The 2025 Frozen Four is set; here's how Wisconsin, Ohio State, Minnesota and Cornell got there

Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com have a look at the 2025 Frozen Four in this edition of the PodKaz. But first, they take a look back at the NCAA regionals and opening-night wins by St. Lawrence, Minnesota Duluth and Clarkson.

But home ice held in the regional finals, where Wisconsin, Minnesota, Cornell and Ohio State advanced to the Frozen Four in Minneapolis.

The Patty Kazmaier Award will be presented on Saturday, and Nicole and Todd give thoughts on the Wisconsin trio named as finalists for the award.

And the episode wraps up with a look at Friday's semifinals, Ohio State vs. Cornell and Wisconsin vs. Minnesota.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for our mailbag? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [e-mail].

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Usccho dot com. Hi everyone, welcome to the podcast. Todd
Moluski and Nicole Hasey with you. We have the Frozen
four teams set. That's Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio State, and Cornell.
They will be together in Minneapolis later this week. We'll

(00:25):
have a full preview as we continue on with the
show of the semi final games as we will see
them play out on Friday. But Nicole, I just am
interested in your quick thoughts on that group of four
teams all winning at home to get through to the
Frozen Four this week.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
Yeah. I'm always conscious of sort of people who complain
about it's always the same teams, and in the end
it was our top four seeds. But you know, that's
why we spent all season talking about how important it
was and being the four versus the five and all
of those things that like that that home ice advantage matters,
and ultimately, I think, you know, as we've watched this season,

(01:07):
go on, I think these are the four best teams
we watched this season.

Speaker 3 (01:10):
I you know, it.

Speaker 2 (01:12):
Feels like we came down, you know, kind of through
it all. There were some bumps for everybody. I don't
think anyone had a super easy path and the sort
of best ones emerged. It doesn't mean that the other
teams weren't also good. I just you know, sort of
the full course of the season, what we saw from
these teams, it feels like, Okay, there's a reason, you know,

(01:32):
we had Cornell finished top ECAC, we had Wisconsin finished
atop the w C. CHA like this is you know,
these are the two tough conferences right now, and I
feel like that's that we got where we were.

Speaker 3 (01:43):
Supposed to be.

Speaker 1 (01:44):
Yeah, it's hard to argue that. I mean, two years
in a row now we've had all home teams advance
out of the quarterfinals to the Frozen Four, and it's
you know, you look at the success of those four
teams have had throughout the year. I mean, Wisconsin going
in a toy five game unbeaten streak, Cornell, I believe
he's on sixteen undefeated, and Minnesota and House State have

(02:10):
have been right there in competition kind of for that
second spot in the WHA all season long. So yeah,
you're you're right, these are probably the best four teams
in the country when you look at it over the
course of the season, and let's see how it goes
on Friday when the semi finals happened. But last week

(02:30):
at this time we were still at eleven teams. We're
now gotten down four with seven games over the last week.
Three Thursday night games all end up in in in
games that you know, we're not necessarily close on the scoreboard,
but there were some pretty close moments in some of
these games. Starting in Columbus, it was Saint Lawrence four,

(02:52):
Penn State one. In that game, the Saints ran out
to a three to nothing lead in the first period,
Abby Hustler scoring two of those go Penn State got
it back to three to one with a five on
three goal in the third period, but the Saints went
it uh by three again with an empty net goal
and a Sophie some thirty two saves for Saint Lawrence.

(03:13):
And that one that was a a repeat of the
result of last year's regional semi final, Saint Lawrence getting
past Penn State. Penn State having trouble scoring in these
regional games has been the theme for the last two seasons.

Speaker 2 (03:32):
Now, Yeah, I feel like maybe I need to apologize
to Saint Lawrence because I really did think pen that
was Penn State's year. I thought, you know, sort of
a flip of fortunes and just sort of Penn State
on the upswing and all that sort of stuff. And
I admittedly had been, you know, saying that here and
writing about that, and I feel like maybe wrote Saint
Lawrence off a little bit.

Speaker 3 (03:51):
But yeah, they I.

Speaker 2 (03:51):
Mean, never doubt haven't what it means to have a
great goaltender. I mean, obviously Penn State put shots on
net right like they were. They were doing the work,
and Saint Lawrence got some blocks, had a great another
great performance from an Sophie RDS Truman.

Speaker 3 (04:05):
Yeah, I just.

Speaker 2 (04:08):
Like they're the the Jordan mean, they took that personally
right they I was. I was impressed with the game
they played. We we had some of these on as
we were in Madison watching the Clerks in match up
with Boston University.

Speaker 3 (04:22):
But yeah, I just did it.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
Felt like Saint Lawrence walked out on that ice, took
it pretty early and really didn't relinquish it.

Speaker 1 (04:29):
That's a something that that's hard to come back from
when you fall down in early three goals. I mean,
you like to feel like you're in the tournament here,
but all of a sudden you're trying to dig out
of a three goal hole. And I mean for Penn State,
that's not something they're tremendously familiar with. Over the course

(04:49):
of the season, haven't had to do that a lot.
So when it happens in you know, on the big stage,
that that's a real rough way to start.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
Yeah, I mean it's sort of that perpetual either or
for coaches, right like would you rather, you know, sort
of go in undefeated, you know, on a roll, or
would you rather have suffered some some adversity and so
your team learns sort of that resilience and learns what
they need to do in those situations. I'd say that
like later on when we're talking to some of these
other teams, I'd say, you know, Wisconsin, Minnesota, even Ohio State,

(05:21):
like they they all suffered a little bit of diversity
and the like towards the end here and have had
to come from down and things like that, and I
think that makes a difference. I don't even Cornelly without
their last minute those wins in the first round of
e s AC last second really and I just wonder if, yeah,

(05:42):
if if Cruising Crew for all that Penn State has
done sort of at the beginning of the season with
the non conference games that was months ago, you know,
and so it does sort of Yeah, I don't know it.
Like you said, it's just a really hard to hold to.

Speaker 3 (05:58):
Dig out of.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
And I think, you know, you're in a unfamiliar building,
you're against an unfamiliar opponent, all the pressure is on
just mentally, that's that's a huge thing to deal with.

Speaker 3 (06:09):
And yeah, I just.

Speaker 2 (06:12):
It was it was I kind of felt like most
of Thursday's games left me. They weren't they didn't go
the way necessarily I expected them to. And so yeah,
that was the first one where I was just like, Okay,
we see you, Saint Lawrence.

Speaker 1 (06:26):
Yeah. Well, in Ithaca, Minnesota, Luth came out with I
think the shots margin that a lot of us expected.
Playing Sincred Heart fifty eight to twelve. Duluth had the
advantage there and what ended up being a six to
one win in the first round, a goal some four
different players got the Luth out to a five nothing lead.
Daniel Bergen scored twice, Clare Van We're in, Olivia Mobley,

(06:47):
Grace Sadura, and then Olivia Mobley scored her second of
the game into an empty nad after Kate Helgerson scored
for Sacred Heart midway through the third. I don't know
that anyone was necessarily surprised by the result. The the
six to eleven game is is usually a pretty one
sided affair, at least historically, and it has been shots

(07:09):
wise over the past few seasons, and really no different
this season.

Speaker 2 (07:15):
No, but it took you m D a while to
break that one open, right, Like, we're watching that game
and the Saint Lawrence, Saint Lawrence has taken a bigger
lead in the game that we thought was going to
be close than U m D had early on against
Sacred Heart, and you know, it took them into the
lad into the second period to break that one open.
So you know, nobody who loses the game wants any

(07:36):
sort of moral victories. But I thought it was a
really good showing for Sacred Heart their first time in
the tournament. Obviously, like you said, it's just it's a
lop sided matchup when you're talking the six eleven because
that's not even that they were eleven in pairwise, right,
So kudos to Sacred Heart for for showing up and
showing like that they're they're a team on the upswing

(07:57):
and they can handle this for you know, a good
portion of the game. I think there's just a ton
to build on from there. I know, like nobody wants
the moral victory, but I was impressed. We know, we
know how goodv. Gascon is, we know what the Bulldogs
can do on defense, We've seen what their scoring can
do at times, and so yeah, I just thought I

(08:19):
was surprised how long Sacred Heart was really able to
stemy UMD and keep them off the board more than once.

