Golden Gophers – Page 329 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Lucia NCAA Title Bonus $75,000.00

Posted on April 11, 2014April 11, 2014 by David Shama

Don Lucia will try to coach the Gophers to the NCAA hockey championship tomorrow night in Philadelphia against Union College. If Lucia is successful, he will receive a bonus of $75,000.00, according to his contract with the University of Minnesota that ends on April 30, 2017.

If the Gophers don’t defeat Union, Lucia is guaranteed a $50,000.00 bonus because his contract rewards him that amount for taking Minnesota to the Frozen Four. After the Frozen Four he will either receive a bonus of $75,000.00, or $50,000.00. Not both.

Lucia has already earned a $30,000.00 bonus for coaching his team to the regular season Big Ten championship. A schedule of contract incentives like those referenced is in addition to his $320,000.00 salary for the 2013-2014 season. Lucia also receives annual supplemental income that in 2012-2013 totaled $45,000.00.

Rewards for Lucia also include the satisfaction of taking the Gophers back to the Frozen Four for only the second time in the last nine years. He coached the Gophers to national championships in 2002 and 2003 but results since have been mixed including three consecutive seasons when Minnesota didn’t qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

The Gophers lost their opening game in the Frozen Four to Boston College two years ago but last night had a different and storybook outcome with Minnesota defeating North Dakota, 2-1. Defenseman Justin Holl, who hadn’t scored a goal since March of last year, came up with a short-handed goal with less than a second remaining to give the Gophers a stunning win.

“Amazing. I’ve never seen anything like this,” Gophers hockey play-by-play announcer Wally Shaver told listeners on 1500 ESPN.

Holl was interviewed about his miracle shot after the game on ESPN2. “I think the puck went off one of their players, (then) off my stick and I think I blacked out from there,” he said.

The winning goal was set up when Gopher forward Kyle Rau’s shot hit North Dakota defenseman Jordan Schmaltz. The puck was deflected into Holl’s skates and he kicked it to his stick for the game winning goal.

The Gophers have been ranked No. 1 in Division I men’s college hockey for most of 2013-2014. They have experienced the type of season the team’s most rabid followers expect. During the program’s storied history the Gophers have played in 21 Frozen Fours and won five national championships.

If the Gophers are to win another NCAA title, goalie Adam Wilcox and the team’s defense will play major roles. Wilcox, only a sophomore, was named Big Ten Player of the Year and Big Ten Goaltender of the Year. Minnesota’s defense has given up only 79 goals in 40 games.

Minnesota is 28-6-6 and has won three consecutive games. Tomorrow night’s championship game against Union College, 31-6-4, will be televised starting at 6:30 p.m. CDT on ESPN.

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Spring Football Games Not-for-Sures

Posted on April 11, 2014April 12, 2014 by David Shama

The Gophers play their annual Intrasquad Spring Football Game tomorrow at TCF Bank Stadium beginning at 2:30 p.m. Fans might wonder how many more games will be played in future years because there’s a growing awareness about preventing football injuries in college and on other levels, amateur and professional.

Minnesota coach Jerry Kill is concerned and suggests elimination of spring games at Minnesota and elsewhere is a way of reducing injuries. “In the future I don’t think you’re going to see spring games,” Kill said on WCCO Radio’s “Sports Huddle” program last Sunday.

Intrasquad spring games count as one of 15 NCAA approved spring practices for major college programs. Rather than devote time to entertaining fans with a game, some coaches insist there is a better way to get teams ready for next fall’s schedule of nonconference and league games. The University of Pittsburgh, for example, cancelled its spring game for 2014 because head coach Paul Chryst wanted to maximize practice time.

A few other programs reportedly are not staging spring games this year. Among them is Texas A&M, a school that cancelled the game because of stadium renovations. The cancellation didn’t bother head coach Kevin Sumlin who downplayed the value of the annual spring game, describing the event as a “glorified scrimmage,” according to a March 4 story by Zac Ellis on College-football.si.com.

