[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign the following program is brought to.
[00:00:05] Speaker B: You in living color on Dell gazette.com or wherever you get your podcast.
The Daily Gazette Company presents the parting Shots Podcast. Now here's your host, Daily Gazette Sports Editor Ken Shots. Thank you Scott Gezy, and welcome to the Parting Shots Podcast, available wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe today. Thanks for joining me from the Parting Shots Podcast Student Studio in Schenectady, New York. We have another great show for you. But before we get into who's going to be on this episode of the podcast, I want to thank Jim McLaughlin, Union athletic director.
On Monday we got a tour of the new arena where Union hockey men's and women's team will be playing, Mohawk Harbor Event Center. Stan Hooty and I had the pleasure of taking that tour. We shot some video. We'll have that up
[email protected] or wherever you get your our YouTube channel. A lot of fun. I got to see where I'm going to be sitting next season. Will be on the side. I'm thankful for that after 29 years of being in the end zone at Messerink. It's yeah getting older and tough to tougher to see out there going on the other end. Even though you have the video board up there still it's it's a lot more fun to cover from the side as a few of the rings I've been to in the ECAC hockey over the years have the side ring like Dartmouth, Thompson Arena, Browns being auditorium, Clarkson's cheer arena. So it was a fun time. Spent some time there and I did take some pictures. I haven't posted them on my Instagram page yet because just haven't had time to but we'll we'll be posting them hopefully shortly and hopefully once we get the video together you'll enjoy that as well. Of course the Union men's hockey team off this week thanks to the first round buy they achieved last Friday beating Cornell 4 to 1. You heard from Union head coach Josh Howgy on Wednesday's podcast. There was no media availability this week, so we're going to just mention the fact that the four first round games are taking place this weekend. Two games on Friday, RPI going to Harvard and Brown and Princeton playing also on Friday and then on Saturday it's St. Lawrence at Dartmouth and Yale at Cornell. So Union will wait. The winner most likely it's either going to be Cornell or Dartmouth. Dartmouth is the five seed. Cornell is the sixth. If there's any I can't I don't see any of these lower seed teams. I think the only one where it may be a good contest would be the 89 between Brown, the eighth seed and number nine Princeton.
That should be fun. I actually predicting overtime for that one. So actually double overtime. I think I picked my EC hockey picks which were posted
[email protected] so this week's podcast Podcast for the edition I was spent Sunday afternoon early and into the early evening at Messering. My third day in covering hockey there. This time was the Section 2 Division 1 boys hockey championship between Shenandaho and Saratoga Springs. And what a wild game.
Shenandoah ended up winning four to three, winning back to back Section two Division one titles. The final championship game to be played at Mesa Rink. So I'll have interviews with Shedendo Hoe coach Juan de la Rocca players Evan Stocker, Julian Overton and Preston King, and the Saratoga Springs head coach Tim Horst. And then we'll begin previewing the ECACCHI Tournament first round games. We do that every year with Dan Rubin of USCHO.com we'll break all those four games down for you and offer our predictions for the ECACCHI Tournament first round game. So coming up, we're going to look back at Sunday's wild and woolly Section 2 Division I boys Hockey Championship game here on the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:04:15] Speaker A: How can you measure the value of education based athletics? Well, the value is in what makes it invaluable. That's because school sports aren't just about winning. They're about learning and growing. School sports aren't just about gaining trophies and accolades. They're about learning life lessons, bringing a whole community together, developing character and integrity, having coaches who mentor you and teammates who become lifelong friends. And you can't put a price on any of that. That's what makes education based athletics invaluable.
Of course, when you participate in school sports, you want to win and become a better athlete. But the purpose is so much becoming a better person. So support your local school sports programs and if you have a student, encourage them to get involved.
[00:05:06] Speaker B: This message presented by NISFA and the.
[00:05:09] Speaker C: New York State Athletic Administrators Association.
[00:05:16] Speaker A: Hi, this is Union College Women's Hockey.
[00:05:19] Speaker C: Head Coach Tony Maci. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast with Daly Gazette Sports Editor Ken Shot.
[00:05:26] Speaker B: Welcome back to the podcast. Sunday afternoon and into the evening at Messer Rink. It was the final edition of the Section 2 Division 1 Boys Hockey Championship game, repeated last year's championship game between Shenandahoa and Saratoga Springs. I covered last year's game and I felt what the hell, let's cover Sunday's game. Making three days of hockey action at Messerink Union with their two games and then these high school hockey game and it was a one of the craziest games I've ever seen at Messering. This is, you know, I like I said, 29 years of covering Union hockey, I've seen a lot. But I don't think I've ever seen something as wild as we saw in the first period of the game on Sunday between Shenandahoa and Saratoga Springs. It took just nine seconds for Shenandahoa to score. Evan Stocker made it one nothing. And then a little bit later there was two nothing on Shenandahoa. Goal by Gavin Cronin. It stayed two nothing. And then we had the really wild sequence at the towards the end of the period with 228 left in the period, Saratoga Springs got on the board on a goal by Jason Carpenter. Thirteen seconds later, Jack Mursokis scored to make it a 22 game. Just as they were getting ready to announce that goal, nine seconds elapsed before Julian Overton regained the lead for Shenandoah. And then with 31.1 seconds left, Nicholas Jaquewicz. I probably pronounced that name wrong. I'm sorry, Nicholas, but. And that goal was reviewed because make sure it was went over the line completely. That play was at the other end of the ice. So I really couldn't tell if it had gone over. But they did say it did. So it was four to two after the first period. Like I said, wild sequence there at the end of the first period, Saratoga got back within one with 932 left in the second period on a Daniel Clocheney goal. Saratoga had appeared to tie the game early in the third period, but a goal was waved off because it was a determined to be a kick kick. The puck was kicked into the net. So basically Shenandoah hung on and ended up pulling out the 43 victory over Saratoga Springs. Shenandoah going on to regional play on Saturday at Canton. So it was a wild celebration on the ice. If you have a chance to see the video on our YouTube channel, please do so. There's eight videos up there with some great interviews, great highlights of the celebration.
