Staff & Contributors

Globetrotters Offer Appetizer for Stanley Cup

John Gilbert

The biggest project of watching the Harlem Globetrotters play basketball is to wind down your sports-watching adrenaline from Intense to Moderate, and then to Relax-and-Enjoy.

Softball In Duluth, Brrrrr

John Gilbert

In the background, there was the west-end goal post, and behind that, neatly framing Sadler as she pitched, was the nation of Greenland. Or maybe it was Anarctica. Actually, it was merely the glacier piled high from the winter that wouldn’t end

Hockey Takes Center Stage

John Gilbert

It’s cordial of NCAA hockey to willingly - as if they had a choice - step aside and put their season on hold for a full extra week to make way for the basketball tournament to conclude before convening for their championship.

Highlights Of The Week

John Gilbert

It’s the annual time when we’re caught between the ice going out on area rinks, let alone Lake Superior, and the anticipated first sighting of green grass on a baseball field.

Twins, Weather, and March Madness Go Out Like Lions

John Gilbert

Our weather? We’ve shattered the illusion that if March comes in like a lion it will go out as a lamb, by proving the month when winter turns to spring can start like a lion and go out like a lioness.

Who ARE These Fighting Sioux Wannabes?

John Gilbert

We have discussed at length the monumental slight the NCAA hockey tournament selection committee inflicted on the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference -- unquestionably the best college hockey league in the land.

NCAA Hockey Selection Process Needs Review

John Gilbert

The NCAA hockey playoffs got off to a preliminary start filled with suspense and controversy. And that was merely by the selection of the 16 teams that begin play in four regional tournaments this weekend. In some ways, it was an April Fool’s Day jok

Hockey, Basketball, Baseball...and Ice Fishing

John Gilbert

Amid snowdrifts and sub-freezing temperatures, I couldn’t resist pausing to gaze out on Lake Superior at the village of fish-houses scattered from the North Shore shoreline out about a mile onto the lake itself.

Western Michigan Brings UMD Hopes Crashing Down

John Gilbert

There is always some sadness when a season ends for a college hockey team, because there are always a few players participating in their final game, and it seems so final when they peel off that jersey for the last time.

What Home-Ice Advantage?

John Gilbert

While we celebrate the greatest day in the proud sports history of Esko, hockey fans can take a far more detached view of the college tournaments climaxing this weekend.  

Pain, Anticlimax Dominate State Puck Tourney

John Gilbert

“I’m really proud of Jack Kolar,” said Randolph. “At the tournament, we taped his knee and braced it, and I talked to our trainer, and his dad, who told me he didn’t want Jack to play, but Jack told him it was his senior year, his last chance to play

College Puck Playoffs as Uncertain as prep basketball

John Gilbert

All bets are off at playoff time, though, because the hard, cold facts of college hockey is that there is more turmoil and less certainty than ever before when it comes to forecasting the 16 teams that will comprise the NCAA tournament.

Nothing Like Stretch Drive in College Hockey

John Gilbert

First we had the Olympic hockey tournament, now the state high school tournament, and the return to action of the National Hockey League. But somehow wedged in there somewhere, college hockey in its new and changed and various forms is rising

Hounds, Hawks Give Northern Flair to State

John Gilbert

The entire state will be focused on Xcel Energy Center this weekend to watch the greatest schoolboy spectacle in sports - the Minnesota High School Hockey Tournament. It will undoubtedly live up to, or exceed, its build-up, but it is time once again

Olympics No Inspiration for Bulldogs

John Gilbert

If UMD’s hockey teams, both men and women, watched Team USA in the Winter Olympics for inspiration last weekend, it would make their shortcomings more understandable.

High School Hockey Takes the Spotlight

John Gilbert

If East were to win 7AA, it would be the sixth consecutive trip to the state tournament for the Greyhounds, but the road never gets easier.

Olympic Memories Dominated by T. J. Oshie

John Gilbert

Without a doubt, a rematch of the United States-Russia hockey game for the Gold Medal would be a highlight. But in an event-filled Winter Olympics hockey tournament, the indelible image of the 3-2 U.S. victory at Sochi, Russia, will stand alone

Olympics Only One of Week’s Hockey Frenzy 

John Gilbert

Olympic hockey has been nothing short of sensational, with the bar set as high as it can get when the U.S. defeated Russia 3-2 in a shootout that shall forever more be known as the “T.J. Oshie Show.”

UMD Women Trade Major Rallies

John Gilbert

Leading a hockey game by two or three goals is the ideal way to secure a victory, but not necessarily when it comes to the University of Minnesota-Duluth women’s hockey team this season.

Bulldogs Calmly Rise to 2nd in NCHC

John Gilbert

The Olympic hockey tournament is swirling around us, the National Hockey League is taking its every-four-years break, high school hockey is rising to a fever pitch

Justin Faulk

John Gilbert

Minnesota Rising Star

High School Hockey Rises and Shines

John Gilbert

Bob Dylan once wrote “You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.” In this winter of endless wind-chill, we might paraphrase a little. If you were at Heritage Center Monday night, you might say “You don’t need a calendar to know

UMD Feeds 7 of 8 Women’s Olympic Hockey Teams

John Gilbert

With the precision of one of those pairs figure-skating maneuvers, the Super Bowl gathers up all its hype, pirouettes, and fades away, making the perfect handoff to hockey, which eagerly sweeps into the forefront on all levels.