Speaker 3 (08:26):
I think they won in the first right.

Speaker 1 (08:30):
In Madison on Thursday night, Clarkson three to one over
Boston University. A quick start for the Golden Knights there,
and Shrakowski ria Hick scored goals thirty one seconds apart,
with a bu penalty in the middle there. So it
was an interesting stretch there because it was a Clarson goal,
then the penalty was taken, and there was the TV

(08:52):
time out, So I think those are minute and a
half two minutes, so it was a longer stretch than
it seemed like between those goals thirty one seconds of
playing time apart. But that was a real strong statement
for Clarkson to come out get those two goals and
really the game kind of settled from there. There wasn't
a ton going on for a period and a half. Essentially,

(09:13):
it felt like for for in terms of great scoring chances,
Lindsay Bakna scored with four to one left for Bu
to cut that deficit the one, but Sena Caterall gotten
empty in a goal for Clarkson for the three to
one win. We knew Clarkson has it has experienced. They have,

(09:35):
they've been in this situation before, b has not for
their first tournament appearance in ten years, And so that
was I think a little bit on display some of
those players having you know, experienced some real high level games,
and you know, we were talking back and forth throughout
that game that it was really there were some passes
that didn't connect, for be you that you know, could

(09:57):
have given them some more chances, some more score chances
at least, you know, opportunities to get up the ice
with a little more flow. And that was one of
the things that really to me stood out as what
decided that game.

Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yeah, but you sort of it took them into later
the second maybe even the third to even come close
to playing the game that they wanted to play and
that game was over in those first few minutes. And
that's the difference of being able to come out right
on the ice and be ready from puck drop right
like it without that first period, I think maybe it's
a closer game, and because because Clerkson was able to

(10:34):
score those two quick goals and then kind of settle
into their defense and really focus on what it was
they wanted to do. And you still was able to
push back a little bit against that one. But yeah,
I don't know if it was like gripping the stick
too tight, but it this is a team we've seen
be a good passing team in BU and it was
like there was no power on everything anything. It was
like everybody was so tense that they forgot some of

(10:56):
the basics and they didn't you know, they didn't seem
to ever really settle into their game. And so kudos
to Clarkson. I think in retrospect, having watched the two
games with them, there's more continuity between those two than
I imagine, just in that like they the way that
they were able really to match the team where they
were and and you know, just really strong difference from

(11:20):
from Clarkson in both games in terms of being able
to like they were. They were really keeping Boston University
wanted to create flow and they just they could not.
They were they were meeting them at the blue line,
they were meeting them in the neutral zone, and I
think when BU got sort of flustered and had that
slower start, they just did not have the experience to
come back from that.

Speaker 1 (11:40):
Yeah, So that was Thursday night. We will take a
real quick rank here. When we'll come back, we will
talk about the Saturday's regional finals. Stay tuned on the podcast.
Welcome back to the podcast. Todd Moluski and Nicole reviewing

(12:01):
the NCAA Tournament first two rounds. We just got done
talking about Thursday games. Now let's talk about these Saturday
regional finals. In four locations will go top to bottom
in the bracket, starting with top overall seed Wisconsin falling
behind Clarkson but rallying for a four to one win
to clinch their sixteenth Frozen four appearance, tied for well

(12:25):
tied for the lead with Minnesota, also their third straight
Frozen four trip. The whole Gosling was the one who
scored for Clarkson and get a power play goal five
minutes into the first period, and that created some tension
in Lebon Arena. You could feel that, couldn't you That
there was you know a lot of people that probably
remember the twenty eighteen championship game in Saint Charles that

(12:48):
Wisconsin had a hefty shots margin but never scored and
lost three to nothing. And I do feel like that
was in some people's minds. But the Badger's got two
goals in the second period, Abra Murphy and Kelly Govertanko,
and then two more in the third Lailah Edwards on
the power play and then Lacy Eden into an empty
net which she never actually hit. It was an awarded goal,

(13:10):
which we don't see a ton of, but she basically
would have been a penalty shot if there was a
goalie in the net, but since there was none, they
can award the goal for that, and that's a four
to one win for the Badgers there. What what did
you feel about how that start played out for Clarkson again,
because that was what you imagine they felt like they

(13:33):
had to do is get out to a lead, try
to protect that, try to add on to that, and
if they were able to convert on a couple, you know,
one of a few chances that they had and make
it to nothing, we might be talking about something completely
different right now.

Speaker 2 (13:47):
Yeah, I mean even after the game was gone to
coach Mark Johnson was like there was a point where
I thought, wow, we're just not going to score. Like
they both because they were unlucky and there were some
bad bounces things like that, but like because with Clarkson
was doing such a good job of disrupting what they
wanted to do. It was interesting to watch Wisconsin press

(14:08):
and to start, Clarkson's defense was holding them from really
even getting into the zone, and then sort of Wisconsin
kept getting sort of closer and closer, and then they
were holding zone possession and but not putting the puck
in the net. And the longer that went on, the
more you could just feel that like how like you said,
the tension in the building, but I imagine like the
sort of snake bitten feeling and the frustration of the players.

(14:30):
I mean, some of the players were able tojust and
some were still trying to do the same thing they
always do in the third even though like Clarkson had
done such an amazing job of poke checking and blocks.
The final block count was fifteen which is ludicrously low.
There's just no way that's the right number. I think
it said that they had eight after the first and
there's no way there were only seven more. So let's

(14:52):
just go ahead and assume that they had probably double that.
But yeah, they they were the same way they you know,
they had opportunities. They had the puck, they had you know,
up some breakaways, they had pucks through the crease.

Speaker 3 (15:05):
And if Clarkson.

Speaker 2 (15:06):
Barry is one of those, I like, as we said
with the Stint Lawrence game, like that's a hard hole
to dig out of, especially when you're frustrated when things
have come so easy, when scoring is what you do.
I don't think it is a coincidence that in a
game like this, we're once again talking about, you know,
goals from from different players on Wisconsin's depth chart, and

(15:29):
you know, Leila Edwards ended up getting one. But like,
this was a game about players that aren't aren't the stars,
and that's what is if they're gonna win, that's what's
going to carry them through to a title, right they
It's just this depth, this opportunity for players. I mean,
Kelly Gorbotenko put it a goal she didn't know she

(15:49):
could score. I mean, it was a beaute right and
Mark Johnson said he knew she was capable of it.
That kind of wanted to be like, okay, but tell
the truth, like she muscled her way out. It was
essentially a blown play. The goal technically, I think scored
as a power play expired. But she she's a bigger player.
She there was a sort of a bouncing loose puck

(16:09):
going between some badgers and clerks and at the blue line,
Kor Tanko pushed her way through, angled in being able
to use her size, and then lifted a backhander up
and top shelf. It was it was gorgeous, but that
is not a player that you would expect to be.

Speaker 3 (16:25):
Doing that in that situation.

Speaker 2 (16:27):
And then you know a goal from Eva Burfi on
defense as well, and she's the one that had committed
the penalty that led to Clarkson's goal. So she also
stopped a two on one break breakaway the third period.
So that's the thing that I keep coming back to
with Wisconsin is yes, you have the Patty Cast top three,
you have you know, five women being named to the

(16:49):
US national team for Worlds. Those aren't always going to
be the players that do this for them, even in
beating Minnesota in the WHA Championship, Yes, a pass from
Casey O'Brien, but was a goal from Sarahwasdovic. And I
just think that that is the thing that they have
that I'm not sure a whole lot of other teams

(17:09):
can come close that even when nothing is going right,
even when everybody is getting stymied, even when there's frustration,
there's still players. And when you can send out a
third line and mix in your fourth line players against
other teams, it's just it's really hard to match up against.
And and they keep showing sort of time and again
that those players are gonna step up. And then the

(17:31):
players that they're sort of big name players when they're
not getting on the score where we you know, we
asked Mark about Casey O'Brien, who, you know, was like
kill the battle, leave like almost daughter own.

