Gophers Hockey – Page 34 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Stadium Construction May Finish Early

Posted on March 11, 2016March 17, 2016 by David Shama

A notes-focused column on U.S. Bank Stadium, the Vikings, Gophers, Twins and more.

Sports Headliners has learned construction of U.S. Bank Stadium might be completed early. Mortenson Construction has been scheduled to finish the new Minneapolis facility by late July but could complete the project in June.

About 1,200 workers are at the stadium each day and an early completion will be impressive if it happens. Although it won’t be a public event, a June gathering to recognize stadium workers is already scheduled.

Events the public can attend for a first look at the $1 billion-plus covered stadium are expected to be announced soon, but the first concert is booked. Tickets go on sale soon to see country singer Luke Bryan Friday, August 19.

A source said a second concert at the stadium that weekend will be announced. Acoustics in the 1,750,000 square foot facility will be exceptional for a large building.

Although the date hasn’t been publicized, it looks like the Vikings’ first game in the stadium will be a preseason game the weekend of August 26-28. After that weekend, a second home preseason game will be played. Dates and opponents haven’t been announced for the Vikings’ preseason schedule of home and away games.

Philadelphia-based Aramark will run food and beverage operations in the stadium for not only major events like concerts and Vikings games, but also small room gatherings in the year-round facility. As with Target Field, local restaurants will sell food partnering with Aramark.

The stadium’s Purple Club is the one location with direct access to outdoors. Patrons can walk outside to a deck with an elevated view looking east toward downtown green space and the historic Minneapolis Armory.

It wouldn’t be surprising if 2016 is Adrian Peterson’s last season with the Vikings. The All-Pro running back turns 31 later this month. His age and expensive contract could make him expendable if quarterback Teddy Bridgewater emerges as the offense’s igniter. Last April a source told Sports Headliners the Vikings and Cowboys had trade talks about sending Peterson back to his native Texas. He and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones are acquainted.

Ryan Burns, publisher of Scout’s GopherDigest.com, said Eden Prairie’s Carter Coughlin is the most likely Gopher freshman to make an impact next fall. The Gophers need help with pass rushing, and also on special teams. Burns predicted spot duty for Coughlin at defensive end where he could be used like pass rushing specialist Julian Huff in 2015.

“I could see a scenario where he and Julian Huff, on third down and long, try and get after the passer,” Burns said. “Carter also will bring speed and physical talent on special teams.”

Burns said Coughlin’s athleticism is impressive. “You just can’t teach what Carter has with his athletic ability,” Burns said. “That’s something Minnesota needs right away, to try and get after the passer because their pass rush the last couple years has just been abysmal. They know that.

“Carter is the one guy that is going to have his redshirt burned. If he is healthy, he is going to play a lot like Julian Huff did last year.”

Byung Ho Park, the 29-year-old South Korean Twins rookie, leads the team with two home runs and six RBI in 16 at bats during his first major league spring training. He is hitting .313. During the last two years in Japan he hit .303 and .343, with 52 and 53 home runs, and 124 and 146 RBI.

The Tigers reportedly gave ex-Twin Mike Pelfrey a two-year $16 million contract—and that’s a head scratcher. Pelfrey, 32, was 6-11 with a 4.26 ERA for the Twins last season. His career stats include a 61-81 record and 4.52 ERA.

Birthdays: Twins legend Kirby Puckett, who died in 2006, would be 56 next Monday. Timberwolves guard Zach LaVine turned 21 yesterday.

The Las Vegas-based Reviewjournal.com posted a story Monday quoting broadcaster Dick Vitale as saying controversial Louisville coach Rick Pitino isn’t going to fill the UNLV opening. There have been rumors Pitino will accept the Rebels’ coaching job, and a report even had his son Richard Pitino, the Gophers coach, joining him as an assistant. Vitale said Rick Pitino loves Louisville too much to leave the Cardinals.

The Wild had a rare loss to the Oilers last night, 2-1 at Xcel Energy. Minnesota is 2-1 this season in games with Edmonton, and is 21-4-1 in the last 26 games against the Oilers. The Wild plays at Montreal tomorrow night and has won there only twice in franchise history.

