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 Giesy, 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. And that's our weekly visit with Union Meds head hockey host Josh Housie. Josh, welcome back. How are things?
[00:00:37] Speaker B: Things are good.
[00:00:38] Speaker A: That's good. Well, the Garden of Chargers had this past weekend off. They're back in action with two non conference games against Alaska Fairbanks at Messer Inc. Game times are 7pm Friday and 4pm Saturday. First of all, how was it having last weekend off?
[00:00:52] Speaker B: You know, it was nice. Get to spend a little time with family, try to get on the road, do a little recruiting and you know, at the same point when you're playing pretty good, you want to keep playing though.
[00:01:01] Speaker A: Yeah. And we talked on last week's show about how you wanted to spend the practice practices. Did you accomplish what you wanted to do and how were those practices? I think a lot of it was like specialty situations, 4 and 3, 6 on 5, 6 on 4, that kind of stuff.
[00:01:14] Speaker B: Yeah, we got to get, you know, a good, a good amount of things done that we hadn't spent some time on, especially three on three, four on four and just, you know, some different special situations. So that was good for the group. And you know, I thought we had good energy and good compete during that time and guys are getting ready for finals here in the next 10 days. So it gave them a little extra time to focus on academics.
[00:01:36] Speaker A: That's the most important thing, of course, the academics. So yeah, apparently some of the players were dealing with illness last week. I think John Prokop mentioned it during Monday's media availability. You may have mentioned it too during your media availability on Monday.
Is everybody feeling better now and was it better for some of the players to get sick when they weren't playing any games or getting ready, getting ready to play games?
[00:01:59] Speaker B: Yeah, we had the ability to, you know, give some guys some days off and really try to rest everybody up. You know, those games against RPI are pretty physical and intense. So it was, it was a battle and you know, it was nice to give some guys some days to recover.
[00:02:13] Speaker A: Well, let's talk about the matchup against Alaska Fairbanks. The big story of these games is you're going to face your good Friend in Alaska Fairbanks, head coach Eric Largon. How much fun is this going to be?
[00:02:23] Speaker B: You know, it's great having them, you know, in town and, you know, just being able to coach against them. We've coached together before and, you know, we're good friends, so we're not as close this week. It's always a weird thing. You know, you want to say hello and be respectful, but at the same point, you know, we got to be ready for Friday. And just like they have to.
[00:02:40] Speaker A: Of course, I was over there Monday to talk Derek, and then you guys, I happened to come upstairs and you guys were talking together and was able to get some pictures for the go with my story. It's going to appear on dailygazette.com and in the print edition on Thursday. But first of all, talk about how you two first met.
[00:02:56] Speaker B: Yeah, so Eric was a goaltender at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and I was coaching the Fairbanks Ice Dogs, and he had a career ending injury, and he was kind of trying to figure his way, you know, kind of through. Through how to handle that, you know, hockey being kind of ripped from him. And we invited him to join our staff and ended up becoming really good friends. And, you know, ever since then, just, you know, somebody that we talk. We talk on a regular basis. I think he's a great hockey mind and, you know, really, really enjoy our.
[00:03:23] Speaker A: Friendship because he was. You said he was in your wedding and you were going to be in his wedding, but I think it was Covid prevented that.
[00:03:29] Speaker B: Yeah. So unique situation where.
Yeah. Wasn't able to. Yeah. Just end up going to a courthouse. So he didn't even get up to Alaska, which I know my wife, and she probably wouldn't want to make that trip again, so she was happy about that.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: How many years were you. Was he with you at Fairbanks?
[00:03:49] Speaker B: He was with me for two years, and he really made a big difference in the program. And, you know, his first year with us, we lost in the national championship. And then the second year, we were lucky enough to win it, and he was a big part of those teams.
[00:04:01] Speaker A: And then one year, Tri City.
[00:04:03] Speaker B: Yep. Yep.
[00:04:04] Speaker A: What year was that?
[00:04:05] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, they all blend at this point. But yeah, so he. He has a big, you know, big help in me, you know, getting my start in coaching and, you know, really kind of taking the next level and, you know, a good friend.
[00:04:19] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, here for America. As I mentioned, I was over there on Monday and I talked with him and we'll hear him on Thursday's podcast. But here's Something, a quote I. He said about you.
He said about you. He's. He's really good. He gives you different tasks to be able to do. I think he's one of the best recruiters in the game as well, and he does a great job of being able to get his players to play hard for him. I've always had a lot of respect for him and usually Josh's teams are going to be teams that are going to be able to make some plays and work extremely hard. Your thoughts on what Eric said?
