Buy Minnesota Wild Tickets Now!

Stadium:
Xcel Energy Center
Xcel Energy Center is a sports arena in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA sponsored by Xcel Energy. It is the home ice of the NHL's Minnesota Wild and the NLL's Minnesota Swarm. The city of Saint Paul owns the arena. The arena contains four spectator levels: one suite level, and three general seating levels named the 100 level, the club level, and the 200 level. Its official capacity is 18,064, but on February 8, 2004, the NHL All-Star Game set a record for attendance at a hockey game in Minnesota at 19,434. The record attendance for a Wild hockey game was set October 5, 2005 at 19,398, the first game after the lockout season. In addition, Xcel Energy Center also hosts musical concerts, in October 28, 2003 Shania Twain sets Xcel Energy Center's single-night concert attendance record of 20,554.

Seating Chart:
Xcel Energy Center Seating Chart

Team History:
In 1997 the National Hockey League announced that Minnesota had been awarded an expansion franchise to begin play in the 2000-2001 season. The six finalist teamnames for the new NHL franchise were: Minnesota Blue Ox, Minnesota Freeze, Minnesota Northern Lights, Minnesota Voyageurs, Minnesota White Bears and Minnesota Wild. Jac Sperling was named Chief Executive Officer of the Minnesota Wild and Martha Larson was named Chief Financial Officer, the first female in that position in NHL history. 1998: The new NHL team is officially named the Minnesota Wild. The unveiling occurred in front at Aldrich Arena. The Minnesota Wild announce its first major sponsorship agreement with the Minnesota Wild Mastercard card from First USA. It was the earliest that First USA has ever signed an agreement in advance of a team beginning play (31 months). The State of Minnesota agreed in legislation to fund $65 million of the $130 million project costs for Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. the Saint Paul Civic Center deconstruction began soon thereafter and the Xcel Energy Center design was announced. a Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Xcel Energy Center was hosted in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Season Preview:
The Minnesota Wild hibernated through the post-lockout free-agent period a year ago and then, as befitting their style of play, slumbered through most of last season, missing the playoffs for the fourth time in five NHL seasons. But credit GM Doug Risebrough and ownership for recognizing that their plan to develop almost solely from within wasn't working and they were risking the loyalty of some of the best fans in the business. Risebrough managed to pry Pavol Demitra, an offensive talent with a strong defensive work ethic, out of Los Angeles for top prospect Patrick O'Sullivan, and brought in Minnesota native Mark Parrish. The GM also bolstered the blue line by signing Kim Johnsson, a top puck-moving defenseman who was recovering from a concussion. The Demitra deal also paved the way for the Wild to sign Slovak countryman and burgeoning superstar Marian Gaborik to a long-term deal. Gaborik had warred with ownership over past contracts and having him from the get-go will enable the Wild to get off to a good start.

Official Site:
http://wild.nhl.com/