THE OPENER: — It’s time to take stock in Minnesota sports and the most appropriate way to divvy things up in 2026 is to have two categories: Do Better and Done Better. It would be easy to get sour on the sporting scene by focusing on all the teams, players and others that simply need to do better to escape criticism and disinterest. At the same time, there are pockets of excellence — or at least very good — where things are being done better. Let’s not let those get lost amid the mediocrity, OK? We also have hiring and firing news, thoughts on the Team USA locker room celebration, another coach removed from his high school team and a look at what’s ahead. It’s a lot. — Howard Sinker
APOLOGIES EXTENDED, LOOKING BACK, MOVING ON: It’s 100% clear that what could have been a unifying moment to celebrate the gold medals won by Team USA’s men’s and women’s hockey teams has been trashed by political posturing. The irony is that the instigators — one of my favorite hockey terms — came from the (political) right wing, which is typically the loudest to urge athletes to keep quiet and just play their games. (In contrast, the left specializes in outrage over who shows up at sporting events.) For me it would be great if the most political thing that happened would have been U.S. goalie Connor Hellebuyck catching grief from Canadian hockey fans upon returning to play for the Winnipeg Jets. Put a mouse in his beer, eh. Rarely are things that simple, anymore.
QUICK REVIEW: The U.S. women won their gold medal on Thursday. The men won on Sunday. Both teams beat Canada in overtime. Neither U.S. team was an underdog, which should have muted comparisons to the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” amateurs who defeated the Soviet Union’s top professionals in the semifinals. Things veered from celebratory to political when Team USA (and Minnesota Wild general manager) Bill Guerin invited FBI director Kash Patel into the understandably raucous postgame party. Patel reached President Trump on his phone. Trump invited the team to the State of the Union address and the White House — and joked about how he’d need to invite the women’s team or he “would be impeached.” Players laughed. On Tuesday, politics took center stage in Washington. On Wednesday, there were apologies revealed and damage control. The end? We’ll see. We hope.
TAKING THE BAIT: Via John Shipley at Pioneer Press. VERBATIM: “The women’s team understandably declined the president’s invitation. Because they know when they’ve been insulted. Because they’re not living in arrested adolescence. Because they know what it’s like to be treated as second-class in their field and beyond. Is it lost on anyone that the president has used his support of women’s athletics to vilify transgender women while out of the other side of his mouth belittles a U.S. team’s remarkable Olympic success? It’s almost as if it has always been straw-man political capital. In case anyone wondered, he just said out loud, on television, that he considers women’s sports a punchline. It’s understandable that a group of tipsy 20-somethings get swept up in a call from the president of the United States. And to be perfectly fair, nervous gratuitous laughter at stupid jokes is not unknown among anyone, including the press corps. But at some point in this life, you grow up and decide who you are. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/bait0226
WEDNESDAY’S WORDS I: Three-time Olympian, Frost player and former Gophers star Kelly Pannek in the Pioneer Press: “I think the video is what it is. You’d have to ask them about their feelings on it, but I think there’s also elements to it, with the phone call specifically, (that) is not that surprising, to be frank. So I don’t know why we expect differently.”
WEDNESDAY’S WORDS II: U.S. team captain Hillary Knight at a press gathering on her return to the Seattle Torrent of the PWHL, reported by the Athletic and others: “I just thought the joke was distasteful and unfortunate. I think the way women are represented, it’s a great teaching point to really shine light on how women should be championed for their amazing feats. And now I have to sit in front of you and explain someone else’s behavior. It’s not my responsibility.”
WEDNESDAY’S WORDS III: Jake Oettinger, a backup goalie on the team and former Lakeville North star, during a Wednesday interview reported by the several sources: “My opinion on that is there’s no one that supports women’s hockey more than me. I know a lot of those girls personally. I think if you would’ve been at the bar watching the game with me where I was, watching the women’s hockey, there was no one as excited as me when they won the gold medal. They’re incredible, and they deserve all the credit in the world. They’re dominant. I was just so happy for those girls. To get to know a few of them personally made it that much cooler. The fact that the men and the women both have the gold medal right now is pretty cool.”
