When The Game Ends

Colorado College head coach Mike Haviland joined Fred Pletsch and I for some great conversation about his playing and coaching career in this episode. Haviland has been the head coach at CC since 2014 and in 2019 he guided the Tigers to the NCHC Frozen Faceoff Semifinals for the first time as a member of the NCHC. Haviland started his head coaching career in the ECHL with the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies, from there he moved on to the Trenton Titans for the 2004-05 season. In 2005, he was hired by the Chicago Blackhawks to coach their AHL affiliate in Norfolk, VA and later moved on to Rockford, IL, when the Blackhawks moved their top farm team closer to Chicago. In 2008, the big club came calling and Haviland was called up to "The Show" as an assistant coach with the Blackhawks. When he was with the Blackhawks, several of the players he helped develop in the AHL where up as well and in 2010 the Stanley Cup was the Blackhawks at seasons end. Haviland talked with us about the players he worked with in the minors and the moment and feeling of winning the ultimate prize in hockey, the Stanley Cup! 

Excellent time chatting with former St. Cloud State Forward Robby Jackson, who in 4 years with the Huskies scored 52 goals, set up 69 others for 121 career points!! Robby is in his 2nd season of pro hockey, he's spent time with the Tulsa Oilers of the ECHL and the San Antonio Rampage of the AHL, and is now back home in Oakland, CA due to the shutdown of sports because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Robby was broadcast major at St Cloud State, he's an aspiring sportscaster and is a talented guy when it comes to broadcasting. My son, Luke, and I had a blast talking with Robby about a wide variety of topics, all very entertaining, including what he's doing during the shutdown, the NBA, and his hometown Golden State Warriors, which was great with Luke, since he's a Warriors and Steph Curry fan. Bottom line, this was a lot of fun and very entertaining episode!!! 

In this episode, I'm joined by Fred Pletsch, who goes way back with Stanley Cup Championship winning Head Coach Marc Crawford. We discuss a pair of Memorial Cup Championships Crawford won, his very competitive family of hockey players and coaches, all of whom had success in both playing and coaching. We dive into the 1996 Stanley Cup Championship Crawford guided the Colorado Avalanche to, the heated rivalry in the 90's between the Red Wings and Avalanche. We also discuss Crawford's involvement and development of Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews, before Matthews came to the NHL, and 1 of Crawford's all time favorite players he coached in his NHL coaching career, and much more!! 

In this episode, Fred Pletsch joined me to chat with longtime and always entertaining Air Force Hockey coach Frank Serratore. We chatted with Frank about growing up on the "Iron Range" of Minnesota, an area rich in hockey history and tradition. We also discussed coaching path and how he eventually became the head coach at the Air Force Academy, some of his best teams and NCAA tournament runs at Air Force, what it means to him to be the head coach at Air Force, and the rivalry on ice between his program and Army & much, much more in this entertaining episode! 

In this episode, Luke and I recap and discuss the latest episodes, 3 and 4, of The Last Dance, the documentary on Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. We talked Dennis Rodman, The Worm, and his 48 hour vacation during the season to Vegas, The Bad Boys, the Non-Handshake after the Bulls finally defeated the Detroit Pistons in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals and much, much more! 

In this episode we chatted with the 2019-20 National Coach of the Year, Brad Berry, Head Coach at North Dakota. Berry guided his team to the NCHC regular season championship and the Penrose Cup this season. We chatted with Brad about the championship regular season it was for his team, his playing days at UND, his time in the NHL and in the Minors, which included mentoring many prospects who would go on to NHL careers. We also shared some unique stories about hockey sticks of former North Dakota players and so much more!! 

Great time chatting with former NHL enforcer Ryan VandenBussche, as he joined Fred Pletsch and I recently. VandenBussche spend 9 years in the NHL and developed a reputation as the toughest pound for pound enforcer during his playing career, racking up over 700 career penalty minutes. We discussed his Junior hockey days, his days in the minors and the moment he first got called up to "The Show". We also covered some of his top moments and players he battled on the ice with and his friendship with the late Bob Probert, the two were together in Chicago for years, and the first time VandenBussche hopped on a Harley with Bob Probert, it's a must listen story!! We also discussed what VandenBussche is doing in life after pro hockey and how he has helped and worked with the Canadian military over the years!! 

Chris Wilkie's NCAA hockey career started at North Dakota in 2015-16 & at the end of that season, North Dakota won the NCAA title. Wilkie would play 1 more season in Grand Forks before transferring to Colorado College for a fresh start and with the hope of playing for the Tigers with his younger brother. However, the brothers never played together due to a serious injury Wilkie's younger brother sufferred, he is now recovered from the injury. This past season, Wilkie's senior season, he was 2nd in the NCAA with 23 goals. When the regular season ended, Colorado College was slated to play Wilkie's former team, North Dakota, in the opening round of the NCHC playoffs, and Wilkie was seemingly coming full circle as he would be facing his former team on the road in Grand Forks, ND. However, the opportunity to play came to an abrupt ending as Wilkie and his teammates were on a charter bus from Minneapolis to Grand Forks when word came down the season was over due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Talk about a tough pill to swallow, your college career comes to an end on bus. Wilkie shared his feelings and emotions of that last college bus ride & his career with me in this episode. 

Great time chatting with Army Football Head Coach Jeff Monken! We discussed having no spring ball due to the COVID-19 pandemic, what Jeff and his staff are doing to keep busy during the shutdown, as well as what his players are doing during this time. We also discussed 3 Army players who have entered the NFL Draft and how Jeff thinks they would fit in the NFL, if given the opportunity to do so. We chatted about some of Monken's most memorable games at Army and just how important the CIC Trophy is to Army and the sports world. Great time with Jeff, really good listen, enjoy!! 

My son Luke is 18, soon to be 19, and never got the chance to see Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls play. We both watched the first 2 parts of the 10 part documentary, "The Last Dance" this past weekend and wanted to sit down and discuss and debate a few things. Was a fun episode as an 18 year old son and a 40's something dad talk about MJ and the Bulls that had two 3 peats in the 90's! Fun episode, enjoy!!!