ISSUE 4 • VOLUME 4 • APRIL 2011

                                                                                      CONGRATULATIONS
                                                                                      UMD BULLDOGS!!!
                            Kyle Schmidt scored 3:22 into overtime to give Minnesota-Duluth a 3-2 victory over Michigan in the
                            Division I men's hockey championship game Saturday night, the first national title for the Bulldogs in 67
                            years. This has been quite the school year at UMD on the hill above Lake Superior, just a 2 1/2-hour
drive north from the Xcel Energy Center, with the football team winning the Division II championship. The Bulldogs handed the
Wolverines just their second loss all season when scoring the game's first goal (22-2-3).

A "UMD! UMD!” chant filled the sold-out arena, another reminder that this was essentially a second consecutive road game for the
Wolverines after playing in front of a pro-North Dakota crowd in the semifinal. In homage to the UMD players and their bleached
hair -- a team-wide fashion statement -- one fan held up a sign that said, "Blondes have more fun."

After going 8-for-23 in prior opportunities in the NCAA tournament, the Bulldogs were 1-for-9 on the power play in regulation. The
Wolverines, who killed all five penalties against North Dakota in the semifinals, deftly pressured the point men and kept UMD from
getting many clean shots.

The slick-passing Bulldogs had a 38-24 shots advantage,
but they weren't consistently sharp with the puck and
missed a handful of juicy chances. Jack Connolly hit the
crossbar in the first period, and Justin Fontaine's
close-range shot was stopped in the second. Connolly's
power-play chip was inches from the goal line in the
third period.
The Bulldogs were the fourth consecutive Western
Collegiate Hockey Association foe the Wolverines faced
in this year's tournament, beating Nebraska-Omaha,
Colorado College and North Dakota to get here.
Michigan left the WCHA in 1981 for the Central
Collegiate Hockey Association.




                        As the 2010-2011 season has come to a close, we would like to thank all of you who have cheered us on
                        this season. Year Ten has provided us many smiles, much excitement, many milestones and has proven
                        that Minnesota is the State of Hockey! To check out the Year Ten thank you video click here. As a thank
                        you to our fans, the Wild hosted three Fan Celebration Nights on March 31st, April 2nd and April 10th.
                        Fans were given the opportunity to win a plethora of Wild swag and autographed items including; team
                        autographed Wild jerseys and sticks, complete set of Top 10 Moments puck series and bobblehead sets.

                        Fans could also register to win great prizes from our sponsors, specifically Kwik Trip, Mall of America,
                        Target, Sony, Great Waters Brewing Co., Sun Country Airlines, Anheuser-Busch, H&R Block, Enterprise
                        Rent-A-Car, Treasure Island, Coca-Cola and Rapala. A special thanks to all corporate sponsors that
                        donated to the Fan Celebration Nights! jerseys
Page 2

                                             The Minnesota Wild, FOX Sports North, Best Buy and Sony held an Interactive
                                             Night in the Best Buy Rotunda at Mall of America on Tuesday, March 29, 2011
                                             coinciding with the Wild’s game at the St. Louis Blues.

                                              The Interactive Night placed an emphasis on social media, including a chance to
                                              ask a Wild player a question via Twitter during an intermission and to tweet
                                              questions to the Wild/FOX Sports North broadcast booth. This event gave fans
                                              the opportunity to interact with the broadcast
via multiple social media platforms while watching the game on FOX Sports North from home
or in-person at the Mall of America. FOX Sports North host Robby Incmikoski was at Mall of
America, reporting live during intermissions, while also talking with special Wild guests like
Wes Walz and Wild Chief Operating Officer Matt Majka.

The event gave fans the opportunity to see some of the great Sony products available at Best
Buy; including BRAVIA HDTVs, Sony Internet Television powered by Google and PlayStation 3,
featuring EA SPORTS NHL11. Interactive Night also featured giveaways, including EA SPORTS
NHL 11, a Playstation 3, Wild tickets and FOX Sports North prizes.




  27th Annual Mr. Hockey Award Winner
The Minnesota Minute Men announced that forward Kyle Rau from Eden Prairie High School is
the    recipient of the 27th Annual Mr. Hockey Award, given to the outstanding senior boy’s high
school hockey player in the state of Minnesota. Alex Lyon from Lake of the Woods High School
received The Frank Brimsek Award, in recognition of Minnesota’s top senior goaltender. Mark
DeCenzo (Hibbing High School), Bruce Plante (Hermantown High School) and Tim Sager (White
Bear Lake High School) received The John Mariucci Award, given to the Class A and Class AA high
                              school coaches of the year. Jeff Whisler (Hill-Murray/Mahtomedi)
                              received The Cliff Thompson Award, presented to the “Old Timer Coach” of the year.

