Preps – Page 29 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Wild Owner Praises “Special Team”

Posted on May 1, 2022 by David Shama

Craig Leipold has owned the Minnesota Wild since 2008. Before that he owned another NHL franchise, the Nashville Predators.

“This is the best team I’ve had in 22 years of owning an NHL (club),” he told Sports Headliners. “It is the full package; very few weaknesses on this team. …It’s a special team and I think special things are going to happen.”

The Wild finished the regular season Friday night with a 53-22-7 record and second place in the Central Division. That’s the franchise’s best record ever. When Leipold owned the Predators they had best seasons of 51 and 49 wins.

The Wild open the playoffs at home Monday night against the St. Louis Blues. Even a casual Wild fan wonders whether this Minnesota team can make a deep playoff run and perhaps win the league’s ultimate prize, the Stanley Cup. That would be a first for the Wild franchise that started as an expansion franchise in the 2000-2001 season.

“It’s a fine line,” Leipold said. “It takes a lot of luck, let’s be honest. It takes a healthy team. It takes a hot goal tender. It takes very opportunistic goals at the right time. And we have the ability to do all of that.

“We don’t have many weaknesses—and our power play and penalty killing I guess would be the two. But five-on-five we’re in the top of the league. You play five-on-five for 80 to 90 percent of the game so I like our chances.

“The first round against the St. Louis Blues is going to be a really good series. If you’re a hockey fan, you’re going to want to watch these two teams play.”

A developing worry since Leipold spoke to Sports Headliners is Friday night’s injury to forward Marcus Foligno. He left the game against the Colorado Avalanche after being kneed in the first period. Part of a shutdown line, his potential absence in the playoffs would be a setback for Minnesota.

Leipold watched his team practice late last week and he saw energized players enjoying themselves, not a group worn down by the grind of the 82-game regular season. “You can tell, they’re just having a great time.”

Leipold hired general manager Bill Guerin in August of 2019. He has renovated the roster and installed former assistant coach Dean Evason as head coach. Guerin, who came from the Pittsburgh Penguins as assistant GM, has shown a discerning eye for both evaluating player talent and character.

Guerin has earned the owner’s trust and confidence in making moves like adding defenseman Dmitri Kulikov last summer. The 31-year-old veteran’s experience and skills were a welcome addition to the roster, and presumably, too, is the Russian’s fit in the locker room where he joined countryman Kirill Kaprizov, last season’s NHL Rookie of the Year.

“Billy knows he’s got the green light to do any of those kinds of deals,” Leipold said. “He doesn’t need my approval for that. He’ll just do that deal. …I was very happy to get a player like Kulikov on our team.”

There is something else about Guerin that impresses Leipold a lot and it’s the GM’s will to win. “He wants to win a Stanley Cup where he is the general manager. Where this is his team. …It’s great to have a GM and a leader in that department that is driven that way.”

Kaprizov led the team in regular season goals, assists and points. He is in the first season of a five-year deal. Kevin Fiala was second in goals and points, and the Wild face a salary cap crunch trying to re-sign the restricted free agent in the off season. “I can tell you when we look at players we want to sign next year, Kevin Fiala is on top of the list,” Leipold said.

The owner can’t be sure he and Guerin will be able to retain Fiala. “If we were unencumbered by a cap system, we would spend whatever it takes to get him. But we live in a salary cap world and Kevin has played himself into a very good contract for next year, and we’ll see where it goes.”

The Wild and other NHL teams went through the worst of financial times at the height of the pandemic when fans weren’t allowed to attend games. Now the Wild are playing before sellout crowds and that’s significant in the NHL where gate receipts are vital to the bottom line.

Leipold said all the home playoff games will be sellouts and his expectation is the same for the 2022-2023 season. “The fans are spectacular. They see in this team a special team as well.”

Worth Noting

Anyone remember a Gopher player performing a song at halftime of a U spring football game? That’s what happened yesterday when sixth-year tight end Sam Pickerign sang on the field while a TV audience watched on the Big Ten Network.

Head coach P.J. Fleck also used his creativity showcasing wide receiver Michael Brown-Stephens who was targeted for numerous passes and also lined up in the backfield while his high school brother, Anthony Brown, watched from the sidelines. Brown is a four-star receiving prospect from Springfield, Ohio who has shown considerable interest in Minnesota.

Brown-Stephens was one of three spring game MVP’s along with defensive back Miles Fleming and kicker Matthew Trickett.

