Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Speaker A: The following program is brought to you in living color on dailyGazette.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 Shot. Thank you, Scott Kesey, and welcome to the Parting Shots podcast, available wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe today. Thanks for joining me from the parting Shots podcast podcast studio in Schenectady, New York, we have another great show for you. We'll have to have a Union college hockey talk at the top of the segment. We'll talk with the men's team players John Prokop, Brandon Bearer and Josh Nixon. We'll talk about why the power play has been struggling over 15 to start the season. They've allowed one shorthand to goal. They've been inconsistent in getting shots on goal during the power play. We'll talk to them about that. Of course, the game this games this weekend against bursaries, two game series Friday at seven and 505:00 on Saturday. Then we'll talk with Union women's women's coach Tony Macy and players Marin Friday and Sophie Matsukas. The Garden Charger gets set for action. Two road games at New Hampshire, 06:00 on Friday and 03:00 on Saturday. So we'll get their thoughts. They're coming off a two game series loss to Penn State at home last weekend.
Adam Schindler, my gazette colleague, will join me to talk college football, area college football about Union. And they're back in action after a week off. The Garner Chargers, one to four in the season. Oh, and one Liberty League play. They'll take on Buffalo State at Frank Bailey Field on Saturday. It's homecoming, so the Garner Chargers need to really put on a spectacular game and get back on track here. And then Rick Gawkin, the longtime Mercer men's hockey coach, will join me. We'll talk about the games this weekend, talk about hockey in general, just what life is like in hockey. And his time there in Erie, Pennsylvania. He's Rick Ockins, a good man, a funny man. And we had a nice, nice conversation for this podcast. So. So coming up, we're going to talk Union College men's and women's hockey. So stay tuned. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
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Hi, this is Daily Gazette reporter Shannon Doah Breer. You're listening to the parting shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Schott. Welcome back to the podcast. We're going to talk some Union college hockey, both the men and women. Let's start with the men. The Uganda charges coming off a weekend split of their road trip to Massachusetts. They beat Stone Hill four to two on Saturday, coming from behind in that game, scoring three third period goals to race a two 1 second period deficit. And then they went to Boston University, number three team in the country and they play well. I watched that game. I thought they played well. They mean they had some early momentum in the first period, but BU showed why they are the number three team in the country. They scored three goals in the first period and then went on to a four one victory over the Garner Chargers. You heard what Josh, how she had to say about that on the podcast. I think one thing that was yesterday, one thing that is concerning right now. I know it's only three games into the season, but the power play for union has not done well. I mean, over 15 to start, there's been, they've been games where they've not gotten shots on goal in a power play. That happened in the opener against Army West Point. They did have nine power plays against Stonehill. Did not score on any of them. Had 13 shots on goal though, however gave up a shorthanded goal. And in the game against BU, they had five power play opportunities and only two shots on goal, both of them coming on the final power play opportunity of the game for union. Meanwhile, Bu had four shorthanded shots on goals. That's a little bit concerning. You heard what Josh Halgey had to say about that on Wednesday's podcast. So let's hear for what the players have to say during the Mediaev availability on Tuesday at Messarique. John Prokop, Josh Nixon and Brandon Burr were on the dais.
Guys, power play has been off to a slow start over 15 the first three games.
No shots against army, nine against Stonehill but or 13 against Stonehenge but gave up a shorthanded goal.
Two against B which came in the final power play on Saturday. Gave up four short anecdotals. What do you guys gotta do to get going here with the power play and get out of this little bit of slump there? Start with John.
[00:05:12] Speaker C: I mean, it's tough because power plays win your games and they lose your games, too. So, I mean, simplifying it, it just comes down to shooting the puck and being in the right areas and getting to the nut. And I think, you know, once you get one, then it starts the snowball effect. So I think, you know, finishing that first one will be beneficial for the whole power play. Josh, I think we definitely have the personnel and room to get this power play going. It's just we're three games in. I don't think it's time to stress about it right now. I think that. I'm very confident that this weekend we'll get it. We'll get a couple goals for sure. We'll have to dial in a little bit, but it's something that we're definitely looking into for sure.
Yeah, building up both of them, I think just quicker puck movement, just more pucks on that. Like, we definitely have the personnel to be scoring goals.
[00:06:00] Speaker A: Are you guys maybe thinking too much out there on the power play and maybe try and look for that perfect shot?
[00:06:06] Speaker C: I mean, I think that's a little bit of it. Like, obviously we know we haven't scored yet, but they just got to get the simplifying stuff.
[00:06:15] Speaker D: With what was kind.
[00:06:16] Speaker A: Of your biggest takeaways as far as.
[00:06:18] Speaker B: What were some of the things that you grew on.
[00:06:19] Speaker A: We'll start with Josh.
[00:06:20] Speaker B: From this first year couple weekends into.
[00:06:22] Speaker C: This weekend, obviously it was good to start off 20, but then we knew that Bu was going to be a challenge. They're a really good team, but we started really well. We just got to be consistent with that once we play a full 60 minutes, I think that really any team in the country would be a really, really good game against for sure. How much does it help to have.
[00:06:44] Speaker B: You'Re preparing for one opponent now and.
[00:06:46] Speaker C: You'Re staying home as opposed to hitting the road with a tough trip. Yeah, I'm not really sure about merciers at all right now, but I just know that our team especially, we don't take loss as well. We have a better chase in our mouth right now. So we're definitely going to come out strong on Friday and that's all we're looking forward to right now.
[00:07:06] Speaker A: Obviously, you guys will be home or not leaving the capital region for the next month. The schedule, seven home games, one road game and RPI next Friday. How good is it to be able to be in your own beds and not worry about getting ready to go travel on a Thursday to hit the road?
[00:07:24] Speaker C: I mean, it's fantastic. Everybody loves being at home. Everybody loves playing in this area, whether it's even going over to RPI for that one game.
Being at a rivalry game, I think playing at home, it's just a different atmosphere when you're playing in front of your fans. Josh, I. Yeah, I think John said it well, there. There's no place like the messa here. And like, this being our last year, we gotta enjoy every game here. So, yeah, I'm pumped for this weekend, for sure. Two games. Yeah, same as me. Like, just being home, the energy can't replicate that in the road. So having your fans behind you definitely gives you a boost.
[00:07:58] Speaker A: How important is this weekend heading into conference play next week to get a couple wins to give you guys some confidence when you get ready to play RPI next weekend?
[00:08:07] Speaker C: I'd say it's pretty important. Like, obviously we don't like losing at all, so getting these two wins would give us confidence, but also just put us on the right path forward to keep improving our game.
[00:08:16] Speaker A: Josh?
[00:08:17] Speaker C: Yeah. I think non conference is a big part in college hockey and us being two on one right now. We're looking forward to extending that stretch here over the next few weeks for sure.
Our whole team is excited for the weekend. I think that there's a statement to be made after Saturday's loss and, you know, playing in these two games coming up, I'll just keep it going for weekends to come.
[00:08:44] Speaker A: Now, let's talk about the Union College women's hockey team. The Garner charges coming off a pair of losses to 12th ranked Penn State last weekend at Messarenka. Four two on Friday and five three on Saturday.
Tough weekend, but I thought they played decent hockey over the weekend. They were getting some chances and just Penn State was the better team over the weekend. Union will head to New Hampshire for a pair of games this weekend. They'll take on New Hampshire Friday night at 06:00 and then 03:00 on Saturday afternoon.
On the media availability deus were head coach Tony Macy and players barn Friday and Sophie Metsukas.
All right, guys, last conference game before we start league play next weekend.
Tony hall point is go up to New Hampshire and try to get at least a couple wins, at least play while heading into conference play.
[00:09:39] Speaker E: Well, winning is always the goal, so that's what we're looking to do.
[00:09:42] Speaker A: Right?
[00:09:42] Speaker E: So for us, I think it's just continually build confidence, continuously growth in our game.
I think every game that we played so far definitely been some growth and this is all part of the learning process right now. And getting ready for those EC AC games.
[00:09:59] Speaker C: Yeah, I think just continuing off what coach was saying, it's an opportunity for us to continue ironing out details in the way we play and how we want to go into conference play. I think they both said it. Just playing how we know how to play and learning a little bit better, learning our systems a little bit more and getting used to that and being confident in our systems. I think that getting two wins will help us get into the play.
[00:10:22] Speaker A: What have you liked about the play of the team so far?
[00:10:25] Speaker C: Pardon?
[00:10:26] Speaker A: What have you liked about the way the team has played so far?
[00:10:28] Speaker C: I think I liked a lot that we haven't given up at all. I think in the past we've seen that we're quick to give up, but we keep pushing and we have been giving everything we have every single game. And we've seen that we're right there with teams. So it's nice to see that.
