College Sports Scene Today
"College Sports Scene Today" tackles the hottest topics and latest news around the world of college sports. Each episode features conversations and analysis with special guests including insiders, athletes, coaches, and other newsmakers from college conferences around the country.
College Sports Scene Today
Previewing the NCAA Hockey Tournament with Pat Micheletti
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Big Ten Network’s Pat Micheletti joins the podcast to break down the Big Ten teams in the NCAA Hockey Tournament and previews the road to the Frozen Four.
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College Sports Scene Today is hosted by Pete Pistone and produced by Mia Pistone
Hi, everybody, and welcome in the College Sports Scene today. Pete Pistoni, and it is time to determine a champion in NCAA hockey. We've got four Big Ten teams that are going to be part of that journey. They're here to help us break it all down. Our good friend from Big Ten Network, Pat McLetty, is with us here on College Sports Team today. Pat, how are you?
SPEAKER_00I'm I'm great, Pete. Uh great to see you. Great to be back with you.
SPEAKER_01We appreciate it. Well, let's start with some news up there in your neck of the woods with the Minnesota Golden Gophers, a coaching change. What can you tell us about the the new head coach, Brett Lawson that's taking over?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, uh Brett comes from uh St. Claude State. And oddly enough, that's where Bob Motsko came from when he took over uh for Don Lucia. And uh uh and and Brett is um is someone that um his resume speaks for itself, two two national championships as an assistant coach at you at the University of Minnesota Duluth, um, two gold medals with the uh U.S. world junior team uh under the direction of David Carl, uh back-to-back, in fact, gold medals. Um, so he's got quite the resume. He's been to a national championship, took St. Cloud to the NCAA's um four times in in his tenure at St. Cloud. So um I think Minnesota got uh got a good one.
SPEAKER_01All right. So we'll see what happens there with the Golden Gophers. As I mentioned, we've got four Big Ten teams now in the NCAA tournament. I want to ask you a question how we just ended the Big Ten tournament. Different style this year, Pat. They sort of changed the format. What'd you think about it? How it played out, and and was that a good thing for the conference to do, in your mind?
SPEAKER_00Well, I think I think some teams like it. I think some teams didn't like it. Uh you know, in in these one game series, if we want to call them that, uh, you know, with the way college hockey is today, Pete, uh uh seriously, any team could be any other team in the country on any given night. Um, the parity in in college hockey is is is is just that way right now. So um you have teams going in to uh a conference tournament knowing that they're already in the tournament. So you have to wonder, huh, what are we really playing for? Do we need to win? And then you've got on the flip side of that, you've got teams that need to win the tournament to get into the NCAAs, and so they're playing with a little extra juice, maybe. And and um, I like it personally. Um, you know, but some teams, some teams don't because they just they want to get on with you know to the NCAA. And uh so, but uh, I I thought it was pretty good for this first year.
SPEAKER_01All right. Well, to your point, we know Michigan was gonna be good and they were good. Yeah, and they go into the tournament. Uh they are gonna take on Bentley, uh, the Big Ten tournament winner. Wolverine's 29-7 and one this season. Give us a little thumbnail on this Wolverine team and how you see them uh kind of starting things off here this weekend in the first round of the tournament, Pat.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, uh ultra, ultra talented, um, great power play, tons of skill. You know, they have a little grit to their game too. Uh they um and they really impressed me this year in years past, and I know you and I have talked about it, their uh ability or inability, I should say, to stay disciplined. And I think they've done that this year. And uh, you know, I to me they're gonna be an awfully, awfully tough out because um they're deep, they're four lines deep, they've got six defensemen that they play, they've got an outstanding goaltender, and so um, you know, to me, they're you know, they're there's a reason why they're the number one team in the country.
SPEAKER_01So I'll ask you this about all the teams I'm gonna talk to you about here. If you're coaching against Michigan, Pat, what do you do? What could you maybe exploit from the Wolverines on the ice?
SPEAKER_00Well, you gotta try to get them, you gotta try to get them off their their game. You've you've got to try to frustrate them, uh, frustrate them. Teams that are really offensive and skilled, they don't like to be hit, they don't like to be chopped at. Um, you know, they like free ice and all that. So you've got to take that away uh, you know, from them if if you're gonna beat them. Uh and so and that's and that that that's hard to do. It can be done, but um, you know, uh again, uh to me, they're gonna be an awful, awfully tough team to beat.