Speaker 3 (17:42):
She was.

Speaker 2 (17:42):
She was everywhere on the ice and sort of doing
all of that intangible stuff. And you know which is
the probably the favorite for the Patty. She's the top
scoring player in the country, is the top scoring player
in Badger program history, and she was blocking shots and
winning pucks in the boards, in the defense zone on
a late penalty kill. And so that's the sort of

(18:04):
stuff that I think you see that you're like, Okay,
I understand what the hype is about.

Speaker 1 (18:09):
I think I said it was the twenty eighteen championships?

Speaker 3 (18:12):
Did it twenty seventeen?

Speaker 1 (18:13):
Seventeen championship tip game? Clarkson won them in both seventeen
and eighteen.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
But they did twenty eighteen. Was the last time we
were in Minneapolis?

Speaker 1 (18:20):
In Minneapolis? Correct? Yeah. The thing that maybe went you
know a little you know, behind the scenes or got
forgotten was, you know, Avi McNaughton gave up a goal
on the first shot of the game and then you know,
mate a couple of pretty challenging saves after that. You know,
like I was saying, if if it gets into nothing
or beyond that, Wisconsin's in some trouble and she's she's

(18:44):
done this a lot this season where she doesn't have
face as many shots as a lot of other goalies,
but they give up a couple of testers and she's
been really good in those situations. And that was I
think again the case on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (18:59):
Yeah, and it's like we were talking talk about in terms
of you know, coming back from adversity and that sort
of thing like giving up what you're when you're, you know,
considered one of the best goalies in the country, sophomore
getting all this attention, and you give up a goal
in this really crucial situation on the first shot. Like
that's the fact that she rebounded and played the game
she did was just really good telling. I don't know

(19:21):
how better to say it. And also just want to
shout out Holly Gruber for Clarkson, who is a Wisconsin native,
so she said that was the first time she got
to play in front of a lot of her family.
But she had a spectacular game. I mean, I think
on defense, Clerkson played the best possible game they could
have against Wisconsin, like they did ever. They they went

(19:42):
out with a game played and they executed it, and
they did everything they wanted to do. And as you
keep saying, I think if they were able to be
to score at least one more on offense, it would
have been a very different game, particularly before Wisconsin was
able to break through and score. And Clarkson came as
close as any team has to figuring out that sort
of how do we be a really shut down defense

(20:05):
but not have to give up being completely offensive in
the meantime, and they had a pretty good balance there.
They just didn't get the puck in the net and
that's the game. But yeah, I was impressed with the game,
especially because it was such a different game than we
saw from Clarkson and Spu. I was really impressed with
the game that Clerkston played, just just really disciplined and

(20:29):
did exactly what they wanted to do. They had the Badgers,
I mean, the Padgers couldn't complete a pass. They couldn't
you know, they couldn't dry a cruise through the new
shal zone like they like to. Just there were poke
checks and lifting sticks and just everything Wisconsin was trying
wasn't working.

Speaker 1 (20:48):
Heading up I ninety four to Minneapolis, where we'll be
for the Frozen four this week, Minnesota and Colgate played
the four or five game, the one regional final that
was set in advance because both of those teams in
those positions. That game is the one regional final that
was set in the original release of the bracket. Minnesota
jumped out to a three nothing lead, but had to

(21:10):
hold on for a three to two win. Abby Murphy
scoring twice in Sydney Morrill the other goal for that
three nothing lead, but a Lisa Beiedamrin and Avery Pickering
scored in the third for Colgate, who made a really
good push in the third period. I was shooting the
Gophers thirteen to nine after Minnesota had a thirty five
to thirteen shots lead, So kind of flipping the script
there in the third period with and you'd imagine that,

(21:32):
right with your season on the line, You've you've got
a lot of proud players, players that have been in
you know, tough experiences and had to make something out
of them, and they did. They almost got all the
way back. It had a power play I believe late
in that game too, And no, that was that was
a different game, all these games that happens out to day,

(21:52):
but different goal. Right. So the Gophers get their sixteen
throzen four appearance, tied with Wisconsin for the first there,
first since twenty twenty three, and they'll be at home.
We will talk about that a little bit later, but
Minnesota getting this win with a lot of pressure, a
lot of eyes. They want to be in that tournament

(22:14):
in their home building after they weren't the last time around.
I would imagine that's that's a pretty big relief for them,
but also a strong statement of look, we're here to
win this thing, not just begin it.

Speaker 2 (22:28):
Yeah, I mean that third period was more what I
expected from the entirety of the game. I was a
little surprised by kind of how flat Clerks or Colgate looked.

Speaker 3 (22:39):
I'm gonna do that a lot. I apologize, y'all.

Speaker 2 (22:41):
I'm real tired and I've written a lot the last week,
ten days. It's just a mental slip. So I expected
more of a push from Colgate. We know what they
can do. We've seen you know, they've got amazing scoring
the sort of physical game that I expected. I mean,
it got chippy at times, but I really kind of
thought we'd see a bit more of that, like shoulder

(23:01):
to shoulder, reel sort of fights along the board sort
of thing. And I mean mostly I think just kudos
to Minnesota and kudos to Brad Frost because he's got
the team peaking when they need to be peaking. I mean,
they have had plenty of lows in the last few weeks,
you know, like in the closing weeks of the season.
That's not where they wanted to be. And if you'd
have told me after that series that they lost so
badly to Wisconsin that this is the like, that's the

(23:23):
game I would have watched on Saturday. I would have
been shocked. So kudos to them for sort of regrouping.
They lost that, you know, was it three overtime game
against Minnesota State in the first round of the DOUDCJS.
There's been a lot of bumps and they keep responding.
And obviously that you know, getting to play at home
and the draw of the Frozen Four at home are

(23:45):
are huge motivators. But I don't think they're the only thing.
And I yeah, I'm impressed.

Speaker 3 (23:49):
I thought to.

Speaker 2 (23:51):
Sydney Or it was a Colgate transfer and she scored
what turned out to be the game winner. So from
for the group of petty folks, that's a that's a
team petty and and just that's a delicious little little tidbit.
But Abby Murphy scored a ridiculous wrap around goal.

Speaker 1 (24:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (24:11):
I don't, I don't know, I don't.

Speaker 2 (24:12):
I don't know what to say about this Minnesota team
because I've seen them play poorly and I've seen them
play out of their mind, and so it's hard to
totally buy into what we've seen from the w c
J Tournament and the this game just because of that contrast.

Speaker 3 (24:29):
But I mean, I think I think I'm bought in.

Speaker 2 (24:31):
I think I'm like, Wow, it's almost unfortunate them in
Wisconsin faced off again in a semi final and only
one of those teams is going to advance. But yeah,
I just really great, like I said, peeking at the
right time doing what they need to do. That was
that was more of a dominant game from Minnesota over
Colgate than I expected.

Speaker 1 (24:51):
And when you have Abby Murphy scoring, I mean she
can We've seen where she can be one of the
best players in the country when she's scoring goals like
she has been the last few weeks. That's a major
plus for Minnesota and something that I know that they
need to continue because they don't necessarily have the depth
that uh you know that Wisconsin has that you know,

(25:13):
maybe even corner Ohio State have they need her to be.

Speaker 3 (25:17):
They go as she goes, right, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
Yeah, And not only that, but I think you in
their own building, she's the first goal was ridiculous that
it like deflected, Like I don't even know how that
goal went in. It didn't feel like it should have
been Look It wasn't a great shot, it wasn't a
great situe, and of course the puck goes in the
back of the net in you that sort of puck luck,
and then you know, you score that cheeky wrap around.
And the confidence that that cup gives not just Abby

(25:42):
but the whole team. They know that their fortunes also
rest with how well she's playing and how much she's scoring.
And so when you're when you're pulling off stuff like that,
it's hard enough to feel like you can beat the world,
right right.

Speaker 1 (25:58):
All four regional finals were w CHA against ECAC boat.
Only one of them was hosted by an ECAC team,
and that was Cornell, which got into the third period
with Minnesota Louth in the zero zero game, and that
that one felt height. It felt like there was, you know, uh,
just a lot of maybe some nervous energy on both
sides there. Cornell find have killed.

