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 G. And welcome to the Parting Shots podcast, available wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe today. Thanks for joining me from the Party Shots podcast studio in Schenectady in New York. It's December, our first podcast of the month, and it's time to talk Union College hockey with men's head hockey coach Josh Hodgy. Josh, welcome back to the podcast. How are things going?
[00:00:42] Speaker B: It's going well. It's crazy to think it's December already.
[00:00:45] Speaker A: So, yeah, it snuck up on us. I mean, I was, you know, thanks. Seem to be late this year and, you know, we're preparing our high school football all Stars. I was like, oh, my God, here we go. It's December. We got to get moving here.
[00:00:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I can't believe how quick it goes. And we're almost on break for Christmas.
[00:01:00] Speaker A: Yeah. So. Well, let's talk about last week. It was a good weekend for the Garden Chargers. For the first time in over a month, the team played road games outside of the Capital Region with a pair of games at Niagara Union came away with a sweep of the series, winning 242 on Friday and 53 on Saturday. Just give me your general thoughts on the weekend.
[00:01:20] Speaker B: You know, I think it's always hard to sweep in college hockey, so really excited about the fact we're able to do that. I thought we came out a little slow on Friday night, but then kind of, you know, got better as the, as the, you know, Friday night game went on. And I thought Saturday was a much more complete effort from us.
[00:01:35] Speaker A: Well, let's start with Friday's game and the surprise move you made with the four lines. Kaden Villegas was on the right side of the top line with center Nate Hanley and left wing Ben Muthersbaugh. The trio has have had great chemistry. In the team's first 11 games, they combined for 13 goals and 23 assists for 36 points. But you made a change. You put Brandon Burr on the right side with Haley and Muthelsbaugh, and Villegas was on the left wing of the line with center Colby McCarthy and right wing Josh Nixon. What prompted the change?
[00:02:05] Speaker B: Well, I think we, we feel like we have a lot of depth up front and, you know, we can get scoring from a lot of different people, whether it's, you know, any of those six or, you know, you know, I think we have a few other guys we really feel like can score. So we were just trying to spark some guys. And you know, the one in particular is, you know, that was that, you know, Caden Villegas and Josh Nixon had a lot of chemistry last year. So we wanted to get those two together and see how it worked.
[00:02:28] Speaker A: Did you feel that you were taking a chance with messing the chemistry?
[00:02:32] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, we shuffle the lines around a little bit in practice from time to time and you know, we have a lot of really good hockey players and I think that, you know, you can, you know, throw a lot of different combinations out there and you're going to have success. It's always a risk. But, you know, earlier here in the season we want to, you know, shuffle it around a little bit and see what we can do.
[00:02:49] Speaker A: Well, the move worked. Viega scored late in the first period off assist from Nixon and MacArthur. The goal snapped a 11 tie and the Union went on to the win. I mean, how happy were you with that particular line?
[00:03:00] Speaker B: Yeah, they were great. I thought that was the best line on the ice that night and they controlled a lot of play. I thought, you know, Josh Nixon particularly was, you know, really good on the weekend. And you know, Vegas and MacArthur were getting in the puck.
[00:03:16] Speaker A: Carter Korpi gave Union a two goal lead just over five minutes into the second period. Niagara scored late in the second to make it 3:2. And in the third period, Niagara outshot Union 10:4. But goalie Kyle Chauvette stopped all the shots in the third and Jacob Jeannette had the, the what I call the mat Dubray. And that will seal the deal. Goal on an empty net or clinch the win. Shauvette finished with 31 save. I mean, how important was his effort in the third period?
[00:03:41] Speaker B: Yeah, he was, he was great on the weekend. And you know, when it was a six on five situation, we didn't, you know, play it the best. And he was there to bail us out when we needed him.
[00:03:52] Speaker A: Well, let's talk about Saturday's game. We talked after Friday's game and you mentioned it just a couple minutes ago. You said Josh Nicks is one of the best players in that game and he continued that on Saturday, scoring 4:10 into the contest and scoring a power play goal at 706.
So how impressive was his weekend?
[00:04:09] Speaker B: Yeah, it was great. You know, he was, he was playing fast and he was playing hard. You know, his defensive play in the game, you know, sometimes gets overlooked, but he did a really nice job. Having a good stick and being in shot lanes and just closing space.
