[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign
[00:00:03] Speaker B: the following program is brought to
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The Gazette News Group presents the Parting Shots Podcast. Now here's your host and shot. Thank you Scott Geezy and welcome to the Parting Shots Podcast, available wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe today. Thanks for joining me from the Parting Shots Podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. It's another college hockey centric podcast. We're going to wrap up the Union women's season with head coach Tony Macy. Spoke with him on Tuesday. The Garner Chargers after their incredible upset of fifth seed at Clarkson a couple weeks ago. The 12 seeded Garner Chargers season ended last weekend in the best of three quarterfinals to top seed at Yale. So we'll talk about the season with Tony and then we'll talk men's college hockey. The ECS hockey tournament gets underway the this weekend two games on Friday, two games on Saturday. That Saturday game includes the Union the fifth seed. They'll take on 12 seeded Brown at 5:00 clock at MNT Bank Center. You heard from head coach Josh Algae on Wednesday's podcast.
I spoke with players Nick Young, Brandon Burr and Ben Muthersbaugh on Tuesday at the media availability. We'll get their thoughts on the game against Brown. They just beat the Bears on Saturday. Three nothing. So we'll talk about that series.
That game. It's a one game elimination series, one game elimination, single game elimination. So I'll get that right eventually. And then we'll speak with RPI men's head coach Eric Lang. The Engineers on a roll winning their last three regular season games. They got the nine seed. They'll take on eighth seed of Clarkson on Friday at Chile arena in Potsdam. I spoke with Eric on Wednesday. We'll have that conversation for you. And then as we do every year, Dan Rubin of USCHO.com will be here for the next three weeks. Well this, this week we'll talk about the first round series and we'll break those four games down. Besides the Union Brown and RPI Clarkson games, there's on Friday St. Lawrence at Harvard and the game other game on Saturday is Yale at Colgate. So we'll get you all the information you need on those games.
So coming up we're going to talk with Union women's head coach Tony Macy. But before we do, as we before we head in the break, we we remember singer songwriter Neil Sedaka who passed away last week at the age of 86.
He had an incredible career. Two really two careers. He was a really great singer songwriter in the 50s and 60s with such hits as Happy Birthday, Sweet Sixteen, Breaking up is Hard to do and that Calendar Girl and oh Carol. And then the Beatles came along and Sadaka sort of disappeared for a while. And then he signed with Elton John's Rocket man label in the early 70s and in 1974 he was back with a vengeance. And really the song, my first song I ever heard from Neil Sadaka was this one, Laughter in the Rain Rest in Peace Neil.
[00:03:16] Speaker D: Without an umbrella with Soaked to the skin I feel a shivering up my
[00:03:24] Speaker C: spine I feel the warmth of her hand in mine
[00:03:33] Speaker B: O I hear laughter in the rain Walking hand in hand
[00:03:39] Speaker E: with the one I love Oo how
[00:03:45] Speaker B: I love the rainy days and the
[00:03:47] Speaker C: happy way I feel insane side.
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[00:03:59] Speaker D: 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 the
[00:04:14] Speaker B: whole community together, developing character and integrity, having coaches who mentor you and teammates who become lifelong friends.
[00:04:22] Speaker D: And you can't put a price on any of that.
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Of course, when you participate in school
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Support your local school sports programs and if you have a student, encourage them to get involved.
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Welcome back to the podcast. The Union women's hockey team had a very up and down season.
They finished 11, 22 and three. They got off to a great start. I mean I think it was the first 10 games that were at home and they even got a vote in the USCHO.com poll for the first time. But then conference play got going and they they just couldn't seem to find their stride there. Ended up finishing in last place and they were the 12th seed in the ECAC hockey tournament. Then they took on fifth seed of Clarkson. Nobody gave them a chance, including yours truly. Well, sure enough, Union pulled off the biggest upset of the season maybe in this history of the ECS Yockee tournament. A 21 victory at Cheel Arena a couple weeks ago and that got them to the quarterfinals. Best of three against top seed at Yale and Yale. I mean they gave you a tough time in the opener game and they lost that game by a score of 24 to 2. So they were. They played pretty well in that game. But then the game two on last Saturday, Bulldog scored four goals in the first period and chased goalie Emma Rayoum from. From the game and basically just ended up winning six to one.
But second year for Tony Macy as the head coach. I spoke with him on Tuesday while he was heading down to New York City on train.
Some of the interview, it was kind of garbled and I'm not an expert on why things get a little crazy when a person's wearing your earplug earphones while talking on the phones. I don't understand the whole technology about that. But Tony, eventually we figured out the problem and was able to get it. So here's my conversation with Union women's head coach Tony Macy.
Well, Tony, it was a very interesting second season for you guys. Guys got off to a great start. A lot of home games. Early on he played Wisconsin tough in the icebreaker tournament final.
Then he got the conference playing things sort of, it went. I don't know if sideways is the right word, but it was really a tough conference season. But then you get to the tournament and you pull off the upset of Clarkson and you get to the quarterfinals against me. How would you assess your second season as the head coach?
[00:07:18] Speaker F: Well, I think we took a lot of good steps. I think we have a lot of
[00:07:22] Speaker E: players that
[00:07:26] Speaker F: grew over the course of the years.
I think that. That our younger kids were able to step into some roles that maybe they wouldn't be able to in a few years down the road when we get a little bit deeper. But I think we took some good steps as a group, as a team, and now we just gotta continue on our spring here, get into lifting and keep developing that way so that next year we can hit the ground running a little bit.
Obviously started out the season pretty good.
We got our first vote for the uscho, which was pretty cool for the program and everybody involved and then got into our ECAC regular season stuff and, you know, struggled to find consistency is probably the biggest thing within our game. And you know, some had some really good signs here and there when scoring
[00:08:31] Speaker E: goals, but are defending
[00:08:38] Speaker F: until we got
[00:08:38] Speaker E: to play in the first round of the playoffs against Clarkson up there.
[00:08:44] Speaker F: And Cheal when I think we probably played one of our best games of the year.
[00:08:53] Speaker C: Yeah. How important was that to, you know, you finished last in this, in the regular season in the conference and you get to Clarkson and you pull off that whimmy. How important was that, you know, looking back on that for this program?
Yeah, I know you guys won the first 12 game last year against Brown, but this may be a little more significant, just the fact that you were the 12 seed, Clarkson was the fifth seed, and I don't think many people gave you guys a chance up there.
[00:09:23] Speaker F: Yeah, sorry, the train talking here.
No, I think outside of our locker room there probably wasn't too many people thinking that we were going to have a chance against clerks. And obviously them being, I think they were 11th in the country at the time when we played them.
[00:09:46] Speaker C: And
[00:09:49] Speaker F: you know, they, they had gone through a little stretch towards the end of the season there where they were still trying to figure out goaltending.
So for, for us we looked at it as, hey, maybe this is an opportunity to go in and kind of play without any, any restrictions. Really, you know, just we're the underdog here. Take that mentality. And we did a really good job of that.
Had some good goaltending in that game from Emma, which definitely helps.
So for us I think it was just, it was a good step in the right direction to be able to go into playoffs and play a high ranked team that, you know, we've been some ranked teams in the last two years, but I think in a playoff game where it's your season ends, you have players where their careers could end as well as good for the young group to see and kind of go through it so that we can lean back on this next year and years moving forward.
[00:10:54] Speaker C: Well, speaking of the goaltending, obviously it seems like that could be a strength heading into next season with Emma and Ammonia. Wagner, do you like what your goaltending is looking like going into next season?
[00:11:07] Speaker F: Yeah, I think that's what we've been trying to plan for, you know, this year as well. Just trying to get some people some time. Having Sophie play so many games the year previous, kind of our situation that we were in in the back end, we just wanted to make sure that Sophie was getting hair starts in there last year and you know, this year was a little bit different. So next year there'll be a good battle back there and I think that's what everybody wants. That's what we're trying to do with all positions. So it's going to be good for our goaltenders to have that competition back there.
[00:11:43] Speaker C: Offensively, I mean, your top three scorers and carrying Engelbert, Magdalini and Megan Duplanti, barring any transfer portal situations, you know, I mean, you have some good scoring depth there at the top. I mean, how important is it for Them to be coming back the way after they performed this year.
[00:12:03] Speaker F: I thought they all had really good years in their. In their own rights.
[00:12:08] Speaker B: I.
[00:12:12] Speaker E: Even better
[00:12:15] Speaker F: but as a group this
[00:12:17] Speaker E: year kind of carrying the load for us.
[00:12:21] Speaker F: So I think for them to be coming back, I think the big thing.
[00:12:30] Speaker C: I'm sorry Tony, you were cutting off there. I don't be going through a tunnel or anything like that.
[00:12:34] Speaker F: No, we're stopped at rotten Harmon.
[00:12:37] Speaker C: Okay.
So if you can talk. Yeah, obviously you were talking about the. That trio there and like I said, you got cut off.
[00:12:52] Speaker E: Sometimes that they'd all agree they'd like
[00:12:54] Speaker F: to have played better and you know for us as a group we leaned on them a ton. So
[00:13:02] Speaker E: I think they did a really good job with that. Now I do feel like next year is another year that they can grow
[00:13:07] Speaker F: and develop and I think it's going to be huge for all of them to have really good springs here in
[00:13:14] Speaker E: the weight room room.
[00:13:15] Speaker F: And.
[00:13:22] Speaker C: Okay, we're still, we're still having some issues here but the cutting off. But obviously Stephanie board graduates this year. How much you going to miss her?
[00:13:34] Speaker E: Yeah, I think, you know, Stephanie took another big step for us this year and for herself.
You know, she did a lot from the back end, especially adding a bunch of points this year.
You know, ran her top power play, played most minutes every game.
You know she going to be missed in that sense as well as over off ice stuff. So she's a leader when it comes to doing all the right things off the ice as well. So she'll definitely be missed for sure.
[00:14:05] Speaker C: Yeah, I want to bounce back to the Forzers. Obviously we're having, we were having some contact here. The fact that you know your forwards, you know, Bar, like I said, as I said earlier, barring any unforeseen transfer portal situations and how do you like that, that coming back with the top three in the in Engelbert, Leaney and Duplante.
[00:14:29] Speaker E: Yeah, I think that again they, they've taken a lot of good steps this year. They, they took on a big role for us, you know, doing the majority of our scoring which isn't easy, you know, learning how to make sure that they show up every night.
So I think they all could probably go back and look and say, you know, there's other times and stretches where you know, they could have probably played even better. So that, that's kind of been our focus of going into the spring here is making sure that they continue to develop, continue to grow so that next year they can, they can play More minutes and kind of garner that same type of scoring that they've done this year. So it's going to be big for us because, you know, we do have some players coming in, but we're gonna have to make sure we still have that group thing and really just looking to add to it.
[00:15:28] Speaker C: Is there one or two particular players that maybe surprised you this season that with their play?
[00:15:36] Speaker E: Oh, I think probably toner on the back end.
She probably had, you know, some of the, some of the really good growth over the course of the season. I think that issue did a ton of work off the ice.
It kind of goes unseen a little bit to everybody, but, you know, she did a really good job of getting in the weight room, extra eating, the right way, all those types of things. And then same thing with Lohlberg as well. I thought she took some good steps this year as a first year, you know, worked herself up into a second line role towards the end of the season and may not have had a ton of points, but definitely played the right way.
Kind of gave us a little bit of extra grit in our lineup up front, which is what we're looking for.
You know, some other ones that, that stepped up.
Dunkle did a really good job this year for us. I thought she did.
She ate a lot of minutes in, in most cases and, you know, and then on the back end with the goaltenders, you know, I think that Monia stepped in and did a really good job for us. Kept us in a lot of games when, you know, maybe we gave up a ton of shots. And the same thing with Emma down the stretch there, you know, I think that those are all the bright sides of the group that's coming.
You know, Joe Willis jumped up into it, into more of a scoring role as well, putting up some points. So no, I think there's quite a few there that can take good steps as long as we do the right things in the spring here. Going into next year, what will it
[00:17:20] Speaker C: take for this team to get crack the top eight? At least get a first round single elimination home game next season in the ECS hockey tournament?
[00:17:31] Speaker E: Yeah, you know, I think the big thing that we didn't see this year was the consistency. Right. Like that's going to be our mindset and I think that comes with being a little bit younger. You know, we had a fairly younger team. I feel like, you know, the majority of our, our group that was playing the heavier minutes being a freshman sophomore group. So I think that having that growth, just maturity wise and understanding, okay, we Gotta play better on the road trips. You know, this year we were able to start at home with quite a few games. Next year we're on the road for quite a few games, so we're gonna get right into it.
So I think that's a big thing is making sure that we have the consistency within our game. And then, you know, since we've been here, we've upped the, the off ice piece as well.
So that's going to get ramped up again and, and that's where our biggest growth is going to be because that's where you develop your speed and all and everything that way. So I think you're gonna see a lot, a lot quicker team next year than even when we saw the difference between last year and this year.
But at the same time, like, we're in a tough conference right now, so, you know, we consistently having teams in the, in the top 10 that you're playing against. I felt like at one point during the year here we were playing against the number one power play consistently coming into a series. So, you know, it's really just preparing and having that maturity and the seasoning, as they say, for our younger players to now be a little bit more mature, have the experience behind them so that we can play more consistent.
[00:19:18] Speaker C: What do you have to do to improve the penalty kill?
[00:19:22] Speaker E: Oh, that's. I, you know, I think we have to look at, you know, who's on it, personnel sometimes. We got to be able to, to use everybody more.
You know, we got in a situation this year where we were trying to do that and see who could, who could step in and do those things, and we end up going back to, you know, pretty much the same players that we were using earlier that still had to play more minutes. So for us to improve that, we've, we've got to be more disciplined within
[00:19:54] Speaker F: it and,
[00:19:56] Speaker E: you know, find, find players that are really going to take over those roles.
[00:20:00] Speaker C: I mean, would you say, I know you fell from 9th to 12th this year. Is it a step back or just. Is this part of the process, the learning process of getting this team to where you want it?
[00:20:14] Speaker E: Yeah, I think it's, you can look as it may be a step back in people's minds when it comes to like, okay, you went backwards in the standings. I think there was a lot of things that came with that, you know, other teams did get better as well. So it wasn't like we were,
[00:20:32] Speaker F: I
[00:20:33] Speaker E: think, think worse than we were the year before. I think it was more of a year where we did a lot more teaching than we have a lot more groups that needed to learn things throughout the course of the year. And you know, that takes time having gone through it previously. Like it's not an overnight thing, it's not a one year thing that we're looking at.
You know, to me this is process of, you know, three, four years. Do we want it to happen faster? For sure. But we've got to have players that are in our, our group, in our structure, in our culture and playing the right way for an extended period of time. So for us that's, that's kind of what we're looking at. You know, we had some good growth with a lot of players and you know, I think there's going to be some good steps taken in the off season here by them when it comes to like being in better shape, being able to handle more minutes, those types of things that we're going to be able to, to take the step again next year.
[00:21:38] Speaker C: How would you assess the first year at MT Bank Center?
[00:21:42] Speaker E: Oh, it's great. You know, they did a fabulous job there for us. You know, the glassy group, the group there at MNT bank that's there every day.
You know, I think that the facility itself just brought more people to the, to the games. I think our, our games were way better attended this year than I think I've ever seen at Union. So I think part of that being the, the harbor area and people being able to come down and, and do things in the harbor area as well as, you know, I think that we did, we did compete pretty, pretty good at home. So being able to have our fans see that and see some success at home was, was big. And you know, the, the rink, the ring's been great for us. The, the, the area in our space, the lounge area, all that is kind of like a home. On the way from their dorms that our players just kind of live out, which is what we want. So our training facility has been great so they'll be using that over the, the course of the spring here. So I think it was a really good step for our program and I think it's a great step for the school.