SPEAKER_01All right. The next team from the Big Ten we'll ask you about is Penn State. Mittney Lions, another good season for them. Taking a Minnesota Duluth. First, uh, give us a little insight on uh Penn State and the matchup here in the first round.
SPEAKER_00Well, I I look at Penn State's top two lines as good as anybody in the country. Uh, and they have a defenseman, Jackson Smith, a a first rounder for the Columbus Blue Jackets, and an absolute um terrific player. Now, that being said, they can beat anybody in the country. There's no doubt they can score with anybody. They have a problem with discipline, they take a lot of penalties, they get themselves in trouble, they sometimes let teams back in the game, and and and that is gonna be their their first round matchup against umd. Um, is going to be a tough one because uh umd is very, very disciplined, and um they will wear you down, and and and and so I I think that's a it's not the matchup I would like to see Penn State having that in that first game. So, you know, we're gonna have to see how that one plays out.
SPEAKER_01So Penn State, remember they were up and they were sort of a little bit sort of mediocre, but a better year this year. What are some of the things there that in your mind, players they brought in, Pat, or maybe style of play that helped that?
SPEAKER_00Uh uh no question about it. They in the last two to three years, their level of talent has increased five, tenfold. I mean, they have brought in some guys who are really, really, really talented players. And it and it's kind of um changed from the style that they used to play to um, boy, you know, the the style that they play now. You know, their only question, Mark, is is can they stay disciplined? If they can, they're gonna be another tough out.
SPEAKER_01All right. So the Nittany Lions next. Next up, Michigan State. Uh, and they play Yukon, and that's also a basketball matchup coming up this week in the Sweet 16, right? So kind of cool with those two schools. Obviously, great team there. We see Michigan State be at a really high level in the last couple years. What about this particular Spartan squad?
SPEAKER_00Um, so well coached, so well coached, so well disciplined, so well structured. Um, you know, they're deep, they have the best goaltender uh in the nation and Trey Augustine. The question for Michigan State, and they and I could have said the same thing for the last two years with this team, but they haven't been able to get over the hump and get to the frozen four. And uh, and a lot is going to be riding on the play of Trey Augustine. Can he get them to that frozen four? I personally think they have the easiest path to get to Las Vegas in the frozen four. Uh, you know, with the with the region they're in. I really I really think that's a uh the best path of any of the teams. And so I expect them to be in Las Vegas.
SPEAKER_01Take us inside the locker room for something like that, Pat. Is there uh how do you deal with there's got to be like that mental block, like for a team, right? We've we've come so far. How do we get over that speed bump? How do you go about approaching that if you're the coach?
SPEAKER_00Well, I and it that you know that that that's a great question because they've knocked on the door the last two years, and uh and and really we're we're the favorites. And so, you know, I I I think it's leadership and in in and guys get a year older. I'll take, for example, uh uh a Daniel Russell, uh Charlie Stramel, uh a Matt Basgall, uh guys on on Michigan State. They're all older now, they've been through it, and so it's gonna take that leadership from the players. The coaches can talk till they're blue in the face. We've been here, you know, this, that, and the other thing. They know how good they are, and um, but but it's it's it's going to be one of their top guys saying, you know, enough, enough. Uh, whether it be Augustine saying, and nothing's getting by me tonight, guys, or Stramel saying, get on my back. Uh, you know, I'm going to carry you. Russell, whoever the whoever that is. Um, and and so I I really believe that they understand that, and and I think uh, you know, they're they're gonna be um awfully good. You know, Michigan and Michigan State to me, of the teams that I've that I've seen, and I've seen pretty much all of them, um, are the two best teams in the country.
SPEAKER_01All right, we'll see what kind of collision course it might be on. One more Big Ten team, though, that gets your insight on that's the Badgers up there in Wisconsin. They're gonna play Dartmouth. Again, another team that was a little bit off and the Badgers back this year. What the what do you uh uh kind of attribute that to?