Had a chance to talk with several members of the Shenandoah hockey team. Let's start with their head coach, one Juan de la Rocca.
Juan, did you When Evan Stocker scores nine seconds into the game, did you realize it would be a wild affair.
[00:08:19] Speaker C: In all my years of playing here, I've never been a part of a period like that.
That was pretty crazy. No, I didn't expect it. We wanted to come out hard and fast. We wanted to be aggressive with our gaps and our sticks, and we wanted to get pucks on that.
[00:08:36] Speaker B: You're up two nothing. They get two quick ones, but you get right back there.
[00:08:40] Speaker C: Overton with the go ahead, that was a big goal for us. It was a huge goal for us because, you know, you could sense on the bench that we became just a bit deflated. At least the guys on the bench, the guys on the ice, had determination run through their veins.
Julian Overton played a fantastic game today. Fantastic game.
[00:08:59] Speaker B: Then you got the late one there. It's. What's. Video review?
[00:09:02] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: How good are you feeling going in the locker room there?
[00:09:06] Speaker C: Not good at all. No, they got too much firepower. You know, we knew it was going to have to be a defensive battle, and I didn't want the defense to be focused on the D zone. I wanted our def. Our team defense to be focused on our fore check and staying above pucks and. And. And playing with disruptive sticks. And it made it hard for them, I believe, to get anything set up. And that was. That was what we talked a lot about, is making sure they didn't have time to do the things that they wanted to do.
[00:09:35] Speaker B: Second and third period, though, you had eight shots to go in the first three and nine the rest of the game. Did you get a little maybe conservative trying to protect the lead or not?
[00:09:42] Speaker A: No.
[00:09:42] Speaker C: I mean, we wanted to still. We wanted to still be aggressive with our actions, but at the same time, we couldn't be cavalier with our positioning.
We were just, you know, trying to be in the right spots to create turnovers and then attack. And that sometimes mean less shots on goal, but hopefully it means less grade A opportunities for them.
[00:10:04] Speaker B: How much of relief was the no goal there, the wave off the kick?
[00:10:08] Speaker C: I didn't have a chance to, like, process that. I saw the foot come through right away, so I was pretty confident that that was going to be, you know, taken off the board.
[00:10:17] Speaker B: Just out of curiosity, I know you. Your fourth goal was reviewed. They didn't review the kick. Is there any reason why they didn't review that kick at all?
They just knew it was a kick.
[00:10:27] Speaker A: No, they.
[00:10:28] Speaker C: They knew it was a kick. I mean, their coach has got a right to challenge at.
You know, it's. The challenge is tough, though, because if you challenge it and you lose it, then you lose Your overtime or, excuse me, your timeout. And you know, it can be risky, you know, and just to be honest with you, early in the game I was thinking about challenging their first goal against, thinking it might be goaltender interference. And then our goal where, you know, I think it would have put us up with our third goal and it got taken off the board right away. I just didn't want to take that risk that early in the game.
[00:11:03] Speaker B: What about the player king in that outstanding 41 saves?
[00:11:07] Speaker C: I think.
I don't know how to say this in a respectful way. I strongly believe that our two goaltenders are two of the best in section two and, you know, we don't need them to get all league or whatever. They showed tonight and Preston specifically showed tonight why he is considered to be one of the better goalies in our league.
[00:11:31] Speaker B: How does this championship rack up with the other ones?
[00:11:34] Speaker C: They're all special. Each group of kids, they're all special. I told this group in November that we have the potential to do good things, but it's going to require work ethic and discipline and all the good hallmarks that come along with being a championship team. And we went through a stretch the last few weeks where we weren't playing that great and we were just flat footed, sitting back too much.
Finally we turned it on the last couple weeks in our playoff run and tonight was a good example of just being tough to play against.
[00:12:12] Speaker B: How does it feel to win the last championship here at Messrs? That's special.
[00:12:16] Speaker C: That's special. I thought about that a few times that the, you know, that this, this, this is the. This is it for this building.
I grew up here.
My parents had season two tickets in 1975. I was in diapers. My first word was amboni, according to my mother.
But I've been, you know, I had a, we had a.
The goalie on the team who was the.
He. He was drafted to be the Rangers goaltender.
[00:12:46] Speaker B: Steve Baker.
[00:12:47] Speaker C: Yeah, Steve was, was our billets. He was my billet brother. So he lived with us for a couple years and he's what got our family into hockey. So there's a lot of meaning to this.
If it weren't for Steve, I probably won't be standing out here right now.
[00:13:03] Speaker B: That was a nice touch there by Juan that mentioned how much union hockey meant him and the mess of rink meant to him. And great story getting that out of him towards the end of that interview. And then we mentioned Evan Stocker scored nine seconds into the game. Let's hear what he had to say about winning another championship. Congratulations on this. How does it feel?
[00:13:24] Speaker D: Great. Feels great. Going back to back now. Feels great.
[00:13:27] Speaker B: When you scored nine seconds into the first period, did you expect it's going to be a wild game, especially that first period.
[00:13:33] Speaker D: I thought we were going to be just on top the entire game and it turns out we were not. So.
[00:13:38] Speaker B: Yeah. How crazy was that first period?
[00:13:40] Speaker D: I've never been. I told everybody that that was the craziest first period I've ever played in my life.
[00:13:45] Speaker B: How big was Julian's goal after they had gotten too quickly there?
[00:13:48] Speaker D: Super big for us.
