I interviewed at both places last year and ranked them both in my top 6. The statement about the MSP VA is true but the Madison VA is on equal if not higher footing (and is the newest VA hospital in the country). I found both places to be great.
I think the reasons I shied away from U of Minn were the PD uncertainty at the time (which I'm glad to hear has been taken care of for the better), the 3 distant hospitals (I'm a bike commuter and like living close to work...when you work at 3 geographically disparate hospitals this is tough) and the fact that their Hem/Onc dept has about 3 faculty members who work in solid tumors...if you can't fix it w/ BMT it doesn't matter (this is a dramatic overstatement but it's how the place felt at the time) and as an Onc fast-tracker this was a non-starter for me.
I preferred UW-Madison over U of Minn (one of the best PDs in the country, VA and Univ hospitals across the parking lot from one another, other things I can't think about right now). I think I'd be happy at either program and MSP is probably where I'd prefer to live. Honestly, I don't think you could go wrong w/ either place. Good luck.