Twins president Dave St. Peter told Sports Headliners the approximate capacity of the new ballpark opening in 2010 will be 40,000. “We won’t know the exact capacity until after the ballpark opens,” he said. “You won’t know until you get all the seats in and you do a seat count. And obviously you have standing room, and you’ve got some clubs where there’s uncertainty on seats. …”
The Twins are airing a new TV commercial this week entitled “Park Center.” It features Twins reliever and Minnesota native Pat Neshek along with students from his former high school, Park Center High in Brooklyn Park. In the ad, he participates in a question and answer session with kids on a field trip for “Pat Neshek Day at the Dome,” but to his dismay, all of the questions are about a popular teammate.
It wouldn’t be surprising if Chad Henne, who was a four year starter at Michigan and impressive in post-season workouts, becomes a draft choice of the Minnesota Vikings who have a quarterback opening on the roster.
Admission will be free to the Gopher spring football game on Friday, April 25 in the Metrodome. Kickoff will be at 7 p.m.
New owner Dean Johnson, the St. Paul native who makes his home in Brussels, is expected to attend the Minnesota Thunder’s home opener on May 4 at Griffin Stadium in St. Paul against Rochester. Johnson, 52, the majority owner who took over the team late last summer, attended St. Paul Johnson High School and made his money in European commercial real estate development.
Tickets are available for the opener, although team officials expect a sellout at 6,300 capacity Griffin Stadium. Thunder executive Peter Johns said there are 155,000 youth soccer players in the state, 95,000 in the metro area. Soccer is the No. 1 youth participant sport in the state, he added.
How much of a down season is this for Gopher hockey? Minnesota, a seventh seed, plays on the road for an opening WCHA playoff game for the first time since the 1999-2000 season when the Gophers face Minnesota State Mankato in a three game series starting tonight (Friday). The Mavericks, a fourth seed, have historically been dominated by the Gophers, 25-2-5. The last Minnesota State win was in 2003 in Mankato. The Gophers are 15-14-9 overall this season, the Mavericks 18-14-4.
Gopher freshman goaltender Alex Kangas has started 14 consecutive games. Since becoming the starter, Kangas has a 1.86 goals against average and .930 save percentage, plus a 4-4-6 record. For the season, he ranks 10th nationally with a 2.13 goals against average and 12th with a .923 save percentage. Both numbers rank second among all freshmen goaltenders behind Colorado College’s Richard Bachman.
Former Gopher guard Jordan Nuness was named to the all-North Central Conference basketball team announced earlier this week. He completed his three year career at UMD by setting a school career record (241) and a single season record (100) for three point baskets. He was fifth in NCC scoring at 16.4 points per game.
Amanda Behnke and Katie LaViolette from Concordia St. Paul were named to the first team of the 2008 Daktronics NCAA Division II Women’s Basketball All-North Central Region team as selected by sports information directors. Behkne, a 6-2 senior center, is first team for the second consecutive season while LaViolette, a 5-9 point guard, was second team a year ago. The two helped Concordia, 28-2, to its best start ever this season, 18-0, establishing the school record for longest winning streak before winning NSIC regular season and tournament championships, becoming the first team in league history to repeat with both titles.