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Monday-Friday, 9-to-Noon
PAUL ALLEN pa@kfan.com
Vikings VOX, Canterbury Park VOX, two kids, Derek (12) and Nicole (10).
PRODUCER: JOE NELSON
joenelson@KFAN.comTHURS., JUNE 20 (subject to change) OPEN: LIVE FROM VIKINGS MINI CAMP
9:20: 9:33: BEN LEBER/GM RICK SPIELMAN JOIN
9:55: leber/rick stay 10:20: leber stays/chipmunk story? 10:33: SPORTS ESSENTIALS/NBA FINALS 10:53: PETE BERCICH/WOBBY JOIN FROM WP 11:20: see 1053 11:33: cloz MISC:
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Click here to view the WCHT photo gallery.We celebrate the 1983 Wayzata Club Hockey Team and one of its stars, Jonny "The Mouse" Mikkelson, who once told me "Our team was so good the varsity wouldn't play us." When asked why he didn't play varsity Mouse said, "Too little." Cutest ever. So, we salute the greatest Club Hockey Team ever, a squad so vaunted even Jim Craig's Miracle team wanted nothing to do with it. Trottier, Bossy, Gretzky, Messier ... dead! Long live the 1983 Wayzata Club Hockey team!
MOUSE DROPPINGS
BYJONMOUSEMIKKELSON,
THEMOSTDEVOTEDRUBE
INRUBENATIONfollow jonny via twitter
@jmouse83
NHL DRAFT B/B ...Even though we are closer to the 4th of July than Memorial Day, the NHL is still extremely intriguing to hard-core hockey fans. The playoffs have been outstanding. The Cup final is shaping up to be a classic with two classic, old-school squads. Two of the best uniforms in hockey too. Once the Finals are over, the much-anticipated NHL draft is next. Well, it’s probably as anticipated as the new phone books arriving at your house in that plastic bag which 98% of people just toss it into the recycling bin, but I digress….
If you go through the past years NHL draft’s (yes, I love doing that…Rube-Cred…) You will notice that most of the players will not surface til 3,4 5 years later. This is one reason nobody gives the NHL draft ANY attention. In Minnesota, this year’s draft will create even less buzz due to the Wild not having a 1st-round pick (Pominville trade). I don’t want to bore you too much, but, in my opinion, one of the best players in the NHL for years to come will come out of this draft. And, he won’t even get picked first. The Colorado Avalanche are basically forced to take Seth Jones (Popeye’s kid) first. Jones will be a very solid defenseman. The Av’s new GM Patrick Roy will get savaged by the mile-highers if they don’t take Denver-native Jones.That leaves Halifax Moosehead Nathan MacKinnon going to the hockey hotbed Florida Panthers. Me and my hockey-playing buddies have gone to visit Halifax for the past 8 years. Through business and friendships with Moosehead owner Bobby Smith (yes, former North Star Bobby Smith), we go up to Halifax, play against Moose coaching staff, trainers, and yes owner. We get our butts kicked. Hitting many of the local watering holes, golf, boat rides, more watering holes and going to Moosehead games is included. The Mooseheads got to the QMJHL finals against Sid the Kid back in ’05. Then got really bad. Then, through multiple trades, this year Bobby Smith got the Mooseheads to win the “Q”, then the coveted (well, in Canada anyway) Memorial Cup. Nathan MacKinnon being the main reason (hat trick in final game.) Smith traded 3 first-rounders for MacKinnon. Worth every penny. Projected to go right after the Shattuck-St. Mary product MacKinnon will be Jonathan Druin. He will go to Tampa Bay. I have seen these guys play in person and they’ve been jaw-droppingly good. (yea, I even have a #22 MacKinnon Moosehead t-shirt…)
I would love to see Chuck Fletcher make a move to get the 2nd pick, but it would cost the farm. The Wild don’t have the farm. It won’t happen. So, long story longer, you have read it here first. Nathan MacKinnon will be the best player in the NHL in a few years. The thing that sucks is it will be for a team nobody cares about, the freaking Florida Panthers.
(I’m guessing this will be the only NHL draft-related material on this website. PA, if you were going to break this down too, I apologize…)
