May 31, 2024

Minnesota defeated Boston 3-0 on at the Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell in Game 5 of the PWHL Finals, presented by Scotiabank, to claim The Walter Cup. Jayna Hefford (Kingston, Ont.) and Stan (Skates) Kasten pulled off a successful season that took off like a rocket ship.

Minnesota finished the regular-season with the same 8-4-3-9 record and 35 points as Boston. Minnesota fell to fourth by virtue of a tiebreak with two overtime wins to Boston’s three.

A season-high five-game winning streak before the International Break was followed by a season-high five-game losing streak to close out the schedule. Minnesota clinched its playoff spot when Toronto defeated Ottawa the final day of the season.

As the first-place team, Toronto earned the opportunity to select its semi-final opponent and chose Minnesota. Toronto looked to be in full control with 4-0 and 2-0 shutout victories at Coca-Cola Coliseum to open the series.

Minnesota turned the tide when the series shifted to Xcel Energy Center and posted back-to-back shutout victories of their own, including a 2-0 win and the first 1-0 final in PWHL history, secured in double overtime. Minnesota completed the reverse sweep with a 4-1 road victory, snapping a streak of 11 straight home wins by the league’s top team.

One member of the PWHL’s first champion was Nicki Nightengale, the daughter of legendary USA Today ball scribe Bob Nightengale ... a good pal, since 1987. Congrats proud pops ...

Originally published Dec. 20, 2021

By Bob Elliott

Canadian Baseball Network

I was supposed to go to a hockey game Saturday.

And I was upset that the game didn’t come off as planned.

No, it was not the Boston Bruins visit to the Montreal Canadiens to see my favourite player Josh Anderson (Burlington, Ont.), next to Buffalo Sabres Mark Jankowski (Dundas, Ont.). The Habs game was postponned.

Nope, I was supposed to drive to the Port Credit arena 10 minutes from home to see the Secret Dream Gap Tour’s Women’s Showcase as Team Scotiabank (Calgary) met Team Adidas (Minnesota). Organizers thought it was best to keep spectators from entering the arena due to our COVID numbers jumping again.

The reason for going to the game was to watch Nikki Nightengale play defence for Minnesota.

Nightengale ... Nightengale ... Nightengale?

Now, if you are a ball fan that name should ring a bell. My pal Bob Nightengale writes for USA Today and is on the same level as Ken Rosenthal and Joel Sherman of MLB Network for the highest batting averages when it comes to breaking stories. Rosenthal also writes for The Athletic, while Sherman is with the New York Post.

I first met Bob in 1987 at the all-star game in Oakland. He was working for the Kansas City Star. Then he moved to the Los Angeles Times covering the San Diego Padres, the Anaheim Angels and Los Angeles Dodgers. Next he worked for Baseball Weekly and now he’s at USA Today.

* * *

Nikki grew up in Bloomington, Minn. which was and still is hockey country. And she grew up playing defence.

After playing varsity hockey for five years at Bloomington Jefferson High, Nikki enrolled to skate for the Augsburg University Auggies in Minneapolis for the 2016-17 season.

Nikki was a solid contributor her freshman season playing in 27 games with 14 points on eight goals. For the 2017-18 season, she earned Minnesota Athletic Conference All-Conference honors in 26 games with 10 points, including three goals.

More platitudes followed as a junior as Nikki was named MIAC All-Conference, CCM/AHCA All-American Second team and USCHO All-American Third Team in 2018-19. In 26 games Nikki led with 13 goals -- five on the power play -- and 21 points.

As as a senior, for a second straight year Nikki was named to the CCM Hockey/ACHA Coaches Association Division III All-American Second Team and gained All-MIAC Honors. In 25 games in 2019-20 season, she had 16 points, with four goals.

In her 104-game college career, Nikki had 57 points on 22 goals and 35 assists, which is good enough for 14th in school history in career points. Her career finished with her placed 10th in assists and tied for 19th in goals.

Sounds like a heck of a career for someone born three months early and tipped the scales at two pounds when she arrived. In school, taking biopsychology, her goal was to become a physician’s assistant.

And now, Nikki was 10 minutes from my house as part of the Professional Women’s Hockey Players Association (PWHPA) and the Kipling Showcase. The Sunday final was set for Scotiabank Arena. It was supposed to be a four-team competition: Team Sonnet (Toronto), Team Harvey’s (Montreal), Minnesota and Calgary.

Our family visited Bob and Cyndi’s house north of San Diego one year on our way to the zoo in San Diego where Nikki was born in 1998. And again years later scribe Scott Miller and I visited Bloomington on a work out day in the post season for some of Cyndi’s lasanga. (A five-star rating.)

* * *

Bob emailed Saturday that CBC was streaming the game. I didn’t see the note until half-way through the second. It took me a few minutes to figure out that Minnesota was in white and Calgary was in red. Nikki logged plenty of ice time and her team looked in great shape up 3-1.

Calgary came back, tied the score and won in overtime. Not exactly what Minnesota expected and since Quebec created new COVID-19 restrictions, Montreal had to cancel. The bad news for Minnesota was that it was one game and done.

* * *

I wanted to send Nikki a note via the Twitter machine and found this:

And it was a link to brother Bobby, who is now in his fourth year covering the Cincinnati Reds for the Cincinnati Enquirer. I met Bobby, born in 1991, about six years when he was headed to summer job in Lawrence, Kan. to be mentored by sports editor Tom Keegan, who used to cover the Los Angeles Dodgers, Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees.

Said Rob Butcher, the Reds vice president, who is so talented and respected he always looks after Team USA during the World Baseball Classic said:

“Bobby has done a terrific job covering the Reds beat for the Enquirer. He is liked and, more importantly, respected by those in the front office and in our clubhouse who work with him on a daily basis.”

D.J. Nightengale, who is two years younger than Bobby, works for Sportradar, a statistical office in Minneapolis

I’m not am expert, but I’m guessing Bob, the fatherly scribe ,will beat Bob, the son scribe, to the dais in Cooperstown when he wins the Baseball Writers Association of America award of excellence.

USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, left, and son Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer, right, with five-time World Series champion … the beloved, late Gary Hughes, former Montreal Expos scouting director.