Niklas Backstrom – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

U Legend Predicts Big Ten Football Title

Posted on October 21, 2015October 21, 2015 by David Shama

Bobby Bell predicts the football Gophers will win a Big Ten championship in the next couple of years. “I believe in what they’re doing,” Bell told Sports Headliners.

Bell was a two-time All-American tackle for Minnesota in 1961-1962. He won the 1962 Outland Trophy as the nation’s most outstanding lineman. Gophers football historians place him at or near the top of any list of the program’s greatest players.

Although he lives in the Kansas City area, Bell was in town last weekend for the Gophers game on Saturday, and to watch the Chiefs, his former NFL team, take on the Vikings. He was asked if Minnesota can win the Big Ten in the next five years?

“Oh, yeah,” Bell answered. “I would say in another year or two. …”

Bell not only believes in head coach Jerry Kill but also bases his optimism about the program’s future on the support for athletics by University of Minnesota president Eric Kaler. Another reason Bell is upbeat about the Gophers is the commitment to build new football facilities that will help with recruiting.

When Bell watches Minnesota he sees a roster that is only a few key players away from being “trouble” for the rest of the Big Ten. More talent and the coaching of Kill and staff will deliver a title, he believes.

Bell was a great athlete who also played basketball for the Gophers. In college he was 6-4 and about 225 pounds, and he could play multiple positions. He competed during an era when freshmen weren’t eligible for varsity competition and during his first fall at Minnesota he played quarterback on the frosh team.

Coach Murray Warmath switched the Shelby, North Carolina native to tackle because highly recruited Sandy Stephens was a year ahead of Bell in eligibility and was establishing himself at quarterback. If Stephens, who was a 1961 All-American, hadn’t been at Minnesota, could Bell have been an All-American quarterback?

“Yeah, I think so,” Bell answered. “I played every position. I told them, wherever you need me, I’ll play. If you can coach (the position), I can play it, so they switched me from quarterback to offensive tackle, defensive end, center. I could have played them all. I did the same things in the pros, too. Played anywhere.”

Bell was the important player during the last dominant era of Minnesota football. From 1960-1962 the Gophers won Big Ten and national championships. They played in two Rose Bowls, winning the 1962 game 21-3 against UCLA. In a three year stretch the team’s record was 22 wins, 6 losses and 1 tie. Minnesota only lost four conference games from 1960-1962.

The 1962 team lost the Big Ten title in the last game of the season when an official made a controversial call on Bell for roughing the Wisconsin passer. The penalty helped set up the winning fourth quarter touchdown for the Badgers in the 14-9 game played in Madison. Bell, his teammates and Warmath never got over that game they felt was taken away from them.

Later that fall Bell met John F. Kennedy who had seen the game. It didn’t take the president long to tell Bell he thought the Gophers got “a raw deal.”

All these years later that’s small consolation for a Big Ten title lost. No doubt Bell looks forward to his prediction about Kill’s first conference title coming true.

Worth Noting

The Gophers basketball team will have a free scrimmage open to the public on Sunday at Williams Arena. The scrimmage begins at 4 p.m. with doors opening at 3:30 p.m. After the scrimmage players and coaches will sign autographs in the concourse. Minnesota’s opening game, an exhibition against Minnesota Crookston, is on November 1 at Williams Arena.

Wolves rookie Karl-Anthony Towns and 21-year veteran Kevin Garnett are on one of the regional covers of Sports Illustrated’s NBA preview. The magazine has printed four covers and the issue with Towns and Garnett is for sale on newsstands starting today.

The Timberwolves played the Bucks last night in Madison and will see the same team in a final preseason game Friday evening in Minneapolis. The Bucks roster includes former Robbinsdale Cooper star Rashad Vaughn who has been among the rookie scoring leaders in the NBA, frequently totaling double figures.

