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The Gazette News Group presents the Parting Shots Podcast. Now here's your host and shot. Thank you Scott Geezy and welcome to the Parting Shots Podcast, available wherever you get your podcast. Subscribe today. Thanks for joining me from the Parting Shots Podcast studio in Schenectady, New York for our 484th podcast episode. And of course everyone, Wednesday we talk Union men's hockey with head coach Josh howjee. Josh, how's it going?
[00:00:35] Speaker A: It's going well. Yourself?
[00:00:36] Speaker C: Not too bad, not too bad. Interesting trip I see coming over from the rink. The Max Road extension has that train track in the middle and got stuck there with a freight train.
[00:00:45] Speaker A: Yeah, it took, you know, an extra 10 minutes to get over here but made it and ready to go.
[00:00:49] Speaker C: Train was stuck I guess. Right?
[00:00:51] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:00:52] Speaker C: Fun time. So. Well it was an interesting weekend for Union as it faced Capital Region rival RPI for two games. It last weekend it was a series split. RPI took a 52 victory in game one Friday at M&T Bank center and game two Saturday at Houston Field House. Union posted a 3 nothing win to keep this Capital Skates trophy. What are your general thoughts about the weekend?
[00:01:14] Speaker A: I was happy with Saturday and, you know, able to bounce back, but obviously Friday was a disappointing game for us.
Felt like we left some points on the table and now we got to work extra hard to make up for it.
[00:01:26] Speaker C: Let's start with that Friday night game. Union's coming off a bye week while the Engineers entered the game having lost their first six games under new head coach Eric Lang. And it's the Engineers who draw first blood as Thomas classic scores with 541 left in the first period and Union gets that one back with 148 to go in the period when Connor Smith crashes the net and puts in a rebound of a Riley Bruick shot that snuck on the goaltender Nate Krawchuk's arm. It's one one after one. Union out shot RPI 1913 in the period. Did you like the team's play in that first period?
[00:01:58] Speaker A: I thought we had the better of the chances, you know, some two on ones, you know, like a little semi breakaways. But we were giving up too many chances so was, you know, that's not how we're going to be successful. We don't want to get into games that are back and forth. We want to, you know, get multiple chances and you know, every so often you're going to give up something but you know, just to be exchanging is not what we want.
[00:02:22] Speaker C: RPI regains the lead. Only Tyler Wallace goal 306 into the second period. Then the pivotal moment of the game happens with 6:33 left in the second as after a video review that you initiated, RPI Ford Luciana Wilson's minor penalty for slashing Union's DJ Hart in a sensitive area is upgraded to a five minute major and admitted into the major. NTN Lassard scores to tie it at two. And that should have been a momentum changing goal because you still had four minutes of power play time left to score as many power play goals as you can. Unfortunately for Union, the power play becomes too 2 pass happy and it led to a back breaking goal. 220 later, Union defense and Tyler Dunbar lost an edge and the puck as he fell to the ice at the right. At the right point of the Union zone, Ethan Bono picked up the puck and scored a shorthanded goal to give RPI 32 lead. I mean, how tough of a goal Josh was that to allow while on a major power play?
[00:03:16] Speaker A: Yeah, you know, you can't have that happen and you know we, you get a five minute major, you can't, you can't come away even. And that's what happened for us as we got the one. But you know, we're not able to take the lead and we're just never able to push through the whole night.
[00:03:32] Speaker C: Well, Union gets another power play midway through the third period and again too much passing and not enough shooting. Why do you think that happened?
[00:03:39] Speaker A: Yeah, I think, you know, it's two things. I think one, RPI does a, you know, a nice job of clogging the middle and you know, we just gotta, you know, at a certain point, you know, get some pucks to the net and you know, try to open them up a little bit. And you know, I think there's definitely, you know, we have a shooting mentality for the most part on our hockey team, but there are some times right now where we still just, you know, look for that perfect play.
[00:04:04] Speaker C: Well, goalie Cameron Korpi has pulled for an extra attacker and Union gets a late power play. So it's a six on four advantage, but Wallace and Bono score shorthanded empty net goals to clinch the win.
When you came up for your postgame interview, you looked very angry and appeared to be red faced and I've never seen you like that.
How upset were you and what was that locker room like after the game?
[00:04:25] Speaker A: You know, I think this group has A really high standard and you know, we're trying to hold them to that. And I thought that, you know, that was maybe the first time this season where, you know, wasn't extremely proud of an effort and yeah, so I was disappointed in that. But you know, there's a ton of character in that room and it was really quiet. It was, you know, not how we saw our, you know, undefeated streak ending. So.
Yeah, frustrating. But the nice thing it was, it was a quick turnaround.
[00:04:55] Speaker C: Yeah. Wives and postgame sound. Let's start with union and hear from NTN Lassard and Connor Smith.
Ntn, we'll start with you. You scored the power play goal there. Tied up at 2 during the major. It seemed like that should have been a momentum builder. Instead it went the other way. You guys got really too pass happy, not looking for a shot and end up costing you guys a shorthanded goal. What happened on that? And I think third period too. First power play. You guys have same thing.
[00:05:24] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean got got a good shot there, a good screen by guy in front. But I guess power play supposed to give us momentum and we didn't do that tonight, so. Better be better.
[00:05:35] Speaker C: Honor your thoughts.
[00:05:36] Speaker A: Yeah, we'll be better tomorrow.
[00:05:40] Speaker C: How tough loss is this? You know, first league game against. Against an 0 and 6 team. I mean, how tough of a loss is this?
[00:05:48] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean it sucks.
[00:05:49] Speaker B: They.
[00:05:50] Speaker A: They played well. We weren't ready to go, so I mean, I don't think they're a better team than us.
