#0: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -4). This was a very good week-plus (more on that later) for Minnesota/Twin Cities sports. For the second week in a row, every single team on the WMNSS won at least one game and won a game that was very important, as in either an upset or a victory for sentimental reasons.
Which one goes on top? It's really, really difficult this week. The top five teams went undefeated. The tiebreaker is all the other stuff surrounding it. And I'm going to put the Gopher men's hockey team first this week.
Why? Well, they swept St. Cloud St., not a bad team, in their home-and-home series this week. I saw their victory last (Saturday) night, where they finally broke a 2-2 tie with last-liner skater Sam Warning's goal with 79 seconds left in the game. It was sweet; Minnesota got an odd-man rush, a 3-on-2, and Jake Hansen passed it to Justin Holl, who bated the Husky defender on a straight-line deke and instead passed it to Warning on St. Cloud St. Goalie Ryan Faragher's left side. Warning had an open net and scored, sending the National Hockey Center in St. Cloud into apoplectic silence.
But that's not the only reason they top this week's survey. The Gophers are third in the country. Meanwhile, #1 UMD pissed away a four-goal lead and tied Michigan Tech Friday, then got blitzed by the Huskies 5-0 last (Saturday) night. And this was in Duluth! Also, #2 Boston University were swept by Maine. So not only does the U. have a commanding five-point lead on UMD in the WCHA, but there's a better-than-50/50 chance they'll be the top-ranked team in the country. That deserves at least a one-week reprieve from negative numbers, no?
Next week they have a tough series at Denver, which is third in the conference.
#-1: Swarm (Re-Entry!). The house reporter says that the team beat Buffalo in "dramatic" fashion. I don't think a 19-11 victory is dramatic at all; I don't remember ever seeing the team beat an opponent by that much.
Nevertheless, last (Saturday) night's home opener win was a first in some respects. It's only the third time the Swarm have beaten the Bandits. It's the first time they've beaten Buffalo at the X. And they hadn't scored 19 goals in a game since a match in 2007 against the now-defunct Chicago Shamrox.
The game was marked -- or marred, depending on how you look at it -- by a virtual line brawl with a second remaining in the first half. Four players on both sides were thrown out of the game. Man, I wish I had gone.
They play at Rochester Saturday.
#-2: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -2). Swept MSU-Mankato in Mankato by a combined 10-4. They are solidly in second place in the WCHA, six points behind Wisconsin but a dozen ahead of third-place North Dakota. And with #2 Cornell losing at Clarkson 5-3 last (Saturday) night, they #3 U. will probably rise a spot and sit behind the Badgers in the national polls as well. And by the way, they have already played Wisconsin in home-and-home series, going 2-1-1. At St. Cloud St. for a pair next weekend.
#-3: Wild (Last Week: -6). Before today's (Sunday's) All-Star Game -- where no Mild player will be represented after Mikko Koivu pulled out due to injury -- the team ended the first half of the season with a 3-2 win at the Bastard Quebec Nordiques. If the season would have ended right now, everybody would be really surprised. No; the Mild would thank their goddamn stars because they would be the 8-seed in the Western Conference.
Unfortunately, the season is not done. After the break they resume play with three games this week: A home game against a dangerous Nashville team, then games against the Bastard Quebec Nordiques and The Team That Was Stolen From Us, The Bastard North Stars.
#-4: Gopher wrestling (Last Week: 0). This is kind of fluid; I'm writing this during the U.'s meet at Iowa. Even though Minnesota is ranked third and the Hawkeyes fifth, the Goofs are getting the shit kicked out of them 19-4. This would be a major buzzkill after roasting Wisconsin 37-3 and coming from behind to defeat #11 Michigan 23-15 this week, both at home. I don't know how badly they will suffer from what appears to be a certain loss and a possible rout.
I'll be honest when I say I'm putting this team behind all the other undefeated Twin Cities teams in part because of the partial result going on right now. But if I get done with this survey before it goes final, I will reuse that result in next week's WMNSS. Otherwise the team is off next week, for they next play (in their regular-season finale) next Sunday at home against Nebraska.
#-5: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -1). Won their home games against Northwestern and Illnois, which was sandwiched around a 16-point loss at Michigan St.
I saw the end of the game against the Illini last (Saturday) night. They were down by three with five seconds left in the game when Austin Hollins drove to the hoop, threw the ball off the glass and in, and somehow drew a foul on Illinois' Chase (?) Leonard. He fouled out of the game even though he didn't commit a foul at all; poor guy was totally straight-up. Anyway, in a reversal of these two teams' meeting in Champaign earlier in the season (whose endgame I also watched while working out), it was the U. who was able to tie the game at the end of regulation and then pull away in extra time.
Even though it was at home, it was an important win against what should be a fellow bubble team. The Goofs are now 16-6 overall and 4-5 in-conference. If this team is able to hang around .500 in the Big Ten, the reputation of being the best conference in the land should -- could? -- buoy them into a conference birth, touch wood.
Only one game this week: At Iowa, and their hot-headed coach, Fran McCaffrey, Wednesday.
#-6: Timberwolves (Last Week: -3). Well, the big news off the court is the signing of Kevin Love to a long-term contract extension. The team gave KLove max money, and rightly so. But they wanted some flexibility in the long run to sign Ricky Rubio and maybe Derrick Williams in order to keep the important pieces of a potential championship squad in the future. To do that, they had to deny Love's wish to get a five-year contract. Instead, he signed a three-year contract with a player option in the fourth. So if Love decides the Two Elves are going in the wrong direction, he splits after three years. And if he suffers through three years of injury and ineffectiveness, we'll be saddle with paying him for a fourth year.
On the court: Well, they lost to Houston and Kevin McHale, which bothers me. This is the man who singlehandedly ran the franchise into the ground. And as they've been trying to pick up the pieces, he comes in with his new team, with players he didn't select (therefore it's a good team), and crushes them by 15. Doesn't seem fair.
But the Wolves come back with a 15-point win at lost Dallas and an eight-point victory at home Friday against very old San Antonio (a game I could have gone if I paid the ticket in conjunction with a job fair set up by Major League Soccer; I really should have gone, but I decided I wanted to see the series finale of Chuck instead), so they finish 2-1 this week with a chance to get to .500
tonight (Sunday night) against a very vulnerable Bastard Minneapolis Lakers squad.
I just a tweet by Timberwolves official Chris Wright imploring Twin Cities fans to come out and sell out the game tonight (Sunday night). There's 500 left. Sorry dude, but I speak only for myself and say that I will come to the game if I'm comped.
The game tonight (Sunday night) is the first of five this week. They visit Houston tomorrow, then finish the week versus Indiana, at New Jersey, and to Houston once again (three games against the Rockets in less than two weeks?!).
#-7: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -5). They are the only team to be under .500 for the week. But they followed losses at Nebraska and home to Wisconsin (where Sports Illustrated illustrated the Badgers' offensive woes last week but yet beat the Goofs 78-72) today (Sunday afternoon) with a 76-65 win at Williams against #9 Ohio St. It's the first time the team has beaten a ranked team in almost three years, the first time they beat a ranked team at home in four years and five days, and the first time they have beaten a top-10 team in just over six years.
They finished .500 from the field, hit six-of-ten three-pointers, and missed only one of their 17 free throws. And Rachel Banham poured in 20 points in the upset. Wow. I mean, they're not getting into the NCAA Tournament because of the win (they're 4-5 in the B1G and 12-11 overall). But maybe the WNIT?
Only one game this screening week: At Illinois Thursday.
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