WEDNESDAY’S WORDS IV: Jeremy Swayman, the other U.S. backup goalie, during an interview after his return to the Boston Bruins. “We should’ve reacted differently” to Trump’s joke.
ONE MORE THING: How could this have been avoided? Guerin shouldn’t have invited Patel into the locker room, where the focus turned to his beer guzzling and the phone call with Trump. ONE MORE THING: If one gets invited into the inner sanctum, one should know how to behave.
PUBLISHERSVIEW: The reality is that any official of any administration would have been invited into the locker room. Not everyone would have slammed beers, but then again, most administration officials aren’t huge hockey people, like Kash Patel. One would argue that the ceremonial spraying of beverages during championships is not just a male tradition – in fact, the Lynx and Frost are the last Minnesota teams to earn the honor of such celebration. The audience and algorithms are driving this story for politics – not the players, and not the politicians. It’s a clear example of choosing your narrative, and there are plenty of non-political, very human and sports stories from the women’s victory, and the men’s victory. Compartmentalize your sports and your politics – it might be more enjoyable. In the meantime…GO USA!
DO BETTER: Timberwolves. So many losses to weak teams has marred a season that started with hopes of being at the level of the NBA’s best and making an even stronger title run than the Western Conference-final eliminations of the last two seasons. But the team is stuck in sixth place and in a maddening rut with fewer than two dozen games until the playoffs. Their issues are not overblown, as a Star Tribune columnist contends here, and Coach Chris Finch’s disappointment was on full display after Sunday’s loss to the 76ers. The disappearing defense of Anthony Edwards — more on that below — sets a sour tone. So does acknowledging problems without acting on them.
DONE BETTER: Gophers women’s basketball. Despite their nine-game losing streak ending vs. Michigan State on Sunday, coach Dawn Plitzuweit finally has the right combination of players to bring the success expected when she was hired away from West Virginia three years ago. The Gophers are a team that fields four versatile players surrounding 6-foot-5 grad student Sophie Hart, who is a delight to watch in the post. A strong Big Ten tournament run could get the Gophers a Top 16 NCAA seed — and home games for the first two rounds of March Madness.
DO BETTER: Vikings front office. Placing all the blame for the team’s issues on fired GM Kwesi Adofo-Mensah is a fool’s position. The Wilfs need to hire better. The front office needs to work better together. Coach Kevin O’Connell needs to work with what he has rather than what he imagines.
DO BETTER: J.J. McCarthy. The path to starting quarterback will be earned not given.
DONE BETTER: Byron Buxton. In 2025, it was sweet to see Buxton play more (based on plate appearances) than in any of his previous 10 seasons with the Twins — and play as well as he did despite the team’s crummy, turbulent showing. It was also good to see him maintain his commitment to remaining with the Twins after all the teardown talk and to chide management for not squashing trade speculation in real time. (“All it takes is somebody at the top going to the media, ‘We’re not trading you,’ “ Buxton told reporters at spring training. ) May he play 125+ games for the Twins for the rest of his career.
DO BETTER/DONE BETTER: Tom Pohlad. Representing his family and Twins management, the team’s new controlling owner has acknowledged there’s damage to the team’s standing in the community that needs to be repaired. After some initial stumbles, Pohlad has been more on message. Whether words will be followed by deeds in the great unknown. I am hopeful for better things, if only because I don’t think Wild owner Craig Leipold would have signed on to the ownership team if he thought the Twins would sink further in the muck.
DO BETTER/DONE BETTER: Niko Medved. Victories over three Top 25 teams with a hastily rebuilt roster is a hopeful tease of what could be ahead if (1) Medved brings aboard more of Minnesota’s best high school talent and (2) becomes more than Last Chance U for players buried in the transfer portal. The skinny roster underperformed at times but played way over its head at others — including the first 30 minutes of Wednesday’s 77-67 loss to No. 3 Michigan. If Medved matches the Plitzuweit timeline — her team’s expected NCAA berth in Year 3 — he’ll meet the Done Better threshold.