Build us our confidence a little bit. So it felt great.
[00:13:54] Speaker B: What does this mean to you winning here, the final year of Messa Rink.
[00:13:58] Speaker D: It's great. This is my third section title so far and it's just great. It's a great feeling. Never gets old.
[00:14:04] Speaker B: How about the play of your goalie King there, especially the last two periods.
[00:14:08] Speaker D: Phenomenal job out of Preston. I mean all season long our goalies kept us in these games. So it's great. We have good goalies to back us up.
[00:14:15] Speaker B: Talk to me about your goal.
[00:14:18] Speaker D: It was an offensive face off. I was just our coach just telling us to get pucks to the net and I just put it on net and went in.
[00:14:24] Speaker B: So just how happy is this team? Is this the. You guys split the season series of Saratoga to win it here against them against two years in a row in fact. What does it mean?
[00:14:34] Speaker A: It's.
[00:14:35] Speaker D: It's great.
[00:14:36] Speaker A: It's.
[00:14:36] Speaker D: No, there's no other feeling in the world.
[00:14:39] Speaker B: It was Julian Overton with the tie breaking goal. After Saratoga Springs scored two quick ones. Shenandoah took a 32 lead. A lead they would never relinquish. Let's hear what Julian Overton had to say after the game.
Julian, how does this championship feel?
[00:14:57] Speaker D: It feels great. You know we won last year up and down season, but we knew we could get here and playing in this game, we knew we could get it done. And it just taking that whole team effort.
[00:15:07] Speaker B: Just a wild first period. You guys are up two nothing. Saratoga gets two goals like 12, 14 seconds, then you score right after that. How big was that to get that back and regain the lead?
[00:15:17] Speaker D: Oh, it was huge. I mean like after that we pretty much what we had one other. So that goal was definitely big. Getting the momentum back and just like swinging the game back in our favor. That goal definitely meant a lot and it definitely did a lot for our team to help us win this game.
[00:15:31] Speaker B: And then you get another one late. There in the third. So you have four, two after the first. Did you guys feel good after that, or was there other things you need to correct?
[00:15:38] Speaker D: We definitely felt good after the first. I thought that was probably one of the best periods of hockey we ever played. We had the lead against a really good toga team, and it just took holding it to get where we are now. And it's going to take another game like this to hopefully move on to the state final.
[00:15:56] Speaker B: How about Kings playing goal, especially the last two thirds?
[00:15:59] Speaker D: Oh, he's been great. Both of our goalies have been the backbones of our team the entire year. Without them, we are 100% not where we are. And we owe them so much credit for what they do for our team. And it's honestly just been so great having both of them on the team and playing to the level that they have.
[00:16:16] Speaker B: Goaltender Preston King was outstanding in the game, making 41 saves. He was tested a lot, but he stood tall and got the win for Shenandahoa. Here's what Preston King had to say after the game. How big is this championship? Beating Saratoga rival for second straight year?
[00:16:33] Speaker D: I mean, it's great. I mean, we beat him two years in a row, and it feels really good. And, you know, to come away from the game. We played before and we lost, so it feels really good to win.
[00:16:43] Speaker B: How crazy of a first period was that?
[00:16:46] Speaker D: Very, very crazy. I mean, I thought, you know, we're either going to come out alive or dead. And we came out very alive, so that was great.
[00:16:52] Speaker B: Yeah, they get those two goals, Eric, quick succession to make it two two. But then Julian scores right shortly after that. So how big was that to get the momentum back on your side again? You guys got a late one to make it 4:2.
[00:17:05] Speaker D: I mean, yeah, it was great to have that goal right after. I mean, I could feel the energy drop a little bit after, you know, they tied and, you know, Julian comes out with a big goal and, you know, the energy's back up.
[00:17:15] Speaker B: So talk about your play, especially last, the last two periods, just the one goal. You made 41 saves in the game. I mean, how big, how critical was that?
[00:17:24] Speaker D: I mean, it was critical, obviously. I mean, we won with by one goal, but I'm just happy we're able to stay defensively sound towards the end of the game.
[00:17:33] Speaker B: How relieved were you when that goal was waved off when it was kicked in there in the third period?
[00:17:37] Speaker D: I was so happy. I had no idea it was even waved off. I thought it was a goal. I still don't know why I was waved off.
[00:17:45] Speaker B: Now, let's hear from Saratoga Springs head coach Tim Horst, get his thoughts on the game and game. I honestly thought the Saratoga Springs was going to come back and win that one. They were just the dominant team with the final two purses, but Shenandoah hung on. So here's what Tim Horst had to say. It was a wild first fear. Tim Shen hangs on to win it. I mean, how. How disappointed is that result there?
[00:18:11] Speaker E: Well, obviously we hoped it went another way, but, you know, we. We had to do a little bit better job in that first period. We weren't managing the puck as well as we could have, but, you know, I'm proud of our guys getting right back into it and never, never letting down, never saying die. So not the way we wanted to end it up. But I'm not. I'm not upset or disappointed in their effort at all.
[00:18:31] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, they get the two, and you get two quickly there, so you think you got the momentum back. But then Julian gets that one back to make it three, two, and they get a late one four two. So what do you tell your team after the first three?
[00:18:43] Speaker E: Just to settle down. Like, we just managed the puck better. We got it. We got this right. You know, we scored. I think we averaged almost five goals a game during the season, so I knew that we could score, we can get back into it, but we just had to settle down a little bit. You know, I think we were riding a little bit of a roller coaster there early on, so we just had to get back to our game. And I think you saw that second and third period. I think we outshot them two to one. So just didn't get that last one.
[00:19:07] Speaker B: Kings play. Is that. What did you say about his playing goal there?
