Gophers Hockey – Page 41 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Nanne: U Potential Frozen Four Team

Posted on February 1, 2013February 1, 2013 by David Shama

Here is a Friday morning Sports Headliners roundup including Gophers hockey and basketball, the Wild, the Wolves and NBA commissioner David Stern, and even Cuban bully Fidel Castro!

Hockey authority Lou Nanne told Sports Headliners the 2013 Gopher team is “skilled at every position and has excellent goaltending.” No. 1 ranked Minnesota played in the Frozen Four last year and Nanne can see a return engagement.

“If they play up to their capabilities, they should be in the Frozen Four,” he said.

The Gophers, 18-4-4, have scored four or more goals in eight of their last nine games. In their 4-1 win over Minnesota State last Saturday night four different players had goals. Among the four was Nate Schmidt who leads the nation’s defensemen in scoring.

Minnesota leads the WCHA in power play goals and penalty killing. Goalie Adam Wilcox has a WCHA-best 17-3-4 record.

St. Cloud State and the Gophers are first and second in the league standings. The two teams play each other February 8 and 9 in St. Cloud. Minnesota has a bye this weekend.

Nanne said the Wild are talented and could finish among the better teams in the Western Conference. The key is “balanced scoring and defense.”

The Wild play at Anaheim tonight, facing a Ducks team that may pose problems in the Western Conference playoffs. In this week’s ESPN.com NHL power poll the Wild are ranked No. 9 and the Ducks No. 10 among 30 league teams.

The Wild’s Matt Cullen, who led the team in points (six) in four games against Anaheim last season, played in 427 games with the Ducks from 1997-2003. The 36-year-old center, scoreless in his first six games, scored twice in the Wild’s 3-2 win over the Blackhawks on Wednesday night.

Wild prospect Jason Zucker, representing the Aeros, scored a goal for the Western Conference on Monday in the AHL All-Star game. The Western Conference defeated the East, 7-6. Zucker leads the Aeros in points with 36.

Nanne and wife Francine spent a week visiting communist Cuba late last month as part of a University of Minnesota Alumni Association trip. Asked for a quick impression, Nanne said, “Too much government.”

Cubans use ration books for food, and some buildings have no running water. The higher wage earners, including doctors, make $500 a month in American currency, Nanne said.

There are many 1950s American cars on the streets in Cuba and Nanne even rode in a 1932 vehicle. “It had a rumble seat,” he said.

Nanne also said Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, in poor health for years, was recently seen walking with a cane. His brother Raul Castro runs the country.

The basketball Gophers, who ended a four-game losing streak with a home win over Nebraska (84-65) earlier in the week, play Iowa at noon Sunday. Minnesota, 16-5 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten, lost twice to a mediocre Iowa team last season, 64-62 and 63-59.

The Hawkeyes were frequently the more aggressive team in those wins, combining for 21 steals. In Iowa’s 63-59 win in Iowa City the Hawkeyes not only had 11 steals to Minnesota’s one, but they out rebounded the Gophers.

Iowa, 3-5 in the conference and 14-7 overall, has several returning players from last season and is again a scrappy, well coached team. “I think, honestly, we just didn’t have the toughness mentality (last year),” said Minnesota junior guard Maverick Ahanmisi. “This year I think we have a lot of guys on this team that can take it upon themselves to slow the game down, or know when we need a shot or a basket. Last year we just let the game get away from us. Once they started scoring on us, we just put our heads down and stopped moving (fighting back).”

Center Trevor Mbakwe is disappointed with the Gophers’ start to the Big Ten schedule but still thinks Minnesota can be one of the nation’s best teams and win the league championship. “Little surprised (with the start),” he said. “We thought we had a chance to be 6-2 coming out of those two big games (losses to Indiana and Michigan). …We played a tough schedule so far. It’s the best conference in the country.”

Nebraska coach Tim Miles predicted the Gophers can win games in the NCAA Tournament. “I am really impressed with them. …If they don’t turn it over they’ll be good.”

