KIRILL KAPRIZOV – Page 10 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Carlos Correa ‘Mr. Clutch’ for Twins Just like Kirby Puckett

Posted on October 10, 2023October 13, 2023 by David Shama

Carlos Correa’s clutch performance for the Twins in the postseason prompts memories of the late Kirby Puckett. It was Puckett who made that still famous quote before Game 6 of the 1991 World Series, telling teammates to “jump on his back” because he was going to carry the team.

Correa is more than shouldering his load, too, including driving in three of Minnesota’s six runs Sunday night when the Twins tied their American League Division Series at 1-1 with the Astros. Fittingly, Correa even threw out the last Astros batter of the evening with a spectacular fielding play and throw in the 6-2 win.

In four postseason games this fall Correa is hitting .588, and it’s not just his performance at the plate that has been key for the Twins. His fielding, high baseball IQ and leadership have all been impactful. Before coming to Minnesota, the 29-year-old shortstop experienced six postseason years with the Astros.

Do-Hyoung Park, writing for MLB.com yesterday, offered this timely quote about Correa from manager Rocco Baldelli: “We’ve always heard all of the sayings and things: When the lights come on and the bright lights, there are some guys, they’re giants in the light. He’s one of them. That’s what he is.”

Correa, who joined the Twins in 2022 as a free agent and then re-signed with them last off-season, made history Sunday night with those three RBI. He now has 63 career postseason RBI, tied with David Justice for third best ever among big leaguers.

No doubt the Twins’ $200 million “Mr. October” looks forward to moving up that historical list (Bernie Williams tops at 80, Manny Ramirez second with 78) but the big prize right now is advancing to the World Series. To do that the Twins will need two more wins to close out the Astros and be able to win four games in the American League Championship Series.

That itinerary would put the Twins back in the World Series for the first time since 1991. Minnesota defeated the Braves in seven games, partially because of Puckett’s heroics in Game 6. The five-tool superstar robbed Ron Gant of an extra base hit and had three hits including an 11^th inning walk-off home run for the ages that won the game and tied the series 3-3 in front of a delirious Metrodome crowd.

Puckett was a centerpiece on World Series championship teams in 1991 and 1987. In 24 postseason games he hit .309, with five home runs and 16 RBI. He was also a leader who inspired teammates, just like a guy in the here and now—Carlos Correa.

Worth Noting

Twins Hall of Famers Johan Santana and Joe Mauer will do the ceremonial first pitch honors before this afternoon’s ALDS game at Target Field. Minneapolis-based vocalist Aby Wolf will perform the national anthem.

Today’s Minnesota starting pitcher Sonny Gray, who held the Blue Jays scoreless in last week’s Wild Card series win, faces the Astros for the third time this year. He is 0-0 and has a 2.77 ERA against the Astros, with four walks and 16 strikeouts in two starts.

Ryan Jeffers has been the Twins’ catcher in each of the four postseason games, after splitting assignments during the regular season with Christian Vazquez. Jeffers has excelled defensively and calling games for the 3-1 Twins but has just two hits in 13 at bats.

Knowledgeable and optimistic Twins fans know the World Series starts October 27 and potentially runs through November 4. Home field advantage in the best of seven series, just like in the ALDS and ALDCS, is determined by which two teams had the better regular season record.

Twins radio voice Cory Provus, who calls Big Ten Network football games, will also work BTN men’s basketball during the upcoming season.

By Friday, after the Wild’s home opener against the Panthers Thursday night, it’s anticipated that over a nine-day period about 300,000 fans in the Twin Cities will have attended games of the Twins, Vikings, Wild and football Gophers.

The Wild has only two players on its 21-man opening night roster that weren’t with Minnesota last year: forwards Pat Maroon (Tampa Bay) and Marco Rossi (Iowa). Defenseman Brock Faber is the youngest player on the roster at 21; while goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who turns 39 in November, is the oldest.

