Wild – Page 78 – David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Love’s Input Likely on Next Wolves Coach

Posted on April 25, 2014April 25, 2014 by David Shama

Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners yesterday he’s likely to seek All-Star Kevin Love‘s opinion before he hires the next Timberwolves coach. That conversation, Taylor said, could happen when he and president of basketball operations Flip Saunders narrow the search to a couple of candidates.

“I think you go out and talk to a number of people and get their input. I think Kevin would be one of those people,” Taylor said. “Does he know anything about this coach? Does he have a relationship? Has he heard anything good about him? Bad about him? Does he have any concerns? I don’t think you rely on that as your sole decision (maker) but I think it’s part of taking that player’s input who is very important to your future.”

Head coach Rick Adelman resigned this week, and Taylor and Saunders will lead the search for a successor. Taylor regards Love, his 25-year-old power forward, as the “key to building the team…so you want to have his input.”

Love averaged 26.1 points and 12.5 rebounds this past season, placing him in the company of the NBA’s most statistically productive players in recent decades. His contract allows him to leave the team a year from this summer as an unrestricted free agent.

Taylor knows having Love’s buy-in on the new coach can make the young superstar feel involved. Love’s approval of a coach could also make it more difficult for him to leave Minneapolis for another team in 2015.

Taylor said Love’s enthusiasm for a candidate—or his hesitation—can influence the search but at the end of the process the owner and Saunders will make the decision. “For example, if Kevin liked somebody really well but you didn’t feel that person could bring the best out of Kevin, I wouldn’t go ahead with it (the hire),” Taylor said.

Love joined the team as a rookie in 2008 and during his six seasons the Wolves have never made the playoffs. “Yes, it’s very important that we do better next year than this year and I think that would have some influence upon any decision Kevin would make,” Taylor said while adding that circumstances such as a major injury to Love would probably give the team’s leader a full perspective on the season.

Taylor admires Love as a player and person. Love has not only been a leader on the court but helped the franchise in efforts with fans and sponsors. Taylor has also noticed how Love relates to Taylor’s grandchildren at home games.

“He gives them a good smile and a pat on the head, and all those little nice things that I think are hard for anybody to make up. I think you do it from your heart and I think Kevin has just a very nice heart.”

Taylor believes his youthful roster of players, including Love, can improve. That’s why he lists ability to teach and improve player skills at the top of his criteria for a new coach. Right there too is the need to improve team defense on a club that is impressive offensively.

What about rapport with the players? “I certainly need a person they respect,” Taylor said. “That’s why we probably will start our group of people that we look at (with) people that have a track record.”

Taylor has told Saunders to make the candidate pool very inclusive but preference at least initially is likely to be for candidates with head coaching experience, not assistants. College head coaches will be considered.

Worth Noting

Taylor on the relationship between Saunders and Love: “I know that the two of them meet quite often and have lunch together. I am under the impression that they have a very good relationship, but I am a third party here.”

Adelman, who retired to spend more time with family, will be used as a consultant on the search to find his successor as Wolves head coach. During the next year Adelman will also advise the team about rival NBA players.

It will be interesting to see if the Avalanche can score goals when the Avs and Wild resume their playoff series, tied at 2-2, in Denver tomorrow night. After winning the first two games in the series in Denver by scoring nine goals, the Avs managed only one goal in two games this week in Minnesota.

Wild forward Mikael Granlund, 22 and in only his second NHL season, has emerged as a clutch performer with his defense and timely overtime goal in game three. Granlund has a history of coming through in international games including this year’s Olympics playing for Finland. He tied for third in Olympics scoring and made the All-Tournament Team.

A hockey source said the two Wild playoff games this week at Xcel Energy Center totaled about $1.8 million in gross revenues for the franchise, including ticket receipts, suites, advertising and concessions. That’s another reason why the franchise leaders are happy to have a third playoff game at home against the Avs next Monday.

If the Wild advance to the second round of the playoffs, home revenues per game are likely to be over $2 million.

When Wild owner Craig Leipold is in the Twin Cities he and his wife Helen live in their apartment at the Saint Paul Hotel. The Leipolds are residents of Racine, Wisconsin.

