Minneapolis native Larry Fitzgerald Jr. broke the news yesterday of his signing a four-year, $40 million contract extension with Arizona on his Web site, www.larry-fitzgerald.com
A source who has been close to the Gophers predicted safety Dom Barber will be the only player off last season’s team to be drafted by the NFL, probably a day two pick. Wide receiver Ernie Wheelright is a likely free agent, he said. Running back Amir Pinnix and fullback Justin Valentine are possibilities, too.
Former Gopher football player Lewis Garrison is in demand as a college basketball official. Earlier this month he officiated the MIAC tournament championship game and the NSIC tournament semi-final game. This weekend he will be working the NCAA Division II regional tournament at Winona State.
The Gophers are likely to defeat Northwestern for a third time this year when they play the Wildcats tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon in a Big Ten Tournament opening round game in Indianapolis. Northwestern isn’t a physical team and that’s good news for the Gophers who defeated the Wildcats 82-63 in Minneapolis and 92-72 in Evanston.
Steve Fritz of St. Thomas has won the MIAC Coach of the Year award for the 13th time in 28 seasons. The Tommies won their third consecutive MIAC regular season championship with a 17-3 conference record. Concordia College senior forward Luke Linz was named the conference’s Player of the Year. Linz averaged 18.9 points, and 6.3 rebounds.
Ruth Sinn of St. Thomas was chosen as the women’s MIAC Coach of the Year. In her third season at St. Thomas, Sinn led the Tommies to a regular season conference co-championship and a 18-4 MIAC record. St. Thomas senior forward Carrie Embree was named the women’s MIAC Player of the Year. She averaged 14.9 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. (Award winners in men’s and women’s basketball are determined by a vote of conference coaches).
Osseo, 26-0, has moved to No. 1 in prep basketball expert Ken Lien’s latest rankings of the state’s top 10 boys teams. Minnetonka, 22-3 and a recent winner over previously undefeated Hopkins, is No. 2 followed by the Royals, 25-1. Here are the top 10 teams: Osseo, Minnetonka, Hopkins, Benilde-St. Margaret’s (23-3), Crosby-Ironton (26-0), Cretin-Derham Hall (21-3), Henry Sibley (21-5), St. Cloud Tech (24-2), Rochester Mayo (21-4) and Stillwater (22-4). Lien, chair of the Mr. Basketball program, compiles his top 10 based on who he considers the best teams regardless of school enrollment size. The rankings and records are complete through the regular season that ended last week.
When the Wild play New Jersey at home tomorrow night, it will be the first game the Devils have played at Xcel Energy Center since 2003. The Wild won that game, the only win in franchise history against the Devils (1-3-3 all-time).
The Wild are giving away a Pierre Marc-Bouchard commemorative puck to all fans tomorrow night. The puck recognizes his shootout goal against Chicago on December 5, 2006. The giveaway is part of a promotional series of pucks this season highlighting the Wild’s greatest goals at Xcel Energy Center.
Center Steve Kelly, recalled from Houston on Saturday, made his Wild debut on Sunday in the team’s 3-2 shootout loss to San Jose. The 31-year-old journeyman played in his 148th NHL game, but first since November 30, 2003, a span of 1,561 days.
Head coach Jacques Lemaire has 493 career coaching victories. The Wild need to win seven of the final 12 games for Lemaire to reach 500.