The coaching staff includes ex-Cretin-Derham Hall and St. Thomas player Sean Sweeney. He has worked his way up in the coaching profession, having started with assistant positions at Anoka-Ramsey Community College and the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

“It’s really kind of a cool story,” said Steve Fritz, who coached Sweeney at St. Thomas from 2001-2006. “He was our point guard. You could tell he was a student of the game.”

Sweeney was director of basketball operations at the University of Evansville and video coordinator at Northern Iowa before joining the NBA’s Nets in December of 2011 as the team’s assistant video coordinator. He was named a Bucks assistant to head coach Jason Kidd in 2014 and is known for his defensive knowledge. “He certainly lives the game,” said Fritz.

Fritz, 66, is in his 25th year as the St. Thomas athletic director. He retired as men’s basketball coach in 2011.

Dan O’Brien, Gophers senior associate athletic director, said his teenage son Casey had a successful surgery for cancer recently. In November the plan is for chemotherapy and then to be cancer free.

Todd Richards, the former Wild head coach now leading the Blue Jackets, has the only winless team in the NHL. The 0-7 Blue Jackets have given up a league high 34 goals, and play the Wild tomorrow night at Xcel Energy Center. Richards, a Crystal, Minnesota native, coached the Wild from 2009-2011.

The Wild have 12 players on the 23-man roster who are 25 or younger. That nucleus will be a key to sustaining playoff success on an annual basis. The youngest player is 21-year-old defenseman Matt Dumba, while the oldest is 37-year-old goalie Niklas Backstrom, who the Wild no doubt would like to swap in the right trade.

It’s a disappointing end to the season for Eagan High School alum Zach Zenner who made the Lions roster as an undrafted rookie free agent. Zenner suffered cracked ribs and a collapsed lung in the first half of Sunday’s Lions win over the Bears. He had been playing on special teams and as a reserve running back, gaining 60 yards on 17 carries.

The 3-2 Vikings, who play the 1-5 Lions in Detroit on Sunday, won the first game between the two teams, 26-16. The Vikings are 70-36-2 all-time against the Lions, including 31-22-1 in Detroit.

Any transplanted Minnesota sports fans now living in the Phoenix area have to be looking forward to an odd scheduling stretch in December. The Vikings play the Cardinals in suburban Glendale on December 10, the Wild have a game in Glendale against the Coyotes December 11, and then the Timberwolves are hosted by the Suns December 13 in Phoenix.

Twins fans can take encouragement from the Royals who are in the playoffs and trying to make the World Series for a second consecutive season. From 2003 through 2012 the Royals lost 90-plus games eight times, according to Wikipedia. Three of those seasons they lost over 100 games. The Royals rebuilt their roster and farm system through the draft—like the Twins are doing after 90-plus loss seasons from 2011-2014. This year the Twins improved to 83-79.

Although an official announcement granting Minnesota a Major League Soccer franchise is expected soon, it’s not known yet what the first year of operation will be. Minnesota and one other market are expected to be awarded a franchise.

Among the interesting facts about the MLS is the upper range of team payrolls is about $19 million. The most successful teams in the standings right now have payrolls of about $4 million.

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State Making Basketball History Now

Posted on June 26, 2015August 22, 2015 by David Shama

The state of Minnesota made basketball history last night during the NBA Draft. Tyus Jones and Rashad Vaughn became the first pair of Minnesotans to be selected in the draft’s first round. The Timberwolves for the first time in franchise history had the NBA’s overall No. 1 pick and chose Karl-Anthony Towns.

A long list of native Minnesotans—from Cole Aldrich to Royce White—have been first round draft choices but never in the same year have two players from the state been selected as Jones and Vaughn were last night. Jones was expected to be selected before Vaughn but the shooting guard was the No. 17 pick of the Bucks. Jones landed with the Wolves after a trade with the Cavs who chose him at No. 24.

Towns, the 6-11, 250-pound center from Kentucky, was anticipated to be the team’s first draft choice. He can score inside and outside, and is an athletic defender. “He’s incredibly versatile,” ESPN draft analyst Jay Bilas said last night on the air.

The network reported last evening the Wolves are now the first NBA team to ever have three overall No. 1 draft choices on a roster. In a trade with the Cavs last year the Wolves acquired 2013 No. 1 pick Anthony Bennett and 2014 No. 1 selection Andrew Wiggins. In April Wiggins became the first Wolves player in franchise history to be NBA Rookie of the Year.

Minnesota prep basketball made history this spring with the announcement Apple Valley High School players Gary Trent Jr. and Tre Jones earned roster spots on the USA Basketball Men’s Under-16 team. It was the first time two Minnesotans have been selected for the Under-16 team at the same time. With Trent and Jones being from the same high school, the achievement was even more distinct.

Tre Jones, of course, is the brother of Tyus who saw four other point guards selected last night before his name was called. But the 19-year-old former Apple Valley and Duke star couldn’t have asked for more than to start his NBA career in Minneapolis.

It was a special night for Vaughn, too, who played at Cooper High School before finishing his prep career in Las Vegas. Only 18, Vaughn played as a freshman at UNLV before declaring for the draft. Vaughn is known as an excellent shooter with a big time stroke who could be a “steal” for the Bucks.

Worth Noting

The Gophers men’s basketball team will play Oklahoma State of the Big 12 in a nonconference game on Saturday, December 12 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls. The schools haven’t played against one another since 1986. Minnesota leads the all-time series 3-2.

The Twins have placed outfielder Byron Buxton on the 15-day disabled list with a left thumb sprain, an injury that occurred on Tuesday attempting to steal second base. To replace Buxton on the 25-man roster, the Twins have recalled infielder Danny Santana from Triple-A Rochester. Santana has hit .308 (20-for-65) with six doubles, three triples and five RBI in 15 games for the Red Wings since being optioned by the Twins on June 7.

The Wolves had a full page advertisement in today’s Star Tribune featuring No. 1 draft choice Karl-Anthony Towns and also picturing five players from the current roster. Noticeably absent was often injured center Nikola Pekovic.

The new Timberwolves and Lynx training center has interesting amenities including three plunge treatment pools and one therapy pool; three steam rooms and two saunas; five locker rooms and two film rooms; 9-foot doors and 8-foot showerheads; a players lounge and nutrition center. The Timberwolves and Lynx Courts at Mayo Clinic Square is a $25 million (private investment) facility that is both a training center and corporate headquarters for the teams. Located across the street from Target Center on First Avenue North, Mayo Clinic Square is a first of its kind facility in the NBA and WNBA. The Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center in the complex is available to all athletes.

Former Gopher basketball players Don Linehan, Larry Overskei and Paul Presthus visited John Kundla last week in advance of their ex-coach’s 99th birthday on July 3.

“I feel like a million but I’m only 99,” Kundla said with a smile at his living care facility in northeast Minneapolis. Presthus reported the quip in an e-mail where he also wrote: “John looked great, is self-sufficient and was sharp as could be.”

Kundla was the Gophers coach from 1959-1968, and Linehan, Overskei and Presthus played for him. “John is as humble as they come, a true gentleman, (and) one of the nicest men I ever met, and he always treated his players with respect,” Presthus said in the e-mail.

Before becoming Gophers coach, Kundla coached the Minneapolis Lakers to five world professional championships, the last in 1954. Presthus said there was storytelling about the Gophers and Lakers, and plenty of laughs during the visit. “We spent about an hour visiting with him before he had to leave to go to mass,” Presthus wrote.

The Wild want “to get bigger and more physical” with personnel moves at the NHL Entry Draft today and tomorrow, according to a hockey source who asked that his name not be used. Playing better “around the boards and the net, and not getting outmuscled” is needed for the Wild to continue its ascent among NHL competition and to play more effectively against clubs like the Blackhawks, Ducks and Kings.