[00:05:54] Speaker C: Turnovers, McKee.
[00:05:55] Speaker A: Yeah, too many odd men.
[00:05:56] Speaker B: Rushes.
Does getting beat by rpi, is that any worse than a loss to another opponent Just because of the rivalry and everything.
[00:06:08] Speaker A: I think a loss is a loss no matter if you play the best team in the country or the worst one. You gotta win. You gotta perform every night, so. And we didn't do that tonight.
[00:06:15] Speaker C: So you guys had over 40 shots again. Fifth straight game.
What was their Bolton and Krolchuk doing that made him look good tonight?
[00:06:24] Speaker A: Yeah, he looked good for sure. But we, we got to get people in front of the net. I mean we can get 50 shots. If there's no one covering his eyes, he's going to see everything. He's going to stop it. So props to him tonight. Got to get back at it tomorrow.
[00:06:35] Speaker C: Connor.
[00:06:36] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, man, just tip the cap. He made some nice saves.
[00:06:40] Speaker C: You took advantage of puck got by him to score your goal. I mean, how good was it to go to the net and get that?
[00:06:46] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean it was nice. It's kind of hard to miss it from that close. It was a nice shot by Riley and managed to speed through.
[00:06:53] Speaker B: How are we ready to get back out there tomorrow and get another shot at them?
[00:06:56] Speaker A: Yeah, we're gonna be a lot more ready tomorrow.
Yeah, we'll be ready.
[00:07:02] Speaker C: Now, let's hear from rpi. Here, our head coach, Eric Lang, goalie Nate Krawchuk, and forward Ethan Bono.
Eric, how does it feel to get this first win in pressing fashion here?
[00:07:16] Speaker B: Yeah, obviously, just excited for our group, to be honest. It's. We've been working. We've been working since late August. And you want these guys to get rewarded for their efforts?
We've had. I thought last Saturday we took a really good step and really good week of practice and moving forward here.
We kind of just said, hey, preseason's over.
We had six really tough out of conference games. Really tough, as tough as anybody in the country.
And we just talked about, hey, we're playing for first place Friday night, and that's it. So I thought our guys did a great job. Didn't love our start. I thought Union had something to do with that.
They're very good in transition.
[00:07:55] Speaker A: We got to do a better job.
[00:07:56] Speaker B: Taking care of some pucks, but we stabilized the game in a second with.
[00:07:59] Speaker A: How hard we played.
[00:08:00] Speaker B: And then I thought we did a really good job of managing the third. Don't love that late penalty, but this guy over here was pretty darn good tonight when he had to be, which was on more than one occasion, so. So lots of good. We need to be way better for tomorrow.
[00:08:15] Speaker C: Did you just talk about the win, getting it finally, after six tough losses to start the season?
[00:08:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, it's relieving. It feels awesome to finally get the first one out of the way. And there's many more to come, obviously, but, yeah, I kind of owe it to all the guys in front of me tonight. Without them, I can't make those saves. I can't keep us in that game if they're not out there with me blocking those shots and putting those.
[00:08:39] Speaker B: Ethan may have just scored the second.
[00:08:40] Speaker C: Period to tie it, and I think.
[00:08:42] Speaker B: We still have four minutes left on the major. It might not been looking too promising at that point. How do you guys kind of dig.
[00:08:47] Speaker A: Yourselves out of that hole and kind.
[00:08:48] Speaker B: Of turn the game around?
[00:08:49] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. I mean, obviously it's not ideal going down for five minutes, but I thought we responded well. Our kill was good all night. And, you know, after they scored that tying goal, we kind of just said, like, we need to lock in here. I thought our kill was great. Great after that and obviously that goal felt pretty good.
Going ahead on the kill into the third period is something that we want, so felt good.
[00:09:12] Speaker C: It also seemed like Union got pass happy after they scored that goal instead of, you know, taking it to you. They took the foot off the gas and ended up leading to that. Your goal there. And Dunbar lost an edge in the Union zone.
[00:09:25] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. I thought it was a big momentum shift. Obviously, like I said, the kill is huge. So if we can just stick with the process throughout the game, not ride the waves, just stay level headed like we did tonight, we're gonna have good results throughout the year.
[00:09:39] Speaker C: Eric, you won a lot of games at aic, but your first one as.
[00:09:42] Speaker B: An engineer or how does that feel? Yeah, I've got some pretty neat pucks in the collection, whether it be whatever.
[00:09:48] Speaker A: It might look like.
[00:09:49] Speaker B: But tonight's puck will be pretty special for me and it's really good against our crosstown rival. So, yeah, a little emotional. I was in the room, I was a little emotional.
[00:10:00] Speaker C: Let me ask you about that gold mine there, that shorthand. Like I said, Union got the goal to tie it and then instead of getting aggressive, they got pass happy. Did that play into your hands there?
[00:10:13] Speaker B: Yeah, sometimes when teams are pass happy means we're doing a good job of being in lanes. I thought we did a really good job on the kill of fronting some pucks and making sure we're taken away with some inside sticks. So you know, whether they got pass happy or maybe. I want to give our guys a little more credit in terms of making sure we're identifying hand and making sure we're in the right lane.
And Bones has been as good a guy for us since day one here.
[00:10:37] Speaker A: And really happy for him to get.
[00:10:38] Speaker B: A goal here as well.
[00:10:39] Speaker C: And the early power play you had in the third period, basically the same thing. They didn't get a shot some goal either.
[00:10:45] Speaker B: Yeah, our power play right now is a little work and progress. Our special teams in general, work in progress.
[00:10:51] Speaker C: But I'll talk about more. Union power lift is one they have. They got again pass after they didn't get any shots.
[00:10:57] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Again I think we did a good job reading triggers, sharing some clears. And again, being in lanes is really important, especially with, you know, they've got a couple of really high end shooters on their flanks.
