• To the best of my knowledge of NHL history, no team has ever gone 0-82 in a season. So the Wild is bound to win sometime, but it doesn't get much easier this week. Minnesota has a three-game road trip spanning four days, starting with a Monday afternoon game in Ottawa and continuing at Toronto and Montreal.

• The Gophers football team is ranked No. 20 in the AP poll, the highest Minnesota has been ranked since Nov. 1, 2008. That team was 7-1 and also ranked 20th at the time under Tim Brewster, but those Gophers lost their last five games. The test for Minnesota on Saturday at Rutgers will be to handle success better than that.

• Savor the St. Thomas vs. St. John's football game Saturday at Allianz Field. Not only is the storied rivalry taking place in a new setting at the soccer stadium in St. Paul, but also St. Thomas' potential move to Division I as early as 2021 could spell the end of these meetings.

• The big weekend at Allianz continues Sunday when Minnesota United hosts the Los Angeles Galaxy in its first Major League Soccer playoff game. Hopefully the action on the field is the story of the day and not the condition of the field itself after late-season grass replacement and Saturday's football game.

• The Vikings passed a good test Sunday with their victory over the Eagles. The next test: beating a quality opponent on the road. The Vikings will have tougher exams later this year, but winning at Detroit would qualify. It would also set them up to be 6-2 at the midpoint, given Washington is next after the Lions.