[00:22:56] Speaker C: Coming up, we'll start the preview of the men's EAC Hockey tournament with a look at the Union Brown series on Saturday. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:23:14] Speaker B: Skill Physicality.
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[00:23:52] Speaker C: Welcome back to the podcast. We begin our look at the EC Hockey men's tournament gets underway starting on Friday with a pair of games. RPI at Clarkson and St. Lawrence is at Harvard. Saturday Union will be hosting Brown. Union is a fifth seed. Nearly got that first round by things nearly broke their way last weekend but unfortunately Princeton and Dartmouth tied and then Princeton got the extra point in the shootout and then they got the final first round bye bye. Point over Union. But nonetheless union is the fifth seed. They'll take on the 12th seed of the Brown Bears. Union just beat Brown on Saturday 3 nothing in Providence, Rhode island at me in the auditorium. Union in fact won the season series by a combined seven nothing. But you always have what gotta wonder number five seed going to number 12 seed that they handled.
Plus being a team three times in the season can always be difficult.
So we got to see what happens. And he talked with Josh Algae yesterday. He heard him talk on the podcast on Wednesday about, you know, they can't afford to take Brian lightly. They can't be looking ahead to a possible quarterfinal matchup next weekend against Princeton. So as I said, you heard from Josh Allergen Wednesday. Let's hear from the Union players on Tuesday at media availability it was Brandon Burr, Nick Young and Ben Ruthersbaugh.
Well, guys, you're going to face Brown again. You've handled them twice as combined 7 nothing scores. How important is it to not take this game lightly and be looking ahead to Princeton?
[00:25:26] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean we've kind of talked about it the past couple weeks, but it's always one game at a time and now it's playoff time. So you know, everyone has to be sharp and everyone's going to give you their best. So you have to be at your 100% ready.
[00:25:38] Speaker C: Brandon?
[00:25:39] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a new season now. Like no one's played a game yet in playoffs so we're all starting from the same spot so just need to get this win.
[00:25:45] Speaker C: Ben?
[00:25:45] Speaker A: Yeah, the seating doesn't matter so we just got to bring our best effort and be ready to go at 5pm on Saturday.
[00:25:51] Speaker C: How important will it be to get off to a good start on Saturday against them? Maybe put them out of their misery earlier in the game?
[00:25:59] Speaker A: Yeah, it's going to be huge. I mean we know they're going to bring their best. We hope to bring ours. And you know we have this week to prepare for them.
[00:26:05] Speaker C: Brandon.
[00:26:06] Speaker A: Yeah, getting that lead early, probably pretty beneficial to us. Try to break their spirits early.
[00:26:12] Speaker C: Nick?
[00:26:12] Speaker A: Yeah, that's. Couldn't say any better than that. Just get the ball rolling and kind of feed off that for us momentum wise.
[00:26:19] Speaker B: How does the mindset kind of change
[00:26:21] Speaker C: when you go into a single elimination game?
[00:26:23] Speaker A: Josh was saying, you know, you want, you obviously know the sense of urgency,
[00:26:26] Speaker B: but you don't want to be, you
[00:26:28] Speaker A: know, gripping the sticks too tight. So how do you guys kind of
[00:26:30] Speaker C: approach that from a player's perspective as
[00:26:31] Speaker A: far as, you know, approaching that single game elimination? Yeah, I mean, first of all, it's just, you know, it's another game. Like that's how we got to put in our brains. But also it's something where we got nothing to leave it for. Put it all out there for 60 minutes. There's not another game on Sunday or a game on Friday. It's just the one on Saturday. So give 100% to every single shift we have. Same question. Yeah, we just gotta treat it like another game. I mean, obviously nothing's guaranteed after this weekend, so getting that win, really important to us, but just gotta pretend it's another game, you guys.
[00:27:01] Speaker C: I mean, Shay played well in both those games.
Even though guys had seven goals, three of them were empty netters. So how important will it be to keep doing what you did against him? Maybe get some more pucks passing in Saturday's game?
[00:27:15] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, he's a good goalie. We got to stick to our game plan. Get pucks to the net, get bodies to the net, and you know, I think once we get one, we can kind of feed off that and take that momentum and, you know, just, just play a hard 60.
[00:27:27] Speaker C: Brandon.
[00:27:27] Speaker A: Yeah, he's a good goalie, so just getting early one, as Benny mentioned, to get the ball rolling. It's gonna be important for us.
Oh yeah. I mean, obviously the more pucks and bodies we get to the net, the better.
He made some great saves, but, you know, if we put up 40, 50 shots, it's going to be tough to keep them all the net.
[00:27:45] Speaker C: You talked about the early start and
[00:27:46] Speaker D: obviously scoring goals at any point in
[00:27:48] Speaker A: the game is a good thing, but
[00:27:49] Speaker B: especially when you have it at home
[00:27:51] Speaker C: in this kind of environment, how, how
[00:27:54] Speaker B: much easier does it make it when you can kind of get out to
[00:27:56] Speaker D: a fast start and kind of get
[00:27:57] Speaker C: that crowd going and get it behind you?
[00:27:59] Speaker A: Yeah, it makes a world of difference just having the, the people behind you getting loud and it really does give you that extra boost of energy and boost of momentum. So it's, it's very important this weekend.
[00:28:11] Speaker C: What were the key factors in, in those two games against Brown this year that, you know, you shut him out both times and, you know, got seven goals, probably could add more goals, especially on Saturday. So what was the key and how do you apply that to Saturday?
[00:28:25] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, our focus was being unbelievable in the defensive zone and doing that's going to lead to offense, and it did.
We also got the big saves that we needed at the right times.
So I mean, it was, it was just kind of a combined effort with a lot of physicality and that's just our kind of style hockey.
[00:28:41] Speaker C: Brandon?
[00:28:42] Speaker A: Yeah, we were just talking about how to play defense first and if we play good defensively, it'll lead to offense and sure enough, it did.
[00:28:47] Speaker C: Yeah, Nick. I mean, Ben. Sorry.
[00:28:49] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, you know, it all starts in the D zone for us and you know, we took that and you know, we, we did what we could in the offensive zone and you know, going into the third period, you know, that was like playoff hockey and you know, we just, we stuck to the D zone first and you know, if we continue to do that, we, we should be able to make a pretty good run here.
[00:29:06] Speaker C: You've been on a roll late, Ben.
[00:29:08] Speaker A: What's been the key, you know, this time of year? It's, it's obviously, you know, it's, it's big for everyone to be at their best and you know, obviously playing with great linemates like Brandon and Colby and you know, everyone's kind of firing on all cylinders right now, so just gotta keep that going in the playoffs here.
[00:29:26] Speaker C: Brandon, your thoughts playing with Ben, the
[00:29:28] Speaker A: role he's on, Just give him a puck and he'll score.
[00:29:31] Speaker B: That's about it.
[00:29:32] Speaker C: Well, let me ask you, the goal you scored, the overtime goal on Friday that snapped an eight game ECAC hockey goal. This streak for you, how big was that to not only break that but get it? As the game went in overtime, obviously
[00:29:46] Speaker A: it felt nice getting the goal, but as long as our team's winning, I don't really need to be scoring goals.
[00:29:49] Speaker B: So
[00:29:52] Speaker C: coming up, we'll talk with RPI men's head coach Eric Lang and we'll preview that series of the Engineers have nice seed against eight seeded Clarkson in Potsdam. You're listening. The Parting Shots podcast.
[00:30:11] Speaker E: Foreign.
[00:30:17] Speaker B: Hockey championship returns to Lake Placid, New York this March. Witness the first ever ECAC Hockey Women's Championship in Lake Placid on March 6th and 7th and the Men's Championship on March 20th and 21st.
[00:30:29] Speaker D: It happens at the legendary Herb Brooks
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[00:30:48] Speaker D: We've got some pretty good buy in right now with our group and our record is what it is.
We're going to be a tough out for somebody here in a little bit of time here. We are going to be a tough out for some college hockey team in the ECAC that's going to get us maybe in a one game set.
