Minnesota Sports Fan Blog

The Wild have made some intelligent moves this season, but possibly none better than simply outlasting the concussion suffered by Brent Burns.

“It was almost like we made a trade,” coach Todd Richards said. “When you’re missing a guy for so long, obviously that’s a huge trade for us, the way that it feels, because you’re bringing in a high-impact player.”

The uncertainty surrounding recovery from a concussion places a team in limbo. Andrew Ebbett and Derek Boogaard missed only a handful of games after hits to the head, but Petr Sykora had his season and his tenure with the Wild derailed, and Pierre-Marc Bouchard will miss his 55th game tonight when the Wild play the Dallas Stars at the American Airlines Center.

After missing 19 games at the end of last season, Burns was hurt on Nov. 28 and missed 29 more.

He’s back, bringing with him flair, enthusiasm and contagious optimism.

“It’s a great asset to have back on the team,” forward Kyle Brodziak said Monday. “It’s funny how a guy can miss a couple of months and look like he hasn’t missed a game.

Click here to read the full article – By St. Paul Pioneer Press

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“This is what I came back for.”

Brett Favre wanted all of it, and now he’s got it.

Four — count ‘em, four — touchdown passes from Minnesota’s 40-year-old quarterback sent the Vikings to the NFC Championship Game with a determined 34-3 rout of the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.

“Probably the most fatigued I got today was celebrating,” Favre said, smiling.

The Vikings (13-4) will take on the Saints next Sunday at New Orleans (14-3), with the winner going to the Super Bowl in Miami — the only reason Favre put retirement on hold for a second straight season.

Click here to read the full article – By of ESPN.com

Martin Havlat looked explosive and skilled during his return to a very short practice Monday, and now he hopes it translates onto the ice if he’s able to return for Wednesday’s game against Nashville.

Havlat, who signed a six-year, $30 million deal July 1, has had a disappointing start to his Wild career, with two goals and six assists in 16 games.

“It’s a long season,” Havlat said. “We were getting chances. I was creating chances for the other guys, but it just wasn’t going in pointwise. But I wasn’t playing the way I wanted to, or the way everybody wanted me to play.

“I know I’ve got to be better. I’ve got to work hard, and I know sooner or later the points are going to come.”

Click here to read the full article – By Minneapolis Star-Tribune

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Examine Saturday’s victory at Colorado, and it might be impossible to come up with another game in which the Wild has spent more time in the opponent’s zone. The Wild probably spent three-quarters of the game forechecking the rubber off the puck.

Now, it’s safe to say the Wild is starting to get it. There’s a reason why the team has earned points in 10 of the past 13 games (7-3-3) and in each of the past four (3-0-1).

As coach Todd Richards loves to say, the Wild’s level of “compete” these days is off the charts. It has a lot to do with General Manager Chuck Fletcher’s ability to add motivated newcomers, such as Chuck Kobasew, Andrew Ebbett and Guillaume Latendresse.

But it also has to do with a bunch of veterans setting the tone.

“The compete factor has been great,” Richards said. “It comes down to the leadership in the room. As a coach, you can preach it, you can ask for it, but it’s got to come from in there. Our leadership group is doing a great job.

Click here to read the full article – By Minneapolis Star-Tribune

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The Minnesota Timberwolves finally put an end to their long losing spell, and they did it against a team that had owned them over the last three years.


Ryan Gomes scored 27 points, the most by a Timberwolves player this season, and Minnesota snapped a 15-game losing streak with a 106-100 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night.

“Man, you don’t know how much a weight is off our shoulders right now,” Gomes said. “It was tough for us, but we had to battle. We knew it was going to break one day.”

The shock was it came against the Nuggets, who had won their previous 10 meetings against Minnesota and had been dominating at home, where they’d won 17 regular season games in a row dating to last spring.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

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The Minnesota Vikings signed Brad Childress to a contract extension that will keep the coach with the team through the 2013 season, a source told ESPN.com Thursday.

Financial terms weren’t immediately available but the deal is believed to be between $4 million and $5 million a year, the source said. In 2006, Childress signed a five-year, $10 million contract, which was scheduled to expire after the 2010 season.

“Brad has done a tremendous job leading this football team and we value the positive environment he has created for the Minnesota Vikings on and off the field,” Vikings owner Zygi Wilf said in a statement. “He has continued to positively impact this team and create a strong foundation for future success.”

Click here to read the full article – By John Clayton of ESPN.com

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The Minnesota Wild took advantage of the lackluster Toronto Maple Leafs.

Mikko Koivu scored one goal and assisted on two others in the second period as the Wild ended the Maple Leafs’ two-game winning streak with a 5-2 victory Tuesday night.

Marek Zidlicky broke a 1-1 tie at 5:44 of the period. Then, 26 seconds after Koivu beat Jonas Gustavsson at 17:29, Greg Zanon made it 4-1.

Niklas Backstrom made that stand up with 37 saves for the Wild (7-10), who also got goals from Martin Havlat and Owen Nolan into an empty net to win for the fourth time in five games. Minnesota won in Toronto for the first time (1-4) since joining the NHL in 2000-01.


Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

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This isn’t a joke, even if it sounds like one after the Timberwolves’ historically abysmal 146-105 loss at Golden State on Monday night …

Two Oracle Arena employees walk into work late Monday afternoon.

One guy says to the other, “If we can’t beat Minnesota, there’s no hope.”

Ditto?

By the time it thankfully was over, the Wolves had tied franchise records for points allowed in a game and biggest margin of defeat.

“It’s an embarrassment,” Wolves forward Al Jefferson said. “We just got embarrassed.”


Click here to read the full article – By JERRY ZGODA of startribune.com

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