Round One: Spectators Edition

The Phantoms capture the Anderson Cup and roll into the postseason with momentum. We break down what it means and preview Round 1 of the playoffs, plus Joel Norman returns to help us size up the Western Conference.

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This recording is the sole view of the members of the Dump & Chase Podcast.  This is a non-commercial fan production. We are not affiliated with or compensated by the Youngstown Phantoms, the United States Hockey League, or any league, club, or team.

© 2026 Dump & Chase Podcast. All Rights Reserved

Transcript

SPEAKER_06 0:38

Hello, Phantom fans, and welcome to season eight, episode 26 of the Dumpin' Chase podcast. Coming up in this episode, we'll look back on an award-winning performance by the Phantoms in Cedar Rapids to close out the regular season. We'll also look at some end-of-season stats as well as name our three stars of the season. And finally, we will dive into the USHL playoffs, looking at all four matchups in round one, with some help from the returning voice of the Omaha Lancers, our good friend Joel Norman. My name is Sam Olmstead, and joining me as always is Dan Conley.

SPEAKER_02 1:12

I can see your Schwartz is as big as mine.

SPEAKER_06 1:15

And the returning Justin Irwin.

SPEAKER_07 1:18

Oh shoot, I lost it. Hold on. I had one and it just poof. I wonder if I've done this one yet. Just nip the tip. Yeah, you did it the last episode.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

That was your last episode, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:31

That was the last episode. Okay. Where we're going, we don't need roads. So uh good news. Unlike the Oregon Trail, Justin did not die of dysentery last week.

SPEAKER_07 1:43

No, just a little case of the Roberto Luangos. Kids aren't gonna get that one anymore. That's sad.

SPEAKER_06 1:53

The Wanabi trots, if anybody's ever seen uh the movie The Air Up There with Kevin Bacon. So, gentlemen, how are we doing? Much better. A lot lighter.

SPEAKER_02 2:08

I never forget the once I went to the doctor and a doctor because I was sick, had a stomach flu, and I go in there and they're like, Oh, Dan, you've lost uh like seven pounds since the last time you're in here. I'm like, I have a stomach flu. I haven't left the bathroom. Like, oh, that explains everything. It's not as cool now.

SPEAKER_06 2:24

Uh so you're arrogant enough to walk into the doctor's office and uh diagnose yourself.

SPEAKER_02 2:30

That's pretty easy to diagnose. Okay.

SPEAKER_06 2:33

So yeah, I mean we we can say it now. We we don't have to share anything anymore. I had I had to do a late drop-in on the episode last week.

SPEAKER_02 2:41

That was a cool drop-in, too. I like it.

SPEAKER_06 2:43

The the editing took longer because I had to wait for that game to end to know what I was going to drop in. So I had uh, yeah, that game for some reason took forever and then do a late drop-in. Uh, we're no longer sharing the Anderson Cup with anybody. Uh Youngstown outright, uh, with the win on Friday. Um, is the 2026 Anderson Cup Champions?

SPEAKER_02 3:03

Another uh banner.

SPEAKER_06 3:04

That this is the first this is a first for my time following the Phantoms. Uh Justin, this is your second trip around.

SPEAKER_07 3:12

Yep, yep. And from what I remember, uh, what they showed of the Anderson Cup, it it must be cold in there.

SPEAKER_06 3:19

Yeah, it shrunk a little bit. Um, nice to see the boys not touching it.

SPEAKER_02 3:27

That's the that's the first thing I was looking at on every single, I went through every single picture, making sure nobody touched it.

SPEAKER_06 3:32

Not only did they not touch it, it really looked like they were going out of their way to not touch it.

SPEAKER_02 3:36

It looked like Jack Wilson was going out going out of his way to not even stare at it. See those photos? He was like, he did everything to do just to look the other way or look over it.

SPEAKER_06 3:44

That that that's gotta feel good when you have the commissioner there. And it's like, here's this wonderful trophy, and gives the history and the story on it, and everything like that. And everybody just looks at it and goes, Oh, cool.

SPEAKER_02 3:57

They're like, Oh, that's what the commission looks like.

SPEAKER_06 3:59

Because I've I've I've remember I've I've remembered teams in the past few years winning the Anderson Cup and then having like parties at their next home game, yeah, like skating it around and celebrating it and everything else. And how did that work out for them?

SPEAKER_02 4:11

Um, they didn't hold the better trophy afterwards.

SPEAKER_06 4:14

This is yeah, the the this may be the closest thing to a jinx that I actually do believe in.

SPEAKER_07 4:18

Well, to be fair, for a lot of teams, not touching it didn't work out either.

SPEAKER_06 4:23

Again, 2008 penguins, 2009 penguins. There was a there was a difference between the two. There was after the uh after the uh conference finals.

SPEAKER_02 4:32

Marionosa switched teams the wrong way both times. How about that?

SPEAKER_06 4:36

Well, in 09 when the penguins won the cup, they showed they showed them celebrating and then immediately cut to Marionosa sitting on Detroit's bench, and then just left the camera there for like 10 seconds.

SPEAKER_04 4:47

You've got to be kidding me.

SPEAKER_06 4:52

So and here's the funny thing, and it's and honestly, I can't remember off the top of my head the last time it as much as we talk about the row number, tiebreakers, and everything else, once again did not factor into anything in the final standings.

SPEAKER_02 5:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 5:08

I mean, all that work for nothing. All that work for nothing.

SPEAKER_02 5:12

Yeah, so many times we said, Oh, this this loss or this bad break didn't was gonna affect something. It like you said, it all worked out in the end.

SPEAKER_06 5:19

Yeah. So we'll do a couple little things here as far as the standings and the format. We'll get into things a little bit deeper uh later on in the episode. Um, the final um Eastern Conference standings, um, first place Youngstown. Uh well, I guess now we can call it the one seed. Youngstown 91 points, uh, two seed Dubuque with 84 points. So they both get the first round by. Uh Green Bay, the three seed with 82 points, Cedar Rapids in fourth with 81, Muskegon in fifth with 74, Madison in sixth with 67, and Chicago in seventh with 62, and the NTDP in eighth with 39 points. Uh the Western Conference, uh Sioux Falls uh winning the West over there with 89 points, uh Fargo with 81, uh Sioux City in third with 65 points, Des Moines in fourth with 62, Lincoln in fifth with 61, Tri-City in sixth with 59, Omaha in seventh with 43, and Waterloo bringing up the rear uh with 36 points. And I I think somebody brought this up on one of the USHL pages, and I I mean we've kind of been talking about it as well. Uh Chicago's out of the playoffs with 62 points. Uh they would have been fourth in the Western Conference.

SPEAKER_02 6:30

They would have had a home game.

SPEAKER_06 6:31

They would have had a home game if they were in the West with their point total.

SPEAKER_02 6:38

I think the West still finished with like what two or three teams above the positive goal differential?

SPEAKER_06 6:43

Uh two teams. Uh Lincoln kind of lost it on the their uh last couple games there. They went they were a few over uh positive, they dropped right back down again into the negative. So, yeah, only two teams in the Western Conference ended the season with a positive goal differential.

SPEAKER_02 7:01

Waterloo's down the clock for the phase one pick.

SPEAKER_06 7:04

If Madison was in the West, they would be the three seed.

SPEAKER_02 7:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 7:08

Instead of the six seed. I mean, you know, the games still have to be played, but just not a great showing from the West so far.

SPEAKER_02 7:15

The West has two clear top teams and then everybody else.

SPEAKER_06 7:19

Yeah. I mean, in a lot of ways, you look at it, some of the games Fargo lost at the end of the season.

SPEAKER_02 7:23

They're giving up goals too in the end of the season. That was weird.

SPEAKER_06 7:26

It's not not looking good as a two-seed, I'll say that.

SPEAKER_02 7:29

I mean, they they play a lot of games that didn't mean anything. Like, so did like the bottom end teams, but it's weird to be like second place in your division and then play like the last two to three weekends of the year where really couldn't do anything, couldn't lose a spot, couldn't gain a spot.