Speaker 2 (26:20):
The I dream agenie myself into the over there. It looked,
it looked a great atmosphere.

Speaker 1 (26:25):
I believe it was there over three thousand fans, their
their highest in program history.

Speaker 2 (26:30):
Someone I know was there said it was just deafening,
like you couldn't hear anything. She also said some older
she called them gray hair she was being instead of
calling old ladies. But she said she assumed they were
lums cane and sat in front of her, and one
of them made sure they got the student papers so
they could hold it up during the player introductions. And
that just that warms my heart. So just sounds like

(26:50):
a really exciting atmosphere and that people in Ithaca are
just really really pumped for this team.

Speaker 1 (26:56):
Yeah, and when you consider that it's Analise Bergmann goal
for Cornell and ev gascon In goal for Duluth, the
zero zero makes which probably shouldn't have expected a real
high scoring game here, but it was Cornell that got
away with a one nothing victory on Alyssa Regulatto's goal
three twenty four into the third period. Bourbon made twenty

(27:18):
eight saves Gascon twenty. This was the game with the
late Dluth power play that they also I believe had
the empty net or part of to go six on four,
but Cornell was able to fend that off and get
to the finish line and make their first Frozen Forces
twenty nineteen.

Speaker 2 (27:38):
That was not the how our plays that QMD drew
up or wanted to have in that situation. As that
kind of just kept going poorly. It was like, yeah,
that this was not destined to be your game, I think,
But yeah, UMD had their opportunities. They have plenty of chances.
They you know, they've at times struggled to score. They
faced a Doug Darras, the Hockey Canada defensive coordinator for

(28:04):
their women's national team, like he you know, this is
a defensive team with a really good goalie, and.

Speaker 3 (28:09):
That's it's not great.

Speaker 2 (28:11):
It's not a great situation to be in when you're
a team that is not always the highest scoring team.
And so it was just kind of two walls pushed
against each other and Cornell got the got the goal.

Speaker 1 (28:22):
It's it has to be pretty satisfying for Cornell. I mean,
looking back five years twenty twenty, they were the number
one overall seed going into that tournament and never got
to play as no one as no one did that
season because COVID canceled everything before we got there. But
to be able to get back to the Frozen Four
for the first time since then, it's their their fifth overall.

(28:49):
I would imagine there's a lot of people that are
feeling pretty good about how this has turned out down
you know the second half of the season especially, but
now really you know, making a push in the Frozen four.

Speaker 3 (29:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (29:00):
I mean if you're you know, someone that believes in
sort of the stories or fate or Dustiny all that
sort of stuff, it does it does feel like it
came together for them and that you know, they deserve this.
This is a program that was number one in twenty
twenty and like I feel like to new fans, if
we told you that Cornell was the number one team
five years ago, if people be like, what, like, there's
there's been this, you know, Wisconsin, Ohio state dominance and

(29:22):
things like that, and I mean those teams were also
ranked high in that season in Cornell still was atop
the polls. They that is I think a forever lost
season for them. That's just a really unfortunate series of
events for them. And I think that's a thing that
if you go back and talk to people ten, fifteen,
twenty years from now, they're gonna sort of rue you

(29:43):
know that that that's how that went down, and think
about it. Is it having slipped through their fingers.

Speaker 1 (29:47):
And so.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
That might not necessarily be the most healthy way to
handle things or go through things, and so I'm glad
that they have this. Now, this is a new thing
to focus on. This is this is That's not what
could have been for their program. This is what is
for their program exactly.

Speaker 1 (30:03):
The final regional final of the day was in Columbus,
Ohio State falling behind Saint Lawrence but quickly regaining its
footing for a six to one win. That was Alan
McLeod's scoring for Saint Lawrence on a five minute powerplay
after Sarah Swerdeerski was ejected for head contact in the
first period, but Sloane Matthews Enjoy Dunn scored for the

(30:26):
Buckeyes later in the first period done that was her
first of two and Ohio State didn't score in the
second period, but outshot Saint Lawrence twenty two to one,
which was just kind of an indication of where that
game was trending at that point. And then they Ohio
State scored four in the third to reach their fourth

(30:46):
straight Frozen four, going for their third title in the
last four. So your thoughts on what we saw in
Columbus as Ohio State, you know, it had been challenged
the weekend before by their coach Nadine was all after
a humbling loss to Minnesota in the WHA semifinals and

(31:08):
after a hiccup to start this one.

Speaker 2 (31:11):
They answered, yeah, I mean I think that goal, the
Stanlords goal came like twenty seconds in the five minute
power play too, so it's not it was like bang bang,
sort of bad news, bad news. And I think the
important thing from us Ohio State here is that they
were patient and they responded right like. It wasn't as
we said last week, Nadine was mad that they she

(31:33):
felt like they gave up and that just wasn't the
case here, and they were patient. And even though like
you said, they fire outscored in the second or outshot
in the second period and it wasn't falling, they still
they sort of kept what they do and it was.

Speaker 3 (31:47):
Not lost in me.

Speaker 2 (31:48):
That their their goals were sort of what they do,
which is just swarming the net, some great passing, somebody crashing,
you know, like you look at the highlights, you don't
ever really get to see the puck go in the
net because it's just them sort of cuming down the ice,
moving the puck well and tapping in through the chaos
in front of the net. Shout to get into Amazophie Nordstrom,

(32:10):
who tied a career high with forty three saints. She
absolutely gave Saint Lauren it's a chance in that game
for a really long time. But I think being at home,
coming off the situation they came off of there was
that was a runaway train in terms of what the
Buckeyes were going to do there that I don't know
that any team really had it would have had a

(32:31):
chance against Ohio State in those circumstances.

Speaker 1 (32:36):
It is, you know, pretty remarkable that we're talking about
Ohio State making its fifth Frozen four appearance and four
in a row. How just how you know? And the
first one was the last one Ritter I was twenty eighteen. Yeah, yeah, Like.

Speaker 2 (32:50):
It's this is this is new, friends, this is all
brand new.

Speaker 1 (32:53):
You can think of if you if you've jumped in
in the last couple of years, you think of Ohio
State as this perennial power because they've been in all
of these you know, last weekend situations. But this really
is still a pretty new building program to be at
this level, and I think it's remarkable to consider how

(33:17):
well they've played to consistently be at this level these
last few years.

Speaker 2 (33:24):
Yeah, I mean, you know, lover hate Nadine. There's no
denying that she has gotten results. And I think I
want to point out to people too, because it's always like, well, yeah,
it's Ohio State. They have money and resources and all
those sorts of things. Before I think they started, Nading
started what eight or nine years ago, Like that's a
team that Ohio State forgot, Like they had a couple
of really bad coaching situations, and I just don't think

(33:45):
there was a ton of like internal oversight at the university.
Nobody cared about that team. That's why the coaching situations
were able to be what they were.

Speaker 3 (33:53):
And so.

Speaker 2 (33:56):
Nadine took the job and forced that university to pay
attention and provide the resources needed and provide the student
athletes the resources they needed. And Lord Willig, they still
get a rink in the future, but aside from the rank,
everything else is top of the line that that's what
they're doing. And but yeah, I just I think people think, oh,
big ten university Athletic school. Of course they're doing that.

(34:17):
But like you said, it is it has been less
than ten years and for a long time that team
just sort of wild away into obscurity and it's a
shame and it's kind of I think that there's probably
things that needed to be addressed within their own athletic
department for why the things that happened were able to
happen and why you know, nobody was really paying attention

(34:37):
to that. So there's just no doubting that, like what
Nadine has done there as a turnaround. I mean when
she when she took the job, she was like, oh,
why would I want to do that to myself? I
mean that's that's where that program was, you know, when
she's been blunt about that and also that you know,
she she's the type of person that takes on a
challenge and I think her husband said, okay, so make

(34:59):
them not like that anymore, and she absolutely did in
a really short time. So yeah, it's uh, they you know,
it hasn't been the season. It's not been the dominant
season they had last year, right, Like they had a
really stacked roster with with that older group, and again
I think they just they showed some resilience. They had
a bad showing at w CCH's. They are a relatively

(35:21):
young team. You know, their top scorers are on the
younger side and you got to learn some of these lessons.
So I just think the last few weekends have been
really interesting sort of sports psychology of various teams and
what it means to come in with a bunch of
wins or come in off bad losses and how all
those teams have responded.