Wing Thomas Vanek, 31, had a disappointing initial season for the Wild. The source said Minnesota might release or trade the former Gopher, speculating a return to the Wild could be 50-50.

The return next season of expensive 37-year-old goalie Niklas Backstrom seems unlikely. He reportedly earned $3.75 million last season and will be paid more under terms of his contract for next year. Of course the team’s goalie priority is re-signing 29-year-old Devan Dubnyk. The source said Dubnyk wants $5 to $6 million annually and Minnesota might now be willing to pay $4 million.

Vanek is one of 17 Gopher Hockey alums who played in the NHL last season. Here is the list: Mark Alt (Philadelphia), Keith Ballard (Minnesota), Stu Bickel (Minnesota), Nick Bjugstad (Florida), Alex Goligoski (Dallas), Erik Haula (Minnesota), Seth Helgeson (New Jersey), Erik Johnson (Colorado), Phil Kessel (Toronto), Nick Leddy (New York Islanders), Jordan Leopold (St. Louis/Columbus/Minnesota), Paul Martin (Pittsburgh), Kyle Okposo (New York Islanders), Nate Schmidt (Washington), Jordan Schroeder (Minnesota), Thomas Vanek (Minnesota) and Blake Wheeler (Winnipeg).

About 2,000 fans are expected to attend tonight’s Summer Bash and NHL Draft Viewing Party from 6 to 9 p.m. at Xcel Energy Center. In addition to watching the draft on TV from Florida, fans can visit the Wild locker room and press box. Wild players Keith Ballard, Ryan Carter, Charlie Coyle, Matt Dumba, Jordan Leopold and Jason Zucker are scheduled for photos and autographs.

Players and coaches representing 79 schools and 27 conferences are expected to participate in tomorrow’s annual MFCA Tackle Cancer All-Star Football Game in Husky Stadium at St. Cloud State. Players (2015 high school grads) and coaches were selected by members of the Minnesota Football Coaches Association.

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Dubnyk and Wild Look at Big Stage

Posted on March 30, 2015March 30, 2015 by David Shama

What an interesting spring this will be for the Wild and “Superman” goalie Devan Dubnyk.

The Wild has six regular season games remaining before the Stanley Cup playoffs begin. A franchise with shaky playoff ambitions a few months ago, the Wild has made a remarkable recovery since acquiring Dubnyk in a trade. The man wearing a “Wild cape” has won 26 times in 34 games for Minnesota. The NHL’s hottest team and hottest goalie look like they will not only play in the postseason, but be a favorite for a deep run.

In the playoffs a superb goalie can be even more valuable than during the regular season. With a short series, it’s win or start relaxing on the golf course. The Wild and their fans hope they see the same goalie in the playoffs they’ve watched with awe in January, February and March.

That’s not a guarantee, though. Despite Dubnyk’s superhero performance so far he is (as far as we know) human. In his NHL career with three other clubs he didn’t win or compile the same impressive goals against average (1.70) and save percentages (.939) as with the Wild. A change in goaltending technique that better helps him track the puck receives at least partial credit for the upgrade that puts Dubnyk among the league’s best goalies now.

Dubnyk’s salary, reportedly at $800,000, certainly doesn’t place him among the NHL’s top paid goalies. At 28, with five previous seasons in the league, he is a journeyman who has found sudden success, almost like a character in a Broadway play. Dubnyk turns 29 on May 4 and if the Wild are still in the playoffs and toying with the possibility of winning Minnesota’s first Stanley Cup ever, it will be a great script for the 6-foot-6 Canadian.

Dubnyk, who has led the Wild to five straight wins and 10 in a row on the road, is an unrestricted free agent after this season and unless he flops in the coming weeks he will command a huge pay upgrade. Not as much compensation as Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist’s $8.5 million per season (per Spotrac.com) but perhaps in the $4 million to $5 million range.