The maroon and gold defenses impressed in the intra-squad game, with defensive line redshirt freshman Austin Booker and Western Kentucky transfer cornerback Beanie Bishop among the standouts.

Byron Buxton apparently likes the month of April. Although the Twins center fielder missed some games with injuries, including yesterday, he played enough to lead the team in home runs and RBI (11). His six homers rank near the top among MLB leaders.

Buxton’s April a year ago was spectacular when he won the American League Player of the Month award. He hit .426, with eight home runs and 14 RBI. He scored 15 runs, with a .466 on-base percentage, an .897 slugging percentage and a 1.363 OPS. He set Twins records for March/April in batting average, slugging percentage and OPS. His OPS broke a Twins record for any month, surpassing Joe Mauer’s 1.338.

Hall of Fame-bound Tony Oliva has signed a partnership agreement with Dan Stoltz and locally based SPIRE Credit Union. Oliva will appear in TV commercials and other promotions for SPIRE.

The baseball Gophers will host Nebraska next weekend for a three-game series at Siebert Field. On Saturday Minnesota will honor past teams including the 1960 Big Ten and NCAA championship team. The Gophers also won national titles in 1956 and 1964. No Big Ten baseball team has won the NCAA championship since 1966.

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D’Lo Due to Lift Wolves’ Offense

Posted on April 20, 2022April 20, 2022 by David Shama

“Mr. Inconsistent,” D’Angelo Russell, just might give the Timberwolves the scoring lift they need tomorrow night to pull back ahead of the Grizzlies in the first round NBA playoff series tied at 1-1.

The Wolves ‘enigmatic guard averaged 31 points against the Grizzlies in four regular season games. But in the first two playoff games he is averaging 10.5, converting 22.7 percent of his field goal attempts. That’s a big contrast from the 19.4 points he averaged in five games for the Nets in the 2018-2019 playoffs.

After last night’s 124-96 blowout loss to the Grizzlies,Wolves coach Chris Finch acknowledged his offense let him down. The switching and pesky Memphis defense bothered all the Wolves including Russell. Finch suggested his players can make adjustments including better ball movement to find open teammates.

The Grizzlies are among the NBA’s highest scoring teams and totaled 117 points in their loss to the Wolves Saturday. Minnesota is going to need more offense than producing 96 points to keep the series competitive. Russell must step up starting tomorrow night at Target Center.

Finch said the Wolves need to get him better looks at the basket but D’Lo can also be more decisive with his shot selection. It’s not like big games are too challenging for the 6-4 guard. Just last week in the team’s Play-in-Tournament win over the Clippers he scored 29, while making 10 of 18 shots. Part of the Wolves’ big three all season, Russell complemented Anthony Edwards who scored 30 points and both players helped make up for a dismal 11 point, foul plagued performance by Karl-Anthony Towns.

A peaks-and-valleys career performer, Russell is now with his fourth NBA team in seven seasons. He’s been in the valley against the Grizzlies in Memphis but maybe he can climb the mountain in Minneapolis with games Thursday and Saturday night.

Worth Noting

Minnetonka administrators made a savvy hire this week with the appointment of Brian Cosgriff as the Skippers’ girls basketball coach. Before retiring in 2020, the high character coach won seven Minnesota state championships at Hopkins, with a career record of 569-67.

Eric Musselman, who the Gophers likely could have hired on two occasions during the last 10 years, has his Arkansas basketball team drawing top five mentions for best team in the country next season. Musselman’s 2022 recruiting class is No. 2 in the nation, per 247Sports.

Gophers quarterback Tanner Morgan, a starter since 2018, is effusive about the return of offensive coordinator Kirk Ciarrocca, who mentored him from 2017-2019. “I have known him for a long time, and obviously he means a lot to me,” Morgan said.

Morgan, 27-12 as a starter and the winningest quarterback in program history, said that as a 17-year-old he was “terrified” of Ciarrocca. “When I first got here I was afraid to make mistakes and stuff like that. That relationship is awesome (now) and I am very thankful that he came back.”

Indications are the aggressive passing game—including slant patterns—that the Gophers had so much success with under Ciarrocca in 2019 will return in 2022. Wide receivers Chris Autman–Bell and Dylan Wright will likely be frequent targets, with opportunities, too, for tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford. Prediction here is 30-35 receptions and four-five touchdown catches next season for the talented Spann-Ford who was under utilized last year.

