The Wild make their lone visit to San Jose this season on Dec. 31, but they’re hoping to be inspired by the forests of Northern California all season.

After last weekend’s 5-2 win over Vancouver, defenseman Jonas Brodin became the first member of the Wild to be awarded “Redwood,” which is a dark red fedora with feathers that will be given to the player of the game after every Minnesota win from here on out.

As explained by Marcus Foligno following Monday’s practice at TRIA Rink, the name came from the team’s general manager seeking inspiration from the towering trees found along the West Coast, north of San Francisco Bay.

“Billy Guerin kind of brought up a little note about the redwood tree and how they can get up to 100 or so feet tall,” Foligno said. “Its roots aren’t that big, but it grabs onto other trees around its roots. The message behind it all was to be a good teammate, rely on each other. You can be however tall you want to be and reach some great heights.”

Foligno joked that they originally considered just carrying a redwood tree with the team all season, but instead employed Zach Bogosian and Ryan Hartman to find a hat that would appropriately embody the spirit of the redwoods.

“We had it ordered for a while, and it just took a while to come in,” said Hartman, giving primary credit to Bogosian for the idea and for tracking down a hat that worked.

Upon arrival in Minnesota, the hat made it to the home locker room in time for the team to reward Brodin for his timely goal scored versus the Canucks, on the way to snapping a five-game skid.

After the Wild’s next win, Brodin will award the Redwood to the player most deserving, and so on.

“It’s got a little bit of an Indiana Jones look to it, especially when (Brodin) wears it, so it’s pretty awesome and actually it’s a pretty nice hat,” Foligno said, noting that it’s not just goal scorers that get recognized after wins. “It doesn’t have to be the guy that scores the goals, it could be something that happens in the game – a blocked shot or a big hit or a fight or things like that. It just kind of boosts the morale of the group, and something that we can all relate to and have fun with.”

Most NHL teams have a token handed out to the player of the game following wins. Last season, when the Wild adopted the theme, “choose your hard,” the post-win token was a thick chain holding a wooden sign that read “HARD.” In many cases, it is a piece of headwear. For example, the Winnipeg Jets commonly pass out a fighter pilot’s flight helmet.

Working at dad’s office

If Wild coach John Hynes is a little distracted when the team gets to North Carolina on Wednesday evening, in advance of their Thursday game versus the Hurricanes, it’s just because he’s checking in on a member of the family.

While Hynes will not be working at Grand Casino Arena that night, his daughter, Anna, will be chasing a state championship there.

Anna is a freshman setter in her first season on the volleyball team at Mahtomedi High School. After winning the Section 4AAA title, the sixth-seeded Zephyrs (21-9) will face third-seeded Stewartville (26-4) at 7 p.m. Wednesday night in the tournament’s semifinal round.

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By DEE-ANN DURBIN

Denny’s said Monday that it’s being acquired by a group on investors in a deal that will take the breakfast chain private.

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Denny’s board unanimously approved the deal, which values Denny’s at $620 million including debt. Denny’s will be purchased by private equity investment company TriArtisan Capital Advisors, investment firm Treville Capital and Yadav Enterprises, which is one of Denny’s largest franchisees.

Under the agreement, Denny’s shareholders will receive $6.25 per share in cash for each share of Denny’s common stock they own, or a total of $322 million. That represents a 52% premium to Denny’s closing stock price Monday.

Denny’s shares jumped 47% in after-hours trading Monday.

Denny’s was founded in 1953 in Lakewood, California, as Danny’s Donuts. The name was changed to Denny’s Coffee Shops in 1959 to avoid confusion with another chain. Denny’s began trading on the New York Stock Exchange in 1969.

Like many casual chains, Denny’s saw its sales plummet during the COVID pandemic. Once the pandemic eased, it found itself dealing with changing customer dining patterns, including a heavier reliance on delivery. Denny’s has also struggled as newer chains like First Watch promoted healthier breakfast options.

