gotchanewsdaily.com 
Talking about the week to come for the Timberwolves, Wild and the start of high school hockey playoffs in Minnesota.
MINNEAPOLIS — In case you took the weekend off from sports news, you missed a whale of a weekend in the world of professional basketball.
We break it down, plus the local teams from the pros to preps have enough to keep you busy.
Here are 11 things to KARE about this week when it comes to Minnesota sports.
1. An upcoming week to remember for the Wolves
As we’ve talked about before, the Wolves season has been a rollercoaster ride — and that ride just keeps getting bumpier.
Let’s talk about the highs. The Wolves went on the road and picked up wins at Phoenix and Utah. They also held on at home against a weak Hawks team that left head coach Chris Finch angry and upset. But a high is a high.
As for the lows, they are there too. Julius Randle injured his groin against Utah and hasn’t played since. Anthony Edwards has dealt with illness and Naz Reid injured his finger. That Reid injury came this past Saturday when the Wolves lost at home to the Wizards. If you didn’t know, Washington entered that game on a 16-game losing streak. So, keep your hands inside the vehicle, Wolves fan. The ride continues. And you can watch it this Saturday on KARE 11! Timberwolves Extra starts at 6:15 p.m. with tipoff just after 7 p.m.
2. The NBA world is in a tailspin
Things are weird for the Wolves. But somehow things in the league are beyond weird. The NBA world became nearly hysterical on Saturday night when the news broke that the Mavericks were trading Luka Doncic to the Lakers and Los Angeles was sending back Anthony Davis.
There’s a lot more to the trade, but those are the two main players. Things continued to get weirder on Sunday when the news broke that the Kings were sending De’Aaron Fox to San Antonio and Zach Lavine was on his way to Sacramento.
How does this pertain to you, Minnesota sports fan? Lavine, if you remember, was a former Wolves first-round pick who went to the Bulls in the Jimmy Butler trade. If you remember, Butler came here and demanded a trade out of Minnesota. He’s doing a similar thing now in Miami.
The trading deadline is Thursday, and the Wolves have reportedly been in talks. Just be sure to keep your eye on things to see what mind-blowing trade happens next.
3. A whacky week for the Wild
The Wild continue to be absolute road warriors. They are now up to 20 road wins after winning three of their four road games this past week. The first three were impressive. Especially impressive were wins at Toronto and Montreal on consecutive nights.
Things went a little haywire this past Saturday when the Wild played in Ottawa. Not only did the Senators control the game in a 6-0 win, the Wild saw forward Ryan Hartman commit a match penalty, get ejected and face punishment from the league.
The Wild are beyond strapped when it comes to injury. Any additional losses just make things that much harder for the local hockey team.
4. The ownership sagas with the Twins and Wolves
For years, the four major men’s professional sports teams all had stable ownership situations. But in the last year, that has all changed. And it might be re-stabilizing in the coming weeks.
The Wolves’ situation seems like the first ball that is going to drop. Any day now, a ruling could come down in the arbitration between Glen Taylor and Alex Rodriguez/Marc Lore.
As for the Twins, reports continue to pop up about there being significant interest in purchasing the team from the Pohlads. It seems like news of a buyer could come at any time. The key will be getting the sale approved by the league’s owners. That could take a while.
5. Gopher men’s hockey’s big weekend
As a kid who grew up in Minnesota watching Gopher hockey on Winter weekends, it’s easy to be nostalgic about the WCHA era where an open seat was hard to spot at Mariucci Arena.
While the WCHA is long gone, the packed houses at Mariucci are back and quite lively. The Gophers swept rival Wisconsin this past weekend. More than 21,000 fans showed up this past weekend, a record for one home series for the U. It appears the Gopher men’s hockey excitement of the 90s and early 2000s is back.
6. Gopher women’s basketball’s tough trip west
With the new Big 10 that stretches from coast-to-coast, teams like the Gophers are hitting newcomers UCLA and USC in one swing. The Gopher women’s basketball team had that trip this past weekend, and it was certainly a challenge.
It started Thursday when Minnesota lost to No. 4 USC. The Gophers struggled early but fought to get it close late. On Sunday, the script was flipped against top-ranked and undefeated UCLA. The Gophers had the game close early but fell apart late.
Good news for the team, that stretch is now over. Next up, a rivalry game on Thursday against Iowa. More good news: They face a Hawkeye squad that no longer has Caitlin Clark.
7. St. Thomas men’s basketball just keeps winning
All Johnny Tauer’s St. Thomas men’s basketball team does is win. The Tommies won a pair of games this week. The latest came this past Sunday at home against North Dakota State. It was a festive atmosphere with a standing-room only crowd and a national TV crew on-site to broadcast the game. The Tommies came out firing and came away with the win.
St. Thomas now sits tied atop the Summit League standings with a month left in the regular season. Despite the Tommies unable to play in the NCAA Tournament as they make the transition to Division I, this is significant progress. Next year, they are tournament eligible and will be playing in a new arena. The future is certainly bright over on Summit Avenue.
8. A battle for the top of the MIAC in men’s basketball
In the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, things are at a heat when it comes to who is in first place between St. John’s and Gustavus. The Gusties are 11-0 in conference play while the Johnnies are 10-0. St. John’s continues to put the pressure on Gustavus as the Johnnies have now won 13 games in a row.
These two teams will have a chance to settle this gridlock on Feb. 15 when they play in St. Peter. It should be quite a site to see.
9. It’s playoff time in high school girls’ hockey
This might be hard to believe, but the postseason in high school hockey starts this week. I’m serious.
As we look at some of the favorites, the teams at the top are no stranger to this position. Minnetonka entered the final week of the regular season as the top ranked team in Class 2A with rival and defending champion Edina not far behind at No. 2.
In Class 1A, defending champion Warroad sits at No. 1 with defending runner-up Dodge County at No. 2.
Section play begins this week with the state tournament kicking off Feb. 19 at Xcel Energy Center.
10. Ken Pauly’s milestone win at Benilde-St. Margaret’s
Another week, another Minnesota high school coaching legend hitting a major milestone. This week, it’s Benilde-St. Margaret’s boys’ hockey coach Ken Pauly. He won game No. 600 when his Red Knights defeated Orono on Thursday.
Pauly has spent time at Minnetonka and Benilde-St. Margaret’s in his 35 seasons as a head coach. His next goal: Getting the Red Knights their first state title since 2012 when they took home the Class 2A crown.
11. Maddyn Greenway just keeps scoring
Speaking of legends continuing to hit milestones, Providence Academy standout junior guard Maddyn Greenway eclipsed 4,000 career points this past weekend in a game against St. Michael-Albertville. Greenway has been starring for the Lions since seventh grade and has become one of the household names in high school girls’ basketball. She’s also looking to lead Providence Academy to another state title.
