#-1: Wild (Last Week: -2). In an overall down week for Minnesota sports, the Mild make a rare return to the top, by virtue of a 3-0 screening week. They defeat Calgary and Vancouver on the road (those wins plus a victory over Edmonton complete a Prairie Province sweep), then they whipped a hungover Chicago Blackhawks team at Xcel Energy Center 3-0. They remain well on the outside looking in, but this is the first time they've won four in a row since mid-November.
I, like many Wild fans, were getting very anxious about a month ago when they were in a world-class rut. I was kind of panicking to the point where, although I didn't think trading players and/or firing Head Coach Mike Yeo would solve anything, I would understand if those changes were made, because in times of trouble changes are always made. But two things happened, and both happened kind of passively. First is the team waited for Zach Parise to come back from injury and the death of his father, North Stars great J.P. Parise. With the possible exception of Jason Zucker and Marco Scandella at points in the season (Scandella much more so lately), Parise has been the best player for a greater part of the season. His return rekindled a spirit, a drive, and a professionalism that has spread through the rest of the team. The other thing was a change: A mid-level draft pick traded to Arizona for Goalie Devan Dubnyk. Although he's played only eight games, he already has outplayed Darcy Kuemper and Nicklas Backstrom, combined, this year. Forget about standing on your head; someone who can competently stop easy shots has apparently provided a lift for this team.
Hey, this squad has enough talent to be really good -- assuming that they play without injury and at their best, every game, at 100%. They seem to have all the pieces in place now, so who knows if they can re-enter the playoff picture?
The Wild beat the 'Hawks Tuesday. They next play The Bastard Quebec Nordiques Saturday at home, then host Vancouver Monday before heading up north to play Winnipeg the next night.
#-2: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -1). A little blip this week. Technically they swept Ohio St. at Ridder, but Friday's game went to a shootout, which they won, but it goes down as a tie. And since I predicted they would have no trouble against the Buckeyes and they did, it made #1 this week really easy.
Still waiting for the inevitable (fingers crossed) final tilt against Boston College on the campus of the U. At North Dakota this week. I will not make any predictions about how easy that series should be.
#-3: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -5). The season is just about gone; it's not College Basketball Invitational or bust for this club. But hey, at least they dominated a very disappointing Nebraska team at Williams Arena Saturday, 60-42. They have a week off inbetween games; they host Purdue Saturday, then visit Iowa early Thursday evening.
#-4: Timberwolves (Last Week: -4). Look, Flip. Your team sucks. The only notoriety it has right now is you trading away its best player, Kevin Love, to the team that came to town last weekend. It also is one of the few things you can show your community that it has a sense of humor. And, it was funny. To criticize it as not funny is 1) wrong and 2) you taking umbrage when you are in no position to piss and moan about anything. This franchise has been a joke virtually from Day One. The "country club" image this organization has portrayed ever since Glen Taylor bought the team was only reinforced when you came down from your ivory tower in the front office to lead a search for a new Head Coach -- only to name yourself to the post, to the surprise of absolutely no one. The injuries don't help what is so far a single-digit win season, but nevertheless the squad you lead is once again looking up from the bottom. So please, just give us this.
Rant over. Having said all that, I think there is a similarity between the Woofie Dogs and the Wild in the sense that, even though the outlook is far from rosy, and the Wolves are still on the bottom, they may -- just may -- have turned a corner. Kevin Martin, Nikola Pekovic and Ricky Rubio are all back, and even though they lost the first three games of the week, they fought back from a ten-point deficit late in regulation to defeat Miami last (Wednesday) night, 102-101. The Heat were without Dwyane Wade, Rubio had to risk butting up against his minutes quota, and Miami had three chances to win the game at the very end. But without all their starters, Miami would have won going away.
The team seems transformed just by the return of Rubio. It was good to finally see someone who has the court vision and the passing skills to direct an offense. That's why I still think he is incredibly vital to the Timberwolves' long-term prospects. So what if he has no arc on his jump shot? Ricky Ricky can do filthy shit like this:
Frankly, that's why I think that, with all hands on deck, this team could have been the best 30-win team the NBA has seen in a long time. This week: Home to Memphis, at Detroit, then arguably (or inarguably?) the best team in each conference (Atlanta and Golden State) come to town.
