Yesterday I experienced my first live Wild game ever. It was awesome. Not only did we win, but Roli pulled a shutout, and Gaborik had a penalty shot. The atmosphere was so cool. Everyone gets into the game. It got so loud in there when they scored. You really get the idea that MN fans are behind their team. The club got a standing ovation for their win on Sunday. Yea, we missed the playoffs. There is a lot to improve upon. There way too many ties this year. A few more our way would’ve put us in the playoffs. Next year, Gaborik will be there full time instead of holding out on a contract. Provided we can pick up a good free agent or two, I think we’ll have a great team come September. Of course all this depends on the CBA. There’s a lot of people who could care less if hockey is on next year or not. This reminds me of the baseball holdouts. Baseball’s popularity dropped so much after that, but they’ve come full circle once again. I can see the same thing happening to hockey. The recent number of suspensions isn’t making things any better either. It all started with Bertuzzi. I can think of 4-5 other pretty bad incidents that got guys suspended for a few games too.
Bottom line is that there is a season next year. Rule changes or not, there has to be a season. Someone give in a little. The fans want it and the players want it.
