Author: David Shama

A visitor told Minnesota Wild president Doug Risebrough that the Sporting News had predicted Jacques Lemaire will be the 2007-2008 Coach of the Year in the NHL.  Risebrough said with a smile that he’s picking Lemaire, too.

The 62-year-old Lemaire started his seventh season last week as the only coach of the Wild in franchise history.  Prior to coming here, Lemaire has been honored as NHL Coach of the Year (Jack Adams Award) while working for New Jersey and also won the award in 2003 with the Wild.  His reputation as one of the league’s best coaches was established long ago and enhanced by the Wild’s performance last season (most points in franchise history), and the prospect of a breakout season that could see Minnesota go deep into the Stanley Cup playoffs next spring.

Risebrough was asked what he sees in Lemaire and what prompts a publication like Sporting News to think the former Montreal Canadien player and coach is so capable.  “There’s two things that standout for me,” Risebrough said. “First of all, he’s an extremely bright guy, and not just in his knowledge of hockey but in life. … He’s very intellectual… able to articulate his points to the players, to adjust to a game plan.  He’s quick.

“The other (second) thing I would say is he has a great feel for the players.  Meaning it’s kind of a combination of his motivation and a combination of his experience. He’s obviously motivated to try and improve them individually, improve them within the team. …Because he thinks like a player, this makes sense to do it this way, because a player would think about doing it this way. …

“I’ve seen a lot of people who are intuitive and intellectual, but not many people that are both.  And Jacques, I don’t know why and when he knows when to do it, but he can be very intuitive. You’ll ask him why did you do that and he’ll say, ‘I don’t know why, it just felt right.’  Then the next time you’ll ask him about something else and you’ll get a long answer that’s been very analytical.  I’ve seen people that have been successful that are just intuitive and I’ve seen people that have been successful that are just intellectual. …I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody else other than Jacques that’s both. …”

Risebrough was asked how Lemaire, even with his 12-year career as a player for the Montreal Canadiens, and 13 years as an NHL head coach, has improved while directing the Wild since 2000.  Risebrough suggested that Lemaire “is a lot more comfortable” now than he used to be in talking hockey with the media.  Risebrough said people comment that they like Lemaire’s presentation during his post-game radio news conferences.  Lemaire’s analytical, thoughtful style has created a status of respect among many listeners.

Then Risebrough made a second point about his coach.  “I thought when I first started with Jacque he was going to be less flexible,” he said.  “Today he’s a very flexible guy.  I think he was probably more flexible than I anticipated but I’ve noticed that he’s driven with a lot of flexibility.  He’ll do whatever it takes to figure out what makes it work.  He’s a good listener. … He includes people. … He’s not driven with just, ‘we gotta do it this way and it’s the only way.’ …”

Clark Griffith helped run the Minnesota Twins before Carl Pohlad bought the franchise from Clark’s father, Calvin.  He’s long been respected for both his baseball and business knowledge.  Griffith was asked what the Twins should do about Johan Santana, arguably baseball’s best pitcher who becomes a free agent after next season.

“See what the options are,” said Griffith, a Minneapolis attorney.  “You try to sign the player obviously. That’s option one.  Option two is a trade of the player, and see what you can get. Sometimes with a player, even though you want to keep him very badly, other people will make offers to you that are so good that are better for the team long term than retaining the player.  In that situation the player has got to be traded.  It’s not a matter of the Twins going out to trade Santana, it’s that somebody will come and make an offer that they can’t refuse.  For the best interests of the team long term then you have to make the deal.”

Should the Twins spend much more money during this off-season on players like Santana and outfielder Torii Hunter who is a free agent now?  “No, they have a rule that they try to adhere to which is (spending) to 50 to 52 percent of revenues for players,” Griffith answered. “If you get over that, it’s a slippery slope, and you end up getting in a real problem, a real mess.”

What’s a real mess? “You start hemorrhaging cash, and that’s cumulative over the years,” Griffith said. “It’s very hard to pay it back.”

Santana didn’t produce key statistics last season like wins and ERA that equaled or surpassed his numbers as a two-time Cy Young winner.  Still, he was second in strikeouts and seventh in ERA among American League pitchers.  That was pitching for a team that won 17 fewer games than the year before, the most recent Cy Young season for Santana.

Santana will be 29 years old next season.  With a history of extraordinary career numbers and a healthy arm, the Twins will hear, as Griffith said, from other organizations more willing or capable of paying extraordinary dollars.  Santana, who earns $13 million per season now, according to espn.com, can make a case for exceeding the seven year contract of $127 million given to San Francisco’s Barry Zito last off-season.

The Timberwolves-Celtics exhibition game from London will be televised on ESPN2 starting at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

Gopher football coach Tim Brewster is hoping to celebrate his 47^th birthday on Saturday with a win over Northwestern in Evanston.

The Gopher defense has given up 224 points this season, an average of 37.3 points per game.  However, of the 224 points scored against Minnesota this season, 65 or 10.8 points per game have occurred following turnovers, with an additional seven points coming on kickoff coverage.

The Wild (2-0) ends its three game home stand Wednesday night against Edmonton (2-0). Minnesota won six of the eight meetings between the two clubs for a second straight season in 2006-07. Wild goalie Niklas Backstrom was 4-0-0 with two shutouts and a 0.50 goals against average in four starts last season against the Oilers.

Walt Jocketty, the Minneapolis native who parted ways with the St. Louis Cardinals last week, is expected to have multiple offers to get back into baseball when he’s ready.  Jocketty, general manager of the Cardinals, had differences with ownership but is highly respected in baseball.  He worked for the Cardinals for 13 years during which time the team won the 2006 World Series.

Former Twin David Ortiz, now with the Red Sox, is Sports Illustrated’s second choice for Most Valuable Player in the American League. New York’s Alex Rodriguez is the first choice.  Philadelphia’s Charlie Manuel, who once played for the Twins, is the magazine’s third pick for Manager of the Year in the National League after Arizona’s Bob Melvin and Chicago’s Lou Pinella.

Colton Iverson, the power forward from Yankton, South Dakota who has verbally committed to the Gophers, is rated a three star player by rivals.com.  Jared Berggren, the center from Princeton, Minnesota who committed to Wisconsin, is a four star, according to rivals.  The web site also reports that sho