SPEAKER_07 7:43

So don't they might they might be a team that benefits from having that full week off.

SPEAKER_06 7:49

Um, so back in I believe it was October, uh, the league had put out a press release about the playoff format, and apparently next to nobody saw it. Um, I I talked to some people recent recently in the past few weeks who I would think definitely should have seen it and never did. Um, they kind of sort of released it again uh with their press release as far as the first round. Uh, we'll just kind of go through a refresher here real quick. Now, I mean, the obvious one round one starts this weekend, it's not it's not the Monday after anymore, thank God.

SPEAKER_09 8:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 8:21

It's and I mean, Justin, how many years have we been saying it? I I mean, yeah, even when we were the teams that got the bye.

SPEAKER_07 8:28

Yeah, yeah, it's just it's it's really not fair. Now, having two weeks between your last game and your first playoff game practically, uh, you know, that has its you know, uh uh aspects that I don't like, but overall this is a lot better.

SPEAKER_06 8:46

It's I I mean you it's the playoffs, you want to see teams able to bring their best. And for years, it's you know, maybe the one who wins it all maybe necessarily may not be the best one, may just be the team that's less tired.

SPEAKER_02 9:01

Yeah. To have your most important hockey being played like under the world in under the worst conditions is was a terrible idea.

SPEAKER_06 9:07

Yeah. Yeah. Um, so round one is a best of three. All three games that stayed the same. All three games uh being played at the higher seeds barn. Now another change this year, after round one, the teams will re uh will reseed. Um, it's no longer, you know, four whoever wins four and five plays one, you know, plays the two seed. Whoever wins, you know, three and six plays the, you know, because you you've had and we've had scenarios in the past where the the you know the number one seed ends up playing the higher of the two seeds remaining. And that's not really the way it should be. That's kind of one of those benefits of having the one seed. So now teams will reseed, and um, after the first round, the lowest of those two seeds will play Youngstown, the higher of the two seeds will play Dubuque. Again, the way it should be.

SPEAKER_07 9:56

It's more of a wild card game. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:59

Actually, I don't think I agree with you on something on that. Yeah, I've always came from the cloth that if you like if you beat a higher seed, I've always thought you should have taken their seed. I've always thought that maybe that's how that's how high school that's how playoffs were when I was growing up, but I've always liked it that way. But I also understand grandpa heck in my day. What does that make you if that's me, if I'm grandpa, Sam?

SPEAKER_06 10:23

What does that make Justin?

SPEAKER_02 10:26

Somehow alive, stuff dead.

SPEAKER_06 10:28

See how I deflected that right there? Keith Richards. Rounds two through four. Again, this will this will all stay the same. Uh rounds uh two through four, those are a best of five in a two-two-one format. Uh the format I don't like. I I and there's other leagues that do this. I think honestly, if you're gonna do a five-game series, I think it should be a two-three format. First two games are played at the lower seeds arena, the final the last three games are played at the higher seeds arena. Because more often than not, you end up when it comes to the Clark Cup, you end up seeing the higher seed winning on you know, four and ice.

SPEAKER_02 11:06

I I would rather like the the Clark Cup finals be a best of seven. That way I think it's an advantage having the first two games of the series at your own barn. But uh it's everyone wants to win at home, like you're saying. So if they're to make it a seven-game series just for the Clark Cup, I think that would kind of alleviate you, give it make it more of a possibility that the the home team gets to win it at home.

SPEAKER_06 11:28

I'm I'm trying to think of what the travel would be like in a seven-game series with Youngstown and Fargo.

SPEAKER_02 11:33

Horrendous no matter what you look at it.

SPEAKER_06 11:36

But I mean, but I mean you do it, you do a 2-3 format, you travel once.

SPEAKER_02 11:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 11:40

That's my thought. But I mean, I mean, let the teams have the option, let the the higher seed team have the option. And I'm not I'm not speaking on this as being a fan of the team that has home ice advantage all throughout the playoffs. It's I would say this in years if we didn't make the playoffs. I'd still be saying the exact same thing. It's not, it has nothing to do with I'm a Youngstown fan. And this year that would benefit us. I would say that any year, whether we were in the playoffs or not.

SPEAKER_02 12:08

I think that's a good idea, too.

SPEAKER_06 12:10

Okay, so with that, uh, what do you say we go ahead and get into the Phantoms final weekend of the regular season?

SPEAKER_03 12:17

It's the wicked record.

SPEAKER_06 12:25

All right, so uh Phantoms making the trip to uh Cedar Rapids this past weekend. Uh two games. One made us look pretty smart, uh, the other one made Cedar Rapids look a little delusional.

SPEAKER_02 12:39

Uh poor guys. They can have their moment in the sun.

SPEAKER_06 12:43

Yeah, so starting off the game on Friday, this was a 4-1 win for the Phantoms. Um, Phantoms did not waste time in this one. No. Um by the time we were halfway through the period, Phantoms were already up one to nothing or three to nothing.

SPEAKER_02 12:59

Yeah, and if there's been a knock on the Phantoms this year, it's been the fact they they start slow sometimes, but that was not the issue at all in this game. At all. And uh welcome back Butushku Harchik. Yeah, yeah, it seemed like what he wanted to do. I he he shot, I feel like anytime he had the puck inside the offensive blue line, he shot it. I think he he just wanted to shoot the puck in there.

SPEAKER_07 13:19

Ah, he's been he's been waiting for this for quite some time. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 13:24

Grant Young, I feel like if he had any uh fans still lingering in Youngstown, um, I don't feel like they're around anymore.

SPEAKER_07 13:30

Oh no, I'm a big fan. I I like the way he started that game. Oh, I'd be great kid.

SPEAKER_06 13:38

Oh no, uh the no the refs were the refs were uh screwing Cedar Rapids on that call. Forget the uh seven stitches that Ryan had to get in his lip. And that was early on in the first period. I don't I like he didn't get stitched up until intermission, so he was they must have just been packing gauze in there or something.

SPEAKER_02 13:56

Didn't he get cut by something in his knee last year, like the last game before the playoffs, too?

SPEAKER_06 14:01

Something like that, yeah. Yeah, yeah. This is this is why we have maintenance days. Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_07 14:09

I mean, it's obvious that the Phantoms came out, they knew the assignment, you need to, you know, win one game or at least make it to overtime to get that, you know, full possession of the Anderson Cup. And I mean, they came out with a purpose, and you know, the rest is history.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

Yeah, before besides scoring the goals, they they smothered Cedar Rapids in this first period. Yeah, they didn't let them get any momentum, and and um, you know, they did give up a couple, they did take a couple of penalties, I think, which allowed Cedar Rapids to get the puck out of their end. If they didn't get those two power plays in the first period, the puck would have literally been in the end of Cedar Rapids the entire time. And the fans never had a chance to get into it before they sat down and ate like took a sip of beer, they were down three-nothing.

SPEAKER_07 14:56

So uh the silence of the cowbells.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

That's a great line.

SPEAKER_06 15:04

Yeah, but I mean, yeah, Youngstown has the three-nothing lead. Uh, you know, Cedar Rapids gets that goal early in the second period. And I mean, for the most part, they did. I mean, they carried momentum throughout you know the bulk of the second period. But I Justin, I think you were the one that said, you know, defense just kind of bend but don't break. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:23

Yeah. We knew there was gonna be a uh an answer or you know, a response from Cedar Rapids because I can't imagine what Carlson told his players in between the second first and second period.

SPEAKER_07 15:32

But the the most experienced coach in this league.

SPEAKER_02 15:35

Yeah, and they uh they I don't know if they made adjustments or they just like moved their feet, or he told them if they don't move their feet, they're walking home or something like that. But they uh yeah, it that's exactly what the fans did. They they knew the wave was coming, they uh they weathered the storm pretty well.

SPEAKER_07 15:49

Yeah, and I mean Cedar Rapids has proven that you know they are not a team you take lightly. Um, I think they will earn that number fourth uh seed, and uh I I think um going forward this might be a team we we might see later on in the playoffs.

SPEAKER_02 16:09

Very good possibility.

SPEAKER_06 16:10

I mean, uh third I mean third period of this game, Cedar Rapids had a little bit of fire at the beginning. I think Youngstown kind of reverted back to how they played in the first period, just kind of started shutting them down again, kind of slowing them down. Cedar Rapids did not have many chances in this third period, and the chances they did get weren't fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 16:28

No, and Cedar Rapids shot themselves in the foot, they took two penalties in the third. Yeah, they got a little bit of momentum both times, and both times they they shut it down themselves by taking the penalties.

SPEAKER_06 16:37

But no, and I honestly I like the way Youngstown played in the third period. They had the two-goal lead. They didn't they it wasn't so much they took the foot off the gas, but it was they were just kind of stifling Cedar Rapids at like every moment they could.

SPEAKER_07 16:52

I I think it was just they played to their game, minded details, and uh something we've talked about a lot this season, team discipline.

SPEAKER_06 17:02

Yeah, yeah. But yeah, it just I mean, I I I really like the way Youngstown played in the third period. They just kind of they weren't driving, they weren't trying to run up the score, they weren't doing anything like that, but at the same time, it was they were playing with purpose. If Cedar Rapids started to get any momentum, it lasted for one shift.

SPEAKER_02 17:21

Oh, you're absolutely right. And they've they've done a good job all year of you know, fans they do give up shots from time to time, but you know what they don't give up a lot of is grade A scoring chances. They do such a good job of limiting the dangerous plays that come in on them. And Cedar Rapids might get one, like you said, Sam. And then that was the last time I saw the puck in that attacking third for quite a while.

SPEAKER_06 17:42

No sustained offense.

SPEAKER_02 17:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 17:45

Um, and then, you know, once again, just another great game by Toby Astrayball.

SPEAKER_02 17:49

Yeah, he did have to make some good saves.

SPEAKER_06 17:51

I mean, or yeah, early on had to make some great saves again. I I think like the defense and the team kind of stood up there in the third period and was really limiting chances to uh kind of kind of ease through that third period. But yeah, just that just another master class game by him.

SPEAKER_09 18:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 18:06

Yeah, I I mean looking forward to the playoffs, that's where you you start. And team defense and goaltending, and we saw both of those on display.

SPEAKER_02 18:18

Yeah, and I think Trayvon, uh, he's somebody I I don't want to say we're taking him for granted because I don't think we are at all. But we see him all the time playing. We know how good he is. It just seems like he makes these plays that we see all the time. It just becomes so normal for him. And then when he goes somewhere else and there's another announcer talking about him, they talk so glowingly about him, and they're like, they can't believe the saves that he makes. They're like, Yeah, we saw him do he did that on Tuesday of last week, you know? He's just so consistent with what he does.

SPEAKER_06 18:41

Um, so moving to the game on Saturday, this was a 3-1 loss for the Phantoms. And I will tell you what, when you know, and we laughed about all the guys that were on the scratch report, and they were all listed as maintenance and everything else. You had five of the top six scores on the team that were out in this game. Two of the top four defensemen. Yeah, you're so you're talking, I mean, third line guys, fourth line guides, a couple of affiliates coming in. Uh Connor Schubert played.

SPEAKER_02 19:08

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 19:09

Uh Connor Schubert, I'm trying to think of the other one.

SPEAKER_02 19:11

Brandon Lola.

SPEAKER_07 19:13

Yeah. Yeah. And then I I think you had at times you had defensemen playing forward.

SPEAKER_02 19:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 19:19

Um Cedar Rapids had their full complement of players in this game.

SPEAKER_07 19:24

Including the guys who were suspended the night before. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 19:27

I honestly would have liked to have seen, but honestly, I yeah, but I mean on I mean, other than kind of that little stretch there in the middle of the first period, the two goals in nine seconds. Um, other than that just little period, I mean, and kind of after that, the team really buckled up after that.

SPEAKER_09 19:43

It did.

SPEAKER_06 19:44

And like honestly, I would, you know, because because then these are things that yeah, we got the playoffs and everything coming up, but you you're kind of seeing some of these guys, you're starting to get a preview of next season.

SPEAKER_04 19:54

Yep.

SPEAKER_06 19:54

And we've all and we've all seen it where the season ends and then these guys come back to training camp and it's like they're whole new human beings. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:04

That is so weird.

SPEAKER_06 20:05

And and it's I mean, it happens every year, but I mean, on honestly, I was I was fairly impressed with the way Youngstown played in this game. Um, you know, going you know, going into this game with a depleted roster because obviously they had won the Anderson Cup the night before. There was nothing to gain in this game. Them winning this game, them having the full complement of players, there was absolutely nothing for them to gain in this, but there could have been a whole lot to lose.

SPEAKER_07 20:31

Yeah. Yeah, obviously Cedar Rapids, they're playing for their fan. I mean, this is their last home game. Uh they're going into the playoffs, want a little bit of momentum. You know they're coming out jazzed.

SPEAKER_06 20:44

But yeah, I mean, when it when it's all said and done, the best they could do was three to one.

SPEAKER_07 20:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 20:49

I think I I mean that I think that speaks a lot uh to the Phantom's depth and the Phantom's future.

SPEAKER_02 20:55

Yeah. So like you said, since they got past like the first 15 minutes or so, things calmed down for them. And when I was watching this, I saw the lineup and I was thinking about like Coach Ward and the coaching staff. How I want to say I don't want to say easy, but almost like a stress, like the stakes. There was no stakes left in the game. It was it had to be a very stress-free game. Of course, you want to win the game, but I think it was more important for the fans just to do the right things, go out there and do make do the right habits, do the right plays. And if you win, you win. Of course, it'd be much much better if you do win, but if you go to this game, there's just it's a no-stress game as a coach. I've been involved in those, and those are much those are so much fun. You actually get to like think and talk and have and smile more when you're on the bench like that.

SPEAKER_07 21:34

So and I mean, not only are these you know, guys who you know have been scratched, you know, affiliates. I mean, even then, I I think we had like what one line, one full line that had played, you know, the previous couple of weeks. I mean, there were so many players juggled around. Um, I mean, yeah, like what you said, uh, we're looking Forward to next year. I mean, we might see some of these guys out on the ice together, you know, as as top lines.

SPEAKER_02 22:07

I do want to want to know like how they figured out who is going to be the maintenance scratches. Because there's a couple players that are like probably like that I wasn't expecting to see playing that were playing, but I don't know if it just ran out of space or what it was. I bet you if they get to play with like what uh 15 players, they probably would have done that.

SPEAKER_07 22:23

I I mean my question is some of these guys, I mean, uh Sam mentioned it. There were two players that were, you know, heading for Iron Man status playing all 62 games that were yeah. So I mean, do you guys get do they give them a the option? I I don't know. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:42

I can't imagine a hockey player would say no if they had the option of playing any game.

SPEAKER_06 22:46

Exactly, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 22:47

Yeah, Coop Cooper Simpson was one, and I'm trying to think who the other one was.

SPEAKER_02 22:51

Rusinski, right?

SPEAKER_06 22:53

I thought that wasn't Rusinski. I wish she didn't. I really wish she didn't have to click on 8,000 things on the USHL website just to Oh no, wait, no, Carter Carter got the Iron Man 62 games. Cooper Simpson and and Malachi McKinnon. Malachi. That was it. Uh yeah, Malachi and Cooper were both scratched, so they they finished the season at 61 games. So Carter Murphy gets the Iron Man Award this year.