Yeah, I think we're playing right with teams. I like the way offensively that we're putting pressure on teams and having quick turnovers. I think if we can just continue to bear down defensively and kind of settle in, I think that's where we'll really excel.
Yeah.
[00:11:00] Speaker B: Tony, just for you, looking at those two Penn state games, just obviously they're one of the top teams in the nation.
[00:11:06] Speaker C: What did you see that you liked.
[00:11:08] Speaker A: As far as being able to kind.
[00:11:10] Speaker C: Of hang in those games?
[00:11:11] Speaker E: Yeah. Like I had said after the game, I thought at the beginning of our first game, I thought we pushed him pretty good. I don't, I know. Haven't talked with their coach. He said the same thing. He's like, this is the hardest we've been pushed at the season so far. So that was good to hear from somebody else.
At the same time, I think it allows us to see, hey, we have to find another level. If they up their level, we've got to do the same thing and find a new level as well. So it's working through those types of things in our game.
[00:11:41] Speaker C: Where are some of the other areas of growth as you kind of, you know, still get, you know, you know, build your own culture and build your.
[00:11:46] Speaker B: Own systems that going into conference play.
[00:11:48] Speaker C: You want to kind of see some improvement.
[00:11:50] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:50] Speaker E: A lot of it's on the defensive side of pucks, making sure that we're. We become more stingy, being okay with being simple. Right. I think that's a big thing. I think right now we're kind of in the mix of maybe trying to do too much at times where if we simplify our game, it'll make it a little bit easier for us.
[00:12:10] Speaker A: What do you know about New Hampshire?
[00:12:12] Speaker E: They've played Yukon pretty good. They're gonna, you know, it's a bigger sheet, so they're gonna. We're gonna have to get used to that as well. It's from the dots to the goal lines. Long way. So hopefully we gotta be ready to skate. They're gonna be ready to skate. It's gonna be a good test.
[00:12:33] Speaker A: We're going to step outside of the rink for just a little bit. We're going to head over to the football field. Adam Schindler, my gazette colleague, will talk about union football and uality football. They have home games this weekend, both of them. Union will be against Buffalo State and Elon comes to Ualbany, not Elon Musk. Trust me, better. Elon University. You're listening to the parting shots podcast.
[00:13:01] Speaker C: Speed, skill, physicality. Home to college hockey's elite teams, coaches and student athletes. ECAC hockey, twelve programs competing at the highest level. A league where champions are born and world class professionals are trained. Where history is abundant and a commitment to the cutting edge is unrivaled. The best facilities, the fiercest competition.
ECAC hockey. There's no experience like it.
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[00:13:48] Speaker C: Hi, this is Union men's hockey alum Tyler Hines. You're listening to the parting shots podcast.
[00:13:53] Speaker D: With Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shops.
[00:13:56] Speaker A: Welcome back to the podcast. We're taking a little break from the college hockey talk to talk college football with the Gazettes Adam Schinder and Adam Union coming off the by and coming off a really bad loss at St. Lawrence two weeks ago, their home against Buffalo State on Saturday. You had a chance to go over there to media availability on Wednesday. What is the mood like with the Garner Chargers?
[00:14:18] Speaker B: I mean, they understand that it has not been good. It has not been what they wanted, but they're also coming off a buy and finally home. After four road games out of their first five. They're refreshed and they're energized. So they've played five games, they've got five games to go on the regular season. And there's a real sense that as badly as things have gone so far, they've been very close their last two games, as much as they did not go their way, and they're in position to at the very least make things better going down the stretch.
[00:14:51] Speaker A: What adjustments are they making as they headed into this game on Saturday?
[00:14:55] Speaker B: I mean, they've really just stressed, you know, taking care of what they've done. The big thing. I mean, offensively, this is a team that has to finish drives. They really struggle. They should have put the St. Lawrence game away, had a bunch of red zone possessions that they did not finish off, and it's really just consistency. They've been good in spurts and then just disappeared for spurts as well. So they're. They're just in a position to say, hey, we need to clean those things up. And if we can actually actually put 60 minutes together of the kind of football they've shown themselves to be capable of, then they could have a few of potential over these last five games. But if anything's going to happen, it has to be this week.
[00:15:34] Speaker A: What did John Drock have to say to you about what's going on?