Speaker 1 (35:41):
Yeah, so that's the Frozen four, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Cornell, and
Ohio State advancing. We will get into the semifinal matchups
a little later in the show, but when we come back,
we will talk about the Patti Casmier Award, the women's
national Goalie of the Year award, which will be awarded
this weekend in Minneapolis as well with us on the podcast.

(36:08):
We're back on the podcast, Todd Molusky and Nicole Hasey.
Let's talk about the Patty Casmaira Award, which will be
presented Saturday, eleven thirty am Central Time at the McNamara
Alumni Center. If you're in Minneapolis, you can be part
of that show. It's going to be live on NHL
Network in a live audience there. All three finalists are

(36:29):
from Wisconsin, Layla Edwards, Caroline Harvey, Casey O'Brien. That's on
the second time one school has had all three finalists,
the other wise Minnesota and twenty thirteen, that incredible team
Manda Kessel winning that year, Megan Bozic and Nora Rattu
the other finalists that season. This is a pretty remarkable

(36:56):
finish for one school to get the three top vote
get for this award. It speaks to I think that
the name recognition that's out there for them because this
is voted on at this stage by the thirteen I

(37:19):
believe thirteen member committee after the league championship weekend, and
so they're advanced to that point that you get to
the top ten by a vote of the coaches. That
tends to produce a, you know, a pretty fairly even
geographic spread because you have coaches from all over the

(37:40):
country who are you know, have seen different players and
respect a lot of different players. When you get to
the committee voting, that's also geographically you know, they try
to have a fairly even geographic base to it. But
when the top three finalists are all from our top
three vote getters, all from one school, I think tells

(38:00):
you that there's been a pretty good amount of recognition
for those players, And I mean looking at these three,
you've got the national scoring leader and Casey O'Brien who
was also up there last year. Caroline Hivey is the
best defender in the country and a staple for years
to come on the blue line for USA hockey. And

(38:21):
Leilah Edwards has been one of the top goal scorers
this season and part of the future of USA hockey
as well.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
And Leila and Kker the last two US National Women's
Player of the Year, right.

Speaker 1 (38:35):
So that it just feels like there's a lot of
build up into where we're getting these three players being
up on this stage on Saturday.

Speaker 2 (38:44):
Yeah, I agree, it's hard to talk about, like people
don't love that you are both from Wisconsin, cover the
Badgers a bunch, and then this is where we're at.
But also I think for the most part, like this
is a pretty I think you can make arguments for
a couple other players, but I don't. I don't think

(39:04):
you can deny that these three have had just absolutely
stand out seasons. I don't think that you can. Like
KK is a generational defender, Like there's just no there's
just no doubting that, Like we are watching and very
lucky everybody for a ten dollars ticket and or a
TV subscription, a Streammate subscription, just get to watch just
absolute talent on display. Like there is no and and

(39:27):
there are not always words to describe all the things
that KK does really well. And Casey is Casey's a fighter, right,
Like she isn't the most naturally gifted in almost any
part of the sport, maybe her speed, right, And she
has just done a ton of work to make herself better.
You know, when she realized how important face offs were

(39:49):
gonna be and that there wasn't sort of anyone else
in her class that was acceli at them, she put
in a lot of work to be the best face
off taker in the country, right, And she kind of
put put a go of being the best center.

Speaker 3 (40:01):
And yeah, I just I.

Speaker 2 (40:03):
She's also showed a lot of adaptability, right, Like last
season she was more of a pastor. This year she's
been more of a pure score. And that's the thing.
The adaptability for me is something I've talked about. I've
been on the Patty Committee in years past. You serve
a two year stint. I am not currently on the committee.
I was on sort of the last two so I
you know, I had Casey up on my on my

(40:24):
ballot last year, and I think, you know, even just
talked about other players in the past. For me, it's
like seeing someone like Danielle Sirdakney have a different role
every year and what they can do. And so to me,
that's what that's part of what Kate makes Casey so
impressive is not just the numbers. I mean, the numbers
are outstanding, and it's some of it what I think

(40:46):
we said it was like seventeen games more than Hillary
Night to break the program record. It's not like she
had she broke the program points record in this extraordinarily
extra amount of games. It wasn't you know that, it's
this full season, forty extra games, and so you know
she only would she have five her first season?

Speaker 3 (41:03):
Is that what she said?

Speaker 1 (41:04):
Five points ten? I think it was six a frozen
four and then she had four over the.

Speaker 2 (41:10):
Time, right, she did have a really good frozen four
that year. Anyway, all of that is to say, I
just I am I. What I impressed with is with
Casey is that she's just as likely to be blocking
a shot on the defensive end. And I talked about
how she was on that penalty kill in the quarterfinal.
That to me is sort of the stuff that makes her,
you know, the best, the blessed player in the country.

(41:32):
But I also think, and this is no events to Leila,
I just think that KK and and Casey have been
on an extra level and I think, you know, if
the award went to KK, I don't think anybody would
be surprised or angered by that either.

Speaker 1 (41:45):
I am.

Speaker 2 (41:45):
I am writing a series at Victory Press this week
about like making the case for each player, and I
finished KK is like ready to run through a wall
and like yell at anybody that didn't vote for her,
because it's just you look at the numbers and she's
incredibly gifted in ways that have nothing to do with
the points she puts on the board. But also her
points are on power with the other two defenders that
have won the award, and so it's really difficult to

(42:10):
not get on board and not think like, well, if
we're gonna be stingy about which defenders win this, this
is one of the defenders that should.

Speaker 1 (42:17):
And we were talking about this a little bit over
the weekend in person that I just don't feel like
there's a number you are that you can put on
KK Harvey's contribution to the game, because it's not necessarily
just in points. It's in her speed, it's in her
ability to close down two on one or ability to

(42:38):
I mean just just take away what probably would be
decent scoring chances for the other team and turn them
into nothing. How many times that end recovery game right,
which leads her into the ability to play in her
offensive zone because she has the ability and the confidence
to take away those chances on the defensive side too.

(42:59):
It's just out of the full picture running together right there.

Speaker 2 (43:04):
Is all that offense doesn't exist. She's not a great defender. Yeah, uh,
and so that's just a.

Speaker 3 (43:09):
Huge part of it.

Speaker 2 (43:10):
And Yeah, for me, it's it's all that little stuff.
The way that she angles, the way it's the hockey
iq to read the play and see, you know, what's
coming at or where to do, Like she's directing how
the offense is coming at her, Like she's the one
that is moving them to the side and and forcing
things and and then being able to you know, pick
off the pocket, start the breakout and things like that.

(43:32):
It's just it's a real whole complete package and just
something I think that we haven't necessarily seen a ton
of uh you know, her exact style of this highbred
defender and offense a sense a player that is like
equally skilled at both. You're not giving up anything when
she is getting on getting in on the offensive side.

(43:52):
And if she makes a mistake, the biggest thing is
that she could recover, and she pretty much always does,
Like if somebody beats her, she is on her horse
and ending that play before it turns into anything and
so and again she's she's twenty one, she's a junior.
The stealing for her and what she can accomplish in
the future is kind of mind blowing and exciting if

(44:13):
you're a US thegan like real glad she's she's on
that side of it as Americans, right, But yeah, I
like you said, it's it's the part that's unquantifiable. There's
some times where I just kind of want to be
like like the me, like the Will Smith, where it's
just like I don't know, I don't have words, I
don't have just watch just watch her because it's it's

(44:34):
pretty special and it's consistently.

Speaker 3 (44:38):
Kind of jaw.

Speaker 2 (44:38):
Dropping if you really if you know what you're looking
for and if you're paying attention to the details.

Speaker 3 (44:42):
But also sometimes you don't have to do that.

