[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:03] Speaker B: The following program is brought to.
[00:00:05] Speaker C: You in living color on elliot gazette.com or wherever you get your podcast.
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 the 493rd podcast episode and it's our weekly visit with Union Med's head hockey coach, Josh Hauge.
Josh, how are things going?
[00:00:37] Speaker B: Things are good. Little shake up in the weather here, but other than that, good.
[00:00:41] Speaker C: Yeah, a little bit of snow at least.
Well, it's almost wintertime so I guess we have to expect that for sure. Well, Union returned to ECA hockey play last weekend and the results were mixed. The Garner chargers dropped a 51 decision to Princeton, but bounced back with an impressive 4 nothing victory over 8th ranked Quinnipiac.
Before we break down the games, your general thoughts on the weekend.
[00:01:03] Speaker B: You know, if you, if you beat Quinnipiac, you know, usually you think you'd be pretty happy, but to let that game go on Friday I thought was a little bit of a disappointment for us. And you know, so overall it was, it was nice to get the win against Quinnipiac, but I wouldn't say we're excited about the weekend.
[00:01:20] Speaker C: Well, let's start with that Friday game against the Tigers. Princeton was coming off losing two games at Bowling Green the weekend before, but before that they had beaten St. Lawrence and Clarkson and Union had a 15 game regular season home winning streak against Princeton entering the game. But the game doesn't start well. A shot by Mat Suliee from a bad angle at the bottom of the right circle, hit the left pad of Coley, Cameron Corpi and just trickled over the goal line for a score at 322the first period. The officials did not call it a goal right away, but they went to video review and confirmed that the puck did indeed cross the line. Not a great way to start.
[00:01:57] Speaker B: No, I just didn't think we had a lot of energy from the opening face off.
I thought right away Princeton was competing hard and I just thought we were slow to races.
[00:02:07] Speaker C: Yeah, it got worse. At 7:14 left in the first one, Brendan Gorman intercepted a clearing pass along the Union blue line. Everyone was headed down the ice except for Jackson Esmond. He was alone in front of the Union net when Gorman sent the puck to him. Esmond made a couple of moves and was able to put the puck past Korpi what happened on that play, I don't know who the union player was.
Was at the left point and seemed like had a lane just to take the puck off the ice. Instead, you know, threw it to his left and really, it was just. It seemed like a bad play.
[00:02:39] Speaker B: Yeah, you know, you got to manage the puck, you got to take care of it. And we made a, you know, a blind force to the middle.
You know, the. The play was there if he makes it, but just kind of fans on the puck as well. And so it's not only, you know, just there is some space to. To skate if you wanted or to, you know, make a hard play. Just we didn't. And, you know, the turnover ends up in the back of our net.
[00:03:01] Speaker C: Well, shortly after that, Union gets a power play and Colby MacArthur scores the cut. Prince's lead 2 to 1. That was a score at the end of the first. Did you think that the team was back on track after the slow start?
[00:03:12] Speaker B: Yeah, I wasn't really pleased with the first period. And then you get the goal on the power play and you're thinking, okay, you know, even though we weren't playing well, like, we're still in the game.
So I thought, you know, I thought, as we have had this season, when we've had a bad period, we've usually responded really well, but unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
[00:03:30] Speaker C: Yeah. The score remained 2 to 1 until late in the second period when Jake Manfrey scores on a one timer that Korby had no chance on. And then Tigers get goals from Jaden Sisson and Drew Garzone, a minute 20 apart early in thirds appeared to make it 5:1. You replaced Korpi with Braden Gillespie, and he stops all eight shots he faced. What led to the decision to pull Korpi and insert Gillespie? Was it more just trying to wake the team up, or do you think it was performance based?
[00:03:58] Speaker B: It was a little bit of both. I just felt like at that point it's five to one, you know, we're not playing well. Maybe something will give us a spark.
You know, we've been looking to try to get Braden a little bit more of an opportunity and get him in the net. So just felt like it was a good opportunity to. To get him some experience.
[00:04:16] Speaker C: Yeah. Score ended up being 5:1. And I mean, how disappointing was the effort?
Could you blame the fatigue from coming back from Belfast, Northern Ireland, for the sluggish effort?
[00:04:26] Speaker B: I mean, we don't, you know, it was a hard. It's hard travel, but, like, I Mean, it's, it's one of those things like, you know, this is your job to show up and perform and you know, we are disappointed in that. I mean, we could make plenty of excuses if we want, but at the end of the day we just, our effort wasn't good enough and you know, we got to, you know, got to find a way to whether it's handle travel better, take care better, better care of ourselves.