SPEAKER_09 23:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 23:20

The the non-existent award that we talk about at the end of every season. And I I think he had um one other milestone moment. Oh, that's right. Um his uh two assists on uh Carter's two assists on Friday, he set the uh single season record for assists by a defenseman passing Andrew Strathman. Uh Straty was at 35, he was turned he uh Carter was tied at 35 going into the weekend, picked up two assists on Friday. So uh Carter holds that record now. So uh one one final little bit here, because the the whole thing just made me laugh when they presented the Anderson Cup trophy. And I and I told you guys, and I and I've said on the show many times, and I told you guys here a little bit ago, I I don't believe in jinxes or anything else. Uh not touching the final trophy of the like not touching the final trophy of the season. I that is like the one I buy into. And uh kudos to the Phantoms because they avoided that thing like it had the plague.

SPEAKER_09 24:21

That they did.

SPEAKER_06 24:22

And it just it it kind of it it made me laugh because you know the USHL commissioner comes out, he gives the whole speech about the uh you know about the team and the trophy and everything else, and he invites the captains over and they just kind of skated over and looked at it from afar.

SPEAKER_02 24:37

Did you see the picture that flow hockey put out? They cut Jardine off the side and everybody else, but they cut him off.

SPEAKER_06 24:43

Made me laugh. So they they they go through all that trouble and the team looks at it, and their team looks at the trophy and is like, oh, cool. And that was about the extent of it. Because we've seen teams in recent history, they win the Anderson and then they have like one more home game or something like that, or you know, one of their remaining home games, and they'll do a celebration where they'll skate it around and party with the cup before the game and everything else. And how did that work out for them in the playoffs?

SPEAKER_02 25:09

Didn't get the important one afterwards.

SPEAKER_06 25:11

So, I mean, that this is a roster that fully understood, yeah, it's nice to win this. That's great. That's another banner at Cavelli Center for sure, you know, for sure. Not the one we're after. Fully tip my cap to uh to all of that.

SPEAKER_07 25:25

And I mean, as someone who was there the last time they won the Anderson Cup, um, yeah, that was not a good playoff for us. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_06 25:34

So all righty, uh, so with all of that, we're gonna take a quick break. Uh the regular season wrap up and our three stars of the season is coming up in a special edition of Phantom Files right here on the Dumpin' Chase podcast.

SPEAKER_04 25:58

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SPEAKER_06 26:33

And we are back with the Dumpin' Chase podcast. So for this week's edition of Phantom Files, I mean, obviously, we're not gonna have an interview this week. Uh, we do have sort of an interview coming up later on with Joel Norman from the Omaha Lancers. Uh, but for this week's edition of Phantom Files, uh, we're gonna go through, take a look at some of the numbers uh now that the season is over. And uh, of course, the uh what we do every year, go through tally everything up uh based on what we did during the season and what we decided during the season uh to come up with our three stars for the entire season. All right, so kicking it off, um, again, you know, the Phantoms finishing with a record of 43-14-3-2, giving them 91 points. Uh, that is the most in team history, uh, beating the 14-15 team and uh last year's team by five points each. Uh the Phantoms finishing 19-8-1-1 at home. On the road, they were 26-2-1. And then the neutral site games, which the two games at the Fall Classic and the uh two games at the American Cup, the Phantoms were 4-0 in those games.

SPEAKER_07 27:36

And that is the most ridiculous stat I think I've seen all season. Y'all know what I mean. We do not do too well at some of these neutral site games.

SPEAKER_06 27:50

Phantoms go two and oh at the fall classic if if we knew then what we know now.

SPEAKER_07 27:55

Yeah, I mean shave eight points off our standings, and that's something you might have seen. I mean six to eight points in previous seasons.

SPEAKER_06 28:07

Um, the Phantoms uh for the season uh scoring 228 goals, that was fifth overall in the league, and the fourth highest in team history. Uh goals against they allowed 147, that was the lowest in the league, and 21 less than the team that would be in second place, which was Fargo. So pretty nice little gap right there. Uh that total also the second lowest in team history.

SPEAKER_02 28:37

Yeah, well, they say defense wins championships. The um the scoring, I think it tailed off a little bit, but it didn't really affect anything because as the scoring tailed off, so did the goals against tail off even more. And it wasn't very high to begin with. So like I said, they they it's the grade A scoring chance that they do such a good job of just denying.

SPEAKER_06 28:56

Um Youngstown special teams, Dan, I know this is gonna be your favorite. 899 penalty minutes this season. Uh that was uh 11th in the USHL, or look at it the other way, the sixth lowest. And that amount is the fourth lowest in team history.

SPEAKER_02 29:13

Justin, this is the most unbelievable stat to me. Because you look over the past several years, it's it's they've always always blurred the line between being physical and and taking, you know, being and going too far. And they're sure they put it together. They did they did a very good, they were very disciplined as far as this goes. And they killed them off when they got them.

SPEAKER_07 29:32

Yeah, uh, there's that. Um but I mean, again, uh I I think this just goes to maybe reputation. Um, but we've done a little bit to rehabilitate that, I think.

SPEAKER_02 29:46

Yeah, and I I don't know how you look, I don't I'm not saying to go look this up anybody, but uh suspensions, this is the least amount of suspensions I can ever remember that they have taken.

SPEAKER_07 29:54

I totally agree. Yeah, yeah. I I'm sure if you read that stat, it would be that would be the stat that I surprised us at all.

SPEAKER_06 30:03

I yeah, I haven't run it. I I mean, how can you? Yeah, and uh you know, in all reality, because honestly that page resets every year. There's not really a history you can go back and look. I would feel pretty confident saying this would be the lowest.

SPEAKER_07 30:16

It's been four or five, and I mean, I I'm sure there's most seasons we've had player single players suspended more than that.

SPEAKER_02 30:24

Yeah, Macy O'Phillips uh suspended the Phantoms this year. I'm pretty confident in saying that.

SPEAKER_06 30:31

Green Bay. And and this is and this isn't a knock on Stratty. If you remember, he was suspended, came back from suspension, and then got suspended after that game again.

SPEAKER_02 30:43

And he got a yeah, he had a uh he had a pretty good suspension that second game.

SPEAKER_06 30:48

So I'm saying, yeah, on that front, yeah, very good year for the Phantoms. Uh the Phantoms finished 27.6 on the power play. That was second in the USHL, and that is the highest in team history. And again, just think back of how excited we were last year with Youngstown's power play. Youngstown, you know, Youngstown finished last season at 23.7 percent. And that was the highest in team history at that point. Yeah, and just how much we talked about my you know, my like how great is this power play? They topped that by 3.9% this year.

SPEAKER_02 31:22

You know, it's a big helper now is last year's power play and this year's power play was almost the same thing that you had Jack Wilson and you had Cooper Simpson. Everybody else that was out there in the first power play was out there last year. So you just add two more pieces that were that are phenomenal pieces to add, and you had the familiarity of everybody doing what they're doing, and maybe some coaching changes in there, whatever who's doing what, but not gonna. But it was they they were clinical and they were consistent the entire year.

SPEAKER_06 31:50

Um, the Phantom's power play uh power play, Phantom's power uh penalty kill on the season 84.1%. That was first in the USHL, and that was also fourth best in team history. Now, when you get into the playoffs, I don't put a ton of stock into special teams numbers. The first round you'll see because mainly because in the first round, you'll see a little bit of a drop off and like average like penalty calls per game. You'll see a little bit of a drop off. Getting into the second round, you'll see a lot more of a drop-off. Yeah. So there's just not gonna be the opportunity, like second round on, there's just not gonna be special teams opportunities like you had in the regular season.

SPEAKER_07 32:31

You're gonna have to commit murder. Yeah. I mean, that said, I mean, I'm glad the Phantoms, you know, did as well as they did this year. But you know, you are gonna have to mind yourself and not take those penalties because I mean, those are those are enormous opportunities for the other team.