[00:04:22] Speaker A: Yeah, seven or six of the second pair, but each time Nixon scored. Niagara tied it. The Gardens Chargers took the lead for good late in the second period on a great play by Kaden Villegas. As he was skating behind the net from the right side, he made a nifty Back to Colby McArthur, who fired Owens. Make it 3 2. How good was that play?
[00:04:40] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, it was special. I mean, not a lot of people would have saw that. And he put it right on Colby's stick and Colby made no mistake about it. So as good as we were playing to be, two, two, we really needed to go up three two. At the end of the second in.
[00:04:55] Speaker A: The third period, Brandon Burr scores twice to make it five two. Nate Hanley picked up assist on both goals, so seems like there's some great chemistry there between those two.
[00:05:03] Speaker B: Yeah, they played together a lot last year and Brandon can really shoot it. Nate is great at finding and distributing the puck, so was happy with the effort up and down our lineup.
[00:05:15] Speaker A: Kyle Chauvet did not see as many shots in Saturday's game as he did Friday. He made 19 saves. But there was a save late in the second period he made on Trevor Hoskin on a one timer that could have tied the game at three. How big was that stop?
[00:05:28] Speaker B: Yeah, we just mentioned how important that third goal was. So if we would have done all that work and then, you know, went into the, you know, into the third period tied, it would have been disappointing. So I think it gave us a little bit of breathing room and I thought the third period on Saturday was probably our best of the weekend.
[00:05:43] Speaker A: How important was it to get to world victory? This team has, you know, struggled a bit the last couple years away from Mesa.
[00:05:49] Speaker B: Hey, we're growing up and I think we're at that point now that it's. When we go into a building on the road, we're expecting to win. It wasn't, it wasn't always the case there, but we feel confident that we can go anywhere and win. And there's a lot of really, really good hockey teams in college hockey. And that's, you know, it's hard to say that, but that's kind of, I think, the mindset of this group right now.
[00:06:07] Speaker A: How was the trip home? Did you run into Lake effect snow? Because we saw a lot of that snow on Sunday. Even during the Sunday night football game between Buffalo and San Francisco.
[00:06:15] Speaker B: Yeah, like, it was weird because in Niagara it wasn't really snowing. And then we got on the highway and for about an hour it was pretty slow moving, going about 30 miles per hour. But once we got out, you know, close to Rochester, it was fine the rest of the way and got back about 12:30. So it wasn't too bad.
[00:06:32] Speaker A: It was just weird. As they mentioned watching the Sunday night game where the snow was coming down hard in North Shore park. They were showing drone shots in Buffalo. It was nothing coming down. So it's just crazy how lake effect snow works.
[00:06:43] Speaker B: Yeah, they were. Some of the people there were saying that, like it'll. It'll just be, you know, really bad in Buff, like in parts of Buffalo and then in Niagara, they won't have anything. So I would have thought it was going to be bad in the whole region, but luckily for us, it wasn't.
[00:06:55] Speaker A: Now Niagara comes back next year.
[00:06:57] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:06:57] Speaker A: For two.
[00:06:58] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:06:58] Speaker A: Any specific dates at this point?
[00:07:01] Speaker B: I'm sure we. Yeah, I'm sure we have it somewhere. But like, it's, it's. I'm guessing it'll be around the same time as this. This one.
[00:07:08] Speaker A: Well, let's take a break. I'll have another mess of rig memory. And when we come back, we'll Preview the final ECSE hockey games of 2024 as union heads to Princeton and Quinnipiac. This weekend, you're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:07:26] Speaker C: It's the most historic conference in college hockey. It's a battle night in and night out. BCAC hockey. An iconic conference, home to 12 of the most prestigious universities and programs in the world and showcasing the best student athletes in the sport. Top notch facilities and arenas, incomparable traditions, passionate fans, alumni who go on to become elite professionals, leaders and champions. ECAC hockey. There's no experience like it.
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[00:08:28] Speaker A: The Daily Gazette has some great subscription deals happening. Sign up today at www.dailygazette.com. and as always, when credibility matters, trust the Daily Gazette.
[00:08:40] Speaker E: This is Daily Gazette features editor Adam Schinder.
[00:08:43] Speaker A: I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season and A Prosperous and healthy 2025.
The parting shots podcast presents another mesaric memory once again from Maine head coach Ben Barr. Ben talks about his years as an assistant coach with the Union men's hockey team.
