Exciting times in Minnesota professional sports

As some of you already know, I’m an avid Minnesota sports fan, but especially an avid Minnesota Twins fan. If any of you have been following the Twins like I have, it’s been a rough first month of the season.

I’ve watched the Twins blow some games late so far this season, including most recently in game one of its three-game series versus the Atlanta Braves this past weekend. I’ve also watched the team play just plain bad baseball. It has all added up to a 7-15 start, better than just the Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies.

I know it’s early and baseball seasons are marathons, but much of what I’ve seen so far this season hasn’t left me too inspired. Some may be wondering why I titled my column the way I did. I’ll explain why.

As the Twins continually work to find its footing during a frigid start, two other Minnesota professional teams have given us something a little more exciting to focus on. The NBA’s Timberwolves and NHL’s Wild opened their respective postseasons after strong regular seasons. With that said, it is exciting times to be a Minnesota sports fan.

Coming off a run to the Western Conference finals last season, the sixth-seeded Wolves come in as the head-scratching underdogs versus the third-seeded Los Angeles Lakers. I say head-scratching for several reasons.

The Lakers won one more game than the Wolves this season. Yet, all I’m most hearing from national sports media after the Wolves’ 117-95 dismantling of the Lakers to take a 1-0 series lead is how the Lakers didn’t come ready to play.

Going into this series I thought the Wolves were the better team – bigger and deeper than the Lakers – one that is more than just a superstar player. Anyone who watched the Wolves throughout the season knows the team won games not only thanks to Anthony Edwards, but also thanks to many others.

This Wolves team is more than just Anthony Edwards – in my opinion, a first-team All-NBA player this season – and the team proved just that in game one. I know the Wolves play in the Minnesota sports market and the Lakers in the much larger Los Angeles sports market, but there’s no excuse to not know what the Wolves are all about. After the team’s deep playoff run last season, it was on national TV plenty of times this season. There’s a reason for that.

I know this is a series, but the Wolves made a strong and physical statement in game one. Despite the result, the team appears to still not be getting the respect, as evidenced by the Wolves being 6.5 underdogs, as of Sunday night, heading into game two on Tuesday, April 22. For those who follow the Wolves and are avid Minnesota sports fans, this game one result and the disrespect should come as no surprise.

As for the Wild, as I type this column, I sit here watching the team in a 1-1 tie early in the second period of its game one first-round playoff series versus the Las Vegas Golden Knights.

Like the Wolves, the Wild are the underdog in this series, facing a Knights team that finished with the third best record in the league this season and is coming off a Stanley Cup just two seasons ago.

I admittedly don’t know as much about hockey as I do about other sports, but, while talking about the Wild and the playoffs, I know I will long remember how the team capped its regular season and clinched a playoff spot at home versus the Anaheim Ducks.

Needing at the very least an overtime loss to clinch a playoff spot, the Wild trailed 2-1 in the closing seconds of the third period, pulling goaltender Filip Gustavvson for the extra attacker. It paid off, as Joel Eriksson Ek tied the game with just 20.9 seconds left, causing this casual hockey fan to let out a yell.

The Wild eventually sent the game to overtime, clinching that playoff spot. As if this late-game excitement, especially given the situation, wasn’t enough, it would actually get even better.

After that clinched post-season spot, Gustavvson, the team’s starting goaltender, asked Wild head coach John Hynes to give the team’s other goaltender, the legendary and retiring Marc Andre-Fleury, the net in overtime.

In his final regular season action in the net, Fleury delivered, making save after save, including a diving one I remember, before the Wild’s Matt Boldy scored the game-winning goal with 17.9 seconds left in overtime, delivering Fleury with another career victory.

You couldn’t write it better. Watching Joe Mauer’s final at-bat, I have witnessed my fair share of special sports moments and this was just that. I love sports for moments just like this one.

Players on both teams shook Fleury‘s hand or celebrated with him as the home crowd chanted his name. What a cool moment, one so deserving for the legendary goaltender. Now, let’s see how this Wild run goes.