DONE BETTER: Cheryl Reeve. On every level from coaching to involvement in the community, Reeve is the standard by which I judge the words and actions of other coaches and sports executives. She speaks out, shows up, wins titles and orchestrates deep playoff runs. The Lynx’ renaissance of the last two seasons should be setting the stage for a fifth WNBA title.
DO BETTER. WNBA leadership. Pay the players what they’re worth because everyone watches more people than ever watch women’s sports. Don’t squander the momentum.
DO BETTER: Bob Motzko. The Gophers men’s hockey team continues to be the most under-analyzed story in Twin Cities media. Motzko’s decision or inability to recruit newly eligible Canadian junior players is the darkest cloud on a 10-19-2 season going into this week’s Thursday/Friday series at No. 2-ranked Michigan. Minnesota’s .351 winning percentage is the lowest in 55 seasons. I’m betting there’s enough good will that Motzko will get the opportunity to do better in 2026-27. But what if it doesn’t get better?
DO BETTER: Minnesota Aurora. Undefeated seasons are getting boring. You’re 43-0-5 over four seasons since joining the USL W. Now it’s time to graduate from Division Titles to a League Championship. Seriously, keep putting on a good show. Just extend it.
DONE BETTER: Free Lutheran Bible College men’s basketball. After breaking a 47-game losing steak in November, the Conquerors won a second game in February — and added a third when an early-season loss was reversed by forfeit. I wrote about the under-the-radar Plymouth college in November, noting the atypical first question that Coach Logan Strand asks of his recruits and some of the wildly lopsided losses that were part of the streak.
DONE BETTER: Wisconsin-River Falls football. An inspiring story for football’s small college also-rans — and there are plenty of those in Minnesota. After nine losing seasons (including one that was winless and another with one victory), UWRF’s fifth straight winning season finished with the Falcons taking the Division III title in December. Coach Matt Walker led a majority-Minnesotan roster to a 14-1 season capped by beating North Central, an Illinois school that has been in the last five championship games, winning three of them. More on Walker below.
Who else needs to do better or has done better? Let me know: sportstake100@gmail.com
FIRED ALREADY: Via ESPN. Eric Ramsay, who left Minnesota United last month to coach West Bromwich Albion of England’s Championship League, was fired this week after his team failed to win in his eight games with the team. His tenure lasted 44 days and featured four ties and four losses. VERBATIM: “Supporters turned against him following a 3-0 defeat at Portsmouth and during Saturday’s 2-0 home loss to Coventry, chanting ‘You’re getting sacked in the morning’ and ‘Eric Ramsay, your football is s---.’ In his final news conference, Ramsay admitted the overall picture is ‘not good enough’ and feels his side took ‘a step backwards.’ ” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/ramsay0226
HIRED ALREADY: Via Kevin Borbo at NBA Sports Bay Area. The San Francisco 49ers have rehired Kwesi Adofo-Mensah, who worked in the football research department for the 49ers from 2013-2019. VERBATIM: “It kind of happened organically,” said 49ers General manager John Lynch. “Kind of humbled that as a friend, Kwesi called me right when [the Vikings fired him] and just kind of as a throwaway, ‘Kwesi, we always loved having you, so just know you got a place with us.’ And that developed into more substantive talks, and we’re bringing him back in kind of a personnel executive role that, after the draft, I think we hope to give more finality to.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/kwesi0226
STATE HOCKEY POWERS FALL: Two traditional private school hockey powers were knocked out of the Class 2A boys’ hockey field this week when seventh-ranked Rosemount beat No. 4 St. Thomas Academy 3-2 in the Section 3 final on Tuesday and unranked Gentry Academy stunned No. 8 Hill-Murray 4-2 in the Section 4 semifinal on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Edina is going to state for the fifth straight year and seeking its 11th title after beating Wayzata 3-1 in the Section 6 final.