[00:11:08] Speaker C: Ethan, what does it mean to you to get this first win?
[00:11:11] Speaker A: Yeah, it means a lot. I mean, we've got a lot of new guys on the team. So we knew it was going to be a work in progress. Obviously the first six games were a challenge for us, but I think it set us up well and just got to keep moving on from here and keep piling up wins. You're both new to the program.
[00:11:27] Speaker C: Have you guys learned how to hate.
[00:11:29] Speaker A: Union yet or is there still a process here you're still getting to hang out with? It's coming along for sure. The student section's making that a little easier on me.
[00:11:37] Speaker B: How about Phoebe?
[00:11:39] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, you know, coming in, I've kind of heard about this weekend for a while. So I knew it was a big weekend and obviously a big rivalry. So it's something that you get used to right away.
[00:11:49] Speaker C: Those last few minutes, can you kind of describe what it was like?
[00:11:52] Speaker A: It seemed pretty frantic out there, especially after the gold.
[00:11:55] Speaker C: And how do you kind of deal.
[00:11:56] Speaker B: With that kind of pressure?
[00:11:58] Speaker A: Yeah, obviously things are a little chaotic, but that's how things happen on the kill, especially 604 and last couple minutes. But, you know, you just gotta breathe, take it shot by shot, minute by minute, and don't think about it.
[00:12:10] Speaker C: Just go out there and play. This was a union team and now they've had five straight games with more than 40 shots in the game.
Were you expecting to be in a shooting gallery tonight?
[00:12:20] Speaker A: I go into it just thinking the same thing all the time.
[00:12:22] Speaker B: Right.
[00:12:22] Speaker A: Just shot by shot, period by period.
And however many it ends up being, it's. However it ends up being bugged. It's called focus on one shot at a time.
[00:12:31] Speaker C: How much do you feel that really.
[00:12:32] Speaker B: Demanding non conference schedule might have paid off tonight?
[00:12:35] Speaker A: Yeah, I think it's huge. I mean, like I said, we played some pretty good teams down that stretch. And going into conference play, it obviously made us a lot stronger as a team.
Obviously would have been nice to win a couple of those ones, but I think it set us up for success in the UCAMC here.
[00:12:54] Speaker C: Well, let's talk about game two on Saturday. You made several lineup changes, including scratching senior forward Nate Hanley, who has been one of the team's top offensive players during his career. He's off to a slow start this season with just two assists. What led to the decision to sit him out? And it was.
It was just his second game he missed in his union career. Only the first time as a healthy scratch.
[00:13:18] Speaker A: Every. Every game, you know, we gotta put five guys down and. And that's probably the hardest part of the job, is that making those decisions, we view everybody up to Their standard and the level of play that, that they play at. And that's different for, you know, each guy and the position that they're in for the team. And, you know, just didn't feel that Nate was at that level.
He's been a, you know, a tremendous player for us and, you know, someone that like, we're going to look to for a lot of big plays down this, you know, as the season progresses and we go. So a little bit of just, you know, hey, Nate, this is your standard. We expect you to be at this. And, you know, he's been at that, you know, this week and been proud of how he's, how he's bounced back.
[00:13:57] Speaker C: Yeah. How did he handle that on Saturday?
[00:13:59] Speaker A: I mean, he wasn't happy. I don't think anybody's ever happy when they get put down.
But he's been, you know, nothing but first class and a professional as he, you know, works through it. And, you know, at the end of the day, you can either feel sorry for yourself or you can, you know, pick yourself up and get back to work. And that's what Nate's done.
[00:14:16] Speaker C: Well. And in Saturday's game, Union had two power plays in the first period. And going back to Friday's game, Union had six shots on goal on the four power play attempts in that game and the two first period power plays. On Saturday, Union had seven shots on goal and the last shot was by fresh freshman forward Alex Lorenza, who scored his first collegiate goal to give union a 1 nothing lead.
First, how good was it to see the power play generating shots on goal?
[00:14:40] Speaker A: I think for the most part this season, the power play's been pretty good.
You know, they took some, you know, hits early as far as just finding a groove, but once they kind of got into it, they've made a lot of big plays for us. And, you know, I think part of that is getting, you know, pucks to the net and finish when they have chances. And that's kind of what happened.
[00:15:00] Speaker C: How good did you feel for Alex? Getting his first collegiate goal was really happy.
[00:15:04] Speaker A: I think the whole bench was excited for him. He's someone that, you know, has come in and just worked really hard and not, you know, not said a whole lot and just really tried to figure out how to fit in and has done a nice job.
[00:15:16] Speaker C: Well, the second period was scoreless. RPI did have an excellent scoring chance midway through the period when Dover tindling's one timer from the right circle was stopped by Cameron Korpi. While the score was tight, the Game to me, didn't seem that way.
Union was controlling things. The shots and goal after two periods was 27, eight in Union's favor. Were you liking the way the team was playing?
[00:15:38] Speaker A: Yeah, that, that turnover was, you know, that was probably the one thing that I wasn't, you know, extremely excited about. But overall it was, you know, a really solid effort up and down. I thought everybody was competing hard and, you know, it was just a good step for the team.
[00:15:54] Speaker C: The third period gets underway and at 5:38, Brandon Burr scores to make it two nothing in all intents and purposes, this is my opinion. That game, that was the Matt Dubre seal the deal goal. I mean, how big was it to have some breathing room at that point?
[00:16:08] Speaker A: When you're, when you're playing and you're in control of the game, but you're not finishing, there's always that, you know, there's a little doubt that can creep in. And I thought our guys just kind of put that, like, buried that and just kept working and, you know, a quick turnover there and Nick Young made a great pass to Brandon and Brandon made no mistake about it and walked in and finished. I thought that was, you know, something that we had been stressing and it was.
