Opinion: The Minnesota Wild Deserve an NHL Winter Classic

Up north, in the Land of One Hundred Thousands Lakes, they outdo Detroit handily. Yes, the capital of Michigan is known colloquially and promotionally as Hockeytown, USA, but Minnesota lays claim – rightfully – to the proud honour of being the (American) State of Hockey. Passion for the greatest game on ice is Canadian-like once you come across the Minnesota border. Up there, men become heroes on the ice. More often than not, heroes become legends.

The list of great Minnesota hockey men who’ve gone onto bigger and better things is as endless as it is important to the sport: there’s Larry Brooks, coach of the 1980 Miracle on Ice; some of the college kids who were on-ice heroes in 1980 Rob McClanahan, Mike Ramsey, Dave Christian, Steve Christoff and Mark Pavelich; the Broten brothers, Aaron and Neal; legendary John Mayasich and perhaps the greatest of them all, the Godfather of Minnesota hockey, the legendary John Mariucci.

In all, Minnesota-born players have won countless Stanley Cup champions, tasted Gold medal success at the Olympics, and played thousands of National Hockey League games. As far as fertile environs go, there is no greater hotbed for American hockey than in Minnesota. It starts at a high school level, where Friday nights mean the renewal of decades-old town-on-town rivalries. It’s quite something to see, crowds in their thousands in often-dilapidated arenas cheering on their team, generations of the same family there in the stands, living second to second, every bounce and carom of the puck.

Saturday is for college hockey where the University of Minnesota – known simply as The U in Minnesota – has recorded five NCAA National Championship victories and has made the Frozen Four twenty times. If you grow up in the shadows of the Twin Cities of St Paul-Minneapolis, you’re hockey mad and want to follow in the footsteps of the Broten’s, and Ramsey’s on the hallowed ice of Mariucci Arena. You havent properly experienced college hockey until you’ve seen the Gophers play at Mariucci.

Or perhaps you’re born elsewhere, out along Minnesota’s Iron Range, when you idolised the Christoff’s of the world, or the great Brett Hull from the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. It doesn’t matter. No matter what part of Minnesota you’re born in, hockey’s in your blood. It consumes you.

In the NHL, the Minnesota North Stars had a proud tradition in the Twin Cities before politics and money took over, sending the North Stars to Dallas, and, after a pro hockey absence of too long – just ask a Minnesotan – a new franchise, the Minnesota Wold, now plays to some of the best, biggest and most knowledgeable crowds in all of hockey. Their recent acquisitions of superstars Ryan Suter and Zach Parise have the Wild rocketing upward in the Western Conference.

In the State of Hockey, even pickup games on your local frozen lake draw a crowd. In Minnesota, hockey is as important as college football is in the southland. Even if you’re just a regular visitor – like myself – you can’t help but get swept up in the obvious passion for the game. There are games on television nearly every night of the week. It’s possible to watch hockey, read hockey and think hockey twenty-four-seven.

So, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, here’s some free advice: it’s well and truly time – hell, it’s beyond time – for the League to stage a Winter Classic in Minnesota. Like putting the Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs on a rink inside Michigan Stadium, playing a game between the Minnesota Wild and, maybe, Chicago or Detroit, or as a twist, the Dallas Stars, would be a guaranteed winner. Target Field, where the Minnesota Twins play baseball in the summer, is a perfect venue.

If the NHL can manage to slot an outdoor game into a Southern California ballpark – we saw it just this weekend, with the Freeway Faceoff between Anaheim and the Los Angeles Kings at Dodger Stadium – they can certainly take an outdoor game to Minnesota. Minnesota is one of the league’s biggest American markets. Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Boston and Detroit and Chicago and Philadelphia have all had their turn hosting a Winter Classic, and other big US markets like New York City and Washington D.C. have had their teams feature in the league’s regular-season showcase. Now, it’s the turn of the Wild.

In case Bettman and co ever doubted that there would be the market for such an event, they need to look no further than last week’s Hockey City Classic, featuring both the men’s and women’s University of Minnesota hockey teams. The game was held outdoors on a temporary rink at TCF Bank Stadium, home to Gopher football during the fall months, and the crowd of 45,201, a record attendance for a hockey game in Minnesota. The Gophers won 1-0 on a Taylor Cammarata goal, and behind a 21-save shut-out by goalie Adam Wilcox. The game was only half the story. It was the atmosphere that counted. 

If Target Field isn't considered big enough for a Winter Classic, there’s a big football stadium near downtown Minneapolis that has a track record with outdoor hockey. Holding the  game on college grounds would provide a unique atmosphere – and a bigger crowd, which would surely make the NHL’s bean counters happy.

Holding a Winter Classic in Minnesota would open up a whole new realm of hockey in Minnesota. Around the NHL game, it isn't hard to foresee a festival of hockey, bigger than what ran on the Comerica Park rink in Detroit around the 2013 Winter Classic. The big Minnesota college teams – the Gophers, Minnesota-Duluth, St Cloud State, and Minnesota State – would likely have a heavy presence, as well as high school games and minor-league pro contests. 

I can imagine the great alumni games, and the occasion of a Winter Classic would be the perfect rallying cry for all the legendary Minnesota hockey personalities to come together in one place to celebrate everything that’s great about the State of Hockey. Imagine a reunion of all the Minnesota-born Miracle on Ice guys, plus the legions of guys who’ve skated for The U or Minnesota-Duluth or any other school mixing with Stanley Cup winners and Olympic medal winners. Now, that would be a celebration worthy of the great game of hockey.

Apparently 2015 is off the table. It appears likely that the Washington Capitals will take over Nationals Park and play a close rival – Philadelphia, anyone? – but the League, if it knows what’s good for it, should make an announcement soon, giving the 2016 NHL Winter Classic to the Minnesota Wild. As I alluded to earlier, there are enough teams around Minnesota with whom the Wild have, if not a blood rivalry, certainly a competitive streak brewing nicely that would provide a game-day atmosphere worthy of the outdoor showcase.

Your move, NHL.