Wild end cross country road trip on a postive note

The Minnesota Wild concluded a 3 game road trip going from west to east in a period of 5 days with a game in Columbus Sunday.

The last 2 games just have been tough to watch as the Wild were falling behind quickly. Thursday in Los Angeles the Wild got shut out for the first time all year to complicate things even further. It is time for a break.

The team finally had a couple days off,so how would they look Sunday night?  Can the Wild get out front for the first time on the road trip?

Wild goalie, Backstrom was pulled after giving up two goals on two shots Thursday. The question is how will he look between the pipes against the Blue Jackets?

 

The Columbus Blue Jackets come into the game going 9-0-3 the last 12 home games. Backstrom is 16-0-2 after getting pulled. There is so much on the line with the season coming to a close.

 

The first period I saw good signs as the Wild appeared to have their legs and although the Blue Jackets did not have many shots on goal, Backstrom looked better.

Columbus is 5^th in the league with a 86 percent penalty kill rate. The Wild go 2 for 3 on the power play tonight.  It has got to be the Wild’s night, I thought and hoped.

The Wild passing was sharp and the results were two beautiful power play goals. New addition Pominville no look behind the back pass to Suter who deposited the puck in the net was a great start to the scoring.

 

The second power play goal was again a work of art watching Mikael Granlund made beautiful feed to Charlie Coyle to give the Wild a 2-0 lead. The power play looked so much better Sunday.

The last hand full of the games the Wild penalty kill was weak giving up to many goals. The game in Columbus the Wild worked so hard and went 4 for 4 killing penalties. What a relief to see the effort and tenacity by all involved on the penalty kill.

Jason Pominville showed Sunday why the Wild gave up so much to get him. The pass setting up Suter’s goal and the final goal of the night as Parise set up Jason to slam it in giving him his first goal as a Wild and his first multi point game for his new team. It is only his 2^nd game in a Wild uniform and look at the results. The nice thing to know is in time the number one line will get better with each shift they skate together.

Backstrom gets a shutout after being yanked in the Los Angeles. It is so nice to have a goalie who can overcome adversity.

It is a fun night to be a Wild fan as we watch our team jump to 6^th in the Wild West Conference.

 

The team now comes home for 3 home games starting Tuesday with the Black Hawks coming to the X.

 

A great team win!!!!!!

 

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

 

Twins break drought in Baltimore

The Twins come into Baltimore for the first road trip of the year. The Orioles were a playoff team last season and expected to be tough again. How will the Twins fare?

One of my disappointments of the Twins was trading JJ JHardy to Baltimore after the 2010 season. Friday he was presented a Golden Glove award for his play at shortstop last season.  The power he displayed as an Oriole is tough to watch as well.

Friday I came home from work and the Twins were up 4-1 and I thought this was awesome and what a way to start the road trip.

One of the areas of strengths in the Detorit series was the bullpen. Friday Casey Fien and Tyler Robertson did not fare so well. The Twins got to watch history as Oriole’s slugger Chris Davis hit his 4^th home run of the year off Robertson. A grand slam and a dagger in my heart as he becomes the 4^th player in baseball history  joining Willie Mays, Mark McGwire and Nelson Cruz to hit a home run in the first four games of the season.

It is only one game and the Twins are still in first place. A bright spot was the bottom of the order had a good day. Hitters 7-9 went 5 for 12 with Chris Parmaleee, Brian Dozier and Eduardo Escobar doing the damage.

Game 2 of the series Twins jump out to a lead but once again the Orioles come back to tie it up again. The hero of this game in my eyes goes to reliever Josh Roenicke pitching 3 innings of 1 hit ball.

Parmalee after having a nice day Friday provides the Twins with a big home run early in the game.  This could be a future great asset to have with a player in the lower part of the batting order with power.

The Twins although early in the season are able to get runs late in the game. Today Justin Morneau comes through in the 9^th to help with the win.

Roenicke pitched great but now add on new Twins closer Glen Perkins comes in and mows the Orioles down 1-2-3. Game over, Twins win!!!!

A Twins win was the first in Baltimore since April 21, 2011. Minnesota teams of late are very good at breaking bad streaks as I refer to the Wild breaking long losing streaks on the road in Vancouver, Detroit and Dallas. Way to go Twins!!!

Sunday’s game once again this young team finds a way to win the game. The Twins come from behind then 2 relief pitchers for the Twins come in and dominate. Jared Burton and closer Glen Perkins both came in and threw nasty pitches making the Orioles hitters look foolish.

Two big plays today late was the bunt by Brian Dozier successfully advancing the base runners and pinch hitter Parmalee sacrifice fly.

Rookie Aaron Hicks comes in with his last at bat of the game with a 1-25 start. What does he do? He gets a single and an rbi.

