Author: David Shama

Minneapolis native Larry Fitzgerald Jr. broke the news yesterday of his signing a four-year, $40 million contract extension with Arizona on his Web site, www.larry-fitzgerald.com

A source who has been close to the Gophers predicted safety Dom Barber will be the only player off last season’s team to be drafted by the NFL, probably a day two pick.  Wide receiver Ernie Wheelright is a likely free agent, he said.  Running back Amir Pinnix and fullback Justin Valentine are possibilities, too.

Former Gopher football player Lewis Garrison is in demand as a college basketball official.  Earlier this month he officiated the MIAC tournament championship game and the NSIC tournament semi-final game.  This weekend he will be working the NCAA Division II regional tournament at Winona State.

The Gophers are likely to defeat Northwestern for a third time this year when they play the Wildcats tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon in a Big Ten Tournament opening round game in Indianapolis.  Northwestern isn’t a physical team and that’s good news for the Gophers who defeated the Wildcats 82-63 in Minneapolis and 92-72 in Evanston.

Steve Fritz of St. Thomas has won the MIAC Coach of the Year award for the 13^th time in 28 seasons.  The Tommies won their third consecutive MIAC regular season championship with a 17-3 conference record.  Concordia College senior forward Luke Linz was named the conference’s Player of the Year.  Linz averaged 18.9 points, and 6.3 rebounds.

Ruth Sinn of St. Thomas was chosen as the women’s MIAC Coach of the Year. In her third season at St. Thomas, Sinn led the Tommies to a regular season conference co-championship and a 18-4 MIAC record.  St. Thomas senior forward Carrie Embree was named the women’s MIAC Player of the Year. She averaged 14.9 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. (Award winners in men’s and women’s basketball are determined by a vote of conference coaches).

Osseo, 26-0, has moved to No. 1 in prep basketball expert Ken Lien’s latest rankings of the state’s top 10 boys teams.  Minnetonka, 22-3 and a recent winner over previously undefeated Hopkins, is No. 2 followed by the Royals, 25-1. Here are the top 10 teams: Osseo, Minnetonka, Hopkins, Benilde-St. Margaret’s (23-3), Crosby-Ironton (26-0), Cretin-Derham Hall (21-3), Henry Sibley (21-5), St. Cloud Tech (24-2), Rochester Mayo (21-4) and Stillwater (22-4).  Lien, chair of the Mr. Basketball program, compiles his top 10 based on who he considers the best teams regardless of school enrollment size.  The rankings and records are complete through the regular season that ended last week.

When the Wild play New Jersey at home tomorrow night, it will be the first game the Devils have played at Xcel Energy Center since 2003.  The Wild won that game, the only win in franchise history against the Devils (1-3-3 all-time).

The Wild are giving away a Pierre Marc-Bouchard commemorative puck to all fans tomorrow night.  The puck recognizes his shootout goal against Chicago on December 5, 2006.  The giveaway is part of a promotional series of pucks this season highlighting the Wild’s greatest goals at Xcel Energy Center.

Center Steve Kelly, recalled from Houston on Saturday, made his Wild debut on Sunday in the team’s 3-2 shootout loss to San Jose. The 31-year-old journeyman played in his 148^th NHL game, but first since November 30, 2003, a span of 1,561 days.

Head coach Jacques Lemaire has 493 career coaching victories. The Wild need to win seven of the final 12 games for Lemaire to reach 500.

As of Friday the Twins had sold about 44,000 tickets for the season and home opener on March 31 against the Angels, according to Patrick Klinger, vice president of marketing. “We do expect a sellout and I would expect that will happen within the next week,” Klinger said on Friday.

Courtesy of Northwest Airlines, the Twins will be giving away four bobblehead dolls this season: Ron Gardenhire (May 4), Dan Gladden (June 20), Delmon Young (July 19) and Rick Aguilera (September 6).

Jodi Olson, who was Kirby Puckett’s fiancé prior to his death from a stroke two years ago, is helping promote a walk for the American Heart Association on Saturday, April 26 at Harriet Island in St. Paul.  Stroke is among the leading causes of death for Americans. Jodi is raising awareness and funds for the association.  More information is available at: https://heartwalk.kintera.org/twincitiesmn/jodiolson

Gopher football coach Tim Brewster said he’s “thrilled to death” to have Ted Roof as his new defensive coordinator.  Gopher defensive players have already taken a liking to the former Duke head coach, Brewster said.  Roof played college football at Georgia Tech where, according to Brewster, coach Bill Curry described the former linebacker as the “greatest” player he ever coached.