The Gophers came into the Nebraska game averaging a Big Ten high 14.6 turnovers a game but had only five against the Cornhuskers. Among those responsible for the improvement was Ahanmisi, a reserve point guard who entered the game with 20 turnovers in 207 minutes this season. He had no turnovers in 19 minutes on Tuesday night.

Ahanmisi said his confidence, including shooting the ball, has improved. He scored nine points and made four of seven shots on Tuesday. His season field goal percentage of .463 and three point percentage, .417, are major improvements from last year’s numbers of .361 and .294.

“Back in high school I was a shooting guard.” Ahanmisi said. “That was my game. I used to shoot a lot of threes. When I came here I just got away from it. Tried to really turn into a point guard.

“It’s kind of something I really worked on—my shooting again. I think it’s coming back.”

Miles, in his first season at Nebraska, will have his Cornhuskers playing in a new state-of-the-art arena next fall. Each players’ locker has an iPad.

The first in a series called the Minnesota Timberwolves Business Alliance will be held next Wednesday at the Graves 601 Hotel and NBA commissioner David Stern will be the keynote speaker. The event, preceding a Target Center game against the Spurs, will bring together Wolves season ticket holders and corporate partners for networking opportunities.

Wolves president Chris Wright told Sports Headliners efforts to bring the NBA All-Star game back to Minneapolis (last here in 1995) will wait until his organization completes negotiations with the city for Target Center renovations. There’s no timetable for completing negotiations.

Wright and others with the Wolves have never seen a stretch of hard luck like this year’s team has experienced with numerous starters and reserve players sidelined with injuries for days, weeks and months. And even coach Rick Adelman missed 11 games to be with his wife who suffered seizures.

Since the early days of TargetvCenter there’s been speculation the franchise’s misfortunes have been tied to constructing the arena on an ancient Indian burial ground. Not true, said Wright. “That may have come from a couple of drunken guys talking at the (Cafe) di Napoli 20 years ago,” he joked.

Prep basketball authority Ken Lien e-mailed this week that DeLaSalle power Reid Travis has been offered a scholarship by Arizona.

The Wednesday Sports Media News e-mail reported Brett Favre will be a guest on the NFL Network morning show Sunday preceding the Super Bowl. The network is providing more than 16 hours of live pre-game and post-game Super Bowl coverage on Sunday, according to SMN.

Denis McDonough, a 1992 Saint John’s graduate and a three-year starter for the Johnnie football team, is President Barack Obama’s White House chief of staff after serving as deputy national security adviser the past two years.

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Goalie Wilcox Gophers MVP

Posted on December 5, 2012December 5, 2012 by David Shama

Gophers coach Don Lucia agreed with the suggestion freshman goalie Adam Wilcox is the early season team MVP. “I think without question so far what he’s done. …His numbers are phenomenal and he’s given us a chance to win every night he’s started so far this year.”

Wilcox has a WCHA-leading 1.61 goals against average. Stephon Williams from Minnesota State is second to Wilcox at 1.92. Wilcox’s 819 game minutes is also best in the league.

Before the season it was uncertain who would replace last year’s senior All-American goalie, Kent Patterson. But Wilcox has responded so well he’s been a major contributor to the Gophers 10-3-2 record with Minnesota being ranked among the nation’s best teams despite struggling to score goals.

The Gophers opened their season dominating Michigan State at Mariucci Arena, winning 5-1 and 7-1. Fans may have expected similar performances from the talented Minnesota roster.

“Michigan State had a very young team,” Lucia told Sports Headliners. “They had four freshmen defensemen playing their first college games after one week of practice. We were able to jump on them and seal the deal early in the game both nights. That (series) was more of an aberration than anything else.

“We have a long ways to go as a team. It’s been a struggle for us offensively. Defensively we’ve played pretty well. Our shots against are very good, low 20s where you want them. Our specialty team play is good but we have to try to figure out a way to score … five on five.”

Lucia said the Gophers, thought by some to be the No. 1 team in the country before the season, were probably overrated. The optimism was based on the Gophers qualifying for the Frozen Four last season, having healthy players in 2011-12 and a “lot of things” going right, according to Lucia. He said the Gophers miss last year’s seniors who played “integral roles” and there have been more injuries on the team this fall. There are players too, the coach said, who need to play better.

Does this team have the potential to be better than last season’s group? “I think your team always has potential,” Lucia said. “Now I think a big part of it is going to be two things. Your best players have to be your best players night in and night out. That next group of guys that are your support players have to take their game to another level.”

The Gophers, 5-3-2 in league play, are at Colorado College, 8-5-3 and overall 8-7-1, Friday and Saturday nights. USCHO.com ranks the Gophers No.4 in the country, Colorado College No. 19.

Worth Noting

Can’t help but wonder if the Vikings and Bears will play a fine-free game on Sunday at Mall of America Field. A week ago Sunday in Chicago, Vikings defensive end Jared Allen and Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher were involved in plays resulting in fines of $21,000 and $15,750 respectively.

Adrian Peterson wasn’t hurt on Urlacher’s horse-collar type tackle but Bears offensive lineman Lance Louis suffered a season-ending ACL injury after being hit hard by Allen. Allen said last week he doesn’t expect revenge from the Bears but will deal with what comes on Sunday.

The Vikings will honor the 30-member Minnesota all-state prep football team at halftime of the Bears game. The team was selected by media, the Vikings and high school coaches. Dwight Lundeen of Becker, whose 2012 team was a Class 4A power, was selected Coach of the Year.

The all-staters: Marley Allison, Edina; Jordan Anderson, Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s; Brady Ayers, Waterville-Elysian-Morristown; Dalton Bass, Hills-Beaver Creek; Lance Briard, Springfield; Zach Creighton, Lakeville North; JT DenHartog, Hopkins; Jake Disterhaupt, Moose Lake-Willow River; Tucker Forsgren, Pelican Rapids; Alex Grove, Willmar; Aaron Haatja, Dassel-Cokato; Jordan Hein, Perham; Jared Lea, Chanhassen; Chase Morlock, Moorhead; Jack Nelson, Byron; Daulton Olinger, Spring Lake Park; James Onwualu, Cretin-Derham Hall; Elijah Patrick, Prior Lake; Ashanti Payne, Robbinsdale Cooper; Jacob Peterson, St. Cloud Tech; Daniel Polansky, Goodridge/Grygla; Nate Ricci, Stillwater; Noah Scarver, Washburn; Shaun Schindler, Hutchinson; Brandon Schmitt, Dawson Boyd; Jordan Staples, Morris; Bridge Tusler, Osseo; Brett Watercott, Becker; Jake Wieneke, Maple Grove; Alex Wood, Lakeville North.

Two Minnesotans are first team selections on the American Football Coaches Association FCS All-American team—Marcus Williams, the North Dakota State junior cornerback from Minneapolis, and Zach Zenner, the South Dakota State sophomore running back from Eagan.

Texas Tech, the Gophers opponent in the December 28 Meineke Car Care Bowl in Houston, sees benefits playing in that football-rich area. The Red Raiders have a large alumni base in the Houston area and have put a bull’s-eye on recruiting in Texas’ largest city, according to a Sunday online article by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

Tech coach Tommy Tuberville said in the story: “The lifeblood of a program is recruiting. Players win games. For our program right now, for what we need to do and where we need to go, I think this is good for us.

“I know we’re recruiting a lot of players from that area, trying to get more players on the team from the Houston area. We were kind of lacking the last few years, but our coaches have gone into Houston and selling our program, selling Texas Tech, and it’s worked pretty good.”

The Gophers recruit Texas and three of their more promising freshmen are tight end Lincoln Plsek from Waco, and running back Rodrick Williams Jr. and nose guard Scott Ekpe, both from Lewisville. Minnesota has several Texans on its two-deep depth chart.

Texas Tech could be about a two touchdown favorite in the Meineke game. The Big Ten will have six other teams in bowl games and all of the conference’s schools may be underdogs. The Big Ten has no teams in the top 15 of the BCS standings, with Nebraska at No. 16, Michigan No. 18 and Northwestern No. 20.