And I like the way our team is trending. This would have been a good one to get some traction for our program.
But you know what, it is what it is and you know, sometimes the lessons inside of the loss are monumental for great progress ahead and I think there's some great stuff inside of this for some of our younger guys and this is something that we can lean on as our program builds and gets pretty good and then we're going to get frickin really good. You could take that to the goddamn bank.
[00:31:41] Speaker C: That was RPI men's head hockey coach Eric Lang at the end of the Mares cup game back in January when the engineers suffered a tough 54 overtime loss to Union. And he has proved prophetic. This team has played well. They finished ninth. I don't think a lot of people expected that. And they get to take on Clarkson in the single elimination first round game Friday night up at Cheel arena in Potsdam, New York. And I'm pleased to have Eric Lang join us now here on the podcast. Eric, how's it going? And you remember, you remember saying that. And I think it's proved to be prophetic because you guys have played well and do you think you're going to be a dangerous team here in the postseason?
[00:32:24] Speaker D: Yeah, I think everybody's goal, Ken. We all want to be playing our best hockey late and you know, we're five, two and one in our last eight we've won three in a row.
That's a little bit, you know, it doesn't mean a thing right now. I think you know from that. I do remember saying that. And sometimes when we're a little emotional inside of these press conferences you say things that maybe you have some regret. But I had no regret when I said that. It's a strong belief in our team.
I just felt like we were a team that is trending in the right direction. And you know, hey, Union, that was as good a college hockey game if we can reflect a little bit. And they did a good job. But I, I said what I said because of our strong belief we have in our group. And I felt it coming. You know, I think since Christmas we've, you know, we're able to speed up inside of how we want to play. And I think it's just a little familiarity with our system and, you know, our guys are performing inside of it. And, you know, I really like the way we're trending.
Nobody cares what we did though here in our last eight. Nobody cares what we did in our last three. It's a one game shot and we're on the road against a very worthy, really good Clarkson opponent.
[00:33:38] Speaker C: Well, that, to me, that was a. If you were holding a microphone, I think you would have just dropped it there and walked down.
[00:33:45] Speaker B: But did the players.
[00:33:48] Speaker C: I mean, I don't know if the players heard that or read that online anywhere or in the paper, but when they see here, their coach saying something like that, does that really light a fire under them?
[00:34:00] Speaker D: I think it, I think it, I think it goes into our belief that we have in them. And I think any player wants to hear from their coaches that we believe in you.
And, you know, we have failed forward this year. You know, we've, we've been.
Hey, the results certainly aren't what's going to be the standard around here for RPI hockey, but I think we've just continued to get better. Like we just said, nobody cares, get better. Nobody cares. Get better. And this time of year, I think teams make a grave mistake of thinking they've arrived. Or you say, hey, this is what we are.
And you know, you roll the dice and you try and win a hockey game like we are just every day. We are just trying to get better. It's cliche, coach. Cliche in a lot of regard, but we're living it like there's areas of our game that we need to continue to improve upon.
And, you know, I think that's something that's been really, really important with our group and the buy in that this team has the belief that we're starting to get.
Because nothing succeeds like success.
You can't, you can't fake closing out games.
And you know what, that, you know, it's funny, we referenced that Union game a little bit. There were some hard lessons to learn there and we're better for it and we have failed moving forward. And you know, we're, we're really, we're, we're excited for Friday and we just don't want this thing to end because we do feel like we're just starting to hit our stride here.
[00:35:32] Speaker C: That's interesting. Failed moving forward. I don't think I've ever heard that before. That sounds, that's, it's. It sounds like a good thing. I mean, even though you fail, you're moving forward and getting better.
I've watched this from afar and just follow the results. I mean you've, you played Quinnipiac tough at Quinnipiac. Like you say, you're a three game winning streak. You had the big, big red freakout crowd close out the home schedule for you guys, a big 31 victory and you go on the road last weekend and you know you get that sweet brown and you ought to get that ninth seed. I mean this, I, I've told people this. I. And this program is going to be something in a couple years here with you in charge and I think we're starting to slowly but surely see that.
[00:36:20] Speaker D: Well, I appreciate that, Ken. Yeah, we've got a lot of work to do here and you know, we've, we have, we have come a long way. You know, we had a nine game winless streak. You, we start our season 016.
There were, you know, there's lots of internal things that we just, we want to just put our. Hang our hat on and we need to play to an identity and we needed to build towards that identity.
And I will say this, and I don't know if you play much golf, Ken, but the way we coach and the way we try to do things here, there's no quick fix for it. So we say like we focus on your posture, your grip and your alignment. If you're a golfer, we don't tell you to, you know, and if you just focus on those three things, you don't get the result the next time you go play.
There's no quick fixes in this sport and we have really broke it down and built it back up and you know, we know how we need to play to be successful. And I think that's a sign of a team that's, that's coming together and it's a sign for good days ahead is we understand exactly how we have to play for RPI to be successful and the guys have really bought into it.
[00:37:38] Speaker C: I don't play much golf anymore. I don't think I played a golf.
I played more miniature golf in the last 10 years than I have regular golf.
[00:37:45] Speaker E: But I Love it.
[00:37:46] Speaker A: I love it.
[00:37:47] Speaker C: So, I mean, you're taking a Clarkson team that you've beaten. You swept the season series. You won 51 at home back in November, and you won a 43 game up there last month. In a game you had a 4 nothing lead and you hung on for that victory.
Does that give you guys confidence going up there knowing that you swept the season series?
[00:38:08] Speaker D: Yeah, I mean, I'd rather have won the two games than be on the other side of it. I think it's irrelevant in terms of, you know, does that give us an advantage? You know, we'll have to play really, really well. Clarkson is one of these teams. I know they're an eight seed in terms of where they are in the standings. I think that that team is as good as any team in our league.
They can really score, they can get out and transition. They can make things really, really difficult for you.
You know, it's a.
It's a very, very worthy opponent. It's an opponent that, you know, I think. I don't know where they were picked preseason, but they feel like they could have been a top four team. And, you know, they had some early injury and they had some things, but, you know, they're healthy now and they are. I find them incredibly dangerous.
You know, they can beat you multiple ways. So, you know, we'll have to, you know, they're a team that can throw the football up and down the field and score quickly and we have to run the ball to be successful. And it's. It's two really contrasting styles in play.
The one thing I like about how we're trending is we've played a lot of two 1 and 3, 2 and 11 games.
And those 7, 6, 6, 5, 54 games this time of year, they tend to not be there as much. So, you know, we're playing exactly how we think playoff hockey is going to go.
[00:39:34] Speaker C: Yeah.
Just talk about your team, how they have really just bought more than bought in. Just, you know, you mentioned the start. The season didn't go so well. I mean, how did they manage to stay the course, not get down and knowing that they're going to get. They were going to get better as the season went along.
Yeah.
[00:39:56] Speaker D: Some of the language we use is like, good days are coming. And if we just stick with our process here, good days are coming. And we can see inside of even some of these losses that we had. Like, you know, we don't play a bad game versus Union in that Mayors cup game. And I think Union's A tremendous team. We don't play a real bad game inside of that game. We have a bad few minutes, but we didn't play a bad game. Right.
[00:40:20] Speaker B: But we were pretty good for a
[00:40:21] Speaker D: majority of the game. So I think for us to really recognize those small victories inside of the games is important to us and how we want to teach and how we want to coach here.
And I think our guys ability to say man, like it's just a play or a puck play here, you know, a simple sure in or a sure out that we either execute or we don't. You know, I was like, I told our guys like if we win a face off, you know, in that Mayor's cup game, the outcome might be different. We lose three face offs in a row and like it's just the margin for ERA is so, so small in the ECAC and we've got some really good teams in this league that are playing great hock and you know, every puck matters and every play matters whether it's, you know, in the middle of October or the beginning of March. And you know, if you can get your team to buy into that, that's how you get, that's how we make these improvements.