Yeah, it was nice to be able to take a little deep breath and just relax a little bit.
[00:16:35] Speaker C: Yeah. We mentioned earlier about the unfortunate circumstances that befell Tyler Dunbar in Friday's game, and he made up for that Saturday when he scored with an empty net goal with 6.8 seconds left to close out the scoring. You got to feel good for Tyler for that.
[00:16:47] Speaker A: Yeah, it's one of those things. It's kind of a fluke thing. He's an unbelievable skater and caught an edge and, you know, it ends up. They score and, you know, he just continues to work and do things for us. He's a.
He's. He's been just such a great addition as a person and a hockey player. So we're thrilled for him.
[00:17:06] Speaker C: The only failure in that game was you failed to get 40 shots on goal for the first time since the opening game.
Was. Was there any extra skating because of that?
[00:17:15] Speaker B: No.
[00:17:15] Speaker A: I mean, it was.
Obviously it'd be nice to get to the 40 or, you know, even more, but, you know, at the end of the day, it's just finding ways to win and, you know, we're able to do that.
[00:17:25] Speaker C: Well, Brandon Burr and Alex Natalia Dunbar had some sarcastic comments about that in the postgame Saturday. So let's hear from Brandon Burr, Alex Lorenza and Tyler Dunbar.
[00:17:37] Speaker B: That was a big breath by me.
[00:17:40] Speaker C: Brandon, I'll start with you.
You know, last night, Josh was not happy with the way you guys played. And I think you guys weren't either to come here tonight and, you know, just basically dominate RPA the way you limit it to 12 shots on goal. How pleased are you guys with this effort? And this is. Is this the standard you guys got to play with in conference play every night?
[00:18:00] Speaker A: Yeah, this is definitely the standard. I mean, obviously we were very disappointed ourselves last night. We obviously didn't come out the way we wanted to. We didn't finish the way we wanted to. But seeing us bounce back with this game today was very promising.
[00:18:11] Speaker C: How angry was the team last night after that game?
[00:18:14] Speaker A: It was not. It wasn't great. I'll just say that we were very disappointed in ourselves.
[00:18:19] Speaker C: Brandon, walk me through your goal. I mean, Nick makes the nice defensive stop and just turn and go.
[00:18:24] Speaker A: Yeah, so obviously younger, he found me in the middle there.
Their defense, I think it was five. It was pretty fast. Catch me quick. So I just tried to shoot low blocker and it worked.
[00:18:34] Speaker C: Alex, first we to get your first goal. How does that feel?
[00:18:37] Speaker A: Yeah, it definitely feels great. Obviously scoring a goal feels amazing. And getting the first one in college is definitely a big accomplishment.
[00:18:43] Speaker C: You know, last night, you guys, after that you scored early in the major power play, you guys got a little pass happy and ended up, you know, biting you guys. And later in the period, you end up with six shots on goal. In the four power plays you had last night, the two in the first period tonight, you had seven shots in goal. So how important was it to generate shots? And you know, obviously I thought that led to the goal.
[00:19:03] Speaker A: Yeah, we definitely made a few adjustments on the power plan. It clearly worked out. We were just. We wanted more pucks on end. I think we. We accomplished that and ended up working out in our favor.
[00:19:11] Speaker C: Tyler, for you, hate to bring it up, you know, you lost your edge last night on that play there.
But to get the empty net goal to seal it, how'd that feel?
[00:19:19] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, it felt great. Obviously, you know, no one wants to blow a tire and puckle back in the back of the net, but I think it's something that obviously I was frustrated with, but, you know, not going.
[00:19:30] Speaker B: To let it hang on my shoulders.
[00:19:31] Speaker A: And just going to keep moving forward.
[00:19:32] Speaker C: How pleased are you guys with this effort tonight?
[00:19:35] Speaker A: Yeah, very pleased with this effort.
[00:19:37] Speaker B: You know, you mentioned it earlier, setting the standard.
[00:19:40] Speaker A: I think we've set the standard a couple of times and we're just, you.
[00:19:43] Speaker B: Know, really happy with the group and.
[00:19:44] Speaker A: Going to look to keep moving forward.
Just 12 shots allowed. The ones that we're giving up, you know, cameras that are saved for you guys by his performance.
And how big was that? Yeah, he's been insane. I mean, he's obviously a great goalie. Seen it there. That one save today. I don't know how he made it, but he does it. So it's obviously great to have him.
[00:20:06] Speaker C: Only face 12 shots, but he said, I think that one there in the second period was a key one there.
How sharp does he have to for a goaltender to not face that many shots? But how much does he have to stay in the play there?
[00:20:19] Speaker A: I'm not 100% sure. I'm not a goalie, but I'd expect it's pretty tough to do that. And he's a great goalie, so he's able to. Yeah, I think it's a different kind of game when you only face 12 shots versus, you know, 35 or 40. And he's done a really good job.
[00:20:32] Speaker B: Being able to play in both of those situations.
[00:20:35] Speaker A: And we're very happy with, you know.
[00:20:37] Speaker B: The way he's played so far.
[00:20:38] Speaker C: If you guys feel bad you didn't get 40 shots on goal first time in a while.
[00:20:41] Speaker A: Yeah, it's a little disappointing, but hopefully next game, super frustrating.
Thank you.
[00:20:47] Speaker C: Thanks, guys. Now let's hear from RPI head coach Eric Lang, who is very honest about his team performance on Saturday.
Coach, did they do anything union do.
[00:20:59] Speaker A: Anything differently tonight on defense?
[00:21:01] Speaker C: That changed and helped you keep you unable to get into an offensive flow tonight?