[00:15:38] Speaker B: I mean, he was encouraged by what he's seen in practice the last two weeks. He said for a team that had been basically, they'd been stuck together since August with no real breaks, hadn't gotten anyone chances. They were refreshed and refocused and they've been, you know, really stressing getting young guys involved. They've played 13 freshmen pretty significantly so far, so there have been growing pains. But, but he does see, you know, the light at the end of the tunnel.
[00:16:05] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. The first game was against St. Lawrence. So, I mean, how important is it to come out here on Saturday against Buffalo State, a league opponent, and, you know, just take, take it to him, take control. Just play that 60 minutes and get back to 500 in Liberty League playd.
[00:16:22] Speaker B: Realistically, if they want to make anything out of this season, a win has to come. The tough part of their Liberty League schedule is still to come. Their last four games are really, really tough. At Hobart, home against Ithaca, home against Rochester, and then at RPI for the. For the shoes.
Buffalo State has been at the bottom of this league for. For a long time. They probably won't be in the bottom of the league next year with Hilbert coming in as sort of an adjunct member and a really struggling team. But this is a game that they have to win and they have to play well. This can't be a Suny maritime game again, where things look ugly. If they come out on homecoming and really show up then, yeah. You're pretty excited for what you can do over the last, the following four weeks.
[00:17:07] Speaker A: Looking at Buffalo stay scheduled. They're two and three on the year. However, their last two games, two weeks ago they got blitzed by mercy or stuff, 55 nothing. And then last week against Hobart, lost 31 to three. So Union can't afford to look past this team. But at the same time, they have to realize this team has given up 86 points and just scored three in the last two games.
[00:17:30] Speaker B: Yeah, this is the most beatable team left on their schedule. And really, you look, especially when you look at what Buffalo State did early in the season, they beat, they have wins. Twelve nothing win over Alfred State and 42 to six win over a Hilbert team that union played last year. It legitimately looked like a half decent section two team would go out and beat him by four touchdowns. High school kids was just a team that did not look ready to play college football.
This is a game. Yeah, you can't take it for granted. And Buffalo State's a team that John Drock, and then he said, we're not looking past anyone. We're one in four. We can't afford to do that. But they know this is a take.
[00:18:12] Speaker A: Care of business quarterback situation. Patch Flanagan still the man.
[00:18:15] Speaker B: Yeah, patch Flanagan. I mean, is coming off a game where he ran for 200 plus yards, could I. It's not a team that has a lot of experience at quarterback behind him. If they struggle to throw the ball, could I see a change maybe being made? Yeah. We were halfway through the season. It might be worth it to experiment, but they have. But really, the offense has not been as much about his struggles as struggles to establish everything around him. They haven't found a guy who can really stretch the field in the passing game. And their two really excellent running backs, John Anderson and Michael Fiore, have not really gotten going to the level that they did last year.
[00:18:51] Speaker A: Let's go over to you, Albany. It's coming off a 20, 417 win at Bryant last Saturday, and they host Elon, not Elon Musk and 330 on Saturday at Bob. At Bob Forfield, at Tom and may at Mary Casey Stadium. Good win for them last week on the road and to get back to 500 in conference play. And how big is this game on Saturday?
[00:19:14] Speaker B: I mean, second straight week last week where Ualbany didn't have a great first half. You couldn't put the ball in the end zone in the first half and then came out and took care of business in the second half. That game ended up looking a little bit closer than it actually was. They're up two touchdowns late. Then they give up a long touchdown drive. They don't recover an onside kick. And then. But then Bryant is short on a Hail Mary. But this is a game. They were up by two touchdowns with a couple of minutes to go. What you look at for the rest of this game, this Elon game is a. Again, the really tough portion of this CAA schedule is still to come. It's actually really the following three weeks at Delaware, home against New Hampshire at an improved Stony Brook team for the Golden Apple Trophy. So this Elon game is, hey, we're get to a four and three, three game winning streak. You're above 500 in the conference. And now you can really start saying, we struggled early in the season, but with one CAA loss, if we can get through the CAA with one or two losses, that is usually a playoff resume.
[00:20:19] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, obviously still wanted to win the conferences with the one loss.
[00:20:24] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, last year everyone had one loss in this conference and it's a year that when, with William and Mary out of the conference, undefeated in the CAA, with how many teams there are, is really, really difficult.
[00:20:35] Speaker A: How come we don't see Villanova on this rough schedule anymore?
[00:20:37] Speaker B: Because there are so many teams in the CAA and. Yeah, Novillanova, which is a team they played, but they didn't play Delaware last year. This year they played Delaware.
