Minnesota Wild officials expect a sellout crowd will fill the Xcel Energy Center Saturday night when the team opens its lockout-shortened season against the Colorado Avalanche, WCCO reports. Chief Operating Officer Matt Majka says strong ticket sales suggest a full house.
Single-game Wild tickets go one sale Wednesday, Jan. 16, at 8 a.m. The Star Tribune says Pat Vos, a University of Minnesota employee, was already camped out to be the first fan in line at the box office. “Everything’s going to be back to normal,” Vos told the newspaper, “not like other cities where I’m sure it will suffer. But here in Minnesota, this is a hockey hotbed. It’s almost a given anybody that was a fan will return.”
Wild owner Craig Leipold told the Pioneer Press on Tuesday, “We’re sorry what happened. We wish it hadn’t happened. Unfortunately, it’s part of the business of hockey.”
Earlier this week, hockey fans quickly snapped up tickets to a free intra-squad scrimmage the Wild will host at the X on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m. It will also be televised live on FOX Sports North, and broadcast on the radio home of the Wild, KFAN-FM 100.3.
The Minnesota Wild also announced on Tuesday that all 48 games will be televised.
