ICYMI: Sano Questionable for Opening Day and Craig Leipold Sends Video to Calm STH’s

PHOTO: Harrison Barden-USA TODAY Sports
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Yesterday was a Thursday full of news but it’s tough to find people to work for free these days and my kids needed supervising (if you need a child to love and care for – my DM’s are open). The woeful Timberwolves played an early game on the East Coast that needed watching and they were followed by the Gophers, who got a win that they really needed at NorthWestern. According to Joe Lunardi on ESPN2 after the game, the Gophers are now in the field of 64 and would no longer have to play in a “last four in” game.

(I was just kidding about giving away my kids btw…. there’s a lot of money in that game)

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But, basketball and babysitting wasn’t the only thing going on yesterday.

Let’s start with the Twins. There’s been all sorts of positivity coming out of Fort Myers early-on in Spring Training but the latest news on Miguel Sano is a little worrisome.

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 The gash on his lower calf (near the achilles area) hasn’t been healing as quickly as the Twins were hoping. After being evaluated again earlier this week, the Twins announced yesterday that Sano would wear his walking book and wait one more week for his injury to heal, before being re-evaluated in one week. With only 3 weeks of Spring Training remaining after this week, Sano is running out of time to get ready for opening day.

Of course, caution is the best approach with Sano and this latest injury. I’m glad that’s the way the Twins are handling it and I wouldn’t expect or want anything else. However, it feels like the latest in many Miguel Sano/Byron Buxton kicks to the groin. And injuries with Miguel ALWAYS seem to linger and end up much worse than we first hear… I hate that.

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Craig Liepold Sends ‘Calm Down’ Video to Wild Season Ticket Holders

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This was also an interesting development yesterday. The Minnesota Wild were looking for a way to calm tensions among the fanbase, after a down season where they just traded away three previous staples to the franchise’s future (Coyle, Niedereitter, Granlund).

They thought the owner, Craig Leipold, would be the best candidate to deliver the message. So, they made a video where Craig tells us about the reasoning behind the moves they made, how the team isn’t in full-rebuild mode, and what has him excited for the future. Before any further comment, here’s the video:

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I thought I was going to hate this video when I first saw it. I don’t need to watch Craig Leipold on his knees, begging for his season ticket holders to stay……. so I turned it on.

I was surprisingly sold.

Craig points out what we already know, for the most part. ‘We got younger with the trades and don’t forget about the eventual arrival of Kirill Kaprizov (likely 2020-2021)’ essentially sums it up. But, I think there were two things that had me in-tune with his message.

First, I appreciate Craig’s knowledge for the game of hockey and willingness to do whatever it takes to win. I honestly believe that, if there were no salary cap in hockey, the Wild would have one of the highest paid teams in the league. He wants a cup like we all do. Probably more than most of us. Cheering for teams like the Twins and Timberwolves my entire life, that attitude is a breath of fresh air.

Second, Michael Russo actually wrote about how much money the Wild will have at their disposal come this offseason. Leipold also seems excited about that. Sure, the Wild won’t have unheard of amounts of money available under the cap but they will have bills in their offseason wallet that we haven’t seen in a long long long time.

Hey hey hey… is that some hope I’m feeling for a Minnesota winter sports team’s future???

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via GIPHY

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Eric Strack | Minnesota Sports Fan

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