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TODAY'S GAMES
National Football League Playoffs
Packers at Philadelphia, 3:30 p.m.
National Hockey League
Wild at Las Vegas, 7 p.m.
SATURDAY RESULTS
National Football League Playoffs
Houston 32, LAC 12
College Men's Hockey
Bulldogs 5, St. Cloud State 2
North Dakota 4, Arizona State 3 OT
College Women's Hockey
Bulldogs 3, St. Cloud State 0
Prep Boys Hockey
Hermantown 4, Warroad 1
Howie's daily column is sponsored by Lyric Kitchen Bar. University of Minnesota Duluth honored six players with its 2025-26 men’s hockey team awards Wednesday, headlined by sophomore forward Max Plante, who capped a historic season as the Bulldogs’ most valuable player. Plante, a Hermantown native, received the
A group that could have fragmented chose to remain intact, and that continuity alters expectations in a meaningful way. Teams that stay together tend to become harder to play against, not just because of talent, but because of familiarity and shared understanding.
Plante said he plans to return to Minnesota Duluth next season, with the opportunity to play alongside his brothers, Zam and incoming freshman Victor.
If arena football stabilizes, history will trace it back to whether Jerry Kurz succeeds. Kurz understands the league’s past because he lived it. His challenge is preventing nostalgia from becoming policy. Expansion discipline, ownership vetting and media credibility all run through his office.
The library debate generated plenty of noise and no resolution. Skywalk conversations took up oxygen without producing a clear direction. The broader Imagine Downtown Duluth effort exists, but still feels like a $300,000 plan waiting for a moment when it becomes real in ways people can’t miss.
Arik Forsman doesn’t posture. He doesn’t spend his time trying to win the internet for a day. He leans into the unglamorous mechanics of governing — budgets, policy detail, stakeholder conversations — and does it with a steadiness that’s easy to overlook if you’re chasing noise instead of results.
The IFL said the shift in distribution represents a multi-thousand percent increase compared to its YouTube-only model from two years ago, when live audiences were significantly smaller.