We got to just make sure that doesn't happen again.
[00:04:53] Speaker C: Yeah. One aspect of Union's game which probably was frustrating to you was the power play entered entering the game. Union was tied for ninth in the nation in power play percentage while Princeton was tied for 57th in penalty kill percentage. And after MacArthur had scored that first period power play goal. Union had four more power play chances over the final two periods. And on those four opportunities, Union had just three shots on goal and finished with four shots on goal on the five power play opportunities. Why didn't they shoot the puck more?
[00:05:19] Speaker B: You know, I think you got to give Princeton some credit. Like they're, they're in shot lanes.
We were, you know, not handling the puck as, as well as we normally do. I just, you know, in general just didn't think it was a, it was a great effort for us. And really any phase of the game, whether it was, you know, power play or penalty, even our penalty kill, like, you know, they didn't get anything. But I just didn't think we were sharp anywhere.
[00:05:42] Speaker C: Well, I have some post game sound. Let's start with Princeton Ford and team captain David Jacobs and then Tigers head coach Ben Sire.
[00:05:53] Speaker C: Dave, you guys came in here, one of the, probably one of the toughest penalty kills in the country near the bottom. What was the key tonight to holding Unions just like four or five shots on their power plays?
[00:06:04] Speaker A: Yeah, I think a lot of pre scouting went into it. We put in a lot of work this past week on the PK during practice and I think just being poised and being in the right spots and being confident with our penalty kill.
[00:06:17] Speaker C: You gave up the first one, the reverse attempt, but what was the key after that? To shut them down?
[00:06:22] Speaker A: Yeah, I think that was just a little bit of a breakdown on the forecheck.
And from there we kind of just went back to our basics. End zone, stuck to our structure and just we were bearing down on the PK and getting the job done.
[00:06:35] Speaker C: Yeah, you come in here. How important was it? Because you guys had some tough games last weekend at Bowling Green, but you swept the north country teams two weeks ago. So to come in here and get jump out to two nothing like how big was that?
[00:06:47] Speaker A: Yeah, it was huge.
I think last weekend was a good test for us. We showed some growth from Friday to Saturday.
But back to league play is a lot is very important.
So coming on the road we kind of had a road mentality where we want to steal six points and it starts with the first one. So coming out for a simple hot start playing hard hockey and it's kind of what we did there.
[00:07:08] Speaker C: Yeah, you got one there late in the second period and then to get two quick ones early in the third really put the game away. How important was that?
[00:07:14] Speaker A: Yeah, that was huge. We were talking in a locker room a lot coming out with confidence play our game, don't change a thing.
And we came out and I think did that made enough plays and stayed structured in a D zone. Got pucks out and got reward for it.
[00:07:30] Speaker C: Well, that third period gave me a chance to do some research. This is the snapped a 15 game winless streak regular season winless streak here in Schenectady. All 0:13 to a messengerink to come into the new building here at MNT Bank center to get a win and snap the street. What does that mean to you?
[00:07:45] Speaker A: It's awesome. I think it's just any, any league game on the road is huge and this is just another one we owed union from last year. So it's good to come here and get the job done.
[00:08:02] Speaker C: It's out of focus right now. I was trying to get back here.
[00:08:06] Speaker C: There we.
[00:08:09] Speaker A: Go.
[00:08:11] Speaker C: Well, Ben, first of all, where's my wawa?
[00:08:15] Speaker D: I tell you what, it's that wawa that's close by. It definitely keeps our staff nourished and caffeinated, that's for sure. So next time, all right, Come in.
[00:08:29] Speaker C: Here and play the way you did.
How big was this to and I was telling David a few minutes ago. This is the snapped a 15 game winless regular season winless streak in Schenectady. It's been since 2008. Said the Princeton team won a regular season game in Schenectady.
[00:08:45] Speaker E: Wow.
[00:08:45] Speaker D: I didn't know that but I had.
[00:08:48] Speaker C: Plenty of time in the third period.
[00:08:51] Speaker D: This place is a hard place to play. I mean obviously I've been in the league for a while and it's an extremely hard place to play. And I thought.
[00:09:01] Speaker D: You know, we were obviously very fortunate on a few few bounces here but it was a hard fought game from start to finish. I know we still got out shot here tonight and but it's an extremely hard place to play and it's a really good union team that we played tonight.