The elimination of spring games may develop into a real trend but it’s probably going to be slow in coming. Passionate fan bases at powerhouse schools like Ohio State wouldn’t be happy to see the spring game go away.

Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer told Doug Lesmerises in a March 19 story for Cleveland.com that he plans to keep the spring game indefinitely. “I just think it’s priceless for a player to get a rep in front of 50, 60, 70,000 (people),” Meyer said. “If I was at a school where you get 400 people (you might do away with it) because what are you really getting.”

Gophers offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover sees the advantages and disadvantages of spring games including the issues of having enough healthy players and how to divide them into competitive teams.

“I enjoy it (the spring game). I think it’s good for the fans,” he told Sports Headliners. “I think in our situation it’s good to continue to build support, build enthusiasm. Kind of (create) a buzz around the program but at the same time it does have its challenges.”

Labeled as the spring game, the Gophers’ event tomorrow will be more of a scrimmage. Punt and kickoff returns, for example, aren’t expected to be part of the action. The scrimmage will start at 2:30 p.m. and probably end about 90 minutes later, much shorter than a game.

Back in the 1950s the Gophers had a special spring show delighting fans, while the coaches may have gobbled Maalox. Head coach Murray Warmath sent his team out to play the annual game against an alumni group that included Gophers legends liked Bronko Nagurski and Leo “The Lion” Nomellini.

The grizzled and out of shape alums used their wisdom and skills to give Warmath’s young men all they could handle. Truth was the Gophers sometimes looked bad against the alumni team.

Warmath devoted part of spring practice to preparing for the alumni game, minimizing the time he and his staff could use for teaching. He disliked the game and was delighted when the alumni series ended after a few years.

Tomorrow a Gophers alumni flag football game will be played starting at 1 p.m. The two teams will be captained by former All-Big Ten players Tyrone Carter and Ron Johnson.

BTN2Go will provide live coverage of the intrasquad game. The Big Ten Network will show a replay starting at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Following the intrasquad game players will sign autographs on the field. Admission to the game is free.

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Colabello Delivers Big Bang for a Buck

Posted on April 9, 2014April 9, 2014 by David Shama

Talk about a return on investment. Chris Colabello is co-leader in the American League in RBI with 11 while the Twins are paying him $505,000 this season, almost the lowest salary on the team.

Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson at $502,000 and catcher Josmil Pinto, $500,000, have lower salaries, according to a March 31 USA Today listing of major league opening day player salaries for all 30 teams. Over a 162-game schedule Colabello is paid $3,117 per game. Contrast that with Joe Mauer’s $141,976 based on his $23 million annual salary. Mauer has no RBI so far and is hitting .250.

Although the Twins have only played seven games, Colabello’s impact is evident. His 11 RBI (tied with the White Sox’s Jose Abreu) are five better than Kurt Suzuki who is second on the team. Colabello is hitting .370 with one home run and a team best slugging percentage of .630.

Prior to Monday’s home opener against the A’s came news he had been named AL Player of the Week with outfielder Josh Hamilton who earns $17 million with the Angels. Colabello made the honor look good by singling in the first inning and making a diving catch in right field during the second inning, his initial outfield start of the season. He is expected to play some outfield and first base with the Twins but his primary role is likely to be designated hitter.

The baseball world agreed before the season the Twins would be offensive- challenged this season. But the Twins, 3-4 so far, have averaged over five runs per game and their total of 37 is fourth best in the American League. If Colabello can produce 15 to 20 home runs, 80 or more RBI and hit over .280 this season, the Twins will be much more likely to improve their runs scored over last year when they had the third fewest in the AL.

Perhaps life begins after age 29. The 30-year-old journeyman (Colabello will be 31 in October) went to spring training not even knowing if he would make the Twins’ roster. Last December he turned down a $1 million offer to play for South Korea’s LG Lions.

That is just part of Colabello’s strange baseball story. The Massachusetts native played seven seasons in the Canadian-American Association before being signed by the Twins in February of 2012 and gaining the opportunity to move up from the depths of low level independent league professional baseball.