[00:21:08] Speaker B: I think they just played harder than us, like, a lot harder, and told our guys were disappointed.
We're in a unique situation where we have these rivalry games. We're fortunate we're one of the schools that gets them. Not a lot of institutions have a crosstown rival with a lot at stake.
And I just. I thought we had too many passengers on the bus today. Too much gliding, too much one hand on our stick.
Good response for Union.
Credit them. They're really good.
They are what we think they are.
They're a better hockey team than us today.
Make no mistake about it. Today they're better than us.
And they just.
They just totally pushed us around for 60 straight minutes.
We even tried to put a guy in the neutral zone just to kind of break their puck pressure. And, you know, I call that gimmick hockey. When you're resorting to that, it's a little gimmicky. But we needed it. We need to do something.
[00:22:08] Speaker C: Do you think they were that dominant in this game as opposed to last night?
[00:22:11] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, we take two penalties to get their team some traction. Then you get their good players feeling the puck a little bit and they can kind of get in a rhythm.
So, you know, we're, you know, we're killing two penalties, I think in the first 10 minutes of the game or just about maybe first 12.
And we just, we just couldn't. We couldn't find. We couldn't make a pass to somebody wide open. It was just could live with the result.
We're not going to accept though, that level of compete. And I just thought they won every loose puck race, two hands on their sticks.
And I told our guys, you'll be graded on that. You're graded in these rivalry games because the ice gets hard and it's a predictor for what it will look like when the ice gets hard in March, in the playoffs. And are you a guy we can count on or when it gets hard, are you a guy that shies away and then even inside of that to another degree, Are you emotional?
Are you a guy we can trust in these situations or are you taking silly penalties? Are you a guy that's always in it after the whistle stuff that we, we need to get out of our game?
[00:23:22] Speaker C: Comment on Nate's play tonight. Following up a big performance last night.
[00:23:26] Speaker B: That's three in a row for Nate, which is really good for us.
Really good for us. He's best player on the ice for three straight nights. That's very encouraging. The fact that he was able to do it back to back nights is very encouraging.
And yeah, he's got this calm demeanor in there. He doesn't really get rattled and he's got a lot of really good qualities to be. He has the potential to be a really good goalie.
[00:23:52] Speaker A: How much can tonight be a lesson going forward with the rest of the ECAC schedule? Coming with these home and homes on or these Friday Saturday games to the key to always win a Saturday. It's like not take a break off, not to relax. Heading from Friday to Saturday to get the Friday win.
[00:24:07] Speaker B: The disappointing thing is you start running out of opportunities in the Houston field house right now for us and that was one of the things we want to try and be a little better at home. We've been disappointing at home, to be honest. Some of that is opponent driven, but we can only lean on that so much right now. This has to be a place that's tough to play. We got to give our fans something to be excited about. And I, we, we have a really lousy power play at the end of the second there and I thought our, I thought our fans were right to boo us there a little bit. To be honest, I thought they were totally within their right because it just wasn't a whole lot of effort. That's disappointing. What was at stake? It was disappointing.
[00:24:52] Speaker C: You had some chance to get some shots too in the last 10 seconds. I think that's why the fans were getting frustrated because they weren't shooting and sort of like what happened with Union last night just got a little too fast.
[00:25:00] Speaker B: Happy? Yeah. At some point you look up and you go, you're in single digits and shots. You know, someone starts slinging some pucks at the net and simplifying. But you know what?
A lot of our problems were a little self inflicted and a lot of our problems was give credit to Union and how hard they played and their intent. And you know, sweeps are hard in general. Sweeps. Getting sweeps is pretty hard to do and Union kind of made it look easy today for us.
[00:25:29] Speaker C: How do you get to that point where you are diamond a team home and opponents fear coming in here? What do you have to do to get and how do you get there?
[00:25:38] Speaker B: Yeah, that's a great question.
I think the long term is, is we need, we need better players.
That's the long term, quite honestly. We need, you know, we have to right now it is incredibly important for rpi. A lot of our wins have to come on the road in our recruiting battles.
You know, I watch Union. They've got such good stick skill coming through the neutral zone. They can make these hook passes, passes under sticks, over sticks. We don't quite have that ability right now to do that. We've got to kind of chip it in, chase it down.
So the long fix is we need winning Division 1 hockey players. Not just Division 1 hockey players. Those two are worlds apart.
[00:26:28] Speaker A: Just reflecting on the first month of the season, you got your first win out of the way this weekend. Played a really, really tough schedule against some high level opponents. How do you build off that month and start getting obviously more of the results that you want? But obviously it's also a process driven like business.
[00:26:49] Speaker C: No.
[00:26:49] Speaker B: Good. Good question.
I kind of liked us and you know, I liked us in about half of our games and our intent and then the other half of the games I think we were trying to do the right thing and usually the brain and the hockey IQ is the last piece to kind of catch on.
So we're challenging. We want to contest every puck we can. We're challenging pucks, we're contesting pucks.
And then all of a sudden we've got a D diving down in a place that he can't do it and some odd mans are going this way. And again, I think the last thing to come in terms of getting comfortable inside of new system and new structure is the, is the reeds and the wherewithal.
And I thought even last night there was some, you know, we had some corrective measures of video this morning. But you know what, we just got to keep stacking days get a little better and nothing succeeds like success.
[00:27:50] Speaker C: So.
[00:27:52] Speaker B: We got, we've got a, we've got a ways to go. That's, that's a top four team in our league. And I, I don't, you know, I didn't think it was close tonight. If I'm being fair.
[00:28:03] Speaker A: Luke Wilson was out of the lineup tonight after last night. Was he handed extra display by the league or was that a coaching choice?
[00:28:10] Speaker B: Yeah, that's our supplemental discipline. We're not going to.