SPEAKER_00I've seen the Badgers and they've played as as good as anybody in the country. I've seen the Badgers and they've been in the bottom half of the country. Um, so I don't know what we're going to see. Um, they got throttled by Ohio State in the in the Big Ten playoffs, uh, which is at home seven to two. Really surprised me that they gave up seven at home. Uh so and what's concerning to me now is that they haven't played in two and a half weeks, and they're gonna be going into this. Are they going to be ready? No. Do I think they can beat a Dartmouth team that had a really good year? For sure I do, because they have the talent too. And and uh and the way Mike Mike Hasting uh prepares his team. I I really believe they can. But on the flip side of that, you know, I what team is gonna show up? That's my big question, Mark, uh, for the Badgers.
SPEAKER_01You bring up a really interesting point, and then you know this hockey is a grind, right? And it's a rhythm and a routine. Yeah, how do you stay in that rhythm and routine when you're in tournament time? And again, to your point about the badgers, the rust that could be there, Pat, when you're not playing hockey for two weeks.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it's uh it's all about momentum, Pete. And and I even talk about it, and it's and it and it's even momentum during a game. You know, you can be down to go, what are you going to do to flip the switch? You know, is it gonna be a hit? Is it gonna be a goal? Is it gonna be a save? You know, and and that's the same mentality that you have to take when preparing um to get in. You know, how's our practices been? Are we, you know, are are we are we are we walking around with Swagger or are we doubting ourselves? You know, are we looking down the bench? Who's gonna who's who's gonna be that guy instead of saying, guess what? I'm gonna be that guy tonight. You know, my my line's gonna be that guy tonight. You know, let's have that confidence, guys, and and then and then you carry it from the locker room uh back out onto the ice.
SPEAKER_01Now, the flip side of that is we all know this is the big moment, right? This is what every team trained for and they want to be in this tournament.
SPEAKER_00How do you keep everybody playing within themselves, Pat, and not get beyond the moment that that's a great point, uh Pete, because you you don't want to you know go out there in the in in in the first five minutes of a game, throw everything you have and then nothing left. So, you know, you you've got to be able to, yes, you know what? Let's you know, you you talk about rhythm, rhythm, rhythm. Let's just stay in our rhythm the whole game, one shift after another, one line following the other, you know, and and so that's how you do it. You know, uh when you're on the bench, you're watching that line. Hey, look, you know, look what they did. Now we have to go out and do it. And and that's how really that's how you you you start to you start to feel it. Everyone on the bench feels it, and and that's really how you win, to be quite honest.
SPEAKER_01So we went through the Big Ten teams. Let's pull back to the 50,000-foot view. The rest of the teams in this tournament, some of the ones we should look for, kind of your thoughts about when we get down to the frozen four, who outside the Big Ten conference pad are you looking for?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, you know, every I mean, every year you gotta look at the Denver Pioneers. I mean, you know, as as their uh one of one of their assistant coaches texts me, tech texts me all the time, and he says, Oh, watch out for little old Denver, and year in and year out, you know, uh no one talks about them during the year, and all of a sudden they're in the frozen four, either vying for a championship or or winning it. And so um they get ready for these times, they know what it's like, and they prepare for that uh throughout the whole season. And maybe that's why we don't talk about them a lot during the season is that their preparation for this tournament begins on day one, and um, and so they're gonna be awfully, um, awfully good. You know, I I talked about uh the UMD Bulldogs. I mean, they have something this year that they hadn't had in the past, and that's scoring. And and and the way that they play so disciplined, so structured, so hard to play against. Um, they're gonna give Michigan fits. I think Michigan will beat them to get to the frozen four, but they're they're they're another team to watch. And then, Pete, you've got teams that okay, they know they don't have the skill. They know they don't have the you know the the goal scores. But what they so what what do they have? Great goaltending and defend like crazy. And those two teams are Merrimack and Minnesota State. And Minnesota State, by the way, a year ago in their first round matchup is Western Michigan, who went on to win the the title last year. They were the better team when they played Western Michigan, lost in double overtime to them, hit the pipe in double overtime, uh, which would have won the game, which would have knocked Western Michigan out. And so I'm watching that game awfully close this year. It it I think it's it's gonna be a really good one.
SPEAKER_01Well, we love this time of the year. I think it's gonna be a great tournament, Pat. Always appreciate your insight. Should be a lot of fun. We'll see he goes to Vegas here in a couple of weeks to play for a championship.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, looking forward to it, Pete. And always great being on with you.
SPEAKER_01He's the man. Thank you. That's Pat Nickeletti from Big Ten Network. Uh Pete Pistoni, thanks for watching. College Sports Scene today.