Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING TAKEOUT NEWS: 1-25-23.
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This is a Tom Brady-Aaron Rodgers free space.
Wild Suddenly on Outside Looking In
You may be shocked to know as you wake up this morning that the Wild, just two weeks ago firmly inside a playoff spot in the West, are suddenly on the outside looking in. Colorado has won six straight, the Wild not so much.
A vastly improved effort last night in Tampa for the Wild, but not enough as penalties doomed them in a 4-2 loss to cap off a 1-3 road trip. Minutes after Ryan Hartman fell on the sword and said he “let the team down” as of late with bad penalties, his coach said “he should be hard on himself. Stupid. Absolutely stupid.” Dean Evason doesn’t often call out players publicly. Hartman certainly deserves it right now.
The Wild wasted a fabulous effort from Marc-Andre Fleury. Joel Eriksson Ek scored a shorthanded goal and Kirill Kaprizov netted a power play tally. The Wild 5-on-5, tho? Dry for weeks and most of the season. I wonder if Marco Rossi gets another look at some point soon.
The Wild hosts Chuck Fletcher’s Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.
Wolves Lose a Stinker in Houston
Speaking of inexcusable losses, the Wolves watched - literally - the Rockets snap a 13-game losing streak Monday night, beating Minnesota 119-114. The score was close, sure, but the effort level for the Wolves was lacking.
Minnesota had been 8-3 in its last 11 but a game like that just infuriates management in particular. At least D-Lo (30 points, 11-for-23 shooting) continues to play well, which helps his trade value. But what can you get in return for a guy in his contract year who routinely takes nights off? And it’s not like the Wolves are gifted with offensive depth otherwise.
The Wolves are in New Orleans tonight before returning home for a six-game homestand.
Twins Get OF Help from Royals
If you know me (or anyone who follows the Twins), you know fundamentals and giving up routine outs just killed the Twins last season. Minnesota made another move to help that this week, acquiring Michael A. Taylor from the Royals for a pair of minor leaguers.
Taylor had 414 at bats for KC last season - hitting .254 with nine homers. He’s the third Gold Glove winner on this team, joining Byron Buxton and Joey Gallo. Will he start? It remains to be seen, with Buxton, Gallo and Max Kepler, but with injury history, you can bet he’ll get those 414 at bats.
The Twins’ first pre-season game is a month from yesterday.
Gopher BB
The Gopher men host Indiana tonight.
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