Hockey Background

Late last night, I finally kicked off this blog. And I gave you a few fun facts about myself. Today, I'm going to dig a little deeper and give you a bunch of fun facts about me and the game of hockey. Then I think tomorrow, I will actually get to the Wild themselves with a offseason recap.

• Growing up, I had no pro hockey team to watch here (North Stars were gone by the time I paid attention to hockey). So my favorite team was the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. They had a great logo, and obviously they had those movies made about them, so that helped me love them more. But they had some great talent with Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne so the actual Ducks were really fun to watch too.
  
• I was a big Brett Hull fan back then as well. He was great with the Blues, but then went on to win the Cup with Dallas (Damn Norm) and Detroit. One of the best shots the game has ever seen, and clearly the best shot I've ever seen.
  
• I made it to one Minnesota Moose game when I was young. I still have their jersey in my closet. If I remember correctly, the Moose lost in overtime. It was an interesting atmosphere in the old Civic Center, watching a game, compared to the one we have now at the X.
• But then finally the Wild came around. As I mentioned in my earlier post, my first game was in December of their inaugural season. I got to sit in one of the lower level corners. It was a great memory. And what made it better was the fact it came against the Ducks.
• I have made it out to a Wild game at least once a year since they have returned. The best game I have seen, is by far the game in which Marian Gaborik scored 5 goals against the NY Rangers (ironic isn't it?).
  
• In their memorable season of 2002-03, I got to sit on the bench during warmups before a game. As a kid who never saw a game from that close before, it was really an eye opener to see how big those guys were.
• I got to go to the 2004 NHL All Star Game when it was held here in St. Paul. My aunt was at the game and she came across one of the coaches wife, who was looking to give it away for free. FOR FREE! So she took it and asked if I wanted to come. That was a great day. Great atmosphere at the X.
  
• You can find me as one of those crazy folks who camp out for single game tickets every season. I have done it for 7 consecutive years now, and I have no intention of stopping either.
• Also I mentioned in my earlier post that I have made it to two playoff games. One came in 2007 against the Ducks, which the Wild won (Their only win in the series). The other came the next year against Colorado (Game 5), in which the Wild lost. Those were some fun games. I could only imagine what it was like for the playoff games of 2003 in the X.
  
• Then this past summer, I got to attend the first round of the NHL Draft. Great experience again. It was great to see the variety of fans come to the X. Had a good conversation with some Oilers fans that sat in front of us. Then the Wild, stole the show, and had arguably the best draft day with their selections and their trade of Brent Burns to San Jose. But I'll get more in to that tomorrow.

As I before said, tomorrow, I'll get into the Wild's offseason. Today I was more focused on giving you all a little info on myself, much like I have with my Twins blog.