Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 10.30.23
Tell a friend to sign up for The Takeout here!
Rest In Peace To Former Bulldog Adam Johnson - You’ll Be Missed.
Just horrific news out of England, where former Hibbing standout and UMD Bulldog Adam Johnson died from injuries sustained when an opponent’s skate cut open his neck. It’s time to make Kevlar neck guards mandatory everywhere in hockey. They should be mandatory in the junior level - but they’re not. If we don’t make the pros do it, no one else will either. I’ve seen far too many close calls of this type, where the skate just misses them. Johnson’s only NHL goal came against his hometown Wild.
Cousins Done for Year After Achilles’ Injury in Win Over Pack
I’ll take the blame on this one. Two plays before the Vikings lost Kirk Cousins to a season-ending (and probably Viking career-ending) Achilles’ injury, I thought to myself “this guy gets hit so much but never gets hurt.”
Suddenly the 4-4 Vikings are facing an uncertain immediate and longer term future, after Cousins literally hopped off the field on his left foot after a non contact injury to his lower left leg. All too familiar to Aaron Rodgers’ injury in the first half of week one.
The Vikings won 24-10 - despite some big time opportunities for the Packers after Cousins’ injury, such as why the Vikings coaching staff let Jaren Hall throw on third and long, resulting in a fumble.
The trade deadline is Tuesday. The Vikings were going to be in a dogfight for the playoffs with Cousins, who was having his best season as a pro. You’re not going to be willing to give up any type of asset to get anyone who won’t be in the same stratosphere of Cousins. But Hall, who threw the first four passes of his career, isn’t ready for this role. Nick Mullens is on IR with a back injury and can’t return for another week after this. Sean Mannion is on the practice squad. None of those names get you remotely excited.
Whoever takes over the QB1 role will be in for a rude awakening, because this team just can’t run the ball. Alexander Mattison had 31 yards on 16 rushes. People were clamoring for Cam Akers - he had a single nine-yard run yesterday but just 10 yards on his other eight rushes. K.J. Osborn, T.J. Hockenson and Jordan Addison combined for 21 catches and 269 yards.
So the Vikings are 4-4 heading into next week’s road game with 4-4 Atlanta - a record that has the Falcons tied for first in the NFC South. The Vikings are only 1.5 games behind the first-place Lions.
Could be worse, you could be a Giants fan.
Wild Lousy in N.J., Winless on Road Trip
The fact that fourth-liner Pat Maroon is the Wild’s most proficient offensive player the last two weeks should tell you the reason the team went 0-3 on its Eastern road trip that finished with a 4-3 loss in New Jersey yesterday afternoon.
Kirill Kaprizov has been a no show for all but a few minutes of the season’s first nine games. Mats Zuccarello? Rewarded with a new contract at the beginning of the season, he’s averaged a point per game but is minus-five. That’s worst on the team save for Kirill’s minus-six. Outside of Ryan Hartman and Joel Eriksson-Ek (combined 11 goals), the Wild has scored 23 goals in nine games.
And they can’t prevent goals, either. Filip Gustavsson is averaging 4.36 goals against per game. Marc-Andre Fleury is at 3.25.
I’ve been around a team or two that’s been a rudderless ship, and this Wild team looks like one. They’re of course stuck personnel wise. Dean Evason is Bill Guerin’s guy, but you’ll remember I suggested at the end of the playoffs that maybe it was time for new blood.
Still 73 games left, of course, for a team that’s won just one of its last six games. They’ve got a rematch with the Devils at home Thursday, continuing a run of eight straight games against Eastern Conference foes.
Wolves Win Home Opener
The Wolves whacked the Miami Heat 106-90 in their home opener at Target Center on Saturday, although still plenty of improvement for KAT and ANT who combined to miss 15 of their 27 field goals. But Naz Reid, rewarded with that new contract early in the summer, was a beast with 25 points in just 28 minutes.
The Wild looks to get to 2-1 tonight in Atlanta, before returning home for a four-game homestand that kicks off Wednesday against Denver.
Gopher Football Beats Spartans, Move to Tie Atop Big Ten West
The Gophers pulled away late for a 27-12 win against an overmatched Michigan State team. Minnesota scored 17 points in the fourth quarter, including one of two Jordan Nubin TD runs. Nubin torched the Spartans D for 204 yards on 40 carries. This school does nothing but put RB’s in the position to succeed.
So don’t look now but the Gophers are in a four-way tie for first place in the Big Ten West, with the winner of course taking on likely either Michigan or Ohio State in a potentially lopsided Big Ten title game.
The Gophers have bottom feeders Illinois (at home) and Purdue the next two weeks. Of course, they lost to Northwestern so let’s not chalk those W’s up yet. But it’s a possibility.
Gopher Hockey Men Swept by Badgers; Women Swept in Columbus
There will be a new No. 1 atop the men’s college hockey rankings, after Wisconsin swept the Gophers at Mariucci. The Badgers could close in on the top 10, too. Gotta give it to Mike Hastings. It’s a little easier to turn programs around in the age of the transfer portal, but this guy’s record against the Gophers is also incredible. The Gophers play a home-and-home with UMD this weekend. The Bulldogs got swept at Cornell Friday and Saturday.
The Gopher women went to Ohio State, falling 4-3 in OT before losing 6-5 in a barnburner on Saturday. Ohio State remained perfect in the WCHA 6-0-0, while the Gophers are 3-2-0. The Gophers get a respite with a home-and-home versus Minnesota State this weekend.
World Series Game 3 in Arizona. Series tied 1-1.
Tune in tonight for what will surely be a historic match-up.
Sponsor The Takeout
Sponsorship packages are available! The Takeout is a great spot to advertise your small business. Get thousands of eyeballs on your product every month. E-mail ryanstanzel@gmail.com
NETWORK PARTNERS