CRAZY GOAL: Via Olivia Hicks at Strib Varsity. Edina’s Bode McConnell scored all three goals for the Hornets. His first one is epic. VERBATIM: “With 1:46 on the clock, McConnell launched a shot off the glass that eventually rolled onto the top of the goal, off the crossbar and bounced off Wayzata goalie Ryan Pellinger.” WATCH: https://fluence-media.co/goal0226
PUBLIC SCHOOL PRIDE: Via Heather Rule at Strib Varsity. The trip to state will be Rosemount’s first in 34 years and Coach Ricky Saintey didn’t hold back his feelings afterward. VERBATIM: “This is for every single one of those people that believe in Rosemount, stayed in Rosemount, trusted it. Because guess what? You don’t need to go to a private school to get better, to do your thing. Believe that it’s here. And we just proved that being in Rosemount for every single one of these kids, that it can happen here in Rosemount.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/rosemount0226
BIGGEST NIGHT TONIGHT: Nine section finals are set for tonight. HOTTEST GAMES: No. 2 Minnetonka vs. No. 15 Chanhassen in Section 2AA, 6 p.m. at Ridder Arena. No. 18 Centennial vs. Andover in Section 5AA, 7 p.m. at Furniture and Things Event Center in Elk River. No. 8 Blake School vs. No. 6 Delano in Section 2A, 7 p.m. at St. Louis Park Rec Center. The last section title game is Friday in Class 4AA between White Bear Lake and Gentry Academy, 7 p.m. at Aldrich Arena. State tournament seeds will be set on Saturday.
HOCKEY TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE | SPECTATOR GUIDE
FINAL STATE RANKINGS | SECTION RESULTS
BIGGEST TOURNAMENT WEEKEND: Based on number of participants, this is the biggest weekend for state high school tournaments. The state wrestling tournament started Wednesday and runs through Saturday at Grand Casino Arena. Boys’ swimming and diving goes through Saturday at the University of Minnesota. Adapted hockey is on Friday and Saturday at Bloomington Jefferson. Details, including schedule, ticket and streaming information, are here: WRESTLING | SWIMMING | ADAPTED HOCKEY CI | ADAPTED HOCKEY PI
WALKER LEAVES RIVER FALLS FOR D-I JOB: Via Des Moines Register. Matt Walker is leaving UW-River Falls to become the head coach at Drake, a Football Championship Subdivision school. Drake plays in the Pioneer League, which doesn’t offer scholarships and is at the lower end of schools participating at that level. Drake plays Pioneer League opponent St. Thomas on Nov. 14 in St. Paul. VERBATIM: “Matt inherited a program routinely at the bottom of its conference and turned it into one of the best programs in the country,” said Brian Hardin, Drake’s athletic director. “His identification and development of young men will serve him well at Drake and I look forward to the heights he will guide our team.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/walker0226
VIKINGS QB UPDATE: Via Ben Goessling at Star Tribune. Vikings management used a lot of words to say very little about their quarterback situation during a press session at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. Rob Brzezinski, the executive VP for football operations, made a short story long. VERBATIM: “What we do know is we need a level of baseline quarterback play for us to be effective. A lot of this is, has been J.J. McCarthy in an unfortunate [situation] with some of the injuries and things that he’s dealt with. But we’re going to explore every opportunity. We can’t manufacture what’s not there. So, number one, where are the options? Is it reciprocal? Is it financially doable? All of those things. There’s just a lot of factors that go into it." MORE: https://fluence-media.co/combine0226
LONG STORY SHORT: Via Matthew Collar at Vikings Insider. VERBATIM: “It’s a lot of words to avoid the statement, ‘J.J. McCarthy is our quarterback.’ ” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/qb0226
LOONS COLD OPEN: Winter soccer comes to Allianz Field on Saturday when Minnesota United hosts Cincinnati in the MLS home opener. Match start is set for 3:30 p.m. and the high temperature is expected to be 20 degrees with a 40% chance of snow. At least there’s a knit cap giveaway for the first 10,000 fans. TICKETS: https://fluence-media.co/opener0226
GOOD NEWS: If you’re an Apple TV subscriber, you don’t need to pay extra for Loons and other MLS broadcasts — a change from last season. BAD NEWS: Soccer expert Jon Marthaler will no longer be covering MNUFC for Star Tribune. A position posted last summer for a college sports reporter who would also cover pro soccer has yet to be filled. Marthaler wants to move from freelancing to full-time work.
