Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 3.25.24
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Twins open up Thursday in K.C.
PWHL Minnesota rallies from two down to beat Montreal 3-2 in a shootout heading into World Championship break. Next game not till April 20. Minnesota’s 35 points trail only Toronto’s 36 for top spot in the league.
Wolves Dig Deep, Beat Warriors
The Wolves fell down by nine after one but proved the better team, winning 114-110 over Golden State at Target Center last night. Minnesota’s second straight win brought them within a game of Denver and Oklahoma City for first in the West. The Wolves tied a season-high with 21 3-pointers.
Naz Reid has really hit his stride sans KAT; he scored 20 points last night to go along with 23 for Anthony Edwards. Reid added 12 rebounds, as did Rudy Gobert (17 points).
Eleven games left for the Wolves. Next up is Wednesday at home against Detroit, followed by a monumental game Friday in Denver.
Wild on Life Support After OTL to Blues
Eleven games left. Six points back. Another team to pass. The math is not looking good for the Wild, especially after Saturday’s 5-4 OT loss to St. Louis. Each team took turns blowing one-goal leads, and Brandon Saad scored in OT to give the Blues a needed extra point. St. Louis is up two on the Wild but is also four points out of a playoff spot.
Kirill Kaprizov, Marco Rossi and Brock Faber have tried to will this team to a playoff spot, but the depth just isn’t there. Matt Boldy has shown flashes but has been inconsistent. Too many holes on the blueline. Goaltending has been subpar.
The numbers will get worse for the Wild, too, with another three days before a true must-win against lowly San Jose at home on Thursday.
Gopher Hockey to Play Omaha in Sioux Falls
There are many great things about college hockey. Seeding and placement in the NCAA Tournament aren’t among them. It’s time to pull the plug on regional sites and have the first two rounds held on campus sites.
I’ll get to the why in a moment, but the Gophers play Omaha Thursday night in Sioux Falls in the round of 16. Win, and they’re almost certain to draw Boston University Saturday for a right to advance to the Final Four in St. Paul.
So two of the top four seeds are flying to a regional not closest to them. No one (no one) wants to host a regional. It’s a guaranteed money loss. So you have…North Dakota, Michigan and Michigan State (and Western Michigan) playing at the St. Louis Blues practice facility in suburban St. Louis. It seats no more than 3,000 people. UND could draw 4X that on their own - one seat is approaching $1,000 on the secondary market..
Just ludicrous. And there won’t be any energy in some of these buildings either. Time to do the right thing.
Gopher Hoops’ NIT Run Ends
The Gophers’ NIT hopes came to an end in the second round, falling 76-64 at top-seeded Indiana State yesterday.
Listen, the Gophers made huge strides this year, finishing 19-15. Ben Johnson has to find a way to not lose anyone to the portal, and maybe snatch some depth from there as well.
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