Doug Risebrough told Sports Headliners recently the Minnesota Wild is “meeting” his expectations.  The Wild’s president and general manager was asked to assess his team now that it is closing in on the end of the regular season schedule (April 7).  The Wild is in third place in the Northwest Division with 69 points, just three points behind Vancouver.  The Wild have 22 games remaining on the regular season schedule. 

Risebrough’s meeting expectations statement relates to changes the Wild experienced dating back to last summer.  The changes were player acquisitions and losing players to injury including star performers Marian Gaborik and Manny Fernandez .  Those changes tempered expectations.

Risebrough graded the team with mostly high marks in various aspects of play.  Goal tending: B+.  Goal scoring:  A. Power play: D on the road; A at home.  Defense: A.  

He said Fernandez has “maybe played more inconsistently” than last season but grades the goalie’s more recent games this season as an A.  The play of Niklas Backstrom, who recently replaced the injured Fernandez, has been a “real positive,” according to Risebrough. 

Team goal scoring has been what Risebrough expected, even though some media and fans thought the Wild might be even more effective offensively.  Gaborik’s extended absence because of injury has been one factor.  In just 25 games Gaborik has 18 goals and 11 assists.   Risebrough added another thought about the team’s scoring.  “This team is being checked more than in the past,” he said.  The Wild’s goals per game average of 2.70 is better than nine teams in the NHL, but only 11 teams are averaging three goals or more. 

During past seasons the Wild lost a lot of close games but this season the team has been more successful in shootouts and overtime.  Risebrough gave the Wild an A+ in those two categories.    

He describes the Wild’s inconsistencies on the power play as “perplexing.”  The Wild ranks fourth in the NHL at home in power play efficiency at 22.2%, but 28^th on the road at 11.5%. 

Defense?  Through the years solid or exceptional defense has been part of the franchise’s DNA and while Risebrough said the defense is “not equal” to last season it still rates high.

Condolences to WCCO Radio’s Dark Star whose mother, Phylliss Chapple, passed away last week. 

Timberwolves coach Randy Wittman asked about whether taking over the team before training camp instead of in January would have allowed him to make major changes to the the offense and defense: “You can’t have the players playing in a state of confusion while they are out on the floor.  I’ve got to be careful not to add a lot of new stuff because of the time factor.” 

The University honored players and coaches from the Gophers’ 1982 Big Ten championship team on Sunday.  It was a fun reunion for the group including head coach Jim Dutcher.   He overcame NCAA violations that occurred under coach Bill Musselman and made the Gophers a Big Ten Conference contender.  He is also one of the finest gentlemen ever to be part of the local sports scene. 

Starting with last weekend when the Wild played two games on the road and then looking at the schedule through March 17, the team plays only four of 15 games at home.  The long road stretch is caused by the Xcel Energy Center hosting a series of high school tournaments and also the WCHA tournament.  The Wild’s road record is 12-18-2 but 7-3 in the last 10 games.   “I would rather be going on the road now than two months ago because I think our road game is a lot better,” Risebrough said. 

During a 30 day period, a total of 41 hockey games (including the Wild), 33 wrestling matches, six dance team events, four gymnastics competitions and two lacrosse games (Minnesota Swarm) will be played at Xcel or the nearby Roy Wilkins Auditorium. 

The results figure to be different this weekend than last fall when the Gophers play St. Cloud State.  The two teams played consecutive ties against one another back in October.  Tie games are dramatic but so too are the rewards in this weekend’s series.  The Gophers are two points from winning the WCHA title.  The championship would give Minnesota its first consecutive WCHA titles since 1989.  

Tony Dungy is expected to draw a record crowd for the University of Minnesota Alumni Association’s celebration event when he provides the keynote address on Tuesday, May 8 at Mariucci Arena.  UMAA president Denny Schulstad told Sports Headliners he’s expecting 5,000 people to attend the event that’s also being headlined by Stan Freese and members of the University marching band.  Freese is a University school of music graduate and has held various positions with Walt Disney Company including director of bands. 

The energetic Schulstad, a civic leader and for many years a Minneapolis City Council member, is excited to have both Dungy and Freese at the gathering (in the past known as the annual meeting).  “We’re celebrating the new Gopher football stadium so what better way to do it than with football and music, Tony and Stan,” Schulstad said.

Although Dungy will be able to command extraordinary speaking fees as the coach of the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts, Schulstad said the former Gopher quarterback and assistant coach will speak gratis at the alumni event.   Schulstad hopes and expects some of Dungy’s remarks will express his affection for the University.   

“Tony told me that when he was an assistant coach at the University his dream job was to become the head coach of the Gophers,” Schulstad said. 

Dungy was an assistant coach for one season under former head coach Joe Salem. After coaching at the University in 1980, Dungy went to the NFL where his first job was as an assistant with the Pittsburgh Steelers.  As his career developed, Dungy became attached to the NFL and he made it clear earlier this year he wasn’t interested in the Gopher football vacancy recently filled by Tim Brewster. 

Tickets for the celebration event go on sale Thursday, February 22 and can be purchased by calling 612-624-2345.  The celebration event is open to the public. 

Linden Dungy, who lives in the area, told Sports Headliners recently he hasn’t discussed future plans with Tony but believes his brother will continue coaching for awhile.  “I think so,” Linden said.  “If I had to guess (why) there are a couple of reasons.  He’s under contract to 2009 and he said he’s enjoying coaching.”

Several years ago when Dungy was coaching the Bucs in Tampa he told his brother he planned to coach until he was 50 years old.  Dungy will be 52 this year and is apparently still enjoying coaching but don’t expect him to continue too many more years.