[00:41:17] Speaker C: I was impressed with the goaltender Nate Kralchuk back in the first game at M and T Bank center and of course at the Mayors cup. He was just named goalie of the week on Monday. Just talk about how he has carried the load for you.
[00:41:32] Speaker D: He's been great and he's a guy who came in here, he had another year of junior eligibility.
Matthias Lang, who's our, you know, great assistant here, is a great goalie here for a long time and had a great pro career. Matias is like the goalie whisperer. And we told Nate early in the year like you should be opening the car door for Matias and following him around and seeing if he needs coffee because Matias is a wealth of knowledge in that, in that position. And you know, Matthias has, I have to give Matty a lot of credit. He has really, really developed Nate and that's not a one way street. Development is, you know, when the player has buy in as well and Nate has on the other side of it. He's. Him and Matty have been in lockstep and he's gotten better. He's gotten better. You know, he was a goalie in October. We were like, we're not sure.
And then you know, he's a guy that has, he's really bought into how you know, Matthias wants him to play and how he is. You know, there's, there's certain, you know, there's certain things inside of the game and his reads are becoming better and it's, you know, I want to get you. Nate gets all the credit in the world because he's doing it. And Matthias has been really incredible with him. And we're, and we're, we're certainly lucky to have both those guys.
[00:42:48] Speaker C: Another player like you talk about as your freshman defenseman, Thomas Classic. A second straight defensive defender of the week in ECAC hockey. Just talk about how he's played and how much he's gotten better over the season.
[00:43:03] Speaker D: Incredible. Because, you know, he's, he's, he's, he's, he's Austrian and he's over there playing in Europe. He hasn't spent a day here in the US and he comes over here and there's a little bit of an adjustment. Smaller rink, different pace, different style.
And, you know, he's, he's turning into an all world kind of defenseman for us. He's really tough and combative and competitive.
And then you put. He's got really, he's a very, very good skater and he's got elite puck skill. And, you know, we have a guy that we can play five on six, six on five. He's our first guy over. Penalty kill, power play.
You know, he's emerging into a top defender in our league and just a wonderful, wonderful human being and great kid as well. And we're really lucky to have Tommy here.
[00:43:48] Speaker C: How have the fans embrace this program? I know they're, yeah, they are very loyal, very dedicated. Sometimes a lot of fans bases and not just RPI get a little overboard. I know in talking to some of the alums last year during the process of the job search for you, a lot of people were saying they want you, they want you. Now, how's that support been with the fans, with the alumni?
[00:44:18] Speaker D: Absolutely incredible. And you know, I've always seen the history and tradition from a distance. And until you're in it, you don't quite understand how special. There's a lot of hockey people in this area. There's a lot of intelligent hockey people in this area. You know, all of our alumni here, they just want to help. And it's been so supportive. And, you know, we had the big Red freak out. We have 66 alumni come back in town to show up, and we weren't even honoring a team. So 66 independent people make plans to show up for a weekend to support our program. And, you know, we get The Big Red freak out we've got, you know, there's not a. You can't stand. There's not a place to stand in the entire building. That was the best home ice advantage I have ever been involved with.
And we want to. We want to recapture that. You know, we had so many alumni say, man, this is what it was like every game.
And boy, if we can somehow capture that environment for 16 or 17 home games and give our fans something really excited to be about, that was a home ice advantage. And I said this like the primary assist in that Harvard win was our fan base. They willed us out of some long shifts, they encouraged us on the back end of some penalty kills.
I even think they impact the officials in a way because they were very loud and it was as good a home ice advantage. And, you know, I said this when I took the job. This is a heavy lift in front of us. We need everybody. We need our alumni, we need our fan base as coaches. We have to go out and bring in some great people and some really good players.
And, you know, I think we're trending in a direction where this is going to be an exciting place to come watch college hockey on Friday and Saturday.
And the one thing that has been really not up for debate for the most part, our team is playing with incredible effort. And our fan base is smart enough to recognize, hey, this isn't perfect, but these guys are playing really hard.
[00:46:22] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I. I agree. And I think you guys, if you guys get back to where that level was years ago, we're going to have a fun rivalry between Union RPI here with the two pretty good programs. That would be a lot of fun to watch.
[00:46:37] Speaker D: Boy, and you know what in Halji's done, you know, he's set the mark. He's done a great job over there. And, you know, we, Halge and I speak a lot and, you know, we're going to make each other better here for the next few years. And, you know, what he's done over at Union is, you know, they're, you know, they're going to be an incredible tough out here. And, you know, we hope to follow in that model of getting this program relevant and getting it into the top half of the standings. And then once you're in the top half of the standings and you get some home ice, things really start to change.
[00:47:09] Speaker C: Yep. Or I appreciate a few minutes. Good luck Friday night, then we'll be keeping track of it and then we'll talk soon.
[00:47:16] Speaker D: Thanks for all you do for college Hockey here. Ken, you're great. Appreciate you.
[00:47:19] Speaker C: I appreciate it, Eric. Thanks a lot. That's Eric Lang. Coming up, Dan Rubin of USCHO.com joins me to preview the first round of the ECAC Hockey Tournament. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
Hi, I'm Stan. And I'm Shen.
[00:47:51] Speaker E: And each week we bring you, you
[00:47:53] Speaker C: the Stan and Shen Show.
And each week we talk about fun
[00:47:57] Speaker D: things through our travels throughout the capital region.
[00:47:59] Speaker C: We touch on food, we touch on
[00:48:01] Speaker D: news, try to touch heavily on good news. And Shen's always available with hot takes.
[00:48:08] Speaker C: Yeah. So if you could follow along and
[00:48:10] Speaker E: listen to us every week on DailyGazette.com or on all major streaming platforms, we'd
[00:48:16] Speaker B: love to have you join us.
[00:48:29] Speaker C: Welcome back to the podcast. As we do every year as we get ready for the ECAC Hockey tour, we preview all the rounds for the next three weeks and we'll do that with Dan Rubin from USCHO.com he's kind enough to join me once again this year. Dan, welcome back. How are things going?
[00:48:44] Speaker B: Hey, you know, I feel like it is, it is the best time of year. The Cleary Cups in in possession of Quinnipiac as per customary norms. And now, now the real season gets to begin where we, not where we have no idea who's going to make it to Lake Placid. This is the best time of year, conference tournament time. It's my favorite time of year.
[00:49:02] Speaker C: Let me before we get break down the first round games, this was probably one of the tightest finishes we've seen in a while in EC regular hockey, regular season play. I mean, you know, Quinnipiac ends up barely winning what, six straight now regular season titles for them and Dartmouth and Cornell battling for it. And when he came, everything came down. I mean, I know the league sent out all these possible scenarios and the Union Harvard Princess there needed a two page PDF just to explain all the. It was the eight scenarios that that had happened. But yes, this was interesting. I mean nobody really ran away from you from the, from the, from everybody.
[00:49:44] Speaker B: No, we knew there was going to be a regression to the norm after Dartmouth started the way that it did and eventually that that came to fruition. Quinnipiac rose to the top. I will say it was nice that the assumption was that going into the last week and that right, Quinnipiac would go up to Dartmouth, win that game, clinch the Cleary cup up there and then come over to, you know, come, come home for the, with the, come to Harvard with the, with the trophy. But so it's nice to see Dartmouth kind of add a little bit of drama specifically to the last day of the season. It was then nice to see Princeton get its, get its acting gear and pull out. What was the, the last point to get itself into a, into the number four seed. I will readily admit I hate the fact that the playoff, basically the buy gets decided on a shootout and on in, in that type of way where, where, you know, they, they go and they win the shootout over Dartmouth, that gets them the extra point. They wind up one point ahead of Union. I can't stand that. But that being said, they did what they needed to do to get themselves in position for there. So it's been kind of a good run. Good to see RPI get up into the, into the mixer.
Good to see St. Lawrence get a couple of wins at least over the course of the whole season. You got Clarkson hanging around in there. It's a, it's a very tight, very competitive league and the league has a lot to be happy about this year.
