Minnesota had little time to prepare for Game 1 of the first PWHL Final. After beating Toronto, 4-1, on the road Friday night, players woke up Saturday for a news conference and were quickly on their way to Boston.

The puck is set to drop on Game 1 at 4 p.m. at Tsongas Center on Sunday.

“What day of the week is this?” Kendall Coyne Schofield joked during a morning teleconference with reporters.

Maybe she wasn’t joking.

It’s been a frantic week for Minnesota, which rallied from a 2-0 series deficit to beat regular-season champion in five games over 10 days. Boston, meanwhile, has been off since finishing off a three-game sweep of Montreal last Tuesday.

The first winner of the Walter Cup will won’t be one of the top two regular-season teams. Boston and Minnesota finished third and fourth, respectively, because Boston won the season series 3-2. Otherwise, the teams had identical 8-4-3-9 records.

“They’re a fast team and they’re looking to transition the puck, so we have to be ready for that,” Boston coach Courtney Kessel said. “But I think at the end of the day we’re going to play our game to the best of our ability, and that’s what’s going to put us on top.”

In general terms, that means Boston will try to slow Minnesota down with physical play, something Toronto tried to do.

“The physicality, it’s been an adjustment all year for every player in the league,” Minnesota forward Kelly Pannek said. “I think for our group, it’s balancing our speed and getting those bumps first, being ready to take a hit, being ready to make a play through it. I think that’s something we’ve all adjusted to throughout the playoffs, taking that hit to make a play and continue on and battling.

“Boston is physical, but I think we can match that and also bring that pace. That will get us off on the right foot.”

Two-way deal

Boston and Minnesota swapped players, to the ultimate benefit of both teams, on Feb. 11. Boston received veteran forward Susanna Tapani, Minnesota got 2023 Patty Kazmaier winner Sophie Jaques.

Jacques, a defenseman who helped Ohio State win an NCAA championship in 2022, is tied for the postseason scoring lead with three points on three assists — two in Game 5 on Friday. Tapani has two playoff goals for Boston.

“Obviously, Susanna is a great player. We were sad to see her go,” Minnesota blue liner Lee Stecklein said. “But Sophie Jaques, she’s an awesome young player, incredibly talented, and I just think we were looking for that offensive defenseman.”

All of Jaques’ 10 regular-season points this season came after the trade.

“She just has something special — that knack, that gift — and it’s been really fun to see her continue to grow,” Stecklein said. “She made an impact right away.”

Bye bye, Boreen

The Wild will be without forward Abigail Boreen in the final.

The former Gophers star didn’t make herself available for the draft in September so she could finish her pharmacy degree at the U. As a result, she could only sign a pair of 10-day contracts, one for the regular season and one for the playoffs.

The first round exhausted the latter for Boreen, who had an assist and five shots on goal in Minnesota’s three playoff wins.

“Abby played great for us. It was great to get her into the five games.” Minnesota coach Kevin Klee said. “But, you know, we knew that was going to come, and we’ve had other players stepping up all year. … She’s a good player for us, there’s no question. But we have other really good players for us who step up when she’s not in and can fill that role, as well.”
Boreen can make herself eligible for the 2024 draft next month in St. Paul.

PWHL Final

Minnesota and Boston will battle for the Walter Cup in the inaugural PWHL Final this week. Here is the schedule, all times Central Daylight:

Sunday — Minnesota at Boston, 4 p.m.
Tuesday — Minnesota at Boston, 6 p.m.
Friday — Boston at Minnesota, Xcel Energy Center, 6 p.m.
May 26* — Boston at Minnesota, Xcel Energy Center, 5 p.m.
May 29* — Minnesota at Boston, 6 p.m.

*If necessary

The Minnesota Republican Party has endorsed former NBA basketball player and 5th Congressional District candidate Royce White to run against incumbent Amy Klobuchar for U.S. Senate.

Delegates to the state GOP convention in St. Paul on Saturday voted overwhelmingly in favor of White over political newcomer and Navy veteran Joe Fraser. Two-thirds of delegates backed White in the first round of voting.

White, a former athlete and Black Lives Matter activist turned right-wing media darling and Republican candidate, was introduced at the convention with an endorsement video from former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon, whom he called a “dear friend.”

