Mike Yeo and his players energized their supporters with an overtime win on Monday night at Xcel Energy Center against the Avalanche. Tomorrow evening Minnesota can tie the series at 2-2 with another win at home.
The opener last week in Colorado was an opportunity to not only earn a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series but also put pressure on a young Avs team featuring flashy 18-year-old forward Nathan MacKinnon and 21-year-old captain Gabriel Landeskog. Instead, the Wild lost a more than winnable 5-4 overtime game, and then followed up with a disappointing performance and 4-2 loss in game two.
Monday night’s win did more than make the series 2-1 in favor of the Avs. The victory made it possible to place more pressure on the youthful Avs (seven players born in 1991 or later). Sending the series back to Colorado tied at 2-2 will mean momentum for Minnesota and maybe an Avalanche ready to fall.
That’s what the Wild needs for a franchise that has competed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs just five times and advanced beyond the opening round once. Moving on to the second round of the playoffs may be needed for Yeo, the team’s third year coach, to save his job. The talk about his uncertain status just doesn’t go away.
Yeo was reportedly in jeopardy during the season but the team played effectively enough to make the playoffs for a second consecutive season. He guided a team that had to use five different goalies this season, no minimal assignment for any coach. “It’s amazing they’ve done as well as they have,” a supportive source close to the team said on Monday night.
Still, Yeo was faulted by another source who criticized the coach for sometimes staying with a player longer than he should. Yeo is known as a player’s coach but the argument is loyalty can sometimes go too far.
A coach can make mistakes but even his best strategies, teaching lessons and locker room psychology can only accomplish so much. Yeo’s predecessor, Todd Richards, was fired for not winning enough games but now he’s earning praise in Columbus where the Blue Jackets are making a rare playoff appearance and finding some success.
The Wild, who played with new defensive energy on Monday night, struggle with goal scoring and penalty killing. They have just seven goals in the first three games with the Avs. On Monday evening it took 46 shots on Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov before the Wild scored a goal on Mikael Granlund’s big overtime shot.
A press box observer watched the game and thought about how the Wild have to become better offensively next season. Job one in the offseason could be signing former Gopher Thomas Vanek who plays for Montreal. He makes his home in the Twin Cities east metro, not all that many miles from the Xcel Energy Center.
But there will be time later for sportswriters and perhaps the Wild to think about Vanek, a potential 30 goal scorer and unrestricted free agent this offseason. For tomorrow night at least the Wild will take just one goal if goalie Darcy Kuemper can again shutout the Avs.
Worth Noting
StubHub website offers tickets in a price range of $94.40 to $501.01 for tomorrow night’s Wild-Avs game at Xcel Energy Center.
Pioneer Press scoop sports columnist Charley Walters retires from full-time work at the end of May but will continue with the newspaper as a part-time employee writing Sunday columns only.
When the Gophers football team plays at TCU on September 13, they could be facing quarterback Matt Joeckel. He was Johnny Manziel’s backup at Texas A&M last season but because he has his undergraduate degree he can transfer to TCU as a senior and have one year of eligibility.
The Minnesota Fellowship of Christian Athletes will present Joe Ehrmann’s “InSideOut Coaching Seminar” on Sunday in the DQ Room at TCF Bank Stadium. He is a former defensive lineman and captain for the Baltimore Colts. He also has career experiences as a football coach, author, national speaker and minister.
On Sunday Ehrmann will address several hundred Minnesota coaches. His message will be about the powerful impact coaches have on players and the opportunity to exert that influence with positive, values-based methods.
Seminar sponsors are Manchester Companies, MKS and TCF Bank. More information about the event is available from Minnesotafca.org.
Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino lists the following “unofficial” award winners for last season on his Gophersports.com blog: Team MVP, DeAndre Mathieu; Most Improved: Mo Walker; Best Defender, Austin Hollins; Hardest Worker, Austin Hollins; Best Attitude, Maverick Ahanmisi; Sacrifice Award, Oto Osenieks; Best Moment, Austin Hollins 3-pointer vs. SMU in the NIT Championship game.
Last season was Pitino’s first as Gophers coach. He wrote on the blog “his favorite moment” was walking up the stairs to the court at Williams Arena. “It gives me goosebumps every time.”
Pitino’s contract stipulates his base salary will be reviewed each year, and annually on May 1 he is to be awarded an increase of no less than five percent. His current salary is $500,000. He also earns supplemental compensation of $700,000 for various activities including endorsements, fundraising and media work. Speculation is Pitino may receive a $300,000 salary increase.
Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners recently that if he had known Kevin Love would become the player he is, the All-Star forward probably would have been given a five-year contract in 2012. Instead, Love signed a four-year deal allowing him to become a unrestricted free agent after next season.
“He can still get the money one way or another (on his next contract),” Taylor said. “He doesn’t lose anything from that by coming back and renegotiating with us. He can get all of his money. We’re the one (franchise) that can pay him the most.”
Here’s a suggestion that likely would improve the Wolves next season, particularly defensively. Make Gorgui Dieng the starting center and send Nikola Pekovic to the bench. Let the two players divide minutes each game with Pekovic, a skilled low post offensive scorer, filling a valuable “sixth man” role off the bench. The move might help the frequently injured Pekovic stay healthy and play in more games.
As a rookie last season, despite minimal playing time, Dieng became a team leader in rebounds and blocked shots. He was the NBA’s Rookie of the Month in March when his outstanding games included 22 points and 21 rebounds against the Rockets.
The Wolves have four selections in the NBA Draft on June 26. Based on their 40-42 regular season record, the Wolves currently have the No. 13 selection in the first round with a 0.6% chance of attaining the first overall pick. The final order of this year’s draft will be determined at the NBA Draft Lottery on May 20.
The Wolves will also have three second-round picks at No. 40, 44 and 53.
Wayne Kostroski, the local restaurant owner who co-founded Taste of the NFL, has a passion for music. He and other members of the CIRCUS band are reuniting for one night this Saturday at the Medina Entertainment Center for a show dedicated to 1970s music. More at MedinaEntertainment.com.
Taste of the NFL, a Twin Cities-based non-profit organization dedicated to reducing hunger in America, has raised over $15 million for local and national food banks. Proceeds for the concert on Saturday benefit Water for People, an international organization dedicated to improving and preserving drinking water.