LaPanta to be play-by-play for Wild

There are going to be a lot of people that aren't going to be very happy with this move if Anthony LaPanta becomes the voice of the Minnesota Wild - LaPanta did play-by-play for the Gopher this past season and there are a lot of Gopher fans that aren't very fond of his work either. I don't think that LaPanta is a bad announcer per se, but I think the Wild could do better in selecting a personality that the fans could get behind.

Personally, I liked Dan Terhaar and thought he did a good job with the Wild. Terhaar also called hockey games for the University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux.

Michael Russo, Russo's Rants --- It's looking more and more like Anthony LaPanta, the man with the most famous hair in the Twin Cities and Fox Sports North's longtime studio host for pre- and post-games for the Wild, Twins and Wolves, will be the Wild's next television play-by-play man.

If officially hired, he'll replace Dan Terhaar, whose contract was not renewed last month after seven seasons at the microphone. That move could happen as early as Monday. The Wild last week ironed out new deals with TV color man Mike Greenlay and the radio team of Bob Kurtz and Tom Reid.