Why is the Minnesota state boy's hockey championship such a big deal? And other Minnesota sports queries

CATHY WURZER: It's Thursday. That means we take time for sports here on the program. We have two experts, Wally Langfellow, Eric Nelson. Wally is the founder of Minnesota Score magazine and the co-host of 10,000 Takes sports talk show on radio and TV. Eric is the other host of 10,000 Takes. He's also the Minnesota Vikings reporter for CBS Sports Radio's Eye on Football.

Hey, guys, how are you?

ERIC NELSON: Ecstatic.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Giddy. How's that?

[LAUGHTER]

State hockey tournament time.

CATHY WURZER: Well, actually, I adore high school sports. But this is my time. I'm with you. I love the state high school boys hockey tournament. And I was watching the small schools yesterday, which I really appreciate them.

Wally, the big schools play today.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: They do. And the interesting part about this year's tournament-- I guess if you find it interesting-- that seven of the eight teams in Class AA from last year are back this year. So not a lot of new blood. But the one newcomer this year, number one ranked and number one seeded Minnetonka.

They have had a spectacular season. Tonka tonight plays perennial power Hill-Murray. That's a 6 o'clock face-off at the Xcel Energy Center. But Eric and I talked to Sean Goldsworthy, who is the head coach of Minnetonka. And the last name probably rings a Bell with you, Cathy. Of course, his father, Bill Goldsworthy, was a star for the Minnesota North Stars back in the '70s.

But he said that his team is playing their best hockey right now, which makes sense. And they are the number one seed for a good reason. They've beaten just about all of the top teams. And I'm really looking forward to this tournament. I think that we have-- along with Minnetonka-- we have three or four teams that easily could win this tournament and nobody would bat an eye at it.

CATHY WURZER: Just got an email from a listener, who wanted to know, well, why do you pay so much attention to this particular tournament? I mean, it's just a high school tournament. How do you explain this to people?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, I would say that the best way to equate this is with some of the top high school events in the country. So when you think about basketball, I think you immediately think about Indiana basketball and the legendary tournaments that they have there. Or football, maybe Texas or Florida or Ohio.

This is unique. To fill up an NHL arena to watch high school hockey games for four straight days, it really is Minnesota's crown jewel event with regard to high school sports. And that's why we do that. No question.

CATHY WURZER: Eric?

ERIC NELSON: Well, Cathy, I know you're fixated on the prep tournament at the X. And it is a crown jewel event. No doubt about it. But there's other hockey coming up this weekend on the horizon. How about the U of M Gophers men's team? They're going to host Michigan State Saturday night in Dinkytown. It's the Big Ten Tournament. The Gophers are 25, 8 and 1. They're ranked number 1 in the nation. So the bar of expectation is sky high, as it always is.

But I think the question is, Cathy, can they make a Frozen Four run? Because when it comes to Minnesota hockey, it's about winning the championship. Now, the Gophers have five NCAA titles on their resume, but the last one came in 2003. That was when Don Lucia was the head coach. In fact, they had back-to-back Frozen Four titles '02, '03. And if you remember, we had back-to-back riots in Dinkytown after those victories.

CATHY WURZER: So while we're talking about the men, we got to talk about the women, too, because they're playing this weekend.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: They are. The Gopher women's hockey team will play on Saturday, in Minneapolis, against Minnesota-Duluth or Clarkson. The winner will advance to the Frozen Four, in Duluth. The Gophers are 29, 5 and 3 this year. Their top two scorers are Taylor Hayes and Grace Zumwinkle. Skylar Vetter is Minnesota's top goalie.

The Gophers routinely are one of the top teams in the nation. And have yet another chance to win another national title. And hopefully, one of them, if not both of the Gopher teams, can come home with national championships this year.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, jeez. A lot of hockey this weekend. I can hardly stand it. All right. Let's talk about the Timberwolves. Eric, can you recap the game from Tuesday with Philadelphia?