#-5: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -Infinity). This squad has no room for error. They have to win every single game from now till the end of the year to even get consideration for inclusion in the NCAA Tournament. They didn't do that at Wisconsin over the weekend. They had a thrilling 7-5 victory over the Badgers Friday where they scored four goals in 100 seconds (and three of those goals in only 39 seconds; I was at My Favorite Stripclub [Non-Cover Edition] and was half watching the game and half having boobs in my face, and when I saw the score change and change and change again I was like, "Holy shit!"), but then they dropped a shootout 4-4 loss Saturday.
I shouldn't be totally down on that tie/loss. The Gophs were actually down 4-3, but with two seconds to go, Seth Ambroz scored to send the game to extended play. For that and the three other goals he scored in the Badger series, Ambroz was named B1G Second Star Of The Week.
On the downside: Connor Reilly, Sophomore Forward the team's leading scorer, is out indefinitely after getting kneed by Wisconsin's Corbin McGuire in the knee in the Saturday game. McGuire will miss Wisky's next game; who knows when Reilly returns. Regardless, Minnesota's hopes of getting back into the tournament are now dead and gone. Host Ohio St. this weekend.
#-6: Swarm (Last Week: 0). The team is now 2-2 after losing at Buffalo Friday, 15-12. The Smarm actually outscored the Bandits 9-4 in the second half, but couldn't climb out of the 11-3 hole they dug themselves in the first half.
After a month of not playing at the X, they get back-to-back Fridays at home. Tomorrow (Friday) night they host Rochester.
#-7: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -3). OK, now I'm worried. In last week's WMNSS I really thought that beating Northwestern in Evanston was a gimme. That was before I saw that the Wildcats did not have a crappy record. What was crap was the Goofs' performance that Sunday afternoon: 70-49. Only 49 points? Did they hit a wall or something?
They might have; right now, as of press time, they're getting the shit kicked out of them by Illinois on the road. If the deficit holds, this team, which started the season 14-1, would now lose four of their last five. And while they would remain a tournament team (Charlie Creme has downgraded Minnesota to an 8-seed, but website College Sports Madness has them on the 5-line -- why such a disparity?), they are no longer a lock. And that terrifies me, because they have nowhere to go but down. After this they have home games against Michigan St. and Wisconsin.
#-Infinity: Gopher wrestling (Last Week: Positive Numbers). Ugh, what a thud. I got to my seat (13,630 packed the Barn, so thank you to the guy who gave me a ticket so I wouldn't have to stand in line) just about a couple minutes before Iowa's Nick Moore, then the seventh-ranked grappler at 165 lbs., pinned Brandon Kingsley to start the dual. Then at 174, #2 Mike Evans beat Minnesota's Logan Storley (ranked fourth) in Overtime. That made it Iowa 9-0, and frankly, that was that. In a matchup of 1 vs. 2, the second-ranked Hawkeyes come into Minneapolis and destroy the top-ranked Gophers easily, 23-12.
What a fucking buzzkill. When was the last time a Twin Cities sports team won a big game at home? It took me a while to think. I first thought of the Lynx during its championship season in 2013, but they were favored in every game at home, and they won. I don't think that counts, you know? So I would go back to the University of Minnesota mens's basketball team, Tuesday, February 26, 2013, aka Tubby Smith's last season. Indiana, ranked first in the country, came to Williams Arena. Now, on paper the Hoosiers were the more talented team. But the Gophers were good enough for everyone here to think that they had a chance, and in fact a pretty good chance, to spring the upset. And they did. The Goofs' meet would also have sufficed, but if only Kingsley had merely lost instead of got pinned ... and if only Storley got the Takedown before Evans ... well, they still would have lost.
I thought being at home was going to be the advantage the Gophers needed. But I didn't realize until I got a program that Iowa had the higher-ranked wrestler in seven of the ten matches. In retrospect, I don't see how Iowa hasn't been ranked #1 from the start. They are now, in both dual meet and tournament rankings. Minnesota is a solid #2; if they were dropped lower for their embarrassing defeat, I would've understood. And unless something drastic changes, they no longer are the team to beat in the NCAA championships, and the Twin Cities will go begging for a title in something for another year.
The club finishes the regular season with road contests against #5 Ohio St. tomorrow (Friday) and Maryland Sunday.
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