| Minnesota Wild, 2002-2003 Season 3 Highlights |
 |
|
| 10/17/02 3-1 Wild victory over Dallas Stars Game Recap |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
| Click on the images to see them full size. |
|
|
| Getting tickets to the 2002-2003 season wasn't easy. I stood in line in the rain for a couple of hours outside the X on the day that the tickets went on sale to the general public. I couldn't get 2 tickets together for hardly any games - unless I wanted to splurge for the $55.00 lower seats. So I splurged and got two tickets to both of the home games against Dallas. I also made sure to get tickets to both home Detroit games, one Colorado, and the final game of the season - or so I thought! I joined the Wild Warming House Season Ticket waiting list, which gave me priority when it came to buying playoff tickets. I was fortunate enough to go to five home playoff games. I also did some roadtripping in 2002-2003 and saw a Bruins game at the Fleet Center, a Red Wings game at the Joe, and a UW-Madison Badger game. I also bought a digital camera this year, so I took lots of photos at all of the games. Here are the highlights of the past year. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Just like last year, I brought my hockey buddy Jesse along for the Dallas game. We sat in the lower deck and had an awesome time - partly celebrating Jesse's upcoming graduation from UWEC. It might also be his last hockey game in a while with the looming war in Iraq and the possibility that his Marine Reserves unit will get called up. The Wild beat the old MN team - so we went out to celebrate at Mall of America - and one of us celebrated a bit too much that night! Thanks for gettting me home safely, Jess! :-) |
| 10/19/02 5-3 Wild loss to Detroit Red Wings Game Recap |
| Two days later I saw the Wild beat the Stars, I was back at the X to see the Wild battle the defending Stanley Cup champion Red Wings. How cool to see all of those future hall-of-famer players for Detroit! Too many names to mention...but my favorites from this year's Detroit team are Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille, Brendan Shanahan, and of course former Badgers Chris Chelios and Curtis Joseph. I knew it would be an uphill battle, but the Wild were undefeated up to this point in the new season - so there was some hope! The Wild went up 2-0, but in the end the Wings were too much for the Wild - so they go home victorious. It was Minnesota's first loss of the season - I guess it had to come sooner or later - who better to lose to. I was part of a record-breaking crowed at the game - 19,344 total. |
 |
 |
 |
| 10/26/02 4-3 Boston Bruins beat Atlanta Thrashers Game Recap |
| When I was planning my vacation out East to visit my brother, I decided to see if there were any NHL games along the way. So Mark and I went to the Fleet Center in Boston to see the Bruins take on the Thrashers of Atlanta. At this point in the season Boston had only one loss (first game of the season against Minnesota) and Atlanta didn't have any victories yet. It was a close game and it looked like it would go into overtime until Boston scored with just a minute or so to go in the game. Amongst the players on the ice were two former MN Wild players - Sean O'Donnell for Boston and Andy Sutton for Atlanta. |
 |
 |
 |
| 10/29/02 3-2 Detroit Red Wings beat San Jose Sharks Game Recap |
| On my way home from visiting my brother's family in Massachusetts I decided to swing through Detroit and catch a game in Hockeytown at "the Joe." Amazingly I was able to get a ticket for a Red Wings game - but it was in the top row of the top bowl of the arena. Gee, I seem to get a lot of these nose-bleed seats no matter where I go! The Joe is full of so much history - just check out the banners in the rafters. It was a good game and I even got a photo of Federov's game-winning goal - look closely to see the puck in the net and the ref's pointing to the goal. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| 11/01/02 5-3 Wisconsin Badgers lose to Denver Pioneers Game Recap |
| On my way home I had to stop in Madison for some meetings at the State Historical Society. So I decided to stay overnight and catch the Badger hockey game at the Kohl Center. Of course I had to stop and get a UW jersey and cheer for my alma mater. It was their first WCHA conference game of the year - and unfortunately it was against Denver, one of the best in the WCHA. The "Crease Creatures" were in full force and heckled the Pioneers' goalie all night long. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |