Devan Dubnyk, the Wild’s new, suddenly brilliant goaltender who can become a free agent after the season, said he wants to remain in Minnesota.

“With my experience here so far, I would absolutely love to stay here,” said Dubnyk, 28. “It’s been a lot of fun for me. The guys have treated me so well.”

Entering Saturday night’s game against Colorado in St. Paul, Dubnyk, who is playing for $800,000 this season, had produced three shutouts in eight games since the Wild traded a third-round draft pick to Arizona for him three weeks ago.

Dubnyk said his focus now, though, is winning games, not a contract.

“I’m going to try hard not to think about that,” he said. “You can’t let those thoughts creep into the day-to-day when these games are so important.”

Dubnyk said Wild management hasn’t approached him about a new deal. He understands it is way too early and that his sample size in Minnesota is small.

Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher said acquiring Dubnyk was a matter of “the right place at the right time.”

“Arizona was going to move him so they could play Mike Smith more, and we were looking for a quality goaltender,” Fletcher said. “We called around the league, and the timing worked out.”

Asked if it is too early to consider a contract for Dubnyk, Fletcher said, “Right now we’re just worried about trying to win some games and get back in this thing.”

That would be the playoffs, which remain a formidable challenge for the Wild.

As for the 6-foot-5, 210-pound Dubnyk, he is appreciative for the chance to help out.

“I’m happy to have the opportunity to be part of it,” he said. “I feel good about my game this year, to get a chance to turn it around. It can be frustrating sometimes when you feel good about your game and then you’re kind of stuck in a place that has a great goaltender, and it’s tough to get those opportunities.

“That was the case in Arizona — they’ve got Smitty (Mike Smith) locked up, and he’s going to be great for a lot of years. So you’re kind of looking at some point of going forward, whether it’s a year later or down the road, to get that opportunity to play. And to get a chance to come to a team like this and play, it’s great.”

Over the past two seasons, Dubnyk has played for Edmonton, Nashville, Arizona and Minnesota. He debuted a new helmet Saturday night against Colorado, but on the back of his previous one is a picture of his 18-month-old son Nathaniel‘s face.

“He’s graced a lot of helmets this last year because I’ve had a lot of different masks,” said Dubnyk, whose nickname is “Doobs.”

“So I’ve got his last entire year of growth on my helmets.”

Ricky Rubio has brought his flash back to the Timberwolves, but he also has brought a new shot, thanks to new Wolves shooting coach Mike Penberthy.

“The primary issue with Rubio’s shooting was his confidence,” Penberthy said. “Then it was pace of play, and then it was technique. There were other things besides just his technique. I wish it was just ‘put your elbow in; follow through better.’ But it was more the whole process of just him enjoying shooting. And tons and tons of work.”

Penberthy, 40, a former Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard, had to get Rubio to slow down.

“Ricky plays so fast, and sometimes players are playing at the wrong speed,” Penberthy said. “Ricky’s decision-making happens so fast that when he would decide to shoot, he was off balance, and then he begins to flick it and his technique falters. So I had to get his technique right, get his confidence right and slow his pace of play down.”

It was Rubio, who hit three of four three-pointers in Friday night’s 90-89 victory over Memphis, who sought Penberthy for help last summer.

“When I met him, he was a confused, disappointed, frustrated, bitter player,” Penberthy said. “For anything to happen, you’ve got to be willing to change. Ricky and I built a quick bond because when you’re in need of something, you bond quicker with somebody who needs a solution. Some of these guys don’t think they need anything.”

If Joe Mauer needs inspiration for a comeback season after an uninspiring 2014, the Twins first baseman can find it by simply perusing the career of his new manager, Paul Molitor.

Mauer, who turns 32 in April, hit .277 in 120 games last year after hitting .324 the season before.

Molitor, a graduate of the same St. Paul high school as Mauer, now Cretin-Derham Hall, led the league in hits three times from ages 32 through 41.

When Molitor was 33, during an injury-ridden 1990, he hit .285, down by his standards. The next year, at 34, he hit .325 and led the American League in plate appearances (752), hits (216), runs (133) and triples (13) for Milwaukee.

When Molitor was 38, he hit .270, again down by his standards. The next year, though, for the Twins, he hit .341 and led the league with 225 hits.

Molitor’s ability to come back after down seasons led him to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Eden Prairie has won the past four state large high school football championships and 10 during coach Mike Grant‘s tenure, yet just one player — running back Will Rains — has signed a college tender, that with Minnesota State Mankato.

