Wild – Page 26 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

NFL Peers Vote Vikings’ WR Elite Status

Posted on August 28, 2022August 28, 2022 by David Shama

Vikings’ wide receiver Justin Jefferson will hear his name announced tonight on the NFL Network and find himself in elite company. The network has been on a countdown of the league’s 100 best players and names of the top 20 will be announced starting at 7 p.m. Minneapolis time.

This will be a milestone for the third-year star who ranked No. 53 in last year’s annual voting done by league players to recognize the best of their peers. In 2020 the explosive pass catcher was among the NFL’s headline making rookies (Pro Football Focus Offensive Rookie of the Year) and in 2021 Jefferson was even better in key categories including 1,616 receiving yards, the second most in the NFL. He has twice been named AP second team All-Pro.

Best guess is Jefferson was voted into a 10-20 ranking for 2022. At least two wide receivers are certain to be ahead of Minnesota’s late first round draft choice in 2020, Davante Adams from the Raiders and Cooper Kupp of the Rams. Other wide receivers on the top 20 list are Tyreek Hill from the Dolphins and Deebo Samuel of the 49ers, per a Thursday story from NFL.com that didn’t reveal ranking of the players but listed them alphabetically.

Justin Jefferson image courtesy of Minnesota Vikings

Interestingly WR Stefon Diggs, who the Vikings traded away in the 2020 offseason and Jefferson replaced as the team’s big play receiver, was voted No. 26 after being at 11 a year ago. Also of note, WR Ja’Marr Chase, who played at LSU and set Bengals records as a rookie in 2021, was voted No. 24 on the list of top NFL players. Chase claims to be better than his former college teammate.

With new coach Kevin O’Connell known for his offensive expertise, Jefferson is now likely to be even more of a focal point for the Vikings, who had two other players announced in the top 100 voting. Quarterback Kirk Cousins was voted No. 99 after not making the top 100 a year ago. Running back Dalvin Cook was No. 31 after being No. 20 in 2021, a decline due in part to missing four games.

A year ago four Vikings made the NFL players’ top 100, Jefferson, Cook, linebacker Eric Kendricks at No. 70 and WR Adam Thielen, No. 80.

Worth Noting

It will be interesting to see if WCCO Radio’s “Sports Huddle” show continues. Station owner Audacy has been making financial cuts in Minneapolis and with other properties. The Sunday program, featuring Sid Hartman and Dave Mona, aired for about 40 years before ending during the pandemic. It was the longest running program in station history. Then last October the show was revived with new hosts Mike Max and Pete Najarian.

Jerry Kill turned 61 last Wednesday but the week didn’t end well with an opening game loss to Nevada last night. The former Gophers coach, now in his first season at New Mexico State, saw his team lose, 23-12.

The Gophers will practice tonight and Monday evening at Huntington Bank Stadium to acclimate to the 8 p.m. start time for Thursday’s season and home opener against New Mexico State.

Gophers coach P.J. Fleck said there is still a three-way competition to win the offensive right tackle position between Quinn Carroll, JJ Guedet and Martes Lewis. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we rotate those guys,” Fleck said.

Look for an announced crowd of 40 to 45,000 for Thursday night’s game.

Jay Sawvell, a former Kill assistant at Minnesota, is defensive coordinator at Wyoming. The Cowboys lost yesterday to Illinois, 38-6.

The struggling Twins, who have lost 12 of their last 21 games and are in second place three games behind the AL Central Division leading Guardians, held first place for 106 days this year. Injuries have been an issue all year and the club has used 56 players, including 32 pitchers.

Former Nationals and Reds front office executive Jim Bowden, now writing for The Athletic, has one Twins’ prospect on his latest top 50 MLB prospects list, while the Guardians have three. Brooks Lee, who the Twins drafted No. 1 earlier this year, is No. 27 with the comment the switch hitting shortstop could proceed “relatively quickly” to the big leagues.

The Hutchinson community will dedicate Rostberg Stadium at S.R. Knutson Field on September 23 prior to the high school football game between Hutchinson and Becker. The father-son coaching duo of Grady and Andy Rostberg have combined for an overall record at Hutchinson of 455-116-1, a 79.6 winning percentage.

Grady coached from 1970-1999, winning three state titles. Andy succeeded his dad and is still coaching the Tigers who have also won three state championships under his direction.

A hockey source, speaking anonymously, believes former Gophers star Sammy Walker received about $1 million in signing bonus to join the Wild. He predicts that Walker, a center, could spend a year or two at the Wild’s Iowa farm team before becoming a 20-goal per season NHL scorer.

Steve LaCroix, president of the esports entertainment company Wisdom Gaming and former marketing boss of the Vikings, is the latest guest on “Behind the Game.” The program is seen on local cable markets and YouTube. It is co-hosted by Agile Marketing owner Patrick Klinger and USHL commissioner Bill Robertson. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K083w0Y6NE&t=3s

Baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr. will be the featured speaker at the September 10 Morrie Miller Athletic Foundation banquet in Winona. The foundation’s mission is to support and sustain youth sports in the Winona area.