ERIC NELSON: I can, Cathy. I was there at Target Center. And a lot of people who came into the arena that night were excited because Minnesota had just come back from a trip out West, winning three of four games in California, and Philadelphia, making its only appearance of the regular season, with MVP candidate Joel Embiid and the "Beard," James Harden. So there was a lot of buzz around this game. TNT carried it nationally.

Well, we saw the Timberwolves crater. Typical Minnesota, right? Just when you get excited, they go back the other way. It's a roller coaster team. Embiid was brilliant. He scored 39 points. He is one of the top players in the NBA.

But James Harden, he was on a milk carton. Did not play. Did not dress. He was on the bench. But basically, they call it load management. Now, the 76ers said he had left foot soreness. I'm not buying it. He played the night before in Indianapolis against the Indiana Pacers.

And this is a problem the NBA has. A lot of their marquee guys suddenly don't play in games, especially on the road. So you had fans who came in from wherever-- in the Twin Cities, maybe outstate Minnesota, maybe even Iowa or the Dakotas-- yeah, I want to see Harden. I want to see Embiid. And they show up, and James Harden is a no-show.

CATHY WURZER: Let's talk about spring training. Minnesota Twins, how are they looking, by the way?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: It's fine. They're kind of--

CATHY WURZER: It's fine.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Well, it's spring training, and it really doesn't mean anything. The World Baseball Classic is starting up. So several players are going to be gone.

But I'm going to pivot away from what has gone on with regard to spring training to a survey that I saw yesterday-- a brand new survey by Crestline.com. They polled 999 Major League Baseball fans, and they listed the most annoying fans in baseball by team. Take a guess at where the Minnesota Twins fans fall in there, Cathy. I'll let you guess.

CATHY WURZER: Well, I would assume that we're very polite people, that we're not very annoying.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Boy, you hit the nail on the head. We're 29th out of 30. So in other words, our fans-- this is my problem with Twins fans-- our fans go to the games and don't even pay attention to the game. They don't give a damn. And I think it's a problem, to be honest with you.

[LAUGHTER]

Yes, they were voted the second best behaved fans in all of baseball. How about that.

And listen to this, though. Twins fans were the third most likely to have a game ruined by another fan, according to this survey. So somebody either drinking too much or maybe they were actually getting into the game and bothering you while you were trying to do something other than watch a baseball game.

CATHY WURZER: And given how the Twins have played, maybe we should be more annoyed.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Exactly.

CATHY WURZER: Really.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: We're just pacifists. That's the problem.

ERIC NELSON: Cathy, there is some Minnesota Vikings news this week.

CATHY WURZER: Oh, yes. Go ahead.

ERIC NELSON: They released linebacker Eric Kendricks a few days ago. And I just want to say this is a guy who made an impact with the team on the field, but also off the field, especially in the wake of the George Floyd tragedy. He picked up that baton of social justice. He had the backing of Mark and Zygi Wilf. The team was very supportive. And he was really a leader in that regard here in the Twin Cities and back where he grew up, in Fresno, California. And more cuts are probably coming as the team gets ready for free agency next week.

But how about kudos to KJ Osborn, the wide receiver, who was down in Austin, Texas, a few days ago-- Monday. And he was in an Uber ride with three other people. And they saw a car burning beneath a freeway bridge in Austin. They all get out, and they save the guy from the burning car.

And KJ has garnered a ton of positive attention from this, and rightfully so. And a lot of it is because he plays for the Vikings. He's in the NFL. But he has been quick to point out-- he says, give the other three people credit, too. It just wasn't me pulling him out of the car.

And ironically, I talked to KJ in February, during Super Bowl weekend, in Phoenix. I was doing a flag football celebrity broadcast. And he's really a great guy. He's got his eyes on more things than football.

So kudos to KJ and the others, who pulled the guy out of the car, down in Austin, Texas.

CATHY WURZER: All right. That's a lot of sports there, you guys. I hope you have a good weekend.

ERIC NELSON: You, too, Cathy.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: A will be. It's all hockey.

CATHY WURZER: Yeah, it is. And it's going to be a lot of fun, too. That's it for us on Minnesota Now for this week. Of course, that was Wally and Eric.