[00:20:47] Speaker A: This is Delaware's last year, isn't it?
[00:20:48] Speaker B: Yeah. Delaware is moving up, but this is a struggling Elon team. They've lost their last four games played. New Hampshire close. And if you look at it, it's the CIA. There are almost always close games, these teams, from one to 14, 1637. However many teams go in and out of this league on a year to year basis. They are always close to each other. Yeah. Elon's one in five, but they played a couple of close games in their last few.
[00:21:16] Speaker A: The better Elon. That's for stay, I'm sure, other than Elon University, greater than Elon Musk, but. So it'll be a good weekend. I mean, you'll be covering the union game against Buffalo State. Yeah. They had to be happy. Union being home again. That's a good. I think. I don't know. John probably didn't make that schedule, but I think that's something probably he'll address next season to make sure you have some home games of September.
[00:21:44] Speaker B: This was a tough. This was a tough road for them to be on the road. This much. But yeah, they're happy to be back at, back at home. And again, they're, they're still, you know, they go on the road again next week. They still only have, you know, a handful.
[00:21:56] Speaker A: Yeah. I can't believe when you said that. It's like, yeah, I can't believe you said that. It's like the schedule season is almost over. I can't believe it.
[00:22:03] Speaker B: D three football. D three football at ten game season flies.
[00:22:06] Speaker A: Yeah. So your thoughts on the Eagles and Nick Sirianni?
[00:22:10] Speaker B: I will give it until after this week against the Giants to really say whether I'm, whether I'm fully done or not.
[00:22:18] Speaker A: Yeah. Just they were fortunate to beat the Browns. And Sirianna's act there at the end of the game yelling at the fans, really, he lost me. I'm sorry. I just, I just uncalled for. And you should be fans, all right? They have the right to be angry. You play like crap against coming out of a bye week yet and can play crap against a Cleveland Brown scene that doesn't have a quarterback, but what are you going to do? But then.
Could be worse.
[00:22:47] Speaker B: Could be worse.
[00:22:48] Speaker A: It could be worse. Could be.
[00:22:49] Speaker B: Could be the Carolina Panthers. You could be the Jacksonville Jaguars or.
[00:22:52] Speaker A: The Dallas Cowboys getting blown out at home by Detroit. So, Adam, appreciate a few minutes. We'll do this again next week.
[00:22:58] Speaker B: No problem.
[00:22:58] Speaker A: All right, we're heading back to the ice rink. Brett Gotkin, the head coach of the Merciers men's college hockey team, will join me. We'll talk about this weekend's games coming up against union. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
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[00:23:57] Speaker C: Hi, this is Army West Point hockey.
[00:23:59] Speaker D: Head coach Brian Riley. You're listening to the parting shots podcast with Daily Gazette sports editor Ken Shaw.
[00:24:07] Speaker A: Welcome back to the podcast. My next guest has been coaching Mercy Earth's men's hockey for his 37 season seasons now, and it's been a while since we've seen this gentleman at Messer, Inc. And he'll be here with his team, the Motor series Lakers, for two games Friday and Saturday. I like to welcome Rick Gotchen to the podcast. Rick, welcome in long time no see. How are things down in Erie, Pennsylvania?
[00:24:32] Speaker D: Yeah. Ken, hey, thank you for having me on. You know what? It's great to be with you. You and I go back a long way when I was a young assistant at RPI.
Yeah, things are good here. You know, we're excited. We have a good young team, we think, and just happy it's hockey season, so looking forward to getting back to the Capital district here in a couple days.
[00:24:52] Speaker A: Yeah. The last time you guys were here was October 29, 2004, was a three two union victory. And the only, only play three times in the history is a one one one record. You guys won that during division three era, February 27, 1995, for victory. And then there was a tie on November 24, 2000. A two two tie.
How much, how much fun you look to get back here? As you said, you were assistant RPI. How much fun you're looking forward to get back here?
[00:25:23] Speaker D: Well, you know what? I always love coming back to the capital district. We played it at RPI two years ago. It was great to be back in and around Troy and seeing a few friends that still exist from my day there. It'll be awesome to get back to union and, you know, still a couple of people working in and around that program that I know very well and have relationships with John Ronan, you know, Brian Brinker, you know. So it's going to be. It's going to be really, really fun to come back there. And Josh has done a great job with that program there, and I didn't realize, and I'm really excited. This is the last year of the Ranker new facility going in. So honestly, I didn't even know that when we put games together. But to be able to play in that beautiful old building is going to be a treat for our guys.
