The Minnesota men’s basketball program announced today that Deandre Mathieu has signed a National Letter of Intent to play for the Gophers.

Mathieu joins previously signed Daquan McNeil as part of head coach Richard Pitino’s inaugural recruiting class at Minnesota. Both players will be eligible to compete during the 2013-14 season.

“Deandre is the type of player that fits our style of play, both offensively and defensively,” said Golden Gopher head coach Richard Pitino. “He is an up-tempo point guard that does just about everything on the court, which was really evident in the numbers he put up last season. He is a great addition to our program.”  

The Knoxville, Tenn. native was an NJCAA First-Team All-American for Central Arizona College last season. He averaged 17.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 6.5 assists on the way to being named the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference Player of the Year.

Mathieu helped lead the Vaqueros to the second round of the NJCAA Division 1 Tournament. He scored a season-high 29 points in a win at Eastern Arizona College, and also posted a pair of 28-point games during the season. He finished the season shooting 52 percent from the field.

Prior to arriving at Central Arizona, Mathieu walked on at Morehead State. He played in 29 games as a freshman, starting the last seven games of the 2011-12 season. 

Mathieu is a graduate of Knoxville Central High School. 

On a night where the momentum should’ve been in favor of the hometown team, the Minnesota Wild let all that mo-jo go out the window in losing 3-0 to Chicago in game 4 of their Western Conference quarterfinal. The victory gives the Blackhawks a 3-games to one lead in the series with game five set for Chicago’s United Center on Thursday night.

The Wild took 63 shots but only 25 “made it through” said Wild head coach Mike Yeo after the loss. Yeo also was fretting about his team’s power-less power play which is now an astounding 0 for 15 in the series. The Wild were 0 for 6 on the man advantage on Thursday. Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford pitched the shutout for Chicago and Patrick Sharp had the game’s first two goals.

The Wild were also thrown another curve when goaltender Josh Harding  left the game with an injury after one period of play. 22 year old Darcy Kuemper made his post-season debut for Minnesota starting the 2nd period and finishing the game. Harding’s status for game 5 is unknown. This of course, after the Wild lost #1 goalie Niklas Bakstrom during warm-ups before game 1. Kuemper spent most of this past season at the Wild’s AHL minor league affiliate in Houston.

Notes: The Wild outshot the Hawks 25-24, which included 26 blocked shots by Chicago; they also landed more hits again, outhitting them 20-10. Sharp now has four goals in the series to lead all scorers

 SAINT PAUL, Minn. – Minnesota Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher today announced the National Hockey League (NHL) club has recalled the following players from the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League (AHL): F Zack Phillips, F Justin Fontaine, F Brett Bulmer, F Chad Rau, DKyle Medvec and G Jeff Deslauriers.

In addition, the Wild also announced that Game 5 of the Western Conference Quarterfinal series with the Chicago Blackhawks has been set for 8:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, May 9 at United Cente in Chicago.

     SAINT PAUL, Minn. – The National Hockey League (NHL) today announced that Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter has been named a finalist for James Norris Memorial Trophy, awarded “to the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position.” Kris Letang (Pittsburgh Penguins) and P.K. Subban (Montreal Canadiens) were also named finalists.

    Suter, 28 (1/21/85), recorded 32 points (4-28=32) including 15 power-play points (3-12=15), 24 penalty minutes (PIM) and a plus-2 rating in 48 games with Minnesota this season. He led the NHL in TOI/game at 27:16, ranked second in assists and third in scoring amongst defensemen. Suter ranked first on the Wild in assists and blocked shots, tied for second with seven multi-point games and fourth in scoring. His time on ice total set a new franchise record. Suter skated more than 30 minutes in 10 games this season and logged a season-high 32:54 of ice time in Minnesota’s 3-1 win at Colorado on April 27 to help the Wild advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2008. The Wild went 18-3-3 when he registered a point this season and were 15-1-1 when he skated to a plus-rating.

    The 6-foot-1, 198-pound native of Madison, Wis., has tallied 270 points (42-228=270), including 114 power play points (14-100=114), 420 PIM and a plus-45 rating in 590 career games during eight seasons with Nashville and Minnesota. This marks the first time that Suter, and a member of the Wild, has been named a finalist for this award.

    Members of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association submitted ballots for the Norris Trophy at the conclusion of the regular season, with the top three vote-getters designated as finalists. The winner will be announced during the 2013 Stanley Cup Final, with more detail on format to be released at a later date. The James Norris Memorial Trophy was presented in 1953 by the four children of the late James Norris in memory of the former owner-president of the Detroit Red Wings.

The Minnesota Vikings made it official today releasing longtime punter Chris Kluwe. Kluwe, who averaged over 44 yards per punt in his 8 plus years with the Vikings, was also very outspoken on various social issues including gay marriage. Vikings GM Rick Spielman released the following statement regarding Kluwe’s departure:

“Chris has meant a great deal to the Vikings both on and off the field in his eight seasons here. He contributed to many victories and we wish Chris and his family the best and thank him for his contributions to the Vikings organization. Out of respect to Chris, we decided to release him now and allow time for him to sign with another team.” - Vikings GM Rick Spielman