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the idea that hockey here is as much about communities as it is about teams. The Wild also developed relationships with the boys' and girls' high school coaches associations before the franchise ever played a game, relationships Majka says the organization has maintained through two ownership groups. It helps explain why a group of coaches decided there should be a place in their Hall of Fame for someone who never coached. Majka, though, still has trouble putting himself in their company. "Those guys are the engine of the State of Hockey," he said. "Those folks, the relatively little they get paid and what they put into it—it's a mismatch. "I feel really almost embarrassed to stand alongside them." That feeling hadn't disappeared by the induction ceremony. "These guys have had such an impact on so many kids," Majka said. "I feel small next to them. But I'm really honored that they took the time to honor me as well." OUR IDENTITY Majka is beginning his 30th year with the Wild organization. He has been around long enough to remember when there was no team, no arena full of Wild fans and no certainty about how Minnesota would respond to the NHL's return after losing the North Stars. That uncertainty didn't last long. Within a week, Majka said, the expansion franchise had approximately 6,000 season- ticket deposits. Within a month, it had 12,000. Rather than convincing Minnesota that it needed NHL hockey again, Majka sensed something else happening. "Fans were out to prove everybody wrong that NHL hockey should never have left Minnesota," he said. Those 12,000 prospective season-ticket holders also provided something invaluable: 12,000 people the Wild could ask what they wanted from their new team. Again and again, the answer came back to Minnesota's larger hockey community. It was an identity Majka understood personally. Though a Detroit native, he grew up in Minnesota as a devoted North Stars fan, sometimes putting a transistor radio under his pillow to listen to late-night games from Los Angeles as he fell asleep. He never imagined he'd eventually help run Minnesota's NHL franchise. "If somebody had told me back then that I would end up in this position with the Wild, I would have laughed," Majka said. Along the way, Majka and the Wild worked with Olson and Company to bring the State of Hockey concept to life. Agency founder John Olson, who died of cancer about a decade ago, and colleague Derek Bitter wrote the "State of Hockey" anthem. Majka remembers hearing it for the first time. "I'm like, 'This is a thing of beauty,'" he said. "They just hit every fricking word right." The phrase itself worked, Majka believes, because it wasn't aspirational. It was true. 29 N O V / D E C 2 0 2 6 | M H J ON L I N E . C O M The Wild sent prepaid shipping boxes to every high school hockey coach in the state for their team's jersey. The Minnesota Hockey Coaches Association Hall of Fame Class of 2026, from left to right: Matt Majka, Lee Smith, Mike Randolph, Greg Rajanen, Mike Taylor and Frank Senta, along with Cliff Thompson Award winner Jon Bittner.