[00:04:51] Speaker B: Hey, it's nice to hear. You know, he's. Like I said, he's a good friend and someone that you have a ton of respect for. The job he has to do every year trying to replace players at the University of Alaska, he's done. And I do think that we're lucky that we have the players we have. And if that's because of recruiting, I like to think we have a good eye as a staff and that we bring the right type of people and that can make plays and play hard. And it's good to hear another coach say that.
[00:05:20] Speaker A: Well, what do you think of the job he's done at Alaska Fairbanks? He's had to deal with playing as an independent.
Of the 25 row games they're playing this season, 22 of them are outside the state of Alaska.
Can't be easy for a place to coach. And the one thing you said at Monday's meeting available, you also said here, Eric has stayed loyal to the school, a place where he played for the Nooks and then graduated from there in 2010. So you talk about that loyalty.
[00:05:47] Speaker B: Well, I think that in this game right now, there's not a lot and there's very few people that when they have an opportunity to show respect to the people that gave them that opportunity, if more money's involved, they bail. And I think I just respect the fact that he stayed loyal, not moving his family. And he's gone a long time with 25 road games and they're out here for 12 days. He has three young kids.
Without him, that program probably would have went under a couple years back. And he stayed loyal.
He's had other opportunities to leave, and I respect it a lot that he has stayed. And, you know, that's. For me, that's something that I want to do is like, you want to build a program, you want to, you know, take it to a spot that it's better when you leave than when you got there and sustain it. It's not just being there for a couple years and doing a good job. It's being there and sustaining. Yeah.
[00:06:42] Speaker A: Eric's a Fairbanks native, too. Right. So, I mean, it's, you know, he's home. That's his home.
[00:06:47] Speaker B: Yes. Yeah. And it's, it's got to, it's got to be home for you if you're going to be there, because it is a, it's a tough place to, at times to live, but there's great people up there and he's one.
[00:06:57] Speaker A: Well, probably the time where Tavi is probably starting to get dark up there right now.
[00:07:01] Speaker B: But it's. I always, you know, you'd go to practice in the morning and then you'd come out at 11 and have a little sunlight and then, and then you'd leave for lunch at like 1:00 and it was already getting done.
[00:07:13] Speaker A: How tough is that?
[00:07:14] Speaker B: It was hard. I mean, it was, you know, we got to at least get out and get down to Texas and play games and, you know, leave. So you'd get a little sunlight. But, you know, my wife, who again, she was up there the whole time during the winter, it was really hard on her and I.
[00:07:29] Speaker A: The summers had to be fun, though. It was all daylight.
[00:07:32] Speaker B: Yeah, you'd get, you know, you get, you know, I'll never forget, like, my first weekend up there. I was doing stuff around the rink and just kind of cleaning things up and moving things out of a trailer into a, you know, a garage. And I thought it was going to be 7:00 and I looked and it was 11:30 at night. I mean, you just lost time because it was so, I mean, having the daylight.
[00:07:51] Speaker A: How'd this game come about?
[00:07:54] Speaker B: They, you know, for, for us, I think part of what we're trying to do as a program is help other programs that are, you know, trying to grow the game. And they were, they were looking for games and so we, we actually have them on the schedule here. They're going to be coming back again next year and.
[00:08:06] Speaker A: Oh, they are. Okay.
[00:08:07] Speaker B: So we'll end up going there at some point, but our equipment manager, Dave Begley, I've tried to push it off as far as I can for him. So he doesn't, he doesn't like that trip. So.
[00:08:18] Speaker A: Yeah, it's been a while since you've been up there. I know that. Yeah, it might have been when Nate.
[00:08:21] Speaker B: Was coaching originally it was going to be next season, but with us going to, going to Belfast next year, we, we couldn't do those two trips. So we've, we decided to Push it off.
[00:08:29] Speaker A: Well, you could put no frequent flyer.
[00:08:31] Speaker B: Yeah, it would have been a lot, you know, so it's. Well, the big benefit to playing them as well is you get two extra home games that year. You can add two games. So if you make the trip up there, you can, you know, play two more exhibition or two more out of conference games. So to help with the cost and whatnot.
[00:08:48] Speaker A: Okay, well, let's take a break. We'll have another mess of rig memory for you, and then we'll have more with Josh Alger. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
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[00:10:27] Speaker B: Hi, this is Union College hockey alum Sebastian Midmar. You're listening to Departing Shots Pot with Daily Cassette sports editor Ken Schott.
[00:10:35] Speaker A: The Parting Shots podcast presents another Union hockey meserink memory.
[00:10:41] Speaker E: Hello, I'm Jeremy Welsh. I played for Union College men's hockey from 2009 until 2012.
My most vivid memory of playing the Messer Ring, I think winning the Cleary cup at home on senior night my freshman sophomore year.
Our first Cleary cup. And I remember it was so loud and everyone was so excited.