[00:26:19] Speaker A: I don't know if you get a channel where guys are staying when you come to town, but the rank is going up at a good rate over near the Rivers casinos. If you ever get, you get a chance this weekend, you should check it out. I mean, it's going up at a nice pace and the stands already and not the seats yet, but you could see a lot of stuff going on inside the building. So it's, it's coming along pretty well.
[00:26:42] Speaker D: I heard it's going to be a beautiful building. And, you know, we've, we've stayed a couple of times down around that area, and I know the area, and it's going to be a tremendous setup for, for union and their hockey program.
[00:26:55] Speaker A: Yeah. Talk about a little bit about your team. What, what, how are things you've been going so far?
[00:27:00] Speaker D: Yeah, you know, it's, it's obviously early. We're still trying to learn a lot about our team and our players. But I can tell you, I like, I like our team right now.
We've played two weekends now, all four games have been at home. We, we played Bowling Green two weekends ago, and we, we lost two one in a game that really could have gone either way. And then we, the next night, we lost five four in overtime. And then last weekend, we played Rit, as you know, one of the best teams in our conference. We won four two on Friday, and we lost four two on Saturday. So I think all those games really felt the same. I thought both Rit and Bowling Green were very good. I thought all four games could have gone either way. I think, really, we should be two or two right now.
We probably shouldn't be four and o, but, you know, with a bounce, we might have been three and one. But, you know, to your direct question, we like our team. You know, we have a lot of new faces, and we have a lot of young guys, and, you know, right now they're showing the willingness to work hard and compete and play with discipline. And, you know, that's always a nice thing when you're standing behind the bench.
[00:28:15] Speaker A: What's it like coaching the mercy earth for all that time? Have you ever had opportunities to go elsewhere? And what is it about Erie, Pennsylvania, that you love?
[00:28:24] Speaker D: Yeah, you know what, Kenny? I really haven't had a lot of opportunities to go anywhere else. There's been a couple of inquiries, but, you know, really, I love Erie. I married a beautiful girl from, from Erie, and we raised a beautiful.
[00:28:42] Speaker A: Background.
[00:28:43] Speaker D: Yeah, you could hear her laughing in the background, so I did. I'm being sincere. We raised two beautiful children here that are now adults. And, you know, as Kitty likes you, and those roots start to get a little deeper every year. They keep getting deeper and deeper. And, you know, Mercers has been a wonderful place to work. Erie has been an absolute great place to live and raise a family. And I can tell you I'm planning on retiring, so, you know, I don't know when that's going to be, but, you know, it's been, you know, I've been blessed, you know, I've been blessed. I've been very lucky. And, you know, I get to work with great people and it just really has been a dream come true for me.
[00:29:26] Speaker A: Well, I'm glad you're not retiring this year because we already have Mike Schaefer going after this year, Brian Riley, Army West Point, who was just up here, and a great guy, Jeff Jackson in Notre Dame. So it's like some of the old guard is starting to leave us.
[00:29:41] Speaker D: Yeah, that's right. And, you know, I don't think can, you know, I mean, it's not a question of if I'm going to retire. The question is what am I going to retire? I think we're all on the same boat with that. So I like to think I got a few more good years left. You know, at the end of the day, you know, I'm on the back, you know, but I love what I do. I love our kids, you know, but like I said, you know, you can't, you can't do this job forever.
[00:30:10] Speaker A: So how has the game changed while you coach? I mean, obviously that. I think the biggest impact has been the transfer portal.
[00:30:18] Speaker D: Yeah. So, you know, the transfer portal can. I mean, we all have to deal with it. I don't, I don't like it. I'm not sure many people do, but, you know, it's what it is and you have to adjust. And the kids are great. I mean, you know, they're, they're a lot smarter than when you and I were breaking into the game. They know a lot more. They have so many ways to connect, you know, through the Internet and everything else. So, you know, you have to kind of get to their level. But, you know, the transfer portal is a transfer portal. It'd be interesting to see what happens with this whole Canadian Hockey League thing, which I think we all believe that might be coming here sooner than later.
You know, it's just different. And again, you know, I don't like any of it, but it's what it is and we just either have to adapt or get out, you know, so we're trying to adapt like everybody else. And, you know, we lose good players in the portal like a lot of teams do. And, you know, you bring a couple players and even though this year we weren't that active in bringing in the transfers, we had commitments to some pure freshman young guys and we wanted to honor those commitments and they've been good. And the truth is, if they're going to be really good, I'll probably leave Mercers but that's just how it is. And we'll just reload and keep going.
