Sid Hartman: Shiancoe, Shockey share fresh success

Visanthe Shiancoe, the outstanding Vikings tight end, is one of the team's players who had been following the great exploits of the New Orleans Saints long before they compiled their 11-0 record.

Shiancoe, who on Sunday against the Bears tied the team record for most touchdowns in a season by a tight end (eight, equaling Joe Senser's 1981 mark), credits former Giants teammate and current Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey for the success he has enjoyed in the NFL.

"Being with the Giants, I was a backup behind Shockey, so I learned from Shockey a lot. I learned a whole lot from Shockey," said Shiancoe, who talks to his former teammate at least once a week.

The Giants let both players get away -- Shockey was traded for two draft picks in 2008, a year after Shiancoe signed with the Vikings as a free agent -- and now they are among the NFL's top tight ends.

Shiancoe said he also learned from Giants tight ends coach Mike Pope, and Pope's counterpart on the Vikings, Jimmie Johnson.

Shiancoe said his contribution to the Giants was as a blocker, but once he joined the Vikings, he had to lose a little weight because his new coaching staff wanted him to be a pass-catching tight end, and he has proved to be just that.

With the Giants, playing behind Shockey, Shiancoe caught 10 passes in 2003 with two touchdowns, five in '04 with one touchdown, eight in '05 with no touchdowns and 12 in '06 without a touchdown.

Earlier in Shiancoe's career with the Vikings, he had a bad habit of dropping passes. But that has sure changed -- especially last season, when he caught seven touchdown passes in the last 14 games.

He joined the Vikings in 2007 and caught 27 passes with one touchdown that year, followed by 42 with seven TDs in 2008 and now 38 catches and eight TDs in 2009.

Look for Brett Favre to continue hitting one of his favorite targets and one of the team's best athletes.

Big victory for Trestman Bud Grant coached Winnipeg to four Grey Cup championships, and the former Vikings coach says that, to the Canadians, the Cup is every bit as important as the Super Bowl is to Americans. Grant added that the Grey Cup has a longer history than the Super Bowl.

So Grant sang the praises of former Gophers quarterback and NFL assistant coach Marc Trestman, whose Montreal Alouettes beat the Saskatchewan Roughriders 28-27 for the Canadian Football League title. A year ago, Trestman's team went to the finals of the Grey Cup before losing to the Calgary Stampeders 22-14.

"Trestman has the quality to be a head coach for any college or pro team in the country," Grant said. Trestman squelched rumors that he was interested in the Buffalo Bills coaching job, and told reporters in Canada that he would be back in Montreal next season.

Jottings The Chicago Tribune is reporting the Twins and catcher Joe Mauer are in serious negotiations. But my good source reports that there won't be any negotiations until after Christmas.

Vikings playoff tickets, if the games are at home, are $195 for the first round and $280 for the championship game.

The Vikings have two regular-season home games left, with the Dec. 13 Bengals game sold out and 2,700 tickets available for the Jan. 3 finale with the Giants. ... Former Breck and Southern California tight end Dominique Byrd was released last week by the Cardinals.

Some say Gophers fans don't travel in numbers for postseason games. Well, if promoters of the Alamo Bowl checked the number of local fans who attended the NCAA 1997 regional basketball tournament to watch the Gophers basketball team, they would find that thousands of fans from this area followed them to San Antonio and likely would have a good turnout for coach Tim Brewster's team. The fans who went to San Antonio had a real good time in a great city. Nine Michigan State players got suspended, including three starters, after a brawl Tuesday, which might help the Gophers get invited to the Alamo Bowl rather than the Insight Bowl.

Gophers wrestling coach J Robinson plans to have former national champion Dustin Schlatter -- ranked No. 1 nationally at 165 pounds -- in the lineup on Friday when the fifth-ranked Gophers travel to Stillwater, Okla., to take on third-ranked Oklahoma State. It will be Schlatter's first competition since representing the United States at the World Freestyle championship this past September in Denmark.

Former Eden Prairie and Notre Dame offensive lineman Mark LeVoir started at offensive tackle for the Patriots in their Monday loss to the Saints. ... Ex-Gophers running back Laurence Maroney scored two TDs for the Patriots in the game.

Cottage Grove native Dan Sova was named the USHL's defensive player of the week after earning six points (two goals, four assists) and a plus-8 rating for the Waterloo Black Hawks last week.

Former Gophers defensemen Jordan Leopold and Keith Ballard each have eight points in their first 26 games for the Florida Panthers. Leopold has three goals and five assists in 26 games and is fourth on the team in blocked shots (37) and second in ice time (22:31). Ballard has one goal and seven assists in 26 games and is second on the team in blocked shots (42), second on the team in hits (61) and fourth in penalty minutes (27) ... Former Gopher Ryan Stoa has five goals and two assists in 22 games and defenseman Derek Peltier has six assists in 19 games for Lake Erie of the AHL. ... Johnny Pohl has five goals and seven assists in 16 games for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. ... Wyatt Smith is the third-leading scorer for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins with four goals and 10 assists in 20 games.

Minnesota native Zach Parise leads the NHL with a plus-19 ranking and is second to only Alex Ovechkin in shots.