UW-Oshkosh plays at St. Thomas on Saturday in a game starting at 2 p.m. involving two undefeated teams trying to advance to the national Division III football title game. The Titans have drawn attention for not only winning but their comebacks, according to the school’s website.

After trailing St. Scholastica 10-0 in their playoff opener, the Titans scored 55 unanswered points in a 55-10 win. Bethel scored the first 14 points in a second round playoff game but the Titans responded with 37 straight points in a 37-14 victory.

Last Saturday, trailing 21-6 at halftime against Linfield, the Titans tied the game with 15 unanswered fourth quarter points, then won 31-24 in overtime and ended the Oregon school’s 26 game home winning streak.

Baseballamerica.com posted its listing of the Twins top prospects and also the projected lineup for the big league team in 2016. The November 20 article ranked third baseman Miguel Sano No. 1 among prospects with outfielders Byron Buxton, Oswaldo Arcia and Aaron Hicks at numbers 2, 3 and 5 respectively. Starting pitcher Kyle Gibson ranked No. 4.

For the 2016 season, Gibson is projected as the No. 1 starter on the Twins with Sano at third base, Buxton in center field, Hicks in right field and Arcia the designated hitter. Other projected starters: catcher Joe Mauer, first base Chris Parmelee, second base Eddie Rosario, shortstop Daniel Santana and left fielder Denard Span. Span has been traded to the Nationals since the article was posted.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo was at St. Louis Park High School last night watching Apple Valley junior point guard Tyus Jones play against the Orioles. MSU is on Jones’ final eight schools under consideration for college.

The 9-1 Gophers basketball team, 88-64 winners over South Dakota State last night, play next at 3-4 USC in a 7:30 p.m. start Minneapolis time on Saturday. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network. The Trojans lost 63-51 at Nebraska on Monday night.

USC, coached by former Northwestern coach Kevin O’Neill, is led in scoring by J.T. Terrell and Eric Wise, their only double figures scorers at 12.7 and 10.4. Minnesota, ranked No. 14 in the latest A.P. poll, defeated USC, 55-40, in Minneapolis last December.

KSTP TV sportscaster Joe Schmit said on Monday night a source predicted injured Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio may play his first game this season on December 15 at Target Center against the Mavericks.

Dave Mona, co-host of the WCCO Radio Sports Huddle, will be the speaker on Thursday, January 10 at the C.O.R.E.S. luncheon in Bloomington. Anyone interested in more information can email Jim Dotseth at dotsethj@comcast.net. C.O.R.E.S. is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

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Prediction for U Win at Illinois

Posted on November 9, 2012November 9, 2012 by David Shama

J Leman, former Illinois linebacker and now a football reporter for the Big Ten Network, has twice seen both the Illini and Gophers play this season. Who will win tomorrow’s game in Champaign? “I would think the Gophers would win,” Leman told Sports Headliners this week.

The Illini are 0-5 in the Big Ten and are rebuilding under new coach Tim Beckman. The Gophers, 1-4 in conference games, are rebuilding too, but Leman said Minnesota is “the better team.”

The Illini are 2-7 overall and don’t have the incentive of qualifying for a bowl game. Leman, though, is familiar with his old program and said Gophers fans shouldn’t expect a demoralized Illinois team. “I expect a full effort,” he said.

In various aspects of football the Illini haven’t been able to execute, despite having talented players and preseason expectations by some observers that Illinois would qualify for a bowl game. Leman said the team strength is the front seven on defense, particularly the four down linemen. The Gophers have an inexperienced offensive line and for the Illini to win the game, the front four probably has to “dominate,” Leman said.

The Gophers, 5-4 overall, can qualify for their first bowl game invitation since 2009 with a win tomorrow. Freshman Philip Nelson, who Leman predicts can become a “special quarterback,” talked about the game’s importance.

“Being at five wins right now, we want to get that sixth one and get those seniors to a bowl,” he said. “Every week is very important to get a victory but this one does have a little more meaning to it, just like last week (a loss to Michigan).”