One coincidence in both series with the Tigers and now Orioles is Hicks gets a hit in his last bat of the series and each hit has provided at least one rbi. His struggling is hard to watch but the guy just does not quit. I am pulling for him to get out of this awful stretch to start.

The Twins won a series over Detroit at home for the first time since 2010. Sundays win gave the Twins their first series win in Baltimore since July of 2010.

It is only 6 games but 3 firsts have occurred already with first win in Baltimore and first series win over Detroit and Baltimore in 2 years.

Do we have something brewing? It is not the name Morneau, Willingham, Mauer yet consistently. It is Parmalee, Dozier, Burton, Perkins and the rest of the team. Batters 1-9, who will be the next hero as the Twins move on to Kansas City?

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

 

Congrats to Coach Adelman for win 1000

A year that started out with high hopes for the Wolves as Ricky Rubio was back. The signing of Chase Budinger and Brandon Roy to go along with Kevin Love and the rest of the gang has not turned out like I was hoping for.

The injury bug hit had watching Kevin Love miss most of the season along with Roy and Budinger. All teams seem to go through it but in the Wolves case just could not get enough wins to get in the playoffs.

I am very happy the way the team has fought the last month picking up some very impressive wins along the way.

 Friday night April 5^th was so disappointing for 2 reasons. The first is Coach Adelman sitting with 999 wins and the team is home to Toronto. Would you not know it was one of four games not televised all season? The Wolves lose a close one so stay tuned for the next game.

Saturday night the Detroit Pistons come to town for another chance at the elusive 1000^th win for Coach.

The injuries and add in Coach Adelman’s personal leave earlier in the season made Saturday night win that much more special. Coach was rewarded as he joins 7 other coaches with this huge accomplishment.

A home game was great for Minnesota fans to get to say thank you in person. This might be his finest coaching job with the Wolves to date.

Thanks Coach and Congratulations

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

New fun at the Metrodome Saturday night

Minnesota sport scene now has a new team. The team is called Minnesota United FC. The first game of their existence was played Saturday night at the Metrodome at 7pm.

The United are part of the National Soccer League and their first opponent wash the San Antonio Scorpions.

I went up to take the game in with my wife and daughter and came away thoroughly impressed with what we saw.

I bought general admission tickets on line for 6.00 for students and 12.00 for adults and at the gate I found out it was 14.00 and 8.00.

The gates opened at 5:30 and we made our way to the area designated for general admission. There were sections for people who paid a little more to sit in assigned seating which was about the area of the 50 yard line. Fans also could purchase tickets on the sidelines.

We sat 5 rows off the field and had a very good view. The attendance number was 6,754 which does not sound like much. The fans that were in attendance I find were very knowledgeable about the game of soccer. The amount of different color soccer shirts and jerseys kids were to the game was fun to see.

The game went 94 minutes and ended in a 0-0 tie.  The chances both teams has made the game so intense including both teams hitting the cross bar. The shots on goal were 5 for each side. The score 0-0 and only 10 shots on goal total would think maybe boring? No way, the skill players showed was so impressive.

I looked to the left a few sections and saw the San Antonio fans. There were 10-12 of them waving their team flags. I am impressed with that kind of dedications from those few of fans.

The United fans were loud and fun to be a part of. There were blow up sticks given out to people. The noise those sticks made were ringing throughout the sections.

The game ended and the fans made their way to the railing just above the field. The United players all had sharpies and made their way thanking fans and signing autographs. My daughter got the whole team and left so happy.

If you love soccer then this is the place for you. If you want to check it out go to their website at mnunitedfc.com for more info and schedule.

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

 

 

 

Wild struggling and in need of some time off

The Minnesota sports world that I love has hit a bump in the road as the Minnesota Wild are in a slump.

Thursday the Wild got shutout by the Los Angeles Kings 3-0. This is the 4^th loss in the past 5 games and to make matters worse it is the first shutout of the season. It is the 5^th game in a row the Wild gave up the first goal of the game.

The team had been 7-1 and now just can’t find the answer. The last two teams the Wild have played both had a day off between games and the Wild were not so fortunate. Is it tired leg syndrome hitting the team I love and have high hopes?

The team has not had a full practice in two weeks. I am in hopes since the team does not play until Sunday that rest and a practice can be accomplished. This team is too talented not to overcome this dip in their season.

In the pregame preview on TV Tom Chorske had said he was surprised when Backstrom got the call in a back to back road game.

You don’t see very often if at all a goalie with a 0 percent stopping of a shot. It is the second night in a row the Wilds opponent scored within the first 2 minutes of the game. Two goals in less than 3 and a half minutes and Backstrom takes a seat on the bench.

The San Jose game was disappointing so when it was time for the Kings game I really had a good feel for the team. A trade that brings Jason Pominville and the recall of Mikael Granlund I thought would bring some spark.

