Fans Fired Up For Wild's 6th Straight Playoff Appearance
ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- This is the sixth consecutive year the Wild have made it to the playoffs. Fans are not getting tired of it.
At the team's pep rally Wednesday in St. Paul, the governor declared it Go Wild Day.
The stands at the TRIA rink were packed with hundreds of Wild fans getting ready to cheer on their team in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
"It's going nuts in here right now," fan Garrett Ostrom said.
Ostrom brought one of the youngest fans to the pep rally, his 2-year-old son Tyler.
"I've grown up forever playing hockey, and just only team that I've always ever liked for the most part," Ostrom said.
It wouldn't be a Wild pep rally without Nordy.
"This is our hockey state," Gov. Mark Dayton said.
And Dayton officially declared it Go Wild Day.
Former Minnesota Wild player Wes Walz was also there to weigh in on the series.
"I get nervous once a year, and whether I'm playing or not, it's this time of the year because it's playoff time," Walz said.
Walz says he thinks Wild fandom has gotten even crazier since he played for the team thanks to social media.
"People are so connected now with teams, with each other, whether it's negative or positive people are always talking about their sports teams," he said.
You could feel the energy in the room, in the stands and out on the ice.
"Go Wild," fan Calvin Cooper said.
Fans were invited to lace up and spend some time skating on the Wild's practice rink.
"I'm excited. It's going to be crazy. It's going to be a good series," one fan said.
The Minnesota Wild have been knocked out of the first round of playoffs in the last two seasons and the Jets are favored. Still, the fans here say they think their team will pull out a win.