[00:09:02] Speaker E: You know, as a coach like that, those three years I was there as a coach, like really, it was just really cool to be there with Nate and Rick and Bags, you know, like, and Jim, like it was kind of a magical time at that time, as you know, and then what happened, you know, the next few years after that. So like to start as a coach and go through that, there wasn't many moments that didn't feel magical, to be honest with you, you know, like, you know, winning that first Cleary couple was really cool. I remember doing that was against Princeton, I think, you know, it was 2011 maybe, you know, I still had that picture up in the office that was, that was pretty special because it had never been done. And then obviously the team went on and did a lot more than that the next few years. So.
[00:09:51] Speaker A: Welcome back to the podcast. I'm host Ken Schott. I'm joined by Union men's hockey head coach Josh. How do you. Let's talk about this weekend. It's Union's final ECSE hockey games for 2024. The Garner Chargers are back on the road. They will face Princeton at 7pm at historically cold hilly Baker Rink. And then they'll have a quick turnaround Saturday with the game at 18th ranked Quinnipiac at 4pm so let's begin with Princeton. The Tigers were 141 entering last weekend. Some two game home stand against 12th ranked Ohio State. I don't think anyone gave the Tigers much of a chance against the Buckeyes. Many of the participants in my ECC hockey face off selections picked Ohio State to sweep, as did I. Well, that's why they don't play the games. On paper, Princeton stunned the college hockey rule by pulling off a pair of 31 victories. How much did those Princeton wins get your team's attention?
[00:10:41] Speaker B: Well, I think they definitely, you know, we're talking about in the locker room and it was something, you know, we've shown a lot of video of that matchup. But I mean when you look at, you know, Princeton, obviously the record is going in that weekend wasn't as good as maybe people thought they might be. But they played Harvard to overtime loss the game against Colgate. I thought they were really good in the game against Colgate and almost, I don't want to say that they deserve to win, but they very easily could have won that game. And then the game against Cornell, really it was five nothing, but it was a three minute stretch where Cornell just was really good. So I think every game they've been a part of, they've been in it and they're going to make it a difficult game and they're really well coached.
[00:11:24] Speaker A: Ben Sire is in his first season as Princeton's head coach. He was an assistant coach under Mike Schaefer at Cornell. Sire replaced Ron Fogarty, who was fired shortly after last season ended. What does Sire bring do?
[00:11:37] Speaker B: I think he's got a lot of, you know, passion and energy right now. He's been somebody that's been waiting for this opportunity for a long time and you know, I think, you know, you can see it in the way they're playing their benches, you know, alive. They're, they're cheering on all the, all the little stuff that's going on in the game. And I think, you know, he's, he's got him believing right now.
[00:11:55] Speaker A: Union has not won in its last two visits to Hoey Bake Arena. It dropped a 2 nothing decision in 2022, 23, with both Princeton goals coming late in the third period. Last year, Union had a 2 nothing lead after two periods where Princeton scored twice in the third. The game ended 2, 2 after overtime and Princeton got the extra point for the shootout win. What makes playing at Hurry Baker Rink tough?
[00:12:17] Speaker B: Well, it's, yeah, he mentioned it is historic and it's, you know, it's an older venue and it's the, the corners are really tight and things happen really quickly there. So it's, it's a different, different feel and you got to get used to it. But you know, Princeton always competes really hard and we'd expect him to do that on Friday night.
[00:12:35] Speaker A: It's also, as I said, cold there too. It's probably one of the coldest rinks in East Asiake.
[00:12:39] Speaker B: Yeah, it's, it's.
I think the guys like the ice. I think you can, you know, it's a, it's a good skating rink, but it's, it's cold.
[00:12:45] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, Saturday will be a very tough test when Union players at Quinnipiac and the Bobcats have been at the top of ECC hockey for a while. They've been to three fours and four finals and winning it all in 2023 in dramatic fashion in overtime. But we're seeing a different Quinnipiac team early in this season. They are 3, 3 and 1 for 10 points in ECACH play. And 6, 6, 1 overall opening weekend of ECAC hockey play for them. They lost at home to Dart and Harvard and they were shut out by Harvard. They are 311 in the last five games, which includes a win at Cornell. And how surprised are you that they have started slowly?
[00:13:23] Speaker B: I'm surprised they started slowly. I thought they were, you know, a really good team on paper and I think you're seeing that here in their last five, how good they've been and they're, they got some scary talent up front. They can really make plays and they can score. So it's going to be a really good test. There were two really different opponents this weekend, but looking forward to see how we stack up.