Also, I remember we beat Yale when they were ranked number one in the country at home.
I remember that because the rink was just ecstatic and so loud. And then the students on campus, really the football fans, and everybody was impressed that we could beat the number one team in the country at home. So I remember they all wanted to go out and congratulate us, but we had to play the next night again so we didn't get to celebrate till this Saturday. Yeah.
[00:11:33] Speaker A: Welcome back to the podcast. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast with junior head coach Josh Algy. I'm Ken Schott. Then the Nooks come in with a 251 record. They're coming off an impressive effort this past weekend. Josh at Clarkson. They beat Clarkson 31 on Friday and then earned a 33 tie on Saturday. Their other win came at then 18th ranked Notre Dame. A 1 nothing triumph on October19. So how important is it for your team to not take Alaska Fairbanks lightly?
[00:11:59] Speaker B: Well, you look at their games, you know, their losses. They have two games where they lost, you know, in the three on three they lost two one to Michigan Tech and then they lost, I believe it was 2:1 to Penn State as well. But those are both overtime losses. So they've played a tough schedule. They've played, you know, a lot of games on the road and they can't. They have 19 first year players, whether they're transfers or first year players to college hockey. So they're just kind of finding their feet underneath them and they'll be a competitive team. Whenever you play them, they're extremely competitive. They play really hard, they play a defensive game. They don't give you anything. So I don't think we've taken them lightly at all. And we're still trying to make sure that people view us as a team that we think we're pretty talented and we can work hard and do things the right way and we need to keep winning if we're going to have that reputation.
[00:12:53] Speaker A: What have you seen on tape? Any particular players that stand out?
[00:12:56] Speaker B: I think Kyle Gaffney is a really nice player for him. He plays hard, he plays the right way, but it starts for them in the net. Their goaltender is outstanding and he keeps them in every game. And they play a structure that doesn't allow to get to them easy. So it's difficult to get there. And I think the biggest thing that stands out is how structured they are and how well they defend.
[00:13:19] Speaker A: What's going to be the key for your team to get two victories and extend your winning streak here?
[00:13:23] Speaker B: I think we have to manage the puck and we can't give them any free offense right now. We're giving up too many odd rushes.
We got to limit those numbers and, you know, continue to just possess the puck, and I think he can have zone time against him. I think we can, you know, grind him and really protect the puck and take pucks to the net and get it to traffic and hard areas. But it's no easy task. So when you haven't a chance to attack, you need to.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: Well, the team took Tuesday off for election Day. What was the significance of taking that day off, especially for the American players? And I'm not sure how invested the Canadian players were in the presidential election.
[00:13:57] Speaker B: Well, I think it's something that everybody kind of, you know, is definitely watching and following. And, you know, we want to give the guys the opportunity to vote and be a part of that process if they'd like to. And, you know, we spoke. Us and Alaska both spoke, and we decided we would do whatever, you know, both teams decided. And the ncaa, if you don't take the day off, you have to take a day off within the next two weeks for a day of service to, you know, kind of give back. And. And we thought just at this point to give both teams a day off to, you know, really, you know, put some value on the election.
[00:14:31] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, off the ice, the awards keep coming for Union. Last Thursday, freshman forward Ben Muthersbaugh was named ecacie forward and Rookie of the Month, while defenseman John Prokop earned Ecach Defender of the Month. The next day, Muthersbog was named the Hockey Commissioners Association's National Rookie of the Month. How nice is it for those two to get some recognition for their play in October? Muthersbog leads the team in scoring with six goals and seven assists in seven games. And his 13 points leads all freshman players nationally. And Prokov has three goals and three assists in seven games.
[00:15:05] Speaker B: Yeah, they've both been, you know, great for us in different ways, and I think it's huge for our team to have guys start winning those types of awards. And, you know, we want to be a program that, you know, people strive to get to because they know they're going to be developed and put in spots where they can play and have success. And I think those two guys are prime examples of that. They've been able to step in on day one, be impact players, players for us, and it's our job to keep developing them.
[00:15:31] Speaker A: And if I'll pat myself in the back here, I have a feature on Ben Muth as well, going online at Daily Gazette, dailygazette.com that appeared Monday. It's still up there, so if you get a chance to read it, the Headline of course was he lets his play on the ice speak for him because obviously we know sometimes it's tough to get him to say much in the post game.
[00:15:50] Speaker B: Yeah, he definitely lets his play do the talking.
[00:15:52] Speaker A: Yeah. The ECAC announced last Thursday that has entered into agreement with sny the home in the New York Mets televised conference games. I mean, how important is that to get that exposure for the conference?
