The University of Minnesota has locked up Gophers hockey coach Don Lucia for another three years, extending his contract through the 2014-15 season. Lucia has led the Gophers to two national titles, and has his team off to a 4-0 start this year.

The Minneapolis-based retailer's new website -- which struggled on its first day during the Missoni madness last month -- was down for several hours today. Target has had problems with its website since it started handling its own e-commerce support in-house.

The Minnesota Twins announced their minor league players of the year on Thursday. Infielder Brian Dozier was named player of the year while right-hander Liam Hendriks was named pitcher of the year.

Inside the Target Center's Life Time Fitness facility, some of the best racquetball players on the planet held court this weekend.

The new National Collegiate Hockey Conference will play its annual postseason tournament at Target Center starting in 2014. The new eight-team league -- featuring UMD, St. Cloud State and North Dakota -- begins play in 2013.

AEG, the entertainment giant that manages Target Center, is replacing Ticketmaster with its own ticketing platform called AXS for events at the downtown Minneapolis arena. KARE 11 reports all concerts and shows after Nov. 6 will use the new in-house ticketing system. Unlike Ticketmaster, AEG says AXS Ticketing will not charge a delivery fee for those who print tickets at home.

After more than a year of negotiations, the University of Minnesota and men's basketball coach Tubby Smith have agreed to a three-year contract extension. That comes on top of two years remaining on his current contract, keeping Smith and the Gophers tied together through the spring of 2017. Smith has yet to deliver an NCAA tournament victory in his five years in Minnesota, but the Gophers finished last season with a run to the NIT finals.

Three Gophers are among 77 candidates for the Hobey Baker Award, which goes to the nations top college hockey player. Goalie Kent Patterson, forward Nick Bjugstad, and forward Kyle Rau made the list. The candidates will eventually be trimmed to three, with the winner being named April 6.