At Xcel Energy Center on Thursday, the Wild's three most important young players had starring roles in a victory for a shorthanded team.
It was a great night for the present and future of Minnesota sports
Wins by the Wild, Timberwolves and Gophers showed off a mix of youth and depth that should give fans optimism.
December 22, 2023 at 5:30PM
Marco Rossi had a goal and two assists — his night interrupted by his first NHL fight, a momentum-derailing decision that nonetheless won him points in the locker room — and Matt Boldy had a goal as he continues a recent spree. Defenseman Brock Faber, meanwhile, played a career-high 33 minutes, 25 seconds while contributing a goal and an assist.
All three players are 22 or younger.
Ten miles down the road at Target Center, Anthony Edwards (also 22) poured in a team-high 27 points for the Wolves, leading five starters in double-figures during a 118-111 win over the Lakers that improved their record to 21-6.
If you stopped along the way at Williams Arena, you found a mix of young and old — relative because all college basketball players are essentially young — leading breezy victories for the Gophers men's and women's basketball teams.
In an 80-63 Gophers win over Ball State, all five men's starters scored in double-figures. Seven players had at least eight points for the women's squad in a 100-45 romp over Lindenwood.
Thursday offered a blueprint of sorts for Minnesota sports, as I talked about on Friday's Daily Delivery podcast.
It was perhaps most pronounced for the Wild, who need Faber, Boldy and Rossi to play huge roles that belie their ages.
Boldy's surge shouldn't be surprising based on his 31-goal output a year ago and his lucrative contract, but the rapid rise of Faber and Rossi has helped the Wild withstand other underperformance and inconsistency this season.
Having two young guys producing at that level while making less than $1 million apiece is also one way to cover for the impact of the Zach Parise and Ryan Suter buyouts. If the Wild go anywhere this year and beyond, those guys will be front and center.
The three basketball teams, meanwhile, can all unquestionably say they are better off than they were a year ago at this time. All three are turning potential into results, with the Wolves clearly the furthest along in their evolution.
On the darkest day of the year, all the local teams shone brightly.
Here are four more things to know today:
*Also on Friday's podcast, I talked ice fishing with the Star Tribune's Tony Kennedy. You might have noticed it's been a mild December, which is bad for ice.
*The subheading on this Ringer piece on Aaron Rodgers reads: "Rodgers seemed to convince the Jets he could return from Achilles surgery faster than any player in NFL history. Believing him cost the Jets their season." It was well done.
*Danny passes along this fascinating information from Pro Football Focus about Brian Flores and the Vikings defense.
*Friday was the last daily episode of Daily Delivery for 2023. A Top 10 moments in Minnesota sports episode will run next week, then we'll be back on Tuesday, Jan. 2.
When he was hired after the disastrous 2016 season to reshape the Twins, Derek Falvey brought a reputation for identifying and developing pitching talent. It took a while, but the pipeline we were promised is now materializing.
