Minnesota
Down on the Farm: Back Where Boyd Belongs | Minnesota Wild
The State of Hockey is like “no other place” for Travis Boyd.
Growing up in Hopkins, Minnesota, forward Travis Boyd’s passion for hockey began by watching his older brother, Brandon. His brother’s influence started the “hockey engine” within.
“I was fortunate to have an older brother who actually got into it before I did,” said the former standout at Hopkins High School. “When he started, I was just doing anything he did. When he was six, my parents got both of us a full set of hockey gear. So, I started playing when I was three”.
Boyd is among a small group from the State of Hockey whose earliest influences of childhood hockey took place at a time when the NHL did not exist in Saint Paul. Born six months after the North Stars fled south for Dallas, young Boyd found inspiration in the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers hockey team.
“My first hockey dream was to play for the Gophers,” he said with a smile. “Growing up, my parents didn’t have cable, but my grandma did. We would all get in the car and drive up to my grandma’s house in New Hope on Friday and Saturdays just watch the Gopher games.”
Boyd went on to play for the University of Minnesota from 2011-2015. Over four seasons, he totaled 32 goals and 64 assists for 96 points in 148 games for the maroon and gold.
“The Gophers were the first big step for me,” said Boyd. “My four years playing for the University of Minnesota was just as special as anything I’ve done playing in the NHL.”
Boyd was drafted by Washington in the sixth round (#177) of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. He turned pro in 2015, joining the AHL’s Hershey Bears. After a few developmental seasons in Hershey, Boyd joined Washington and helped the Capitals win the Stanley Cup in 2018. One of his best memories of the cup run came in Washington’s second round match up with Pittsburgh. Game Six was Boyd’s lone appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“It was first time I played against Pittsburgh,” he explained. “They had last change and I was the third-line center. First shift I get tossed out there. I was just staring at Pittsburgh’s bench, just seeing who was coming, because I noticed 87 (Sidney Crosby) hadn’t been on the on the sheet yet. And of course, he hopped over and took the face off against me.
“It was just such a cool moment for me because my bedroom door growing up was littered with Crosby photos. I had his jersey in my closet and used to wear it every day. To be able to go out there and take a face off against him and compete against them is something I’ll never forget.”
During his time in Washington, he was fortunate enough to play alongside the greatest goal scorer in NHL history, Alex Ovechkin. He gives Ovechkin credit for teaching him the best ways for a right shot to play left wing, essentially Ovechkin’s operating room for the last two decades.
“Everybody can see what he does on the ice and how special it is,” said the 31-year-old. “He’s just a naturally gifted goal scorer and now the best goal scorer in the history of hockey. But the thing that nobody sees is how good of a person he is off the ice.
“When I was first called up to the Capitals, it was the first or second day,” explained Boyd. “We were doing a pre-game skate. He skated by me, grabbed my stick and handed me his. He said he was just going to try it out and he skated off. There I was, skating around and his stick has this massive curve”.
As his career progressed, Boyd moved along from Washington to Toronto, Vancouver and Arizona. Before joining Minnesota, he played in a total of 296 NHL games with 47 goals and 71 assists for 118 points. Coming home was an easy decision for the seventh-year pro, who believes the State of Hockey is like no other place in the Unites States when it comes to youth programs and a deep passionate love for the sport.
“Minnesota and its hockey culture is like nowhere else. There’s not another state that can even come close,”
said Boyd.
“It’s such a unique thing. There really is no other place like Minnesota. It’s like Texas football, Indiana basketball or Iowa wrestling. Minnesota is by far the most special place to play. I’m fortunate and proud to be from Minnesota.
I’m very proud to say that’s where I come from”.
Minnesota
Minnesota investigators say child care centers captured in viral video were operating as expected
Minnesota
Game Recap: Kings 5, Wild 4 (S/O) | Minnesota Wild
Matt Boldy scored late in the third to tie it and ultimately send the game to overtime, helping the Wild (25-10-8) extend their point streak to six games (3-0-3). Brock Faber had a goal and an assist, Jake Middleton and Joel Eriksson Ek also scored, and Jesper Wallstedt made 34 saves.