And Willie handled this incredibly well.
And maybe three years from now, I don't have to respond that way, but we're in a place right now where we can't accept or give the opportunity to have game changing infractions. And last night that was a game changing infraction. We got lucky. We get a shorthanded goal, but that's a, that's an infraction that can cost you wins. And we're going to have a standard of what's acceptable. And if you don't meet the standard, you'll be held accountable. We've done it on three different occasions right now. We'll probably do another one coming up here and players want to play the one. The one thing we control is their ice time.
And I always find that they respond, they will respond to that.
We can't have it's corrected or accepted for us right now in our program.
So if we let that go, it shows up again in a couple months or even in a year or two years down the road.
So guys know we're no nonsense in those areas and we have to be awesome. Thanks, guys.
[00:29:23] Speaker C: Josh, you had a chance to watch Eric's comments on our Gazette YouTube page. The video I posted from that post game press conference. And I think one thing RPI fans are going to like about Eric, he's very honest. He's not going to pull any punches.
He said the team deserved to be booed at the end of the second period because they were not entering chances. He thought you guys were the better team. That.
When you listen to Eric and watch that video. What'd you think?
[00:29:52] Speaker A: A little. Yeah, a little caught off guard on some of it. I mean, to be. To be honest, like, it's, you know, you're dealing with young men who are going to have, you know, really good games and really bad games. So, like, it's one of those things that, you know, no matter what happens, you know, you know, try to. Try to support him and work through it. But I definitely can sense his frustration on that and, you know, he's got to do what he feels is best for his program. Just like, you know, I had to do, you know, you know, three years ago and I took over and, you know, they're.
You're just trying to figure everybody out, but at the end of the day, it's. It's about getting better every single day. And I think they're doing that right now. So I'm sure there were some frustrations, but, you know, obviously they bought in really well on Friday night and found a way to beat us. So, you know, give him credit for that. And, you know, obviously he's. He's turned some programs around and he knows what he's doing.
[00:30:45] Speaker C: And the accountability, I mean, it's. The fact that you benched Wilson Saturday for the major penalty is going to probably going to be doing the same thing this Friday for the other RPI player took the major. And by the way, Sean Speck. Three straight challenges successful. What's the magic behind that?
[00:31:03] Speaker A: Yeah, he's. He spends a lot of time, like, learning the rules and. And studying film and, you know, asking questions to, you know, the referees and the ref in chief. So he.
He's got a. He's got a great eye for it. And it's. It's one of those things that, you know, nobody knows what's going on behind there. And he's. He's spending a ton of time watching all the hits and all the plays, so, you know, proud of him for, you know, giving. Giving us our best chance to win.
[00:31:32] Speaker C: It amazed me that there was no penalty initially called when Cal Mel lost his helmet. I mean, he get boarded. It was pretty blatant and it was not to be called. And when it was announced, the penalty, I looked. I happen to look over Sean in the press box and he's pumping his fist and he was excited and probably proud of herself and probably well deserved.
[00:31:52] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, it's a highly stressful position.
And I don't think people realize like, you got to make decisions really fast with sometimes not all the video angles. So, you know, we're grateful that we have them.
[00:32:05] Speaker C: And this is tougher because you're not getting, you only have what, maybe three or four cameras in covering a game there. You're not going to get all the views and like you do with an NHL game or an NFL game where they can find that specific shot. Plus you don't have a control center. The referees have to look at an iPad for the replays.
[00:32:28] Speaker A: Yeah, it's not what you see on TV as far as like the NFL or NHL where they can slow it down frame by frame.
You know, he's got to make a decision in split second. It's usually tape delayed a little bit.
[00:32:38] Speaker B: So.
[00:32:38] Speaker A: So by the time he's getting the feed, it's a couple seconds behind real time. So now you got to find it on the video. And so there's a lot that goes into it and he's got a great knack for it.
[00:32:49] Speaker C: Well, let's take a break. We'll preview this weekend's matchups against Clarkson and St. Lawrence at M and T Bank Center. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:33:17] Speaker B: It's the most historic conference in college hockey.
It's a battle night in and night out.
ECAC hockey. An iconic conference, home to 12 of the most prestigious universities and programs in the world and showcasing the best student.
[00:33:32] Speaker C: Athletes in the sport.
[00:33:33] Speaker B: Top notch facilities and arenas, incomparable traditions, passionate fans, alumni who go on to become elite professionals, leaders and champions.
ECAC hockey.
[00:33:45] Speaker A: There's no experience like it.
[00:33:48] Speaker C: 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.
Welcome back to the podcast. I'm Gazette Union hockey beatrider Ken Schott and I'm joined by union meds head hockey coach Josh Howgee. Well, Josh, let's look ahead to this weekend. Clarkson and St. Lawrence will make their first visits to M and T Bank Center. Clarkson is up first for a 7pm game on Friday and St. Lawrence is at the arena for a 7pm Game Saturday. Yes, 7pm on Saturday because there's a doubleheader going on Saturday with the union hosting RPI and the women's capital region raffle game at 3pm on Saturday. So a rare 70pm home game on Saturday. Going to get used to that first.
[00:34:40] Speaker A: It's interesting because we've had so many different start times this year. We've had a 4 o', clock, a 5 o', clock, a 7 o' clock and 8 o'. Clock. So, you know, it's, we've been bouncing all over Joshua.
[00:34:51] Speaker C: Six o' clock later here, the Mayor's Cup. So, yeah, so anyway, Clarkson's off to a 3 and 5 start. The Golden Knights reached the ECAC Hockey Tournament championship game in JFU's first season as head coach. Clarkson lost the Cornell 3 to 1 in that championship game. In the ECU coaches preseason, Paul Clarkson was picked to finish second last weekend at Chilo Arena. The Golden Knights beat Michigan Tech 64 and dropped a 62 decision to Lake Superior State. Clarkson's biggest win of the season so far was a 52 decision over North Dakota on October 24th. Up at Chill. What have you seen of Clarkston and video?
