Notes Plus
St.
Thomas will start five native Minnesotans when the Tommies
play in a Division III Final Four game tonight against Middlebury
(Vermont) in Salem, Virginia. While the Gophers are mediocre, other
Division I, II and III schools have success with Minnesotans including
the 28-3 Tommies.
St.
Thomas starters are Tyler Nicolai from Hopkins, Alex Healy,
White Bear Lake, Teddy Archer, DeLaSalle, Tommy Hannon,
Cretin-Derham Hall and Anders Halvorsen, Henry Sibley.
Among the reserves is former Cretin-Derham Hall athlete John Nance
who transferred to St. Thomas from the Gophers where he was a
quarterback on the football team.
During the last three seasons the Tommies'
81-8 record is the best in Division III basketball. Head coach Steve
Fritz is 592-246 (.705) in 31 seasons, winning 16 regular-season
MIAC titles and 10 MIAC playoff titles.
Fritz’s lead assistant is Johnny Tauer.
In 1994 Fritz coached Tauer, then a 6-5 junior forward from Cretin-Derham
Hall, in the Final Four. The Tommies (24-7) finished fourth in the
tournament.
The Minnesota Football Coaches
Association’s clinic is still open for registrations. The March
31-April 2 clinic, with headquarters at the Doubletree Hotel in St.
Louis Park, will have four featured speakers, Gophers coach
Jerry
Kill, Wyoming coach Dave Christensen, Vikings
assistant Fred Pagac and Brainerd prep coach Ron Stolski.
www.mnfootballclinic.com
The Twins didn’t provide financial figures
but spring training in Fort Myers is a plus for the franchise’s business
operation. It was a wise decision when years ago the franchise
moved its spring training camp from Orlando in central Florida to Fort Myers near the Gulf of Mexico where thousands of
Minnesotans vacation and other natives of the state have relocated.
Luke
Hughes, who is trying to make the Twins' roster as a reserve infielder and
leads the team in spring training home runs and RBI, didn’t
have an impressive 2010 Venezuelan Winter League season. He hit .196 in
51 at bats. Hughes, only the eighth Australian ever to hit a home run
in the majors, had 15 home runs with New Britain and three with
Rochester in 2008 for his best single season home run total in U.S. pro
leagues.
He has five this spring.
Outfielder Jason Kubel, who is
batting .441 this spring, is playing for a better contract in 2011.
This is the last year of his deal with the Twins and his batting average
slumped from .300 in 2009 to .249 in 2010.
Ten finalists were announced last night for the Hobey Baker Award
recognizing college hockey’s best player: Cam Atkinson, Boston College, Carter Camper,
Miami of Ohio, Jack Connolly, Minnesota-Duluth, Matt Frattin,
North Dakota, Andy Miele, Miami of Ohio, Gustav Nyquist,
Maine, Chase Polacek, Rensselear, Justin Schultz,
Wisconsin, Paul Thompson, New Hampshire and Paul Zanette,
Niagara. Connolly (Duluth) and Polacek (Edina) are Minnesota natives.
The award winner will be announced on April 8.
The latest issue of The Fischler Report
includes an article saying that “reportedly” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman
has signed a five-year contract extension. The newsletter praises him
for doing a “remarkable job over nearly two tumultuous decades.”
Houston Aero Jed Ortmeyer, who skated in three games with the
Wild this season, was nominated for the Fred T. Hunt Award given
to the AHL player that best exemplifies sportsmanship, determination,
and dedication to hockey. The Aero forward has a rare blood disorder
that makes his blood clot too easily and requires taking blood thinners
before playing, creating a higher risk of injury.
The Wild signed German goalie Dennis Endras to a contract for
next season. He was MVP of the 2010 IIHF World Championship where
he had a 4-2 record with a 1.15 goals against average and a .961 save
percentage.
St.
Olaf won the President’s Cup recently for first place finishes by the
men and women in combined Nordic-Alpine skiing. The Oles finished ahead
of such schools as Boston College and Colorado College in national
championship competition.
