Hockey (Minneapolis: layoffs, school, lawsuit)

[wamer27]

It's a great game, but overall its more a niche which is fine. All my friends and business contacts are hockey related, the hockey world is a tight knit community. The overall expense of the sport as a youth and even playing adult leagues is very high. The team fee for my organized indoor roller hockey league (we have ex NHL stars playing in it) is $910 for a 9 game session. The AHA ice league each team fee is around $6-7k! That alone is gonna put it in the niche market of all sports.

[TimtheGuy]

Originally Posted by Old Prospector

I watched the Wild game last night and was very impressed with the style of play, the fans, and the arena. The fans definitely know what's up. They cheer loudly when the Wild get the puck out of the zone during a penalty kill. They appreciate a good forecheck even if it doesn't result in a goal. You can tell that the Wild fans take pride in their team. I haven't been to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul yet, but it's on my to-do list in the next couple of months. The announcers on the NBC Sports Networks were gushing about how nice the arena is, and they also complimented the fans.

Seems like this is still a Vikings town. Why? I don't know. I'm turned off by the NFL and the Vikings seem to only disappoint. You know why the Vikings are purple? Because they always choke.

Hockey seems like it should be the most popular sport in Minnesota. The youth hockey seems excellent, with rinks in just about every Twin Cities suburb. There's many rinks in the cities as well and outdoor hockey during the winter seems popular. I heard there's even a pond hockey tournament on Lake Nokomis.

I haven't seen too many topics about hockey on city-data, so I'm wondering what you folks think about the sport. Do you go to games, whether it's the Gophers, Wild, or youth hockey? Do you play pond hockey? Anyone have kids that play? Is the hatred for Norm Green still strong?

You have to consider that our 'real' hockey team (The Minnesota North Stars) moved to Dallas in the early 90's. We didn't even have a NHL team for about 7 years. Had to start from scratch in 2000. That can really **** off a fan base (myself included)! The NHL doesn't hold a candle to the NFL anywhere...anytime. The NFL has taken over. That said, I don't think any state has the youth hockey that MN does.

The X is an awesome arena. You should definitely check it out.

[Oildog]

May I recommend watching Minnesota's "Pride on Ice", the Golden Gophers at Marriucci arena. For a good experience. Not the same as the old barn, but still a good product.

[Old Prospector]

Originally Posted by Oildog

May I recommend watching Minnesota's "Pride on Ice", the Golden Gophers at Marriucci arena. For a good experience. Not the same as the old barn, but still a good product.

I'm planning on going to a game against St. Cloud State on 11/1.

[Mason3000]

One thing people are discounting is fans like me who grew up playing hockey, rooting for the Gophers, but living & dying for the NORTH STARS!!! In 1991 we went six games deep into the Stanley Cup finals with the dynasty Penguin team. We had every corporate box & season ticket sold for the following year & they literally sold us down the river to Dallas, where they became the Dallas Stars. I've never forgiven the NHL for allowing this to happen & I've never been able to fully adopt the Wild as my home team. I just don't care about the NHL anymore.

* Read Tim's post after I posted mine, so credit to Tim for bringing up the North Stars angle first.

[Mason3000]

Originally Posted by Oildog

May I recommend watching Minnesota's "Pride on Ice", the Golden Gophers at Marriucci arena. For a good experience. Not the same as the old barn, but still a good product.

YES! Not the old Mariucci Arena, but still the best hockey ticket in town, imo. Find a way to get tickets when Wisconsin, North Dakota or UMD come to town, it really doesn't get any better than this.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by Mason3000

One thing people are discounting is fans like me who grew up playing hockey, rooting for the Gophers, but living & dying for the NORTH STARS!!! In 1991 we went six games deep into the Stanley Cup finals with the dynasty Penguin team. We had every corporate box & season ticket sold for the following year & they literally sold us down the river to Dallas, where they became the Dallas Stars. I've never forgiven the NHL for allowing this to happen & I've never been able to fully adopt the Wild as my home team. I just don't care about the NHL anymore.

* Read Tim's post after I posted mine, so credit to Tim for bringing up the North Stars angle first.

LOL! so because some lecherous, carpet-bagger cut and ran with his team nearly 25 years ago, you refuse to support the local team that has been around for nearly 20 years and is the the epitome of doing things right for the fan and offer up one of the best stadium/arena experiences in all of US Professional Sports...pathetic.

You were probably were never a real hockey fan in the first place and you could likely fit the number of these remaining North Star "fans" into a pair of Dino Cicarelli breezers and have room left over for a couple servings of that nasty fake cheese they offered up with the rubber nachos at the Met Center.

[Old Prospector]

Originally Posted by Mason3000

One thing people are discounting is fans like me who grew up playing hockey, rooting for the Gophers, but living & dying for the NORTH STARS!!! In 1991 we went six games deep into the Stanley Cup finals with the dynasty Penguin team. We had every corporate box & season ticket sold for the following year & they literally sold us down the river to Dallas, where they became the Dallas Stars. I've never forgiven the NHL for allowing this to happen & I've never been able to fully adopt the Wild as my home team. I just don't care about the NHL anymore.

* Read Tim's post after I posted mine, so credit to Tim for bringing up the North Stars angle first.

Have you forgiven the Vikings and the NFL for all their f... ups?

[Drewcifer]

The thing the Vikings have going for them is that they had that long history of being good up until the current era. They were almost always competitive from the late 60s through the 90s. That established them as the main team in the area. The younger people around here didn't get to experience that but they were raised by diehard Vikings fans.

Hockey has always been split between high school, college and the NHL. When I moved here I knew more Gopher fans than North Star fans. Then there was the period after the North Stars left. Minnesota has always had strong grassroots hockey but it hasn't always translated into support for the NHL. The Wild are still a young franchise but they are very well run. Casual sports fans in Minnesota love a winner, and unlike most of the rest of the US they already know the rules and tactics of hockey, so it is possible that the Wild could be on the cusp of strong growth in terms of their local following. And maybe at the expense of the Vikings who seem to have settled into a long period of being a joke of a franchise.

If the Wild could win or at least play for the cup that would be big. They are probably closer to winning a championship than any other Minnesota team.

[Mason3000]

Originally Posted by Ghengis

LOL! so because some lecherous, carpet-bagger cut and ran with his team nearly 25 years ago, you refuse to support the local team that has been around for nearly 20 years and is the the epitome of doing things right for the fan and offer up one of the best stadium/arena experiences in all of US Professional Sports...pathetic.

You were probably were never a real hockey fan in the first place and you could likely fit the number of these remaining North Star "fans" into a pair of Dino Cicarelli breezers and have room left over for a couple servings of that nasty fake cheese they offered up with the rubber nachos at the Met Center.

This post made my day. You stay classy.