SPEAKER_06 32:54

Yeah, if if you look on the bench and Amber Martinelli is like sewing someone's arm back on, like nightmare before Christmas style, then yeah, you can guess probably a penalty was called on that, but and probably only two. It's only a two. Yeah. But yeah, it's like I I I think maybe the first round, you know, a team, you know, special teams will play a little bit more factor into those games. Once you get beyond the second round, the opportunities are far and few between, and it's just a matter of if a team takes advantage of it or not. Now, with Youngstown being first in the league in penalty kills, second in power play, I mean, they're definitely set up that when those opportunities arise on the power play, you know, they are a team that could take advantage of it. And at the same time, you know, if they've only got to kill off one or two penalties in a game, I feel confident that they very easily will.

SPEAKER_02 33:48

Yeah, and as tough as goals are to come by in the playoffs, you know, if we're talking about the Phantoms proudness on special teams, you know the other teams are saying it too. So they know, you know, each team they've always played tighter, but the other teams that play are playing the Phantoms know that you cannot give them any any extra chance to score goals, cannot give them a man up. And like I said, they're gonna go above and beyond to try to not do that.

SPEAKER_07 34:11

And no going into this, that they're gonna try to bait you into taking a penalty. Don't do it. Yeah, we've done a great job of that this year.

SPEAKER_02 34:21

Yeah, previous previous years they would take the bait. This year does not seem like that was gonna happen.

SPEAKER_06 34:25

All right, so I mean, there's a lot of other stats we can go through, but it it can get boring really quick. So um at this point, we're gonna jump into uh you know what we do every year. Uh, you know, every week we do the three stars of the week. Um, at the end of the season, I'll go through and tally everything up, uh, basically going by like a 1-2-3-3-2-1 scoring system. So go through all of our run sheets from this entire season, add all of this up, and we get down to our three stars of the season. So I've at this point kicking it off with the third star.

SPEAKER_07 34:58

Uh Jack Wilson, uh, 13 points and two L's. Just had to put that in there, didn't you?

SPEAKER_02 35:06

You will never forget that. Will you talk about it?

SPEAKER_07 35:08

I will never live that down now.

SPEAKER_06 35:11

I will I will own it. I will not live that down. Um, the second star of the season, that goes to Ryan Rosinski. Uh, 23 points. It was an excitement last year for him to put up 40 points in a season. This year he puts up over 60. Just a great year by the captain.

SPEAKER_02 35:29

That brings us to our first star of the season, and that would Bree B Cooper Simpson. 31 points on the year, a human highlight reel, scores unbelievable goals, and Coop cares.

SPEAKER_06 35:42

There you go. Amen. Alrighty, so we're gonna step aside for one more break. The USHL playoff round one preview with voice of the Omaha Lancers, Joel Norman, is coming up next on the Dump and Chase podcast.

SPEAKER_00 36:06

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SPEAKER_03 36:16

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SPEAKER_01 36:31

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SPEAKER_06 36:42

And welcome back to the Dumpin' Chase podcast. Now that the regular season has come to a close, we turn our eye to the playoffs. And to kick it off in the Western Conference, we welcome back to the show the voice of the Omaha Lancers, Joel Norman. Uh, Joel, welcome back to the show.

SPEAKER_05 36:59

Thanks for having me. You know, I was hoping come playoff time, I'd be on a different microphone right now. So, but this is a new experience for me. Still happy to be doing this right now.

SPEAKER_06 37:06

I'll tell you what, Omaha had a hell of a finish to the end of this season. I mean, second best team in the Western Conference over the last 10 games, including beating Sioux Falls, who had the best record over the last 10 games. Um, 8-4-1 to finish this season, you know, win, you know, wins over Sioux Falls, uh, you know, win over Fargo, two over Lincoln. You guys were playing more like a playoff team in those last 10 games than a couple of the teams that did make the playoffs in the Western Conference.

SPEAKER_05 37:34

Yeah, it was that was a really fun month of hockey for a team that we pretty much knew once the calendar flipped to March that we were out of it. I think we were, I think it might have been a week or two into March that we were officially eliminated. We for the for for what it's worth, we obviously had a feeling before that it was coming. But we had a really tough winter to start off, but it was kind of interesting how right around that time everyone's uh it seemed like pressure was just off of everyone. And a few of the new players who had been acquired during the winter were kind of starting to find their footing. Um we had one line that was all European players, so like two of these guys from Russia, another player from Kazakhstan. I would always call I called it our Euro line. And it was kind of fun to just see that kind of stuff mesh where we had some lines where it was they had a lot of skill and finesse, and then we had another line that was just it was gonna out four check any line in the league the way that they were once they started playing together. And it was it's fun to see stretches in a season where the lines stay the same, where you don't have to see too many guys get plugged in and out of a spot. You just start to see your top three lines most nights are kind of the same every single game. And it was nice to see that after for the better part of the season, we hadn't been able to because we just hadn't gotten the results. But uh fun to see you come together during the stretch. We have a ton of returners next year, so we're really hoping to be making a deep run into May uh come 2027.

SPEAKER_07 38:53

I bet that makes it a little bit easier to call the game, too, when you're not juggling nights every night.

SPEAKER_05 38:58

Oh, no doubt about that. I mean, we had an 11-game losing streak at one point, and that's just that's tough because it's it's not like other sports where, you know, or like I worked a lot of baseball, and it those were tough streaks because that's 11 days in a row. But you know, an 11-game losing streak in hockey is you know, five or six weekends in a row of just, oh my gosh, can we get a goal here? Can we find ways? And and that was the thing is we just we found ways to score down the stretch. And that was for a while, it was kind of like, hey, are we ever gonna get to three goals? If we get to four, we're probably gonna win down the stretch. It was how many are we gonna get each night? Because we're averaging at least four a game right now, and that was four in territory, but it was so cool to see the team growing up really quickly and that that foundation being laid for next season.

SPEAKER_06 39:43

So did it, I mean, did it feel good playing spoiler at the end of the season? It was fun, yeah, no doubt about that.

SPEAKER_05 39:48

Who doesn't want to? You know, I think it's easy. You get the chirps from people, you know, fans, other broadcasters, and it's like, oh yeah, great, you know, how's it going? You go, you know, work on your tea times here coming up. You got nothing going, but yeah, you know, we're still trying to win every game, right? Like the guys still, one way or another, you have to play 62 games, you know. You might as well try until the end, regardless of if you're going to the playoffs or not. So it was enjoyable, and it was fun to see how much that meant to the team down the stretch because I've seen teams that are winners that down the stretch, they're still counting down the days. And that's a scary thing when you're making the playoffs and you see guys kind of counting down the days. And I didn't feel that with this team. And I'm not even just saying that as like a team employee, but I remember, you know, that last game, they were they were really excited to have won that game. And I think the reason why is because so many of them know that, hey, we're gonna be back here for main camp in a few weeks, and then we're gonna be back in the fall for a new season. And you know, the large nucleus is gonna be the same of this team, and there's gonna be a great chance to build off of what was accomplished in March and early April of 2026. Hey, let's be honest too.

SPEAKER_02 40:53

Sometimes wins against certain teams feel better too.

SPEAKER_05 40:56

So no doubt about it. No doubt about it. I mean, you know, down the stretch, yeah, being Sioux Falls, of course, that's a bit that's what you're talking about. Yeah, that was the one we were we were thrilled about that.

SPEAKER_06 41:06

I mean, yeah, oh, we were too. That did us a favor.

SPEAKER_05 41:09

You I remember Sam, you texted me after that. You're like, man, thank you guys. That was a fun game, too. But you know, I know you're talking about the Lincoln games. Of course, that was so fun. I mean, for me, just being on the opposite side for three years, for the better part of my three seasons in Lincoln, those games meant nothing. And that was uh so frustrating for me as someone who was constantly told, oh, this used to be great. It used to be a lot of fun. And I'd go, cool. I I I love history, I really enjoy that, but I love also seeing that stuff happen again in front of me and to see the games be so close this season. I mean, five of the eight games are decided by one goal, half of the eight games went to overtime, and it felt like every matchup, it felt like they were they really wanted to beat each other, regardless of what either side would say, they wanted to beat the other. Because you go to the other building, what whether it was the icebox or Liberty First Credit Union Arena, you know, both fan bases are giving it to the other team, the fans are going at it a little bit in the stands, and it just that's what that's what makes hockey hockey. So you want to win those types of games, and that's a heck of a feeling whenever you can do it, whether it's the end of the season or when it's still warm out in the fall.