Bulldogs Primed for Second Half Move in NCHC

John Gilbert

With half a season to go, the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference already is a rousing success. Likewise for the first-ever North Star College Cup tournament.

Seahawks Rate Edge in Super Bowl for the Ages

John Gilbert

If the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos work as hard in Sunday’s Super Bowl as the sled dogs worked during the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon, it will be a game for the ages.

Seahawks, Broncos Create a Super Match-up

John Gilbert

Only the Super Bowl remains, and we get two weeks to fervently build up our hopes that it will be a truly memorable contest when the Denver Broncos face the Seattle Seahawks in New Jersey.

Bulldogs Split with Denver, Head to Excel

John Gilbert

After last weekend, nobody on the UMD team is about to question that theory. Denver came to AMSOIL Arena battling UMD, North Dakota, Nebraska-Omaha, and Western Michigan for second through sixth positions in the logjam.

UMD Sweeps at Omaha, Now Tries it At Home

John Gilbert

If the UMD Bulldogs had gone down to Omaha, and gone down easy to the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks, it would have been logical to write off the Bulldogs as far as contending for the first year National Collegiate Hockey Conference goes.

Will Youth be Served among NFL QBs?

John Gilbert

A few weeks ago, it occurred to me that there was an unusual split among the NFL’s top teams. All of the best teams had outstanding quarterback play

John Gilbert Sports

John Gilbert

Hockey Tournaments Offer Relief from Football 

John Gilbert Sports

John Gilbert

How About an NIT for the NFC’s North Division? 

John Gilbert Sports

John Gilbert

East Dynasty Showing Signs of Wear

John Gilbert Sports

John Gilbert

Volleyball Has Earned ‘Major’ Status at UMD

John Gilbert Sports

John Gilbert

Concordia Trips UMD in Stirring Region Final

John Gilbert Sports

John Gilbert

UMD Finishes Off Huge Sports Weekend

Sports

John Gilbert

Bauer, Bulldogs Erupt to Leave Emporia Out in the Cold

Sports

John Gilbert

Huskies Rise from Unknown to Summer Sensation

Sports

John Gilbert

Huskies Rise from Unknown to Summer Sensation

MAJOR LEAGUE ALL-STAR GAME FADING BUT STILL FUN

John Gilbert

It’s a big week in baseball, with the Duluth Huskies making a concerted bid to rise to the top of the second-half standings in the Northwoods League, while the Major Leagues went off to New York for their annual All-Star party

Don’t Call Me Dukes

John Gilbert

I must apologize, but I’ve spent far too much time living with the Duluth Dukes representing Duluth as a minor league baseball team, so even though I know the team

As spectator sports slow, recreation sports rise

John Gilbert

When it’s summertime in the Northland, sports takes a decisive turn toward participation endeavors, and they can range widely from tossing a lure into a lake, water-skiing, kayaking, biking, and the simplest of all - hiking.

DRAFT ENDS HOCKEY SEASON

John Gilbert

We have hit July, and finally the tumultuous 2013-14 hockey season can be put behind us. Last Sunday’s NHL amateur draft had some surprises and some adjusting by most of the league’

Grandma’s, as usual, packed with colorful stories

John Gilbert

Another Grandma’s Marathon has come and gone, and like the first 36 of them, Grandma’s No. 37 produced its own place in history. You can choose whichever dramatic occurrence was t

Bjorklund, Beardsley records withstand sleek African runners

John Gilbert

Back in the mid-1960s, I had returned from the University of Minnesota’s journalism department to take a job as a sportswriter at the Duluth News-Tribune. It was fun, and a lot of work for not a lot of money, which

Floodwood, Hermantown carry Northern hopes

John Gilbert

The significance maybe hasn’t fully hit yet, but when the Floodwood baseball team ran out onto the Hermantown field to hold high the Section 7A baseball championship trophy, it was the first time any Floodwood High School sp

High school playoffs, NHL command attention

John Gilbert

Ah, sectional baseball playoff time. One of the annual highlights to an always-short spring high school sports season, and it will finish Thursday night, with a break from the weather. But there already have been enough bits of drama to entertain anyone.

Softball, Cup, Indy all display sports drama

John Gilbert

It doesn’t matter what level you enjoy sports, the suspense, surprise, expectations, apprehension, ecstasy, and disappointment all can vary with the stature of the game, and its outcome. It’s why they

A Little Music, a Little Hockey, a Lot of Racing

John Gilbert

As the long, long winter gave way to Monsoon Spring, and a scant few ballgames and track meets have sprouted up here and there, there hasn’t been a lot for Up North sport

Wild Gave State’s Hockey Fans a Thrill

John Gilbert

A week ago, the Minnesota Wild was still in the first-round Stanley Cup series against the No. 1 seeded Chicago Blackhawks. The Wild had just finished a fantastic 3-2 victory in Game 3, sending a crowd of 19,238

Unpredictable drama big part of Wild playoff magic

John Gilbert

The drama of the Minnesota Wild facing the best team in the NHL in the Chicago Blackhawks has been punctured by some of the most unkind and unfair fluke injuries imaginable. The eighth-seeded Wild needed everything they had to