[00:19:10] Speaker E: Oh, yeah, obviously, you know, he's standing on his head, he's making every save, and, you know, we couldn't get to the rebound, so, you know, just. We had that one that was called back. So that was a tough call. But, you know, at the end of the day, we got to get one. Get one past him.
[00:19:25] Speaker B: Have you had a chance to look at that goal non goal there at all?
[00:19:29] Speaker E: No, no. I mean, the referee did it, did a great job, and they explained it to me. That's not something that you can review. So he said it was a kicking motion. You know, I disagree, but that's just how it is. And you gotta, you know, there's plenty of time left for us to get back into it. We just, you know, we just came up one shot short.
[00:19:45] Speaker B: I just find it. I cover union, so I'm used to video, a lot of video reviews. But they reviewed the four Saratoga, which.
[00:19:51] Speaker E: I. Oh, the four Shango.
[00:19:53] Speaker B: Yeah, they reviewed that. But I was. Why they couldn't review.
[00:19:56] Speaker E: Because he, he told me it was a joke. Judgment call. So that's not something you can review. I don't know. Like, so, I mean, they did a great job. They explained it. So that was just their judgment. So we gotta live with it and move on.
[00:20:08] Speaker B: Coming up, we'll get back to college hockey talk. Dan Rubin, who covers the ECAC hockey for USCHO.com will join me next to talk about the first round matchups in the ECAC Hockey Tournament. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
Hi, I'm Stan.
[00:20:31] Speaker A: And I'm Shen.
[00:20:32] Speaker C: And each week we bring you the.
[00:20:34] Speaker B: Stan and Shen Show.
[00:20:36] Speaker C: And each week we talk about fun things through our travels throughout the capital region. We touch on food, we touch on news, try to touch heavily on good news.
[00:20:45] Speaker B: And Shen's always available with hot takes.
[00:20:49] Speaker A: Yeah. So if you could follow along and listen to us every week on DailyGazette.com or on all major streaming platforms, we'd love to have you join us.
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[00:21:14] Speaker A: Hi, this is four time Stanley cup champion and New York State Hockey hall.
[00:21:18] Speaker C: Of Famer John Tonelli. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:21:24] Speaker A: With Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shot.
[00:21:28] Speaker B: Welcome back to the podcast. As we're getting ready now for the postseason in ECAC hockey, four teams will be playing first round games this weekend. Two on Friday and two on Saturday. And for the next three weeks, I'll have Dan Rubin of USCHO.com joining me to break these matchups down. Dan, how's it going? Welcome back to the podcast.
[00:21:48] Speaker A: It's post season hockey time, Ken. It's the best time of year. We can finally put away the shootouts, put away the three on threes. Let's go, let's go have find ourselves an ECAC champion. I cannot remember a postseason that I've been this excited for. And I say that knowing that we're only probably looking at a one bid league out of ECAC this year.
[00:22:08] Speaker B: Yeah. The four teams that got the first round by are Quinnipiac, Clarkson, Colgate and Union. And I think Union may have been the surprise team because they were picked eighth by the coaches despite finishing sixth last season. But you know, Josh Howji has had him going and they were a little inconsistent towards the end of the season, but they got the job done, got a, gotten the fourth seed and they're, they got the first time they've had a first round buy since 2018. So it's, it's going to be interesting to see how these four teams handle things, especially Union not having a first round bye for a while.
[00:22:41] Speaker A: You know, I looked at Union this year and it was one of those where when I lined up the, the coaches poll and I lined up where I was picking teams, I, I looked at you and I'm like, there's no way they're finishing eight this year. I just, I just didn't, didn't love the, the pick spot. But I wasn't comfortable putting them in the top four because I thought, you know, we see Cornell up there, then you have Colgate, then you have Clarkson, then you have Quinnipiac, you're like, all right. Or Dartmouth up there and you're like, all right. I can't, can't picture Union being a top four team. But enough of a fallback from the top four that you would have expected and enough of not enough below starting to jump up kind of opens the door. And I remember Josh Howjee saying to me, you look, you win the games and you play the games that are on your schedule. At one point I think they had 15 wins and they were something like 40th in the pair wise. Made no sense. But he said, look, you win the games and you, and you use each game to get better. And you, and you, you see where it lands at the end. And you know, I love the fact that they got that by because they had to win their way into the buy with the way that it lined up at the end. So it's going to be a really interesting postseason. Somebody's going to have to go and play in some very unfriendly confines for a best of three series in that second round. And every team is flawed, but every team also has a really good shot at advancing. The late plaza.
[00:23:54] Speaker B: Yes. We'll talk about more of the top four teams next week, but let's concentrate on what we have this weekend. Two games on Friday. Let's start with the RPI Harvard matchup. RPI for the second straight year loses 20 games. But they didn't finish last in the ECAC. Finished getting the 10th seed against the Harvard team. They just played two weeks ago and had a 3, 2 loss and a late third period goal. How do you look at this matchup? And I'll preface this by saying I wonder and I wonder this last year and I'm going to wonder it again if Dave Smith is coaching for his job at rpi.
[00:24:26] Speaker A: You know, I looked at the standings and I said about RPI that this was kind of an interesting task because they were, you know, within kind of shouting distance away from. If there had been an extra weekend in the regular season, they would actually had a mathematical shot. They were one weekend's worth away from potentially hosting a first round game, which doesn't seem like much, but when you look at the bottom four, bottom five teams in the league, I felt like this was one of those things where it was an underperformance. Right? You're like you're, you finished 10th and you're a weekend's worth of points away from finishing eighth. To me, that means that you likely should have finished 8th given the teams that were up in there like Brown or Princeton, and you probably could have. So it's an underperformance. The one thing about this series that kind of stuck out to me was that this is also one of the best matchups that RPI could have gotten because they're going to a team that one has already beat them a couple of times and it's really hard to beat a team three times. And two is, has not played well at home, has Harvard. So this is a, this is kind of an interesting series for me. That or interesting game that rpi, despite underperforming, has a really good chance to advance for a second straight year.
