The Gophers football program picked up two commitments after winning Paul Bunyan’s Axe on Saturday night.

San Diego, Calif., quarterback Brady Palmer and Waukee, Iowa, athlete Tavian White pledged to the U class for 2026. Both players were on campus for Minnesota’s 17-7 win over Wisconsin on Saturday.

Palmer, a 6-foot-2, three-star recruit, de-committed from California after the Golden Bears fired Justin Wilcox earlier this month. He had other offers from Auburn, Arizona, Ohio State, Michigan State, Utah, Washington and others, per 247Sports.

The Gophers have sought a second quarterback in the class this fall; Downers Grove, Ill., QB Owen Lansu has been committed since July 2024.

White, a 6-foot, 175-pound prospect without a star rating, flipped his commitment from North Dakota this weekend. The high school defensive back had other offers from Northern Iowa, Lindenwood and Western Illinois.

Palmer and White is the 30th and 31st commitment in the U’s class for next year. The early signing period opens Wednesday.

Related Articles

Gophers tighten grip on Paul Bunyan’s Axe with 17-7 win over Wisconsin

After win over Badgers, where might Gophers go bowling?

Two defensive starters to return to Gophers versus Badgers

Gophers add big Pennsylvania running back Niko Castillo to 2026 class

Gophers football vs. Wisconsin: Keys to game, how to watch, who has edge

After 28 days of mostly good news, the Minnesota Wild could not reach the end of their November schedule on a fully happy note.

Facing the Eastern Conference’s worst team, Minnesota saw the Buffalo Sabres rally for a 3-2 shootout win on Saturday at Grand Casino Arena.

Noah Ostlund scored the decisive goal for the Sabres in the fourth round of the shootout.

The Wild got first period goals from Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, holding the lead in all three periods, but saw their seven-game winning streak snapped. Against downtrodden Buffalo, they couldn’t build on the momentum from beating Colorado in a shootout a night earlier

Minnesota goalie Filip Gustavsson, under duress for much of the final 30 minutes, had 30 saves in the loss. The Wild finished November with a 11-1-2 record. It was the Wild’s fifth time in overtime or a shootout in their past seven games.

The game was barely a minute old when Sabres goalie Colten Ellis had to make a sprawling left toe save to stop Kaprizov’s wraparound shot from crossing the goal line.

The reprieve was not lengthy, as Mats Zuccarello’s cross-ice pass to Kaprizov before the first period was half over ended with Kaprizov’s team-leading 17th goal and Zuccarello’s 700th career NHL point, giving the Wild an early lead.

After Buffalo drew even, Boldly stole the puck from Alex Tuch along the boards, cut to the net and popped a low shot between Ellis’ knees.

The visitors dominated long stretches of the middle frame, but Gustavsson was solid, stopping all 11 shots the Sabres threw his way.

After pressing the Wild for around 10 minutes, Buffalo tied the game for a second time on a classic fluky bounce. A Sabres shot caromed off the glass behind Gustavsson and bounced back toward the crease. Zuccarello tried to swat the puck out of danger with his hand, only to have it bounce off his glove and into the net.

Ellis finished with 22 saves for the Sabres, as he participated in his first NHL shootout. They will face the Wild again, in Buffalo, on Jan. 17.

The Wild will begin December with a four-game western road trip, which begins Tuesday evening when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for a 8 p.m. CT first faceoff.

Briefly

The Wild’s forward unit got a bit healthier before the game. Vladimir Tarasenko returned from a lower body injury that caused him to miss the previous seven games. His return, playing left wing on the third line with Ryan Hartman at center and Liam Ohgren on the other wing, meant Ben Jones was scratched.

While it was likely the fulfillment of a small dream he’d had at some point, to see his nickname and image emblazoned on a T-shirt, Wild rookie goalie Jesper Wallstedt was a little confused about the protocol.

When he got to the team’s locker room before Friday’s showdown with previously red-hot Colorado, every stall in the room had a T-shirt in it featuring the words, “The Wall of St. Paul” and an illustration of Wallstedt doing his signature postgame celebration, which is part fist pump and part thrust with his stick like you might see from a fencer.

Following the Wild’s 3-2 shootout win, which lifted his record to 7-0-2, Wallstedt said he knew the T-shirts existed but was a little surprised to see many of his teammates wearing them before facing the Avalanche.

“I saw it on Instagram or something, I got tagged in it, I think. And I thought it looked sick,” said Wallstedt. “And then I kind of, definitely did not expect it to be in the locker room. Kind of a weird feeling. I got in here and I’m like, I asked (Joel Eriksson Ek), ‘Am I supposed to wear it or is that kind of weird wearing your own shirt?’ Yeah, so I ended up not wearing it.”

The way things are going for Wallstedt, who has solidly inserted himself into the conversation for NHL rookie of the year, he might be a rarity in Minnesota within the next few weeks, as the shirts are sure to be a popular holiday gift for the hard-to-please hockey fan on your list.

