Positive Numbers: Gopher men's hockey (Last Week: -6). This has been a really good Week overall for local sports. None of the teams that played had .500 screening Weeks. But who should be at the top, in my opinion, isn't much up for debate.
One shouldn't expect much from the U. male icers this season. Like I always say, I think you have to give a Head Coach in his/her/their first Year a mulligan, even if they start off with zero Wins, one Tie and three Losses. And you shouldn't expect much when the third-ranked team in the country comes to town for an unusual Thursday-Friday series. But that third-ranked team in the country is North Dakota, familiar though not frequent sworn rivals, and it's possible that the juice by these two schools playing again helped the Gophers get off the schneid and actually sweep the Fighting Hawks by a pair of 5-3 scores. Sure, it may be more impressive if they did it in Fargo (much more delicious, too). But Brett Larson should be looking for any good signs this Year, and his players gave him two fantastic ones. For that alone, this clubs should be on top, and in Positive Numbers as well.
And look at that ... they're starting conference play already. They host Penn St. tomorrow/Friday and Saturday/Halloween night.
#0: Vikings (Re-Entry!). Still not blowing teams away, but yes, it was another mostly-dominating performance by the Vikings Defense in a 16-10 victory over The Bastard Baltimore Colts. No, I don't think the D can keep this up ... but you've got to admit that they're playing lights-out now. And no, the Offense is still sputtering in many ways. But Kyler Murray at least began to show more sides to his game, in particular scrambling for First Downs. That's something Carson Wentz, for all his height, can't do. And that running may make Murray the best runner on the team ... which is not a good thing considering Aaron Jones is hurt right now.
Which raises speculation that the Vikes are going to go for a Running Back, and in particular the one they just played who was "held" to just under 100 Yards and a Touchdown, Wisconsin product Jonathan Taylor. The passing game is what it is, but if you can get a big (and healthy!) knocker like Taylor to augment your running game and then key off of that for play action ... look, it feels like the key to unlock what, fingers crossed, could be a Super Bowl-winning team. Speculation is that it's all but done, the team just needs to wait until next Week for salary cap purposes. But damn, think about it. ...
In the meantime, they have to visit Detroit. I will accept a close defeat. It has to happen sometime.
#-1: Gopher football (Re-Entry!). The defeat to Purdue is a pretty big low, but goddammit, beating Iowa to get back Floyd of Rosedale is a hell of a high. I was working the Game from press row (and for that precious man baby), and when Luke Drzewiecki kicked a 46-Yard Field Goal with no time remaining to help beat the Hawkeyes for the first time in three Years, the Golden Gopher faithful leaped over the wall to storm the field ... again. Credit this club and P. J. Fleck; the three Turnovers they got kept the Iowa Offense under control. These guys aren't College Football Playoff-bound, but assuming they don't lose to, like, Northwestern, they can say 2026 was a good Year for them -- even with a Saturday/Halloween afternoon date at defending national champion Indiana. And by the way, the Hoosiers look pretty fallible; I'm not saying Minnesota's going to beat them, but Indiana can be beating, and Minnesota just so happens to be playing them on Saturday.
#-2: Gopher women's hockey (Last Week: -5). Annihilated Lindenwood at Ridder, 11-0 last Thursday night and 5-2 Friday afternoon. Better to win than to lose, but fucking Christ, what are you proving when you're pounding the shit out of Lindenwood?? A two-Game series at 12th-/13th-ranked Minnesota-Duluth tomorrow/Friday night and Saturday/Halloween afternoon will shed a little light, but only a little.
#-3: Wild (Last Week: -4). They finish the Week 3-1, and their annual PNW/Western Canada swing 3-2. Notably, it proved to them that they can tough out a long road trip against good competition. Sure, they lost in Calgary, but they wound up with a 5-1 Win at Seattle, a 4-2 victory at Vancouver in Quinn Hughes's first Game back there, and then, maybe even most impressively, a grind-it-out 3-1 Win at The Bastard Winnipeg Jets/Arizona Coyotes -- a "culture win," according to the club, where they were tired and wanted the road trip to be over, and yet they dug deep to win against a vastly-improved Utah Mammoth squad because they wanted to. Maybe these guys are a Top 5 team after all.
But then I didn't finish this WMNSS till late tonight/Thursday night, after the Islanders beat the Mild at the Gica in Overtime, and I have to drop these guys one place. Maybe these guys are not a Top 5 team after all ... at least until (unless?) Dylan Larkin comes.
They're back out on the road this screening Week for contests vs. Washington and Philadelphia.
#-4: Gopher soccer (Last Week: -7). In their final two home Matches of the season, the Gopher XI managed a 1-all Draw last Thursday evening with then-12th-ranked Washington from an unassisted Goal by Ellen Neuharth in the 67th Minute, followed by a 4-0 smashing of Oregon Sunday afternoon. They wind up their regular season tomorrow/Friday night at Illinois.
The Big Ten hosts an eight-team conference tournament. The U. is currently three Points behind Michigan, the school currently sitting in eighth. And yet I am getting the feeling from the Golden Gopher athletics website that there is no chance Minnesota can clinch a tournament berth and so they're just playing out the string. Moreover, I keep looking at this women's soccer bracketology website. I can't quite decipher the charts, but it looks as though this person thinks Minnesota has a fighting chance of reaching the NCAA Tournament. But can they even do that if they don't qualify for the B1G tourney? Guess we'll find out soon.
#-5: United FC (Last Week: -2). Not saying they have much of a chance. And they really needed to play this well during the middle of the season. But after holding the Dynamo to a scoreless Draw in Houston Saturday and coming back to defeat Sporting at Allianz Field last/Wednesday night, they are undefeated in their last five. And they're only (?) four Points behind Real for ninth and the final playoff spot in the West. This recent spurt of good form makes me think coaching isn't the problem, so give Cameron Knowles another (sprint) season.
Any chance to preserve their postseason chances depends on the Loons winning -- not tying, winning -- at LAFC Sunday night. I will be watching at the soccer drag bar in town.
#-6: Gopher volleyball (Last Week: -1). Lost in five Sets at 12th-ranked Purdue (there are a lot of opponents ranked 12th that I've blog posted about this Week, huh?) Friday, then swept then-21st-ranked Washington at Maturi Pavilion Sunday afternoon. I don't know what else is there to say about it.
They hosted the Pacific Northwest schools; now they need to travel to Los Angeles this weekend, namely tomorrow/Friday night and Sunday afternoon.
#-7: Timberwolves (Last Week: -3). Man, this team was firing on all cylinders. This screening Week began with rip-throughs of Orlando and Toronto. The backcourt of Anthony Edwards and Lamelo Ball were in total sync, passing the ball like a neutrino in the Large Hadron Collider and scoring at will. But then Edwards felt knee pain as the Wolves finally lost (in Overtime) at Cleveland, and without him they got pipped at Target Center by The Bastard Philadelphia Warriors.
But then comes to the real bad news: Ant had arthroscopic knee surgery today/Thursday and is out at least two months ... and unfortunately, some people think it should be closer to three. How is this team going to stay afloat without their talisman, and how long will they have to survive? It sucks that one of the superstars of the NBA will be out till possibly the New Year, and there's no certainty the T-Wolves won't be fighting for their playoff lives until they come back. Just sucks all around.
This Week: At San Antonio, home to Milwaukee, at Houston.
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