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.