The Minnesota Wild welded themselves a place in Minnesota sports history by beating the St. Louis Blues in six games in the opening round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. So compelling has the Wild run become that the hockey fanatics who have always supported them were joined by casual sports fans and non-hockey fans alike, making the bandwagon a crowded place these days.
It isn’t even necessary for the Twins to get off to a faltering start, or the Timberwolves to stumble to a place far removed from NBA playoff consideration. No, the Wild captured the state’s sport fancy completely on their own, first with a stirring run from Cinderella to a playoff spot, thanks to newly acquired goaltender Devan Dubnyk, and a carefully assembled team of hustlers and workers and extremely efficient defensemen, all of whom are also productive.
It was mentioned here a few weeks ago that the NHL has the sort of parity all other professional sports would covet -- such equality that if a low seed beats a high seed, not even an eyebrow would be raised. And if a fourth-line guy turns out to be a hero, it’s just as likely as a top-line superstar.
Let’s look at last Sunday’s clinching game against St. Louis. With 19,318 crazies filling Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, the Wild put all their best on the line. Through the first five games, the Wild had played three brilliant games -- brilliant enough to beat an exceptional Blues team that won the Division, don’t forget. They also had played two clinkers, that were the kind of game not even close enough to challenge the Blues, who were, in turn, brilliant in their own right.
Dubnyk returned from a 6-1 drubbing to win 4-1 in St. Louis, squeezing the Blues to the edge of the cliff, then Dubnyk did it again Sunday, and the Wild won by the same 4-1 count. Zach Parise scored the first goal, and the third, to live up to his top-line billing. And Justin Fontaine, our own “Fonzie” from UMD’s NCAA championship run, enlivened the fourth line with center Kyle Brodziak and winger Matt Cooke with a swift rush that culminated in him shooting from the slot, 5-hole on rookie goaltender Jake Allen, for a 2-0 lead in the second period.
Parise is a ceaseless hustler, but there are a lot of hard-working hustlers in the NHL. The difference is that Parise hustles constantly, and forces chances to pop loose, and then he is skilled enough to capitalize on those very opportunities he’s  created.
The game hinged on a key play at the end of the second period, or maybe the reaction to it. A late faceoff led to a Blues chance, and when the puck bounced crazily free, T.J. Oshie knocked it in. The clock showed 1.8 seconds remained, and it cut the deficit to 2-1. So chaotic was the play that they reset the clock to 3.2 seconds. The third period started with the Wild in perfect position to either yield the momentum or make a stand. Mikhail Granlund rushed up the right, saucered a pass to Jason Pominville, who shot from the right slot. Big Bill Elliott, who had replaced Allen in goal after Fontaine’s goal, made the save, but the rebound popped straight out, just as Parise arrived to shovel it in. At 1:01 of the third period, the Wild had regained a 2-goal edge at 3-1.
The Blues pressed in increasing force to the final minutes, when Elliott came off for a sixth attacker. Nino Niederreiter was a little careless with 1:58 to go, when he crossed his own blue line and flung an almost casual 120-footer into the empty net. So what if he risked what might have been a costly icing if he had missed? This was the Wild’s afternoon in the sun, and the goal made it 4-1.
Incredibly, there are those who suggest that the Blues should fire coach Ken Hitchcock, who coached the Blues to the division title but couldn’t find a way to guide them past the onrushing Wild. In the aftermath, the word in the Twin Cities now is that the Wild are so much better prepared to face the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round than they were last year, when they lost in six, or the year before, when the Hawks won in five. Otherwise sane writers are saying this team is ready, unlike two years ago, when the Blackhawks “coasted” to a five-game triumph.
Remember two years ago? Chicago won in five but all five games were intense and tough, and the Wild easily could have won three of the four they lost. Funny, now those fickle media and fans who were clamoring for the team to fire coach Mike Yeo at Christmastime, now think the Wild was hopelessly outclassed. That’s the way the NHL is: Parity is such an asset that a team can sweep four straight, but all four games might be hotly contested, and great hockey on both sides.
Before the playoffs, my feeling is that both the Blues and the Wild are good enough and deep enough to win the Cup. The Wild made the step. Now we’re at the same crossroads. The Wild and the Blackhawks are both good enough and deep enough to win the Cup. But only one can make it to the division final. We’re hoping it can be the Wild, but if they fall short, let’s not start a rally to fire the coach!

Homegrown’ Means Sports as Well as Music

 The Homegrown Music Festival is one of Duluth’s highlights every year, but this year, the success of various home teams makes it seem as though the label could also indicate there’s a Homegrown Sports Festival going on.

At UMD, both the baseball and softball teams are sailing into Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference tournaments this week, and coach Curt Wiese also put this fall’s edition of the UMD football team on display last weekend in the annual spring intrasquad game. In this case, the White team beat the Maroons 17-7, and a few hundred fans braved December-like windchill to take it in at Malosky Stadium.

A couple of injuries and the fact that incoming freshmen weren’t in the game meant that returning ace Drew Bauer was the only actual quarterback in the game. Wearing a gold jersey, which meant he was not available to be hit, Bauer was fine as he went through his motions. The fun part of the game was that Nate Ricci, a sophomore from Stillwater who used to be a quarterback but was converted to wide receiver last season, also put on a gold jersey to quarterback the Whites. Jokingly, I suggested to a friend that he should take advantage and go crazy to attract attention in the game, and just about then he faked a handoff and ran a sprint-out to the right, cutting inside and going 66 yards for a touchdown. Maybe the defense figured they couldn’t touch him, either.

Ricci also was 11-12 passing for 111 yards. Tory Adams, a redshirted freshman from Hutchinson last fall, hit 100 yards in 13 carries, and broke free for a 75-yard touchdown run. For the Maroons, Jamiah Newell got loose for an 18-yard scoring run.

ST. SCHOLASTICA WINS

The perennial powerhouse St. Scholastica baseball and softball teams stormed into UMAC tournament play. The Saints softball team is on an amazing hitting surge. They jumped to a 4-0 first-inning lead and made it 10-0 after two innings in a 13-4 doubleheader opener last week, as sophomore Chrisi Mizera pitched the victory and also hammered the ball and drove in some runs.

Nikki Logergren, the former Denfeld multi-sports star, and current defenseman for the Saints women’s hockey team, is virtually impossible to put out these days. She was 3-for-3 in the abbreviated 13-4 game, and makes it appear that fast-pitch foes will learn that when pitching to Logergren, it’s either a ball or a line drive.


WILDERNESS KEEP WINNING

    The Minnesota Wilderness have become very comfortable as Cloquet’s resident entry in the North American Hockey League. After getting past Coulee Region from Wisconsin a week ago, the Wilderness faced division champ Fairbanks Ice Dogs starting last weekend at Northwoods Arena in Cloquet.

Fairbanks jumped ahead 1-0 in both games, but in Friday’s series opener, Darian Romanko scored shorthanded to gain a 1-1 tie in the third period then scored a power-play goal to win it 2-1.

On Saturday night, Jacob Hetz scored for another early 1-0 Fairbanks lead, and Dan Litschke tied it at 17:51 on a pass from Tyler Cline. Hetz scored again to open the second period for the Ice Dogs, but Niklas Lehtimaki scored to tie it 2-2 at 16:22. Brett Heikkila broke the tie with a goal early in the third period, and Ian Mansfield clinched a 4-2 victory with an empty-net goal.
The teams journeyed to Fairbanks, Alaska, for the rest of the series. The Wilderness can end the best-of-5 Friday night, or else it will be prolonged to Saturday and possibly Sunday.