[00:09:18] Speaker C: The penalty kill has been a struggle for you guys. It's down there among the.
[00:09:24] Speaker C: 57Th, I believe, type 57th coming in the game. What did you do after giving up that first power play going there in the first year, what did you do differently to limit them to only four or five shots the entire on their power plays?
[00:09:37] Speaker D: Well, I think we just were well aware of where our percentage is.
You know, I think we've done some good things on the kill and so we needed this to stay true to like what our foundation is and our structure here to try to gain some confidence from it. Because certainly that was an emotional or a momentum swing here when, you know, you're 15, 20 seconds into it and you give one up off the rush.
[00:10:05] Speaker C: Especially, we're up to nothing. How good was it to get up to nothing?
[00:10:09] Speaker D: It's always nice to have two goal lead instead of, instead of one. So, you know, we're really fortunate, you know, in that regard, that is. And Brendan Gorman did a really nice job on that second goal, working together and so, yeah, just feel fortunate to be in that position.
[00:10:26] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean there was a turnover there and you won a puck battle in this late second period to make it 3:1 and then to get two quick ones the way he did to start the third period and chase Cameron Corby for the game.
How good was that to, you know, really take control at that point?
[00:10:41] Speaker D: Well, I think you touched on to be able to get the, that third one there late and the way that.
[00:10:48] Speaker D: You know, the guys went about it came off a real strong back check. I mean this union team is great in transition and gave us fits here tonight and as they do other teams that they've played, you know, and watching them and to be able to get a back check and then to turn that the other way.
You know, credit to our guys working 200ft.
[00:11:08] Speaker C: How proud are you of the effort.
[00:11:10] Speaker D: I think this team battles? You know, I felt that way from day one and certainly, you know, really happy the way that they compete night in and night out.
[00:11:25] Speaker C: Now let's hear from union defenseman and team captain Nick Young.
[00:11:33] Speaker C: Nick, just how it worked tonight.
[00:11:36] Speaker F: Yeah, I mean we didn't, we didn't have our A game, we didn't have our B game. We just, you know, we were kind of just going through the motions and we didn't show up tonight.
[00:11:46] Speaker C: Any effect from the trip at all or just, we're just not going to use that as an excuse.
[00:11:50] Speaker F: No, there's, there's no excuses.
Like, we just didn't play as a unit. Our details are bad and our habits are bad and that's it.
[00:11:58] Speaker C: Yeah, we talked earlier the week about getting off to the good starts. You guys been, you know, living dangerously with that. But tonight, behind two, nothing. You do get the power play goal in the first, but nothing after that. What did you Princeton do to make it visible for the guys on offense?
[00:12:12] Speaker F: Yeah, I don't, I don't really think they did much. We just, we beat ourselves tonight, to be honest. Like if we have our A game and it's a completely different story. We just, our heads weren't in it and like I said before, our details and our habits weren't there.
[00:12:25] Speaker C: Yeah, turnover on the second goal, outworked on the third goal when they got the two early the third. How frustrating was that?
[00:12:33] Speaker F: I mean, obviously it's frustrating to get scored on, but you know, we're, we're trying to be a team that never gives up, doesn't matter the score. We're always trying to play the right way and today we just, we weren't playing the right way at all.
[00:12:44] Speaker C: It doesn't get any easier now with Quinnipiac coming in on Saturday, 8th, 9th ranked team in the country, that what do you got to do to try to bounce back and get a win?
[00:12:54] Speaker F: I mean, it's, it's something that we got to do internally. We got to go over some video and you know, there's some things we need to clean up for tomorrow for sure.
But honestly, it's just going to have to come from each guy individually, you know, just making sure they bring the right attitude, the right effort and you know, being, being together, playing as one.
[00:13:12] Speaker C: Why is this team having problems winning on Friday nights in ECAC hockey? Plays four games on Friday, the conference and four losses.
[00:13:22] Speaker F: To be honest, I'm not sure. I just, I just think it's something where we're trying to find this consistency and right now it's not there.
But we're working to get that consistency where every night we have our A game and we're all, you know, dialed in on every.
[00:13:36] Speaker C: Let's move on to Saturday's matchup against Quinnipiac. The Bobcats are the five time defending ECAC hockey regular season champions and they came into Saturday's game ranked eighth in the country and had beaten RPI 51 on Friday. And Union was on an 11 game winless streak against Quinnipiac, including 10 straight losses. With what happened Friday against Princeton, was there any concern about facing Quinnipiac?
