Season 6 Episodes 32 and 33 of the Chasing MacNaughton Podcast from Tech Hockey Guide; Festivus and Big Red Freakout. This week, Tim Braun, Rob Gilreath and Matt Cavender were joined by Perry Laskaris, the Director of Strategic Communications and Brand Advancement for the CCHA. In these episodes they discussed the CCHA determining the conference standings by points percentage, Augustana’s success in the CCHA, Ferris State’s recent sweep of Bemidji State, listener questions, discussions between Midco Sports and the CCHA and Perry’s experience with the Big Red Freakout at RPI.
Conference talk
The conversation started with Tim asking Perry why the league decided to use points percentage to determine the standings. Perry talked about it being a reward for Augustana and their hockey program for investing in the program to help it be successful. Tim expressed frustration at how well Augustana has been playing and the fact that no teams could take points off them. The guys talked about tie-breaker scenarios and the fact that Augustana loses any tie-breaker used. The guys talked about not liking the idea of Augustana winning the league outright.
Matt talked about the recent hits to his St. Thomas agenda, though he gave the team credit for picking up the pieces after their slow start. The guys talked about some of the home ice possibilities that remain in the CCHA and Perry thought the picture would be much clearer after this weekend’s games. The guys compared Bowling Green’s and St. Thomas’ remaining schedule to determine who had the easier path to home ice in the CCHA playoffs.
Matt also brought up Ferris State’s recent sweep of Bemidji State and talked about how big that was to the Ferris State program. The guys talked about the disappointing season that Bemidji State has had so far and Matt declared that they were overall the most disappointing team in the CCHA this season. Tim pointed out some of the player losses Bemidji State had from the offseason.
Perry loves hockey
It had been a while since Perry was last on the podcast, so Matt asked him to refresh the listeners on his background and what he loves about the CCHA. Perry talked about trying to find what value he could add to the league when he joined. He talked about creating highlight packages for each game and how AI has made that an easier task. He talked about being the only person who loved hockey in his family while growing up and playing until he was 12. Perry also talked about the enjoyment he feels when he sees kids playing hockey on community rinks around the St. Paul area. The guys talked about the lack of good pond hockey weather in recent years and speculated how that might affect some kids interest in hockey.
Listener questions
There were a couple listener questions for Perry. The first came from THG’s own Nathan Cima who asked Perry about a recent fantasy hockey trade the two made. Perry talked about receiving an upgraded player in the trade and how he is in “win now” mode.
The second question also came from a THG writer, JZ. He asked Perry when Midco Sports would be getting Google Chromecast support. Perry talked about Midco being hesitant to release features during the season. Perry also talked about Midco looking to expand and become available in Europe in future years.
How are things going?
JZ’s question segued the guys into a larger conversation about Midco Sports. Tim asked if Perry could speak about how successful Midco has been this season and whether viewership has grown compared to FloSports. Perry talked about some of the similarities in subscription numbers between FloSports and Midco and said the same schools are doing the heavy lifting for the numbers. The guys talked about the improved user interface/structures with Midco. Perry talked about Midco’s desire to be a one-stop shop for the CCHA fans, and how the deal between the CCHA and Midco made certain features possible, such as the condensed games.
Tim asked if there had been talk between the CCHA and Midco about staggering the start times of games to increase viewership. Perry didn’t think this would ever happen and pointed out how important it is to have consistency in game times for both fans, coaches, and players. Tim also thought that staggered schedules could conflict with other sports being played at the schools and create other logistical issues. The guys talked about the improved quality of the streams across the league and how each one feels more consistent with the next, compared to years past.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Perry talked about his time at RPI and how much fun the Big Red Freakout is. Perry talked about his decision to attend RPI as a student and how that decision came about. Matt and Perry shared a moment as Perry talked about building a hockey loving culture in his fraternity of not-hockey-fan brothers. The guys talked about Mitch’s Misfits strong return after COVID-19 and the guys speculated that many of the students missed going to games.
Cut for time
This week’s cut time for Patrons is approximately 19 minutes long. Matt talked about wanting all nine CCHA teams to make the playoffs. There was a conversation about the Schulz Rink of Dreams in Madison Lake, Minn. Tim talked about not being able to watch the Minnesota Wild all season. Tim and Perry talked about turning into “Ticketmaster scalping bastards” (Rob’s words). There was a conversation about Twins and Brewers baseball. Matt talked about the play by play video of his zamboni work.
Learn More
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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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Check out Tech Leadership 4.0: Leading in a Technologically Driven World and The Power of Deduction: Failure Modes & Effects Analysis for Design: Second Edition written by our very own Old Dog, Mike Anleitner
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