[00:51:07] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, you mentioned Union. I mean, they had some chances. They mean they were not winning on Friday nights, winning on Saturday. Then they went from winning Fridays and losing Saturday. So I mean, there is, they left some points out out there. I mean they really have no one to blame but themselves. But we'll talk about their matchup with Brown in just a bit. But let's talk about two games on Friday night, starting with number nine, RPI against number eight Clarkson.
As you mentioned, RPI under Eric Lang, this team is going to be dangerous. And Eric Lang said as much after. And we had Eric on, earlier on the, on the podcast, one of the. We heard from him talking about he would, you know, he was going to be dangerous. Team was going to be dangerous in the postseason and they beat Clarkson twice. So I, I can foresee RPI pull off the third win up there at Chill.
[00:51:57] Speaker B: Eric Lang is one of the biggest game coaches I've ever had the thrill of, of seeing.
I got to know Eric very well when he was at American International.
I saw him a number of times in a given year because of the way the scheduling pods worked out.
I saw what he did at AIC and the fact that he was doing it with an underfunded program that was, that, that didn't have. He was, he was coaching with one leg cut out from under him half the time there and he put together championship programs because he held true to the single axioms that he had, which is we're going to be physical, we're Going to be tough. We're not going to get out worked. And yeah, you might outshoot us, you might beat us up, you might actually score a couple of goals. But if you, if you leave it to the end, we're going to win those games.
And to me that's the hallmark that he had to instill an rpi. The fact that he also had to put together a program in a roster on basically four months notice because of the portal and everything that when he got hired and the timing of it, I knew there would come a point in time when RPI would start to gel. And now RPI goes into the, into the playoffs, is probably the hottest team in the league.
So they're getting a Clarkson team that I think underperformed this year.
Part of it is the fact that Clarkson I think didn't gel the way that you would have wanted them to, getting the number of guys that they had coming from the chl. But there's going to be a lot of experience there. I think it's going to be a phenomenal game. But I think Clarkson at home is a bit of an advantage. But they're getting the one team that's not going to be intimidated walking into that arena in a one game playoff. I can't think of any, anybody that would want to play rpi. And, and truthfully all you have to do is Google image Eric Lang in a championship game and he's the first guy in the middle of the room firing up his roster. There's a reason why AIC beat St. Cloud and it was the guy behind the bench.
[00:53:57] Speaker C: Well, let's remember there they was 5:1 at Houston Field House back in November. Then the February 6th game, RPI was up 4 nothing and held on for fourth, a 4:3 victory. So. And it's not the first time RPI is going up to Clarkson and won a playoff series and they as a 12 seed a couple years ago under Dave Smith they beat Clarkson as a number five seed. So I don't think this team's going to be intimidating, quite frankly. Probably. Probably should have won a few more games. They should have won the Mayors cup game against Union Union rally, that furious rally, get two extra tackle goals and one in an overtime. But I think RPI is going to be a program on the rise and a program that's not going to be taken lightly next few seasons.
No.
[00:54:42] Speaker B: And the things that you're going to want to look for, the things that were there this year, the, you know, the fact that they have goaltending right with. With Nate Kroczyk and the fact that he did posted a.910 essentially as a save percentage over 90%. I mean, he had. Those are. Those are the guys that he needs to sit back on. Where are those shots coming from? They're usually coming from the outside because the defenders know how to hold down in front. They're going to have big defenders who aren't afraid to hit and get nasty in the slot and clear guys out. And with the support that. I know RPI is so hungry for a winning team that the fact that they're going to give him that type of support, that is. That's bad news for a lot of teams in ecac.
Chief among them might be Clarkson, which, Which battled down the, down the stretch, like I said, getting dragged to overtime by Brown, getting dragged to overtime by Union in that Wild seven game that, that I know they won it in overtime, but they probably should have had that game one, two or three different times in the third period. So the.
They are not a team right now, Clarkson, that I think, look, they're good and they're talented, but if you're rpi, you're not intimidated walking into that arena. And if you're Clarkson, you should be worried because that seems not what going to be intimidated.
[00:56:01] Speaker C: Yeah, it's. It's.
Yeah, I, I agree with that. Just this, like I said, RPI is going to be a team that the, the conference is going to be wary of the next few seasons. Well, let's stick with the North Country. The other game on Friday will be, uh, Harvard hosting, uh, St. Lawrence. Uh, you mentioned St. Lawrence getting some wins late, but, uh, they were a program that went 0, 15 and 1 at one point this season.
What happened to the Saints this year?
[00:56:30] Speaker B: I think honestly they probably should have made a change in the off season and didn't. And they trusted because Brent Breck is such a, such a good person and such a good. And he is a good hockey coach. But sometimes you look at a situation, you say it's just not working. And there were parts about St. Lawrence at the beginning of the year that you looked at and say it's just not working. Like a guy who knows hockey in a roster that's probably better than its record indicated just weren't gelling. They weren't picking up on the things that he clearly wanted to do and he wasn't adjusting to a roster that. That wasn't doing what he wanted him to. So those elements, when you put them together, caused some problems that eventually started to go away a bit in the second half like that.
I point to the St. Lawrence win over RPI. The fact that St. Lawrence beat Brown, the fact that St. Lawrence beat Yale.
The issue though is that St. Lawrence hasn't beaten anybody that's above them really. I mean, been minimal games in there.
[00:57:32] Speaker C: But you're like, they did be Clarkson though.
[00:57:35] Speaker B: Yeah, they did be Clarkson, but that's also a rivalry game. Right? So that's a, that's a, that's beating your travel partner. If you're going to beat a team like Harvard, you, you need to be able to do it on more than a one off. And even though this is a one off type of game, because Harvard is Harvard's Harvard, like you know exactly what you're getting out of them and you know exactly that. You know that the Ted Donato is going to get his team up and his assistants are brilliant tacticians and they're going to be able to cause problems against a team that still just didn't light enough of a fire over the course of the season. Like St. Lawrence is good. Harvard is just better at this point and it's in Cambridge. So they have to make the trip which for a one game series, that's, that's a long bus ride to have to come out and just play one game.
And if they start slow and they don't start on time, then, then it's going to be over very quickly against Harvard.
[00:58:32] Speaker C: Yeah, the, Harvard's only 1141 in its last six games heading into this playoff game. So me, they've been in a consistent, I watched them against Union back in January, that Martin Luther King game that they played, and they look awesome, look like a team that could challenge for the hockey tournament title. But when they came to Union in February, it was quite the opposite. Union looked stronger than Harvard in that game. So what Harvard 2 are we going to see on Friday night?
[00:59:02] Speaker B: I think when you look within the losses at Harvard, they're actually a better team than maybe the numbers show up with because they, even though those are games that they shouldn't have lost, right. They should not have lost a shootout to Brown. They should have won that game. They should not have lost in overtime to Yale. They, they should not have lost to rpi. They, they, they were in the majority of some of these games that they lost, like the 31 loss to Dartmouth.
They beat Northeastern in the bean pot and, and they were, they hung with, with teams that are good. They just weren't connecting. And even I look at the Princeton game where they were down 3:1 in the second period and then started charging in that third period and then scored a goal with like 10 seconds left to win the game. To me, that's what you need out of Harvard is you need to get that, that for 60 Minutes. The problem is that they haven't gotten it as of late, which is why they've lost some of these games.
It won't work against Quinnipiac. Like you can't do that against a team that's a number one seed or a number two seed. But I think against a team like St. Lawrence, which hasn't shown that it can grab the brass run consistently. I think even if Harvard doesn't show up on time, if Harvard gets it together over the course of the 60 minute game, then that should be enough for them to be able to either come back or put St. Lawrence away.
[01:00:23] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, I can see Harvard. We'll talk predictions in a little bit. I think this, Harvard should not have any problem with St. Lawrence. But like I said, 1. And this is what I hate about the single elimination game and I wish they go back to the best of threes. It should be now that's, you know, it's at best of threes as a better outcome. You want your better teams in the going for the championship. I don't know if you want lower seeds going for a championship.
