You Wanted it, You Got it: Wild Land Outdoor Game
By Nick Fritz
Finally, some good news for Minnesota Wild fans. After many years of wondering why the state of hockey has yet to be rewarded with an outdoor NHL game, the time has come.
Though it has already been widely reported, the announcement from the NHL should come this weekend. The Wild will host a Stadium-Series game next season, likely in late-February against the Blackhawks. The NHL originally wanted the opponent to be the Stars, but the Wild requested the Blackhawks instead.
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Where the game will be played is still up in the air. It’s between TCF Bank Stadium and Target Field. In March 2014, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman toured and approved both facilities.
Arguably the biggest pusher for outdoor hockey in Minnesota has been Wild owner Craig Leipold. However, this is just a stepping stone to his main goal: to host a Winter Classic. Leipold actually denied the chance to play in this year’s classic against the Capitals because he wants to host rather than be a visitor.
My guess is the game will end up at TCF Bank Stadium. It has more seating and would be a more seamless transition to a hockey venue. One positive about Target Field would be more premium seating.
Per Michael Russo, once the venue is nailed down, the Wild will then begin crunching numbers to see if it can hold Hockey Day Minnesota at the same venue the weekend before. In order to do that, the Wild would have to rent out the venue and sublease the rink from the NHL.
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It will be interesting to see how the Wild incorporate this game into Hockey Day Minnesota. It will likely not be on the same day, because stadium series games are run by the NHL and HDM is very Minnesota-centric. Hockey Day has grown every single year and was a smashing success this year before being capped off by a Wild victory over Arizona.
No matter the venue, the hope will be to host some high school games, a Gopher game and maybe even an Iowa Wild game outdoors, too. It all comes down to dollars and cents.
There is only one Stadium Series game this year compared to four last year. It will be Sharks vs. Kings in San Jose. So if you want to see a much warmer preview of the game the Wild will be in next year, you can tune in on February 21st at 9 pm.