Rangers employees have ties with Wild

Should the Rangers and the Wild reach the Stanley Cup Final, it would bring back three people with ties to both teams. Glen Sather is a former North Stars player who is now president and general manager of the Rangers. Doug Risebrough, who served as the Wild's first general manager and reached the playoffs in three of the eight seasons he was here, is now a hockey consultant for the Rangers based out of California. Rangers scout Tommy Thompson was an assistant to Risebrough with the Wild.

Risebrough, who makes trips to Minnesota about twice a year to see his daughter, Lindsay — a tennis star with the Gophers — said one of the biggest reasons for the Rangers' success this year — finishing with the best regular-season record in the league (53-22-7) and best record in franchise history — is the play of St. Paul native and former Cretin-Derham Hall star Ryan McDonagh.

"He [played for] Wisconsin [in college], a Minnesota kid, he is a great player," Risebrough said. "He has just become a premier defenseman in the league and he is just a great competitor and a great kid. It's a great thing for him to be able to be a captain that young and he will be a captain for a long time with the Rangers. The Rangers will be lucky to have him."

McDonagh, who is only 25, was fifth among NHL defensemen with a plus/minus of plus-23 this year, and already has a goal and two assists in four games against the Penguins in the first round of the playoffs. The Rangers lead the series 3-1.

And what would Risebrough think of a potential Stanley Cup Final matchup with the Wild?

"Well, that would be fun for me to watch," he said.

Risebrough said he hadn't seen that many Wild games this season since he primarily scouts West Coast teams, but he believes they have as good a chance as anyone to reach the finals.

Risebrough echoed the sentiments of a lot of NHL executives when he said that the league's parity has never been better.

"I saw a lot of games this year, and every team had their moments where they looked like they could win it, and all of a sudden they didn't look like they were going to win it," he said. "It just shows you the competition is really, really close."

And even though the Rangers lead Pittsburgh 3-1 in their first-round series, Risebrough was quick to point out they are still having to make their way past the Penguins' Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, two of the superstars in the NHL.

"No series are easy," he said. "You just have to do what you can do."

Asked about Wolves players who are free agents, team president and coach Flip Saunders reported: "We have some guys that are in the last year of their contracts. No one of major concern right now. Robbie Hummel has been an important part for us. They're going to be restricted free agents. We have a couple guys, Gary Neal is unrestricted.

"We'll talk to [Kevin] Garnett; he has given indications that he wants to come back and play, so we'll see where that takes us in July."

• A majority of NFL mock drafts have the Vikings selecting Michigan State cornerback Trae Waynes with the No. 11 overall pick. Gophers fans might remember Waynes from the last time Minnesota played the Spartans in 2013. In that game, Waynes had two interceptions off quarterback Philip Nelson in the first half and the Gophers lost 14-3.

• Former Vikings running back Ted Brown probably never wore a pair of skates, but his son, J.T. — who played at Rosemount and was the Most Outstanding Player in the Frozen Four in 2011 when Minnesota Duluth won the national title — is playing for the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup playoffs against Detroit. J.T. Brown had nine points on three goals and six assists during the regular season.

• Adam Wilcox wasn't among the finalists for the Mike Richter award, given each year to the outstanding goalie in college hockey, even though he had two great years with the Gophers. The award went to another Minnesota native, Zane McIntyre of the University of North Dakota. McIntyre, from Thief River Falls, went 29-10-3 overall with a 2.05 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage.

• Reports are that Zach Lofton, who was kicked off the Gophers basketball team last October but is still enrolled in school, is asking for a chance to be reinstated, and coach Richard Pitino is considering the request. Lofton, a St. Paul native, transferred to the Gophers from Illinois State after averaging 11.3 points his sophomore season.

• The Gophers continue to have great success under Geoff Young in men's tennis and John Carlson in men's golf. The men's tennis team won its first Big Ten title in 20 years last week when they defeated Northwestern 4-3 with Matic Spec winning his 12th consecutive match. They will be at the Big Ten Championships in Illinois this weekend. The men's golf team is getting ready for the Big Ten Championship in Indiana this weekend. The Gophers won the event last year and Jose Mendez was co-medalist in the tournament.