Chip Scoggins

2 weeks ago | startribune.com | Chip Scoggins

The ending was abrupt, like the cable going out during a movie's pivotal scene. The lump-in-your-throat nervousness that filled Xcel Energy Center for three-plus hours Saturday afternoon gave way to stunned silence. A thriller ended that way? By nature, overtime hockey brings equal doses of agony and ecstasy in a split second. The Wild found themselves on the wrong side of that emotional teeter-totter after an unsightly play cost them dearly.

2 weeks ago | startribune.com | Chip Scoggins

Anthony Edwards took one second to consider his answer in explaining how a Timberwolves team that too often struggled in clutch situations this season put together a precise, clinical, almost perfect final five minutes on a night full of intense basketball. "I got two words for you," he said. "Jaden McDaniels." In a playoff series highlighted by its star power, the quiet guy with long limbs is proving to be the swing vote in whether the Wolves win or lose.

2 weeks ago | startribune.com | Chip Scoggins

The blueprint made sense on paper, as a concept, but Wild fans have been waiting to see it unfold in the flesh. Turn the roster over, pivot to a core of young players with high-end potential and trust this new plan will lead to success when it matters most, in the postseason. Stops and starts and growing pains required patience, but the long-term vision continued to materialize Thursday night at Xcel Energy Center. The faces of the present, and the future, delivered in a big way.

3 weeks ago | startribune.com | Chip Scoggins

The punch landed flush on Kirill Kaprizov's face, sending the Wild superstar to the ice. It was a cheap shot in the middle of a scrum that didn't draw a penalty. Kaprizov saved his retaliation for a more appropriate time and situation. His length-of-the-ice toss found the open net, sealing a win over the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 2 Tuesday night that evened the series and showed the Wild can take a punch and deliver some haymakers of their own as well.

3 weeks ago | startribune.com | Chip Scoggins

By Chip Scoggins Blocking shots brings more bruises than glory, but along with it comes immense respect from peers. When an opponent winds up to take a slap shot, players don't even flinch in turning their body into a bull's-eye. "It doesn't feel great," Wild defenseman Zach Bogosian said. "But with every good thing there is, there comes a little bit of pain."Sure, players wear pads as protection, but pads don't cover every part of their body. And pucks have a dastardly way of finding exposed areas.