Disaster as the Los Angeles Kings looked so much quicker in the first period seemingly to do what they want when they wanted to.

I thought backup goalie Darcy Kuemper played well in relief giving up 1 goal in 12 shots. I believe in Backstrom, I just hope this 2 days off can give him the needed rest. The benching I would hope give him the edge to come out Sunday night assuming he is in nets and get the Wild back in the W column.

I did like the looks of the new first line with Koivu, Parise and Pominville. I can see this could be a line of excitement. This 2 days off will be key in more ways than one. The 2 day rest, along with a practice in hopes of getting these 3 some time to work together could go a long way to how the season ends.

11 games left and 6 of those are at home. This is going to be exciting down the stretch. No time to panic rather I am counting on a strong finish and into the playoffs the Wild go.

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

 

 

What a start to the Twins season

The Twins season just finished the first series of the year. The Detroit Tigers and their big buck hitters were in town including Price Fielder, Miguel Cabrera and Torri Hunter. These3 alone are intimidating with their powerful swings.

The home opener Twins face all world Justin Verlander and he was as advertised, tough. He finally leaves and the Twins were given plenty of opportunities against the relied corp but just could not get the job done.

I thought Twins starter Vance Worley showed me something after a rough 1^st inning and then settled down and kept the Twins in the game. The offense sputtered including rough day for rookie Aaron Hicks.  Just think his first major league start and he gets to face Verlander.

I did like the no quit in the team drawing within 3-2 and a chance to win. It was not meant to be. A loss was the end result but for baseball fans we can say baseball is back.

Take me out to the Ball game can be sung for the next 6 months and hopefully into the 7^th with playoffs in mind.

Game 2 Twins again fall behind but do not quit. Is there a better feeling knowing in the bottom of the 9^th the Twins have a chance. Twins down 2-1 in the bottom of the 9^th Eduardo Escobar stands at the plate and the pitch, Escobar connects and there it goes, deep. Two Tigers outfielders are back, but neither catch it. One run scores, here comes the next Twin and he is SAFE at home. Twins win 3-2

Relief pitching was a big strength and a key hit was achieved as the previous day the Twins just could not get the hit when needed. Tigers hitters first two games no home runs.

Rubber match at noon and Twins fall behind for the third straight day. Twins hitters once again do not quit. First 2 home runs of the year and they were not from Detroit. Minnesota gets one from Willingham and Plouffe.

Aaron Hicks starts out 0-11 in the series and then in the 8^th he gets his first major league hit. I was watching Hicks get interviewed when a large bucket of water gets dumped on his back. The base hit had to be special especially since  he was playing against his favorite player in baseball, Torri Hunter.

Positives in the series

Twins starting pitching goes 6, 7 and then 5.1 in the 3^rd starts.

Twins relief pitching was outstanding as strikeouts were being achieved. I thought the only disappointment was Brian Duensing walking 2 in the first game other than that it was lights out. Closer, Glen Perkins got the win in game 2 but also looked strong including a strikeout. I am expecting big things out of him.

No quit in the team as exhibited in all three games.

Detroit Tigers- 0 home runs in 3 games

Twins win first series against Detroit at Target Field since September2010. Twins start out 2-1 in 2013, after starting out 2012 getting swept in Baltimore.

It is a long season but starting out above 500 can only give this team a sign of hope.

I know the team will hit it was the pitching I was concerned about. It is only 3  good games of solid pitching.

Thanks for reading

Purplestick

 

 

 

Wolves win streak on the road continues

The Wolves playoff shot is over but that is not stopping the team from trying to build confidence not only for the rest of this season but for seasons to come.

The Wolves won in Milwaukee on Wednesday night making it 3 straight on the road. They have won in Phoenix, Detroit and now Milwaukee.

In a 2011-2012 strike shortened season the Wolves end up 26-40 for the year. Wednesday’s night win makes 28 for the year so far.  It is so nice to see the win column growing. Monday night the Wolves beat an injury plagued Boston Celtics. It is not the Wolves fault teams are banged up so it is nice to see the team getting the W.

Coach Rick Adelman has collected wins 998 and 999 this week and with the next game on Friday at home vs Toronto will he get the monumental 1000^th win at home. He has 2 chances at home to get it done as Detroit comes to town Saturday night. I would love to see him get it at home.

The team is really playing well as we are seeing Nikolai Pekovic being dominant and getting 20 plus points the last 2 games. Ricky Rubio found his 3 point touch against Milwaukee. Rubio outside and Pekovic inside is an exciting future. The passing of Rubio just gets better to watch.

This team with the addition of maybe one more scorer and some inside help, the sky is the limit. They are young and upcoming. Teams like the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers are getting older so it is time for the Wolves to let the rest of the NBA know it is not going to be an easy win against Minnesota anymore.

GO WOLVES

Thanks for reading

Purplestick