Opinion/Analysis

The Minnesota Wild suffered their first loss of the season 1-0 at Anaheim Monday night. Star Tribune Sports Columnist Jim Souhan joined me on WJON today. He says new Wild goaltender Cam Talbot looked better in their one loss Monday night as opposed to their 2 wins in overtime against Los Angeles.

The Gopher men's basketball team improved to 11-4 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten after a 75-57 win over #7 Michigan Saturday. Star Tribune Sports Columnist Jim Souhan joined me on WJON today. He says the 8 game start to the Big Ten season was gauntlet for the Gophers with 8 ranked opponents in a row.

The Minnesota Wild downed the L.A. Kings in Los Angeles Thursday night to open the season 4-3 in overtime. Rookie Kirill Kaprizov scored the game-winner in overtime for Minnesota. Star Tribune Sports Columnist Jim Souhan joined me on WJON today. He says Kaprizov was the best player on the ice and may be better sooner than expected.

The Timberwolves lost 118-107 Wednesday night at home against Memphis. Star Tribune Sports Columnist Jim Souhan joined me on WJON today. He says this was the worst loss of the season. He says this because Minnesota had both Karl-Anthony Towns and Josh Okogie back in the lineup and Memphis was playing without their top two players Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.

Alabama beat Ohio State 52-24 to win the College Football playoff National Championship Monday night. Alabama quarterback Mac Jones and Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields could both be taken in the first round of the NFL draft in May. Star Tribune Sports Columnist Jim Souhan joined me on WJON today.

The Timberwolves ended their 7-game losing streak with a 96-88 win over San Antonio at Target Center Sunday night. Star Tribune Sports Columnist Jim Souhan joined me on WJON today. He says the Wolves know they need to play better defense if they are going to win games and a step toward that was made last night.

The Timberwolves lost their 6th straight game 135-117 Thursday night in Portland to fall to 2-6. Star Tribune Sports Columnist Jim Souhan joined me on WJON today. He says the Wolves have so many issues on defense and don't seem to be playing with the effort needed. He says many of their players are asked to do things they aren't capable of.

The Gopher men's basketball lost their 3rd straight road game of the Big Ten season 82-57 Wednesday night to fall to 3-3 in the Big Ten and 10-3 overall. Jim says the Gophers just haven't played well on the road. Factors could be different rims and environment or the travel but with no fans that can't be the issue.

The Timberwolves lost their 5th straight game Tuesday night in Denver 123-116. Star Tribune Sports Columnist Jim Souhan joined me on WJON today. He says they did see some positives including a solid offensive game from D'Angelo Russell and from forward Juancho Hernangomez and energy off the bench from Jared Vanderbilt.

The Gopher men's basketball team is ranked 16th in the AP poll and 17th in the Coaches poll this week in Division I college basketball. Star Tribune Sports Columnist Jim Souhan joined me on WJON today. He says Gopher head coach Richard Pitino has done a great job coaching this team with all the new faces playing key roles on the team.