Minnesota Wild Logo

Minnesota Wild NHL Hockey is back.  The players are hitting the ice today, employees are back to work and owners are ready to start counting piles of money.  Do the teams of the NHL deserve us, the fans, back?  Are we just going to come knuckling back through the turn styles, cash in hand, as if nothing has happened?  Will we just go back to buying $5 Hot dogs, $8 beers, $200 Jerseys, and overpriced tickets that are never going down in price.  Hey fans, remember at the end of the last lockout, Commissioner Gary Bettman said one of the effects of “Cost Certainty” would be lower ticket prices?  That sure didn’t happen.  We’ve been kicked to the curb twice in 8 years.  Are we just going to come crawling back like whipped puppies licking at Craig Leipold and the player’s hands as if we are the ones who have done the wrong?  That is exactly what Minnesota Wild ownership and the players are expecting.  ”We love the fans!” They say over and over and over.  Well I for one don’t feel very loved.  We pack the Xcel Energy Center game after game, year after year even when the product they were selling was less than stellar.  We made the Minnesota Wild jersey one of the biggest sellers league wide year after year.  Then as soon as it’s time for a new CBA lockout time is here.  Bettman and his minions along with Fehr and the NHLPA leadership repeatedly talk about what is “Fair”.  Really?  Fair?  What is fair about a 4-month long league shut down?  What’s fair about that to the hourly employees of the Xcel, the employees of downtown St. Paul bars and restaurants, and what’s fair about that to the Wild’s fans?  The answer is NOTHING. Players will still be paid big bucks, Owners now have CBA protection to protect them from themselves and the fans have no protection at all.  It will be interesting to see what scraps are thrown the way of the fans as an apology.  I hope we don’t see the “Welcome Back Fans” crap on the ice again.  Remember that in ’05?  Maybe we’ll see “Craig’s Hot Dog Stand” make another appearance.  Anybody out there remember that stunt?  Craig Leipold in a hat and apron with a warmer selling dogs for a dollar each up in the 200 level of the Xcel during the first season he bought the franchise.  I doubt he’d have the balls to do that again after this lockout debacle.  Fans won’t see him sitting among the common folk either.  He’s used to do that in Nashville and occasionally in St. Paul.  He’ll be ensconced in his security guarded suite keeping a big barrier between him and the fans.  You can bet press access will be just as guarded as well.  The players are eager to get back to work.  Notice I’m saying work, not the cliched phrase, “The game they love“.  I’m sure they missed the NHL with all it’s perks, free gear and excellent facilities.  They are ready for a little ego stroking and idol worship from the people who pay their salaries.  The big question is do the Minnesota Wild and the other 29 NHL teams deserve their fans back?  One thing is for sure not all of us are coming back.  The damage has been done and the recovery will not be as swift or as certain as the last time.  I for one have been following NCAA college and AHL hockey like never before.  Will I still be a fan of the NHL?  The answer is yes, but not like before.  Crap in my hand twice in 8 seasons and I’ll be a lot slower to stick my hand out.  The new CBA is good for 8 years with 2 more years if both sides agree to it.  Is anyone out there stupid enough to think those last two years are going to happen?  Just get ready for another lockout in 2021 potentially the fourth work stoppage under commissioner Bettman.  NHL Hockey is back.  I’m glad to see it.  I just hope the NHL and it’s players see the need to work to deserve our fan support.  We the fans love hockey.  Not because we’re paid to play it, not because we own a team, not because we make a living from it as an employee.  Just because we love to see the game played at it’s highest level by players we love to follow.  Does the Minnesota Wild deserve their fans back?  I hope they work their asses off, on and off the ice, to show us they do.

Yup that is me.  One in the same.

Much has changed since those days; and I am just talking about how we actually had the NHL then.   I have also dropped close to 80 pounds since then.   As much as that is great and this is a bit of an introduction piece this really is not all about me – it’s about hockey.

Now with my new fitness (which still needs some work) I have decided to run a half marathon to raise awareness and money for the American Special Hockey Association (ASHA).

American Special Hockey Association teams playing in outdoor festival 2012 in Toledo, Ohio (Monica McAlister)

On October 20^th 2013 I will be running the 13.1 mile International course in the Detroit Marathon.

I will run thru the streets of Downtown Detroit and South Detroit – better known as Windsor, Ontario, Canada (for those that do not know there is not South Detroit, the city to the direct south of Detroit is in fact Windsor – and is the only boarder crossing where you go south from the United States to get into Canada).

To raise awareness for ASHA I’ll be running across the Ambassador bridge, through the streets of Windsor and back thru the Detroit-Windsor tunnel.

ASHA has been giving those with development disabilities the chance to not only learn and play the great sport of hockey; but learn and grow as individuals since 2000.   With more than 50 programs in 30 cities across the U.S. continued need for donations  is ever increasing as the program continues to grow.

While I have been a volunteer with ASHA for awhile now I thought it was time that I do my part to try and raise more awareness of their cause and contribute some financial resources at the same time.

Please head over to the “Running for ASHA” event page over on Crowdrise to check in on the progress of reaching the goal of $5,000 (and/or contribute).  I have until race day, near the end of October, to hit my financial goal, before hitting my fitness goal, with your help we can make it!