Stanzel’s Sports Takeout — BREAKING NEWS: 6.25.25
Biggest athletic event this weekend is dance nationals in The Dells…send adult things to do.
NBA Draft tonight, NHL Draft Friday and Saturday…The Wolves own No. 17 and No. 31 in round one. The Wild doesn’t have a first-round pick.
TE Roman Voss becomes the third straight top-rated recruit in the state of Minnesota to sign with the Gophers. He chose P.J. Fleck’s crew over…Alabama!
The Loons host struggling Houston (five wins in 18 games) tonight at Allianz.
The Wolves wouldn’t give the Knicks permission to talk to Chris Finch (they were joined by many other teams not allowing their head coach to speak to them for their head coach opening), but Micah Nori has gotten an interview. Nori is an awfully likeable guy who’s a good assistant, I’m just not sure I’d want someone I like to take the Knicks job. He’ll be a head coach soon one way or the other, and well deserved. Nori has served under FOUR Coach of the Year winners.
Speaking of the Wolves, the sale to A-Rod and Marc Lore has been approved by the NBA. The Lynx are in the $1.5 billion transaction too.
Tim Brewster may never retire; he’ll be the senior associate head coach at Sacramento State this fall.
Phee-Less Lynx Drop Second Game of Season
An ugly game all around led to the Lynx’ second loss of the season last night, as they fell 68-64 at a below .500 Washington team. Minnesota, which managed only nine points in the fourth quarter, fell to 12-2.
The Lynx again played without Napheesa Collier, who has a lower back injury. While Kayla McBride carried the team in her stead the first game, the Lynx just couldn’t string baskets together in a close game.
Jessica Shepard missed two free throws that would have given the Lynx a four-point lead with 1:33 left, and Minnesota’s next three possessions ended with a missed layup, a Courtney Williams turnover and a Williams missed jumpshot.
The Lynx play at Altanta on Friday.
Twins Rally From Five-Run Deficit, Still Lose Another One-Run Game to Mariners
If you hoped the silver lining in what’s a quickly spiraling Twins season would be a regime change, think again.
Reports surfaced Tuesday that the Twins had quietly signed Rocco Baldelli to a contract extension through the 2026 season earlier this season. WIth the team for sale, they’re simply not going to pay him not to manage. And the team’s value is plummeting.
I’m not Rocco’s biggest fan, but this thing is beyond him. The Twins rallied from five runs down last night to tie the game, but a lazy defensive play by Willi Castro in the ninth cost them dearly. Castro looked afraid to get his white uniform pants dirty, letting a grounder up the middle scoot under his glove. The runner who went to third eventually scored the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly against Jhoan Duran.
The Twins have lost five straight and 11 of 12. They’ve lost nine straight one-run games for the first time since the 1970’s.
Per Matthew Taylor of Twins Daily, the Twins dropped to 49-69 in their last 118 games dating back to last season. And remember, that includes a 13-game winning streak!
Two more games remain in this four-game set with Seattle.
Frost Take 6 East Coasters in PWHL Draft
I guess the two-time defending PWHL champion Frost didn't need any players from the best league in women's college hockey.
The PWHL Draft was last night, and the Frost’s night had a decided East Coast flair. Most notably, no WCHA players were taken by Minnesota.
The Frost picked Quinnipiac’s Kendall Cooper No. six overall, and followed that up with St. Lawrence’s Abby Hustler and Anna Segedi, UConn’s Ava Rinker, Mercyhurst’s Vanessa Upson and Providence’s Brooke Becker in the next five rounds. The first two are Canadian - Hustler is the first native of Prince Edward Island in the PWHL - and Segedi is a Michigan native who played for the Chinese national team at the 2022 Olympics.
The Gophers’ Ella Huber went 10th overall to Boston, where she’ll be located closer to her boyfriend, the Maple Leafs’ Matthew Knies. Peyton Hemp went 29th overall to Ottawa. Abbey Murphy surprisingly returned to the Gophers for one more year.
It’ll be a different look for the two-time defending champion Frost, who kept top players like Taylor Heise, Kendall Coyne-Schofield and Maddie Rooney but lost many role players to free agency.
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