David Shama's Minnesota Sports Headliners

Lou Nanne: Wild Need Goalie Change

Posted on May 11, 2022May 11, 2022 by David Shama

Lou Nanne told Sports Headliners this morning he believes the Minnesota Wild should change goaltenders for tomorrow night’s Game Six against the St. Louis Blues.

The Wild trail three games to two in the best of seven NHL playoff series and will be on the road Thursday night in a must-win situation. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has started the previous five games for Minnesota including last night’s 5-2 loss at Xcel Energy. “He just looked like he was fighting the puck a little bit and not controlling rebounds like he could have,” Nanne said.

In the series the 37-year-old Fleury, a former Stanley Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins and the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, has a 3.04 GAA and .906 save percentage.

Goalie Cam Talbot was clearly the No. 1 goalie until Fleury was acquired in a late season trade from the Chicago Blackhawks. Nanne believes it’s overdue to insert Talbot into the lineup. “I just think maybe he might give them a shot in the arm,” Nanne said.

Talbot hasn’t played since April 28 and Nanne hopes a layoff won’t impact the 34-year-old if Wild coach Dean Evason makes a change at goalie. Can Talbot play at a high level Thursday night?

“You can never tell until he does it, but what are your choices?” Nanne said. “…I just wish he would have played earlier, that’s all. I just think Talbot was a guy that earned the spot…the way he played.”

Talbot started 48 regular season games for the Wild and was more than solid with a 2.76 GAA in a year that saw him play in the NHL All-Star Game. In the view of Nanne and others, Talbot’s season earned him the opportunity to start the series. But Nanne admires Fleury, too, and he realizes it’s difficult to decide on goalies when resumes of success are similar.

“I just like to see when you’ve got two good goaltenders, try to find the one that is really going to bring you through. It’s a tough decision. Nobody knows when it’s going to be right.”

Kevin Fiala, the Wild’s No. 3 goal scorer during the regular season and second in points, hasn’t found the net in the series. Nanne referred to Fiala as a “gigantic” key in tomorrow night’s game. “They need his help,” Nanne said.

Fiala appears to be pressing and not playing like himself. “He’s so anxious he’s not playing as smoothly as he did,” Nanne said. “I still believe in him. …Hopefully he’s going to come through next game.”

In the loss last night, second-year left wing Kirill Kaprizov scored Minnesota’s two goals on power plays. He was in the mix most of the night with potential goals and playmaking despite St. Louis players trying to knock him on his butt or shoving a stick toward his face. “He was absolutely spectacular,” said Nanne who labels Kaprizov the franchise’s best player ever.

Considering the quality of the opponent, the pressure of the playoffs, the physicality and strategies of the game, Nanne said he’s never seen a player perform better than the 25-year-old Kaprizov did last evening.

Nanne has closely followed the NHL for more than six decades. Now the godfather of Minnesota hockey, he was an All-American defenseman for the Gophers, and later a player, coach, GM and president with the Minnesota North Stars who relocated to Dallas after the 1992-1993 season.

Worth Noting

Shortly after the Twins signed shortstop Carlos Correa to the highest average annual salary for an infielder in MLB history, team president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners how impressed he is with the All-Star’s character. The Puerto Rico native cares about his teammates and wants to help them, including young players he can influence.

Bob Nightengale of USA Today wrote Monday about the great start to the season Jeremy Peña is having as the rookie replaces Correa as the Astros’ shortstop. “Carlos has been great to me since the first day (two years ago) I met him,” Peña told Nightengale. “He helped me out so much. A mentor to me. …”

The 2022 Vikings’ draft has been second-guessed but received some praise Monday from Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz also with USA Today. He wrote about top 10 steals from the 2022 NFL Draft and he first profiled cornerback Andrew Booth, whom the Vikings selected late in the second round. Injuries have slowed Booth since high school but he could have the skills worthy of going in the first round.

Condolences to the family and many friends of former Golden Gophers defensive end Leon Trawick who passed away Friday. The Washington D.C. native was a sophomore contributor to the 1967 team that won the Big Ten championship and he later became a Minneapolis attorney.

A 1969 Academic All-Big Ten selection, Leon battled brain cancer and was in hospice before passing. An email trail from former U athletes praised him as a great friend.

Former Minnesota Mr. Basketball Tyus Jones, who has a home in the Minneapolis area, could be a coveted free agent this summer after impressing in the playoffs this spring and averaging a career-best 8.7 points in the regular season. The seven-year point guard makes minimal mental and physical mistakes. He could start tonight for the Grizzlies in the absence of Ja Morant, with Memphis trailing the Warriors 3-1 in their playoff series.

Lindsay Whalen, the U women’s basketball coach who will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame September 10 for her legendary career as a player, turned 40 on Monday.

Legendary Gopher baseball coach John Anderson, now in his 41st season, will be 67 next Monday.

Anderson’s redshirt junior right-hander, Aidan Maldonado, is the co-Big Ten Pitcher of the Week. The Rosemount, Minnesota native pitched a career-high seven innings Sunday, allowing five hits and one earned run while striking out eight in a 3-1 win over Nebraska.

Peter King and his identical twin Richard were the first batboys for the Twins in 1961 after the franchise relocated from Washington D.C. Sorry to learn that Peter, from Prior Lake, recently passed away.

Phil Anderson, GM at North Oaks Golf Club and Dave Tentis, PGA head pro at Troy Burne Golf Club, offer their views on the Upper Midwest golf industry as the latest guests 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. https://youtu.be/fZsxVOVmoFk

Comments Welcome

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.

Comments Welcome

Vikes Can’t Obsess on First Round CB

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

What will the Vikings do Thursday night in the first round of the NFL Draft?