[00:31:41] Speaker A: You mentioned the canadian hockey situation, hockey league situation. How much is, do you think that's going to impact college hockey?
Will the floodgates open? And really, will we see basically a wild, wild west situation?
[00:31:57] Speaker D: Yeah, you know, okay. It's going to be an interesting thing because I think for programs like mercy, Hearst, it could be, and I don't know for sure, but it could be a good thing because I think what it's going to do, it's going to increase the player pools. There's going to be more players available. Right. I think the bad part, you know, those truly great players in the Canadian Hockey League, if they don't sign NHL contracts and they want to go to university, you know, NCAA schools, they're probably going to end up at the big, big programs, right? I mean, if Conor McDavid was still playing for the Erie Otters, I'm not sure he's interested in coming to Mercy Hearst, you know, he might be interested in going to Michigan or North Dakota or Boston College or you can name the, you know, the big schools, any Big ten school you can think of. So I think the competitive balance might continue to change, maybe not in a good way for schools like Mercers, but I think the player pool will be bigger. And, you know, for us, being an Erie, having a major junior team in the Ontario Hockey League, the Eriadas, you know, there's, there's kids right there that practice in our rank quite often, you know, a third 4th line kid on the Erie Otters might be able to help a program like Mercier. So it's going to be, it's going to be an interesting, interesting thing. I don't know if the canadian junior coaches and GM's like it, you know, or the thought of it. I think the NCAA coaches, I think if you talk to someone, me, with a program like ours, they might tell you it could be a good thing, you know, but at the end of the day, it's going to be really, really interesting to see where this whole thing goes. Does it end with canadian junior players? Does it filter into minor pro players? You know, would be recruiting kids from the East Coast Hockey League one day, you know, where does it end? Right? I mean, what's the difference if a guy's playing in East coast hockey league or even the american hockey league? What's the difference, you know, than a quarterback getting $500,000 a year from, you know, a power five football program?
[00:34:05] Speaker A: Yeah, it's it's not. So college sports, though, it's crazy these.
[00:34:09] Speaker D: Days and it's not. It's, you know, and again, I don't want to speak for anybody else. I personally don't like it, but it's what it is.
[00:34:17] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, if you have. If that does happen, I mean, is there an advantage for you guys because you have that Eri otters team there that you could look at and maybe try to recruit?
[00:34:30] Speaker D: Yeah, so we're gonna definitely try to do that. You know, I don't know how many of those kids will actually get, but again, if that opens up, you know, having your insurance arena that leave 7 miles away, why not, you know, why not stick our toe in the pool and see if there's any interest and, you know, coming mercers for a year or two, you know, and see, see what that whole thing goes. But I think we would absolutely do that. You know, and from a recruiting standpoint, we could. We could go there and be back in our beds easily and save some.
[00:35:07] Speaker A: Money, say travel money and save recruiting money.
[00:35:10] Speaker D: There's no, no question about it. So, you know, again, I worry about how that's going to affect development, you know, for these young kids in Canada and United States. And, you know, it's. It's going to be going to be interesting. I will tell you this thing. You know, the kids that want to transfer, they still might want to transfer, but I think you really have to be careful now more so than ever because there could be more of those good players available, you know, so maybe that'll help kids to stay at the places they originally committed to. So I don't know. As you know, Ken, the NCAA is a wonderful organization, but it seems to be changing.
[00:35:47] Speaker A: Yeah, we also see how it affects the junior a leagues like in Canada and the leagues like the United States Hockey league, North American Hockey League, what happens to those leagues?
[00:35:57] Speaker D: Absolutely. And again, I think some of those leagues, I think the USHL will be fine. You know, the North American Hockey League, junior hockey league, which is a great, great loop, as you know, those same types of loops, like you said, in Canada. I think some of those programs are going to, some of those leagues might be in a little bit of a trouble. So, you know, I don't know if it's going to be a good thing. I really don't. I get there'll be more opportunity for players, and that's probably a good thing, but I don't know if it's going to be a really, really good thing when it's all said and done, but no one really knows how to, you know, how to handle it.
[00:36:36] Speaker A: I mean, it's.