[00:13:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, I think you look at the energy and effort we had on Friday, if you didn't get it corrected, if we didn't come out and play our style hockey, it could be a long night against Quinnipiac because they're extremely talented.
[00:14:10] Speaker C: Well, you made a major decision as who was going to start in goal against Quinnipiac. After what you said on Friday in the post game press conference, you decided to go with freshman Braden Gillespie, giving him his second start of his college career. He won against St Lawrence, which quite frankly isn't a good team.
Starting against Quinnipiac would be a big test for Gillespie. What led to that decision?
[00:14:30] Speaker B: You know, I just think he's got a lot of confidence. He's, you know, not afraid of any situation. He, you know, wants more opportunity and, you know, for us we wanted to put him in a spot that would be a challenge and like, quite frankly, he had earned it and, you know, just want to get him, give him that chance. So sometimes playing against is one of the better teams in our conference is a way to see what someone has. And he definitely answered the bell.
[00:14:57] Speaker C: Yeah, I. Watching him play from the outset, I mean, he looked confident. He was making saves he needed to make. He didn't look intimidated and he finished with 31 saves. How happy were you with his performance?
[00:15:08] Speaker B: Extremely happy. I thought, you know, early he had to make a couple saves for us and I thought that settled everybody down. And again, he's just got a, you know, a confidence about him when he's in the net.
[00:15:20] Speaker C: As for the rest of the game, it was a livelier Union team than the one that played Friday. They were hustling, they were playing well on the forecheck. They were winning puck battles even though it was scoreless after the first period. How happy were you with the team's play?
[00:15:32] Speaker B: Yeah, I thought as the period went on we were, you know, starting to play with more confidence. I thought we realized that, you know, we're a good hockey team and that we can, you know, play with anyone and, you know, really excited about the way the game was progressing.
[00:15:45] Speaker C: As the game turns at the 10:28 mark of the second period, Drew Hockley of Quinnipiac was called for a five minute major for hitting Etienne Lassard from behind and they got a game misconduct. That was the third union player, by the way, that was hit from behind in the period and the refs finally caught one. This was, this was a big opportunity for The Garner Chargers to take lead and control of the game. And it started with Tyler Dunbar scoring at 12:18, and then Lucas Buzziol tipping in a Ben Muthesbolk shot at 157 later. I mean, how important was it to get those two power play goals like that? Especially after what happened in the power play Friday against Princeton?
[00:16:21] Speaker B: Yeah, you look at Quinnipiac, and every year they have a, you know, one of the best penalty kills in the country.
They always pressure, you know, like, they have a ton of pressure, and they really put you to the test. So I thought our guys answered the bell.
You know, to get one, it was important. To get two was, you know, put us in a great spot.
[00:16:39] Speaker C: Union takes control of the game early in the third period. Dunbar scores 21 seconds into the period. And then less than three minutes later, Dunbar floated a wrist shot from the left point and Riley Bruick was standing in front of the net, and he made a nifty redirection past Golia mate Marinov to make it 4 nothing. That ended Marinov's night. And how big was that to add to the lead so early and in effect, giving a knockout punch to the Bobcats?
[00:17:02] Speaker B: Well, I thought it put us in the spot that, you know, you can make a mistake now. So we were able to, you know, really just buckle down, limit their opportunities, stay above them, and just, you know, try to lean on them the rest of the way.
[00:17:13] Speaker C: How about Union's penalty kill going five for five.
[00:17:15] Speaker B: Yeah, I thought, you know, a couple penalties we would have liked to have back, so you can't put yourselves in those spots. But the. The penalty kill did an outstanding job. And again, their. Their power play is. Is. Is really good.
[00:17:25] Speaker C: Yeah. As the seconds wind down and as the buzzer gets ready to sound and Electric Avenue is played, the Gillespie slides his water bottle to the bench and then grabs the net and it pulls it down to the ice. I saw this afterwards on Instagram.
What was he signifying by doing that?
[00:17:41] Speaker B: I believe it's a Canadian tradition of shutting the net or closing the net.
Yeah. Wasn't something that I saw live either until I saw it after.
[00:17:50] Speaker C: Well, let's hear from Tyler Dunbar, Riley Bruick and Braden Gillesp.
[00:18:02] Speaker C: What does this mean to beat the number 18 in the country after coming off the loss last night?
