Minnesota Wild fans have another option for content as a group of writers and broadcasters have teamed up to launch a new website dedicated 100% to the men’s professional team in the State of Hockey.
Joe Johnson, the owner of VikingsTerritory.com and purplePTSD.com, has teamed up with former Pioneer Press sports columnist Brian Murphy, Jake Jensen, who previously wrote for The Athletic, and Seth Toupal of KLGR radio in Redwood Falls, to launch MinnyIce.com.
Johnson believes hockey fans will enjoy the new site because their love for Minnesota sports is “evident in everything that we do, and we felt that there was a need in this market for a new local/independent Wild site that covers the team in ways that people seem to prefer.”
MinnyIce will feature new content daily from a team of 7 writers, with a goal of differentiating from the competition with weekly report cards, opinion pieces and analysis, in addition to coverage of day-to-day happenings.
“Like our Vikings sites, we want to reflect the diversity in opinion and how people like to consume their sports media,” Johnson explained in an email, noting that the group will also produce podcasts and videos.
Murphy will serve as a “free floating columnist, with Johnson likening his role to Bob Sansevere and AJ Mansour, who write for Johnson’s Vikings websites when they’re not writing for the Pioneer Press or KFAN, respectively.
“With guys like Brian, we want them to be able to write when and about what strikes them each week. So, we expect Brian to be a major contributor as we expand our network with other new sites we’re building like WolvesTERRITORY, GophersTerritory, etc.,” Johnson explained.
Toupal, who hosts “The Scoop” on KLGR, will serve as the editor in chief of MinnyIce. He’ll co-host the MinnyIce Podcast with Jensen, who previously covered the NHL for The Athletic. The new podcast is essentially the rebranding of Toupal and Jensen’s “Lines and Wines” podcast.
In March, they’ll launch an all-encompassing Minnesota sports app called “UFFda” that will provide links to local and independent Minnesota sports news, serve as a platform for podcasts and allow fans to communicate with each other.
