Wild certain to win Sunday and force Game 7, and here's why

The underdog Minnesota Wild will defeat Dallas on Sunday and a force a seventh game that will be played on Tuesday night.

This can be guaranteed on the basis of something more significant than the Stars' shaky goaltending. This can be guaranteed due to the fact the Timberwolves have scheduled a 4 p.m. news conference that day to introduce their new basketball decision-makers:

Tom Thibodeau, president of basketball operations and coach, and Scott Layden, general manager.

This is guaranteed because any news made by the Timberwolves – tragic or triumphant – is sure to be trumped within a short time by other major news.

The Timberwolves made the announcement around noon on Sunday, Oct. 25 of last year, that Flip Saunders, the president and coach, had died from complications of Hodgkin's disease.

This came as a shock to the vast majority of Minnesotans who had been shielded from information on Flip's declining condition.

We should have spent days on the sports front – and in the Twin Cities, in general -- discussing little more than Flip's legacy as a basketball legend and a Minnesota presence.

Certainly, the media continued to lament Flip's passing, but the thunderbolt on Kill took over the front page.

I'm not suggesting this was a publicity issue for the Wolves – simply that there was much more for the team to say about the loss of their leader that was suddenly sharing the local news and sports cycle with Kill's retirement.

The Timberwolves went through a season of progress with a young roster. It also was a 12^th straight season without reaching the playoffs, and owner Glen Taylor decided to go big. He let Sam Mitchell know on the last day of the season that he would not be back as coach, and a week later, Taylor had Thibodeau signed as his basketball boss and coach.

The Timberwolves made the news official with an announcement on Wednesday night. It was late and much more attention would be given to Thibodeau's arrival on Thursday.

And then we found out that Prince had been found dead at Paisley Park that morning.

The new coach has done a few interviews. There have been discussions, articles and comments on Thibodeau. Yet, the Wolves' big move was overwhelmed in the purple avalanche of news surrounding Prince's death at age 57.

Presumably, things would be relaxed a bit on this front by Tuesday and Thibodeau's first impression at the introductory press conference would receive much attention.

Except, it's the Timberwolves, so the Wild will win Sunday, and it will be playing that Game 7 later Tuesday night in Dallas.