Speaker 2 (44:44):
Sometimes it's just great to just enjoy that she's a
really good hockey player that you get to watch pretty frequently.

Speaker 1 (44:51):
Yeah, you know, it just so happens that Wisconsin has
a lot of the top scorers in the country this
season because they've had such a really you know, potent
offense a lot of games, and that they've scored five, six, seven,
more and more goals and not even just against you know,
some of the weaker teams in the country. They scored
six against Ohio State, they scored eight against Minnesota. A

(45:15):
lot of these these games that have you know, been
higher scoring. You're getting a lot of these points early
in those games from Casey O'Brien from to make them
not close games. That's That's one of the things that
I think it stood out to me is that they're, yeah,
maybe they're getting some some extra points in in games
that are out of hand, but they're also helping them

(45:38):
get to that point by by being the ones that
are scoring. And that's what you have to do in
those kinds of games. Eighty points doesn't happen every year anymore.
And Casey o'brown is at eighty five, so I think
that's something worth recognizing. Darryl Wats was the last player
to score eighty points or more, and and O'Brien is

(46:03):
getting up in the Kendall coin kind of range. I
think now of when I.

Speaker 2 (46:10):
Was checking what Alex Carpenter had, that was the standard
for me.

Speaker 1 (46:14):
Yeah, I think eighty eighty six and eighty eight and
once I can't remember exactly that they were both the
next ones the score because Wat's at eighty two when
she won the Patticast. Sorry, and.

Speaker 2 (46:31):
Yeah, like you said, we just we don't we don't
see like that anymore. Yeah, at the time, Alex, I
think said what they wrote this, Alex Carpenter had eighty
one points and like, yeah, like you said that at
that point that was just like that was a lot.
That was mind blowing, and you know we were seeing
maybe one player kind of come out with that, and
so yeah, it's again, I think part of it is

(46:53):
that the argument, like if you wanted me to argue
for for like five of the top ten, I could
make a really good argument for both KK and Casey
that has nothing to do with the points that they scored,
and I'm not sure, uh you get to you know,
Abbie Murphy or you get to some of the other
higher scores that what Abby can do with the puck

(47:16):
and scores is what her you know, what makes her spectacular.
And so that's hard to talk about this because it
feels like you're you're Raggan on somebody else, but it's not.
It's not meant to be a doubter and on anybody else.
I just I think, yeah, I think Casey Is is
kind of underrated in in what she's done over the

(47:37):
past few season on in the career she's put together.
One day we'll have to try and get the cutch
answered about what what USA Hockey, what about her game
USA Hockey doesn't like, and why she's she's not on
some of those rosters because obviously there's there's some sort
of stylistic difference there. I don't think, you know, it's
personal or anything, but there's there's something that's not making

(47:57):
that click. But she is in the last ten years
probably one of the one of, if not the best
forward we've seen. It's just it's she's a style of
forward that doesn't necessarily exist in women's college hockey anymore.

Speaker 1 (48:11):
Right, all right, So that will be announced, like we said,
eleven thirty am Central on Saturday, as part of a
half hour show. That's one of the awards that will
be coming out this weekend. Will also be getting the
All Americans, the Rookie of the Year, and the Women's
National Goalie of the Year, which has three finalists. Anlis

(48:31):
Bergman of Cornell, will be at the Frozen fourv gascon
of Minnesota Rluth and Wisconsin's Avan McNaughton also at the
Frozen four. Give me your your feelings on this group,
because I know this is one you do vote for,
and I'm curious on how how you kind of parse
through you know, what numbers are important to this and

(48:54):
how how you know we're talking about some goalies that
don't see a whole lot of shots or as many
as as some others. Some goal is that do see more.
How do you how do you, I guess judge that
for yourself.

Speaker 2 (49:11):
One of the things is, I mean, I try really
hard to not just go by the numbers. The numbers
don't obviously don't tell enough of the tail I think
in this group. One of the things that's important to
look at is that of guess Gon's goals or say
percentage is lower than the other two. But she's faced

(49:33):
so many more shots and just her team is lower
scoring like her, she's she's in a ton of one
and two goal games that are either wins or losses
right like they're there. It could go either way, and
I think her team is you know, um D has
significantly more losses than than Cornell and Wisconsin. Was trying
to pull up the the email that I sent, but
it's for me, I think that's obvious. I'll just say,

(49:57):
like I had Guess gone first, it's not necessarily how
I was looking at things maybe a month.

Speaker 3 (50:02):
Or two ago.

Speaker 2 (50:03):
But the more that you see what sort of Ev
is facing and what she's doing when she is just
facing so much more and also, uh, EV has the
problem of having to play Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio State,
which which luckily you know, if it gets out of
one of those. Uh so, so what she's done sort

(50:25):
of against just some of the toughest opponents, the highest
ranked opponents, and still have a goal of goals against
that is pretty pretty comparable, pretty close to what the
other two have. I just think is uh that's how
That's how I went looking at it. I tried to
go beyond just the numbers that it's not just like, Okay,
this this player has the best goals against, average player

(50:47):
has the guests best say percentage, but look at sort
of what it means and who they're playing against and
why why that matters? Yeah, then I don't know if
that helps sturasmic.

Speaker 1 (51:00):
Important to note that the w c h A coaches
went the same way. They chose v Gascon over A
McNaughton for the first team and for the goalie awards,
So that that's yeah for me, that that's speaks a
little bit. Those are players that have game planned around
or coaches that have game planned around those goalies and

(51:21):
and seeing what they do in the volume that they
have to face. And I do think that's that's an
important part of it. It's we and we've talked about
this in the past in terms of goalies who only
play half of the games, right, how how much you
you you consider that in terms of if you're you've

(51:42):
got someone who's played fourteen games against someone who's played
twenty eight. I think that matters.

Speaker 2 (51:48):
And I think too, I think if you're playing half
the games. Your numbers really.

Speaker 1 (51:53):
Have to like pop, right, you have to be having
incredible numbers, which also then race the question of why
aren't you playing more games unless you've just got two
goalies that are that good that or you just feel
like as a coach it's important that only they only
play one a week to or don't want to play
them back to back. Yeah, there's there's something to that.

Speaker 2 (52:19):
Yeah, I'm sorry, I did finally find my my sheet.
So Ev did play two hundred minutes less give or
take than Analyse and AVA, but she faced about one
hundred and fifty more shots than Analyse and one hundred
and eighty give or take than AVA. Say percentages, our
analys is nine forty five, as is nine forty two,

(52:41):
and Eva's is nine forty seven. When we're getting to
the thousands plates, to me, that's a wash, right, and
again when you're facing that many more shots and as
as one lost record is fifteen fourteen and one versus
analyses twenty five four and five and thirty four one
and two. Uh, And when she's got those kind of numbers,

(53:02):
it's it's not her fault that that win loss record
is so different, right, And so I just think when
you look at sort of what she's facing and what
she's coming up against, and what these numbers have meant
to her team, as you know we talked about earlier,
like you, and he's not always scoring a ton of
goals and having EV and being able to keep games
close so they aren't needing to score three, four five

(53:25):
goals to get out of a game and get the
win is crucial. And so yeah, I think in the end,
when you kind of put all of these numbers together
and see Analysa's goals against this one point two eight,
Ava's is one point one seven and EV's is one
point eight three.

Speaker 3 (53:40):
You know, so slightly higher but also still under to a.

Speaker 2 (53:43):
Game, it's just, uh, it's to me at that point,
it just became it was so obvious how important EV
is to what UMD was able to do and to
them get being an NCAA tournament team and being the
number six team in the nation all year. Yeah, it
doesn't mean I don't think the other two aren't great goalies.

(54:03):
I don't think you could go wrong with this set
of three. I think every single one of them was outstanding,
and I could make in a really good argument for
any one of the three, and that means I think
we did the right thing. I think we got to
the right group. And whoever wins is they're all deserving
is really the thing, and every one of them has

(54:24):
played an important part in what their team and getting
their team to where they were.