Senior linebacker Mike Rallis is focused on the Illinois game and didn’t want to look at tomorrow’s game as more winnable than Minnesota’s last two games against Nebraska (7-2) and Michigan State (5-4). “We can’t get caught up too much in what the sixth win means,” he said. “We gotta prepare for this game, one single game. If we get too big picture minded, it’s going to hurt us.”

Worth Noting

Gopher football players shaved their heads last week in support of teammate Connor Cosgrove who has cancer. Rallis had shoulder-length hair prior to the trim. How does he like the new hairdo? “I am a little bit lighter and quicker on the field,” he joked.

Nelson is a primary runner in the Gophers’ offense. Although he’s a quarterback, he doesn’t foresee sliding to the ground to avoid contact in future games, and he referenced quarterbacks coach Jim Zebrowski.

“The way coach ‘Z’ teaches us, there’s no sliding allowed,” Nelson said. “We want to run physical. We want to split defenders and fall forward, and get extra yards. That’s the philosophy that we’re taught and that’s what we go by.”

Former Gophers quarterback Tim Salem is the Illinois running backs coach and special teams coordinator. Salem’s dad, Joe, was the Gophers head coach from 1979-1983.

Mike Dunbar is offensive coordinator at Northern Illinois for the 9-1 Huskies. Dunbar was Minnesota’s offensive coordinator in 2007.

Here are Sports Headliners’ Big Ten football power rankings: Ohio State, Nebraska, Penn State, Michigan, Wisconsin, Northwestern, Michigan State, Iowa, Indiana, Minnesota, Purdue and Illinois.

The Vikings will try to defeat the Lions for a second time this season when the teams play on Sunday at Mall of America Field. But it’s not at all probable the Vikings will have the same kind of special teams success they achieved in a 20-13 win in Detroit on September 30. In that game Percy Harvin had a 105-yard kickoff for a touchdown and Marcus Sherels ran 77 yards to score on a punt return.

Harvin leads the NFL in receptions with 62. He’s caught a pass in every game of his NFL career, 62. He also leads the league in kickoff return average at 35.9 yards.

Adrian Peterson, who has run for over 100 yards in each of his last three games, leads the NFL in rushing with 957 yards. He’s second in yards per carry at 5.7.

Vikings offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave was asked yesterday if Peterson, who rehabilitated in the off-season from ACL surgery, is capable of a continued heavy workload. “I think he’s back up to full speed. I think he is. He’s doing a terrific job and we’re doing a good job of blocking and creating some air in the defense for him to do his thing.”

Musgrave also said it wasn’t known yesterday if Harvin’s sprained ankle would allow him to play on Sunday.

The Vikings have 74 sacks since the start of the 2011 season, the most in the NFL. During that period the Vikings have the second most forced fumbles, 25.

Former Vikings receiver Nate Burleson is on injured reserve and won’t play for the Lions on Sunday. He has a broken leg and is out for the season.

Silas McKinnie, a regional scout for the Lions, had the same responsibilities with the Vikings from 1997-2002. He was once an assistant basketball coach for Clem Haskins with the Gophers.

Former Gophers tight end Charlie Sanders is assistant director of pro personnel with the Lions.

Gophers hockey coach Don Lucia told Sports Headliners he believes his team was probably a “little overrated to start the year.” The Gophers have been ranked No. 1 or 2 in the country dating back to last month but he said the team needs time to work in new players, particularly goalies.

The Gophers (5-2 overall) are at Alaska Anchorage (2-2-2) for WCHA games tonight and tomorrow night. A week from this weekend the Gophers play Wisconsin at home. The Badgers are celebrating their 50^th season of hockey and 40^th anniversary of the 1973 national championship team.

The Timberwolves are off to a 3-1 start for the first time since the 2001-2002 season. The Wolves play the Pacers at Target Center tonight.

Gophers baseball players will lay 40 square feet of sod at the new Siebert Field on Saturday. Players were told to wear their “oldest and dirtiest clothes,” assistant coach Rob Fornasiere said. One player responded: “That’s my daily wardrobe.”

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