Minnesota Wild Fans are on Fire, Just Like the Team

It has been a historic run for the Minnesota Wild, and the team’s fan-ship is on board.

More from Sporting Sota

• Minnesota Twins bullpen will be their downfall
• Top 5 Minnesota Twins Pitching Prospects
• Kyle Rudolph signing gives stability to Minnesota Vikings offense
• Jake Odorizzi’s emergence fueling Twins starting staff
• Former Minnesota Twins player David Ortiz shot

Whether it’s the Pepsi Center in Denver erupting for Jason Pominville’s breakaway goal that put his team up by two, or PNC Arena in North Carolina echoing “duuuub” in praise of the Wild’s goaltender, Minnesota fans are being heard.

Maybe it has given the players a jump or maybe it’s just added fun. Either way, they’re  taking notice.

“It’s awesome. It’s amazing. Colorado was something else.” said Devan Dubnyk with a smile after a 3-1 victory against Carolina in front a large Wild contingent. “But every game, Washington, here, I mean this is a long way from Minny, too. It’s pretty crazy you can here them when we score, you can hear them when we make good plays. It’s fun and it’s pretty awesome to see.”

Zach Parise agrees. “Who would have thought we have this many fans in Carolina,” he said. “We’ve had some awesome, awesome support.”

As the Wild continue their winning ways on the road, the state of hockey is fixated on one of the biggest tournaments in high school sports: the Minnesota State Hockey Tournament. On Friday night, they did something I didn’t even know was possible when 21,609 fans filed in to catch the AA action, a Minnesota indoor hockey record. The X’s official sellout number is 18,064.

The Wild will need all the help they can get with an incredibly difficult stretch of games on the horizon. Starting March 13th, twelve of their final fourteen games are against current-playoff teams, including two against the Predators and three against the Blues.

Solidifying a playoff spot now is crucial, because you don’t want it to come down to the last three games: at Chicago, at Nashville and at St. Louis.

More from Minnesota Wild

• Minnesota Wild: a pleasant early season surprise
• Minnesota Wild: Chuck Fletcher had to go
• Minnesota Wild: Changes are coming
• Wild lose Parise, game four, quite possibly the series
• Down 0-2, Wild aren’t worried yet

First things first, the Wild have a hostile date on Sunday with the Colorado Avalanche. Namely, Cody Mcleod, who laid out Mikael Granlund at the end of the Wild’s recent victory in the mile high city. There were 3 seconds left and Mcleod made a bee-line for Granlund with obvious intentions.

To put it mildly, the state of hockey isn’t going to be very friendly to Mr. Mcleod.

When asked what the atmosphere is going to be like, Dubnyk said, “Oh man. It’s going to be fun. I’m sure it’ll be just as good as it was in Colorado, probably even louder. We’ll do our best to give them something to cheer about.”

There’s plenty of business to take care of, but in a few months we will be hockey-less, so let’s enjoy the ride. You could argue there is no better place to be right now for hockey-lovers than the land of 10,000 frozen ponds.

Next: Dubnyk Earns Honor, Plus My Take on the Wild's Trades

Apr 30, 2014; Denver, CO, USA; Minnesota Wild and Colorado Avalanche fans pose for a photo before the start of game seven of the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports