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.  Souhan says he could be a superstar.  The expectations for the Wild appear to be growing after last night's performance.  Jim says if goaltender Cam Talbot can be a better option than Devan Dubnyk was last year they could really be good.

 

The Timberwolves play tonight at home against Memphis.  Jim says he hopes for quick return to the court for Ricky Rubio and Juancho Hernangomez who are both on the Covid-19 list.  He says this will give the Wolves a chance to play Jarred Vanderbilt more and see how he handles the increased minutes.

The Gopher men's basketball team will be tested hosting 7th ranked Michigan at 1pm Saturday, pregame on WJON at 12:30.  Jim says if Michigan plays like they have it will be tough for the Gophers to beat the.  He says a loss for Minnesota doesn't bury them but a win puts them a great position at 4-4 in the Big Ten through what has bee a brutal first 8 Big Ten games.

Veteran pitcher Corey Kluber is expected to decide which Major League team he'll pick to sign with this weekend.  Jim says the Twins are likely in contention for him which he says doesn't mean much since they've been in contention for many players in the past that they have not signed.

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