Staff & Contributors

Minnesota Wild Just Make Ya’ Want To Poop! And How Will The College Athletes Union Movement Come Out?

Marc Elliott

Last week I said the Wild would go 5-5 in the last ten tilts to finish up with 95 points and a wild card spot in the tourney. I thought they would beat the Canucks, I didn’t have them besting STL, and I gave them a thumbs up against Phoenix

Your Minnesota Wild; Ten Games To Go, Crunch-O-Rama! And An Updated NHL Mini-Power Rank!

Marc Elliott

ELY…. Fellow hockey fans, the roller coaster ride (a.k.a. the Minnesota Wild) is going up and down, hurtling toward the end of the season. The good news is that the club is still firmly in the first wild card position.

The Minnesota Wild Final Playoff Push Has Begun, And Coach And Rookie Of The Year Winners Are In!

Marc Elliott

You might say, “Right place, right time.” And you would probably be at least partially correct. Last year the Av’s appeared to be a team of underachieving veterans with some strong young talent that hadn’t emerged.

Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Who Is The Best Hockey Team Of All? THE MFAN Late Season NHL Power Rank!

Marc Elliott

Certainly you can cook that down further if you wish to derive more meaning from it. If you go to the NHL web site there are a few ways to break down standings and stats.

Olympic Hockey Post Script, The IOC And Doping In Hockey And Why Was The Metrodome Brought Down So Quickly?

Marc Elliott

It appeared, at least to me, that the Wilfs were doing what they could to minimize press exposure in the Metroplex.

Stunned, Speechless And At A Loss For Words. And Did I Mention That I Was Speechless?

Marc Elliott

Sure, I realize that the women’s team got a Silver medal, but in a tourney that basically features only two teams with a shot at a Gold medal, getting the Silver is a bit like finishing last isn’t it?

Team Canada Men’s Hockey; Paralysis By Analysis? One Epic Olympic Hockey Battle And More!

Marc Elliott

If you asked me right now what I thought of the proceedings thus far I would tell you that the Americans look loose, relaxed, but very focused and can probably go with you in any type of game or style you wanted to play and probably still beat you.

Who Will Get Hockey Medals In Sochi? I Already Know!

Marc Elliott

With it’s inclusion into the Winter Olympics in 1998, these two countries have dominated the sport with the USA taking one Gold, two Silver, and one Bronze medal. I am not going to profess to be an expert on the Women’s game but with two schools

The Best Hockey Tourney Of All Is Finally Here And Requium For A Goalie…

Marc Elliott

I have been waiting for this week since the day after the last games ended in 2010. I am ecstatic to hear these words; Let the Games of the XXII Winter Olympiad in Sochi, Russia BEGIN!

Outdoor Hockey, Indoor Hockey! Hockey, Hockey, Hockey!

Marc Elliott

I have got to say that the National Hockey League has got IT all going on right now. With the regular season going full bore, the Winter Classic behind us, the Stadium Series kicked off this weekend and the greatest tournament of every four years

Mens Olympic Ice Hockey Rosters Are In! Let The Controversy Begin! MN Wild Are Streakers!

Marc Elliott

I have wondered which Vancouver reporter might be the first to try to bait Torts into a negative situation and how he might handle that. I contemplated how he might handle indifferent performance from the team or individual players.

Mens Olympic Ice Hockey Rosters Are In! Let The Controversy Begin! MN Wild Are Streakers!

Marc Elliott

ESKO… The 2014 Men’s Olympic Ice Hockey rosters have been introduced and there has been plenty of debate ever since.

The Masked Fan

Marc Elliott

The NHL Year In Review And One Final MFAN NHL Top Five Power Rank For 12/23/2013!

The Masked Fan

Marc Elliott

Dear Gary Bettman; Clean Up Your Leagues Game And Do It Now!

The Masked Fan

Marc Elliott

A Real Life Hero Fades Away, How Much Uglier Can The National Hockey League Get? And The Latest MFAN NHL Power Rank!

The Masked Fan

Marc Elliott

The Bell Tolls For A Wrestling Legend, JFK 50 Years Later, And The Latest In NHL Tidbits!