Autman-Bell talking about promising Western Kentucky and Abilene Christian cornerback transfers Beanie Bishop and Ryan Stapp who he faces in practice: “Those guys are going to be ballplayers for the Gopher Nation. …I got nothing but love for them.”

Starting linebacker and team leader Mariano Sori-Marin talking about the progress of the defense this spring: “I’ve just been really excited about how tough (physical) we’ve been playing.”

Barry Mayer, who led the University of Minnesota in rushing in 1969 and 1970, chuckled over a conversation he had with a current Gopher at practice on Saturday. Today’s players like to wear their football pants, including knee pads, close to mid-thigh. Mayer suggested to the Gopher that knee pads should cover knees. “He looked at me and said, ‘Not in this generation.’ “

ESPN.com’s Jeff Legwold wrote earlier this week former Gopher tackle Daniel Faalele will be the biggest player in the upcoming NFL Draft at 6-8, 384 pounds. Legwold reported Faalele said at the NFL Combine he weighed 426 pounds in his early days at Minnesota. The Australian native is one of the biggest NFL prospects ever and could be drafted in the second or third round.

I am feeling confident about predictions after the Timberwolves went 46-36 in the regular season (forecast 45 wins). Here’s a guess on the Twins’ final record: 76-86.

The MLB Morning Lineup email newsletter has the Twins No. 19 in its power rankings. The Dodgers, who swept the Twins in Minneapolis, are No. 1 in the listings—with Minnesota’s division rivals ranked like this: White Sox, No. 3; Guardians, No. 14; Tigers, No. 17; and Royals, No. 25.

Trivia buff John Justice from Edina points out Highland Park High School in the Dallas area has amazing sports alums including Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw who no- hit the Twins last week over seven innings and helped his team become 2020 World Series champs. Other famous names are 2022 Masters winner Scottie Scheffler, 2022 Super Bowl winning quarterback Matthew Stafford and football immortal Doak Walker.

Minneapolis attorney Marshall Tanick will talk about “Law and Lore of Baseball in Minnesota” on Thursday at the Dakota County Law Library. He is a long time observer of sports and law in the state, including the historic attempt to contract the Twins in 2001. Tanick is a former sportswriter at the University of Minnesota and a Stanford law school graduate.

The CORES luncheon group welcomes Gregg Wong as its guest speaker May 12 at the Bloomington Event Center. The Minneapolis native is a former sportswriter for the Pioneer Press who covered the Gophers and Minnesota’s pro teams, and reported from two Olympics. Reservations must be made by May 9. For more information contact Jim Dotseth: dotsethj@comcast.net. CORES is an acronym for coaches, officials, reporters, educators and sports fans.

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Kirk Cousins Ongoing Talk of the Town

Posted on April 3, 2022 by David Shama

Try opening your phone and not finding a recent story about Vikings’ quarterback Kirk Cousins. This market is obsessed with the Vikings and Cousins—even five months away from the next NFL season.

Fans (knowledgeable or not) have strong feelings about Cousins and the Vikings who have missed out on the last two playoffs. Cousins and former head coach Mike Zimmer, while they have their supporters, have frequently been vilified by the public.

Cousins, who is among the best paid players in NFL history at $35 million this year, is a polarizing figure that the media and fanbase scrutinize constantly. Former Vikings’ linebacker Ben Leber suspects Cousins is among the “most polarizing” athletes in Minnesota sports history.

Head coaches and quarterbacks can cause that kind of divide. In Minnesota it has gone to extremes because Vikings mania goes on 12 months per year.

If Cousins hasn’t performed up to expectations since he arrived here in 2018, all the media and fan “noise” probably isn’t to blame. “I don’t think he allows a lot of outside distractions,” Leber told Sports Headliners. “I am sure he hears it and feels it and all that stuff but he is so regimented about his day that I don’t think that he’s going to really let that affect him. …”

What may improve the chances of Cousins being a huge contributor to a Vikings’ return to the playoffs is his relationship with new head coach Kevin O’Connell. The 33-year-old Cousins had a rocky status with Zimmer, while O’Connell worked effectively with him in 2017 with the Washington Redskins.

Leber refers to a “black cloud” hanging over Cousins in the past. “I think he is going to walk in now feeling like he is wanted there, and feeling like this offense and this team and the coaching staff is going to be behind him,” Leber said.

Leber, who remains close to the Vikings organization, said an absence of communication and rapport had to impact leadership coming from their quarterback.