[00:18:08] Speaker G: Yeah, I mean, it's huge. Obviously, we know what we're capable of as a group when we stick to our game plan and kind of play to our strengths. So I think it's a really good result for us. And just kind of continue to grow that belief that we're a top team.
[00:18:22] Speaker H: Yeah, I mean obviously I think kind of had to press the pause button this morning. Obviously that wasn't us last night.
Take a look in the mirror and you know, just get back to what makes us us. And I mean we got the result that we wanted when we did that. So it was good.
[00:18:34] Speaker E: Yeah, I mean everything they said is completely true. Like just had a great bounce back and it just shows that we can compete with anyone in this league.
[00:18:41] Speaker C: Brandon, for you give back a chance to start.
Yeah, sorry, sorry.
What have we obviously started against St. Lawrence. Your second start here.
[00:18:55] Speaker C: Country. When you were told you're starting, what was your first thought?
[00:18:59] Speaker E: Pure excitement really. Just you get, you don't get those opportunities very often. So when you get that, just make the most of it and obviously help the boys get the win.
[00:19:07] Speaker C: You seem like you're uncomfortable from the get go. You're getting some testing shots early. You seem confident there. I mean how important was it to get some saves early on?
[00:19:17] Speaker E: I mean that just helps a lot. Just feel the puck and get into the game and then you get build.
[00:19:20] Speaker C: Off that you're the second goaltender in union history against Winnipeg. Post shutout. What does that mean?
[00:19:26] Speaker E: I mean it's an honor. It's just, it's so fun, especially winning with all these guys and celebrating with them. So I could have. Couldn't do it with a better group.
[00:19:34] Speaker C: Second for you guys. Get the major power play.
Tyler, just talk about that getting to two goals.
[00:19:42] Speaker G: Yeah, I mean obviously that's, that's what we want to do.
You know, once we get that first one. I think the mindset on the bench was great. Great to get another one.
Obviously felt like we moved pucks well and filtered pucks the net which is, you know, the goal of our power play unit.
[00:19:57] Speaker H: And we were pretty happy with the.
[00:19:58] Speaker C: Result because last night I guess Princeton, who had one of the worst PKs in the country, guys did not really take that many shots on him. So how important was it against a team like Quinnipiac to get that those shots on going score?
[00:20:10] Speaker G: Yeah, I mean it's very important obviously.
[00:20:17] Speaker G: No, it was a good point but yeah, yeah, obviously we weren't very happy with the way that we moved Fox and were able to get him to the net last night. So it was a big focus and you know, we did some video and talked it out as a power play unit and really felt like we were able to find something tonight where we were all working together towards the same combination.
[00:20:37] Speaker C: Talk about your second goal there. Only the third period to make it three nothing. You get down low.
[00:20:44] Speaker C: Your wrist, a shot stops. What happened after that?
[00:20:47] Speaker G: You know, I missed the net wide by about 2ft, but luckily it came right back to me and you know, I was able to. It was a great play by Birzy to get it to me and you know, Bully was sliding around, so I was able to put it in.
[00:21:02] Speaker C: I want ask about the. Your assist there. It was just one of the wrist shot there and Riley gets a nice tip on that. Just first of all, just putting it to net. How important just was front of that. See what happens.
[00:21:15] Speaker G: Yeah, obviously it's important just to see what happens. And you know, when you got a pretty good player like number 27 out there, it's, you know, you love to just throw him to the net.
[00:21:24] Speaker C: Riley, what. What did you see on that play? Because, I mean, it was incredible tip that you saw there?
[00:21:30] Speaker H: Yeah, I think it was just. It was a good 4 check by our line. Smitty and Booze kind of getting after him. And then they kind of threw it up the wall there. And I was just the lowest guy and I kind of saw Tyler make a play on it and he kind of had a little bit of time, so I just kind of looped back toward the net and was lucky enough to get a stick on it. I mean, it's pretty nice. Pretty nice sift. So it was good to see that one going.
[00:21:50] Speaker C: I know you only missed your sophomore year, so you only been this year third game gets put it back. But this team for 11 straight games could not beat them, lost 10 in a row out of tie to do what you did tonight. What does that. How does that much give you guys confidence going back when you return the league play in, in January?
[00:22:10] Speaker H: Yeah, I think a lot. I mean, we're. We're looking to improve our league record this weekend and you know, kind of split it so we have more work left to do there. But I mean, definitely beating the team like Quinnipiac, you know, feels pretty good and gives us some confidence to keep it going. And I mean, we know he can play with anyone in this league, so I mean, it's exciting.
