Game #31-Minnesota Wild

Minnesota Wild vs. San Jose Sharks
Xcel Center
April 2, 2010

Oh yeah, a hockey town who loves the game as much as I do. First order of business is to get to my seat, second buy a beer, third find a hard ticket for the game. The first two were very easy as they always are, but for some reason it always takes me a while to find a good ticket stub. Well when I sat down I saw a dad and his little boy with a pair in hand…perfect opportunity. The father agreed to give me his stub at the end of the game but led to a great conversation with a man who has worked with the NHL for years. The best part is that he use to scout for the Kings and personally new Ace Baily (unfortunately died in a plane crash a couple years ago) as well as one of the greatest Kings ever…Dave Taylor. This guy was telling me a bunch of cool stories but none as great as when Ace Baily was in an elevator with two drunk guys making fun of Gretzky. Back in the day it was Ace’s job to make sure Wayne Gretzky was all set with whatever he needed. Anyway, while in the elevator these two guys kept ragging on the “Great One” when finally Ace said “what’s your beef with Gretz?” The two guys took it as a challenge, and since they thought Gretzky was a pussy this dude must be as well. Neither of them knew Ace was an enforcer in the NHL for years and had no problem with fisticuffs. Short story long, when the elevator doors opened up the two guys were out cold on the ground. Awesome! Back to the game, the Sharks got out to a quick two goal lead with assists from Rob Blake (man I miss him and hate him at the same time). After a couple of close chances by the wild which included a wide open net miss and a dinger off the right post they finally put one in. It was pandemonium in the arena. The sirens were going off, the arena has a lighthouse with smoke bellowing away…great atmosphere. The Wild put another one away and also gave up a great opportunity with a penalty shot miss in the second. But the Sharks are a really good team this year and got a deflection late in the third to give them the lead and the game. It was an exciting game though, and this was one of the final games of the year so the players stuck around to give the “jersey’s off their backs” to some lucky fans. All in all it was a blast, Sharks won unfortunately 3-2 but the experience was fantastic. I would definitely come again!

Notes on the arena: The Xcel Center was built just a couple years ago allowing the team to move from Minneapolis to the capitol in St. Paul. I like the fact that you can see the Capitol Building up on the hill as you make your way to the game, and downtown is really clean and vibrant. In the arena there is memorabilia everywhere from the Hobey Baker award, local college team jerseys, all the team flags hanging from the ceiling, and Charlie Brown cartoon characters with Wild jerseys on. I also like the lighthouse and smoke for the goals as well as the zamboni camera man area in the corners of the arena. The take away point, if you like hockey come to see a Wild game.