[00:25:33] Speaker B: Yeah, that would be amazing considering last year they finished last, ended up upsetting number five, Clarkson, and as I said to me just two weeks ago, they actually were 2, 2 late in the third period against the Crimson. But they lost that game. I just wonder if they have enough scoring and if the goaltending is good enough.
[00:25:50] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't, I don't know what's going to happen in terms of that because you know the, you've only had a couple of offensive breakouts in the second half of the season. That was when you beat Yale and Princeton. The Dartmouth game was a one goal game, but it wasn't enough for you to look and say there's the offense. And the second part of it is that you lost a lot of games, but you also stop a lot of shots and back. So no G sprach is, is, has stopped 40 against Colgate, stop 40 against Dartmouth, top 35 against Colgate, had 35 saves against Yale and Brown, Harvard, Princeton. But you're also going up against a team that is, that's not a good start, right? You don't want to have that. You don't want to have a goalie who's like, hey, look at how many times he stopped 40 shots. That means you're not, you're not getting enough defensively. So something needs to click. Like I said, it needs to click early in this game. Also because Harvard kind of opens up the door in the back where they only have AKU Koskan Vuo or Ben Charette. One or the other. You're not sure which one necessarily could start this word. Best of three, we'd probably see both. But that one game series, it just opens enough of a door where if Harvard can't answer the bell at home in the first period, there's an opportunity for RPI to maybe do something that the stats don't necessarily show they can do.
[00:27:06] Speaker B: Of course, they just gave up six against Cornell this past Saturday and that six nothing loss at the end of season. They've given up six goals on numerous occasions this year. Quinnipiac, Brown. So it's, this is a team that. And they lost six, two to Princeton. So. And, and six, two to Maine and six nothing to Maine. So this is a team that if, if they can get hot with the goaltending, maybe they have a shot. But I don't like RPI's chances this time.
[00:27:34] Speaker A: No. And I think that's the biggest issue is that Harvard also started to play better hockey in the second half of the year. I know Harvard didn't play well at home, but Harvard has also put, had results and had games where they looked pretty good. Like they played well. They threw the kitchen sink at Boston College when B.C. was number one. And I know that was a Tuesday after there was a Tuesday night game, so it's a little bit different, but they are capable Harvard of throwing the kitchen sink at a team and looking really good in the process. That's something that RPI hasn't been able to do. So now would be a good time to figure it out. But that is kind of the, like I said, every team enters the postseason with a bit of a question mark and every team could get on a run. I don't, I don't like RPI's chances. If this were a three game series, I don't really like, but Harvard has just been so bad at home this year.
That's probably the one equalizer is that you look at a team who's only won three games at home at the end of the season and something went wrong along the way, and it just doesn't. It's kind of beyond explanation. But again, Harvard has started to play well the second half, and that's not a good sign against a team that. That has a lot of. A lot of holes that, that it needs to patch up in one game.
[00:28:39] Speaker B: Let me ask you. I mean, I think Harvard has a homeweiss disadvantage because I think there are more visiting fans. And then when union goes there, I mean, they packed the place. Rpi, even though they haven't been good the last few years, they still have a lot of fans out in the Boston area. It seems to me there's more of a homeweights disadvantage for Harvard.
[00:28:56] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't. I don't really understand what's happened over there. The one thing is that Teddy Donato is still a very good coach. Right? He's. He's probably one of the top coaches in this league, and he had to turn over his personnel later in the. In the cycle than everyone else did in the post Covid cycle. But. And this is my big but that goes on to. It is that I just don't really understand why Harvard. And it just. It feels like they're kind of stuck in the mud at home. And it doesn't make much sense to me, given the history it still makes. It still matters when they play teams like Yale and Cornell. It still matters when they. When they are competing against teams that are good. But Harvard also taking the step back feels a bit like there are gaps that just aren't. Aren't covered right now at home. And it's just a very strange atmosphere. I do think as the league kind of shifts and teams get better, teams rise and fall, that Harvard will eventually be back. Like, I don't think Harvard's down for very long, but this feels like one of those laws that you're just like looking at them saying something's not right. Like, so something smells fishy in Cambridge.
[00:30:07] Speaker B: Yeah. And of course, I mean, they lost a lot of players leaving early for the pros too. I mean, with the job, Teddy, that's kind of tough. RPI situation a lot different. I think coming out of COVID did not go well. I mean, I think they alienated a lot of people, fans and maybe even recruits, when they didn't allow fans outside the RPI community, the canvas community and faculty staff to go to games the first year after Covid. And you saw a lot of players transfer out, go through the transfer portal. And I think they have been really slow to recover from that. And I think you can see that in the records the last couple of years.
[00:30:46] Speaker A: Absolutely. I think the transfer portal, to me affects ECAC teams unlike any other league, largely because of the academic standards at most of the schools and some of the restrictions that are also in place beyond the ivies even. Like, you're looking at teams that just don't bring in transfers or, or can't have it the same way of guys coming in or going out. And the problem with the transfer portal in general is that if you're the best players, you're going to get offered by the hockey schools of the world or Quinnipiac, or you're going to wind up going to a Big Ten type of school. And if you're a guy who's, who's falling, you're going to wind up, you know, extending your college hockey career by saying, hey, I can do a grad year at, at an Atlantic hockey school and play a little bit more college hockey and get a, get a degree, get a grad degree from a Holy cross or a Bentley or, or somewhere that will allow someone to come, incoming army and Air Force notwithstanding. I think the issue in the east is that there's that cross section where if you're trying to rebuild through the portal, it's really hard to do because you have to try to rebuild your team on the fly, but you also need to try to retain your recruits and build from within. And the one thing I will say about Dave Smith is that I believe he's the coach who said, you know, this is, this is. And I don't remember the exact context, but he's the one who said, look, your recruiting class now has to act like a draft class, and your portal guys have to act like free agents, and you have to try to find the right combination to get to the right. To get the right alchemy. And to me, that's the first time I've heard a coach really talk openly kind of in that. In that way. So it seems like he in particular has a really good handle on it. It's just been the execution that has prevented RPI from kind of stepping up in that next gear. The good news is that if you come back next year and like I said, you get through it or you get through the bumps that you have here, you're on the up and up. But the question is, can you get there?
