Sid Hartman: Sonmor says Wild still can win series

No doubt the Wild were out of Tuesday's playoff game early when the Colorado Avalanche took a 5-0 lead, but Glen Sonmor said he wondered why somebody on the Wild didn't go after the Avalanche's Cody McLeod and Ian Laperriere and ring their necks.

"They had been running at [Marian] Gaborik and [Pavol] Demitra, and after the whistle, all kinds of things," said Sonmor, the former Gophers and North Stars coach and now a scout for the Wild.

"[Wild enforcer Derek] Boogaard's saying, 'Well if they [didn't have] the instigator rule, they wouldn't get away with this kind of stuff.'"

The instigator rule calls for the player starting a fight without his opponent's willingness to participate to get an instigating minor penalty, a major for fighting and a ten-minute misconduct.

Continued Sonmor: "Well, I don't want to be critical, but what is the instigator rule going to harm you when you're losing 5-0 in the third period?

"I was waiting for [McLeod and Laperriere] to get called to account. But now they seem to invite each other to fight. If the guy doesn't want to fight, then they don't fight. If that guy's doing that kind of stuff to Gaborik and to those guys, you don't ask him whether he wants to fight, you tell him, 'When they drop the puck, I'm going to clobber you and that's it.'"

Wild in good position Sonmor describes Jacques Lemaire as an absolutely brilliant coach and believes he will find a way to solve the Wild's problems.

"If you would have been told before the series started that after four games it would be 2-2, and now all we got to win is two out of three with two of the games in our rink, they would have said, 'That's fine.'

"The most surprising thing to me in the series is how well the goalkeeper for the Avalanche [Jose] Theodore has played. He's been just outstanding. [Wild goalie Niklas] Backstrom's played really well too, but I expected he would do that. I didn't realize [Theodore] was as good as he is."

Theodore has been amazing, holding the Wild scoreless in the first two periods in all four games of the series.

"That's eight straight periods starting games you've never had a goal. It's remarkable that the Wild are where they are, to tell you the truth right now," Sonmor said. "I think they'll pull this thing out. I think a lot of us thought at the beginning that it would probably go seven games and I think it probably will. I think the Wild will find a way to win in the end."

It's no secret that hockey is not my No. 1 sport as a fan. But it's hard to find better postseason competition in any sport than NHL playoff hockey.

"We've kind of had a policy, for probably good reasons at the time, that we really didn't allow the transfer of tickets to anybody but a spouse, but we're changing that," Maturi said. "There will be a way that you can have those tickets hopefully remain in the family for a long time."

Jottings The NCAA has denied the appeal of Kim Royston, the former Cretin-Derham Hall free safety who is leaving Wisconsin and wanted his release so he could enroll at Minnesota. The NCAA ruled in favor of Wisconsin, which agreed to give Royston a release for any school but Minnesota. The Big Ten doesn't allow an athlete to get a scholarship when he transfers to another conference school, but without a release, Gophers football coaches can't talk to Royston. He still is thinking about Minnesota, but he could play in another conference where he would be eligible for a scholarship.

Wednesday was the first day of the late signing period for basketball players to sign a national letter of intent, and the Gophers didn't get the signature of Krys Faber, the 6-11, 250-pound Los Angeles Ribet Academy center who visited the Minnesota campus last fall. Faber is telling people he will choose either DePaul, where he visited in late March, or Minnesota. He also is considering Northern Illinois. However, Gophers coach Tubby Smith has watched Faber play more than once and has a good relationship with his coach. Faber would give the Gophers the extra big man they need.

Gophers basketball recruit Devron Bostick of Southwestern Illinois College was named the national player of the year by the National Junior College Athletic Association on Wednesday. Bostick led the Blue Storm (28-5) in scoring (19.2 points) and averaged 4.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists. ... Ralph Sampson III played 21 minutes and had six points and six rebounds for the U.S. All-Stars in a 123-85 victory over the Capital All-Stars in the Capital Classic at the University of Maryland on Sunday.

Jim Molinari, who served as interim basketball coach at Minnesota two years ago and was an assistant at Ball State last year, has been named the new basketball coach at Western Illinois. It is a good break for Molinari, who was unjustly fired at Bradley, where he was 174-152 as head coach from 1991-2002.

Gophers wrestler Tyler Safratowich, who won the 70 kg (154.25 pounds) freestyle at the University Nationals on Sunday in Akron, Ohio, will be wrestling at 157 pounds next season. Zach Sanders, who finished second at 55 kg (121 pounds) freestyle in the same meet, will wrestle at 125 pounds next year now that Jayson Ness will be moving to 133. Gopher assistant wrestling coach Marty Morgan said Ness now weighs 146 pounds after wrestling at 125 for two years.

Jason Tyner, an outfielder for the Twins last year and signed as a free agent by Cleveland, is hitting .171 for Class AAA Buffalo through 12 games. ... Former Gophers pitcher Jim Brower is 0-0 with one save and a 0.00 ERA in three appearances for Louisville, Cincinnati's Class AAA affiliate.