[00:13:42] Speaker A: We talked about how tough Hill, Quinnipiac's M and T Bank arena has been a really hard show for Union. The garden charts have lost four straight there. The last two years have been especially rough. An 81 loss in 20, 22, 23 and a 62 setback last season. What makes playing in that arena tough?
[00:14:00] Speaker B: Why? I just think they're a really good team at home and you know, I think our first year, it was maybe a matchup we weren't ready for. It was the last weekend before last game before we went on break and I just, I thought we kind of sleeping through that one. You know, it's, it was a little bit better of a game last season, but I expect again, I think we're a different hockey team right now. I think our guys feel like they can go into any venue and win and, you know, we'll see where we're at this weekend.
[00:14:27] Speaker A: The last nine games overall against Quinnipiac have been pretty difficult. Union is winless in those last nine meetings, including an eight game losing streak. What would a victory against Quinnipiac mean to the team?
[00:14:39] Speaker B: I mean, in all reality it's three points in conference standing and I mean that's what we're looking for. And you know, those games in the past, there's a bunch of us that weren't a part of a lot of them. So I think, you know, we want to get, we want to get a league win and that's, that's really what it comes down to for us is we want to stack points here in the first half and try to keep moving up in the conference and the standings and, you know, put ourselves in a good spot for the second half run.
[00:15:02] Speaker A: I was looking at Quinnipiac's schedule on the web and you're the only team that playing at 4 o'clock. Any reason behind that?
It's a weird one.
[00:15:13] Speaker B: We don't even really know how this kind of came about.
The next thing you know is, hey, you're going to be playing at this time.
I know our women's team does it a lot where they play at 6 and then play at 3 o'clock the following day. So for us to do it on the road, it's a little bit different. But it's a good test, especially to travel from Branson.
[00:15:33] Speaker A: Quarterback, not too easy. You have to go through New York City and sometimes crossing the Georgia Washington Bridge. Not that easy because you got a lot of traffic there. So you don't get into Hampton, Connecticut until about maybe 1, 2 in the morning. So how important is it for this team to make sure they get the rest after the Princeton game?
[00:15:51] Speaker B: Yeah, and it's something we do all the time. It's just, you know, we got to prepare ourselves for the next day and the next, the next test, whether it's at 11 in the morning, 2 in the afternoon, 7 at night, whatever, it doesn't matter. Like, we gotta, we can't make excuses. Both teams got to deal with a short turnaround. You know, for us, we'll, we'll get out of Princeton quick. Hopefully we're celebrating and we can get out of there with a smile on our face and then, you know, start prepping for Quinnipiac. But again, really, you know, feel that it for us, we can only control what we can. And that's, and that's making sure we're ready to go on Saturday.
[00:16:25] Speaker A: Also, about Junior for Parker Lindauer. I'll be featuring him in my opening Face off column. That will be on delegatedet.com on Thursday and Friday's print edition.
[00:16:35] Speaker E: He.
[00:16:35] Speaker A: He played two seasons for Maine before transferring to Union this season and 31 games for Maine. He had a goal and an assist, which both came last season. I didn't know what to expect from him, but he has been a revelation. He has two goals and eight assists in 11 games. Are you surprised with what he has done so far?
[00:16:53] Speaker B: You know, yes and no. I think when someone comes in, you kind of know what they have as far as abilities, what they've done in junior hockey. And, you know, we did a lot of video on him, but, you know, he's been put into a role here where he's been able to thrive and he's played some center, he's played some wing, he's played some power play. Penalty kill. He's done a little bit of everything. So how versatile he has been. Has been a little bit of a surprise.
You know, the production, I think, has been what we were hoping for. I guess we weren't, you know, we weren't 100% sure we were going to get that. But he has that history and that track record, so we're really happy we have him.
[00:17:33] Speaker A: Well, the one thing I've noticed about him is what he does when he gets behind the opposing team's net, which is often referred to as Gretzky's office.
He surveys what's happening in front of the net. He always seems to make that good pass that leads to a goal. I mean, that's what happened on Josh Nixon's second goal in Saturday's game against Niagara. I mean, how impressed are you with his vision?
[00:17:52] Speaker B: Yeah, he's got great vision and he can find puck or put the puck in space that a lot of people can't. And you know, for us he's been, you know, he's been really good. So we're really pleased again that we have him. And he has a lot of qualities, just even as a leader and as a person that we're, you know, really thrilled about.
