They crushed Wisconsin at Mariucci last/Friday night (in a Game I could see on my laptop on ESPNU -- thanks, Sling!) by a score of 5-0. Ben Meyers scored a natural Hat Trick in the Third Period to cap off the scoring for the Golden Gophers. That line of Meyers, Matthew Knies and Mason Nevers may be the best Line in men's college hockey. They have won their last seven. And coupled with Michigan's Loss to Notre Dame also last/Friday night, Minnesota now leads the B1G. If they get more Points in tonight's/Saturday night's regular season finale than the Wolverines do in theirs, they win the regular season title and get the bye for next weekend's First Round of the B1G Tournament. Not like it matters; Head Coach Bob Motzko said he actually wouldn't mind being the 2-seed because that keeps the squad sharp. Nevertheless, it's an accomplishment. And hey, as of press time, the U. has risen to fourth in the PairWise, so I can't see how they don't make the NCAA Tournament anyhow.
#0: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -2). Meanwhile it's eight in a row for the female icers ... and three in a row over Little Sister St. Thomas; they completed a sweep over the Tommies by matching last Friday's 7-1 drubbing by repeating that score the next afternoon at Ridder, then blanked them 4-0 last/Friday night in Game 1 of the First Round of the WCHA Tournament, also at home. They remain first in the PairWise too, so their spot in the tourney should ... uh, be assured ... ?
I expect them to eliminate UST, then advance to the Final Faceoff, which technically starts after this screening Week. So they fall off the Weekly Minnesota Sports Survey next Week.
#-1: Gopher softball (Last Week: -6). Ah, man, they were on such a good roll! The club finished splendidly in the Littlewood Classic, outlasting Illinois St. in eight Innings last Saturday afternoon, exacting revenge for their tournament-opening defeat by defeating then-21st-ranked host Arizona St. that evening, 7-5, then finally beating Cal in eight Innings.
They have begun their next tourney, the Niner Invitational, with a 5-4 Win over Northern Iowa last/Friday afternoon -- but then had their five-Game winning streak end with a 4-3 Loss to host (and currently 21st-ranked) Charlotte. Maybe I spoke too soon about these young women not having a successful season.
They play the Panthers again this/Saturday morning, then play Wichita St. later in the afternoon and tomorrow/Sunday morning.
#-2: Timberwolves (Last Week: -4). Before I go negative, kudos to Karl-Anthony Towns, who (and I didn't know this until I turned on the TV in the exercise room after I climbed onto the elliptical) competed and won the Three-Point Contest. He's the first "big man" to do so since ... another Timberwolf at the time, Kevin Love, did so at the All-Star Game a decade ago.
OK, negative time. The club picked up on their season with an apparently chippy but ultimately invigorating 119-114 victory Thursday at Target Center over The Bastard Vancouver Grizzlies. Sadly, they had another tilt last/Friday night, hosting Philadelphia, and the 76ers decided that was the Game in which James Harden, for whom they traded Ben Simmons, would make his debut for them. And he poured in 27 Points and dished a dozen Assists as they whipped the Wolves, 133-102. I thought this was supposed to be the easier part of the schedule.
This Week: At Cleveland, home to Golden State, in Oklahoma City.
#-3: Wild (Last Week: -7). Yep, it's definitely time to panic now. Sure, they crushed the Oilers in Edmonton, 7-3. But they lost at a sorry Ottawa Senators team, 4-3, and then lost in Toronto, 3-1.
Actually, that Senators Loss ended the string of make-up Games the Mild had to make up because of COVID-affected postponements. There were seven of them. Minnesota was 3-4 in those contests. I wonder if they would've lost so many Games if they were able to play them when they were originally scheduled to play them. Nevertheless, some people pointed to these Games played during the Winter Olympics as a prime chance for the Wild to move up. Nope. They now sit in third place in the Central Division, behind St. Louis as well as The Bastard Quebec Nordiques. And while they still have Games in hand -- as of press time only the New York Islanders have played fewer Games, and both they and the Mild have yet to reach 50 Games played -- they're now facing the prospect of playing all those showdowns in a congested timeframe that the other teams don't have to face. The hallucinations that this team could win the Stanley Cup are vanishing before our very eyes -- well, at least the eyes of those that are willing to face reality.
Busy Week: Home-and-home with The Bastard Atlanta Flames, then a bad back-to-back road swing with stops in Philadelphia and Buffalo.
#-4: Whitecaps (Last Week: -10). Whither the Whitecraps? They split at TRIA last weekend to Metropolitan, but now sit in next-to-last place (albeit via tiebreaker) in the PHF. And what's the playoff format this Year? Do all six squads get in with the top two earning a bye? Or is it, gulp, just the top four clubs?
They'd better start winning. Unfortunately, two Weeks just over a Week from now they host the Connecticut Whale for two. There are two really good teams this season. One is the Toronto Six. The other is Connie.
#-5: Gopher men's basketball (Last Week: -8). Crushed Northwestern by 17, and then were game before losing to Wisconsin, 68-67. Both Games were at home, by the way. Can you consider that tilt vs. the Badgers a moral victory? They finish the home portion of their regular season tomorrow/Sunday evening against Indiana.
#-6: Gopher women's basketball (Last Week: -9). Got their asses kicked in Nebraska, who is not a good team, and then immolated Illinois, who is a truly terrible squad, at Williams by 33. I wish I knew how to do that shrug emoji. Anyway, they finish the Year tomorrow/Sunday afternoon at Penn St., and then the B1G Tournament begins in Indianapolis starting on Wednesday.
#-7: Gopher baseball (Last Week: -3). Dropped the last three Games of a four-Game series to Florida Atlantic over the weekend, then began their Week-long stint at the Twins' minor league complex with a 13-5 ass-kicking at the hands of Florida Gulf Coast. But at least they ended on a good note, beating Northeastern yesterday/Friday afternoon, 3-1.
Host a two-Game series versus Indiana St. this weekend, then finally come home to play nine consecutive Games at U. S. Bank Stadium. There are one-offs against St. Thomas and South Dakota St., then there is this big ... uh, I don't know what they're officially calling it, but the Gophers and two other Big Ten teams are playing a pseudo-round-robin with West Virginia, Kansas and Notre Dame next weekend.
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