                              Rau scored 81 points this season (41 goals, 40 assists) as he captained the Eagles to their
                              second state championship in three years. Central Scouting Mid-Term Rankings had Rau
                              ranked at 179, a number that is expected to rise come their final rankings as Rau has too
                              much talent to be ignored. Rau will play at the University of Minnesota next season.

                              The Minnesota Wild and Acceleration Minnesota are co-sponsors of the Mr. Hockey
                              Awards Banquet. The Mr. Hockey Award is hosted by The Minnesota Minute Men.
Page 3


  WILD SIGNS Chay Genoway                                                      Xcel Energy Center
Chay Genoway played three of his last five college hockey        Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band—
games at Xcel Energy Center and with the number of green         May 12, 7:30 pm
jerseys in the stands, they felt like home games for the
University of North Dakota defenseman. Genoway now
                                                                 Tim McGraw—
hopes that his next game in St. Paul really will be a home
                                                                 May 14, 7:00 pm
game. The standout blueliner and 2011 Hobey Baker Award
finalist, signed an entry level contract with the Minnesota
Wild on Tuesday.
                                                                 Taylor Swift –
The 5-foot-9, 177 pound Shattuck-St. Mary's product is           June 14 & 15, 7:00 pm
coming off his final and most productive collegiate season
in which he averaged better than a point per game (6-
                                                                 2011 NHL Entry Draft –
31=37 in 36 games) and helped his team reach the Frozen
                                                                 June 24-25
Four, where the Fighting Sioux were upset by Michigan in
the semifinals.

"That's going to be a little bit different. I'm used to coming   Britney Spears—
                                                                 July 6, 2011, 7:00 pm
down there and competing against the Gophers. But even
though Minnesota was the enemy, now it's exciting
because I know how great of a city [St. Paul] is, and how
                                                                 Katy Perry—
much the fans, and the entire state love hockey. I've had a
                                                                 July 9, 2011, 7:30 pm
chance to experience that for the last five years playing in
the area."
                                                                 Journey—
"I went through all the steps of figuring out what's a good      July 28, 2011, 7:00 pm
fit for me personally, and whether they were interested.
Obviously the interest level was good from both and we
were able to come to an agreement."                              Visa Championships—
                                                                 August 17-20

                                                                 For more information, click here.




                                                                                           Congratulations to
                                                                                            White Bear Lake
                                                                                            for winning the
                                                                                                2010-11
                                                                                           Capital of the State
                                                                                               of Hockey!