Hockey authority Bill Robertson predicts the Wild will finish seventh in the Western Conference and make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. “Healthy (Kirill) Kaprizov and solid goaltending will be big keys for the Wild this year,” the former college hockey commissioner wrote via email. “Former Gopher Brock Faber will take a huge step forward and become an impact player for Minnesota.

“Boston is the best team in the NHL as they have depth from top to bottom and will be ready this year for the Stanley Cup Playoffs! No quick exit this year. Best player in the game is Edmonton’ s Conner McDavid as he is a superstar and can impact a game when he is on the ice. Conner has awesome skills.”

The Wild announced today that Kaprizov has been named an alternate captain.

Jim Harbaugh, who was a candidate for the Vikings head coaching job before Kevin O’Connell was hired in 2022, has the No. 2 college football team in the AP Poll but doesn’t make the top 10 in annual compensation among his peers. His $8.2 million at Michigan ranks No. 12, with Alabama’s Nick Saban No. 1 at $11.4 million and Michigan State’s embattled Mel Tucker No. 5 at about $10 million, per Usatoday.com last week.

Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck ranks No. 26 at $6 million.

The 1-4 Vikings and 3-3 Gophers are struggling but other state teams are excelling including St. Thomas, 3-0 in conference games and leading the Pioneer League, and Saint John’s, No. 8 nationally in the D3football.com rankings and tied with Carleton for the best league record in the MIAC at 3-0 each.

Happy birthdays: NFL legend Brett Favre is 54 today, October 10. Former Gopher athletics director Mark Dienhart turns 70 tomorrow.

Forward Parker Bjorklund from St. Thomas has been voted preseason first team All-Summit by the league coaches. The voting also predicted the Tommies will finish fourth in the standings behind South Dakota State, Oral Roberts and North Dakota State.

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Travel to Russia Up to Kirill Kaprizov

Posted on May 21, 2023May 21, 2023 by David Shama

Kirill Kaprizov will make his own decision on whether to visit his native Russia this offseason, per Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold.

The Wild’s franchise player hasn’t announced his intent, but Leipold told Sports Headliners Kaprizov is “free to go wherever he wants to go, and do what he wants to do.” That’s the stance of Wild management toward its players regarding the offseason.

Kaprizov visited Russia last summer and reportedly had difficulty re-entering the United States because of a work visa issue. Russia is in a chaotic state because of its Ukraine invasion and Vladimir Putin’s war effort has created an unpredictable environment that will cause Wild fans to fret if their favorite player returns to his homeland.

Leipold said last he heard the 26-year-old Kaprizov was in the Twin Cities, but the owner is well aware of his star forward’s dilemma. “He wants to see his family. The hope is that the family will come here.”

While Leipold hasn’t spoken to Kaprizov about Russia, general manager Bill Guerin has. Kaprizov knows he could spend the offseason in the Twin Cities where he can utilize the team’s conditioning and training resources. Leipold said “we support what he wants to do.”

Late in the season Kaprizov sustained a lower body injury and missed 13 games. Although he played in the Wild’s six playoff games, Leipold said his leading scorer “wasn’t 100 percent.”

Kaprizov scored just one goal in the opening round playoff loss to the Dallas Stars. A healthy Kaprizov might have totaled five or six goals.

“It’s fun to watch special players in this league,” Leipold said of Kaprizov who has played three seasons in the NHL. “There’s something magical when he jumps on the ice, and he’s at 100 percent. He’s a player that cannot be stopped. And he’s gonna be that way again next year so we’re all excited to see that.”

In the playoffs the Wild had to play without center Joel Eriksson Ek, a key performer. He, too, was injured late in the season. Offense, defense, penalty kill and power play, Ek is a major contributor.

Leipold said he understands all teams have injuries and he’s not making excuses for his team losing to the Stars. But he thinks his club could have won that series and perhaps still be chasing the Stanley Cup.