Speaker 1 (54:29):
Well, we'll find out who wins that award, who wins
the Patty Kasmi Award over the weekend. Should be some
interesting stuff going on there throughout the weekend with awards
during the Frozen Four. So when we come back, we
will look into those semi final games at the Frozen
Four in Minneapolis on Friday. Stay with us on the podcast.

(54:55):
Welcome back to the podcast. Todd Maluski here with Nicole
Hase as we wrap up this week's episode. Be on
the lookout for us for new content coming later this
week from Minneapolis. We're going to try and get some
interviews for you and throw them up here on the
podcast feed, so be on lookout for those not sure
what the timing is. We're hoping to have something Friday

(55:17):
morning for some interviews out of Thursday's media day and
then possibly a discussion with the Petticaz winner on Saturday.
So that's the hope. We will see how it works out.
You know, doing things live never can guarantee anything, but
that's that's the plan anyway. Okay, Nicole, Let's look at

(55:39):
these two fours and four semi finals on Friday at
Ritter Arena, Ohio State versus Cornell the four o'clock Central
Time semi final. This is a rematch of the icebreaker
championship game earlier this season, won by Ohio State seven
to three. But that was a four to three game
in the second period, or the Buckeyes pulled away with

(56:02):
that one. Jocelyn Amos scored twice in that anlas Bergman
gave up all seven goals on twenty four shots in
that game before she got pulled, at least according to
the box score that I saw.

Speaker 3 (56:15):
It's how Hell's come a long way, baby.

Speaker 1 (56:20):
There's a few different ways of looking at that. Yeah,
that this is a team that just allowed zero to
Minnesota Duluth and Bergman got the shutout in the regional final,
but also how States has done some damage there earlier
this season? Is that a precursor?

Speaker 2 (56:37):
So rare that we get right that we've had these
teams from different conferences actually play each other. Usually we're
looking for like did they play have a common opponent?
So so rare to have this, and yet and yet
I feel like a seven to three, like there's no
way that's what we're going to see here, right, Like,
I don't feel like that's that tells me how this
game is going to go.

Speaker 3 (56:57):
So I don't.

Speaker 1 (56:58):
Know how to take That was October twenty sixth, and
that felt like September October hockey with a score like that, Right,
That's not the way Cornell has been playing lately, No,
not at all.

Speaker 2 (57:10):
Yeah, I wonder if we're gonna see sort of similar
to what we see in from Ohio State in terms
of like the opponent being to help Cornell being able
to hold them off for a little bit, and at
some point, like Ohio State breaks through, and when they
break through, it's usually in bunches. So I think it's
about how well Bergmann plays. It's about how strong the

(57:32):
defense can be and if they can be that strong
for sixty or sixty plus minutes, and so you have
to be disciplined, you have to, like Nading Mazral's word
for Ohio State is always relentless, and I think that's
what we saw, especially towards the end of that quarterfinal
win over Saint Lawrence, right like, they just keep pushing

(57:52):
until they break you down. I don't know that there's
any way to prepare for that. I don't know any
amount of practice can actually put you in that situation.
Add In that is, you know that frozen four that
has been sort of elusive for them and sort of
this big Cornell story.

Speaker 3 (58:13):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (58:14):
I don't know what to expect per se and that's
probably gonna be my answer about the escape too. So yeah,
I mean, I think based on what we saw from
what Ohio State did to Saint Lawrence, who was what
third in the ECAC this year, yeah, I don't it
doesn't vote well for Cornell. But I also I'm not
ready to write anybody off at this point. And I

(58:36):
think that if there is a team that is disciplined
and stout on defense, it is Cornell. I think we
can expect them to be playing as good in defense
in the third period as they do from puck drop,
and so I think there'll be a bit of a
chess match there. I think Cornell is going to have
to find that balance between being a really strong defense

(58:57):
and taking offensive opportunities. One of the things for Cornell
is a lot of their scoring has come from younger players.
Their whole team is inexperienced in this situation, and then
you add in sort of the younger player option as well.
And so I don't know, you know, Lindsay Avar, things
like that, if that, if that's going to come into it,
that their rookies, the Frozen fours sold out, it is

(59:20):
going to be loud, and you are probably going to
get a pro w c H A crowd, I would think,
And so yeah, I just it's a really it's a
really interesting dynamic between those two in terms of like
the defense first first, offense first. And I think it's
going to be sort of, you know, the favorite coach
phrase of the recent last few weeks, ben but don't break, right.

Speaker 1 (59:42):
I think the the Cornell path the winning this game
is pretty similar to their path the winning last week's
game against Minnesota Duluth. Be tight, b you know, maybe
the bend but don't break, but then find a way
in the third period, begin a close game. If you
can be tied going into the third and then find

(01:00:06):
a way to get a goal, that's that's uh, that
that wins it just as well as you know, going
out and scoring six does. I think that's the way
they're gonna have to try to get this done, whereas
Ohio State probably has multiple ways that they can try
and get this done. I mean, they've they've got a
set of really impressive scorers that they can lean on,

(01:00:29):
but they also have at times this year been able
to shut down some pretty impressive offenses. So I I
do tend to feel like Ohio State has more ways
of winning this game than Cornell does. So h that
to me puts the odds in their favor, But I

(01:00:49):
don't necessarily know that that's a given going into you know,
a frozen four semi final.

Speaker 2 (01:00:58):
Yeah, absolutely, I think, I mean, aside from the obvious
and saying this by just the longer they keep Ohio
State from from putting points on the board, and I
don't think one or maybe even two Ohio State goals
is the end of the world for Cornell. But Ohio
State builds momentum and they're when they score, they tend
to score in bunches, and so being able to not

(01:01:21):
like to reset quickly after a goal and not letting
I mean the way that Ohio State can score another
goal within like the next minute is something they've done
all year long. And so I think it's things like that,
those those little small things that are are going to
be make like tell me whether or not this game
sort of can be close as we had and towards
head toward the ends of it. Geez, I'll just stop talking.

Speaker 3 (01:01:45):
None of that came out.

Speaker 1 (01:01:45):
Well, I can't. I can't imagine, right.

Speaker 2 (01:01:51):
Yeah, I just think, uh, aside from the fact that
you just you know, obviously don't want the other team
to score goals, I just leak for Cornell. The longer
it they can, they can put that off, and the
longer they can hold Ohio State off, the better off
they're going to be. If this becomes a high scoring game.
I don't think that plays in their favor, all right.

Speaker 1 (01:02:08):
So the second semi final then is Wisconsin the top
seed against Minnesota, the four seed, seven to thirty Central.
The start time on that or fifty whatever minutes after
the first game if that one runs long. The Badgers
five and zero against Minnesota this season, including the WCCHA
Playoff championship victory two weeks ago. But I go back

(01:02:31):
to the series that they played at Ritter back in October,
long time ago, but I mean that is probably pretty
fresh in both these seams memories because Wisconsin won five
nothing the first day, which is, you know, at that
point of the season, was a real eye opener on
both sides. But then Minnesota came back and jumped out

(01:02:53):
to a three nothing lead in the second game in
the second period, but was.

Speaker 2 (01:02:56):
God, looks like it was going to be this huge
response game.

Speaker 1 (01:03:00):
Exactly, and then Wisconsin crawls right back into it and
ends up winning that one four to three, And that
that felt like one of those moments for Wisconsin season
of you know, when you're thirty six to one and two,
you point out the little bumps along the way because
there there probably haven't been a ton of them. That
was one of them that was early enough in the
season where it could have, you know, sent things one

(01:03:21):
way or another. And I think that's uh for Wisconsin.
Part of the reason why they're at the point they're
at right now is developing that resilience. Yeah they can
fall behind by three goals, but they know they have
enough good players to pull themselves out of that.

Speaker 2 (01:03:39):
Yeah, they're not going to panic and that. The second
part of that is that isn't what Minnesota had at
least three games like that. They had one against Ohio
State where they had a big they had to lead
it and gave it up in the fourth.

Speaker 3 (01:03:51):
That was six.