The Gophers Eric Schierhorn is a nominee for the Mike Richter Award honoring the top goaltender in college hockey. Schierhorn has started all 33 games this season and has a 18-15-0 record with a .905 save percentage, and a goals against average of 2.71. His total wins lead the Big Ten and he ranks first among NCAA freshmen. He is tied for first among freshmen with three shutouts.

Gophers coach Don Lucia told Sports Headliners Schierhorn reminds him a “little bit” of Adam Wilcox who was Minnesota’s top goalie the previous three seasons. Wilcox was among the best goalies in the Big Ten.

“Both very athletic,” Lucia said. “Adam stepped right in (as a freshman) and pretty much played every game. Eric has started every game his freshman year, which is not easy. Almost every game he has played, he has given us an opportunity to win games. We’re still working with him to quiet his game down at times, and not chase pucks.”

The Gophers play Wisconsin tonight and tomorrow evening at Mariucci Arena in their last games before the Big Ten Tournament next week.

The defending national champion Gopher women’s hockey team plays Princeton tomorrow starting at 4 p.m. in Ridder Arena. The NCAA Tournament quarterfinal game will determine whether Minnesota or the Tigers advance to next week’s Frozen Four in Durham, New Hampshire.

Minnesota’s five seniors—Hannah Brandt, Brook Garzone, Amanda Kessel, Amanda Leveille, and Milica McMillen—comprise the program’s most successful class ever. Their teams have an overall record of 145-9-6, a .925 winning percentage from 2012-13 to 2015-16. The Gophers have outscored opponents 770-179 during the four seasons.

Four of the five finalists for the 2016 Mr. Basketball Award have made college commitments: Brock Bertram, Buffalo; Johnny Beeninga, Minnesota State Moorhead; Amir Coffey, Minnesota; and Michael Hurt, Minnesota. Steffon Mitchell hasn’t made a college commitment. The award winner will be announced after this week’s state tournament.

Mr Basketball finalists 2016

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U AD Search Needs Top Committee

Posted on March 7, 2016March 7, 2016 by David Shama

Any day now University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler will announce the names of approximately 10 individuals to help lead the search for the school’s next athletic director. Kaler announced the formal start of the search last month and his office’s website has a form accepting nominations for search committee members.

There is no shortage of highly qualified and motivated candidates that can form a blue-ribbon group. Former U athletic directors and athletes, present coaches and athletes, business leaders and other professionals offer a rich and diverse resource to Kaler if he will seek their counsel. “There is a huge talent pool,” Jim Carter said.

Carter played fullback on the Gophers’ last Big Ten championship football team in 1967. In his day the halls were sacred in the athletic building because of the school’s big time achievements in sports. When Carter was a sophomore, Minnesota was seven years removed from a national championship in football. The athletic department was a few years away from being a basketball powerhouse, and on its way to winning NCAA hockey titles during the 1970s.

These days, the glory is minimal in the high profile sports of men’s basketball and hockey and football. Decades of disappointment on the court, ice and field have become the norm with the basketball and football teams seldom able to win more than half of their Big Ten games each season, while the hockey program has often fallen behind state rivals and hasn’t produced a national championship since 2003.

Worse, the athletic department has become a national newsmaker for its scandals and other troubles. The latest woes include the suspension of three men’s basketball players. Last year the department’s negative headlines included the resignation of athletic director Norwood Teague who faced sexual harassment complaints from women at the University and also Star Tribune reporter Amelia Rayno.

Carter said his friend Tom Van Arsdale, a former Indiana basketball star, told him the national perspective of the Gophers is that they are a “laughing stock.”

“How did we get to that, from where we used to be?” Carter wonders.

The opinion here is the search committee should have a strong representation of sports-savvy individuals from varied backgrounds and interests. The viewpoints that need to be represented are those of people like Carter who are knowledgeable about the revenue-producing sports and want to see leadership demanding excellence in those programs that carry the athletic department’s brand and fuel the 23-sport, $100 million budget.

It’s an understatement to say Carter has been recommended for the search committee. “I know for sure I have over 125 nominations that have been sent to the president’s office,” Carter told Sports Headliners. “So if it’s by volume, I would guess they would have to put me on the committee, but you know…I’ve been outspoken a lot over the years.