The Masked Fan

Marc Elliott

TEAM USA AND TEAM CANADA OLYMPIC MENS HOCKEY ROSTER PREDICTIONS ARE….. RIGHT HERE!

THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE; THE CUP, THE DRAFT, FREE AGENTS AND THE SKEWERED ECONOMICS OF HOCKEY….

Marc Elliott

BIG SANDY LAKE…. A lot has happened in the world of NHL over the past 14 days. The Stanley Cup has been won, the NHL Entry draft has been held

BLACKHAWKS WIN STANLEY CUP! ONE OF THE GREATESTFINALS EVER? AND MORE HOCKEY NEWS!

Marc Elliott

PARK POINT…. Friends, I have seen just over 50 Stanley Cup tourneys in my lifetime and I have to tell you that I am not certain I have ever witnessed a Cup clinching game quite like the Chicago Bla

A-Rod Lawyer calls MLB PED probe “despicable”! And the Stanley Cup is polished and ready to…

Marc Elliott

EAST BEAVER BAY… Because of the ongoing Stanley Cup tournament, the greatest pro sports tourney anywhere, I have kind of only had one eye on the Minn

When Human Tragedy And Ugly Sports Fans Meet Up; The Malcolm Kerr Story, Plus A Stanley Cup Update! (No Ot!)

Marc Elliott

BIG SANDY LAKE… It was a couple of nights past the epic three overtime battle between the Chicago Blackhawks and the Boston Bruins, and the Fan Jr. and I were on a late-night call. With no hockey on this summer eve, we briefly talke

The Stanley Cup Finals Are Set And New Jersey City College Begins Search For New Bowling Coach!

Marc Elliott

CHICAGO… For the first time since 1979 we will bear witness to a Stanley Cup Final featuring two “Original Six” teams. The Boston Bruins have won the Eastern Conference Final in spectacular fashion ousting the favored Pittsburgh Penguins 4 games to none. The sweep of t

Stanley Cup Conference Finals Are Going Full Tilt And More NHL Headlines!!

Marc Elliott

PIKE LAKE… The NHL Conference Finals have commenced and on Saturday afternoon at 2:29pm (before this round kicked off!) I sent out my predictions

The National Football League’s Racism And Ignorance Are Alive, But It’s Not Well….

Marc Elliott

CASTLE DANGER… As if I needed another reason to have contempt for the NFL. It’s not enough that the wealthiest sports league on the planet can’t build their own stadiums and continually fleeces the taxpayers of our land to do so. It’s not enough that their ticket pric

The Minnesota Wild Postseason Wrap… Part 2!

Marc Elliott

LARSMONT… In early April Wild GM Chuck Fletcher, feeling the possibility of a playoff berth made a deal with the Buffalo Sabres for Forward Jason Pominville. Pominville was the teams Captain, was in th

Wild Fall To Blackhawks 4 Games To 1, Ending Season! The Post Mortem Is… Here! (Part One)

Marc Elliott

EAST BEAVER BAY… The Wild’s season came to an unceremonious end last Thursday eve at the hands of the Chicago Blackhawks. The Hawks won the game 5-1 and punched their ticket to the second round of the Stanley Cup tourney. The Wild put

Is It Possible To Change The Barbaric Culture Of The Nhl, And How?

Marc Elliott

STONY POINT…. Everyone who has ever watched or played hockey has at some point seen games in the National Hockey League. Whether you see it on television or even better, in person, the speed, beauty, and grace of the game are

The 2013 Nhl Stanley Cup Tournament Is Ready To Go!

Marc Elliott

CASTLE DANGER… It is Sunday afternoon and I am awaiting the final NHL regular-season game between the Boston Bruins and the Ottawa Senators, but more on that in a bit. The Eastern Conf

Frozen Four Postscript And Nhl Crunch Time Has Arrived On A Jet Rocket!

Marc Elliott

STONY POINT… The NCAA Men’s Frozen Four is complete, and Eastern upstart Yale has won it all by besting the overall number-one team, Quinnipiac, by a 4-0 whitewash in the title tilt. In t

The Business Of Sports: What You See And What You Don’t, And Its Impact…

Marc Elliott

BIG SANDY LAKE… This morning prior to the Detroit Red Wings vs. St. Louis Blues tilt, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced a rescheduling of the Red Wings-Toronto Maple Leafs Winter Classic game for New Year’s Day of

State Hockey Tourney: Time For A Major Change Once Again? The Mfan NHL Power Rank Returns!