Last fall, Denny’s said it planned to close 150 of its lowest-performing locations. At the end of the second quarter, Denny’s had 1,558 restaurants worldwide, including 1,422 Denny’s restaurants and 74 Keke’s restaurants. Denny’s acquired the Keke’s brand in 2022.

Denny’s CEO Kelli Valade said the company reached out to more than 40 potential buyers and received multiple offers. Valade said Denny’s board believed the deal announced Monday was in the best interest of shareholders and the best path forward for the company.

TriArtisan Co-Founder and Managing Director Rhohit Manocha called Denny’s “an iconic piece of the American dream” with a strong franchise base and loyal customers.

“We look forward to working with Kelli and the rest of the Denny’s team and franchisees to provide resources and support the Company’s long-term strategic growth plans,” Manocha said in a statement.

If it’s accepted by Denny’s shareholders, the deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.

Xcel Energy crews on Monday were working to repair a power pole that was damaged Friday by construction crews working on the new Lakeview Hospital in Stillwater.

Two power outages, which affected about 3,000 customers near the Lakeview Hospital construction site, were caused by construction equipment striking power lines, said Josiah Mayo, a spokesman for Xcel.

The incident damaged a power pole and other electrical equipment, Mayo said. Xcel crews responded and installed a pole holder to keep the pole upright until it is replaced, a repair that is expected to happen on Tuesday, he said.

Crews were able to restore power to customers within about two hours on Friday, but a controlled outage, which lasted less than an hour, was initiated on Sunday “to make additional necessary repairs,” he said. The Sunday outage affected about 300 customers who live near the construction site, he said.

Steven Isham, who lives in the Liberty neighborhood, just a few blocks north of the construction site, said there have been at least six or seven power outages at his house since construction on the new hospital started this summer.

“It’s so frustrating,” he said. “I would like more stability. A lot of us are able to work remotely, and this is interfering with our ability to do that. It’s just causing inconveniences for those of us, and there’s no remedy for that, just ‘Hey, we’re going to try and get the power on.’ Sometimes it goes off multiple times within the same day. It’s taxing, to say the least. I hope that they come up with a permanent resolution.”

A spokesman for HealthPartners, which is building a six-story, 400,000-square-foot hospital and clinic campus at the northeast corner of Minnesota 36 and Manning Avenue, said the organization was aware of the outage issue. “Xcel Energy officials are keeping us updated until the permanent repairs are complete,” he said.

Said Xcel’s Mayo: “We understand losing power is frustrating and we appreciate our customers’ patience.”

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By DAVID CRARY and PETER SMITH

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s Jewish community — the largest in the United States — abounds with anxiety and friction a day ahead of an election that could give the city its first Muslim mayor.

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That candidate, Zohran Mamdani, has won over many progressive Jewish voters with vows to make the city more affordable and equitable. Yet he has alarmed many other Jews — in New York and across the U.S. — with harsh criticism of Israel, including saying its military campaign in Gaza amounts to genocide.

The tensions within the politically diverse community were illustrated Friday in a sermon by Rabbi Angela Buchdahl, who leads Central Synagogue in Manhattan, one of the country’s most prominent Reform synagogues.

She pointedly criticized Mamdani’s words about Israel, yet declined to endorse either of his opponents, Andrew Cuomo and Republican Curtis Sliwa, and pleaded for New York’s Jews to minimize virulent political infighting.

“It endangers all of us: It’s the way we are trying to impose a litmus test on other Jews, essentially saying you’re either with us or you’re against us,” she said.

A local election in the national spotlight

Buchdahl has faced some criticism for not signing a statement endorsed by more than 1,000 Jewish clergy members nationwide denouncing Mamdani. She said that on principle, she doesn’t endorse candidates or sign joint statements, but she interrupted her sabbatical schedule to return to her pulpit the weekend before the election.