SPEAKER_07 42:17

And when some teams are playing for, you know, playoff spots, uh, when you lose a uh uh step in the standings at that point, uh, that can't feel too good.

SPEAKER_05 42:28

Oh, no doubt about it. You know, the the the there's a couple ways to look at it. Like, yes, I think for us, I think I mean our guys wanted to win that game. We knew that they needed to beat us to to have home ice against Des Moines, or they need to help for like Sioux City to beat Des Moines, but you knew Des Moines was gonna come out ready. That's a good team, too. It was fun for us to know, hey, we have a chance to play spoiler here. Our season's over one way or another, but we can give it all here tonight and we can end on a high note and be proud of what we did. And you know, but I was gonna say the flip side of it too is if you're Lincoln, all of a sudden, maybe this is that wake up point at the end of that series with Des Moines. Maybe it's like, man, we've we've lost four in a row. What is going on? We're a better team than this. And we they gave it a heck of an effort, by the way, in that last game. Like they in a lot of nights, that's gonna be enough to win what they did. But it just wasn't against the Omaha Lancers that night. Did it feel like a playoff game to you? 100%. And you and I give so much credit to uh their front office too for for that because they had a packed house. I mean, we went from we were stunned about that. Our organization was talking about it on April the 3rd for our final home game of the season. We were talking and we were we almost sold out that game, and we were saying, what what kind of team that's known as missing the playoffs for about a month almost sells out its final home game of the season? But then the next day we went to Lincoln and I thought, hey, I wonder what it'll be like. You know, they know that they have playoff hockey coming. That place was almost sold out too. And I love that because that's it's the way it should be. Your best crowd should be there down the stretch, but you also understand, given the nature of a lot of these tank. As it's warming up, it's gonna be a little harder to attract fans for hockey. Fortunately for us, we had a 40-degree day and it was perfect hockey weather.

SPEAKER_06 44:08

All right. So diving into the first round here, uh now the season's over. We know what the matchups are. Let's start out with uh you got the three-seed uh Sioux City Musketeers uh taking on the six-seed Tri-City Storm. Now, Tri-City won the season series. Uh I believe they were four, one, and one, which is shocking when you look at the you look at the way kind of Tri-City season's gone, but Sioux City seemed to be that one team that they had their number. And then uh, you know, Tri-City over their last 13 games were 110, 1-1. I mean, that's that there's zero momentum going into the playoffs on that. I mean, yeah, you know, we bring, you know, of course, we bring you on. You have the knowledge of these teams way more than we do. What are you seeing in this series?

SPEAKER_05 44:49

I think Sioux City and two. And I don't like predicting sweeps, to be honest with you, because there's so much unpredictability in the playoffs. I think Sioux City and two. I think a lot of what you're seeing with Tri-City right now is probably what is actually the case for them. They've looked a little, they looked sluggish about a month ago. We went to go see them, and this was right about when we were starting to heat up. Uh the Lancers. That I mean, we went out there, we played two games against them back-to-back days when we won both of them, and we only scored six goals over the two games. And that was that was when our offense wasn't really starting to heat up. So it was it was strange to see them that way. I don't know, I don't know what it is. I don't know if it's what that kind of in-between. I think sometimes the the teams that struggle the most down the stretch are those that are kind of around that five, six. Like, yeah, you might be in the playoffs, but you're also, I mean, inevitably, a 16 to 21 year old is thinking, realistically, how far are we going? Like, how far can we actually go on a run this year? Now, obviously, last year Waterloo and Muskegon showed anything is possible, even if you don't get the first round by. But to me, right now, Tri-City looks like a team that's, you know, the end is coming quickly. Granted, give them credit. They got in there, their star power is really good. Bodie Leyland is one of the best defensemen in the league. Michael Pradle, when he's right, is right up there as one of the top goaltenders. Things can happen. Goaltenders can get really hot this time of year. I just, I really like what Sioux City has in this one. And don't forget, I mean, you guys have probably seen this stuff about this, but then playing in that practice rink, a smaller barn, it's gonna sound a lot louder than it is. Yep. Tyson Event Center is a great facility. It's harder for that one to feel really loud, though, sometimes. I think Sioux City's gonna have a better home ice advantage because they're in a smaller barn in a series like this, where it is like a three versus six.

SPEAKER_06 46:36

All right. Uh, so moving on to uh the four seed, the Des Moines Buccaneers taking on the five-seed Lincoln stars. Um, Des Moines won the season series four to one. They held Lincoln to nine goals in five games. I mean, and that's when you're talking about Alex Pelletier and uh Lane Loomer and all of them, uh, you know, nine goals in five games. I mean, uh Lincoln coming into the playoffs, losing six of their last eight, Des Moines won four of their last six, you know, and ended it with that three-game winning streak uh to jump up into fourth place and get that home playoff series in the first round. I mean, just to me, just on that alone, to me, it looks like I feel like Des Moines coming in with more momentum into this series than Lincoln is.

SPEAKER_05 47:15

It's it's gonna be interesting. I when when I was leaving Lincoln last Saturday, a lot of their fans, a lot of their you know, staff were kind of like, uh, we we think this is gonna be pretty quick because it's Des Moines, they've had that they won the season series, we're not gonna be at home. I think this is gonna be a dogfight of a series, to be honest with you. I think to me, it all depends on one thing. Down the stretch for Lincoln, Lane Loomer was in and out of the lineup. He didn't play two of the last three games, and two of those were against us. I know I think he missed three of the last four games of the season. He had he had an illness, and then I think he had an injury in there. If that's still bothering him, even if he plays and he's you know he's not able to be a hundred percent, I mean that's a that's a big deal right there. Because that line, when he when they had him with Kohansky and Pelletier, I said it the last time I was on best line of the league, and it wasn't close. I mean, the amount of scoring that they did, the communication those three had them all working together made that extremely, extremely impressive. But when Loomer wasn't there, something was off. And Rocky Russo is changing things up a lot. He's putting Pelletier with a few different guys to get some different looks. I think if everything's right, whether you put you know all three, Loomer, Pelletier, and Kohansky together, or whether you just have them at different spots, you need to have Loomer in the lineup to win that series. You have to be you have to have your big guns at ready to go because as we've seen it with Lincoln at times this year, their depth is just not there. But they've got two of the best forwards in the league when they're fully healthy. So I I low-key, I kind of want to pick them in three games, but the other side of it is that you have two of the top forwards also in the league, and Des Moines Zelensky is incredible, and same for Sealinger. I think you know, Ryan Sealinger, Blake Zelensky both really good players. I like Des Moines' depth a little bit more. There's a reason why they finished a hair ahead of Lincoln, but man, when Lincoln's rolling with those guys, yeah, boy, I'm gonna go, I'm gonna go Des Moines in three, but it's gonna be really close because I guess the other thing with Lincoln, I'm I'm not sure about is what's gonna happen to goaltender because William Prowles had a couple of tough games down the stretch, and obviously he's a great goaltender. He's gonna be back next year, committed to Boston University. I mean, he's probably an early pick to win next year's probably goaltender of the year, since it'll be his third year in the league. But down the stretch, I don't know if it was overusage, I don't know what it was, but he just he looked off a bit in some of those games. And I wondered, you go with Charles Menard, who's also a really good backup, too. But I I don't know, he's a little bit younger, so it's hard to say. But I'm gonna go Des Moines in three, but barely. Like you might have two games go to overtime in that series.

SPEAKER_02 49:53

Yeah, to me, Alan Wendag, I thought was the goalie for Des Moines.