“I’ve tried to be a truth teller—at least truth the way I see it, and it’s not been popular. I’ve been critical of Dr. Kaler and some of the people over there—so I certainly wouldn’t be their first choice, I am sure.”

Carter is skeptical about the final roster Kaler will approve for the committee. His concern is the group will be comprised primarily of people the president is most comfortable with and will include Kaler staffers, University faculty and regents, and compliant donors. How involved ex-Gophers, current athletes and coaches, and business leaders will be remains to be seen.

Another concern of Carter and others is that even if the committee has leadership committed to sending the athletic department on a mission of excellence, the final selection of the next athletic director will be made by a smaller group. Will a three or four person executive committee chosen by Kaler make the final choice of AD?

Kaler stumbled badly in hiring Teague. In addition to complaints about Teague’s behavior, he hired the inexperienced and now struggling men’s basketball coach Richard Pitino, didn’t get along with popular football coach Jerry Kill and was a disappointment in fundraising. Also under Teague’s watch the feds launched a still ongoing Title IX investigation. Title IX bans gender discrimination at federally funded schools.

Kaler’s career expertise is mostly in academics, not athletics. Carter, who grew up a passionate Gophers fan in South St. Paul and still lives in the Twins Cities, is a former linebacker for the Green Bay Packers and experienced businessman. He went to Kaler’s office in December proposing he head a small volunteer committee to conduct a search for the next AD. Instead of the University paying $125,000 for a professional search firm to assist with the process, Carter and a few others would deliver the best AD possible to the president.

“Forget a big committee of people that really don’t know much about sports,” Carter told Kaler. “Let me chair a committee and we will go find you the best athletic director to come to Minnesota and run this department, and turn it around. I will do it free of charge. I’ll do all the leg work. I’ll find the people. I’ll use my contacts… and there will be no issues with Title IX. There will be no issues with background checks that didn’t happen. We’ll get that (search) done.

“He (Kaler) just smiled and he said, ‘Well, we appreciate your interest.’

“Now you see what’s happened,” Carter continued. “Now we’ve gone to a search firm (name to be announced). We’ve gone to a big committee, and it will be fascinating to see who is on it.”

In a letter to Kaler last December Carter prioritized the most important qualifications he believes the next AD should have and that includes being a former Gopher athlete, an M letterwinner. Carter suggested such an individual “would provide immediate credibility as someone who understands the people and the culture of Minnesota and Gopher athletics.”

Carter also called for top level skills in fundraising, and for a person who believes in and is committed to recognizing and implementing the entertainment aspect of Gophers athletics—someone who “rejects the participation model and the mediocrity it produces, and understands how to intelligently invest in the fan experience for all sports.”

Teague was let go last summer and Beth Goetz was announced as interim AD on August 7. Kaler has been deliberate in finding a permanent AD. He has suggested that identifying qualified candidates will be made easier by waiting until spring when sitting athletic directors at other programs are finishing their school years. He plans to announce the name of the search firm this month and have a public review of the AD finalist or finalists late in the spring.

Carter and others wonder why the pace has been slow, particularly when the athletic department is under scrutiny and in need of a turnaround. “They’re in no rush,” Carter said. “It’s going to be a year without an athletic director in a department that is in disarray. I don’t understand it at all. I can’t imagine how they could take this long when this thing is such a mess.

“You know, we got two coaches (hockey’s Don Lucia and basketball’s Pitino) teetering. We’ve got a brand new football coach (Tracy Claeys), the jury is out (on). Attendance is dwindling. We have no brand. We have no tradition left.

“They (the administration) obviously either don’t see—or don’t care to see—the things that guys…that have been around here for 50 years see in that athletic department. I see it as a complete turnaround, a complete starting over, and yet we have waited a year to have a person in charge. I am mystified.”

Carter won’t give his AD vote to Goetz who has never been a major college athletic director. “I think she is a very capable administrator but I don’t think she is what we need right now,” he said.

Kaler might have a different view. “He likes Beth a lot,” Carter said. “I like Beth a lot. He also told me he wished she had more experience, and everyone does. I think that’s the deal-breaker for me. I don’ think it probably is for him. I think his first choice would be Beth Goetz.”

