The Minnesota Wild hopes to have Mikko Koivu playing again by this weekend, according to a team source.  Koivu, who hasn’t played since November 16 because of a fractured left fibula, is arguably the Wild’s best player.

The 24-year-old native of Finland has scored five goals and has 11 assists.  His assists and points are fifth on the team despite playing fewer games than those ahead of him(three teammates have played in 32 games and Marion Gaborik who leads the Wild in goals and points has played in eight more games).

Last season, his second with the Wild, he set new career highs in goals, assists and points (20, 34 and 54).  He had a 33 point increase in points from the 2005-2006 season.  That was the second best jump in the NHL for players who had participated in at least 60 games.  Only Tampa Bay’s Martin St. Louis had a larger increase, 41 points.

Koivu was the sixth player chosen in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft.  Tom Lynn, the Wild’s assistant general manager, noted in a recent e-mail to Sports Headliners that Minnesota was targeting Koivu in the draft and had camouflaged its interest by indicating a preference for a goalie.  What the Wild acquired was a skilled and competitive player who hasn’t disappointed.

“Mikko is a super-competitive guy who was once late for a bus with the Houston Aeros because he and his roommate, former Wild player Zbenyk Michalek, had been wrestling each other for 20 minutes for the right to exit the hotel room first,” Lynn wrote in his e-mail. “Mikko won. They barely made the bus.  He approaches games, practices, and life the same way.”

It was evident last season that Koivu is a pressure player for the Wild.  He tied for first in the NHL with eight shootout goals (8-for-15) and tied for second in the league with four game-deciding shootout goals.

Koivu has played in international competition for Finland, helping his teams to medal winning performances.  That is post-season type hockey and the experience can only help him and the Wild in future Stanley Cup playoffs.

Former Minnesota North Stars and Gopher coach Glen Sonmor, who scouts high school players for the Wild, is enthusiastic when he talks about Koivu,  “He’s their best player, other than Marion Gaborik,” Sonmor said.  “Mikko is remarkable.  He’s maybe the most complete player (on the team).  He has good offensive skills but you can depend on him defensively and with faceoffs. He goes to the net hard.  He gets you involved physically.  He has great hockey instincts.”

The Wild hopes to have Koivu return for Saturday night’s home game against Detroit.

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The Celtics’ Kevin Garnett has purchased a home in the Boston area for about $4.5 million, according to a Timberwolves source.

MarQueis Gray of Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis has been chosen as one of the quarterbacks for the East team in the prestigious U.S. Army All-American Bowl on Saturday, January 5 (NBC TV).  Gray is undecided about his college choice, according to rivals.com, but has the most interest in Minnesota and Oregon.  Tim Brewster’s son, Nolan, is one of the nation’s best prep safeties and the Denver star is still committed to Texas, according to rivals.com.  Don’t be surprised, though, if Nolan commits to Minnesota before national signing day on February 6.

In a ranking of the NFL’s best quarterbacks last week, espn.com listed Tarvaris Jackson No. 26, one spot after Rex Grossman of Chicago and six ahead of former Viking Daunte Culpepper.  The first five were Tom Brady of New England, Peyton Manning of Indianapolis, Brett Favre of Green Bay, Tony Romo of Dallas and Ben Roethlisberger of Pittsburgh.

The Minnesota Vikings selected their sixth annual all-state high school football team last week and will honor the group at halftime of the Vikings-Bears game tonight (Monday). In addition to the 30 players selected to the team, Dave Dose of Glencoe-Silver Lake was named the Coach of the Year. The Vikings will award Dose a check for $2,000 toward his football program. Wide receiver Michael Floyd of Cretin-Derham Hall was named Minnesota’s Mr. Football and will be an honorary captain for the game.

WCCO Radio’s contract with the Minnesota Wild ends after this season but the station’s senior vice president and market manager Mary Niemeyer said renewal negotiations are “moving forward at a fast pace.”  WCCO has six more years remaining on its agreements to broadcast Gopher football, hockey, and men’s and women’s basketball.

Niemeyer said the station had increases in audience share during the prime time hours of 5 a.m. to 7 p.m. last spring and summer, despite not broadcasting Minnesota Twins games for the first time since 1961.  Share increases were in both 25-54 year old adults and 35-64, she said.

Sports remains a staple at WCCO and last year the station started programming devoted to NASCAR. NASCAR programming will start up again in the winter with shows on Fridays at 11 p.m. and Sundays at 5 p.m.

Canterbury Park will host Claiming Crown on Saturday, August 2, the eighth time in 10 years the Shakopee race track has been the site of the nationally known race.  Claiming Crown was held in Henderson, Kentucky last year and Philadelphia in 2002.  Claiming Crown has attracted several of Canterbury’s largest crowds including 13,922 in 2000, 12,788 in 2004 and 11,644 in 2006.

Peter Johns, former marketing director of the Xcel Energy Center, has been named chief officer of marketing and event development for the Minnesota Thunder and Lightning soccer teams.

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Zygi Wilf has said he won’t move the Vikings to another city.  Let’s take him at his word but there are knowledgeable sources who believe that if the state doesn’t grant the Vikings owner a new stadium he may sell to someone who will move the franchise.

The push for a stadium is based on franchise revenues being among the lowest in the NFL for many years.  While ticket prices are higher than many franchises, the Vikings don’t have the auxiliary income such as game day parking and extensive club seating that other teams benefit from.

There was an announcement last week from state political leaders that a new retractable roof stadium on the Metrodome site is doubtful for the 2008 legislative agenda.  This came as a disappointment to those who want to ensure that the Vikings play here beyond 2011 when their Metrodome lease expires. If a new stadium isn’t approved until 2009 the cost will increase by about $40 million or more, according to a source.  Each year there is no decision to build a stadium increases the cost by at least that much.

Approving a stadium in 2009, 2010 or beyond is a longer timeline than Wilf and the NFL want to experience.  Even if they wait for a new facility, revenues are likely to decline even further while the Vikings play in the new Gopher stadium that offers about 14,000 fewer seats than the Metrodome.

Wilf bought the team for about $600 million. He can profit from appreciation by one day selling the club. The franchise is worth $782 million now, according to forbes.com, the Web site that placed valuations on all NFL teams earlier this year.

Wilf and family members have been pro football fans for a long while and they enjoy owning the Vikings.  A source told me that former owner Red McCombs was interested in moving the team before he sold to Wilf.  He doesn’t believe Wilf will move the Vikings but that he might sell it rather than lose money.

The NFL is pushing for stadiums in Minneapolis and in California including San Francisco and San Diego.  Los Angeles has been looking for a team since 1995 but the nation’s second largest market hasn’t made progress in building a stadium.  Toronto might be a possible contender for the Vikings franchise, perhaps Las Vegas, too.

Building a stadium here or elsewhere has pretty much become a billion dollar project. That will result in a lot of potential push back from the citizenry, although here the project might work with a small increase in the state sales tax, or creation of a metro sales tax.  Sales tax monies could be designated not only for the Vikings stadium but for roads and other projects.

It looks like it will take the “C” word to force the issue here.  The crisis is coming for those who want the new stadium and those who don’t want to be blamed if there is no facility and the Vikings leave town.  It’s hard to believe that an entity as popular as the Vikings and so much a part of the culture since 1961 will one day skip town.  Then again, L.A. is working on a 13 year NFL drought and a lot of pro football fans would love to welcome Adrian Peterson and friends to southern California.

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