SPEAKER_05 49:57

I think yeah, he kind of changed everything for them when he got traded over to give credit to them too, because they lost uh Wyland because he left to go to school, and Wyland was good in the fall and uh in the early part of the winter, but I mean that team was really focused on getting back to the playoffs. Back to Bank Ears missing it. They pretty much said, like, we're gonna make the playoffs this year. And credit to them for going for it. No matter what the level of sports is, like, you want to see your teams go for it when you sense the opportunity. And Des Moines did exactly that. I'm gonna give them barely in three games over Lincoln. It's gonna be a fight, and that could be a really fun series.

SPEAKER_06 50:31

Joel, before we let you go here, I'm gonna put you on the spot a little bit. Uh so we'll uh next week we'll have uh be previewing the second round. Will we be able to get you back for that? Yeah, why not? We can do that. I figured I'd ask now instead of off mic, so uh No, that'd be fun too.

SPEAKER_05 50:46

It'd be fun to see I I mean I'm gonna be watching from afar. I'm not gonna watch every second of the games, but I'll be you know certainly keeping up. I'm just I'm happy to have a weekend free for the first time since Christmas. So I would enjoy that, but like I'm gonna I'm gonna be keeping up with the whole Clark Cup playoffs. So I'm I'm very curious how it goes. But should I give my Eastern Conference ones too, real quick? Uh yeah, if you want to, go ahead. I was gonna say, let me double see.

SPEAKER_06 51:08

So uh so uh Green Bay and Madison. Oh Green Bay and and two, uh Cedar Rapids and Muskegon.

SPEAKER_05 51:15

Muskegon and three. Interesting. I like uh I'll say this real quickly. I know you gotta go. Um, I think Muskegon was a team they had certain nights you could tell like they did against us, and I saw in other games where it's almost like the they weren't always up for it immediately, but when they needed to get up for games, they could, so to speak. Like that's a team I think they could turn it on because they're they're built to be a playoff team, but maybe weren't the seed that they wanted to be. And I I thought Green Bay to me was one of the most complete. It was a long time ago. We saw them in November, but they felt like one of the most complete teams in the league. You had big guys who could hit and who could skate, not to mention the goal scores. So Green Bay to me could be a sneaky Clark Cup uh winner, in my opinion.

SPEAKER_06 51:58

All right, calm down now. Uh I know I'm talking the Anderson Cup champs, but wait, wait, wait, when you go on the Green Bay podcast, you can tell. Wait, never mind.

SPEAKER_07 52:07

Um no, we do not put any stock into the Anderson Cup meeting anything after it's awarded.

SPEAKER_05 52:15

On the decks, you guys would have. I did the math last year on how many Anderson Cup winners have gone on to win it all. Yeah, it's not good. It's not great. Early on in the league history, it was really high. But then when the league really expanded, kind of like it has gone in other sports like the NHL too.

SPEAKER_06 52:31

So yeah, before last season, when they switched this new playoff format, you did not have a team that played in the first round, you know, win in the finals. And last year you had two teams in the finals that played the first round. So I mean that's why you play the games.

SPEAKER_05 52:45

That's the fun part about it. I mean, I was I you know, being a Lincoln employee last year, I hated seeing that happen. But uh from the when I was able to look at it from the outside, I was like, that's a cool story. Really cool.

SPEAKER_06 52:57

All right, Joel. Uh, so yeah, I guess we'll talk to you next week. Uh enjoy the week off. Sounds good. Talk to you guys later. All right, have a good one.

SPEAKER_05 53:04

Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 53:06

Alrighty, so it looks like it's our turn with the Eastern Conference now. Uh I I feel like Joel set the bar a little bit too high here. We're gonna fumble this pretty bad.

SPEAKER_02 53:15

Oh we're not trying to reach anything that high. Sam, you and I are short, we're not touching that bar.

SPEAKER_06 53:22

No. Justin on his tippy toes, maybe, might be able to fingertip it. So, yeah, so moving into the Eastern Conference round one matchup, starting out with a three-seed, the Green Bay Gamblers taking on the six-seed Madison Capitals. Uh, Green Bay uh eight games against Madison this season. They went 7-0-1 against them, um, outscored them 31 to 18. A handful of players of Green Bay had re really had uh I don't want to say padding their stats, but really uh added to their uh totals for the season uh playing Madison. Uh of course, Zach Wooten, uh eight points versus Madison, uh Gino Carcone, Gavin Katz, Elliot Gully, Andrew Andrew O'Sullivan all with seven points against Madison this season. I don't know where to go with this, because honestly, and it's I I mean I right away I'll make a prediction here. I don't see Madison taking this one.

SPEAKER_07 54:17

I'm gonna d disagree. I think this is my dark horse. I mean, I I don't see a team like this taking a pounding like that during the regular season and not uh not coming back.

SPEAKER_02 54:28

I think um I think it was Madison they got was it Tyson Burgesson? I can't remember his his name. He came back from Minnesota hockey after winning a state title with Moorhead. I think he's gonna add a little bit of a difference, but overall, um Madison plays good defense, but they don't have anybody that can score. Um Green Bay has many people that can score, and that's that's the X factor in there. I think Madison plays better defense, but Green Bay's offense is better, and they can yeah, if you have a team that can score, that's an eraser, that's an eraser for mistakes. Gives you a little bit more of um level of uh what's the word I'm looking for? More of a um margin of error. There you go. See, I'm really doing good sounding like Joel. So you know what's what's crazy? These first round matchups in the in the Eastern Conference playoffs are exactly the same as last year, but in reverse order. So last year it was third seed Madison playing sixth seed Green Bay, and fourth seed Miskegan playing fifth seed Cedar Rapids. That's wild to me.

SPEAKER_06 55:27

Um, yeah, Madison Matt Madison the last month of the season, where I mean basically a 500 team at best, um, dropped their final three games of the season, including their uh final weekend, uh the two games they had with Green Bay.

SPEAKER_09 55:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 55:42

It's I mean, and in this point, it's I I I mean if Madison pulls this out, I I don't care. I don't really have to eat any crow on this, but I've got justin, I'm sorry, but if you're saying they're a dark horse, it must be really dark because I don't see it.

SPEAKER_02 55:56

I mean, I would like Madison to win. I would that that'd be the matchup I prefer from the second round, but oh, it would make it interesting for sure. I mean, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 56:05

I mean, if they pull it out, I mean great, but it's I'm I'm just I'm having a hard time getting there.

SPEAKER_02 56:12

I agree with you. I I think this is Madison's gonna make a little bit of noise, but I uh I I'd see Green Bay coming away victorious on this one.

SPEAKER_06 56:20

Um, the other matchup here, uh the four-seed Cedar Rapids Rough Riders taking on the no the five-seed Muskegon Lumberjacks. Uh four games played between the two of these teams this season, Cedar Rapids winning the season series going 3-0-0-1. But at the same time, these teams have not played since uh January 2nd and 3rd. So it's been a while uh between these two teams. And again, we we referenced this last week. You know, we have the final numbers on it, you know, how we would talk about what would Youngstown and Muskegon's trajectories be after that three-game sweep um in Youngstown. Um Youngstown obviously finished the way they finished. Uh Muskegon finished 6'9 and one um after those three games in Youngstown. And then Muskegon, their last four games of the season, they lost uh by a combined score of 22 to 11. So Muskegon, you know, barely putting up two goals per game. Two out uh two and a half goals per game.