Worth Noting

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of Kirby Puckett’s death. Puckett, the club’s centerfielder on two World Series title teams, was a 10-time American League All-Star, six-time Gold Glove Award winner and five-time Silver Slugger Award winner.

The Timberwolves made a franchise-record 68.4 percent (52-of-76) of their field goals Saturday night in a 132-118 win over the Nets at Target Center. The field goal percentage is the highest by an NBA team since the Clippers shot 69.3 percent against the Raptors in 1998.

The Class 4A boys basketball tournament starts Wednesday. Prep basketball authority Ken Lien rates the teams as follows: 1. Osseo; 2. Hopkins; 3. Apple Valley; 4. Lakeville North; 5. Maple Grove; 6. North St. Paul; 7. Eden Prairie; 8. Blaine. Lien directs the Mr. Basketball award program and the 2016 winner will be announced soon.

Tracy Claeys, now involved with his first spring practice as the Gophers head football coach, speaks to the CORES luncheon group on Thursday at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington, 1114 American Blvd. Reservations must be made by today, Monday. More information is available by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

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WCHA and Big Ten Explore Alliance

Posted on January 25, 2016January 27, 2016 by David Shama

WCHA and Big Ten leaders are discussing ideas that could result in more men’s hockey games between the two leagues.

WCHA men’s commissioner Bill Robertson told Sports Headliners he had an exploratory meeting recently with Big Ten deputy commissioner Brad Traviolia. Discussion included some day having a combined tournament with teams from the two leagues, and also a series of regional rivalry games.

“The next step is we’re going to continue these discussions and bring ideas to each other’s executive committees and coaches to help define how we move forward,” Robertson said. “At this point it’s all conceptual but certainly there are ideas we will continue to build on.”

The WCHA is a tradition-rich league that still boasts nationally-ranked teams but the conference lost some prestige when historic power programs Minnesota and Wisconsin opted out to help form a Big Ten hockey league. The WCHA currently has 10 teams including two from the state of Minnesota, Bemidji State and Minnesota State. The six-team Big Ten began in the fall of 2013, and the league has its critics including in Minneapolis-St. Paul where fans miss old rivalries and feel the Gophers should be in a larger, more hockey oriented conference.

Robertson, who has career marketing experiences in the NHL, is an innovator and he believes both the WCHA and Big Ten could benefit in exposure and revenues with alliances that might include something similar to basketball’s ACC/Big Ten Challenge. That annual fall matchup schedules games between teams from the two leagues that have been popular with fans and TV audiences. A Big Ten/WCHA Challenge could include regional rivalry games like Minnesota-Minnesota State and Michigan-Michigan Tech.

Robertson, whose league offices are in Edina, continues to dialogue with Arizona State about that school’s hockey program joining the WCHA. He said more will be known in the spring, and that 2017-2018 will be the earliest the Sun Devils would join the league.

An 11-team league isn’t ideal, though, so a 12th member could eventually be added—perhaps UNLV. Las Vegas is a growing hockey market and a possible location for an NHL expansion franchise.

Worth Noting

Carter Coughlin, the Gophers’ four-star linebacker recruit from Eden Prairie High School, who is expected to sign his National Letter of Intent next month, will have to rest his left shoulder for about 3½ months following surgery last Thursday. Jennie Coughlin, Carter’s mother, told Sports Headliners the shoulder injury dates back to his junior season, and the expectation is he will be healthy when the Gophers start workouts in June. She said Carter is already recovered from the concussion he sustained in a high school all-star game earlier this month.

Richard Pitino’s basketball team is 0-8 in Big Ten games and appears headed toward a low final finish in the conference standings, but the coach will be rewarded with $450,000 this spring. In addition to his normal compensation of more than $1.5 million, Pitino will receive $450,000 on April 30 for a “contract fulfillment incentive.” If he is still the Gophers coach on April 30, 2019, he receives another $450,000.

Ken Lien, the state prep basketball authority who runs the Mr. Basketball program, travels extensively watching high school boys teams. He shared his state rankings with Sports Headliners:

Class 4A. 1. Hopkins; 2. Apple Valley; 3. Osseo; 4. Maple Grove; 5. Champlin Park; 6. Lakeville North; 7. Shakopee; 8. Wayzata; 9. Woodbury; 10. Rochester John Marshall.

