Go Wild!

Last month, my dad called to see if Paul might be interested in bringing Max to a Wild game at the Xcel Center- he has a friend with season tickets who couldn't use them one day and had offered them to my dad. After much hemming and hawing (ha, yeah right), Paul took him up on the offer and prepared to take Max to his very first hockey game!

He did some prep work ahead of time, explaining the basics of the game, the gear, and the players. Max was super excited about the whole thing, but he hit a turning point when he realized that the game was played on ICE! And the players were going to wear SKATES!

The game was on a Tuesday night at 6:30, a good time for Max. I figured they could stay for awhile and if he got tired they could always duck out early. Little did I expect my night owl to make it til the end of the game, but I shouldn't have been surprised. At 10:30 they finally rolled in; I was upstairs and heard the door open, followed by excited chattering in a sweet little high-pitched voice. I came downstairs to find Max decked out in a new Wild hat- very stylish. I got the lowdown from both of my boys about the awesome game they witnessed. After overtime and a shootout, the Wild were victorious! Even if Max had been falling asleep, I doubt Paul would have been able to tear himself away. But luckily his son seems to have a place in his heart for hockey as well, because he was pretty engaged the whole night.

The highlights of the night from Max's perspective were pretty clear: The light show at the beginning of the game, the Zamboni, the shootout and the snacks. No hockey game would be complete without an ice cream cookie sandwich and cheese curds. I think he might want to go back again someday...