SPEAKER_07 57:15

Yeah, I I think it if you look at the way Cedar Rapids played down the stretch, minus that uh Friday game against us, they're a team that that has really come together. I think Muskegon is kind of uh fallen off the tracks a little bit. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 57:33

In my head, I don't I don't know if I'm just giving Muskegon too much respect because they won the Clark Club last year, and I didn't realize that was a much different team than what they have right now in much different circumstances. But I still feel like Muskegon is kind of built for the playoffs with their size and heaviness of play. Uh the other they really don't have the goal scores that they've had in the past, but I agree with both of you guys. I think Cedar Rapids is playing their best hockey at the right time. Um even though we really didn't get to see, uh they didn't they weren't super impressive this past weekend, but you can't deny what they have been before that over the past month and a half of the season. They've been playing the playoff hockey for the past month and a half. Um, if that continues, I don't see Cedar Rapids having much trouble with Muskegon. And and I'll I can't remember if you mentioned it or not, but Meskegon when they were doing well, their their goaltending was doing really well. Axelson and um can't remember the other guy that they have in there, um Keen. They were doing very well in the beginning of the season in the second half. Don't know if it's the goaltending or if it's the defense in front of them, but that has definitely showed off a little bit.

SPEAKER_06 58:33

So yeah, I yeah, I think Cedar Rapids takes this one. I mean, there there were there was a point in the season you had like Youngstown, Green Bay, Muskegon all battling for first place in the Eastern Conference. Muskegon just especially that latter half of the season, they just kind of fell right off.

SPEAKER_00 58:49

Right.

SPEAKER_06 58:50

And the the team that exists now does not look like and uh if there's a Muskegon fan listening, you're gonna hate to hear this. I think that three game sweep had a lot more to do with how Youngstown played than getting outplayed by Muskegon those three games. But again, you can go to your Muskegon podcast and listen to what they have to say. Um I think I no, I didn't know it. I I'm baffled that somebody from another team would listen to our show, which is very, you know, well, not very, it is Youngstown centric, and get get a little iffy if we say something about their team that they don't like.

SPEAKER_07 59:27

I I don't think anybody would expect anything otherwise, especially a Muskegon fan.

SPEAKER_02 59:32

Right.

SPEAKER_07 59:34

I'm sure they get it.

SPEAKER_02 59:36

I think the Eastern Conference side, you know, I think the three of us are in agreement here. We're not just being homers. I really we really think the the Clark Cup comes down to the fans playing their game, and that's what it really does come down to. However, I think the Eastern Conference, they have four teams that if they go on a right run, they could make a run, they could make a run at the at the Clark Cup, and that's Dubuque, Green Bay. Um, I guess I'd say three. I want to say Cedar Rapids and and the fans, all three of those. You know, you gotta have so many things to go right. You got to have a little bit of luck, you gotta stay healthy, you gotta be playing your best hockey, and you gotta have goaltending. All those things gotta come together. It's not always the best skip, the most skilled team, it's the team that could put all those together who's gonna come out victorious. The Western Conference, it's really Sioux Falls and Fargo. That's the only two teams that have any ability to come out of the West, unless something crazy happens.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:23

But see, but uh I I will jump in here. That has kind of been the interesting thing because Sioux Falls got hit by the injury bug late in the season. So that that kind of puts even more question marks you know into that. Uh I mean, could Fargo overtake Sioux Falls? I don't think so.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:42

No, not in a five-game series. I don't yeah, and and Fargo, they're similar to the Phantoms where they play very good defense, but they just don't have the scoring that the that the Phantoms have or that Sioux Falls has over there. Even like a team like Sioux City where they can score a bunch of goals, they just can't stop anybody else from scoring on them either. But um, you know, the Eastern Conference, yeah, I it's you know, we've been talking about all year. It's it is a better conference than the Western Conference. It's there's just it's spread out more so the dangerous teams. There's more than two dangerous teams in this. So I there's a lot of things that got to go right, and we all agree that it's the Phantoms, it's in their hands. If they play their game, there's no one else that touches them, even close.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:18

It's it's gonna it's gonna boil down to whoever comes out of the east, I feel like will be way more battle-tested absolutely than whoever comes out of the west.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:26

It's a it's a gauntlet, it is an absolute gauntlet.

SPEAKER_07 1:01:29

Um and I think Dan put it best, there is just that element of luck.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:34

Um, all right. So going back to the uh Western Conference here, real quick, um, as far as the second round is concerned, because with the receding and everything else, um, the next weekend, Sioux Falls will, when this is all said and done, would either face Des Moines, Lincoln, or Tri-City. Uh Fargo would face either Sioux City, Des Moines, or Lincoln. In the east, uh Youngstown, it would either be Cedar Rapids, Muskegon, or Madison. Uh Dubuque would either be Green Bay, Cedar Rapids, or Muskegon. If you look at and they you always say throw out the regular season records, but all four of these first round matchups, the regular season record is pretty damning.

SPEAKER_09 1:02:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:15

There's there's not there's not close series, tied series, maybe one team got one more point than the other. These were all blowouts.

SPEAKER_02 1:02:23

And the Western conference that makes I mean all these teams are so similar. I was gonna say it makes more sense in the western, but it doesn't. Because they all were so similar in points. It's it's crazy to think that a team like two playoff teams played each other eight times and one team didn't lose in regulation.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:42

All right, guys. So I guess at this point, that's pretty much all we have. I think we can wrap this up. Wrapping up the regular season. Yep. So I said this was gonna be an odd one. It was like a regular season finale and the first playoff preview all in one. All right, so next week's episode, of course, we will be recapping what happened in the first round, and we will be previewing round two, and you heard it earlier with the returning Joel Norman, uh, to fill us in on what he thinks of the uh Western Conference semifinals. And hold on, that will officially make him friend of the show. Yep, that'll be appearance number three, and of course, previewing whoever the Phantom's opponent is. We've we've got three options here. We'll find out by the end of this week. Um, although I will say, um adding in here, um, these playoff series are Friday, Saturday, Sunday, except for Des Moines and Lincoln. That will be Thursday, Friday, Saturday. So uh Des Moines Des Moines and Lincoln will kick off the playoffs on Thursday. Um, everybody else will be in action Friday and Saturday, and then Sunday if necessary.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:46

There's like a rodeo in town or something like that in Des Moines?

SPEAKER_06 1:03:49

Uh no, but there's a circus in Sioux City. Uh$30 tickets, but you have to buy three.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:00

Wow, yeah. That's insane.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:02

Imagine scheduling that for Sioux City. Like, oh, there's no way they're gonna be home for the first round of playoffs. Just schedule it.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:08

Can you can you imagine? Can you can you imagine that? Can you imagine that for Youngstown? And then you gotta play a playoff game at deep freeze. I think they'd be that'd be way less than 900 if they wanted if they wanted to get if they wanted to get 100 in there, we'd be sitting on laps.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:21

Where would on it real talk here? Where would they play if something like that would happen?

SPEAKER_06 1:04:26

I have no idea. Cranberry.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:28

Cranberry, that's what I was thinking too. That'd be that'd be tough to get a seat in there, too.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:33

You know what? That'd still be a fun one, though.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:35

That would be fun. It gets loud in there.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:38

So you can catch the show on Spotify, Apple, or wherever it is you listen to your favorite podcast. You can find us on social media on Facebook and Instagram. So before we get out of here, to my co-hosts Dan Conley and Justin Irwin, any final thoughts?

SPEAKER_07 1:04:52

Wow, I we're not playing next week. I don't know how I'm gonna I don't know how I'm gonna deal with this.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:00

Yeah, you you you take the whole season and to get to this very point, and this is very point now. You realize it's almost over. So hurry up and stop. Save her what we have left. Yeah, hurry up and wait.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:12

All right, so as always, hockey is a sport played on ice with sticks and a puck, and our podcast is a thing you just listened to. See ya.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:20

If the team did play at the cranberry, I would request we get to go see like where Dubas and um Amanda Kessel got to sit.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:28

And I would I call her seat. Yeah, it's we'd go there.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:31

Where Brian Burk where Brian Burke falls asleep.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:37

No, Dan. I'm pretty sure other people have sat sat there since Amanda Kessel, don't sniff the seat.

SPEAKER_06 1:05:44

Okay, can't use that.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:47

Yes, you can.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:00

We're gonna break it down, break it down, and do this damn thing right, right? It's the dump and chase podcast, let's go. It's the dump and chase podcast, like dump and chase, let's go. Let's go