The Gophers open spring practice on March 27.  Brewster said practices outdoors are open to the public.  Fans can check the Gopher Web site www.gophersports.com for updates.

Starting quarterback Adam Weber, who played at about 215 pounds last season as a redshirt freshman, has added 13 pounds of “muscle,” according to Brewster.  He said defensive tackle Eric Small who was about 265 pounds is now at 300.  Among the junior college players who will join the Gophers for spring practice, Brewster mentioned defensive back Tramaine Brock, describing him as a “tremendously exciting player.”

Brewster and Saint John’s coach John Gagliardi will be headline speakers at the Minnesota High School Football Coaches Association’s clinic March 27-29 at the Doubletree Hotel in St. Louis Park and on the University of Minnesota campus.  Speakers will also include representatives from the Minnesota Vikings, and area colleges and high schools, according to the clinic Web site.  More information is available from https://www.mshsca.org/football/mfcclinic/Schedule.htm

Gopher athletic director Joel Maturi said he and hockey coach Don Lucia have spoken about some day adding seats to Mariucci Arena (present capacity 10,000).   There are no plans now but if there ever was an expansion it would likely involve dropping the floor and making the rink smaller.

The first basketball games ever played in the hockey arena will be held there on March 26 and 27.  Several boys’ state high school tournament games will be played at Mariucci because the usual site, Williams Arena, will be occupied with a robotics (yes, robots) competition.

The Gopher hockey team, seeded seventh, will open the WCHA playoffs on the road for the first time since the 1999-2000 season when they play a three game series starting on Friday night at Minnesota State Mankato.  The Gophers’ total of 15 wins (15-14-9) is the program’s lowest since 1972-73 when Minnesota was 15-16-3.

The Minnesota Minutemen announced yesterday that Aaron Ness from Roseau High School is the recipient of the 24^th annual Mr. Hockey Award, given to the outstanding senior boys player in the state.  Joe Phillippi of Hill-Murray School received The Frank Brimsek Award, in recognition of Minnesota’s top senior goaltender.  Ken Essay (Mankato West) and Curt Giles (Edina) received The John Mariucci Award, given to the Class A and Class AA high school coaches of the year.

The Mr. Hockey Award winner is selected by a panel of judges, including NHL scouts, Division I coaches and selected media from around the state. Other finalists for this year’s award: Tyler Barnes (Burnsville High School), J. T. Brown (Rosemount High School), Cory Fienhage (Eastview High School), Jake Gardiner (Minnetonka High School), Joe Gleason (Edina High School), Justin Jokinen (Cloquet High School), Zack Lehrke (Park Rapids High School), Drew Olson (Brainerd High School) and Jake Youso (International Falls High School).

On Friday, 19,559 fans attended the boys’ hockey tournament Class AA semifinals at Xcel Energy Center, setting a new record for the largest crowd to ever attend a hockey game in the state. The record breaks the total of 19,463 set on March 17 for the 2007 Red Baron™ WCHA Final Five championship game. Also, a new all-time tournament attendance record was set with 129,721 fans attending Class A and AA sessions at Xcel Energy Center and Mariucci Arena. The previous all-tournament attendance record was in 2006 when 125,201 attended the tournament.

The Wild recalled center Steve Kelly, 31, on Saturday from Houston.  He had scored 28 points there, ranking third on the team in scoring.  He led the Aeros in game winning goals with six. He’s played previously in the NHL with Edmonton, Tampa Bay, New Jersey and Los Angeles.

The Big Ten Conference will have minimal representation in the McDonald’s All American Basketball Games showcasing the nation’s best prep boys and girls.  Twenty-four boys and twenty-four girls have been selected for the games to be played on March 26 in Milwaukee, according to a press release from PRNewswire.  Two boys, guard William Buford from Toledo and center B.J. Mullens, and one girl, guard Samantha Prahalis, will play in the Big Ten, all of them attending Ohio State.