(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
Thursday (Mikael Granlund and selling hope) edition: Wha' Happened?
Good times.
May 24, 2012 at 1:22PM
The Twin Cities haven't seen a 20-year-old foreign-born athlete with potential and question marks take a contract down to the wire since ... well ... last year with Ricky Rubio. But this market hasn't seen a young hockey player with this much potential come into the fold since ... well ... Marian Gaborik more than a decade ago.
Mikael Granlund represents something very important and very rare for the Wild: the promise and hope of youth. The squad has had its share of good players in recent years, and some of them have been young.
But none have been as anticipated as Granlund, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2010 draft, and a player fans hope will lead a youth movement the likes of which this franchise has never really seen.
The Twins sold hope in the mid-2000s with emerging stars like Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. The Vikings sold it with Adrian Peterson and are trying to sell it with Christian Ponder and a new wave of young players. The Wolves are doing it with Ricky Rubio and Co. Now the Wild has a chance to do it, too.
Their 28-point lead got trimmed to two late, but they held on in a Western Conference finals rematch that missed an injured Luka Doncic after halftime.