[00:22:30] Speaker C: Tyler, how important was it to protect the shutout for break?
[00:22:34] Speaker G: Yeah, I mean, it was extremely important. Like just seeing when he got the. When he got the nod this morning, he was pretty excited and you know, we were all really excited for him. I don't think there's anyone more excited than betting for him, but we were all, you know, just really trying to play for him, especially late in the period. Just do whatever it takes.
[00:22:54] Speaker C: Yeah.
What does it mean for the shot?
[00:23:01] Speaker C: Talk about, do you hope to get more action here? I mean, you've had two starts, you won twice, you had a nice relief appearance against Princeton. So you think you got the get some more action?
[00:23:12] Speaker E: Honestly, I have no idea. I'm just happy and hope whenever I get that opportunity to help these guys out. I mean, my boy partner Corp, he's been unbelievable for us. So just whenever he needs help and the boys need my help, I'm more than excited to get in there.
[00:23:25] Speaker C: You guys are unbeaten on Saturday nights in conference play. Well, what do you got to do to get Friday wins?
[00:23:30] Speaker H: Sorry, one more time.
[00:23:30] Speaker C: You unbeaten in Saturday ECA SEAH games, but you haven't won on Friday night. So what do you have to do when he get back to conference play to win those Friday games and you know, get those six points?
[00:23:41] Speaker H: I think just starting on time, I mean, being ready for the puck drop on Friday night, obviously we've kind of put our backs against the wall on Saturdays a little bit and I mean, we've answered the bell, but kind of coming with that mentality on a Friday night that, you know, it's our game to win and that's the expectation.
[00:24:01] Speaker C: Of course, I didn't mention this on Saturday after the game, not only did Union beat Quinnipiac, it took the lead in the unofficial M and T Bank cup series. How exc.
[00:24:09] Speaker B: Yeah, nice to. Nice to get one against them and especially in the new building.
[00:24:13] Speaker C: What was it like for you to finally be Quinnipiac? I mean, you seem generally happy and maybe relieved.
[00:24:20] Speaker B: Yeah, I think relief is the biggest thing is, you know, I like our hockey team. I like the way we've played. Friday was a disappointment and then, you know, Saturday to come back and beat a quality opponent and you know, somebody that we hadn't been able to beat in, in previous years, I thought was, yeah, he was able to take a little breath and you know, sometimes in this like it's. It is there's a lot of hard nights and then there's nights where you can just take a deep breath and be proud of what, what the guys did. And I thought that was one of those nights.
[00:24:52] Speaker C: Well, let's take a deep breath and a break here. When we come back, we'll preview this weekend's two game non conference series against Alaska Fairbanks. The final games of 2025. You're listening to the Parting Shots podcast.
[00:25:05] Speaker B: Hi, this is Daily Gazette News Group deputy online editor Gino Dominic. I hope you and your family have a wonderful holiday season and a Prosperous and Healthy 2026.
[00:25:23] Speaker I: 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 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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[00:26:13] Speaker J: If you really want to know what's going on in your community, you have to read the Daily Gazette. We don't take a side. We're right down the middle and we're gonna get to the truth. Our reporters and photographers are out in the field bringing you updates every minute with trust, accuracy and integrity. From the first page to the last page. Independent, probing journalism. We're finding out what's going on in community where nobody else is covering. It's who we are. It's what we do.
[00:26:45] Speaker C: Hi, this is Daily Gazette news group business editor Stan Hoote. I would like to wish you a happy holiday season and a great 2026.
[00:26:54] Speaker C: Welcome back to the podcast. I'm Gazette union hockey beat writer Ken Shot. I'm joined by Union men's head hockey coach Josh Hauge.
Union closes out the 2025 portion of its schedule this weekend for the second straight year. It takes on Alaska Fairbanks. And as you recall last season then the Nooks erased a three nothing third period deficit with two of the goals coming with the goal. He pulled Turner come from behind three three tie in the first game. And the next day, Alaska Fairbanks jumped a three nothing lead in the first period and won six to four. How frustrating. If you look back those, those games 13 months ago, how frustrating were those games?
[00:27:28] Speaker B: Yeah, those were.
[00:27:31] Speaker B: Really frustrating. I think you look at our season last year in games where we felt like maybe we could have, you know, held onto. That was, you know, the Friday night game and then I thought Saturday night was just, you know, it started early where we got some goaltending issues and I think all three goalies actually played that night. So it was a, it was a long night.