THAT ANTHONY EDWARDS ISSUE: Via Britt Robson at MinnPost. Simple takeaway from a detailed breakdown: Edwards is obviously the player most vital to Timberwolves success and his defensive issues are an obstacle to Minnesota being taken seriously as a title threat. VERBATIM: “(Defensive lapses have) been a chronic problem throughout Ant’s career, but it feels especially acute this season because two trips to the conference finals have upped the stakes and expectations, because Ant is theoretically more mature in year 6, and because Ant and the team specifically pledged that this would be a point of emphasis to fix a flaw heading into this season. Instead, if anything, the problem has gotten worse. A somewhat crude but generally accurate way to measure it is to look at how many points the Wolves defense allows per 100 possessions when Ant is on the court compared with when he is off it. Through Sunday night, the team had allowed 6.6 more points per 100 possessions with Ant playing (114.4) than when he wasn’t playing (107.8). That’s the biggest gap of his career, with the next one being his rookie season (+6.1 more points allowed per 100 possessions) and then last season (+5.6).” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/edwards0226
WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC NEXT WEEK: The World Baseball Classic begins next Thursday with two games in Tokyo. The United States starts pool play next Friday in Houston vs. Brazil. The 20-team tournament concludes on March 17 in Miami. Twins pitcher Joe Ryan, who is working through back soreness, hasn’t yet decided whether he’ll pitch for Team USA. Taj Bradley has given up his spot with Mexico to stay in Twins training camp. Bradley’s role with the Twins has the potential to be more vital with Pablo Lopez’s elbow injury sidelining him for the season. Six other Twins are set for WBC play. Outfielder Byron Buxton (USA), Gio Urshela (Colombia), Dan Altavilla (Italy), Matt Bowman (Israel), Luis Quinones (Puerto Rico) and Eduardo Salazar (Venezuela). WBC HOMEPAGE | SCHEDULE
BADER MAKES IMPRESSION: Via Maria Guardado at MLB.com. Former Twins outfielder Harrison Bader, now with San Francisco, smashed a home run Wednesday that left a dent in a food truck parked beyond the outfield wall. Afterward, he autographed the dent. VERBATIM: “That’s pretty good, I’m not going to lie,” Bader said. MORE: https://fluence-media.co/bader0226
LIVE. LOCAL BASEBALL: After a week in Florida, the Gophers are hosting Kansas in a four-game series at U.S. Bank Stadium. The Jayhawks won the opener 8-7 on Wednesday, dropping Minnesota’s record to 5-2. The series continues at 6 p.m. Friday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday. Games are being streamed on BIG+. TICKETS
HUGE NIGHT FOR BENILDE ALUM: Via FOX Sports. Former Benilde-St. Margaret’s star Olivia Olson scored a career-high 31 points, including a game-winning jump shot with three seconds left in overtime, to give No. 8 Michigan an 88-86 win over No. 13 Ohio State on Wednesday. The sophomore guard is averaging 19.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game for Michigan. STORY AND VIDEO: https://fluence-media.co/olson0226
MAPLE GROVE COACH SIDELINED: Via Cassidy Hettesheimer at Strib Varsity. Mark Cook, coach of the No. 2-ranked team in Class 4A, has been placed on a leave of absence from his teaching and coaching duties at Maple Grove. The Crimson finished second in the state last season and Cook was named Class 4A coach of the year. He is also on the Osseo city council. VERBATIM: “According to sources familiar with the matter, school administrators addressed the team before its 81-38 quarterfinal victory over Irondale on Feb. 24. One source described Cook’s absence as an ‘administrative leave.’ Cook is in his 21st season as head coach of the Crimson girls basketball team and surpassed 400 career wins in January. Cook is also on Maple Grove’s football and softball coaching staffs.” MORE: https://fluence-media.co/coach0226
AND FINALLY: If the gold medal dust-up hadn’t happened, the lasting Team USA postgame image for many of us would have been players bringing Johnny Gaudreau’s children on the ice for postgame photos. Gaudreau and his brother Matthew died in August 2024 when they were struck by a driver while bicycling in New Jersey. Gaudreau, who played for Columbus, was a likely member of Team USA. Watching in real time was both sad and sweet.
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