White, who played basketball for the University of Minnesota and Iowa State before being drafted by the Houston Rockets with the 16th overall pick of the 2012 NBA draft, was well known for his activism and criticisms of the NBA’s approach to mental health before becoming a populist Republican with ties to the conspiracy right.

White, who unsuccessfully ran in the 2022 Republican primary to challenge Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar in 2022, is known for appearing on right-wing and conspiracy theory-promoting online media programs, like Alex Jones’ InfoWars and Steve Bannon’s War Room.

GOP delegates endorsing White is an important step toward gaining the nomination, but it’s not a guarantee. Candidates don’t always honor the state convention’s endorsement, as was the case in 2022 when attorney general candidate Doug Wardlow ran in the primary against GOP-endorsed Jim Schultz. The 2024 primary is Aug. 13

Fraser’s campaign couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on Saturday.

The Republican nominee will run against Klobuchar, who was elected in 2006 and comfortably won reelection in 2012 and 2018.

No Minnesota Republican has won statewide office since Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s 2006 reelection.

Related Articles

In St. Paul speech, Trump claims he can win Minnesota if GOP leaders ‘guard’ vote in Minnesota

Minnesota House vote delayed on constitutional amendment on abortion, other rights

Familiar playbook as GOP tries to break DFL trifecta in MN

Trump’s visit to St. Paul: What are the security expenses for the city?

MN Legislature: GOP bonding threats won’t stop abortion measure, DFL leaders say

The office of Gov. Tim Walz announced the other day $100 million in new funding for organizations serving Minnesotans facing homelessness. Ordinarily, this kind of news would be met with charitable reflection or the whispered thanksgiving of gratitude; homelessness is a scourge and a shame.

Ordinarily. But this is Minnesota, land of disappeared moola.

The announcement came as food fraudsters are on trial for stealing $250 million of our tax dollars in a scam that went unnoticed for too long by the Walz administration. And to this day, the public remains unaware of any elected or unelected bureaucrat from Walz on down suffering any consequences whatsoever for the outrageous pilfering, nor have there been any apologies for the biggest food fraud scandal in the nation during the pandemic.

Minnesotans might be excused for skepticism with another 100 million public dollars in play. The announcement said that funds went to 135 organizations in the metro and Greater Minnesota, after a “streamlined’’ application process. The process to get money to feed those previous tens of millions of kids was also streamlined.

It might inspire confidence once in a while if the government said of a new pile, “this money is going to be extremely difficult to get.”

From the news release: “The 135 organizations receiving state grants are meeting people where they’re at to get them on their feet, whether providing hot meals, chemical health assessment and treatment, or shelter space, their services are vital.”

Some questions, to put skeptical minds at ease. Please answer, Governor. I’m sure this newspaper would be glad to print your guest editorial.

What safeguards are in place to make sure the agencies receiving grants are real?
Who or what department is responsible for visiting the recipients of funding?
Will homelessness be reduced by x number of people? Such a generous amount of money should compel noteworthy goals.
Will the recipients of funding be required to provide weekly or monthly accounting receipts, verifiable numbers of people fed, provided shelter or treated for addiction? Who will verify such reports?
Are recipients of funding required to provide specific goals and the means by which the goals are identifiable and measurable? Put another way, how will providing $100 million be measured for success or achievement?

Your news release was full of boilerplate babble, but no hard facts.

If, heaven forbid, fraud is discovered, will government employees charged with running the program – the Department of Human Services – be held accountable along with the fraudsters?

We all want solutions for homelessness, especially in Minnesota, where it’s tough to be homeless about seven months a year. But we’ve been burned, terribly burned, and this administration and legislative body, which devoured an $18 billion surplus, remember, has offered no evidence of fiduciary responsibility. This is the administration in which nobody ever stopped and said, “Wait a minute. We don’t even have that many children in Minnesota.”

All we want is for the government of Minnesota to treat our money the way we do. Carefully.

Joe Soucheray can be reached at jsoucheray@pioneerpress.com. Soucheray’s “Garage Logic” podcast can be heard at garagelogic.com.

Related Articles

Markus Flynn: Beyond Brown — the unfinished journey toward educational equity

Jerome Johnson: Save Summit parking … the cheap EVs are coming

Anderson, Lunneborg, Donaldson: State law needs a tweak this year so Lakeview Hospital project can proceed

Real World Economics: Big corn crop is bad news for farmers

Skywatch: Star hopping in the spring sky