[00:18:12] Speaker A: How do you end up at Union? I know there's been connections with both John Prokop and Kanen Villegas.
[00:18:17] Speaker B: Yeah, so there's a connection there, you know, to both those guys. And they kind of mentioned when he was in the portal and then, you know, Lenny Childs had a relationship with him. We did our, you know, our homework. We spoke with the main staff down in Naples and you know, just for us it kind of worked out and we were lucky to be able to bring him in.
[00:18:39] Speaker A: I was talking with Ben Barr last week prior to him coming to RPI with Black Bears and I asked him about Parker. He says he's very happy with him.
So in talking with Parker on Tuesday at the media availability, I asked him because I guess he was also used between wing and center of the main, but he seems more comfortable at center. Do you see that?
[00:19:01] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's where he seems to be able to be a little bit more free flowing and find space and really puts himself in a position where he can play with speed and he's really responsible playing underneath the puck. So yeah, I think he's versatile. Like I said, he can kind of play anywhere for us and we kind of use him like a Swiss army knife.
[00:19:26] Speaker A: We always like to hear from our listeners and we have a question from Jim Calhoun. He asks, are most EECAC players coming up through the junior leagues like the ushl, our friend said going to Northeastern next year for the Lincoln Stars. Is there any change you will play that in the next two or three years?
[00:19:42] Speaker B: I don't think we're going to play Northeastern at this point. And it comes down to usually we just try to get a little bit of everybody, but right now there's no plans to play Northeastern.
Yeah.
[00:19:55] Speaker A: What about the players? Most players coming from uc, from the Junior League or the ushl?
[00:20:01] Speaker B: Yeah, well, currently, right now, the USHL is the premier junior hockey league. Obviously, the CHL just opened up and I think that's going to, you know, you're going to see a lot of players going from, you know, from that league as well. So, you know, we have one player on the Lincoln Stars as well, and you know, that will be joining us next year and it's a great league and, you know, we're thrilled about the guys we have and the guys that we have committed that are in that league.
[00:20:25] Speaker A: How has that league grown? Because I remember maybe 10, 15 years ago, guys were coming from BCHL, the Alberta Junior League, the Ontario League, not the Ontario Major Junior League, but the Junior A League. It seems like more and more you're seeing players from the ushl, the North American Hockey League as well. How have those leagues really maybe grown or maybe surpassed some of the Junior A Canadian leagues?
[00:20:50] Speaker B: Yeah, I think those have really become premier leagues and I think every player has kind of had the drive to get to those leagues, and I don't think that was the case. Even 10 years ago when I was in the USHL, it was really hard to get a kid from the east to come out and play in the ushl. Well, now it happens all the time. So they've done an amazing job and they're going to have a lot of work to do here now with the CHL opening up and see how that kind of everything shakes out in the junior hockey landscape.
[00:21:22] Speaker A: Well, Jim, thanks for the question. If you have a question for Josh, you can email him to me at shot. That's s c h o t tailygazette.com you can also post them on my Facebook page at on Bluesky X and THR at Slapshots. Final question for you, Josh. How was Thanksgiving dinner at your house? And did the players eat you out of house at home?
[00:21:40] Speaker B: No, they. We had some leftovers, but it was great. The guys were there for a couple hours and I think it's good. They just get to, you know, get away from their dorm room and the rink and just kind of you know, see us as a family. And they're amazing with my two boys and they do a great job, you know, entertaining them. So it was a great day.
[00:22:00] Speaker A: Well, Josh, as always, appreciate the visit and good luck this weekend. We'll talk after the games.
[00:22:04] Speaker B: Thank you.
[00:22:04] Speaker A: All right, that's Josh Haljean. Coming up on Thursday's podcast, we'll have interviews from Tuesday's Union Hockey Media availability. On the men's side will be Josh Nixon, Parker Lindauer and Katie Villegas. For Win. Who hosts the Ellen Brown this weekend? It will be head coach Tony Macy and player Mona Wagner, Mattylini and Marin Friday. And Kenny Albert, the radio voice of the New York Rangers, will join me to talk about the team. Please tune in.
The views expressed in the Pawning Shots podcast are not necessarily those in the Daily Gazette Company. The Pawning Shots podcast is a production of the Daily Gazette Company Believe I'm getting that sports editor Ken Shot. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time from the Party Shots podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. Good day, Good hockey.