Marc Elliott

PROCTOR HEIGHTS… Years back, the Minnesota boys state high school hockey tournament underwent a major change when it expanded from an eight-team single bracket tourney to the current two-class format. Some fa

When Motorsports And Politics Collide, Nascar And The NRA, Plus Hockey, Hockey, And More Hockey!

Marc Elliott

PARK POINT…. It was recently announced that the National Rifle Association would be sponsoring a future NASCAR event, a race known as “The Texas Shootout” at the Texas Motor Speedway. Based on current socio-political events, the resulting fervor was akin to Granny taking a broom to the beehive on Uncle Jed’s porch on the Beverly

The Unbeaten Chicago Blackhawks Go Under The Mfan Microscope & The Mfan State Tourney Brackets!

Marc Elliott

SCANLON… After Sunday’s NHL competition, the Chicago Blackhawks survived yet another challenge to their unbeaten in regulation games streak, running it up to a remarkable 22 games at 19-0-3. The Hawks were held at bay by the Detroit Red Wings until Patrick Kane tied the ga

A Veritable Mish-Mash Of Hockey News, Views, Opinion, & Factoids!

Marc Elliott

LESTER PARK…. Like them or not, and I’m sure they have few fans in this town, I have to mention this anyway: the Golden Gopher women’s hockey team has completed the WCHA regular season with a record of 28-0. They are 34-0 overall. But the most astonishing item in all of this is that going back to last season, this team has p

Who Will Win The Wcha Macnaughton Cup For This Season? And The New Mfan Nhl Top Ten Power Rank!

Marc Elliott

LARSMONT… As you know, this is the last season of the greatest collegiate hockey conference in college hockey history as we knew it. Now that we’re in mid-February, I felt that this might be a good time to project an order of finish for those still considered contenders. With all due respect to those clu

The Minnesota Wild: What Happens When Marketing And Expectations Meet Up With Reality

Marc Elliott

ST. PAUL…. It’s been a bit of a rough ride so far in this short campaign for the NHL Minnesota Wild. At this point, the club sits at 5-5-1 and is headed out west for a couple of tilts. And only a few games into the season, some in the club’s fan base are getting restless. Against another solid edition of the Vancouver Canucks last Thursday evening, the team came out listless for the first period and managed a 10-minute stretch in the second period, where they exhibite

Cris Carter Gets Into NFL HOV, Adrian Peterson Named MVP, And The 1st Early Season NHL Mfan Power Rank!

Marc Elliott

LARSMONT… Former Minnesota Vikings receiving legend Cris Carter, on the league’s Hall Of Fame ballot for his sixth time, has finally been voted in for induction. Many fans have been irritated that Carter has had to wait, convinced he should have been a first ballot inductee. I would tend to agree with them. Carter is fourt

The NHL Is Off To A Roaring Start, The Minnesota Wild Are Not, And The Mfan Superbowl Prediction!

Marc Elliott

ST. LOUIS… The Minnesota Wild have just dropped a 5-4 OT game to the St. Louis Blues here tonight at the Scott Trade Center, but more on that and the club in a bit. The NHL after a three-and-a-half-month delay to the start of the season has come out of the gates flying. Most observers advised

Armstrong Confesses—Is Sports Cheating Just A Mirror Of Society? NHL Hockey Is Back And More!

Marc Elliott

ST. PAUL… Last week in an exclusive interview with Oprah Winfrey, former cycling champion Lance Armstrong finally came clean to the world about his use of performance-enhancing drugs in his pursuit of cycling victories, records, and fame. My take is just abou

Sports Jeopardy: “Over”? What Is The NHL Lockout, The World Junior Tourney, And The Vikings Playoffs!

Marc Elliott

KNIFE RIVER… In exciting fashion, the Minnesota Vikings went on a 4-0 run in their final four regular-season games to get into the NFL playoffs. They did this against some fair competition, too. They beat the Bears, a resurgent St. Louis Rams club, the Houston Te

Kg, K-Mac, My One And Only Annual Hoops Column, And NFL Pick Update And Playoff Picks!!