Class 3A. 1. Red Wing; 2. DeLaSalle; 3. Delano; 4. Waconia; 5. Orono; 6. Benilde-St. Margaret’s; 7. Marshall; 8. Austin; 9. Minneapolis Patrick Henry; 10. Fergus Falls.

Class 2A. 1. Caledonia; 2. St. Croix Lutheran; 3. Braham; 4. Lake City; 5. Melrose; 6. Albany; 7. Minnehaha Academy; 8. Eden Valley-Watkins; 9. Esko; 10. St. Paul Academy.

Class 1A. 1. Minneapolis North; 2. Spring Grove; 3. Rushford-Peterson; 4. Central Minnesota Christian; 5. Murray County Central; 6. Hillcrest Lutheran; 7. Goodhue; 8. Browerville; 9. North Woods; 10. Battle Lake.

The Twins announced today they have given third baseman Trevor Plouffe a one-year contract for $7,250,000 in 2016. Plouffe, who was originally drafted by the Twins in the first round of the 2004 First-Year Player Draft, set single season highs last year in hits (140), RBI (86), runs scored (74), games (152), at-bats (573) and triples (4). Plouffe’s .972 fielding percentage ranked third among major league third basemen last season.

After last weekend’s two-game sweep of the Badgers, coach Don Lucia’s Gophers hockey team is 13-10 overall and 8-2 in Big Ten games. League-leading Minnesota has won five straight and could boost the spirits of often critical fans next weekend in the North Star College Cup at the Xcel Energy Center.

The Gophers play Bemidji State on Saturday while an earlier game matches Minnesota State and St. Cloud State. If Minnesota defeats the Beavers, a cup title game on Sunday against the Minnesota State and St. Cloud State winner could be opportune for the Gophers to earn more national respect. St. Cloud State, ranked No. 3 in the latest USCHO.com national poll, might be the best team in the country. The Gophers are No. 20 in the poll, while Minnesota State is No. 19.

Gophers booster and St. Paul native T. Denny Sanford celebrated his 80th birthday last month in both Sioux Falls, where Tim McGraw entertained, and also in San Diego at a party with Frankie Valli performing.

The Gophers baseball team will play some of its games starting in 2017 in U.S. Bank Stadium, the new downtown covered facility. The Gophers will have their own locker room in the multiuse facility that is expected to host over 200 amateur baseball games in its first 12 months of operation. The longest distance from home plate to the outfield will be 400 feet, while the shortest will be 301 feet. Coach John Anderson and his players toured the stadium last Friday. The Gophers will also continue to play games outdoors at Siebert Field.

With Seahawks safety Earl Thomas unable to play because of an injury, Vikings safety Harrison Smith has been selected for his first Pro Bowl. Since entering the NFL in 2012, Smith is one of two players to have at least 12 interceptions and 5.0 sacks. Reshad Jones from the Dolphins is the other player. The Pro Bowl will be played next Sunday in Hawaii.

New Vikings assistant coach Pat Shurmur will coach the tight ends. The club announced today that former tight ends coach Kevin Stefanski will take over as the running backs coach replacing Kirby Wilson who is joining the Browns. Shurmur, a former head coach with the Browns, was the Eagles tight end coach from 1999-2001.

Vikings linebacker Chad Greenway turned 33 earlier this month, and his returning for another season with the team seems questionable. A highlight for him last year was his 22 tackles game against the Raiders, the second best in franchise history.

Greenway was durable during the 2015 season. Ben Goessling, writing for espn.com last Wednesday, said Greenway maxed out on his per game bonus incentive by being on the 46-man roster for all 16 regular season games. Greenway, who agreed during the offseason to take less salary in 2015, earned $500,000 in bonus money, according to Goessling.

Las Vegas sports books positioned the Panthers as four point favorites over the Broncos for Super Bowl 50, according to an online story this morning by Matt Youmans for the Las Vegas Journal-Review.

Friends of the late Steve Wilkinson remembered the one-year anniversary of his death last Thursday. The legendary former Gustavus Adolphus national championship tennis coach touched many lives with the Gusties and his well-known Tennis and Life Camps.

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