Minnesota Hockey Journal

flashing and, of course, Nordy—the Wild's mullet-donning mascot. Non-traditional markets in Arizona, Florida and Tennessee have been support- ing programs like this for years to grow their fan base. But in the last few years, the Wild, in concert with Minnesota Hockey, have thrown a lot of weight at a multitude of initiatives that go well beyond the "Wild About Children" gala that has raised $1.4 million the past 13 years. The initiatives really began in the summer of 2016 when Wild President Matt Majka met with Wayne Petersen to expand his role. Petersen, the Wild's director of community relations and hockey partnerships, was given a clean slate to develop more programs that would help grow the game. "The Wild has always been by far our biggest financial supporter," said Glen Andresen, executive director of Minnesota Hockey. "Since 2000, nobody's contributed more financially and been as big a sup- porter in general than the Wild. But the outreach to players and teams has ramped up the last year." One of the flagships is that Youth Spotlight Game. In December, they did another spotlight game; 12U B game between Farmington and Rosemount. Basically, everybody knows the game's going to happen except for the kids who are surprised to walk into the rink. The game in Farmington was a huge success highlighted by the 100-piece Farmington High School marching band welcoming the girls from both teams into the rink as they arrived. The honorary coaches were former Wild defenseman Brad Bombardir and Wild assistant coach John Anderson, and Anderson, a longtime NHL player, has already told the Wild to count him in for next year. "The place was jam packed on a Wednesday night," Petersen said. "You couldn't even find a place to park," added Andresen. There are two more planned for this sea- son, including a Peewee game. This season, for the first time, the Wild's taking the show on the road by surprising kids outstate. Here are several other Wild youth initiatives: LITTLE WILD LEARN-TO-PLAY: Four years ago, it started with eight rinks around the state and 60 kids per location. The rules: kids, ages 5-8, who have never played organized hockey before. For $100, they get head-to- toe equipment and can attend four one- hour ice sessions once a week. Minnesota Hockey provides the coaches, and Wild players, whether it be a Charlie Coyle or a Jason Zucker, often show up to help. "The goal is they get enough time on the ice to fall in love with the game," Petersen said. The program has grown from eight locations to four years ago, to 20 this upcoming September 2018. This year for the first time was managed by former Wild and University of Minnesota defenseman Keith Ballard. Ballard said it was a no-brainer to join up and "provide as many children as pos- sible the opportunity to have fun learning the great sport of hockey." Andresen said that since the introduc- tion of this type of program, Minnesota Hockey has seen a major spike at the 8U levels, which is remarkable in a hockey saturated market. Minnesota had 18,002 registered 8U boys' and girls' hockey players last year, a number Andresen said is by far the most in the United States, and "we're well ahead of that pace this year." "There's no underselling how much the Wild's impact has had on this," Andresen said. "It's pretty incredible, and there's no doubt Little Wild has been a huge factor in that. Kids that attend this program and go on to play regular hockey is at 70 per- cent. That's amazing." WILD FOR A DAY: An initiative that is new this year, parents and coaches are asked to nominate a youth hockey player who is a great teammate, shows leadership on the ice and is a good student. The Wild and Minnesota Hockey choose one per month and surprises that player at practice. The player then can come to a morning skate with his or her parents, gets to meet the team, get autographs and pictures and then returns for a game where he or she is recognized. YOUTH HOCKEY REFEREE SPOTLIGHT PROGRAM: As youth hockey numbers grow, so do the need for referees. Last year, in con- cert with the Minnesota Hockey Officials Association, the Wild arranged a meet and greet for one male referee and one female referee with two linesmen and two refer- ees—veterans Wes McCauley and Justin St. Pierre—working a Wild game. The referees absolutely loved it, Petersen said. "I still remember the female ref said she'd never ref a mites' game again because people yelled at her they didn't like a girl ref," Petersen said. "One of the refs took her off to the side and had a heart to heart with her and told her exact- ly what to do if that ever happened again. It was just really cool." F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 | M H J ON L I N E . C O M 27 Wild For A Day rewards good teammates and students with a chance to meet Wild players and be recognized at a Wild game. "It's amazing how these things get pulled off, but it's all been worth it. We see a lasting impact, and the entire goal is for everybody in the State of Hockey to fall in love with this sport." –Glen Andresen, Executive Director, Minnesota Hockey

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