“Well, I can’t image it not being a factor. When it’s publicly known that the head coach and the quarterback don’t necessarily have a relationship I think that’s an issue for any team.

“I think it’s a responsibility that the head coach has…to have that connection to the quarterback, whether you’re an offensive minded guy or defensive minded guy. Everybody knows that these 32 NFL quarterbacks are the most important player on the team, and most important person outside of the head coach. So the dynamic has to be solid. …I am not saying they have to be holding hands walking down the hallway, but I think it has to be respectful, and it didn’t sound like it was.”

This offseason, per Leber, there was a players’ meeting where team issues were candidly discussed. He was told about the gathering and won’t reveal a lot of details but said teammates of Cousins were wowed with the quarterback’s leadership.

Cousins reportedly verbalized concerns from the past season in ways those in the meeting never expected at the Vikings complex in Eagan, Leber said. “It certainly seemed like it turned some guys’ heads as far as Kirk’s leadership.”

Worth Noting

Gopher coach P.J. Fleck reads children’s books to his players on Friday nights before games. He read “Elephant Me” to high school coaches last Friday evening at the annual Minnesota Football Coaches Clinic. Educated as a sixth grade social studies teacher, Fleck uses children’s books to share life messages such as being true to who you are.

The clinic registered nearly 1,500 attendees, breaking the old record of 1,412 set in 2012.

Peter Usset, the former defensive coordinator at Henry Sibley High School, is the new head coach at Apple Valley. His staff includes 2008 Minnesota Mr. Football Varmah Sonie who played for the Eagles.

At the clinic and a Saturday night banquet the MFCA honored many state football leaders including Hall of Fame inductees from two different categories. High School Division: William White, Westbrook/Monticello; Bob “Bubba” Sullivan, Northfield; Dean Aurich, Mayer Lutheran; Gary Sloan, Grand Meadow; Rob Nielsen, Detroit Lakes. College Division: Gary Fasching, St. John’s.

Hutchinson’s Andy Rostberg was honored as 2021 Coach of the Year. His Tigers were 12-1 last year and won the Class 4A state title.

While rookie Joe Ryan starts the Twins’ home opener Thursday, ex-Minnesota veteran Jose Berrios will have opening day honors for the Blue Jays. Former Twin Lance Lynn’s status as the White Sox’s opening day starter appears uncertain after a reported knee injury yesterday.

The MLB Morning Lineup newsletter ranked the top 100 players in the majors, with Twins shortstop Carlos Correa No. 14, center fielder Byron Buxton No. 39 and former Twin DH Nelson Cruz, now with the Nationals, No. 90.

The Twins announced this morning they have reassigned left-handed pitcher Devin Smeltzer and outfielder Jake Cave to minor league camp. Minnesota optioned left-handed pitcher Jovani Moran to the Triple-A Saints.

Jim Lehman will be attend his 27th Masters this week. Representing his Minnetonka-based pro sports management company, he will be working with clients including Fargo’s Tom Hoge who is enjoying a breakthrough PGA season.

It was 25 years ago last week Clem Haskins’ Golden Gophers lost to Kentucky at the Final Four in Indianapolis.

After the tragic death of his son last summer, many in the college hockey world will be pulling for coach Bob Motzko to win the Frozen Four that starts Thursday night in Boston. The Gophers will be trying to win their first national title since 2003 and first under Motzko now in his fourth season at Minnesota.

Minnesota Junior forward Ben Meyers, a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, leads the Gophers with 41 points this season (17 goals, 24 assists). That’s the most points by a Gopher since Rem Pitlick (45) and Tyler Sheehy (41) in 2018-19.

Vikings executive Lester Bagley, a franchise leader for years on community and business initiatives including the building of U.S. Bank Stadium, is the latest guest on the “Behind the Game” program seen on local cable markets and YouTube. The show is co-hosted by Agile Marketing owner Patrick Klinger and USHL commissioner Bill Robertson.

Professor Michael Hicks from Ball State told the Front Office Sports newsletter the economic impact of the Women’s Final Four in Minneapolis could be $75 million to $125 million.

Former Gopher Amir Coffey was a steal for the NBA Clippers when they signed him out of college as a free agent in 2019. He scored a career-high 32 points Friday night against the Bucks.

KARE-11 news anchor and former sports anchor Randy Shaver is a proud dad, sharing news with Sports Headliners that son Rob Shaver, 29, graduated from the University of Minnesota Medical School on Friday.

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