[00:27:49] Speaker C: What makes the Nanooks so tough to play against, well, you got to be.
[00:27:52] Speaker B: Ready for, you know, a close game. They.
They stay above you. They. They make you earn everything you get. They. They don't take a ton of chances, so they can frustrate you. So. And I thought they did that last season.
[00:28:03] Speaker C: Yeah. Three of their four wins this season have come against Ecsiacke. They beat Quinnipiac out in the icebreaker in Tempe, and they won the adirondack Invitational, beating St. Lawrence and Clarkson, and then they tied Quinnipiac in Hamden, Connecticut, and won a shootout. So, I mean, they have their number against ECAC hockey teams.
[00:28:23] Speaker B: Yeah, they're a good squad this year. They've beat some good teams. They've played a difficult schedule. They've played Wisconsin tough. They've played Minnesota Duluth tough. So they're battle tested.
[00:28:33] Speaker C: Yeah. You're good friends with the Nooks head coach Eric Largin. Did he tease you at all at the games last season?
[00:28:37] Speaker B: No.
We usually talk to each other about each other's teams, and after this series, we don't. We don't talk a lot about it beforehand, but afterwards, we'll try to, you know, help each other and give each other pointers.
[00:28:48] Speaker C: Even though this. These games aren't ECAC hockey games. How important are these matchups, especially with the team heading into the holiday break following Saturday's game?
[00:28:57] Speaker B: Yeah, when you're 10, five and two and going into this weekend, I mean, you have a wide range of where you can finish, and, you know, if you're. You're 12, 5 and 2, you're probably feeling, you know, at least pretty positive about the first half. If you're 10, you know, 10, 7 and 2, it's. It's pretty disappointing. So I think for us, this is a huge weekend. We want to, you know, continue how we played on Saturday and. And just keep building for the second half.
[00:29:21] Speaker C: Is there any concern about the players being distracted with the vacation break coming up?
[00:29:26] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, both teams are going through the same thing here.
You know, I know their players. A lot of them are flying out Sunday out of Albany to. To go wherever their home is. So I think both teams are dealing with this, and it's always a. Always a worry this time of the season.
[00:29:39] Speaker C: Well, Saturday's game will be special. Not only is it the annual toy drive, it will be the first teddy bear toss that Union hockey has held. When Union scores the first goal, fans will be able to throw teddy bears or stuffed toys onto the ice. I mean, I've seen the Hershey Bears, I mean, they've done this for years. I used to cover Hershey and they didn't do it back when I was back in the 80s, but they set some records with the number of Teddy Bears tossed. I don't think you're going to get seven or eight thousand Teddy Bears tossed. I mean, what's it going to be like to have that going on and when Union scores the first goal there for their first goal?
[00:30:11] Speaker B: Yeah, I think, you know, a lot of what we're trying to do is be selfless as a hockey team and a way to give back is to help some, you know, people maybe that have more of a need than our players do. So I think this is a great opportunity and a chance for our team to give back and support the local community and hopefully, you know, score one right away in the game and not have to people hold onto those Teddy Bears long.
[00:30:33] Speaker C: Yeah. If the Newton and they press release said if Newton doesn't score by the time the third period media timeout go, that's what we'll have the toss at that point. But let's, let's hope we see some gold and the Bears flying all over the ice.
[00:30:44] Speaker B: Yeah, we don't want to get to that point.
[00:30:45] Speaker C: Yeah. Well, as always, Josh, we'd like to take questioners from our listeners. Mark Brockbank comments. I think Gillespie played an amazing game and deserves a start against Alaska this weekend. This is a question I was going to ask, but I wanted to let Mark ask it. Which goalie does he plan to start Friday?
[00:31:02] Speaker B: Yeah, Braden's gonna start on Friday so he can, he can make that decision. Mark, you got the call.
Yeah, we're gonna go with Braden. He's, he's earned the opportunity to get another start and excited for him to have that chance.
[00:31:13] Speaker C: I'll follow up on that. Does Cameron get to start Saturday?
[00:31:18] Speaker B: So Cameron's been a little bit ill, so we'll see how he, if he can get back for practice. But if he's, you know, ready to go, we'd like to, you know, work him into the lineup again here soon. But if, you know, Braden plays well on Friday, you know, at this point, we'll probably see, see if we can give him another game on Saturday.