[00:35:28] Speaker A: Well, yeah, they have some really good wins. I mean, you look at the Michigan Tech win, the North Dakota win and the Penn State win. All three of those are, you know, really, really big wins. And they, they play really fast. They, they work hard, they track back, you know, defend in numbers and transition the puck quickly. Like on video they look like, you know, a team that could finish in the top of the, you know, ecac. So have been real impressed.
[00:35:53] Speaker C: Yeah, that Penn State one was at Penn State, so that was a big win up there. Well, Clarkson swept last year's season series, winning 41 on Nov. 16 at Mesa Rink and then taking a 53 decision Jan. 10 at Cheal Union is 2 of 4 and 4 against Clarkson in the last six meetings. What do you have to do to turn the series in your favor?
[00:36:14] Speaker A: I think we just have to, you know, play an up tempo game, you know, transition the puck quickly, you know, take care of it. You know, the net fronts are really important against them. They, you know, had a lot of tips last year against us and, you know, we gotta make sure we block shots when we have the opportunity.
And then special teams right now, their power play in the last few games has been really good and they always have a really good penalty kill.
[00:36:38] Speaker C: Well, it'll be a reunion for Union junior defenseman Carter Rose. He played in 40 games for the Golden Knights his first two collegiate seasons before entering the transfer portal. You picked him up through there and you have been through this experience, obviously, as Brandon Burr facing Clarkson, your old team. What advice would you give Rose about facing his former team?
[00:36:58] Speaker A: Yeah, I think the biggest thing is it's just, it's, it's just Union versus Clarkson. Another hockey game and, you know, he's going to know some guys, you know, pretty well in that, in that locker room, but just to focus on his process and it's just another game. So I think we are fortunate this first one is at home and he can kind of just, you know, keep to his normal routine.
[00:37:18] Speaker C: Yeah, I was going to ask you that because when you faced Clarkson for the first time, it was up at Cheel. When Brandon faced Clarkson for the first time, it was up at chill. Being at home for, for Carter, that makes it a little more relaxing, I think.
[00:37:31] Speaker A: So I think, you know, you're not dealing with all the surroundings.
Obviously he's going to know a bunch of people that are at the game, but it's not everybody, you know, so he doesn't have to answer all the questions from the, you know, the Clarkson people that are at the hotel or, you know, you see at the, you know, local stores or, you know, just walking around town. So, yeah, I think he can just kind of focus on the game and, you know, obviously he's got myself and Brandon that have kind of been through it and we'll make sure if he has any questions or, you know, asking or give him our experience on it as well.
[00:38:01] Speaker C: How did the process of landing Rose out of the. Getting him out of the transfer portal go?
[00:38:07] Speaker A: It was rather late. He went in and when he went in, I called him first just to check in and see how he was doing.
You know, I recruited him, took two clerks in and had been on the ice with him a lot, whether it was when he was a younger kid and just kind of growing up.
So just wanted to check in on him, make sure he was, you know, doing okay. And then, you know, kind of broached the subject of if he would have any interest in us. And obviously he's a really intelligent young man, so if the academic piece was a good fit and you know, we just kind of started talking about it and I think there was some genuine interest right away. And then we kind of just went through the process and we're brought him in on a visit and he committed a couple weeks after that.
[00:38:50] Speaker C: Well, let's take a look at St. Lawrence. The saints are struggling to start the season. They are coming off a last place finish in ecach play last season and they were picked to finish last in the coaches poll back in September. St. Lawrence has won 61 to start the season. And last weekend the Saints tied Lake Superior State 33 and lost to Michigan Tech 3 nothing. Why do you think they struggled so last season. And why are they off to a slow start this season?
[00:39:15] Speaker A: I think it's just been for them finishing opportunities on video. Like, they're very structured, they're very hard to play against.
I think, you know, I think they're really well coached. I think at times they just are gripping the stick a little bit too tight right now because they're struggling to finish. So hopefully we can, you know, keep frustrating them. But I know that they're going to compete really hard.
[00:39:38] Speaker C: What concerns you about them?
[00:39:39] Speaker A: I think just their level of compete and just how hard they play because it, it is, it is a miserable night usually when you play them, just how physical and how hard they play.
[00:39:48] Speaker C: Well, I was reading Mike McMahon's College Hockey Insider newsletter the other day and he commented about Union and here's what Mike wrote. Unions numbers check out, but I'm not ready to declare them a legitimate ECAC contender just yet.
He says the Dutchman, obviously The Garnet Chargers are 51 and 1, averaging 3.6 goals per game against 4.0 expected goals. Their goals against 1.9 perfectly matches their expected goals against, suggesting that what we're seeing isn't luck, but it's real execution and should be sustainable. Union owns a 65.8 goals 4 percentage and a 67.5 Gens goals percentage, both excellent marks. Still, Mike says he's wary of the competition they face. So far their schedule includes Mercyhurst 09, Niagara 3 and 4 and RPI 1 and 7.
Their only opponent with a winning record was Army 3, 2 and 2, which they tied on opening night. By the end of the month, we'll know how much know much more about Union. They'll have face Clarkson, UMass, Lowell, New Hampshire, Cornell and either RIT or Miami in the Friendship 4.
What are your thoughts about that?