[00:36:37] Speaker D: This whole thing is being. Is playing out in the, you know, in court. You know, I mean, it's. It's not one person making a decision or anything else. I mean, I think it's being dictated by, potentially the Supreme Court and what's. What's considered antitrust and, you know, players rights. You know, anyone's right, you know, to. To make money and do things, you know? And it's. It's. It's like you said, it's the life. Wild west.
[00:37:04] Speaker A: What was John Ronan like there for you at Mercy Hearst?
[00:37:07] Speaker D: John Ronan was unbelievable at Mercy Hearst. An absolute great guy, a great family man, a talented coach.
You know, we loved having John here, and we wish we could have kept him for, you know, for a few more years, but obviously, he got another wonderful opportunity to return to union and in more of a full time role. And, you know, he. He helped our program grow in leaps and bounds, and I know, you know, him and his family just absolutely great people, and he does a great job.
[00:37:42] Speaker A: Yeah. And, yeah, he had the unenviable task replacing Rick Bennett after Rick resigned under some cloudy circuit.
[00:37:49] Speaker D: I was all. Yeah, that was all unfortunate, but, you know, everybody lands on their feet, right?
[00:37:54] Speaker A: Yep. So let me ask you about. There's always talk about realignment. Do you see you guys staying in the American Hockey association or maybe joining another, like, ECA soccer down the road?
[00:38:07] Speaker D: Well, I can tell you, Ken, I mean, Merciers has always taken a position that we would certainly listen at anything.
We right now have no, you know, no plans to go anywhere other than atlantic hockey America. We love the conference we're in. We love the schools that make up our conference. With that being said, who knows if realignment will happen again? A lot of people seem to think that quite possibly will happen, and if that did, we would certainly listen. If there's another opportunity, if there's another lead, we would certainly listen.
I don't know if we would actually go. But at the end of the day, those decisions are obviously something that, you know, our administration would have to consider or look at, you know, but there's no. I can tell you, there's no chatter. There's no talk.
There's no urgency to try to go anywhere or do anything. We're very, very comfortable and happy in Atlantic hockey. We think it's a great conference that gets better and better every single year, and, you know, we think we're in a good situation.
[00:39:17] Speaker A: Well, Rick, always great to talk to you. Great catching up with you. I'll see you this weekend. We'll talk postgame and have some fun this weekend.
[00:39:25] Speaker D: Awesome. Ken. Well, listen, thank you for the chance to be on your show. And again, looking forward to getting back to the capital district and seeing lots of old friends, good friends. You certainly one of those people at the top of the list. And yeah, I mean, we're excited to have a chance to be at union and looking forward to a great weekend. So thank you.
[00:39:46] Speaker A: I appreciate it, Rick, thanks. We'll see you on Friday.
That's Rick Gacha. I'll be back with the wrap up the podcast and have the latest winners in the Daily Gazettes. You pick them football and auto racing contest in just a moment.
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[00:41:04] Speaker A: Back to wrap up the podcast, the week six winner in the Daily Gazette's you pick and football contest was Mark Lawyer of Schenectady with a 140 record. Mark wins a dollar 100 Hannaford gift card. Congratulations, Mark. Seven vip players posted a twelve and two record, including Adam Schindler and me. It went to a tiebreaker and Dwayne Leach of all season equipment was the winner. I improved to 57 and 35. Adam is 58 and 34.
I'll announce the U Pick Em football contest winner's name and that winner's name will appear in Thursday's Daily Gazette. To play, go to dailyGazette.com and click on the you pick em football banner. The week 32 winner in the Daily Gazette's auto racing contest was Mary Campbell of Latham with 55 points. Mary wins a dollar 50 gift card. Congratulations, Mary. The vip winner, Scott Lucher of Capital and GMC with 60 points. Way to go, Scott. 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.
Just because Covid-19 mandates are easing, that does not mean you should relax. Be vigilant. If you have not gotten vaccinated or received a booster shot, please do so. Do it for yourself, do it for your family, and do it for your friends.
Don't forget to download the Daily Gazettes app and sign up for our e edition so you never miss a headline. Subscribe today at www.dailygazette.com. we have a lot of great specials going on when credibility matters, trust the Daily gazettes. That wraps up another edition of the Parting Shots podcast. I want to thank members of the Union College men's and women's hockey teams Adam Schinder and Rick Gochten for being a part of the show. If you have questions or comments about the podcast, email them to me at shot. That's schottailygazette.com. follow me on x and threads at slap shots 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 Schott. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time. Time from the parting Shots podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. Good day. Good sports.