Playing for the Twins’ Class AA New Britain team in 2012, Colabello hit .284 with 19 home runs and 98 RBI. He was runner-up for Eastern League MVP.

Last season playing in 89 games for Class AAA Rochester, Colabello won the International League’s MVP award hitting .354 with 24 home runs and 76 RBI. He was also the league’s Rookie of the Year.

Part of 2013 was spent with the Twins and the hitting numbers were dramatically different than in the minors. Colabello hit .194 with seven home runs and 17 RBI in 55 games.

The 6-foot-4, 218 pound Colabello, whose father Lou played for Italy in the 1984 Olympics, has changed his batting stance this season, moving closer to the plate, and appears to have shortened his right-handed swing while sending hits to the opposite field. He looks confident and swings assertively while not being overly aggressive.

Batting cleanup for the Twins is a long way from independent league baseball three years ago. The Twins found a bargain.

Worth Noting

Graham Woodward has been released from his basketball scholarship at Penn State and will transfer to another school, according to a story this morning on the website of the Centre Daily News located in State College, Pennsylvania. Woodward, the former Edina High School guard, played as a freshman for Penn State this past season.

Gophers women’s basketball fans will expect to be entertained by the coaching style of Marlene Stollings. As head coach at VCU last season, Stollings’ team set school records with a 75.8 points per game average and 235 three-point field goals. The Rams scored 90 or more points five times and twice scored a school-record 112 points. Stollings met the media yesterday when she was introduced as the Gophers new coach.

Two of the Gophers’ highest profile women’s sports are hockey and volleyball. Both head coaches, Brad Frost and Hugh McCutcheon, are males. Perhaps the presence of those two influenced hiring a female to be the next women’s basketball coach, thereby providing more gender balance in the athletic department.

Admirers of former Gopher and NBA player Jim Petersen, now an assistant coach with the WNBA champion Lynx, might wonder if he had interest in the women’s opening at Minnesota. Petersen, a former McDonald’s prep All-American at St. Louis Park, not only has coaching and playing experience but his visibility in the state has remained high as the Timberwolves TV color analyst.

Among the changes the Wild might make this offseason is adding former Gopher Thomas Vanek to the roster, according to a hockey source who spoke to Sports Headliners on condition of anonymity. Vanek is a potential 30-plus goal scorer and while he is a high priced talent his addition to the Wild payroll could be balanced by letting Dany Heatley go, the source said. Both earn similar annual salaries.

Vanek, who has played with three teams this season, has scored 27 goals and would boost the Wild’s scoring. He will be an unrestricted free agent during the offseason.

The Wild will make the playoffs for a second consecutive season. The source said if the Wild fail to impress in the postseason a change in head coaches is possible with Mike Yeo losing his job.

The Wild, who play tomorrow night at home against the Blues, have finished the road schedule for the season at 17-17-7. The Wild earned points in seven of its last eight road games (5-1-2) and earned 26 points in the last 20 away games (11-5-4). As of yesterday morning, only the Bruins and the Avs had better road records than the Wild since the start of 2014.

After outstanding seasons by the winter teams, including three men’s titles and two women’s, St. Thomas is in first place in the MIAC All-Sports standings for both genders. St. Olaf is in second place in the men’s standings while Saint Benedict is second among women.

KARE TV’s Randy Shaver will speak at the May 8 CORES luncheon at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Bloomington. Shaver was a sportscaster at the station for almost 30 years before becoming a KARE weeknight news anchor. A booster of high school sports, he started the “Prep Sports Extra” in 1984 and has coached football at Benilde-St. Margaret’s. He is a Hodgkin’s survivor, and the Randy Shaver Cancer Research & Community Fund has raised almost $5,000,000 for cancer research and patient aid in Minnesota.

CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans. Reservations for the lunch and program can be made by contacting Jim Dotseth, dotsethj@comcast.net.

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