[00:31:33] Speaker C: Well, Mark also asked, how does Coach Hauji and his staff evaluate and determine which players deserve to be on the first or second lines?
[00:31:41] Speaker B: It's always, you know, game to game and chemistry with guys. So it's just, you know, constantly evaluating our players through practice and games and how they're developing and what we feel is best for the group.
[00:31:52] Speaker C: Regular contributor Jim Calhoun says, first off, congratulations on finally beating Quinnipiac. And Jim adds, going way back, I was at the 2010 ECAC 150 Marathon, the 4 overtime game.
He says, I think I hung in for 130 minutes and watched the game winning goal at home. Being a non league contest, does Josh plan anything to get the boys to play like they did against Quinnipiac?
[00:32:15] Speaker B: Well, I think for us that's our new standard of what we need to hold everybody to is competing and being as physical and hard as we were against Quinnipiac. So yeah, that's the standard we're going to have. If guys don't hold it, then there'll be consequences.
[00:32:29] Speaker C: Another regular contributor, Ryan Fay, asks after this weekend, Union has what is easily its longest break of the season. Ryan would be interested to know how the team handles a break that long from a preparation, planning standpoint. For example, how often are practices held? Do most guys go home for the holidays? Is the break that long an easy trip or easy trap for players to fall into and get rusty?
[00:32:53] Speaker B: Well, I think the biggest thing is one is we want our players to go home and spend time with their families.
You know, you look at the college hockey season, it's the longest season in all of college athletics.
This gives them a nice break, so they'll get two weeks off.
During that two week time though, they're expected to work out and get on the ice.
You know, we'll give them some video with different drills that they can do and just some individual stuff to help, you know, them keep training. But you know, for the most part we have a lot of guys that are beat up, a lot of guys that are injured. So like they need some time for their body to heal. So we'll encourage them to take a week of no ice and then, you know, that the second week maybe get some skates in.
But with that being said, every single, not every single day, maybe six days a week, we expect them to be doing something athletic.
[00:33:40] Speaker C: Finally, from you and Professor Brian Cohen writes, I would be interested in Halji's take on the difference between the two nights last weekend. Was there something in particular that he told them that he thinks might have sparked the higher intensity on Saturday? Or did guys just feel like they had something to prove against qpac?
[00:33:58] Speaker B: I think we were all disappointed in Friday night. Like that was, you know, whatever, whatever reason it happened and I don't know why it did, if I did, I would make sure it never happened again.
Whether they were tired, whether they were sick, whether they are injured, whether there was a lack of focus.
You know, I'm not 100% sure for Friday night, but Saturday it was, you know what we can be when, you know, the whole group is bought into playing connected, playing physical and hard and just competing. And I thought that was the biggest difference. So I give credit to the guys on Saturday. I'll take the blame on Friday and we'll go forward.
[00:34:32] Speaker C: Thanks everybody for the questions. And if you have a question for Josh, you can email them to shot. That's s c h o t
[email protected] or or you can post them on Facebook on my personal page and the Parting Shots podcast page. You can also send them via bluesky X&threads at Slapshots.
The Daily Gazette ECAC hockey Face off selection are back for another season. I'll post my picks usually on Wednesdays and then you can send your picks to me. I'll post those pics before the first game, usually on Fridays to play. Send your picks to shotdailygazette.com There are only five games to pick from this weekend. Well, Josh, good luck this weekend. We'll be over to talk to you after the game. And this will be our final podcast before Christmas. We'll resume probably on New Year's Eve before that exhibition game you have against the Canadian Royal Military Academy. If I get the name wrong, I'm sorry about that, but I want to wish you and your family a great Christmas. We'll talk again on New Year's Eve.
[00:35:30] Speaker B: Sounds great. And happy holidays to everyone.
[00:35:32] Speaker C: Thanks, Josh. Coming up on Thursday's podcast, we'll talk more on Union men's hockey. I'll have interviews with Nick Young, Brandon Burr and Tyler Dunbar.
Gazette high School sports writer Drew Wemple looks back at Saratoga Springs football in the state Class Double A title game last Saturday. He will also talk about his article on the state of Section 2 basketball, which appeared in Sunday's paper and is online@dell gazette.com and Drew May have an update on the dispute between the high school hockey on Ice officials and Section two that is disrupting the season.
[00:36:05] Speaker C: The views expressed on 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 Schatz. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time from the Parting Shots podcast studio in Schenectady, New York. Good day, good hockey.
