The Drive with Jack
*Haley Schoengart, WLNS Channel 6 Sports
(upbeat music) - Jack, I believe you're my good friend, Matt Sloatt, grab a Volcomist, lots of excitement at the two dealerships. What's new with Chevy and Nissan? - Well, Jack, great question. At Nissan, everybody seems to be talking about interest rates. We're offering 0% financing on new vehicles, and we have the all new completely redesigned 2025 kicks on the lot and ready for delivery. It is fantastic. At Chevy, same thing. People are talking about interest rates. Guess what? We have 0% financing on new, and as low as 1.99 used. You gotta come check it out. - Great time to get a car and great place to do it. Grab a Volcomist. (upbeat music) - Well, welcome back to the drive with Jack, Spotlight Radio Network. I should have known as soon as I talk about Detroit having a better 10 game record than the Celtics. Rob has a rejoin from Boston, but that's okay. One of my favorite groups. Georgia has struck first with a field goal, leads Notre Dame 3-0, early in the second quarter of the Sugar Bowl. Rob, do we have our next guest on the line? - We do. - Hey, Haley Schoengaard joins us from W-L-N-S. She is as much of a late devotee to the sport of hockey as I have ever met. And for someone who didn't grow up with the game, she's developing encyclopedic knowledge to the point that I have a prediction, Rob. At some point, we are going to see Haley Schoengaard on the NHL network. - Yeah, love to see it. - Yep. (laughs) - I would love that. That's my dream job, I think. Yep, well, just keep doing what you're doing. It's all going to work out for you. Hey, I want to talk a little bit about the GLI and for people, I don't want to name any names, Neil Kefki, Ricardo Cooney, who said that Michigan State could not win that because Tri-Augustine was playing in the world juniors, I'd like to introduce them to Luca de Pasco. - Yeah, exactly. Luca played outstanding. I mean, it was no question he was going to get MVP of the tournament. The first game, Adam said this, and I thought this was very interesting, that he thinks games like Michigan State versus Northern Michigan are the hardest for goalies to play. You would think only facing 15 shots on goal, that Luca would be like chilling, in the crease with his feet up, you know, relaxing. But he said no, that it's hard to stay dialed in that way. And I thought Luca played great there, but especially against Western. Western had over 30 shots on goal, almost double what Northern had. And he was just lights out. Obviously had some help from the defenseman, blocking shots, some good plays around the net from Michigan State, but Luca was outstanding. And it's hard to believe that Michigan State has two really, really good goalies. I mean, Luca could go pretty much, you know, anywhere, and probably win the starting job, but he's behind one of the best 18 year old USA hockey goalies, probably there ever will be in Tri-Augustine. - Well, it is an interesting situation, and I don't want to cause trouble. But if Tri-Augustine returns to Michigan State for his junior year, I guess Luca would have a decision to make, right? - You would think so. I mean, Luca's a competitor, Adam talked, you know, in great detail about this on Monday night after Michigan State won just about how Luca doesn't, you know, like under, he understands that there is competition. He wants there to be healthy competition. He knows what he's up against in Tri-Augustine, but he doesn't like throw in the towel and say like, "Eh, you know, I'm going against one of the best "college hockey goalies probably ever, "like I'll just hang out over here." That Luca likes the competition, and Luca wants to start, and Luca wants to play, but he does understand also that, you know, he is behind Tri-Augustine. And so I thought that was very interesting that he has that mindset, 'cause you would think a lot of people who were in his position, it would be very easy to not have that mindset. - Right, and sometimes you can learn from someone at the same position. You can grow because of that, and hey, in this game, you know, you are one shot away from being the guy. You get one injury, and suddenly it's up to you, and you know, I'm not saying it's out of the question that you could see Luca the pass quo in the net in the frozen four, if something happened to Trey, it's gonna be up to him, so. - That's exactly what Adam said. Luca's always ready, not when your name is called, if your name is called, because you don't know when. You know, there is no hockey guy that's gonna tell you, you know, Trey is, you know, this is gonna happen, or this is gonna happen. Like, Luca has to stay ready, and Adam's been really pleased with Luca's mindset. And in the way that Luca's been able to set up, I mean, this is an NHL-esque schedule, four games, seven days, one of them being outdoors, one of them, two of them being a tournament that Michigan State hasn't won in 15 years. So there was a lot on the line, and especially tonight, you know, against Wisconsin, the Wisconsin's no-chop team. - What do you think it meant to get that monkey, the gorilla off their shoulders in terms of the GLI? 15 years is a long time, as you say. - Yeah, and I was talking to Tyrion and Shoutie last week, and he just said the taste in their mouth after that game to tech last season. Over 50 shots on goal, and they just couldn't get any puck, but it was just so frustrating. And especially for guys like Tanner Kelly, David Gucciardi, who went through a coaching change, and still weren't able to win it. Fourth year guys that admit a lot to those two, Tanner Kelly and David Gucciardi, just to be able to continue doing something that their freshman year seemed very, very, very unattainable. - Haley, do you think it indicates like this, where they know the best goaltender in college hockey is now the best goaltender in the world juniors? The rest of the team pulls together, they play a little bit tougher, defenses a little bit tighter, little more togetherness. They know that they don't have the incredible security blanket behind them, right? - Yeah, it's interesting. I talked to some of the players that I keep mentioning their availability that they had last week before the GLI, and Nick Andrews, who knew this year, transfer from Colorado College, he said that it's honestly like motivating to him, that people were saying like, "Ehh, Michigan State, we don't really know." Because of Trey Augustine, and he kind of took offense to it, and was like, "We have depth at every position. "We're a good hockey team. "We can play good hockey, we play Spartan hockey." And so he honestly kind of, yeah, took offense to it, and it was more motivation on top of the 15 year drought, that they wanted to go out and show that they could win this tournament without Trey, because Luca is that good. - Michigan State, the number one ranked team in the country, and that's certainly not gonna change with the win over the number four ranked Western Michigan Broncos. But the Spartans still, even today, number two in the pairwise, behind Boston College, why do you think that is? - Yeah, that's a great question. I would love to see the reasoning behind that. And it's all mathematical, you know, it's a formula, that they built in something to it, that strength of schedule, I guess, has something to do with it. But those teams played each other, and they split, albeit Boston College's win was more convincing than Michigan State's, but nonetheless, it wouldn't surprise me if those teams met again. Would you guess that we're talking about half of the Frozen Four? - He very well, I think that easily, unless they get placed in the same original that BC, Michigan State, you know, Frozen Four matchup, or even National Title matchup, is something that is very, very plausible. The offense that Boston College has, plus the offense Michigan State has, plus Triogacine, you know, they're two extremely good hockey teams, and I think that would be another really, really good game. - So what do you make of this? Four games in seven days. Gaunt let for Michigan State starting tonight, at least it's here, with Wisconsin coming in, and Wisconsin, you know, still kinda floundering, although it's gotten much, much better. It's an improved team as Michigan State discovered. What do you think the Spartans are gonna be in for tonight? - Just that, another good hockey team. I think they're excited to come back home, but they're tired, again, four games, seven days. That's like the NHL level. You know, traditionally in college hockey you play, you know, two a week. And so I'm eager to see how they come out tonight, especially having played today's Thursday, two, three days ago. And then they also have the excitement of playing in the outdoor game, but, you know, I think, as Michigan State is really good at playing their brand of hockey, I feel like especially now, we kinda saw them deviate from that earlier in the season, think Boston College, that game where they kinda just felt flat, but I feel like as of recently, they have really, really played well, especially in the third period. You look at the third period against Western Michigan, another Wilmore Lock Masterclass, where the other team was gassed in Michigan State, was just humming along, you know, and that's when they were able to pour those goals. And so I think that as long as they can play their brand of hockey there, it's not the best team in college hockey, and I think that could be another case here tonight, where we see Michigan State, play Michigan State hockey in, you know, out-condition, if you wanna call it, Wisconsin, and then the outdoor game. I mean, that's so exciting. The team was so excited getting to just, you know, be a kid again, so many of them grew up playing pond hockey and playing on outdoor rings, and getting to play where the winter classic was, was like a once in a lifetime experience. And so they were really excited, and I am really excited to get to go to that as well. - Aren't you really, I never would've guessed that. - No, you are so excited. - I'm so excited. - Your excitement is just jumping off the, out of the microphone here. Hey, I have to ask you with these two games, conference games, a possible six points. How many does Michigan State get? - You know, I was very impressed with MSU on Sunday and Monday to July. I'm gonna say six. - She's gonna say six. - Yeah. - What did you say? - I'm thinking five. - Okay. - Gepke and Coney both said three. - Wow. - Okay. - Gepke as Neil and Rico just said Michigan State wasn't winning the D.O.I. What did I know? - I said five. So Hailey, you might be the most positive of the bunch here, but I can see how they could. I mean, if you look at each game, they're gonna be favored tonight, right? You would think. They're the number one ranked team in the country, playing a team that is fighting for its life in terms of trying to get into the playoffs. A lot of great things would have to happen for Wisconsin. And then going to Chicago, I think the idea of that motivation, if it was just another game, then it wouldn't maybe be that big a deal. But if you can't get up for an outdoor hockey showcase, you got to check your pulse. - Yeah, exactly. - So I'm thinking that that could be it. Have you ever seen an outdoor hockey game? - No. - But that's how you... - But that's how you... - I have to tell you a little bit about the first one. - Okay. - And it was the Cold War game here, the first outdoor collegiate hockey game, and they'd had outdoor hockey periodically throughout, but not like this, in Spartan Stadium. And it was Michigan coming in, it was early October, but it was