Finally, a good weekend for Minnesota sports

NINA MOINI: The Minnesota Wild had a big weekend. It started with a major trade. A Star player for Vancouver came to St. Paul, and three former Wild players are now Vancouver Canucks. The move seems to be paying off so far. Joining me to talk about this and what was overall a pretty good weekend for Minnesota sports are Wally Langfellow and Eric Nelson. Hey, guys. Happy Monday.

ERIC NELSON: Yeah, same to you, Nina.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Happy belated birthday, Nina.

NINA MOINI: Oh, thank you. My birthday was yesterday. I'll look for your gifts in the mail, I guess. No, I'm just kidding.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Don't look too hard.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. Well, this was a gift, I think, Wally, right? A nice, positive Minnesota sports teams weekend. Tell me a little bit more about this trade the Minnesota Wild made on Friday.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, huge trade. And I think it excited the fan base. It certainly excited Bill Guerin, who is the Wild's general manager. So they make the big trade on Friday. They get Quinn Hughes from Vancouver in exchange for three young players, including center Marco Rossi and rookie defenseman Zeev Buium and then a first round pick in 2026 as well.

Meanwhile, though, the Wild continue their winning ways over the weekend. They win on Saturday and Sunday. That's now four straight wins for Minnesota. Yesterday, they beat Boston 6-2. Hughes scored a goal in his Wild debut. He's considered one of the top defensemen in the National Hockey League. And I think that this is a guy that can spark his teammates as well. He won the Norris Trophy in 2024. That goes out to the league's top defenseman. He averages the highest ice time in the NHL, so he plays more than anybody. He has the most assists for a defenseman since he debuted in 2019.

There is some risk in this, though, because he could leave Minnesota as a free agent after the '26-'27 season. He has two brothers who play for New Jersey. And New Jersey, was also in the running for the trade for Hughes. But Hughes says he's open-minded about staying long term with Minnesota. So I guess the two word answer to that is stay tuned.

NINA MOINI: Yeah, definitely, lots of talent there. Eric, things seem to be looking up for the Vikings, too. Tell us about the game last night.

ERIC NELSON: Yeah, Nina, Minnesota 34, Dallas 26. The Vikings were a primetime hit, as they knocked off the Cowboys down in Arlington, Texas on NBC Sunday Night Football, which is the highest rated primetime show on television in North America. JJ McCarthy shined in the spotlight. The young quarterback threw two touchdown passes. He ran for another TD. And Minnesota put a huge dent in the Dallas playoff hopes. Now, both of McCarthy's touchdown tosses were to Jalen Nailor. And McCarthy even performed the trademark Justin Jefferson griddy dance after he ran the ball into the end zone on a fourth and 1 QB keeper in the second quarter.

However, the Vikings have been reduced to playing the role of spoiler because they were eliminated from the postseason picture earlier in the day, after Chicago knocked off Cleveland at Soldier Field. So Minnesota's now 6 and 8. The Vikings have won two straight games. They've scored a total of 65 points in those victories.

Now, even though Minnesota's playoff hopes have been dashed, I think the next three games, Nina, are huge for JJ McCarthy. It's key that he avoids injury and continues to show progress, which he's done the last two games. But he's only played in eight games in his entire career, so he has to get more reps, more playing time, and prove to the Minnesota coaching staff that he's their guy moving forward.

Now, next up for the Vikings, a road game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey on Sunday. This is a very winnable game because the Giants have gigantic problems. New York is 2 and 12, and the Giants have lost eight straight games. They are not playing well at all. So this will be the Vikings' final road game of the season. Then they finished the home schedule with games against Detroit. The Lions lost yesterday to the surging Los Angeles Rams and then Green Bay, and the Packers lost in Colorado to Denver. And they also lost their ace pass rusher Micah Parsons with a knee injury, so devastation for the Green Bay Packers in that regard.

NINA MOINI: Yeah. Wow. Lots going on there and just people hoping not to get injured. Wally, the Timberwolves were without Anthony Edwards, Ant, this weekend, but it didn't stop them. Tell us about their most recent games.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: No they've been Antless the last couple of games, if you will. And let's face it, this guy is their go-to guy. He's averaging almost 29 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists per game. But he's been out with a sore right foot for both of those games. I'm guessing-- and we don't anything for sure beyond that-- that he'll be back sometime this week. They have not put him on injured list. They've not done anything of that nature. But let's hope that he does come back.

However, even without him, as you mentioned, they won two. They beat Steph Curry and former Timberwolf Jimmy Butler in San Francisco on Friday. Then they beat Sacramento at home last night. Julius Randle had 24 points, five players with 18 or more points last night, including a guy that basically was in the lineup because Ant is out, Bones Hyland. That's right, Bones Hyland.

NINA MOINI: Nice.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Nice name. 18 points, 5 assists in the 117 to 103 victory. And as I said, both wins without Anthony Edwards. The Wolves will be back in action. On Wednesday night, they host Memphis. They're 17 and 9 right now, the Wolves are, in sixth place in the West. And then on Friday, the big kahuna comes to town. That's OKC, Oklahoma City. Of course, they've only lost two games all year in Oklahoma City, the defending NBA champs. So Wolves have their work cut out for them coming up. Hopefully, Anthony Edwards will be back.

NINA MOINI: Eric, what's going on with college basketball?

ERIC NELSON: Yeah, it was a good day in Dinkytown yesterday. Let's start with the Gopher men. The Vikings weren't the only Minnesota club who got a win over a Texas team on Sunday. The Gopher men's basketball team battered Texas Southern yesterday at the barn, 89 to 53. Cade Tyson had a monster game for the Gophers. He scored a career high, 38 points.

Now, Tyson is a transfer from North Carolina. In the game, he sank eight 3 balls and grabbed 11 rebounds. Jaylen Crocker-Johnson scored 14 for Minnesota. The Gophers are now 6 and 5 on the season. And next up for the Gophers is a game against Campbell. That'll be Sunday in Minneapolis. Campbell, I think most people think of soup. Well, this is actually a small college in North Carolina.

Now, the women, they had a home game yesterday and a convincing win over the Wyoming Cowgirls, yes, not the Lady Cowboys, the Cowgirls. That's their name, 80 to 34, Mara Braun 13 points, 5 assists for Minnesota. Tori McKinney chipped in with 12 points and 5 assists. And Amaya Battle had 12 points and 8 rebounds. So the Gophers are now 8 and 3 They're 0 and 1 in the Big Ten. They had a tough loss last week to Maryland. But they don't play again until Sunday as well. They'll be down I-35 in Des Moines taking on the Drake Bulldogs, so a good day in Dinkytown for Gopher basketball.

NINA MOINI: It's been a while since we've talked about baseball, Wally. But I understand you've got some Twins news for us?

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, it looks like the Twins have come to terms with a free agent to fill their first baseman void. They reportedly have signed Josh Bell, Bell, who played for the Washington Nationals last year. He hit 22 home runs for the Nationals, not known as a great defensive first baseman, but he should be able to add some home run power to the Twins lineup. Bell has been kind of a journeyman lately, played for Cleveland, played for the Marlins, played for Washington. So hopefully, when he lands here in Minnesota, it'll be someplace that he can feel comfortable and stay long term. But it's the first of-- I think the Twins are going to make some moves. They've decided they're going to keep their core guys, and they're not going to trade away Joe Ryan. They're not going to trade away Pablo Lopez. They're not going to trade away Byron Buxton. That's at least what Derek Falvey is saying. And they go out, and they sign a free agent. So maybe things are looking up. We shall see. There's still plenty of work to be done for the Twins and their front office, for sure.

NINA MOINI: Sure. All right, you guys. Thank you both, as always. Hope you have a great rest of your week.

ERIC NELSON: You have a great Monday, Nina.

WALLY LANGFELLOW: Yeah, thanks, Nina.

NINA MOINI: Thank you. Wally Langfellow is the founder of Minnesota Score sports magazine and the co-host of the sports talk show 10,000 Takes. And Eric Nelson is the other host of that show and the Minnesota Vikings reporter for Audacy's Gridiron Gameday and Sirius XM.