“I saw all the T-shirts around, but I’m going to have to get one,” Wild coach John Hynes said after the Colorado game. “I didn’t get one before the game but maybe now.”

Of course, because there are naysayers for just about anything in this modern world where opinions are shared, perhaps a bit too freely, Avalanche radio voice Conor McGahey took exception to Wallstedt’s postgame celebration, as Minnesota handed Colorado its first loss of any kind since Nov. 1.

“He celebrates like he’s won the Stanley Cup,” McGahey said on the team’s radio broadcast on Altitude Sports Radio. “He has not.”

In a later post on X, McGahey opined that Wallstedt’s celebration was a “little much.” Those words drew plenty of opinions for and against that seemed to be split based on whether you live on the east or west side of an imaginary line drawn somewhere roughly near York, Neb.

Wallstedt said he did not know the exact origin of his signature celebration, but fans can expect it to continue as long as he keeps winning.

“I think I’ve kind of seen it probably when I was younger in the NHL or somewhere else,” he said. “I thought it looked cool. I don’t think a lot of other goalies do it right now, so maybe it’s my thing right now.”

Williamson remembered as Team USA alumni gather in St. Paul

Now less than a month before the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship comes to the Twin Cities for the first time since 1982, the Wild celebrated Team USA Night at Grand Casino Arena on Saturday. Fans could buy a special ticket package featuring a replica of defenseman Zeev Buium’s Team USA jersey from last season when he was a part of the gold-medal winning team at the 2025 World Juniors.

Next door to the arena at the Wild’s team offices, dozens of USA Hockey alumni from past Olympics and World Juniors gathered to share stories and help promote the 2026 games, which will be played in St. Paul and Minneapolis starting on Dec. 26.

Lou Nanne welcomed all of the current and former players and acknowledged Murray Williamson, the former Gophers standout who coached Team USA in two Olympics and is widely credited with helping start the first World Junior tournament 50 years ago.

Williamson died on Sept. 15 at age 91. Nanne said Williamson was greatly looking forward to the 2026 tournament and bringing it back to Minnesota. He added that the foundation for the two consecutive gold medals won by the Americans was laid by the alumni in the room on Saturday.

“Today’s players stand on the shoulders of all of you here tonight, and the others you played alongside,” Nanne said. “We want to thank you for being a part of USA Hockey and being here tonight.”

Related Articles

Wild keep rolling, besting Colorado in a shootout

Faceoffs the focus as Nico Sturm gets up to speed

Wild escape Chicago with OT win after Blackhawks dominate early

Marcus Johansson has become Minnesota’s holiday bargain

Yakov Trenin returning to form as NHL’s top hitman

With the Minnesota Timberwolves leading by three in the final 20 seconds of regulation, Anthony Edwards dribbled out the shot clock, tried to cross up Celtics guard Derrick White and  kicked the ball, picked it up and fired.

Splash.

Edwards finished with 39 points and zero turnovers to power Minnesota to a 119-115 victory at home against Boston on Saturday.

Was that play ugly? You bet. Minnesota doesn’t care at the moment. It had to win one of these games — because disaster nearly struck again.

The Wolves cranked up their defensive pressure in the second half to turn a 10-point halftime deficit into a 12-point lead with fewer than four minutes to play. Two minutes later, Boston tied the game on a Jaylen Brown triple with 98 ticks left on the clock.

It wouldn’t be a Timberwolves’ game if it wasn’t dramatic. Minnesota’s late-game execution has been the cause of ire of late, as the Wolves had booted three straight games they could’ve won.

Minnesota came down on the next possession Saturday and Edwards fired off a contested jumper that hit off the iron. But the loose ball went off Brown’s fingertips, allowing the Wolves to maintain possession.

The Wolves (11-8) dialed up an out-of-bounds play that resulted in an open corner triple for Mike Conley, which he hit, to put Minnesota up for good.

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch highlighted the defensive effort that put Minnesota in a position to win Saturday. The Wolves were sluggish on that end in the first half, surrendering 69 points to the hot-shooting Celtics (10-9).

But the screws were tightened over the last 24 minutes. Boston scored just 46 points over the final two quarters and went nearly a full quarter of game time without hitting a triple. Brown had 41 points to pace Boston, but 27 of those came in the first half.

“In the second half, we came to play,” Finch said.

As a result, Minnesota now has its first win of the season over an opponent with a winning record. It can go for its second such victory Sunday against San Antonio at 6 p.m. at Target Center.

Related Articles

Anthony Edwards is Timberwolves’ point guard. He’s learning more about that every day

Frederick: Wolves were good Wednesday. That’s not enough against the Thunder

Frederick: In season of volatility, Timberwolves can’t abandon what works

Not again: Timberwolves blow 10 point lead in final minutes, lose in OT to Kings

Frederick: It will do the Timberwolves good to play some better teams