Well, the NHL is back and the Minnesota Wild have already played four games, winning the first two. I really haven't been able to watch much of them, actually. It still seems weird though, this whole partial-season thing. With the lockout that had wiped out a solid three-plus months of the season, I'm not really in a hockey mindset for the Wild this season.
Not that it matters what I think. The Wild won its first two games at home against division-rival Colorado (4-2 win) and then the next night in a 1-0 battle with rival (I think they're rivals, at least.) Dallas. Then it lost to Nashville and on the road in Detroit. It's four games in this shortened season, so we'll see what the boys bring tonight in St. Louis.
Sold out? Bad idea
The real disappointment for me when the Wild opened the season a week ago Saturday was the fact that Xcel Energy Center was sold out. It was jam-packed with eager fans. Not only that, then I saw via Twitter a couple days later that the opener was the highest-rated regular season Wild telecast ever on FSNorth. The second game also broke the previous record.
Why does this disappoint me? I mean, you'd think a big hockey fan like me would love to see so many people tuned in to the Wild, a team that normally doesn't get much love from the overall Minnesota fan base. I'm disappointed because the fans here let the NHL bigwigs win.
By going to the games and watching them on TV, fans said, "Hey NHL players and owners, you guys can go ahead and feel free to have lockouts anytime. Because we'll come back in full force for that very first puck drop."
Realistically, I'm not too surprised at how the state of hockey reacted to the return of the NHL. And no, I didn't think every fan out there would boycott the games. I guess I just hoped that something could have been done on the part of the fans to express their anger regarding the lockout.
On the other hand
It is hard though. Hockey is such a great sport for its fans, so when it comes back after being away for so long, I get why the seats were filled. As I already said, I haven't been able to watch much of the Wild, and I would like to watch them.
For my part to try and send a message, I refrained from buying any Wild or NHL merchandise as part of my Christmas shopping. And on opening night, I chose to attend the Austin Bruins game in town - support a team that's been playing all season - rather than stay home to watch the Wild.
Those were the two little things that I did to stick to some principles. Did it matter? Probably not. But what if hundreds or thousands of others would have done something similar? That could have made some kind of a dent.
It doesn't mean I'm going to boycott them for the rest of the season either. Hypocritical? Maybe. But the fans haven't done anything to push back against the lockout, so I guess the players and owners really do come out ahead.
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