so warm, and they'd had guarantees that, hey, as long as it gets like below 50 degrees at night, you know, it'll be okay. They had puddles all over the place. And Mark Hollis was the AD, and I'm standing next to him the day before the game, and he was sweating. And I said, okay, you got television in here, you got everybody set up for this thing. Are you gonna have a swim meet, or are you gonna have a hockey game? And all of a sudden, this cold snap rolled in, and it was fantastic. They filled the stadium. They brought Gordy Howe in to drop the first puck. It was a dramatic game. It was everything he'd went from Michigan, Michigan State game. Jimmy Slater scores at the end of the game. It's a tie. You know, you couldn't have had a better game than the Cold War. And now, you know, you see it every year. I mean, everybody's trying to do it, but it all started here. - Oh, yeah, that's cool. Joey Larson was telling me last week, he didn't get to go to the Cold War, but he went to the big chill. And he was just talking about his memories of, you know, of course, his whole family were Michigan here. He was like the one guy out of his whole family. That was an MSU gear. He streamed of playing at Michigan State. So he's really excited kind of for that full circle moment come this weekend, getting to play on an outdoor rink. And especially one that is no-winner classic. I mean, maybe not the most competitive game we've seen this year, but still like synonymous with, you know, the NHL and always a big to-do. So I am excited. The rink looks beautiful in Wrigley at that's like two iconic venue and iconic NHL event every single year. So I am really excited to go. And yeah, hopefully it's cold, but not too cold. I would like to be able to fill my toes at the end of the day. - All right. Give me a Spartan, not named Isaac Howard. He's gonna lead the team in scoring this week. - Oh, Daniel Russell. - Okay. You know, we had that goal against Western that was negated, disqualified, I guess, to slowed, I should say. And they said he kicked the puck in the net. What did you think of that? - Personally, it looked more like it hit the skate in in to me, but, you know, that's why I guess they don't give me a helmet and some stripes and pay me the big buck. So, but he had some really good chances against Northern, like three really good ones. I can already see off top of my head. I'm sure if you went back and let us hit film, you could maybe tack in a couple more. Three really good chances, obviously the goal negated against Western, but his line is really humming too. I feel like you could pick almost any person on his line and you could probably put that statement next to their name as well. I've just really been impressed with Daniel Russell the last couple of years. Someone who was coming to Michigan State, regardless, whether they were Big Ten Champs or big Ten of the Big Ten. And I think he has really, really developed into a really good forward. - Rob, Haley just gave me another idea. And, you know, I always love to get people work. I'm always looking for different creative assignments. Yeah, but I've got one for ya. You know, I wanted you to be in goal down in the shooting room and facing some shots, you know. And then I said, well, okay, you can shoot at Ian, but I've got a better one for ya. How are you on, can you skate? - I've only ever skated once in my life and it was in the sixth grade. - Okay, well, I think you can do this. I have great confidence in you. I think you can become a proficient skater and then give you two years to do this. They have open skating at one and you can go, you would have a blast. I mean, even after the games, you see the people who, they come onto the ice and they skate and, you know, but you could do this. You could become reasonably proficient and we're gonna give you a referee's shirt and a whistle and we're gonna let you go out and help officiate an MSU scrimmage. And I think it'd be a great segment for your MSU, MCU coaches show or for six sports. And I would love to have you calling a penalty on somebody going into the corner. I think it'd be great. - How many penalties would you give Neil Kepke on the ice if you had the other one? That's the question, right? - How about Cooney or Nate Bot? Like God, he'd be in the box the whole game. - I would definitely have to tanner my inner West McCauley if I was a referee. It's so funny you mentioned that 'cause at the GLI I was sitting next to Nate and I was saying like, you know what, maybe I should learn to skate. I think I would like to do the ice crew, like maybe a little less serious. But I think that would be so fun. I watched the assistant coaches do that all the time. And I feel like that'd be a good job for me. I would really love the microphone now to be able to put people on the box. I might be a little biased. I am pretty bribe-able. Thank you, thank you so myself. - I wanna see you break up a fight. - That would be something, wouldn't it? But that would be fun. And I always enjoy West McCauley, I think, is hilarious. And I always love watching game P-refs. So if I did do that, I really should. Maybe someone on staff or one of the players can give me some skating lessons because I-- - I think they would be happy to do that. They would, absolutely. - I don't know if I'd be able to get off the wall for a little bit, but that would be fun. I would enjoy that. Maybe I should be a referee for Halloween and really kickstart this journey. - Oh, that would be great. I love it. All right. Thanks so much for joining us, Haley. Good luck with this weekend and in Chicago. And I know it's gonna be a memorable experience for you. - Yeah, thanks so much, guys. 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Haley looks back at Michigan State hockey victories at the GLI and previws the Wisconsin series