[00:16:05] Speaker B: Perception is reality. And you know, in the recruiting world and I think because sometimes we're not on tv, some people, you know, view our league as, you know, why don't you have those games? So I think it was a great move by our commissioner and our league to get this done and you know, really should be able to showcase how good the league is. And you know, we want to be competitive on the national level and I think this is a really big step for the league.
[00:16:27] Speaker A: Yeah, the first game was last Friday and I was good way for ecach gets some exposures. Cornell took care of North Dakota 4 to 1. I don't know if he had a chance to see that game. Of course that Cornell ended up sweeping North Dakota. So I mean, how big is that? I mean there's still that perception out there that the ecstasy is still weak. But they've had three national champions since 2013. So in the league, I think is really, I think one of the stronger ones out there.
[00:16:56] Speaker B: Yeah, it's definitely, you know, something that's, you know, it's leagues that don't have national championships talk about, you know, our league in a negative way. And it's just, I mean, it's just kind of the way it's. It is. And sometimes we get viewed as the academic league. Well, we think it's the best of both worlds. It's a really good league as well as, you know, a place where you're going to get a world class education.
[00:17:16] Speaker A: I'm trying to think how many championships does the Big Ten have right now?
[00:17:19] Speaker B: Yeah, that's.
Yeah, it's a good league.
[00:17:23] Speaker A: We could get into argument what Minnesota tried to do after they lost the union about trying to reduce the number of. You know, age is on the limits on that. But of course that didn't work. That's another story in another time. So. Well, finally union women's head hockey coach Tony Macy returns to Clarkson where he was an associate coach when the Gardner Chargers played the Golden Knights on Friday. You went through that two years ago. Do you have any advice for Tony on how to handle his homecoming?
[00:17:48] Speaker B: Yeah, it'll be emotional for him and It'll be, you know, it's a difficult, you know, thing to go through, but I mean, for him it's really going home. His, you know, his family's still up there. They haven't made the, they haven't made the transition yet. So I'm sure he'll really focus on the game and then get to spend some great time with his family and his wife and kids and they're great. So I'm excited for him to go through it and get back there and just, I mean, what a start for them as well.
[00:18:15] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean. Impressive upset of Cornell, ninth ranked Cornell on Friday, 3, 2 for their first ever win at line of rink and almost pulled off the upset of number six Colgate in Hamilton. Unfortunately for Union, Colgate scored two third period goals to pull out a 4:3 win. But.
And this weekend is going to be test for them with Clarkson and St. Lawrence. But it seems like Tony's got this team on track.
[00:18:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that the group there is, it's, you know, you get a chance to run into them, you know, in the hallways and you know, you know, at the arena and it's just they work really hard. They're always doing extra work. They're shooting pucks, they're, you know, when my kids are around, they're unbelievable with them. So I'm so excited for that program and the steps they're taking. And you know, Tony and his staff there has done, done a great job and this should be a really good test for him this weekend.
[00:19:03] Speaker A: What was your relationship with him up there when you were at Clarkson?
[00:19:06] Speaker B: Well, so the way the offices were set up, the men's and women's offices were, you know, really right next to each other. So I would go over there almost every day and you know, and it's kind of like it is now. Tony and I, you know, spend a lot of time together. We talk a lot and it's great because, you know, I was really close with their staff and, and I really enjoyed my time with coach Skiba. But now it's, you know, it's someone that I've worked with before and it's been good.
[00:19:33] Speaker A: That's one less Josh I have to worry.
I always, always feared I put your name with his and his name with yours. I was like, that's a reporter's nightmare. But any updates on the rink? New rink?
[00:19:44] Speaker B: Yeah, no, just other than like being able to, you know, we did get to walk through it one time and that was awesome. And it's crazy to see that it's going to be enclosed here soon and everything seems to be on a great timeline.
[00:19:59] Speaker A: Well, Josh is always appreciated, of course. We like to take your questions from our listeners. You can email your questions a shot that's schottailygazette.com or post them on Facebook and hex Josh. Appreciate visit and we'll see you on Friday.
[00:20:12] Speaker B: Sounds great.
[00:20:12] Speaker A: All right, that's Josh Halogy. Coming up on Thursday's podcast, I'll have interviews from Monday's Union Hockey's media availability. On the men's side will be John Prokop, Nick Young and Josh Nixon. For the women, it's head coach Tony Macy and players Martin Friday, Emma Hebert and Stephanie Bork. Alaska Fairbanks head coach Eric Larson will also be on the podcast, and my Gazette colleague Adam Schindler will join me to talk about Union and New Albany football. Please tune in.
The views expressed on the Parting Shots podcast are not necessarily those of the Daily Gazette Company. The Parting Shots podcast is a product of the Daily Gazette company I'm Daily Gazette Sports editor Ken Schott. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time from the Parting Shots podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. Good day, good hockey.