Marc Elliott

ESKO… I have never been more than a casual basketball fan over the years. I don’t dislike the game—it just seems that there are only certain levels of it that appeal to me, especially at this point. Which is kind of odd seeing as how my father was a high school basketball player. He was a point guard who speciali

Murder-Suicide Rocks The NFL In Kansas City, Another Big WCHA Weekend, & The Mfan NFL Picks For Week 14!

Marc Elliott

BARKER ISLAND… Saturday morning as I was having some coffee, halfway listening to some college football warm-up shows, and reading some news online, the news first came across that an NFL football player from the Kansas City Chiefs had shot his girlfriend, then departed that crime scene and gone to the club’s practice facility, where he somehow came across the team’s coach Romeo Crennell and team GM Scott Pioli. At that point, some conversation ensued, and then the

Happy Turkey Day! Loads And Loads Of No Hockey!! Plus The Mfan NFL Picks For Week 12!

Marc Elliott

STEWART LAKE… Yes, the NHL lockout is ongoing, sadly. The more I think about it, the more irritated I get. As time has gone on with this debacle, my opinions have evolved a bit, but my basic stances on who, what, where, when, and why haven’t changed too much. Based on the actions and thus inaction of Commissioner Ga

The Hunting Of The Gray Wolf: Necessity Or Frivolity? The Mfan NFL Picks For Week 11!

Marc Elliott

LARSMONT… I have seen few outdoor issues as divisive as the hunting of the wolf. There are few opinions in the middle; people have lined up pretty much either for or against. For me, I’ll state honestly here that I love the outdoors. I enjoy doing things outdoors as much as possible. I’m not a hunter and never have been. I’m not against it per se—I just come from a fam

The San Fran Giants Come Up Giant-Like, NHL In The Tank, And The Mfan NFL Picks For Week 9!

Marc Elliott

FRENCH RIVER…. The Fall Classic has concluded with the San Fran Gigantes besting the Detroit Tigers in a four-game sweep. Game 4 was the first in which the Tigers put up some sort of resistance to the Giants’ onslaught, but they eventually went down, losing 4-3 in 10 innings. TV ratings were reportedly very low and that is a shame. But with the election cycle in full s

Read It Here: The NHL Has Stooped To A New Bargaining Low, And The Mfan NFL Picks For Week 8!

Marc Elliott

ELY… In just the past few days, I have had my hopeful but unrealistic optimism about getting the NHL lockout resolved dashed and destroyed. I was dreaming that we might still have a sixty- or seventy-game regular season and a full playoff tournament. It was not an easy thing for

This Week: The Potpourri Of Sports And The Mfan Nfl Picks For Week 7!

Marc Elliott

SCANLON… Have you been watching the MLB playoffs? I have, and I must say that I have seen some excellent, very exciting games so far. As I have noted previously, I am no fan of the new wildcard “extension” series preceding the real playoffs (although the Cards-Braves tilt was awesome, crummy umpiring notwithstan

MLB Playoffs Start With A Bang—Uh, Make That Explosion! Plus The Mfan NFL Picks For Week 6!

Marc Elliott

BIG SANDY LAKE… OK. Who should I write to and thank for the two extra MLB playoff games this fall? Or who should I chastise for this playoff distraction and aberration? For me, this additional one-game-off, wildcard addition to the playoff format

NFL “Real” Refs Finally Return And Why You Should Be Mad, And The Mfan Nfl Picks For Week 5!

Marc Elliott

LARSMONT… As you know by now the National Football League has agreed on a new contract with the leagues regular officials. After a Monday Night Football game ending debacle between the Green Bay Packers and the Seattle Seahawks on the 24th, created by a quite apparent wrong call on a last second hail Mary play, fans, players, coaches, team exec’s, and 35 polka bands from the Cheese state, were joined by just about e

Nhl Crock-Out Has Arrived, Mlb On Collision Course With Playoffs, And Mfan Nfl Picks Week 3!

Marc Elliott

CLOQUET…. Well, fellow NHL fans, here we go again. At 23:00 CT this past Saturday evening, the NHL officially went into lockout mode. I have spent a lot of time trying to get a handle on this over the past 36 hours, and my though