[00:32:40] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, the other Friday night matchup is one of two Ivy matchups. As a number nine, Princeton goes to number eight, Brow. It's been a while since Brown has hosted an ECAC hockey tournament game or series. I like the way Brown plays. I mean, Brendan Wood, it's got him playing hard. And I mean, they gave union fits in both the games I watched this season. And Prince is another team that can give teams fits. This could be one of those games. I think he may have one or two overtimes.
[00:33:07] Speaker A: Oh, don't say that. Three catches.
[00:33:12] Speaker B: I Mr. Overtime. I am Mr. Overtime. Come on, you know that 2019.
[00:33:17] Speaker A: I gave you a run for the money. So the last time Princeton played Brown in a playoff game is the infamous 2019 best of three series they put. So Princeton ended the season with the Quinnipiac Princeton trip going to Yale and Brown. So the last game of the regular season, Princeton beats Brown and has to come back the next year, the next week rather, for the first round. Brown wins the first game and then the second game. My brother Mike and I were calling it for Brown and Brown hits. I remember because Princeton used all three goalies. So Princeton uses all three goalies in the second game and when they pull the goalie with a four to two deficit with like five minutes left, Brown scores and goes up five to two. And I said on air, and I think I might have said this last year, Brown can start making reservations to head to Quinnipiac. And then they gave up three unanswered goals, last five minutes, extra attacker goals. And we were there for a very long time that night. 20th longest game in college hockey history. We were there through a third overtime. Alex Brink scored. And that came up this week because when I saw Princeton was playing Brown, I texted my brother and threw the hex on him that he's going to be there for a very long time.
But hey, that's, that's a. I kind of like this matchup though, like Brown has.
Brown might have the best goalie in the league right now with Lawton Zachary. He's, he's been, he's got a.920 save percentage. He's playing, he has played very well all year. When he keeps a team to two goals or less. Brown is like 11 wins and it does not happen that he gives up three or four goals very frequently. Conversely, Princeton, I think is better than maybe a 9th place finish would have indicated.
Ben Sire is just a good coach and it's one of those things where you look at these teams and you're hitting the right cross section of a good team that maybe didn't have great results at Brown, a good team that maybe didn't have great results at Princeton and they're going to play each other in a one game. Yeah, this, this, this is the game that, that we're all going to be watching while someone in Alaska is probably still playing.
[00:35:28] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I mean Browns had some good offensive outbursts this season, which for them is, has been unusual because they're usually a maybe two or three goal a game team. But I know they've really, the offense is going well and you look at Princeton, you mentioned they played well. They mean they swept a nationally ranked Ohio State team early in the season. So I like this matchup. I mean I get, I mean we'll talk picks afterwards, but I, I like this match. This might be the best matchup of the weekend.
[00:35:59] Speaker A: Yeah, it absolutely will be. And here's my thing about Brown is this is the thing that makes Brendan Whitted kind of a dangerous coach for this time of year is he's not afraid to shorten his bench and start double shifting guys and get more out of them than any other coach in the league. Like when he. Every single year it feels like Brown has a run in it because they get this like they'll shorten the bench to three lines, they'll play two defensive pairings in the third period and he'll deploy them with the last change. I remember this specifically against Princeton. We start charting who they're substituting when and they'll bring in third line. And because they don't usually have depth scoring or they do have depth scoring because they don't get a lot of goals, they're, they're not relying on their first line. So it's kind of interesting when you see the first line out there that it's not actually the line that they're intending to score with. But then you'll have a guy skating 35 minutes on the defensive back end and he can go for an extra few shifts. So the combination of the two kind of makes Brown a dangerous team in any type of game. Plus you have a goaltender and they've always had goaltending in the playoffs dating back to Michael Clemente beating Yale. But then you take Princeton, who I'm likely to see roll all four lines. Do it in a way where they're fluid and like I said, Ben Sire such a good coach where they're fluid and the way they approach a team is so methodical that they're not too high. Like it's going to be an interesting chess match. Right. Because you have a team that's going to be playing at home, probably not a great crowd. Brown, not usually a place that gets a, gets a ton of fans in that building. But it's going to be just raw emotion from Brown against this methodical take you apart. I see really cool type of play from Princeton.
[00:37:51] Speaker B: Yeah. Well, let's look at the Saturday games and I was going to initially say that the St. Lawrence Dartmouth matchup was going to be one sided. But you look at what happened this season, you know, St. Lawrence only won five conference games and two of them were against Dartmouth. They swept the season series. So I don't know what to think about this one now. I mean, I'm still thinking Dartmouth is going to win, but I mean I'm shocked that Dartmouth got swept by really not, not a great St. Lawrence team this year.
