Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 2.7.25

Feb 7

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Happy first weekend of competition dance season. Off to Sioux Falls shortly - last time I was there, the Ground Round was all the rage.

Eagles 21, Chiefs 17 to end the national nightmare.

The Twins were more active during NBA trade deadline week than the Wolves, who did the classic “stand pat”. The Twins brought back former Twin reliever Danny Coulombe, as well as former Yankee OF Harrison Bader, who has seen Bader days but is an ample replacement for Byron Buxton’s maintenance days. Low risk on both moves.

Hug your kids and try to understand what they’re going through.

Hinostraza (A Real NHL Player, I Promise) Nets GWG in Wild Debut

Newcomer Vinnie Hinostraza became the 31st Wild player to score in his team debut, as the Wild desperately held off the Carolina Hurricanes 2-1 at The X last night in the team’s penultimate game before the two-week Four Nations Cup break.

Hinostraza was plucked off waivers Wednesday, with the team needing an extra forward thanks to Ryan Hartman’s 10-game suspension. Hinostraza and Hartman are good friends, incidentally. Hinostaza went to the dirty areas and this tip early in the third period went down as the game-winner.

Filip Gustavsson made 37 saves as Carolina pelted the Wild net all night. The Hurricanes attempted 92 shots - that’s more than 1.5 per minute, an insane amount for an NHL game.

The Wild hosts an improved Islanders team on Saturday before they go their separate ways for two weeks. Nice to see the Wild, a below average team at home, get those two points last night.

ANT Explodes Again in Win over Rockets

Two straight games, Anthony Edwards just wouldn’t take it anymore.

Forty-eight hours after scoring 49 points in a win over Chicago, Ant went for 41 points, seven rebounds and six assists as the Wolves turned a six-point deficit to begin the fourth quarter into a 127-114 win over a reeling Rockets team at Target Center. Houston began the night third in the West but has now lost five straight.

Edwards became the youngest player in NBA history (!) to net 1,000 3-pointers. He went to the free throw line 15 times, missing just once. When Ant plays like this, they can win any game. And it doesn’t hurt when they get 17 points from a guy like Jaylen Clark, who entered the game averaging three points in 10 minutes of game action.

No. 3 GWH Set to Face No. 1 Wisconsin on Road

The best rivalry in all of women’s college hockey and maybe all of women’s college sports takes place in Madison this weekend, as No. 3 Minnesota visits No. 1 Wisconsin. Rarely has this series been played with 17 points between the two teams in the standings. That’s just how good the Badgers are this year. But the Gophers hate the Badgers, and you know that reigning national player of the month Abbey Murphy will want to get one or two final wins against Wisconsin. The Gophers are a sure thing to face Ohio State in the WCHA semifinals next month if no monumental upsets happen. Programming note, it’s a rare Saturday/Sunday weekend series. Saturday’s game is at 2 p.m. and will air locally on Fox 9+.

The Gopher men are off this weekend.

Gopher Hoops

The Gopher women are sure to drop from the top 25 after their third straight loss, in Iowa, on Thursday. They return home to face Indiana this weekend. The path to the NCAA Tournament as a bubble team gets harder with each loss to an unranked foe.

The Gopher women host Illinois in a potentially winnable game on Saturday.

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