When is the last time all of Minnesota's professional men's teams missed the playoffs the same year?
While Minnesota's professional women's teams routinely impress with championships (Lynx, Whitecaps), the men's teams have a knack for disappointing fans on a monumental scale.
Earlier today we wrote a story about the Wild's fading playoff hopes, and it got us thinking: When is the last time all of Minnesota's professional men's teams missed the playoffs in the same year?
For starters, "year" isn't exactly a year since the NBA and NHL overlap the new year, but if you take the 2018 Twins, Vikings, United FC and 2018-19 Wild and Timberwolves, you can start to track them in a combined sports year.
So how's 2018-19 going for our guys?
- Twins - missed the playoffs
- Vikings - missed the playoffs
- United - missed the playoffs (their first year in the MLS)
- Wolves - have been eliminated from playoff contention
- Wild - on the brink of being eliminated from playoff contention
It's not going very well, and the Wild is Minnesota's last hope in what could go down as another playoff-less year for men's pro sports.
You needn't look far to find the last time all of Minnesota's men's teams let fans down.
In 2011-12, it was ugly.
The Twins lost 99 games and Michael Cuddyer led the team with just 20 homers, the Vikings went 3-13 and fired head coach Leslie Frazier, the Wolves went 26-40 in a lockout-shortened season that featured former GM David Kahn taking future bust Derrick Williams with the No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft, and the Wild went 35-36-11 and scored the fewest goals in the NHL (177).
The Twins, Vikings, Wild and Wolves all missed the playoffs in 2005-06, and that's the only other time it's happened since the Wild debuted in 2000.
Fortunately, the new sports calendar begins Thursday with the Twins bringing renewed hope.
