Today marked the first time the Wild practiced in their very own practice facility. The new TRIA Rink at Treasure Island Center is on the fifth floor of the former Macy's Building, located a few blocks from the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul.
Having their own state of the art practice facility will go a long way in providing a much more stable environment for off days and practice. The Wild normally would practice at the Xcel Energy Center, but due to the very busy schedule of the building with concerts and other events, it forced the Wild to find other rinks around the Twin Cities in order to have practice.
Those other facilities included, the University of Minnesota's Ridder Arena, Braemer Arena in Edina, and St. Thomas Ice Arena in Mendota heights. The issue with practicing in multiple arenas was the fact that the Wild staff had to pack up the entire team's medical gear, training tables, video equipment, locker stalls and of course all the equipment for the team.
That is a tremendous undertaking not to mention the inconvenience and time consumption.
Their new facility has all of the latest amenities and they are now accessible to the team on a daily basis, which the Wild have not had until today.
The trainers have the best medical equipment and space to insure that players have the proper conditions in order to maximize their performance. Video resources are cutting edge quality and now the coaching staff and players have their own space for video study.
Chuck Fletcher "It will be a great benefit for our players and I think it will help us recruit players" "I think it will help our coaches have better practices"
A big day of practice as the Wild head out on the road for 4 of the next 5. The Wild have been a totally different team (9-13-1)on the road than at home so far this season.
Facing Pittsburgh and then Columbus next week after the All-Star break will be tough tests for the Wild. The Wild are coming together now and the road is a good place for the bonds to really strengthen. This year their are no clear cut favorites as the field is wide open.
The teams that get on a roll now are the ones that will have the best chances to make some noise in the playoffs. The 8-2-2 run the Wild are on should serve as a good confidence builder for the team as they look to turn that road record around when the games matter most.
Thirty four games remain so what is the magic number going to be for teams to make the playoffs, 96, 97 or is it going to be 100? For the Wild to get to the century mark they will need to accumulate 43 points over those thirty four games. That translates to nine games over .500 over the final 34 games with 18 of those away from the Xcel.
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