Local author and motivational speaker Ross Bernstein is president of the Herb Brooks Foundation. Bernstein, who has authored books about the legendary former coach, is a passionate hockey fan and among the organizations he has addressed are Detroit Red Wings employees. “They do more with less,” Bernstein said. “They’ve been to 23 straight playoffs.”

Former Gophers quarterback Adam Weber, expected to join Saskatchewan of the CFL this spring, will be part of a Roughriders roster that includes his former Minnesota teammate Troy Stoudermire, a defensive back.

The Vikings preseason night game on Thursday, August 28 at Tennessee will be played about the same time as the Gophers nonconference evening opener against Eastern Illinois at TCF Bank Stadium.

Football fan Steve Nestor e-mailed that ESPN draft expert Todd McShay has been praising ex-Gophers defensive back Brock Vereen. Nestor wrote that McShay said on ESPN2 on Tuesday Vereen will be a “steal” in the third round.

The annual Miller Lite Vikings Draft Party will be at the Minneapolis Convention Center on Thursday, May 8, begins at 5:30 p.m. and continues until the first round ends. General admission tickets are $10 and can be purchased at Vkings.com/drafttickets. Season ticket holders receive one free ticket for every season ticket – limit 4 per account – while supplies last. The event will include NFL Network coverage of the first round, interactive games and autographs from current and former Vikings.

New Gophers women’s basketball coach Marlene Stollings announced today the hiring of Nikita Dawkins. A 23-year coaching veteran, Dawkins worked for Stollings at VCU and with the Gophers will be an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

When Duke freshman forward Jabari Parker declared for the NBA Draft earlier this month, it further set the stage for Apple Valley High School point guard Tyus Jones to play a major role with the Blue Devils next season. If Jones establishes himself among the elite college players next season, it wouldn’t be surprising if he entered the NBA Draft next spring.

Dave Mona e-mailed that ticket sales are on “record pace” for the fifth annual Camden’s Concert on Wednesday, July 30 at the Hopkins Center for the Arts. The concert features the Wright Brothers who have appeared at the Minnesota State Fair. Camden’s Concert is named after Dave and Linda Mona’s six-year-old grandson Camden Mona, and the event raises money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Ticket information is available by calling the Hopkins Center for the Arts, 952-979-1111.

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Mike Yeo, Wild Notch Down the Heat

Posted on April 23, 2014April 23, 2014 by David Shama

Mike Yeo and his players energized their supporters with an overtime win on Monday night at Xcel Energy Center against the Avalanche. Tomorrow evening Minnesota can tie the series at 2-2 with another win at home.

The opener last week in Colorado was an opportunity to not only earn a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series but also put pressure on a young Avs team featuring flashy 18-year-old forward Nathan MacKinnon and 21-year-old captain Gabriel Landeskog. Instead, the Wild lost a more than winnable 5-4 overtime game, and then followed up with a disappointing performance and 4-2 loss in game two.

Monday night’s win did more than make the series 2-1 in favor of the Avs. The victory made it possible to place more pressure on the youthful Avs (seven players born in 1991 or later). Sending the series back to Colorado tied at 2-2 will mean momentum for Minnesota and maybe an Avalanche ready to fall.

That’s what the Wild needs for a franchise that has competed in the Stanley Cup Playoffs just five times and advanced beyond the opening round once. Moving on to the second round of the playoffs may be needed for Yeo, the team’s third year coach, to save his job. The talk about his uncertain status just doesn’t go away.

Yeo was reportedly in jeopardy during the season but the team played effectively enough to make the playoffs for a second consecutive season. He guided a team that had to use five different goalies this season, no minimal assignment for any coach. “It’s amazing they’ve done as well as they have,” a supportive source close to the team said on Monday night.

Still, Yeo was faulted by another source who criticized the coach for sometimes staying with a player longer than he should. Yeo is known as a player’s coach but the argument is loyalty can sometimes go too far.

A coach can make mistakes but even his best strategies, teaching lessons and locker room psychology can only accomplish so much. Yeo’s predecessor, Todd Richards, was fired for not winning enough games but now he’s earning praise in Columbus where the Blue Jackets are making a rare playoff appearance and finding some success.