It was the second game of a back-to-back for Minnesota, which is coming off a 5-2 win at the Anaheim Ducks on Friday. The Wild and Kings will play again in Los Angeles on Monday.
“It was far from perfect of a game from us,” Faber said. “I thought we could have played better. With that quick turnaround, we’ll take the point. Now we need two in the next.”
Kempe put the Kings up 1-0 at 6:08 of the first period, scoring on a wrist shot from close range off Anze Kopitar’s cross-slot pass from below the goal line.
Middleton tied it up 1-1 at 8:28, getting his first goal of the season in 36 games on a snap shot from the left circle set up by Mats Zuccarello.
“I think he thought I was Kirill (Kaprizov) in the slot there, so it was nice to get one,” Middleton joked. “I normally have a few goals before I take 35 games off from scoring, so this one was getting a little stressful but we got it out of the way.”
Perry gave Los Angeles a 2-1 lead at 16:57 of the second period when Byfield’s shot struck him in the wrist and redirected in for the power-play goal.
Eriksson Ek tied it 2-2 at 18:23 on the power play, taking Quinn Hughes’ stretch pass at the offensive blue line for a short breakaway, fending off defenseman Joel Edmundson and scoring on a wrist shot from the left circle.
Byfield put Los Angeles back in front 3-2 at 4:54 of the third period. He shot the puck caroming off the boards back into the crease, where Wallstedt lost it in his skates and it was eventually knocked in by a Wild stick during the ensuing scramble in front.
“Shouldn’t be, that was terrible,” Byfield joked when asked if he knew it was his goal. “No, it’s good. I think it’s two now that were liked that, so I’ll take them how they come.”
Minnesota
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on the defensive as fraud allegations mount after viral video uncovered Somali aid scheme
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz pushed back against the ever-growing fraud allegations levied against him in the disastrous aftermath of a viral video where an independent journalist cracked open a crucial part of the alleged Somali aid scheme.
A spokesperson for Walz, a Democrat who frequently provokes President Trump’s ire, addressed a bombshell video posted by conservative YouTuber Nick Shirley.
“The governor has worked for years to crack down on fraud and ask the state legislature for more authority to take aggressive action. He has strengthened oversight — including launching investigations into these specific facilities, one of which was already closed,” the spokesperson told Fox News.
The spokesperson added that Walz has “hired an outside firm to audit payments to high-risk programs, shut down the Housing Stabilization Services program entirely, announced a new statewide program integrity director, and supported criminal prosecutions.”
In the 43-minute video published on Friday, Shirley and a Minnesotan named David travel around Minneapolis and visit multiple childcare and learning centers allegedly owned by Somali immigrants.
Many were either shuttered entirely, despite signage indicating they were open, or helmed by staff who refused to participate in the video.
One of the buildings they visited displayed a misspelled sign reading “Quality Learing Center.” The ‘learning’ center is supposed to account for at least 99 children and funneled roughly $4 million in state funds, according to the video.
Shirley appeared on Fox News’ “The Big Weekend Show” on Sunday evening and boasted about his findings. He joked that the alleged scheme was “so obvious” that a “kindergartener could figure out there is fraud going on.”
“Fraud is fraud, and we work too hard simply just to be paying taxes and enabling fraud to be happening,” Shirley said.
“There better be change. People are demanding it. The investigation have been launched just from that video alone. So there better be change, like I said we work way too hard to be paying taxes and not knowing where our money’s going,” he added.
Many officials have echoed Shirley’s calls for change, with FBI Director Kash Patel even announcing that the agency surged extra personnel to investigate the resources doled out to Minnesota. He said this is one of the first steps in a wide-reaching effort to “dismantle large-scale fraud schemes exploiting federal programs.”
Federal investigators say half of the $18 billion granted to Minnesota since 2018 could have been stolen by fraudulent schemes — amounting to up to $9 billion in theft.
As of Saturday evening, 86 people have been charged in relation to these fraud scams, with 59 convicted so far.
Most of those accused of fraud come from Minnesota’s Somali community.
Shirley’s mega-viral video cracked 100 million views Sunday night.
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