Those numbers are much more likely if Dubnyk doesn’t lose his kryptonite and the Wild at least make the Western Conference Finals, if not the Stanley Cup finals. An NHL title is a no-brainer for a long-term deal at major money.

Dubnyk is in his prime career years and 2015 could be his best and last chance to secure a max deal. Lundqvist is the league’s top paid goalie and six others make $6 million or more, according to Spotrac’s 2014 goalie salary rankings. If Dubynk is wowing the NHL as summer approaches, Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher will have competition in re-signing the goalie he aced with his trade last January, giving up a third round draft choice to the Coyotes.

If Dubnyk has the Wild in a bidding war, the team’s fans can feel some confidence about owner Craig Leipold’s willingness to open his wallet. Leipold wants to win and he puts that in writing every time he signs the checks of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter, two players he signed to long-term $98 million deals in July of 2012.

The challenge for the Wild, though, is how to fit all the salaries on their roster together and stay near the league’s expected payroll cap of about $73 million. Part of the puzzle and challenge is there are other free agents beyond Dubnyk. One helpful move could be to buyout the contract of backup goalie Niklas Backstrom who reportedly is due $4 million for next season.

The summer of 2012 was interesting. This spring will have its own drama.

Worth Noting

In Sports Illustrated’s baseball preview issue last week the magazine included a story on Byron Buxton, saying he can “hit to all fields like Kirby Puckett, possesses the arm of Russell Wilson” and “is nearly as fast as Bo Jackson.” The 21- year-old center fielder is ranked No. 1 by Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com, according to the magazine, and the publication reports the much-hyped Twins prospect threw a 98 miles per hour fast ball in high school and has been timed in 3.9 seconds from home plate to first base.

The Minnesota Football Coaches Association has honored the O’Brien family including Gophers senior associate athletic director Dan O’Brien and his 15-year-old son Casey O’Brien with its Cal Stoll Award. Casey has recovered from bone cancer after an ordeal that included a seven hour operation and 24 rounds of chemotherapy. His support group includes his family and Gophers coach Jerry Kill who has praised the young man for his courage. The award is named after Stoll, the former Gophers football coach, and is given to someone who has overcome adversity.

The MFCA honored Dwight Lundeen, the only coach in Becker High School football history, as its Man of the Year on Saturday night. Lundeen coached Becker to 13 consecutive wins last year including the 4A state title.

The MFCA’s Minnesota Football Clinic had a record 1,263 registrations and 67 vendors last week. The clinic dates next year are March 31, April 1 and 2.

Joe Haeg, the 6-6, 300-pound former Brainerd High School player who walked on at North Dakota State and is now an All-American, has the interest of pro scouts and might be selected as an offensive tackle in the early rounds of the 2016 NFL Draft. He will be a senior for the Bison this fall.

Greg Kleven reported in the March 26 Eden Prairie Sun Current that Eden Prairie High School safety and linebacker Blake Cashman will be a preferred walk-on with the Gophers this summer. Kleven wrote that Cashman turned down Division I offers from Iowa State and North Dakota State, hoping to earn a scholarship at Minnesota.

Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino signed four recruits late last year for his 2015 incoming class this summer. He has three more scholarships available, although not all of them maybe used this spring. “We believe we will have a top-25 recruiting class when it’s all said and done,” Pitino wrote on his Gophersports.com blog last week.

Big Ten women’s basketball drew a record total of more than 869,000 fans for the home games of its 14 conference teams this past season. The Gophers, with an average of 3,846, finished 10th in average home attendance.

The women’s WCHA is represented by 40 current or former players at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships that started last Saturday and continues through April 4 in Malmö, Sweden. Seventeen of the women played during the 2014-15 season, while 23 are WCHA alumnae. The list includes three Gophers from the 2015 national championship team: Hannah Brandt, Dani Cameranesi and Lee Stecklein.

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