“You know I think we’re a team that’s pretty well built for playoffs,” he said. “We’ve got good goal tending. Our defense is good. We’re not that far off. There’s a couple issues that we all want to get better in but right now you know we’re pretty close.”

Leipold didn’t detail those needs but presumably they could include more timely goal scoring and better special teams performance. What does the owner anticipate happening in the offseason regarding the roster?

“There’s not a lot of changes that we’re going to have with our personnel. You know we have a salary cap crunch that we’re under for the next two years. I don’t really see much changes in our lineup or in our in approaches. I think it’s gonna be a lot of status quo until we get some relief with the salary cap.”

The Wild are on course to have at least $20 million in cash and salary cap room in two years. Leipold believes the opportunity to pursue free agents is “going to open up some real possibilities and excitement for our fans and our team.”

Asked about a favorite memory from the 2022-2023 season, Leipold said any game that secures a playoff position is special. ”It’s hard to make the playoffs and we make them 10 out of the last 11 years. That’s an incredible run. Now we gotta get past the first round and that’s when the big smile is going to be on my face…and I look forward to that.”

The playoffs are where NHL teams make a lot of their revenue. The deeper the playoff run, the more lucrative it is for franchises. A reasonable estimate is the Wild grosses $1.5 to $2 million per home playoff game.

Leipold didn’t answer whether his franchise made money in 2022-2023 but acknowledged the financial recovery from games lost during the pandemic has been faster than anticipated because Minnesota is a superb hockey market. “We don’t make a lot of money, if we do make money,” he said.

In two more years, the Wild’s arena, Xcel Energy Center, will be 25 years old. Leipold said preliminary meetings regarding renovations have started but nothing major has been decided. “We’re not looking for any government subsidies or anything (public),” he said.

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Twins President Sees Bests Yet to Come

Posted on May 2, 2023 by David Shama

Twins president Dave St. Peter thinks the best is yet to come for his team and star DH Byron Buxton.

The Twins are in first place in the American League Central Division with a 17-12 record. They are three games ahead of the second place and defending division champion Guardians. They are already nine games in front of the fourth place White Sox who host the Twins for a series starting tonight in Chicago.

St. Peter was hoping for a fast start to the season and got one. “But I think we have our best baseball ahead of us. I am really excited about the makeup of this team and…the way it was constructed. I think it’s set up for a lot of not just regular season success but post season success. The best is yet to come.

“…We’re into May here now. You normally want to get to about 40-50 games (into the season) and then you’ll have a better sense of what type of team you have. So we got a little ways to go to get there but I like how we’re tracking.”

Byron Buxton has produced timely hitting, including Sunday when his three-run home run started a seven run third inning for the Twins in a win against the Royals. “I think his best is still yet to come,” St. Peter said. “I think he’s just scratching the surface. He’s such a talented athlete and I think he’s really turning into being a pretty gifted hitter.”

Buxton is 29 and in his ninth season with the club but he’s only been able to tease his potential because of so many injuries. Only once has “Buck” been able to play in more than 92 games. Caution surrounds the Twins’ management of him. Held back for only designated hitting so far, warmer weather and surer footing could prompt occasionally using his fielding gifts in center field.

Buxton’s athleticism on the bases has helped the Twins, too, but health concerns seem likely to limit his stolen base attempts. “…I am not sure stolen bases are ever going to be a big part of Byron’s game, in my opinion,” St. Peter said.

The Twins’ team batting average of .237 ranks seventh in the 15-team American League. The club is in a fourth place tie for home runs with 38 and is eighth in runs scored at 134. Minnesota is a plus 26 in runs over their opponents. Injuries have at time caused some of the team’s better hitters to miss games and the statistics may indicate the Twins can produce better offensively as the season progresses.

The Twins’ pitching depth will be tested in the coming weeks with injuries sidelining starters Tyler Mahle and Kenta Maeda. Mahle will be out about four weeks with expectations Maeda will return sooner.

Mahle has a a posterior impingement and a flexor pronator strain in his right arm. Maeda has a right triceps strain.