Word is Hazeltine National Golf Club has renewed interest in hosting more of golf’s biggest events, including the Presidents Cup and U.S. Open. The Chaska facility has the 2029 Ryder Cup booked after hosting the event in 2016. Hazeltine will be the first American site to ever host the event twice.

Belated happy birthday wishes to former wrestling coach Paul Ehrhard who is in five halls of fame and coached state championship teams at Albert Lea High school. He turned 89 years old on August 18.

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P.J. Fleck Praises Team Commitment

Posted on July 26, 2022July 26, 2022 by David Shama

P.J. Fleck believes his 2022 Gophers football team is “probably the most committed” he has coached in six years at Minnesota. The Golden Gophers head coach spoke at Big Ten Media Days in Indianapolis this morning and talked about how his players show a commitment to going beyond what’s required.

Part of that culture is led by four players in their sixth year with the Gophers. Wide receiver Chris Autman-Bell, running back Mo Ibrahim, quarterback Tanner Morgan and center John Michael Schmitz make up an “encore four” who provide maturity to the program and share wisdom with other players.

Fleck singled out Ibrahim as a player who returned to the Gophers not only to help himself but others. Ibrahim, who missed most of last season after being injured in the opening game against Ohio State, could have opted out for pro football after being the Big Ten Running Back of the Year in 2020. “He did it for the team,” Fleck said about the decision to stay in school.

Ibrahim, who is coming off surgery for a torn Achilles, is at “full strength,” Feck said.
Ibrahim was a third team Associated Press All-American in 2020 after rushing for 1,076 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Schmitz was named to the Outland Trophy Watch List today. The award recognizes the best interior lineman in college football. He was named to the Rimington Award Watch List last week. That award is presented to the best center in college football.

Schmitz has been chosen as a preseason All-American by numerous outlets entering the season. He was named All-Big Ten Second Team last season by the coaches and All-Big Ten Third Team by the media.

Fleck referred to the Gophers as a developmental program not only in football but other areas including academics. He said the team’s most recent GPA is 3.3, and for 11 consecutive semesters the GPA has been at 3.0 or better.

The Gophers are picked to finish third in the West Division by Cleveland.com, now in its 12th year producing preseason Big Ten football polls. Cleveland.com’s predictions are highly anticipated because the 36 voters in the poll include the expertise of Big Ten media beat writers.

The Gophers received two first place votes in the poll that resulted in this predicted order of finish: Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Purdue, Nebraska, Illinois and Northwestern. Ohio State is projected to win the East Division and the Big Ten championship game.

Worth Noting

Kevin Warren, the former chief operating officer of the Minnesota Vikings and now Big Ten commissioner, spoke this morning in advance of the conference coaches. He favors Name, Image and Likeness opportunities for college athletes but said more uniformity is needed in regulation and wants federal legislation enacted. He expressed concern, too, about NIL being misused in recruiting.

Warren favors college football playoff expansion but is also aware of the need to maintain relationships with bowl game partners. He also said USC and UCLA, who join the Big Ten for the 2024-2025 school year, will have full shares of revenues from the conference’s media rights deals.

New Mexico State coach Jerry Kill will speak to the Twin Cities Dunkers group the morning of his September 1 game against the Gophers at Huntington Bank Stadium. Ex-Gophers AD Joel Maturi will introduce Minnesota’s former head coach, while Dave Mona moderates the program. Maturi and Mona led the hiring of Kill when he joined the Gophers in December of 2010.

The Gophers have single game tickets on sale for their seven home games. Prices start at $30 for the New Mexico State game. While the Aggies are Minnesota’s opening game, not so for Kill’s team which begins its schedule August 27 and then has to play Minnesota five days later.

Twins radio broadcaster Cory Provus will be part of the Big Ten Network’s roster of play-by-play talent for games in 2022. Former Gopher Brock Vereen will travel to Big Ten campuses to do interviews and provide analysis.

The Vikings, who started their fifth training camp this week in Eagan, have 10 starters returning on offense and seven on defense. Their strength of schedule for 2022 ranks No. 20 in the 32-team NFL. Three Minnesota natives are on the roster: linebacker Ryan Connelly, running back C.J. Ham and wide receiver Adam Thielen.

Brian Cosgriff is rightfully excited about the coaching staff he has put in place since being named girls basketball head coach at Minnetonka last spring. Here’s a look at the staff working with Cosgriff who won seven state titles in 21 years as Hopkins head coach:

Associate head coach Andy Berkvam was head coach at Lakeville North for 23 years and won three state titles there. Assistant coach Brock Tesdahl has worked for Hopkins boys’ coach Ken Novak and is the grandson of legendary Chisholm boys’ coach Bob McDonald. Jim Scheffler, with 58 years of coaching experience, is the shooting coach and the author of books on shooting.

Brian’s brother Barry, with 25 years of coaching experience, is the director of operations. Macy Hatlestad, who played at the University of St. Thomas and whose mom Julie is a long time assistant at Alexandria High School, is the junior varsity coach. John Roache, with two years of prior experience on the previous staff, is the 10th grade coach. Allie Rogers, who has been a student coach at Luther College and whose mom Julie is head girls’ coach at New Ulm, is the 9th grade coach.

