#-1: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -3). This was the first time they ever played Penn St., a varsity team only in its second year of existence, but is it the first time they've ever played on a Monday? That's what you get when you form a Big Ten conference for hockey and there's a network that needs content: You are told to play at odd times.
Didn't faze the team, though. In what looked to be an electric crowd (I don't think I've ever seen a student section wear all-white in a hockey game), the male Minnesota icers swept the Nittany Lions by scores of 3-2 and 5-2 Sunday and Monday. For registering the first sweep of the new conference, Goalie Adam Wilcox was named the B-1-G's Third Star Of The Week. And despite losing two shootouts, this team remains #1 in the national polls. I kind of think that's deceiving given that they have had to go to shootouts twice now.
Regardless they lead the conference going into what may be the most glorious regular season game the program has ever had: The Hockey City Classic, the first time they've played a game outdoors (it'll be at TCF Bank Stadium) in a long, long time. The lucky opponent for this grand occasion: Ohio St. That game will be on Friday. I hope to attend the game. I mean, it's going to be at the U. football team's stadium, so I doubt it'll be a full house, especially because it'll be around 11 degrees with a windchill close to 0. Oh, don't forget that there will be a second game back in Mariucci, but that will also be somewhat special: It'll be part of Hockey Day in Minnesota, the state's annual celebration of hockey, which'll include three high school games and the Wild's match against The Bastard North Stars.
#-2: Gopher wrestling (Re-Entry!). They may never win another NCAA championship again, but like clockwork, the program begins to roll as soon as they begin conference play. The grapplers roll to victories over Northwestern and Wisconsin this screening week. They are on the road for the next three duals, but the first two, this week, are against the Michigan schools.
I don't know what else to say. But I should try and shorten this survey given how late in the day this gets posted.
#-3: Wild (Last Week: -1). Weird and uncharacteristic week for this program. They alternated road and home games, and they won both road games but lost both home games. None of the games were decided by a goal. So which games is more indicative -- the Mild's 4-0 win in Nashville Sunday, or Tuesday's 3-0 shutout at the X at the hands of the Ottawa Senators?
The merry-go-round in goal continues. With Nicklas Backstrom still in traction and Josh Harding still trying to find the perfect combo of meds for his MS, Darcy Kuemper is now the man between the pipes. And he was there for both that win over the Predators and the loss to Ottawa. Maybe having instability in the net isn't the worst thing in the world, especially for one that has won five of seven. Then again, they're not too far removed from a six-game losing streak. So who knows if this team has turned the corner or not, especially if the club remains in the outer reaches of the Western Conference playoff chase. This week: home to Edmonton, then a home-and-home against The Bastard North Stars.
#-4: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -4). Lose in Iowa, clobbered Northwestern at Williams Arena by 35 at home. Could a .500 conference record be enough for this team to make the Big Dance? If so, they'll have to win a game on the road to match up the loss to Michigan St. at home. They'll have two games this week to do it, against ranked Nebraska and Indiana.
#-5: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -4). Does close count? This is basketball, not horseshoes or grenades or slow dancing, so can we chalk up a pair of moral victories? They had to hang on for dear life in beating Penn St. on the road. Then they managed to rally and tie Michigan St. before peeing down their legs and losing by a dozen in overtime. It's possible that they are just a play or two away from pulling off some major contests ... or they could just be unable to perform in the clutch. This week: home to Ohio St., at Iowa.
#-6: Timberwolves (Last Week: -2). With many of the local sports punditry just assuming that Kevin Love will be gone after next week (the latest rumor has him pining to play for the Lakers -- and by the way, if those rumors are false, I would assume Love will come out and say that those rumors are false), they had a 1-2 week. The throttling of Charlotte came at the heels of one of the worst defeats the Woofie Dogs have allowed this year, a 104-103 loss at home to Phoenix when they had a double-digit lead and were outscored, like, 13-2 to end the game. Oh, and that got their asses kicked at San Antonio, too.
I can see how Wolves experts can see the weaknesses with this club. They still can't play defense, and both Love and Ricky Rubio are prone to some bad shooting games. Rubio is still a work in progress (I'm not going to give up on him yet, although I'm getting impatient), but Love bricking shot after shot is much more shoveling.
The other development this week is the short D-League supremacy of rookie Shabazz Muhammad. He was able to be The Man down in Iowa, but up here he's buried as far away from Head Coach Rick Adelman as possible. This may be pie-in-the-sky thinking, but he could be the defensive in-the-paint presence that might unlock the potential of this team. These guys have failed to win in close games and have repeated failed to rise above .500 the last, oh, dozen or so times they've been given that chance. What's to lose putting Muhammad in?
They're playing Sacramento at Target Center right now. They then travel to Toronto and have a home-and-home against Utah.
#-7: Swarm (Re-Entry!). Oh, they've already started their season? My apologies, especially since I think I did this to the Smarm before. Look, I don't think the National Lacrosse League ever started before the New Year like they did this year. Also, it doesn't help that the Swarm begins this season with three games on the road.
Probably best they start on the road since they lost in Rochester 8-6 all the way back on December 28 and went down in defeat to the Bastard Portland/Washington/now Vancouver Stealth 8-5 Saturday. For a team that is celebrating its tenth season of existence by insinuating it might be its last, the Smarm is not making a good case for seeing its eleventh season. This weekend they are Philadelphia before finally having its home opener against those Wings in what is the third home-and-home this screening week for Minnesota pro teams.
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