Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 3.24.25
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The Athletic’s Aaron Gleeman tells us that 18 percent of the Twins’ 40-man roster has been injured at some point this spring. The Twins open up Thursday at St. Louis; home opener a week from Thursday against the Astros. Brooks Lee joins Royce Lewis as middle infielders on the injured list to begin the season.
Niko Medved’s Colorado State team eliminated in a buzzer beater at 8:16 p.m. last night. How long till his intro presser for the Gophers? I’d say I’d be thrilled to not have to hear from Danny Hurley again until October, but that guy never goes away.
Biggest upset in NCAA wrestling history as Gopher and former Olympic champ Gable Steveson gets beat in the final by Oregon State’s Wyatt Hendrickson.
Second-seeded GWBB finally gets a home game in round three/quarterfinals of WBIT. They face Gonzaga Thursday at The Barn.
Sensation Kelvin Yeboah scores in 69th minute of Loons’ second straight 1-0 win. Four weeks off now in MLS schedule.
It was indeed Last Call in Saint Paul for the NCHC, as North Dakota fired Brad Berry yesterday. A Dave Hakstol reunion perhaps? Time flies, but how has it been 10 years since #FireHak actually happened?
Speaking of coaches being fired, a #localangle for me for the viral video where Northville N.Y. High School girls coach Jim Zullo pulled one of his player’s pony tails after a state championship loss. That’s my high school’s biggest rival. Zullo is so old (81) he was my dad’s JV coach…
Gopher Men Begin NCAA Tournament Against UMass in Fargo
Bob Motzko didn’t want to play a win-or-go-home Big 10 semifinal game with a week off, let’s see what he thinks about playing a win-or-go-home NCAA Tournament regional semifinal after having two weeks off.
Actually, it will be 18 days since the Gophers’ Big 10 first-round loss until they take on UMass in the Fargo regional on Thursday (7:30 p.m.) as the No. 2 seed (and No. 5 seed overall). They were No. 3 in Pairwise at the time of their B10 loss.
Minnesota beat the Minutemen 4-3 in overtime in the 2022 Worcester regional.
Advance, and they could have another 2022 tournament rematch, against Minnesota State, which plays Western Michigan. The Mavs will be a profound underdog against WMU, which beat DU in overtime in the NCHC Final. How about Prior Lake native Alex Bump? All he does is score big goals at The X. He famously scored five times in a State Tournament game in 2022, and scored the winner in double OT for Western Michigan.
Minnesota State beat Minnesota in the 2022 Frozen Four national semifinal.
Badgers a Bit Fortunate to Win NCAA Title after Gopher Women Bow out in Semi
For the longest time, Minnesota and Wisconsin was the best rivalry in NCAA women’s hockey - and I’d argue in all of NCAA women’s sports. The answer to that question is now firmly Wisconsin and Ohio State, which battled to overtime in a third straight Frozen Four title game between the teams.
I’m jaded, because I’m anti Wisconsin and pro Nadine Muzerall. But the Badgers were extremely fortunate to win the NCAA title, 4-3, at Ridder yesterday. They were awarded a penalty shot when Wisconsin claimed an Ohio State player (Maddi Wheeler, a former Badger) closed her hand on the puck in the crease in a mad scramble. It wasn't called that way originally, and I’ll say till the day I die that this replay doesn’t conclude 100 percent that it happened. With how fast the puck squirted out the other side of the crease, I’d allege she swiped it but never closed her hand on the puck. Tough call to make with 19 seconds left in a championship game.
Kristen Simms scored on the penalty shot - although you could certainly argue - and Ohio State did - that it was not a legal move. You’re allowed to stickhandle, but not move the puck back towards center ice, and it sure looked like she did. Pretty cool moment though when Mark Johnson said “who wants it?” (the penalty shot) and Simms immediately raised her hand.
Simms then scored in overtime, and she’ll never pay for a drink in Madison again.
To be fair, Ohio State wouldn’t have been in that position had they not taken a too many skaters on the ice penalty with two minutes left.
Finch Does “The Human Thing”; Ingles Start Inspires 41-Point Route
Not much I can add to the incredible story that transpired Friday at Target Center. Joe Ingles, a bench player who often doesn’t actually see action, got the start in front of his family, most importantly his autistic son Jacob. The Ingles family had been in town for the prior night’s game, but didn’t get a chance to see him play. Finch said sometimes you have to do “the human thing”, and gave Inges the start. All it did was inspire the Wolves to a 41-point route over the Pelicans, avenging a loss the prior night.
Ingles played six minutes and didn’t score a point, but no one will remember that. Seven Wolves players scored in double figures in this laugher.
Minnesota tries to avenge its only other loss of the last three weeks tonight in Indiana. Just 10 games remain, and the sixth-place Warriors, Clippers and Wolves are separated by just a half game. The Clippers have two games in hand on Minnesota, while the Warriors have one.
Wild’s Three-Game Win Streak Solidifies Playoff Chances
A week ago, the Wild was in midst of a 1-2-1 stretch to begin a season-long seven-game homestand. But they won all three games last week, by a combined 11-2 margin, including a 4-1 win over Buffal on Saturday.
While they got Jonas Brodin back on Saturday, there’s nothing imminent on the return of Joel Eriksson Ek or Kirill Kaprizov. And they’ve got so many players “banged up”, they had to recall two for tonight’s game in Dallas.
The good news is, they’re nine points clear of the final playoff spot. The Blues have won six straight and are only four points behind the Wild (Minnesota has two games in hand), but the crossover playoff spot out of the Pacific is there for the taking. Still, the Wild is only four points back of third-place Colorado. Finish third and play Dallas, or finish fourth and play Dallas, or finish fifth and play whoever wins the Pacific…
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