The Wild, who played with new defensive energy on Monday night, struggle with goal scoring and penalty killing. They have just seven goals in the first three games with the Avs. On Monday evening it took 46 shots on Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov before the Wild scored a goal on Mikael Granlund’s big overtime shot.

A press box observer watched the game and thought about how the Wild have to become better offensively next season. Job one in the offseason could be signing former Gopher Thomas Vanek who plays for Montreal. He makes his home in the Twin Cities east metro, not all that many miles from the Xcel Energy Center.

But there will be time later for sportswriters and perhaps the Wild to think about Vanek, a potential 30 goal scorer and unrestricted free agent this offseason. For tomorrow night at least the Wild will take just one goal if goalie Darcy Kuemper can again shutout the Avs.

Worth Noting

StubHub website offers tickets in a price range of $94.40 to $501.01 for tomorrow night’s Wild-Avs game at Xcel Energy Center.

Pioneer Press scoop sports columnist Charley Walters retires from full-time work at the end of May but will continue with the newspaper as a part-time employee writing Sunday columns only.

When the Gophers football team plays at TCU on September 13, they could be facing quarterback Matt Joeckel. He was Johnny Manziel’s backup at Texas A&M last season but because he has his undergraduate degree he can transfer to TCU as a senior and have one year of eligibility.

The Minnesota Fellowship of Christian Athletes will present Joe Ehrmann’s “InSideOut Coaching Seminar” on Sunday in the DQ Room at TCF Bank Stadium. He is a former defensive lineman and captain for the Baltimore Colts. He also has career experiences as a football coach, author, national speaker and minister.

On Sunday Ehrmann will address several hundred Minnesota coaches. His message will be about the powerful impact coaches have on players and the opportunity to exert that influence with positive, values-based methods.

Seminar sponsors are Manchester Companies, MKS and TCF Bank. More information about the event is available from Minnesotafca.org.

Gophers basketball coach Richard Pitino lists the following “unofficial” award winners for last season on his Gophersports.com blog: Team MVP, DeAndre Mathieu; Most Improved: Mo Walker; Best Defender, Austin Hollins; Hardest Worker, Austin Hollins; Best Attitude, Maverick Ahanmisi; Sacrifice Award, Oto Osenieks; Best Moment, Austin Hollins 3-pointer vs. SMU in the NIT Championship game.

Last season was Pitino’s first as Gophers coach. He wrote on the blog “his favorite moment” was walking up the stairs to the court at Williams Arena. “It gives me goosebumps every time.”

Pitino’s contract stipulates his base salary will be reviewed each year, and annually on May 1 he is to be awarded an increase of no less than five percent. His current salary is $500,000. He also earns supplemental compensation of $700,000 for various activities including endorsements, fundraising and media work. Speculation is Pitino may receive a $300,000 salary increase.

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners recently that if he had known Kevin Love would become the player he is, the All-Star forward probably would have been given a five-year contract in 2012. Instead, Love signed a four-year deal allowing him to become a unrestricted free agent after next season.

“He can still get the money one way or another (on his next contract),” Taylor said. “He doesn’t lose anything from that by coming back and renegotiating with us. He can get all of his money. We’re the one (franchise) that can pay him the most.”

Here’s a suggestion that likely would improve the Wolves next season, particularly defensively. Make Gorgui Dieng the starting center and send Nikola Pekovic to the bench. Let the two players divide minutes each game with Pekovic, a skilled low post offensive scorer, filling a valuable “sixth man” role off the bench. The move might help the frequently injured Pekovic stay healthy and play in more games.

As a rookie last season, despite minimal playing time, Dieng became a team leader in rebounds and blocked shots. He was the NBA’s Rookie of the Month in March when his outstanding games included 22 points and 21 rebounds against the Rockets.

The Wolves have four selections in the NBA Draft on June 26. Based on their 40-42 regular season record, the Wolves currently have the No. 13 selection in the first round with a 0.6% chance of attaining the first overall pick. The final order of this year’s draft will be determined at the NBA Draft Lottery on May 20.

The Wolves will also have three second-round picks at No. 40, 44 and 53.