[01:00:49] Speaker B: I hate the, I hate the single elimination because it opens everything up to one. If you don't, if you have a bad game, your season's over basically, right? Like your postseason's over. And the thing that I hate about it in ECAC is that I think it operates out of fear to protect some of the teams that are potentially bubble teams. But there are no bubble teams right now, at least not in that top six. In that top, you know, the teams that are in, are in, the teams that are out are out. It's not going to hurt anybody to go three and try to advance the best team because I'll tell you what, that is not a situation where if you're Dartmouth, I would, I would really hate for Dartmouth to be sitting in the quarterfinal round, have a 10 seeded Yale get through or with RPI or something like that. And then you potentially lose a three seed in the tournament because you lost in the best of three or you lose two games in the best of three. You want the cream to rise to the crop at all, to the top at all times. And I just don't think you're getting it in the first round right now.
[01:01:49] Speaker C: Well, let's look on Saturday's games. We'll save the Union Brown for last Colgate and will host Yale on Saturday at 7 o' clock there in Hamilton, New York. Colgate has been an up and down team in Yale obviously with interim coach and they're probably going to be looking for a new head coach. And the Bulldogs enter the post season 110 and 1 in its last 12 games. And I mean they gave Union fits last Friday.
They probably should have won meaning they, they went to overtime. Union got the victory.
What's going on? Yeah, I mean obviously Keith Lane surprisingly resigns in. I think it was July or August and you know, sort of put the program in a bind.
[01:02:34] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think that the problem, you don't have to deal with it at Yale as much as when you lose your coach. Right. It opens up the mandated portal period. And I don't think based on the timing wise that they were ever going to have to worry about that. I think there was a good succession plan in place to, to hand it to Joe Howe for the year.
My problem with Yale right now is that the program itself, even the last couple of years has never come back from COVID with a.
With like the, the. The things that made Yale very good. And I've never really understood that aspect because you would think of all the hockey programs in ECAC that could adjust to the modern era, it would have been Yale. Like Yale has a great arena, it has a lot of tradition.
It has the things that seem a little impervious to the transfer Portal era in terms of Ivy League institutions. Go.
That said, they came out of COVID with like 25 new guys, freshmen, sophomores, first years, guys who hadn't played and they've just never gotten back on track. And towards the end of the season as you want to be playing your best hockey and they haven't really gotten out of gear. The, the problem is that the bottom of the conference right now is just not good like in a, in a better year. Yale is not a team that I think is, is a quote 10 seed but the 11th and 12th place teams just didn't play well enough to. To cement them further down. So I don't know what's going to happen there for the future. I think that there is a lot of uncertainty and I think it' buy some of the Portal era stuff that the other Ivies are seemingly able to get through or manage like Dartmouth has been able to manage and Princeton clearly is having some success.
I think the hire is going to be very Important because they need to find somebody who can, who can get this thing back on track. It's just not there right now.
[01:04:32] Speaker C: Colgate, like I said, been up and down, not really any dynamic scores. Four guys with 26 points leading the way.
What is it about Colgate that they should be able to win this game?
[01:04:46] Speaker B: Historically, it would be the back end. But the, the goaltending for, for Colgate, at least numerically, has not been great. But it's starting to come together a bit in a sense that when you look down the last couple of games, like you said, they've been, they've been up and down. And when I say the last couple of games, I'll go before the Quinnipiac.
The Quinnipiac games and the fact that they were at times good enough, but they still need to be able to score four goals to win a game. And to me that's never a guarantee.
The good news is that they're facing a team early in the playoffs that has trouble scoring goals. But you never want to be a team that needs to score three or four goals to win a game. Now that said, Mike Harder is the first person, one of my favorite interviews, that he would turn around and say, yeah, I mean, we're just not, we're not doing what we're supposed to do. Or we have mistakes. They have a top line and they have top scores, which when you have three guys with 26 points, it's maybe not the numbers. Four guys with 26 points, three, 10 goal scorer to 10 goal scorers.
It's not the numbers that are going to get you maybe to Lake Placid, but it's going to be numbers that you can. When you have to shorten your bench and you have to play your top two lines. Double shifted for a single game against Yale should get you through that game because those guys will be able to score. And what you're hoping then is that Yale just continues to have an anemic offense.
[01:06:17] Speaker C: Well, they did. Colgate did score six against Union here at M and T Bank center, but Union scored seven. That was the second straight came after six days after that Union Clarkson game. And then talking with Mike Carter afterwards, as well as Josh Howjee, the Union coach. Neither team, neither coach playing their goaltenders. Just poor defense by both sides in that one. I mean, it was just. That was just another crazy game.
[01:06:40] Speaker B: Yep, sure was. I remember that one well. The seven to six because also came right on the heels of the eight seven game against Clarkson like six days earlier. And I was like, geez, what are they putting in the water in, in Schenectady right now that's got like if I was a goaltender I'd be showing up at the, I'd be showing up at practice on Monday going hey guys, like remember me? Like can you help me out here a little bit? I mean, yeah, I'm sure it's fun, it makes good highlights but can you help me please, a little bit?
[01:07:06] Speaker C: I was exhausted because that's. I saw 28 goals in two games. Like I've never seen 28 goals in two games like that.
[01:07:13] Speaker B: There are times, there are times in modern college hockey you'd think that's a Big Ten game.
[01:07:17] Speaker C: Yeah. Amazing. Now of course on Saturday, the first game on Saturday would be five o' clock at MT Bank Center. Number five seed Union taking on number 12 Brown. Union won the season series in fact combined seven nothing outing. Probably could have scored some more goals in Brown and they actually had a 2 on nothing in Saturday's game and got stopped by Shea.
This is one of those games that Unions should win, there's no doubt about that. But you also have that fear in the back your mind.
You can't take this team lightly. I mean anything can happen in that one game series and Union only has to look next door to the women's teams. And what they did against Clarkson, as we mentioned earlier in the, in that Eca Seoki first round women's game a couple weeks ago, what is going to be the key for Union to make sure that they just put Brown out of their misery.
[01:08:15] Speaker B: Everything I said about Colgate is intensified a bit with Union because Union is Colgate.
[01:08:21] Speaker D: Colgate.
[01:08:22] Speaker B: We're a little better top flight scoring, better defense, defenders who can move the puck, who can move the puck and play 200ft, a goaltender who can stop a few extra shots than what you're going to get out of Colgate's back end.
Union is a solidly good team and that's why you finish fifth in the league like that. That's. They're just a good hockey team.
They're facing a team that if this were last year, if this were two years ago, if this were basically any other year that I've been watching Brown under, under what was Brendan with it? I would say yeah, but Brown always seems to show up in the playoffs like they.
For whatever reason, Brendan Whittett was a master at getting his team ready for a playoff game and then he would shorten the bench and you'd have a defenseman playing 28 minutes and those guys would kill themselves to win, win the game.
Brendan's not there. That is my, probably my biggest indictment is that there's too much that's in flux. You have your head coach hired but your interim in your, in your guts. Like you don't have Brendan in the locker room giving the speech. That would have worked and it's just not the same right now. So based on what we saw last weekend out of the RPI Union series, this might be a case where Brown this year as a 12 seed has one of those years where in the past they would go down two in a row to the fifth place team and it would just be over and they'd lose those games 4 to 1, 5 to 2.
I don't see it from Brown this year. I think the fact that Ryan St. Louis got hurt last weekend.
Zad Verniak Ivan took a contact to the head penalty against RPI and then was sat for the Saturday game. Like it wasn't a game disqualification against rpi. But he wasn't in the lineup the next day. So, so that tells you that they either that they, that they chose not to play him.
Tyler Shea and back has given up too many goals even though he has a decent save percentage.
They just don't have the pieces that make the 12 seeded Brown team what we would have expected out of them. And that's, and that's unfortunate because it would have been a great game.
Brown used to have a lot of success out in the Capital District but Union is also.
Union's a good team. I mean 21 wins, you don't get there by accident and they're a good hockey team and I really enjoy watching Union play hockey.