Mahle is 1-2 with a 3:16 ERA and his regular spot in the rotation will be taken tomorrow night in Chicago by Louie Varland. Bailey Ober started in place of Maeda on Saturday and gave up four hits in 5.1 innings in a game the Twins went on to lose. Maeda, who missed all of last season following Tommy John surgery, has struggled in 2023 with a 0-4 record and 9.00 ERA. Mahle knows past frustration, too, after missing a number of starts last season because of a shoulder injury.

The Twins’ ERA of .348 is fourth best in the American League. Nobody has been better for Minnesota than Sonny Gray, 4-0 with a 0.77 ERA. “His baseball acumen is through the charts,” St. Peter said. “He understands the hitters. He is obviously executing his pitches. So I don’t think anybody inside the Twins is surprised that Sonny Gray is having success. He has obviously been unbelievably dominant. …”

St. Peter said the Twins don’t think in terms of one pitcher being the staff ace or stopper. He believes Joe Ryan and Pablo Lopez, along with Gray, are capable of being the starter in the opening game of a playoff series.

Good news for the Twins regarding injuries is that utility player Kyle Farmer could return to the team later this week, or for sure when the Twins start their next homestand May 9. Farmer was hit in the face by a pitch April 12 and sidelined until recently but is rehabbing at AAA St. Paul.

Unusually cool weather this spring has hurt Twins home attendance. Minnesota ranks No. 22 of 30 teams averaging 18,492, per ESPN.com. “It’s been a tough April,” St. Peter said.

Dave St. Peter photo courtesy of Minnesota Twins.

Because Target Field is located on a small site, the likelihood is about zero a roof would ever be added. But St. Peter points out Target Field is considered one of the best ballpark experiences in the country. He contrasted the ballpark and Minneapolis weather with iconic Wrigley Field and Chicago. “Nobody talks about putting a roof on Wrigley Field. They’ve dealt with all the same weather issues we’ve dealt with this April.”

Feedback has been positive among Twins fans regarding MLB’s rule changes that include a pitch timer. Shorter games and more action are positive trends for the Twins and other teams.

Fans are also approving of the club’s new uniform offerings. “The new brand look is doing very well at retail,” St. Peter said. “Very pleased and I agree…they do look fantastic. The most popular jersey is the Twin Cities jersey.”

Lou Nanne on the Minnesota Wild

Lou Nanne, the revered hockey authority who played for the North Stars and also served as GM and president during a long run with Minnesota’s first NHL franchise, believes the Wild is better than the Stars team that won last week’s Stanley Cup opening playoff series in six games. Stars goalie Jake Oettinger and teammates limited the Wild’s scoring including flagship performer Kirill Kaprizov who often had two or three defenders around him. It didn’t help, either, that Minnesota’s experienced center Joel Eriksson Ek played in only one game because of a lower body injury.

Why does Nanne consider the Wild better than Dallas? “I think they got a deeper team. I think they have more intensity, more grit. They have players that can play it (style) anyway you want. Unfortunately, for them their best players didn’t get on the scoreboard. Coming into the playoffs like Kaprizov had been out 14 games. Erickson-Ek was missing. …(Face) a hot goal tender in those playoff series, that team could win.”

Nanne praised rookie shutdown defenseman Brock Faber who in the month of April played for the Golden Gophers in the Frozen Four and then in two regular season and five playoff games for the Wild. Faber was traded to Minnesota by the Kings last year after Los Angeles had drafted him in 2020. Not only does it look like Faber will produce for the Wild for a long time, but he has leadership qualities that could one day result in being a captain of the team.

Nanne won’t make suggestions as to what GM Bill Guerin should do to improve the Wild during the offseason. “I have no idea. I am not going to be saying what changes they have to make. That’s up to Guerin and his staff. I did that for long enough. Everybody can second guess, have their opinions, but it’s going to be up to the brass to decide.”

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