MSE Around the Rink - April 2011

  • 1.
    ISSUE 4 •VOLUME 4 • APRIL 2011 CONGRATULATIONS UMD BULLDOGS!!! Kyle Schmidt scored 3:22 into overtime to give Minnesota-Duluth a 3-2 victory over Michigan in the Division I men's hockey championship game Saturday night, the first national title for the Bulldogs in 67 years. This has been quite the school year at UMD on the hill above Lake Superior, just a 2 1/2-hour drive north from the Xcel Energy Center, with the football team winning the Division II championship. The Bulldogs handed the Wolverines just their second loss all season when scoring the game's first goal (22-2-3). A "UMD! UMD!” chant filled the sold-out arena, another reminder that this was essentially a second consecutive road game for the Wolverines after playing in front of a pro-North Dakota crowd in the semifinal. In homage to the UMD players and their bleached hair -- a team-wide fashion statement -- one fan held up a sign that said, "Blondes have more fun." After going 8-for-23 in prior opportunities in the NCAA tournament, the Bulldogs were 1-for-9 on the power play in regulation. The Wolverines, who killed all five penalties against North Dakota in the semifinals, deftly pressured the point men and kept UMD from getting many clean shots. The slick-passing Bulldogs had a 38-24 shots advantage, but they weren't consistently sharp with the puck and missed a handful of juicy chances. Jack Connolly hit the crossbar in the first period, and Justin Fontaine's close-range shot was stopped in the second. Connolly's power-play chip was inches from the goal line in the third period. The Bulldogs were the fourth consecutive Western Collegiate Hockey Association foe the Wolverines faced in this year's tournament, beating Nebraska-Omaha, Colorado College and North Dakota to get here. Michigan left the WCHA in 1981 for the Central Collegiate Hockey Association. As the 2010-2011 season has come to a close, we would like to thank all of you who have cheered us on this season. Year Ten has provided us many smiles, much excitement, many milestones and has proven that Minnesota is the State of Hockey! To check out the Year Ten thank you video click here. As a thank you to our fans, the Wild hosted three Fan Celebration Nights on March 31st, April 2nd and April 10th. Fans were given the opportunity to win a plethora of Wild swag and autographed items including; team autographed Wild jerseys and sticks, complete set of Top 10 Moments puck series and bobblehead sets. Fans could also register to win great prizes from our sponsors, specifically Kwik Trip, Mall of America, Target, Sony, Great Waters Brewing Co., Sun Country Airlines, Anheuser-Busch, H&R Block, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Treasure Island, Coca-Cola and Rapala. A special thanks to all corporate sponsors that donated to the Fan Celebration Nights! jerseys
  • 2.
    Page 2 The Minnesota Wild, FOX Sports North, Best Buy and Sony held an Interactive Night in the Best Buy Rotunda at Mall of America on Tuesday, March 29, 2011 coinciding with the Wild’s game at the St. Louis Blues. The Interactive Night placed an emphasis on social media, including a chance to ask a Wild player a question via Twitter during an intermission and to tweet questions to the Wild/FOX Sports North broadcast booth. This event gave fans the opportunity to interact with the broadcast via multiple social media platforms while watching the game on FOX Sports North from home or in-person at the Mall of America. FOX Sports North host Robby Incmikoski was at Mall of America, reporting live during intermissions, while also talking with special Wild guests like Wes Walz and Wild Chief Operating Officer Matt Majka. The event gave fans the opportunity to see some of the great Sony products available at Best Buy; including BRAVIA HDTVs, Sony Internet Television powered by Google and PlayStation 3, featuring EA SPORTS NHL11. Interactive Night also featured giveaways, including EA SPORTS NHL 11, a Playstation 3, Wild tickets and FOX Sports North prizes. 27th Annual Mr. Hockey Award Winner The Minnesota Minute Men announced that forward Kyle Rau from Eden Prairie High School is the recipient of the 27th Annual Mr. Hockey Award, given to the outstanding senior boy’s high school hockey player in the state of Minnesota. Alex Lyon from Lake of the Woods High School received The Frank Brimsek Award, in recognition of Minnesota’s top senior goaltender. Mark DeCenzo (Hibbing High School), Bruce Plante (Hermantown High School) and Tim Sager (White Bear Lake High School) received The John Mariucci Award, given to the Class A and Class AA high school coaches of the year. Jeff Whisler (Hill-Murray/Mahtomedi) received The Cliff Thompson Award, presented to the “Old Timer Coach” of the year. Rau scored 81 points this season (41 goals, 40 assists) as he captained the Eagles to their second state championship in three years. Central Scouting Mid-Term Rankings had Rau ranked at 179, a number that is expected to rise come their final rankings as Rau has too much talent to be ignored. Rau will play at the University of Minnesota next season. The Minnesota Wild and Acceleration Minnesota are co-sponsors of the Mr. Hockey Awards Banquet. The Mr. Hockey Award is hosted by The Minnesota Minute Men.
  • 3.
    Page 3 WILD SIGNS Chay Genoway Xcel Energy Center Chay Genoway played three of his last five college hockey Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band— games at Xcel Energy Center and with the number of green May 12, 7:30 pm jerseys in the stands, they felt like home games for the University of North Dakota defenseman. Genoway now Tim McGraw— hopes that his next game in St. Paul really will be a home May 14, 7:00 pm game. The standout blueliner and 2011 Hobey Baker Award finalist, signed an entry level contract with the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. Taylor Swift – The 5-foot-9, 177 pound Shattuck-St. Mary's product is June 14 & 15, 7:00 pm coming off his final and most productive collegiate season in which he averaged better than a point per game (6- 2011 NHL Entry Draft – 31=37 in 36 games) and helped his team reach the Frozen June 24-25 Four, where the Fighting Sioux were upset by Michigan in the semifinals. "That's going to be a little bit different. I'm used to coming Britney Spears— July 6, 2011, 7:00 pm down there and competing against the Gophers. But even though Minnesota was the enemy, now it's exciting because I know how great of a city [St. Paul] is, and how Katy Perry— much the fans, and the entire state love hockey. I've had a July 9, 2011, 7:30 pm chance to experience that for the last five years playing in the area." Journey— "I went through all the steps of figuring out what's a good July 28, 2011, 7:00 pm fit for me personally, and whether they were interested. Obviously the interest level was good from both and we were able to come to an agreement." Visa Championships— August 17-20 For more information, click here. Congratulations to White Bear Lake for winning the 2010-11 Capital of the State of Hockey!