Wayne Kostroski, the local restaurant owner who co-founded Taste of the NFL, has a passion for music. He and other members of the CIRCUS band are reuniting for one night this Saturday at the Medina Entertainment Center for a show dedicated to 1970s music. More at MedinaEntertainment.com.

Taste of the NFL, a Twin Cities-based non-profit organization dedicated to reducing hunger in America, has raised over $15 million for local and national food banks. Proceeds for the concert on Saturday benefit Water for People, an international organization dedicated to improving and preserving drinking water.

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U Coordinator Raves about WR Recruits

Posted on April 14, 2014April 14, 2014 by David Shama

The statistics make a point.

Last season the Gophers had only 12 touchdown receptions in 13 games. Five were caught by redshirt freshman tight end Maxx Williams, and five more came from senior wide receiver Derrick Engel. Freshman wide receiver Drew Wolitarsky and junior tight end Drew Goodger each caught a touchdown pass.

The 2013 Gophers were last in the Big Ten Conference in touchdown passes. Not only that but Engel has used up his eligibility, leaving Minnesota with one wide receiver, Wolitarsky, who caught a touchdown pass last season. As the Gophers went through their spring practices, offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover watched the returning wide receivers and saw improvement—although none of them caught more than two passes or had long gains in the annual spring game on Saturday.

Competition makes players better and not only do the Gophers returnees have each other to face but they’re aware of three freshman wide receivers who will join the team next season—Melvin Holland, Isaiah Gentry and Conner Krizancic.

“I think our receivers know we recruited three phenomenal freshmen,” Limegrover told Sports Headliners in late March. “Those kids are going to be able to come in and compete right away.

“Those guys who are here understand they have an advantage because they’re here and they’re getting those reps and doing those things. …I’ve seen them take a step up as far as how they’re trying to approach things and what they’re (supposed) to do now because they know some young guys are gonna come and be pushing them.”

Holland is from Ashburn, Virginia, Gentry from Cincinnati and Krizancic is from Mentor, Ohio. Limegrover believes their commitment to attend Minnesota represents a recruiting milestone for the Gophers.

“We’re really, really fortunate,” Limegrover said. “Those are guys that in the past wouldn’t have made their way to Minnesota—that (would) have gotten gobbled up by somebody else and we would have been left trying to find the scraps at the bottom of the heap. The stars aligned for us recruiting those three kids and we’re pretty excited about them.”

Limegrover has been an assistant coach for Minnesota head coach Jerry Kill for 15 years. He admits being as excited about Holland, Gentry and Krizancic as any recruits he’s been involved with.

“Yeah, you know why? Because they were all three kids that when we looked at them we said, ‘These are legit guys that can come in and they can make us a different offense as soon as we can get them up to speed. As soon as they can get themselves on the field.’ …”

The Gophers want to improve their 2013 scoring offense of 25.7 points per game, second to last in the Big Ten. Minnesota’s total offense of 343.3 yards per game also ranked 11^th in the 12 team Big Ten. Whether it’s the quarterback position, wide receivers, tight ends, or running backs, the offense is being targeted for improvement in 2014.

“We need more playmakers,” Limegrover said. “We need more guys that can threaten opponents in a lot of ways.”

Any offense starts with the quarterback. Philip Nelson, who threw nine of the 12 touchdown passes last season, has transferred to Rutgers leaving Mitch Leidner as the No. 1 QB.

Leidner, a redshirt sophomore next fall, threw three touchdown passes last season. He was a part-time starter but that experience is valuable while none of the quarterbacks behind him has ever played in a game for the Gophers. Limegrover feels “good about the group of guys” he has but admits not having the experience of Nelson, who was a starter for two seasons, presents a challenge.

“It would be great (to have him) but nobody on our staff begrudges Philip because he had to make a decision that was best for him,” Limegrover said. “We all understand that and we wish him all the best. Of course you feel a little better having more experienced guys at every position, but at the same time you also want guys that want to be there. …”

Worth Noting

Ra’Shede Hageman’s Washburn High School football coach, Giovan Jenkins, will be among his guests at the NFL Draft in New York on May 8. Hageman, the former Gopher defensive lineman, could be selected in the first round. The NFL covers expenses for up to five guests of a high potential draft choice, Jenkins told Sports Headliners.