Former Vikings GM Jeff Diamond offered advice in a Monday interview with Sports Headliners. “If they are wise, you don’t want to get locked into a certain position of need which we all know is a corner for them.”

Diamond, the NFL Executive of the Year in 1998 when the Vikings went 15-1, learned long ago that “especially in the first round” it’s not prudent to become overly focused on need at a particular position. Unless a team is after a quarterback, take the best player available, he said. Don’t pass on a great player and settle for a good one to fulfill a need.

Diamond, who learned that philosophy from Bud Grant, Jerry Reichow and Frank Gilliam from the Vikings, was president of the Titans after he left Minnesota. With both organizations he believed there are limited opportunities to select a player who was all but certain to become a Pro Bowl level talent. “We always felt there were eight to 10 blue chip players in every draft,” he said.

The Vikings have several needs going into this week’s three-day, seven-round draft. They could, for example, benefit from taking an edge rusher at No. 12. Sports Illustrated’s mock draft has Minnesota selecting Eden Prairie High School and Florida State alum Jermaine Johnson.

Diamond sees Johnson as a top four prospect among edge rushers in this year’s draft. “I think that he’s a guy that has got a lot of talent. I think he runs well and has good effort and all that.”

With the new Vikings’ 3-4 defensive scheme, and injury uncertain for veteran pass rushers Danielle Hunter and Za’Darius Smith, the franchise could benefit from selecting an edge rusher in the first round and then choosing cornerbacks in the second and later rounds. Diamond suggests the club might follow that path and use the third round pick for a quarterback to compete with backup Kellen Mond (2021 draft).

Diamond describes it as “good strategy” to take a quarterback prospect in the third round. He doesn’t see the position as one of immediate need and rates veteran Kirk Cousins in the 10 to 15 range among NFL quarterbacks. With Cousins flanked by outstanding playmakers, and if the defense is upgraded, the Vikings can be a winner, Diamond said.

That’s not to say, though, the Vikings couldn’t improve their offense in the draft with a center, guard or tackle who is able to push existing starters or provide depth. With Tyler Conklin having been traded, and starter Irv Smith coming off a knee injury, Diamond sees the importance of adding a pass catching tight end in the later rounds.

Rounds four through seven may provide roster help at wide receiver, and multiple spots on defense including linebacker and safety. The Vikings are talented at wide receiver with their starters but adding a contributor in the draft can provide depth. “There’s a lot of talent at wide receiver this year (in the draft),” Diamond said.

This will be Kwesi Odofo-Mensah’s first draft as a general manager. Diamond’s guess is the Vikings won’t be wheeling-and-dealing during the draft and likely will retain most or all of their eight picks. He’s not an advocate of parting with your first round selection and not selecting a player until the second round.

“I am always apprehensive about trading out of the first round,” Diamond said. “A couple of occasions that we did it, it really didn’t pay off.”

This year eight franchises have multiple first round selections, meaning eight do not. Diamond can’t recall that circumstance before. The numbers could lead to trades involving both the 2022 or 2023 drafts.

Among the many players Diamond is following are former Gophers Boye Mafe and Daniel Faalele. Mafe has created unexpected offseason buzz as a potential elite edge rusher and has drawn late first round or second round speculation. Faalele, the 6-8, 384 pound offensive tackle, has prompted similar talk but Diamond said there is concern about the Australian native staying under 400 pounds.

Diamond is a senior consultant for the Minneapolis-based Institute for Athletes, an established agency representing players. He is involved with recruiting and is familiar with many prospects for the 2022 NFL Draft.

Worth Noting

Diamond talking about the lengthy three-day draft: “To me the first couple rounds, (are) really fun to watch. Rounds four through seven a little tedious. And I kind of felt that way even as a GM and in the draft room because it gets so long and a little bit boring at times. …”

In Sports Illustrated’s mock draft top cornerbacks Derek Stingley Jr., Ahmad Gardner and Trent McDuffie will be selected No. 7, 10 and 11 respectively. At No. 24 in the first round the prediction is the Cowboys will choose Mafe.

Rocco Baldelli, the 2019 American League Manager of the Year, is criticized for game strategy but a move paying off this spring is batting Byron Buxton lead-off where he can often have more plate appearances than hitting further down in the order. He was in position to win Sunday’s extra inning game against the White Sox and did so with a three-run home run that put the Twins in first place in the AL Central Division.

Inspiring to see 100-year-old former Gophers’ ticket manager Tom Swain and Vikings legend Bud Grant, who turns 95 next month, in attendance at the Twin Cities Dunker Fund Dinner at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Who will be the Wild’s starting goalie in the first game of the playoffs next week? There could be a goalie controversy in the postseason but the guess here is Cam Talbot gets the first start over Marc-Andre Fleury. Remember when the Wild made the 2003 Western Conference Finals using goalies Dwayne Roloson and Manny Fernandez?

Wild home single game playoff tickets go on sale tomorrow at 2 p.m. via www.ticketmaster.com

The Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov, the NHL Rookie of the Year in 2021, turns 25 today.

Former Gopher footballer and ex-pro wrestling star Jumpin’ Jim Brunzell emailed about whether Olympic gold medalist Gable Steveson will be a hero or heel in the WWE. “Dave, I’ve never met Gabe but because of his size and cockiness I believe he’ll be a natural heel or bad guy! If they decide to make him a baby-face, or good guy, he’ll be a Hulk Hogan type who’ll out wrestle his opponent. And when his opponent fouls Gabe, he’ll make a big comeback and pin him with some suplex for the cover! Who knows?”

Comments Welcome