Author: David Shama

Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners the approximate capacity of the new ballpark opening in 2010 will be 40,000.  “We won’t know the exact capacity until after the ballpark opens,” he said.  “You won’t know until you get all the seats in and you do a seat count.  And obviously you have standing room, and you’ve got some clubs where there’s uncertainty on seats. …”

The Twins are airing a new TV commercial this week entitled “Park Center.” It features Twins reliever and Minnesota native Pat Neshek along with students from his former high school, Park Center High in Brooklyn Park. In the ad, he participates in a question and answer session with kids on a field trip for “Pat Neshek Day at the Dome,” but to his dismay, all of the questions are about a popular teammate.

It wouldn’t be surprising if Chad Henne, who was a four year starter at Michigan and impressive in post-season workouts, becomes a draft choice of the Minnesota Vikings who have a quarterback opening on the roster.

Admission will be free to the Gopher spring football game on Friday, April 25 in the Metrodome.  Kickoff will be at 7 p.m.

New owner Dean Johnson, the St. Paul native who makes his home in Brussels, is expected to attend the Minnesota Thunder’s home opener on May 4 at Griffin Stadium in St. Paul against Rochester.  Johnson, 52, the majority owner who took over the team late last summer, attended St. Paul Johnson High School and made his money in European commercial real estate development.

Tickets are available for the opener, although team officials expect a sellout at 6,300 capacity Griffin Stadium.  Thunder executive Peter Johns said there are 155,000 youth soccer players in the state, 95,000 in the metro area.  Soccer is the No. 1 youth participant sport in the state, he added.

How much of a down season is this for Gopher hockey?  Minnesota, a seventh seed, plays on the road for an opening WCHA playoff game for the first time since the 1999-2000 season when the Gophers face Minnesota State Mankato in a three game series starting tonight (Friday).  The Mavericks, a fourth seed, have historically been dominated by the Gophers, 25-2-5.  The last Minnesota State win was in 2003 in Mankato.  The Gophers are 15-14-9 overall this season, the Mavericks 18-14-4.

Gopher freshman goaltender Alex Kangas has started 14 consecutive games. Since becoming the starter, Kangas has a 1.86 goals against average and .930 save percentage, plus a 4-4-6 record.  For the season, he ranks 10th nationally with a 2.13 goals against average and 12th with a .923 save percentage. Both numbers rank second among all freshmen goaltenders behind Colorado College’s Richard Bachman.

Former Gopher guard Jordan Nuness was named to the all-North Central Conference basketball team announced earlier this week.  He completed his three year career at UMD by setting a school career record (241) and a single season record (100) for three point baskets.  He was fifth in NCC scoring at 16.4 points per game.

Amanda Behnke and Katie LaViolette from Concordia St. Paul were named to the first team of the 2008 Daktronics NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball All-North Central Region team as selected by sports information directors.  Behkne, a 6-2 senior center, is first team for the second consecutive season while LaViolette, a 5-9 point guard, was second team a year ago.  The two helped Concordia, 28-2, to its best start ever this season, 18-0, establishing the school record for longest winning streak before winning NSIC regular season and tournament championships, becoming the first team in league history to repeat with both titles.

Two years ago the Minnesota Vikings had the No. 17 pick in the first round of the college draft and also came up with three second round picks.  The Vikings have the 17^th pick this year, too, but don’t look for a repeat of 2006 when Minnesota chose cornerback Cedric Griffin, offensive lineman Ryan Cook and quarterback Tarvaris Jackson with its three second round picks.

A better guess as to what might happen in 2008 is the Vikings could trade down to have a later first round pick and add another second round choice.  Certainly the Vikings may run an ordinary draft where they simply keep their pick at No. 17 and the one second round choice.  But if the Vikings think they can help themselves more by drafting late in the first round and then early in the second, this speculation could be on target. Right now the Vikings have the 47^th pick in the second round.

What the Vikings will have to decide when it’s their turn to pick players is whether to choose based on value or need.  Value says take the best football player available, but the Vikings have needs at defensive end and wide receiver.

If the Vikings stay at No. 17, defensive end Derrick Harvey of Florida, a pass rushing specialist, might be the choice.  DeSean Jackson, a speedster from California, might be worth moving up to take early in the second round to help the wide receivers talent pool.  Devin Thomas of Michigan State or Early Doucett of LSU are other wide receivers who might be available when the Vikings pick at No. 47.

Since Zygi Wilf took over ownership in 2005, the Vikings have shown a willingness to make changes and take risks.  Their aggressiveness in the free agent market this off- season is one example.  Another was positioning themselves to draft Jackson and provide him opportunities to be a starting NFL quarterback.

With Brett Favre’s retirement, the NFC North is looking very ordinary.  The Vikings, no doubt, see an opportunity and that’s what makes the NFL draft next month intriguing from a local perspective.  Look for the Vikings to aggressively sort out their options, even on draft days, April 26 and 27.

With 19 games remaining on the schedule, the Timberwolves need to learn whether they have a second exceptional player on their roster to team with center Al Jefferson in 2008-09.  The best candidate is Randy Foye, the second year guard who played in all 82 of the team’s games last season but has missed most of this season because of a left knee cap injury.

Foye is healthy now and has helped the Wolves win two of their last three games.  His statistics this season include the following in 20 games: 11.4 points per game, 3.0 rebounds and 3.2 assists.  Last season he averaged 10.1 points, 2.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists.  He started 12 of 82 games.

Of particular interest now is that regular point guard Sebastian Telfair’s sprained right ankle has provided Foye an opportunity to play that position in the last two games, rather than shooting guard.  Even before his rookie season began Foye spoke about how he values a leadership role on the team, stepping forward in the fourth quarter to make the big plays and shots.

Foye isn’t a classic point guard but that may be his best position and he welcomes the opportunity to play there while Telfair is sidelined.  Foye won’t dazzle with no-look passes or fancy dribbling like Jason Kidd, but he’s likely to make a timely basket with his jump shot, or bank the ball off the backboard from the right side (a Foye favorite).  He’s likely, too, to make a timely pass, or see that the Wolves are in the correct offensive set.

Years ago the Boston Celtics won two world championships with a tough, defensive specialist who was a money player in the fourth quarter.  Dennis Johnson didn’t even play as pretty as Foye, but he was one of the NBA’s most productive point guards.  Larry Bird called him the best player he ever played with.

The Wolves need to find out if Foye can become a star, developing his own game and success, perhaps at point guard.  Telfair, who started 51 games, is young, 22, like Foye, 24.  However, despite his speed, Telfair didn’t lock up the position, sometimes unable to finish drives to the basket, make wide open jump shots, or creatively find teammates with his passes.

Foye also has been inconsistent in his play.  In the last four games he has scored 18, 7, 26 and 9 points.  In two of the last three games he never attempted a free throw but in the other game had 12 attempts.

The Wolves, 14-49, need star players besides Jefferson who ranks 15^th in scoring at 21.4 points per game and fifth in rebounding in the NBA at 11.7.  This season was supposed to provide a lot of answers about Foye and some about the team’s future.  Because of the knee injury we know less than we had hoped, but the last 19 games will give us more insight about Foye and the Wolves.