 35 games last season. Now with Cam Hendrickson and freshman goalie Vetty Lovada I mean are among the options to fill in the role. Making consistent goaltending is a key, key question. I mean having a goaltender like that last year and seeing him go It definitely is one of those sad things to see. But now it's just who's gonna be the next man up on the total bowl and who's gonna be that guy again every single night. And if if it doesn't work, then we're gonna try and result to our b the next guy and we're gonna see how it goes for him and we can try and see how it goes and flip between the two, whether you play strong at home or not the greatest on the road, or vice versa for the other goaltender. I mean, you just gotta do what you can to help build the confidence and whatever's best for the team just to make it show everything that they're gonna be dominant at the end of the year. Another thing to throw out there is power play and face off and their defensive consistency. I mean through the first four games of the 26, 27 season, Yukon converted just one of eleven power plays, which is not even above ten percent. I think it's like rated nine point one, nine point two percent. I mean it's better execution we'll have the main advantage could make a major difference in close games. But UConn was only winning forty-four percent of his face-off in its first four games and allowed a goal allowed twelve goals, excuse me, while scoring nine. I mean, improving possession and limiting opponents' scoring chances should be big time priorities for all these teams and just looking for it down the road. But I mean, those are just some of the games that we're gonna that I'm gonna be talking about for the second weekend. So those are the games you do not want to miss. And I greatly appreciate you guys taking your time to come and watching for the very first episode in between of Between the Pipes. I'm Jimmy Russell. We'll catch you on the next one.