“I don’t have an answer for that,” Grant said. “All I can say is we’ve got great kids who do what we ask.”

Eden Prairie does produce small college football players.

The University of St. Thomas had 11 former Eagles last season, and St. John’s has a few, too. One Eden Prairie senior — defensive back-linebacker Blake Cashman — is expected to walk on at Minnesota.

“All I can say is we’re happy with our kids,” Grant said.

Bill Priefer was a 16-year-old junior at Hill High School in 1965 when he got a chance to caddie for Charlie Sifford, the first African-American to play on the PGA Tour, in the St. Paul Open at Keller Golf Club in Maplewood. Sifford died last week at age 92.

“I just got lucky,” Priefer said. “If I remember right, (Sifford) was leading after the second round. The only other guy I remember in our threesome was Dr. Cary Middlecoff. Ray Floyd — I think he was 23 years old — won the tournament.”

Priefer, 66, today is a retired accountant living in Woodbury.

“It was fun; the experience was worth it,” he said. “I probably could have made more money caddying at Hillcrest for the weekend, but I never would have seen the great golfers at the time.

“I remember during the practice round, (Sifford) asked me, ‘What do you think I should hit here?’ Of course, I had never caddied for anybody that good, so I way over-clubbed him every time. He probably thought, ‘Geez, where did I get this caddie?’ ”

Ex-Gopher Maxx Williams will go to the Baltimore Ravens with the No. 26 overall pick in April’s NFL draft, according to one analyst for CBSSports.com, which has another analyst projecting the tight end going to the Denver Broncos with the No. 28 pick.

Look for the Gophers’ spring football game to be on April 12.

Former Gophers quarterback Adam Weber would seem a perfect catch if Hill-Murray High could land him as football coach.

Minneapolis’ Jeff Sorenson, the new golf teaching professional at Minikahda Club, tied for 14th, winning $930 with rounds of 68-71-71-76 in the PGA Winter Stroke Play Championship last week in Port St. Lucie, Fla.

The new professional at Goodrich Golf Course will be Brad Behnke, who also manages The Ponds at Battle Creek for Ramsey County.

DON’T PRINT THAT

It will be interesting to see how Gophers athletics director Norwood Teague handles Jerry Kill‘s future salary, which at $2.1 million ranks 10th in the Big Ten, according to CoachesHotSeat.com, although Kill last season was Big Ten football coach of the year. Kill, 53, ranks No. 55 in salary among the nation’s college coaches.

T. Denny Sanford, the University of Minnesota grad and philanthropist whom the Gophers have been cultivating for their facilities upgrade, said Saturday that he is a big booster of Kill. But prospects for a major contribution remain undetermined.

“Jerry Kill’s the real deal,” Sanford said.

The Gophers baseball program, which privately raised $7.5 million for Phase 1 construction of a new Siebert Field, the other day received a $500,000 contribution from Dick McCullough, who played shortstop for Minnesota’s 1964 NCAA champions.

Another significant donation came from alumnus Glen Perkins, the Twins’ all-star closer who previously gave the project $125,000. Phase 2 fundraising of the $7.5 million project now is at $2 million.

The Twins still have a couple of dozen players to sign before spring training in two weeks but should have no problem coming to terms with each of them.

The Twins this spring are expected to discuss a contract extension with second baseman Brian Dozier, 27, who last season batted .242 in 156 games but hit a club-leading 23 home runs with 71 runs batted in while playing for $540,000.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the Wild consider defenseman Jordan Leopold, 34, the former Gophers’ Hobey Baker winner who is getting hardly any playing time for Columbus, for their playoff run.

Progress continues for a U.S. Postal Service commemorative stamp honoring Hall of Fame former Twin Harmon Killebrew. Former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman from Minnesota has become a big proponent.

The Vikings could make a classy move if they provided a plane for Mick Tingelhoff and some of his former Vikings teammates and staff for his Pro Football Hall of Fame induction Aug. 8 in Canton, Ohio.

OVERHEARD

Goalie Devan Dubnyk, after defeating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-0 for his third shutout in eight games since joining the Wild, asked if he’s that good: “I’d like to think so. No, I’m just kidding.”

Follow Charley Walters at twitter.com/Charley_Walters. He can be reached at cwalters@pioneerpress.com.