Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 5.19.26
Needed some more time to put together words on those two epic Game 6 losses. “We don’t celebrate mediocrity” no longer seems appropriate now that the Wild took a step this year.
Last home dance comp of the year in the books, only Orlando and Dublin remain.
Back Friday to preview the long weekend.
On the Wild
Who will be the Wild’s No. 1 center on Opening Night in October? That will go a long way towards deciding the success of the Wild’s season next year.
Joel Eriksson Ek isn’t a true No. 1, and he’s now missed large chunks of two post-seasons with leg injuries.
Bill Guerin and John Hynes held their end-of-season media availability yesterday. And while they can’t discuss names (but we can), they’ve made it clear a No. 1 center has to be in the cards.
The most logical solution would be Robert Thomas from the Blues. The Wild reportedly tried to land Thomas at the trade deadline for a package that included Jesper Wallstedt (dodged that one), but nothing got finalized. Thomas also played youth hockey with Quinn Hughes…
Hughes has one year left on his contract at $8.75 million, and you can bet your bottom dollar that Craig Leipold is ready to go well above that number in hopes to get Billy G. to sign him to a long-term extension. The Wild can re-sign him July 1, and with the way things ended in Vancouver, there’s no reason to wait. Hughes enjoyed his time here, he’s one of the two best D-men on the planet…and no, the Wild is unlikely to land his brother Jack, not with four years left on this deal with New Jersey.
Filip Gustavsson needs hip surgery, and Guerin was non-committal about the Gus Bus being back in time for training camp. That’s not a great sign. Sounds like it is a “wear and tear” injury, although Guerin didn’t want to go into details and quickly changed the question when he was asked if it was a labrum issue.
Hynes is going to be this team’s coach. I don’t love the guy - one playoff series win in his career - but that was this past year. I obviously didn’t agree with him putting Gustavsson out there in Game 2. He seemed slow to make in-game (or in series) adjustments. You have to wonder even if mid-season things aren’t going swimmingly next year, if there could be a change. But he’s Guerin’s guy.
It’ll be a shorter training camp next year too with a new CBA (players wanted less camp days and less exhibition games), and Guerin was strong in his words saying it’s going to cost home guys the opportunity to play for a job because the Wild is going to need to play “their guys” more often.
On the Wolves
I’m less sympathetic about this one, and maybe (probably) it’s because of the fashion the Wolves were run out of their own gym in Game 6.
Minnesota was never in the elimination game, falling down by almost 30 in the second quarter alone. Sure, they rallied to get within 13 at the half, but this one was over early.
Julius Randle must go. He’s just not a good fit on a team with another guy who needs the ball (and is a lot more talented) in Anthony Edwards. He scored just three points and was benched by Chris Finch for awhile (a rare good decision for Finch this post-season). He doesn’t hustle, doesn’t play defense…For what it's worth, Randle was the lone member of the main rotation not made available to the media on locker clean out day.
And while Rudy Gobert was a key cog to the Wolves’ win over the Nuggets and Nikola Jokic, he couldn’t handle Wemby (not that anyone can) but was a glaring hole in the Minnesota lineup. And the future of the Western Conference is Oklahoma City and San Antonio, not Denver, and Gobert can’t keep up with those young-ins in OKC and Texas.
And therein lies some of the disappointment with the Wolves. They’re not that young. The Thunder and Spurs are both set up for success for the next 10 years. If you asked me today how many Western Conference Finals would be OKC/SA in the next 10 years, I’d say six.
The Wolves are going to need a bit of a roster rebuild to compete with those two teams.
And that brings me to Finchy. In the Game 6 loss, Stan Van Gundy kept saying on TV that Finch HATES the mid-range jumpers the Wolves were settling for. Yet, the Wolves just kept settling for them. And missing them. The Wolves kind of played like a team that had tuned out their coach, for several stretches this season.
Bell Homers Twice, Jeffers Hurt in Win Over Astros
If you, like me, have said “I wonder where the Twins would be without Ryan Jeffers this year”, you’re about to find out. Jeffers sprained his wrist on a foul pitch in a bizarre injury of the Twins’ 6-3, rain-delayed win last night over Houston.
Josh Bell homered twice in the game that was delayed almost two hours. Justin Topa (8.05 ERA) allowed three runs out of the bullpen, but the Twins’ six-run lead was more than enough.
Jeffers will have an MRI today. Nice to see Simeon Woods-Richardson, winless as a starter, work a scoreless inning out of the bullpen. Back to basics.
The Twins are 4-3 on a nine-game homestand with two more left against the Astros.
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