Expect an announcement today or later this week that Adam Weber will be joining a Canadian Football League team. The former Gophers quarterback has been unable to receive a commitment from the NFL including this spring with the Bears and he told Sports Headliners he’s headed to Canada but wouldn’t identify the team yet. “I just want to play,” he said.

Ex-Gopher tight end Matt Spaeth, now with the Steelers, was in Minneapolis the last few days. Gophers coach Jerry Kill invited Spaeth to attend team meetings. “He’s awesome,” Spaeth said of Kill.

During Saturday’s Gophers spring intrasquad game 6-foot-9 tight end Nate Wozniak lined up next to 6-foot-9 offensive right tackle Jonah Pirsig. The Gophers may not play a team next fall that positions two players almost 7-feet tall next to one another.

Former 1965 Gophers All-American forward Lou Hudson died last week but will be remembered forever by those who saw him play. The 6-foot-5 Hudson, who averaged 24.8 points per game as a junior, had athleticism and basketball skills that exceeded perhaps anyone who ever played for Minnesota. He just teased defenders with his smooth movement and ability to score, both away from and near the basket. He had the skill to play defense, too, but it was on offense that he stirred Gophers fans including after a broken right wrist forced him to play with a cast. He lit up opponents with his left hand and brought down the “Barn.”

Ryan James from GopherIllustrated.com wrote Friday that new Gophers basketball commit Gaston Diedhiou, 6-9, 225, is an inside player offensively but has the ability to defend on the perimeter. He also reported Diedhiou, who is from the Canary Islands by way of Senegal, will be 21 when he plays his first game as a freshman next fall.

New Gophers women’s basketball coach Marlene Stollings has been an assistant or head coach at seven schools since 2000. Minnesota senior associate athletic director Beth Goetz, who oversees women’s basketball, told Sports Headliners she isn’t worried about Stollings having a brief tenure with the Gophers.

“Honestly, I don’t have any concern at all,” Goetz said. “If you look at her track record, every move she’s made has been up the ladder. She’s put herself in a position to coach at the highest level and the best institutions. Personally, I am not sure I think there’s a better place to be than the Big Ten and at the University of Minnesota.”

Goetz is impressed with Stollings in multiple ways including recruiting. Stollings has put together top-45 national recruiting classes in the past and attracted two top-100 recruits. “Her history shows she’s been great at recruiting,” Goetz said.

The WNBA Draft is tonight but Lynx owner Glen Taylor told Sports Headliners he expects his franchise will obtain players who will develop later rather than contribute next season. The Lynx have the No. 12 and 15 draft choices.

Media and sports executives applauded the recent announcement that Saint Paul native Bill Robertson will be the new WCHA commissioner succeeding Bruce McLeod who called the hire a “home run.” Look for Robertson, a former executive with the Wild, to relocate the league offices from Denver to downtown Saint Paul.

Robertson graduated from Cretin High School in 1979 with Saint Paul mayor Chris Coleman who attended last week’s news conference announcing the new commissioner. Robertson, who begins his position in mid-May, referred to Coleman as one of the school’s great soccer players. The mayor interrupted and quipped, “I am beginning to question the (commissioner selection) decision.”

The Wild sold out its 25^th consecutive game last night at Xcel Energy Center. The local NHL team has sold out 34 of 41 regular season home games. The Wild lost to the Predators in Minnesota’s final regular season game of the year last night and opens its playoff series with the Avalanche in Denver on Thursday evening.

Wild single game playoff tickets went on sale Saturday and the club is expected to play in front of sellout home crowds during the postseason including for next Monday night’s home opener. A limited number of tickets will be available for purchase this week. Check the team’s website, Wild.com, for more information early in the week.

The Twins swept their three-game series with the Royals by winning 4-3 yesterday despite having only five hits. Twins first baseman Joe Mauer, who had two hits in four at bats, stole his first base since August 26, 2012. Mauer’s 31^st birthday is Saturday.

The A’s team that swept the Twins last week at Target Field is predicted by Sports Illustrated to play in the World Series representing the American League. In the magazine’s March 31 baseball issue S.I. projected the A’s will lose to the Nationals in the World Series. The A’s are 9-1 against the Twins since the start of the 2013 season.

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