Season 5, Episodes 21 and 22 of the Chasing MacNaughton Podcast from Tech Hockey Guide; Soup to Nuts and King of Conspiracies. This week Tim Braun, Rob Gilreath and Matt Cavender were joined by Dave Ellis who works with TV6 to broadcast many Mildcat vs Michigan Tech events. In this episode they discussed Michigan Tech’s upcoming series against the Mildcats, Dave’s roles with various media outlets, the CCHA, Flo hockey contracts, Michigan Tech’s previous series against Bowling Green and the Misfits/Pep Band.
Mildcat discussion
The conversation started with Dave joking about how little he has paid attention to Mildcats. He also talked about their complete lack of playing defense and the goaltending controversy they’ve had all season. Dave thought the game might be wide open and fast paced. The guys talked about Michigan Tech rounding into form and the goals they’ve been able to create off turnovers. They talked about Kyle Kukkonen’s struggles and drew some parallels to other Michigan Tech players who have had sophomore slumps.
The guys briefly mentioned former Mildcat, That Poor Little Man, and the fact that he is number two in the nation currently in penalty minutes. That lead to a discussion about the Mildcats‘ high number of penalty minutes on the season. Dave thought that the high total was a result of the style the Mildcats play. The guys talked about the special teams for both teams and the struggles each has been having.
What would you say you do here?
Matt asked Dave, on behalf of another THG writer who shall remain anonymous, what it is he does for a day job. Dave talked about hockey being his side hustle and told the story of how he fell in love with the sport. Dave then talked about working for a couple different TV stations both in the UP and lower Michigan at Michigan State. He talked about producing and hosting the Ron Mason show and calling high school hockey games. Dave discussed working both with Peacock and Big 10 Network, taking facets of those shows to apply to the smaller UP hockey broadcasts. He also talked about his day job in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources at Michigan State University.
Boring contract language
The guys transitioned into discussing the details of the broadcasting contract between FloSports and the CCHA. Dave didn’t think Flo knew a lot about college hockey from their headquarters in Texas and he discussed the broadcasting and streaming rights that Flo has to the CCHA games. He talked about how it affects the local TV affiliates abilities to broadcast games in the local markets and how the agreement between Michigan Tech and the Mildcats predates any agreements with Flo. Dave also revealed that there will be a big announcement from FoxUP during the first intermission of the game on Friday between Michigan Tech and the Mildcats.
The guys discussed the idea of the CCHA adding a “Game of the Week” which would start earlier than the rest on Saturday which would allow more league wide the ability to watch it. Dave brought up a couple hurdles that would be tough to overcome to make that happen.
Bowling Green series review
Early in the show the guys touched on the Bowling Green series before returning to it later in the episode. Matt thought the series was frustrating and Rob thought it was rough to watch. Dave talked about Bowling Green always causing trouble for Michigan Tech. Later in the show, Rob talked about attending the games in person and thought the crowds were good and the Misfits were loud. He also talked about enjoying the pandas by the Bowling Green penalty box. The guys talked about some of the cheers that the Misfits and student section do as well as the Pep Band adding Brass Bonanza to their repertoire. There was also a discussion on the camera angles used during hockey broadcasts and which ones the guys preferred.
Editor note: there is a lounge version of Brass Bonanza with a fuzzy cheetah print Whalers logo and I can’t keep that knowledge to myself
Cut for time
This week’s cut time for Patrons is approximately 28 minutes long. Dave told a story about the oddest goaltender matchup he’s witnessed. Dave talked about finally being able to watch different sports on his FloSports account. There was a discussion on how Flo can improve its user interface. There was extended conversation on the recent College Football Playoffs selections. There was a conversation about the scheduling struggles that Miami (OH) has with their in-state counterparts. There some speculation on potential conference shuffling in college hockey. The guys talked about pro football and Tim’s recent visit to Lambeau Field.
Learn More
For additional information and more episode liner notes, check out our episode overview on Tech Hockey Guide. To make sure we can afford all our fancy equipment we purchased for the podcast and the THG website in general, please check out our Patreon page and consider joining. Patrons at our Black Level or above receive an authentic MTU jersey patch and access to extra podcast content including extended versions of our other episodes. This week’s extended version is about 125 minutes.
RAW AUDIO: This post is for patrons at the Silver Level ($25/ mo) or above which includes unedited audio and usually drops the night the podcast is recordeded.
RAW VIDEO: This post is for patrons at the Gold Level ($10/mo) or above which includes unedited video and usually drops the morning after the podcast is recorded.
EXTENDED AUDIO: This post is for patrons at the Black Level ($5/mo) or above which includes extended audio content and usually drops the night after or 2nd morning after the podcast is recorded.
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