[01:11:04] Speaker C: Of course they're ranked 20th in the USA Hockey poll and where the top team and vote teams other teams receding votes in the USCHO.com poll. I mean I, I'm just kind of guess weird at the discrepancy between the two polls in that situation. But yeah, I mean I said, I mean Shay even though you like I said you scored outscored him seven nothing. Three of those goals were emptying that goal. So he in fact gave up just four goals. And that's one of those things one game situation. If he gets hot and Union doesn't get you gets frustrated, who knows what happens.
[01:11:38] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's the, that that's the part that Brown at least has had in the past is that as a goaltender you've, you've been able to find, find goaltenders in the past of Guys who were able to make those, those stops and get through it. I think the fact that he comes in from Michigan gives him a bit of.
Bit of background, right? Like, he, he clearly whenever you get a transfer and they have to be able to start with all of the, with all of the Ivy League, you know, requirements in order to come in. So he's. So he had to work in order to get in. And last year he was awesome when he, when he came in and those six games that he played, I mean, he was in 300 minutes. I mean, the guy, the guy stops, you know, just about everything that's going at him and specifically against Providence was, was part of a 40, say, performance against, against the, in the Mayor's cup game. So I, I think he's a good goaltender. My, My problem with Brown in general is that they just don't have sync right now in front of them and, and that goes all over the board. They don't have the offensive pop to hold off in the, in the offensive attacking zone. They, they will lose battles and neutralize the defenders. I mean, what you're hoping is that if you shorten the bench, those guys get into a groove that they can pull off an upset in the game. Stranger things have happened. Like you said, We've seen 12 seeds win in these games before, but it also the, the motivational factor. I, I just, I like. I would have loved to have seen Brendan with it finish out the whole year.
Obviously family medical leave, he. He had to, he had to step aside for personal reasons and, and everything that, that he's taken care of with his family.
But it would have been, it would have been a lot of fun to see what he could have dialed up at least, you know, in the locker room to bring. To bring Brown out to the Capitol District for one more round.
[01:13:34] Speaker C: I always enjoy talking Brendan again. When he was here after the 4 nothing game, he, he was gracious and always was. And we just, you know, talked about the game, talked about transfer portal situation and not knowing at that time what he was going through.
I feel bad for him, but I hope everything works out for him and his family and go return to Brown in the athletic administration. So he'll still be there, not obviously with the hockey, but he'll still be involved with his alma mater and the athletic program, which is good to see.
[01:14:12] Speaker B: He'll still be starling, right? Like, you know that look when you'd see him behind the bench, Nicole wouldn't go Brown's way and he'd have that, like, puckered look like he'd be looking down at the end of the bench like, you knew he wanted to, but he wouldn't yell. Like, he just had that look that was. Just said. Really? Like the same look I gave my kids. Like, I love that. I love that look.
He's still going to have it when he. When he's visited to see those hockey games. I know you can take the coach off the bench, but you can't take that. You can't take the coach out of him.
[01:14:39] Speaker D: I'm.
[01:14:39] Speaker B: I'm really looking forward to at least still seeing him around. Around Providence. And I know my brother is, too. My brother will. Will always, you know, is.
He was always a big Brett. He is always a Brendan fan. And, you know, they say, hey, they don't make them like Brendan, so it'll be. It'll be good to see him kicking around the rink or kicking around campus still.
[01:14:59] Speaker C: All right, let's go for the picks of these games.
[01:15:03] Speaker B: I think we're going to see the home teams win, except for rpi. I think RPI is getting through, but otherwise, I think. I think so. So what's that give us? That gives us the top seven in the nine seed going through? I think RPI is going to Quinnipiac next week. I think Colgate going to Cornell, Harvard's going to Dartmouth, and I think Union is heading down to Princeton. Well, that'd be a great series.
[01:15:27] Speaker C: Well, yeah, I'm sort of hoping I can get. Get down there because I'm from Philly and I can stay at my mom's house and enjoy historically frigid Hoby Baker Rink.
[01:15:42] Speaker B: Bring your second and third layer for that one.
[01:15:44] Speaker C: Oh, I was. There was one year that I went down to the locker room and it was so cold, I could not feel my toes, and I thought they were going to break off. That's how cold my feet were at that place. I don't know how I always say that. They're keeping Hobie Baker's body preserved at center. Right. That's why it's so cold cold there.
[01:16:04] Speaker B: I still get a kick out of the fact that, like, the concourse is in that, like, glass bubble on the outside.
[01:16:09] Speaker D: Like.
[01:16:09] Speaker B: Yeah, it's almost like you have to walk outdoors before you walk indoors.
[01:16:12] Speaker C: Yeah.
[01:16:13] Speaker B: And I'm like, yeah, that's the. Did they open the windows? Like, are those. Are those real windows? Because that. That is. That's the coldest place short of, like. Well, it also has that old, high arching ceiling that, like, they just don't make it. Like, that anymore. And it's like you guys can open the doors for the Zambonis and leave them open. That's all that means.
[01:16:33] Speaker C: Yeah. So. Well, Dan will do this again next week. Appreciate a few minutes talking East JC hockey and. Well, it's gonna be a fun weekend.
[01:16:41] Speaker B: Yeah, it sure will be. Best. Best time of the year. Conference tournaments. Nothing beats it.
[01:16:45] Speaker C: That's right. Of course, Mr. Overtime's in the building.
Fear me.
[01:16:51] Speaker B: Fear me.
I look forward to texting you at about 2 o' clock in the morning on, on Saturday or Friday.
Like this weekend. When I look at you and I go, what did we do? Did it again.
Bentley's in like a third overtime and union's gone to multiple overtimes. I just look at my phone and go, what did we do?
[01:17:12] Speaker C: If it's a 2am Union on Saturday, that's gonna be a lot of overtimes with that five o' clock start.
[01:17:17] Speaker D: So.
[01:17:18] Speaker B: Yeah, forgot the five o' clock start.
[01:17:22] Speaker E: So.
[01:17:22] Speaker C: Hey, Dan, appreciate it. Thanks again.
[01:17:24] Speaker B: Thanks, Ken.
[01:17:25] Speaker C: All right, that's Dan Rubin from USCHO.com I'll be back to wrap up the podcast and have the latest winners in the Daily Gazettes auto racing contest in just a moment.
[01:17:54] Speaker E: If you really want to know what's
[01:17:55] Speaker C: going on in your community, you have to read the Daily Gazette.
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[01:18:02] Speaker B: gonna get to the truth.
[01:18:03] Speaker E: Our reporters and photographers are out in the field bringing you updates every minute
[01:18:09] Speaker C: with trust, accuracy and integrity. From the first page to the last page. Independent, probing journalism. We're finding out what's going on in
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[01:18:21] Speaker C: It's who we are.
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[01:18:24] Speaker C: Back to wrap up the podcast. The week three winner in the delegates that's auto racing contest was for the second straight week, Jeff Thayer of Schenectady. With 55 points, Jeff wins a $50 gift card. Congratulations, Jeff. The VIP winner was Scott Lucier of CapitaLand GMC with 25 points.
I'll announce the auto racing contest winner's name and 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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This week the Stan and Shen show is on the road talking to volunteer members at Schenectady Shares as they look to kick off their 2026 campaign to secure 30,000 pounds of food and $30,000.
Look for any of the 62 boxes to drop off non perishable foods, including at this weekend's union hockey game and make a
[email protected] subscribe to the Stan and Shen show as well as the Stan and Friends Podcast on all your podcast listening platforms.
That wraps up another edition of the Parting Shots Podcast. I want to thank Tony Macy, Brandon Burr, Ben Muthesbaugh, Nick Young, Eric Lang and Dan Rubin for being a part of the show.
If you have questions or comments about the podcast, email them to me at shot. That's s c h o t
[email protected] follow me on X Threads and bluesky at Slap Shots the views expressed on the Pawnee Shots Podcast on the not necessarily those of the Gazette News Group. The Parting Shots Podcast is a production of the Gazette News Group. I'm 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 hockey.
