Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 3.20.26
Best local sports of the weekend will be the Gopher women’s basketball team making their first NCAA appearance in almost a decade, and at home, to boot. The Gophers host Green Bay at 5 p.m. with a date with either Ole Miss or Gonzaga at The Barn on Sunday if things go to plan.
The Vikings now have three No. 2 QB’s (without a No. 1) as the team brought back Carson Wentz on a one-year contract. I’ll say it again, Wentz wasn’t great but if he had stayed healthy and just been a decent QB, the Vikings would’ve made the playoffs.
Brad Frost outlasted Bob Motzko as a Gopher coach by one day. Motzko kind of got caught this year without replacing some big time scorers from last season, but I thought Mark Coyle may give him a chance to right the ship. Frost’s replacement won’t be Nadine Muzzerall. To my dismay, she got a new five-year extension at Ohio State.
St. Thomas, which went 3-32-1 in its first season of Division I men’s hockey just four years ago, can clinch an NCAA Tournament berth in its first season of eligibility tonight when they play for the CCHA title against Mankato State.
Loons host Seattle on Sunday trying to snap a three-game winless streak. They’re coming off a franchise-worst 6-0 loss last week. Minnesota is already eight points behind first in the West.
Last weekend without baseball that matters till November.
Kaprizov Out as Wild Loses Another Home Game vs. Last-Place team
The Wild has lost three straight home games against last-place teams, and four home games in a row against non-playoff teams.
Chicago took advantage of a Wild team without Kirill Kaprizov and Joel Eriksson Ek in a 2-1 win last night at Grand Casino Arena. With Eriksson Ek already out week-to-week, KK97 sat out for precautionary measures with a lower body injury.
The Blackhawks beat the Wild in regulation for the first time in 20 games.
Kaprizov has a big-time history of lower body injuries, so this could be troubling. However, he participated in the pre-game skate and looked fine. Hard to believe this was the first game he’s missed all year. The Wild had 90-plus seconds of a 5-on-3 in the third, but missing 40 percent of their top unit, didn’t score. Matt Boldy and Vladimir Tarasenko each hit a post.
The Wild is in an interesting spot in that they’re 95 percent (IMO) to get the third seed, so they can afford precautionary moves like this, and to rest some veterans. The problem, of course, is can you get it back going in April after taking your foot off the accelerator, especially against a team like Dallas or Colorado, which will probably be fighting it out down the stretch for the President’s Trophy.
Speaking of the Stars, the Wild hosts them on Saturday at 3. With 12 games left, the Wild is six back of the Stars, who have two games in hand.
Wolves 2-0 Without Ant as Dosunmu Stars in Blowout Win over Jazz
They say it’s not who you play, it’s when you play them. The Wolves enjoyed a game against lowly Utah, blasting them 147-111 at Target Center on Wednesday without both Anthony Edwards and Naz Reid.
Ayo Dosunmu, replacing Ant in the starting lineup, continues to impress. He had 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists. He’s a good ball-handler, too. Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 12 rebounds. Bones Hyland (where would this team be without him, imagine saying that six months ago) had 18 points off the bench.
The Wolves get back into tougher opponents tonight when they host Portland, which is in the thick of the play-in race. Minnesota, for the time being, has averted crisis and is back in fourth in the West, but things change fast.
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