Speaker 2 (01:03:52):
Unanswered from Ohio State, I want to say. And then
the WHA Championship, Minnesota had the lead in Wisconsin Quebeck
and won. And so so that is more of a
pattern that I think the Gophers would like. And yeah,
I think that that's one of the things I would
point to when you're asking sort of if someone asks
who's gonna win this game? Like you said, I think

(01:04:13):
that that resiliency from the Badgers and just the fact
that that Minnesota has let kind of so many of
those games slip away, that sort of inability to complete
that full sixty minutes. Now, they turned around last weekend
and took that lead and Clogate tried to come back
and they held them off. And so, you know, point counterpoint.

Speaker 3 (01:04:30):
Myself, but.

Speaker 2 (01:04:35):
It is it's both teams have an interesting amount of
sort of external pressure and expectations. You know, the Badgers
not making the championship game would be would make this
season a massive disappointment. For them because they have been
so good. But Minnesota is clearly really driven by the
concept of playing at home and winning a title at home,

(01:04:56):
and so they've they've done all they needed to do.
They were four seed. They still like they're they're they're
playing in for a title this weekend on home ice
as a team that had plenty of bumps over the
course of the season. And so I just think you
can't underestimate how important that is to them. And you
just add in the sort of rivalry and the bitterness,
like the Gophers would love nothing more than to be

(01:05:19):
the team that ruins this.

Speaker 3 (01:05:20):
For the Badgers.

Speaker 2 (01:05:21):
I mean every team would, but like there is an
extra special, like you know, kind of the pettiness that
I talked about earlier, Like that is that's just a
huge rivalry. They they don't like each other, Like they're
two of the best teams historically, and they like being
the one that screws things up for the other.

Speaker 1 (01:05:36):
You know, So Minnesota has never trailed the all time
series against Wisconsin, and Wisconsin's winning the w c h
A playoff championship even that for the first time ever.
Of what's on the line here is, you know, I
don't know, the players don't.

Speaker 3 (01:05:54):
Know or hear anything about that goodness.

Speaker 2 (01:05:56):
That just adds another layer of Yeah, that semi final
is I mean it's everything you could want. I know,
people there are plenty of people who don't want either
the Badgers or the Gophers and anti wh and all
that sort of stuff. That being said, all of that
backstory to put these two very good teams against each
other for a sixth time this season, with all that's

(01:06:17):
on it, it's it's all the compellingness of what makes
a like this is why college sports is great, because
you have this twenty five year rivalry between these two teams,
you have this history, you have these two coaches that
have at this point couldn't surprise each other if they
wanted to write, like those two know everything about each other,

(01:06:37):
and even the players, the players know so much about
each other. I mean there's not much Abby does that,
Abbie Murphy does that. You know, KK hasn't seen both
against her as a Badger and as a teammate with
Team USA, and so there's just there's so many layers here,
and I feel like you could you could talk for
several days and pick you know that pro con column

(01:06:58):
for each team. There's just so much there's so much background,
and that's that's to me what makes this fun. And
in the end, none of that will matter. That's all
the storyline and what makes it compelling and why I
think people should watch. And in the end, you're going
to watch two really good teams play a dynamic hockey team.
It's rarely not exciting when those two are on the

(01:07:20):
ice together.

Speaker 1 (01:07:21):
I was looking this up earlier and I'm going from
memory on this, so if I'm not exactly right to
write on this, I apologize. But one of these teams
has ended the other season thirteen times in the last
twenty five years something like that, that this is how
it ends usually for these teams is either Wisconsin loses

(01:07:43):
the Minnesota or Minnesota loses to Wisconsin. And that's you know,
and pretty often it's happened at this stage of the
season where it's my final or a championship game or
a quarterfinal a couple of times. That's a that's how
rivalries are built. And you know, even you know, if

(01:08:04):
you're not a fan of either one of the teams,
I think it's something you can look at and say,
you know, it's maybe better to watch as not a
fan of either of the teams, because those two sides
have probably.

Speaker 3 (01:08:17):
Be wonderful if you don't care about the outcome.

Speaker 1 (01:08:19):
Lot wrapped up in it. But this should just the
quality hockey to watch with all of those things wrapped
into it on the rivalry side. So yeah, yeah, what I.

Speaker 2 (01:08:30):
Often say about this is that it's really great Badgers
and Gophers is really going to be pretty hockey. They
know each other too well, and neither one of them
is going to be able to go out and fully
execute the game plan that they, like in the perfect
scenario of a hockey game, would play. This isn't gonna
be what Wisconsin's been able to do against a lot
of other teams this season. And same on the other side,
like they are gonna they're gonna get in each other's face,

(01:08:52):
they are gonna lift sticks, they are gonna.

Speaker 3 (01:08:54):
Pope check it.

Speaker 2 (01:08:55):
None of it is going to be like the finesse
perfect hockey. And it's about sort of who adapts and
who who is prepared for that, and you know who
comes up big in those situations. And again, I think
I think we're likely to see that it's not necessarily
going to be any of those big stars, and that's
kind of fun. But these are teams that compete for
the same recruits. You've got former Minnesota miss Hockey's on

(01:09:18):
the Badgers, You've got you know, you just it goes
back and forth the whole time. And then you know,
several of them have played together in national teams and
there's just so many layers and so many reasons why
they hate each other.

Speaker 1 (01:09:33):
And again, when you when you have that play out
on the biggest stage, that's, uh, that's pretty cool. I
think that's uh, you know, and we're starting to see
that develop with Wisconsin Ohio State too. The figures where
you play so many meaningful games that each individual one
has a little bit more attached to it.

Speaker 2 (01:09:53):
But I would like to say it is the biggest
stage and that it is the final weekend that game.
Neither of the semi final games are tele they are
only on ESPN plus that sucks.

Speaker 3 (01:10:04):
I'm just not even gonna prevaricate. I don't have better
words right now.

Speaker 2 (01:10:08):
It's yes, it's some bs and the national Championship game
will be on ESPU ESPN you which not everybody gets.
You have to be a cable subscriber in twenty twenty five,
So that game will most likely you watch by a
lot of people on ESPN Plus. So we're at this point,
we're going to have you know, a good what your

(01:10:29):
dozen players that will probably that will be playing in
the World Championships in less than a month, between US
Canada and Finland Sweden, and they know they're still not
getting that stage, and so it's just seriously going to
beat you guys. It's going to be such good hockey
if you're even if you're not a fan, even if
you hate the w c h A and all the

(01:10:50):
teams like this is the very best of what NCAA
women's hockey it has to offer. It's it's going to
be a tremendous weekend between these four teams, and I
wish that it was going to be seen by more people.

Speaker 1 (01:11:07):
Well, yes, if you have any way of getting ESPN
Plus for Friday's games, please do because that will be
worth that effort.

Speaker 2 (01:11:16):
You can bundle that with various other subscription services and
on its own. I think it's like six or seventy
ninety nine for the month, and I would recommend it
because Okay, that's I think well worth the price of
admission quote unquote for those couple of games.

Speaker 1 (01:11:31):
Absolutely, all right, anything else before we wrap this up
and we'll eventually get on the road to Minneapolis for
the Frozen four.

Speaker 2 (01:11:39):
No, maybe, just thanks everybody for coming along. I mean,
we're we're not done yet. We're going to have a
couple more episodes, but we appreciate you all so much
for coming back each week to hear us talk about
what's going on in the sport. And as we said,
it's not easy to follow, and it's not easy to
become a fan.

Speaker 3 (01:11:54):
The NCAA makes it makes it a little difficult.

Speaker 2 (01:11:57):
So we're just we appreciate that you're here and that
you the game as much as we do and want
to hear us talk about it and learn more about it.

Speaker 1 (01:12:03):
And I figure out Ritter or the Patty Cast ceremony
and you know, see us stop by and say hi.
We met a few people last year in Durham that
we're listeners of the show, and we do appreciate I'll
have stickers, Nicole.

Speaker 3 (01:12:16):
He would like one of those.

Speaker 1 (01:12:17):
There you go, but we appreciate you absolutely. Okay, that's
going to do it for this week. We'll be back
next week to wrap up the Frozen Four and well
wrap up the season, maybe look ahead the World Championships.
We'll see what comes, or Nicole, I'm Todd. Talk to
you next week.