[00:40:58] Speaker A: I'm pleased with the group we have and you know, I think, you know, when you're, when you're doing the schedule, you can, you know, you can only control so much. And that's, you know, who we're playing and what, you know, what we have, you know, in front of us. And like I said, I really like our group. I understand his thoughts on some of that. But again, like, you know, we're playing at a good clip right now with a lot of puck possession where we're managing it. And I think that's the biggest key is if we take care of pucks and, you know, win the net fronts, I think we're going to be a tough opponent for anyone.
[00:41:37] Speaker C: Well, Mike, I'm finding you some money here for calling on the Dutchman Scarner Chargers. Now, come on, Mike.
Well, we like to take questions from our listeners and we have several of them. David Trestic writes, A year or two ago I asked or maybe proposed moving the RPI series to the last week of the regular season for a variety of reasons. Just curious if there is any update on this topic. If I remember correctly, Josh stated that the conference schedule was set a couple of years in advance and there were rumblings of changing things around.
[00:42:09] Speaker A: It definitely got brought up of having the last weekend of the regular season be, you know, the rivalry weekend.
Just that whoever your travel partner is, that's who you'd play the last weekend.
It has not passed yet. It's definitely something that's, that's talked about all the time. But with everybody's schedule and you have the Ivies who start a little bit later and just different things, it's been a difficult switch for the league.
[00:42:34] Speaker C: Allison Bennett is asking what are some things you want to improve upon from last week's split against rpi?
[00:42:41] Speaker A: For us, we keep going back to how we start games. We want to make sure we start fast. And I think we've only scored the first goal two of two games of our, of our seven. So for us, that's a focal point is trying to get the first one.
[00:42:54] Speaker C: Well, Robert Dofsky has three observations. The first one, it seems other teams collapse on us with the puck, yet we seem to let them skate right into the zone.
Thoughts on that observation?
[00:43:10] Speaker A: I mean, something we'll take a look at on video. I think for the, you know, for the most part, we, you know, we want to try to force people to dump pucks by the blue line. And you know, I think with our shot totals, you know, the way they've been, you know, if we're forcing dumps, we're usually exiting and not spending as much time.
And for us, yeah, we don't want it. We want to be a puck possession team and carry pucks across the blue line.
[00:43:35] Speaker C: The second observation is more of a question, why so many long passes and blind passes, especially to a teammate covered against the boards?
[00:43:43] Speaker A: Well, I think there's, we want to push the pace of the game. So if we can, you know, stretch out oppositions from time to time, I think you'll see that if we have possession and we're in trouble, we want to try to get people into foot races.
And then when you do that, it sometimes open up, you know, underneath options. So that's why sometimes it's almost like in, you know, another like football throwing a deep pass so you can open up a screen or, you know, a draw maybe later in the game.
[00:44:11] Speaker C: And his final observation question, why aren't we parking players in front to screen goalies and in turn leaving the opponents uncovered in front? You said one of the RPI goals was when a player was right at the corner of the net.
[00:44:24] Speaker A: I think for us a focal point is definitely to, you know, to have people in front of the other team's net. I think you look at, you know, Alex Lorenz's goal, that was, you know, a tap in, you know, Connor Smith was going to the net hard and putting in a rebound.
We definitely want to tie people up in front of the net and that's definitely again, for us, a focal point is winning the net front battles.
[00:44:45] Speaker C: And finally, Ryan Fay writes Union finished last season 54th in the country with a 75.4% penalty kill, but has shown significant improvement this year, ranking third in the country with a 95.5% PK. The two teams ahead of Union, Brown and Harvard have played only play two games each compared to the seven for Union. What does what do you contribute that early PK movement to improvement to?
[00:45:09] Speaker A: Yeah, you know, Coach Sannella is in charge of the penalty kill this year. He's doing an outstanding job and I think he's doing a, you know, he's really taken ownership of it and I think our guys have bought into the structure that he's brought. And then obviously if you want to have a really good penalty kill, it starts with goaltending and Cam's been outstanding.
[00:45:30] Speaker C: Well, thanks everyone for the questions. And if you have a question for Josh, you can email them to me at shot. That's s c h o t
[email protected] or you can post them on Facebook or my personal Facebook on my personal page and the Parting Shots podcast page. You can also send them via Bluesky X and Threads Lapshots the Daily Gazette ECAC Hockey Face off selections are back for another season. I'll post my picks usually on Wednesdays and then you can send your picks to me and I'll post those pics before the first game on Fridays usually. And to play send your pictures to shot@daily gazette.com well Josh, this podcast a lot longer than last week's podcast. We have a lot to break down there and it was a fun podcast and well, good luck this weekend and we'll talk after the games and of course we'll be back here next week for another edition of the podcast.
[00:46:16] Speaker A: Sounds great.
[00:46:17] Speaker C: All right, that's Josh Algae. Coming up on Thursday's podcast, we'll have interviews from Tuesday's Union Hockey media availability. On the men's side, I'll have defenseman Nick Young and Carter Rose and forward Brandon Burr. The Union women, as I mentioned earlier, face RPI and they Home at Home series this weekend. And I'll talk with defenseman Stephanie Bourke and goalie Emmett Ryumi, gazette Executive sports Editor Will Spring said. We'll review Union College's football Liberty League win against Hilbert last Saturday and preview this Saturday's matchup at Rochester.
Gazette High School writer Drew Wemple breaks down this weekend Section 2 football tournament semifinals. And I talk with Tim Reynolds, the NBA beat writer for the second Associated Press New York State Basketball hall of Famer and Indian Lake native. Tim will talk about his new book on the Miami Heat. We'll talk about some NBA news and lament about the failure of our Philadelphia Phillies. I hope you tune in.
The views expressed in the Parting Shots podcast are not necessarily those of the Gazette News Group. The Parting Shots podcast is a production of the Gazette News Group. I'm Daily Gazette Union hockey beat writer Ken Schotter. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time from the Parting Shots podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. Good day, good hockey.