In the sermon, Buchdahl said Mamdani has “contributed to a mainstreaming of some of the most abhorrent antisemitism” with words that she said were not only “demonizing Israelis, but echoing the age-old antisemitic trope that Jews across the world are the root cause of our problem here.”

Mamdani has made overtures to Jewish voters throughout the campaign, promising to increase funding to investigate antisemitic incidents in New York and repeatedly condemning violence in the Middle East. He has also denounced “atrocities” committed by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, describing the attacks as a “horrific war crime.”

But Mamdani has not retreated from his long-standing support for Palestinian rights. He also has said he would direct the city’s police department to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he visits New York on charges brought by the International Criminal Court.

In response to allegations that his views amount to antisemitism, Mamdani has often quoted an Israeli man whose brother was killed on Oct. 7, saying that “we must never give up on the conviction that all life, Israeli and Palestinian, Jewish and Arab, is equally precious.”

Buchdahl, in her sermon, said she recognizes the voices of younger Jews who say they shouldn’t fearfully vote based on a “single issue when other issues are just as urgent.” They cite Mamdani’s outreach to Jewish leaders and his moderated rhetoric.

“I would not quickly trust a campaigning politician changing his lifelong positions, but I hear those who believe that we must engage even with those we deeply disagree with or risk isolating ourselves,” Buchdahl said.

Leading rabbi: It’s not a simple choice

Like Buchdahl, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, New York-based Rabbi Rick Jacobs, said he was sticking by his long-held decision to avoid making political endorsements.

“If you think the choice for mayor is simple, I respectfully suggest that you are not paying attention,” Jacobs wrote in an open letter last week. “I implore our Jewish community and all New Yorkers to carefully consider the many urgent issues our city faces before casting your vote.”

“I can attest that Zohran Mamdani is not lacking in empathy for the Jewish community’s anxiety over regular threats to our safety. In public interviews and in a personal meeting, I’ve heard him pledge to protect the Jewish community,” wrote Jacobs, before raising doubts about the Democratic candidate.

“Mamdani has been consistent in saying that he believes Israel has a right to exist as a state of all its citizens, but not as a Jewish state,” Jacobs wrote. “His argument might sound tidy in a seminar; in the real world it is cause for grave concern.”

Among the signatories of the anti-Mamdani statement was a prominent Conservative rabbi from New York, Elliot Cosgrove.

“To be clear, unequivocal and on the record, I believe Zohran Mamdani poses a danger to the security of the New York Jewish community,” Cosgrove declared at the start of a recent sermon at Park Avenue Synagogue.

“Zionism, Israel, Jewish self-determination — these are not political preferences or partisan talking points,” Cosgrove added. “They are constituent building blocks and inseparable strands of my Jewish identity.”

Even Hasidic leaders are divided

As evidence of the divisions within Jewish ranks, there have been competing endorsements of Mamdani and Cuomo by leaders of different factions within the Satmar Hasidic community.

On Sunday, Rabbi Moshe Indig, a leader of the community’s Ahronim branch, declared his support for Mamdani, posing in a handshake with the candidate at a meeting in Brooklyn. Within hours, three other leaders of the branch repudiated Indig’s action and endorsed Cuomo.

“Across the board, the progressive movement’s crusading agenda is a threat to our ability to live as Torah Jews and educate our children with the same values,” the pro-Cuomo leaders said.

To the left of the political center, New York-based author and commentator Peter Beinhart spoke in a recent video of his dismay at the vitriol being directed at Mamdani by many Jewish leaders.

Beinhart said he worries “that the organized American Jewish community was willing to sacrifice almost anything to preserve unconditional support for the state of Israel, that every other value, every other principle was subordinated to that.”

“What are you willing to sacrifice in order to prevent a New York mayor who says that Israeli Jews and Palestinians should live equally under the same law? What are you willing to try to do to destroy such a candidate? The answer is: lie with almost anyone, do almost anything.”

Smith reported from Pittsburgh. AP journalist Jake Offenhartz contributed from New York.

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.