“We have a great mix of young and old, as well as male and female coaches,” Cosgriff said in a text message. “We feel very fortunate to take over a great program that Leah Dasovitch created.”

The Twins are averaging 21,492 fans per home game, according to figures from ESPN.com. If that was the final average for the year it would be the second lowest since the club moved into Target Field in 2010. The Twins attracted a Target Field low of about 16,000 in 2021.

The Wild traded a 2022 All-Star goalie when sending Cam Talbot to the Senators earlier this summer. “I think they took a big gamble,” a hockey source told Sports Headliners. As of now, it looks like the Wild will rely on 37-year-old Marc-Andre Fleury as the primary goalie.

The Wild probably won’t say much publicly but ownership and management has to be nervous about getting star forward Kirill Kaprizov back in the states from his native Russia with the unpredictable environment there. If Kaprizov isn’t in Minnesota within a few weeks, this will turn into a media soap opera.

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Kevin Fiala Future Likely TBD at NHL Draft

Posted on June 26, 2022June 26, 2022 by David Shama

When do the Minnesota Wild determine whether restricted free agent Kevin Fiala will be with the team next season?

Wild owner Craig Leipold told Sports Headliners “it’s likely we’ll come to some conclusion at the NHL Draft.” The event is July 7-8 this year in Montreal.

Why then? Leipold said: “We love him. He’s a good kid. It’s going to be really difficult to re-sign him. We likely will need to trade him for draft picks which will help our future, and hope that we can find a win-win for a good place for him and a good place for us.”

The Wild’s 25-year-old forward is one of the team’s best point producers but the franchise faces salary cap restrictions. Leipold said GM Bill Guerin, his management team and scouts work on the Fiala dilemma every day. “It’s their big project trying to find a way to keep him. He was a huge part of our success last year. We hope it will work but if it doesn’t we’ve gotta keep our options open.”

The Wild had a disappointing first round loss to the St. Louis Blues this spring. The outcome stung the team, the fans and the owner who stayed away from his St. Paul office for about a month following the series.

“Oh, yeah, that thing,” said Leipold who also lives in Racine, Wisconsin. “It was a hard loss. Probably the most difficult loss that I had to go through in sports as an owner in 24 years. We think we’re a better team than we played. We didn’t do our best, but we’ll make the changes that are necessary. We have one goal in mind and we’re going to get a Stanley Cup. We know what we need to do to do that, and we’ll make sure that we fix it.”

Liepold didn’t detail those changes but he did talk about pending superstar Kirill Kaprizov. In just two seasons the young Russian has convinced at least some Wild historians he is the most gifted and exciting player in franchise history.

“I mean he has no weakness,” Leipold said. “He is the total package. We’re glad we have him signed for four more years and hopefully when those are getting close to ending we’ll sign him for eight more.”

Karprivov set a team record last season scoring 108 points. He also came up big in the 4-2 playoff series loss to the Blues, producing seven goals and one assist.

Leipold described the 25-year-old forward as not only a “bundle of excitement and energy and passion,” but remarkably humble. “His English is probably better than he might let on but players love him. He’s great in the locker room.”

Fans feel anxiety about Kaprizov returning to his homeland in the offseason, with Russia involved in war with Ukraine. But Leipold doesn’t seem overly concerned and pointed out many Russian hockey players have been able to get in and out of the country.

The Wild played before raucous sellout crowds at home this year, much different than the pandemic restrictions that in the past forced NHL teams to compete in empty arenas. With success in 2022 and an economy rocked by inflation, the Wild is implementing about a five percent increase in ticket prices. “We hate to do it but we gotta stay competitive,” Leipold said.

Single game tickets aren’t on sale yet but Leipold said season sales are close to 13,000 because of increased interest in the team. The total for 2022-2023 will likely be capped at 13,000 or 13,500, so that inventory for several more thousand seats is left for single game and group tickets.

“We’re an exciting team,” Leipold said. “We think we’re going to get a lot of fans that will come in and buy season tickets. …”

Worth Noting

The best of birthday wishes to former University of Minnesota athletics trainer Jim Marshall who turns 92 on July 3. He served Gophers athletes and coaches for 42 years before retiring.

Defending champion Juli Inkster is returning to play in the second annual Land O’Lakes Legends Classic presented by The Meadows at Mystic Lake, an official tournament on the Legends of the LPGA schedule. She is a 31-time LPGA Tour champion with seven major championship titles on her resume.

The August 12-14 event will be a 36-hole tournament and feature a field of 40 Legends of the LPGA—ages 45+. There is no cut in the tournament. Four top senior women amateurs from the region will play alongside the Legends and fill out the field of 44. https://www.legendsclassicmn.com

Wayzata High School alum Karl Gregor is the Wilson Intercollegiate Tennis Association Division III National Coach of the Year after his Tufts men’s team made the NCAA “Final Four” this spring for the first time in program history.

Caleb Truax, the former IBF super middleweight champion from Osseo, is the latest guest on the “Behind the Game” TV show with hosts Patrick Klinger and Bill Robertson. Truax, 38, wants to continue boxing for awhile before retiring. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnrdQAA70H8

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