Watch CBS News

Wild Uses Outdoor Practice To Connect With Fans, Prep For Winter Classic

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) -- It had a holiday feel. The Minnesota Wild win a game Monday night, then hold an annual outdoor practice Tuesday morning. This time, it was at Braemar's complex in Edina.

It's both a marketing tool and a look at what is to come this season. WCCO's Mike Max paid a visit.

If Norman Rockwell was in Minnesota in the winter, you sense he would want to capture something like this. The biggest hockey team in town practicing outside for their fans to get close. For kids to see players, and players to feel like kids when they played outdoors for fun.

"Just different parks had rinks at their parks so that's where we would go hang out and play and spend a lot of hours there for sure," Jason Pominville said.

See it is here everyone relates to. Ryan Suter's son has practices at this very arena.

"That was fun. It was a neat atmosphere. Brooks, my son, plays out there so I always get to watch him play so it was neat to be out there," Suter said.

A little snow in the air, some outdoor hockey and the Minnesota Wild making themselves accessible to the fans. Yeah that's the idea of the entire organization. They seldomly miss a beat to connect with the people that support them the most.

Embracing Minnesota is a Wild theme and on Tuesday that's what you felt, where players feel touchable and families bond over their sport.

"He wants to be a goalie like (Devan) Dubnyk but his favorite player is (Zach) Parise," one fan said.

And with an outdoor game on the schedule, it doesn't hurt to get a feel for what will be.

"It's going to get a lot colder. It's going to be tough for the players and the fans but it is what it is and it was a lot of fun here. That one is going to be a special night," Mikko Koivu said.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.