[00:38:19] Speaker A: I feel like this is one of those games, one of those matchups where like you have the right coach at St. Lawrence to face off against Dartmouth. The other part of it is that Dartmouth, I'm still not really sure what I make of them sometimes when I see the way that they particularly attack a team or the way that they play a game. Like I wanted them to be a team that was like Brown that I was talking about, like with the raw emotion of tearing a team apart or getting after a team. And I didn't really see that from them for much of the year. Even though they were playing very strong type of hockey. The one thing that they had last year was that they were very good at not losing games. They were exceptional at getting ties and then going to a shootout or and getting after it. And that's why I think they had seven or eight of them last year. So I don't know kind of where we're gonna wind up with that. But St. Lawrence does seem to be the team that's kind of had their number. And the problem I think with the overtime win is that it came with three on three. There's so much more that goes into it. I'm interested to see what happens if they go extra with the five on five. But it's still really hard to pick against Dartmouth when St. Lawrence has kind of faced a really tough year.
[00:39:27] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean I, Dartmouth, I had is what my, maybe my dark horse team, obviously they got to the Lake Placid last year and I thought maybe they challenged for the regular season title this year. I mean they didn't get really much love from the coach as far as any first place votes. But I mean they got off to a great start, then they slumped. It sort of been inconsistent this year.
[00:39:48] Speaker A: Yeah. And part of it comes from special teams which Dartmouth had a nine game power play drought down the stretch here before they scored against both Brown and Yale in the last game of the regular season. And while the penalty kill is really good, if it gives up a goal, they're only, it has it only happened, I think 11 or like a third of their games if that maybe a little bit more because it's an Ivy League team. So they have six less games but if they give up a goal and there's something that I noted this week, they're 5, 5 and 1 when giving up a power play goal but they have the sixth best power penalty killer nation. So you're taking that into account against the St. Lawrence team that is really good on the power play like that is that is potent and has scored six goals on the power play in the last nine games of the season. So that's what I'm getting at with the really good number. But and this is the other side of it, St. Lawrence's penalty kill has been bad. And that to me then draws what you want to look at going into this game which is can someone stay out of the box and if they wind up in the box can they hold the team out? Because this is not a game that's going to match up necessarily, necessarily for what happens if you're five on five. It's when you're five on four. I know I just said let's see what happens five on five. But if it's five on four or four on three or five on three, that's where the game's going to get one. And I think that's maybe where Dartmouth needs to needs to find its groove because the consistency has been lacking that we would have expected out of them.
[00:41:12] Speaker B: Yeah. And then the last game of the weekend will be a 7:30 start. Atlanta rink in Ithaca because of the Cornell and women are hosting the ECAC Hockey Tournament Final Four. So it's a late start for the Union for the Cornell Yale game on Saturday and what will be Mike Schaefer's final home game ever. He's retiring after the season. Of course. I don't know if he's actually going to be behind the bench because he got hit by a puck in last Friday's game against Union in the second period. He stayed there through the remainder of the second period. But did not come out for the third period and was not behind the bench the next night at rpi. So I'm wondering what his status is going to be coming this Saturday against Yale. But Cornell was picked to finish first this year coming off that ECAC hockey tournament victory in the championship game last year. But again, inconsistency, a lot of injuries really affected. Ian Shane has not looked like himself. He got pulled from the Union game last Friday after giving up three goals in that game. And they went with. He didn't start the game on Saturday against RPI was Remington Kepley who started and got the shutout. So I'm wondering, do we have a goaltending controversy at Cornell?
[00:42:27] Speaker A: Well, the problem is, is that if it is, how quick do you have to have your hook? Because it's a single game elimination. This was kind of what I was making against Harvard, which is you really can't sit on a goalie if he's got, if he doesn't have it that night. Like, it's not like a game in February or a game even in November where if a goalie doesn't have it, you just yank him in the second period and you say, yeah, not your night, but like, you know, hey, we love you. Go sit. Like, we'll, we'll take it from here. No, now it's. If you give up a couple of quick ones and it happens early, you've got to look at, down the bench and you've got to look at your assistant coaches and say, do we got to do it? Do we got to do it? Like, do we have to pull them? And I, I don't think that's something that's going to happen this week against Yale because I don't necessarily think Yale jumps off the page. Even as an 11 seed. I don't see Yale going into Cornell and winning that game. But it is something that has to at least be in the conversation because Cornell has been down all year. And, and it's not necessarily the injuries. You mentioned them. The problem with the injuries is that it keeps you from gaining any type of momentum. And then by the time you get a full roster back, you're so disjointed that you're not really sure how to mix and match the lines. Do you go back to the lines the way you wanted them? Like you had guys were skating together for a month because somebody who's supposed to be on the second line is out. Well, when he comes back, you put it back on the second line. Or is your second Line. Now your second line. Like that's, that's the question that Mike Schaefer had to face this year, which he said even after 30 something years, not something he'd ever had to be built to face before.
[00:44:00] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:44:01] Speaker A: So it's, it's tough now. Like now would be a good time for, for Cornell to use this game to, to straighten itself. They've been gaining a bit more momentum. They were five, three and one, I think in the last nine games or so.
They beat Clarkson after that white with that tie. It was in the shootout. So I don't think that they're gonna backslide enough to, to lose to Yale who, who hasn't had a regulation win since, since the middle of January. But at the same time Yale has proven that it can drag union. It dragged Union overtime, drag Princeton overtime, drag Harvard to overtime and it drug.
[00:44:43] Speaker B: Cornell to overtime at Cornell early in the season.
[00:44:46] Speaker A: Right?
[00:44:46] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:44:47] Speaker A: So it's a question of can they finally finish it. Look, I'd be lying if I said I knew anything about Yale because I'm unfortunately where every team you look at, Yale was the one that we all kind of expected to finish in 11th or 12th and then when they finished in 11th or 12th, we didn't really take a good long look at them over the course of the year. Just as like from, from my perspective.
[00:45:07] Speaker B: Does Jack Stark have to play the game of his life to steal, steal this win?
[00:45:12] Speaker A: He might have to and luckily I don't, I don't get necessarily. Look, I thought he was one of the best goalies in, in the entire country last year and I thought he got, I thought that some of the things that looking at him, I thought he was going to be significantly more highly regarded coming into this year and coming out of last year, the numbers just haven't been there for him. Now part of that might be the, the, the players in front of him and the system in front of him because Yale, I feel like is always a young team right now with freshmen and sophomores. I don't think that the, that they've developed on the path that has helped them get out of that bottom four. But he's got to find something that hasn't been there this year and that's unfortunate, but he's got to play to another level that, that the team in front of him has not illustrated it can play to this year. Whether or not they can in the playoffs is one thing, but they just haven't been there over the course of the year. So not talk down. We've Got to figure out. They've got to figure it out quickly too. Like it's one of those. We have one of the games but we've gone to overtime. So what's the difference between going to overtime and actually winning one of these games?
[00:46:20] Speaker B: All right, so Dan, your picks for the weekend.
[00:46:23] Speaker A: Well, pretty sure it's obvious I'll take Cornell.
So I do think one lower seed is gonna win. There's always, I think it's been each of the, with the exception of, I think one tournament since pre Covid. It's been something that the last, like one of the last three seeds, the 10, the 11 of the 12 gets out of the first round. That goes back even to 2019. And beyond that, like normally we see one of these teams pick off somebody in a one game. I will say that makes it even all the more fun because somebody's going to get picked off because they just played a bad opponent on a bad night. Frankly, I think it's going to be Harvard. I just don't know.
I think rpi. I don't love the goaltending. Harvard's goaltending split. I. Because if you pick wrong, you're, you're out. Like you're eliminated. So I don't know what's going to happen there.
Like I said, RPI's defense can rely on a goaltender. It's not great that they want to or if they want to, but I just.
RPI was also so close, like I said, closer to getting the eight seed than people give them credit for. So I think I'm going to roll with RPI and then I'm going to take Dartmouth, Brown and Cornell.
[00:47:39] Speaker B: Yeah, I think I'm going chalk.
I hear you on rpi, but I just.
Something tells me that it's not going to happen. I think it's going to be a close game. They're going to lose by a goal. That's my thought. But everywhere else I think we're chalk. And then we'll have 1-82736 and 45 next weekend.
[00:48:00] Speaker A: It wouldn't be, wouldn't be the worst thing. No, but at least give us some, some real, some real fun matchups in that second round. But it would, but yeah, I, I can totally see that. I don't, I don't take RPI with any type of confidence in that game, I'll say that much. And that's not a knock against anybody. I think that game could be a one goal game. It could also be a game that you look at at the end of it be like I was not blown away by either team in this game. And that's unfortunate. Right, because that's, that's not what you want in a single game elimination. But I, I have seen playoff games where you come out of it and you're like, oh, whoever wins this game's got to figure it out. Not hurry.
[00:48:37] Speaker B: I still wish they bring back the best of three. I think that's.
[00:48:42] Speaker A: I hate now. Oh, I can't stand the single elimination. I know. Now I will say that Hockey east going single elimination, those I think, what, four games. Four, four rounds in nine days. Like I've missed the best of three. I missed the, the hate that used to, used to generate in that first or second game. You play that third game. Aaron Fire. Like I, to me, hockey is not a sport that should ever be decided single elimination.
And until we get to the, until we get to the national tournament, like at that point, yes, fine with single elimination. But in a conference tournament, you play these teams all year, it should be decided best two out of three in those first two rounds without question.
[00:49:23] Speaker B: Yeah. So it'll be fun weekend and looking forward to your coverage on usho.com and we'll do this again next week. Dan.
[00:49:30] Speaker A: Looking forward to it. Like I said, best time of year. I can tell you that if me and you were ever in the same building for one of these games, it would never end.
[00:49:38] Speaker B: Get lots of coffee. We need to stay awake or something. So Dan, as always, I enjoyed it. Then we'll talk again next week.
[00:49:45] Speaker A: Week sounds good.
[00:49:46] Speaker B: All right, that's Dan Ruben. We'll be back to wrap up the podcast and have the latest winner in the Daily Gazettes auto racing contest in just a moment. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:49:58] Speaker A: Timeout. All right.
[00:50:00] Speaker B: Remember, we're a team that plays together. Listen.
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hi, this is New York State Assemblyman Angelo Santa Barbara. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shot.
[00:50:55] Speaker B: Back to wrap up the podcast. The week three winner in the Daily Gazette's auto racing contest was Linda Brico of Albany with 60 points. Very impressive. Lynn wins a $50 gift card. Congratulations, Lynn. The VIP winner was Nick Platel Grand Premier tires with 40 points. Also impressive. I had 10 points. Not so impressive. I'll announce the auto racing contest winner's name, then that winner's name will appear in Saturday's Daily Gazette. To play, go to dailygazette.com and click on the Auto Racing Contest banner.
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Listen to the latest episode of the Stan and Shen Podcast. Joining Stan Houdy and Shenandoah Brier is Daily Gazette News Editor Andrew Puglis. They'll discuss the five year anniversary of the COVID 19 pandemic.
That wraps up another edition of the Parting Shots Podcast. I want to thank members of the Shenandoah Boys hockey team along with Tim Horst, the head coach of Saratoga Springs, also Dan Rubin for being a part of the show.
If you have questions or comments about the podcast, email to me at shot that's S C-H O-T tailygazette.com follow me on X Threads and bluesky Lapshots.
The views expressed on the Parting Shots Podcast are not necessarily those of the Daily Gazette Company. The Parting Shots Podcast is a production of the Daily Gazette Company. I'm Daily Gazette Sports Editor Ken Schatz. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time from the Parting Shots Podcast Studio in Schenectady, New York. Good day, good sports.
