Other logistical details also need to be addressed, including which two hub cities the league selects for games. The Wild will train at its TRIA rink in St. Paul.
Wild defenseman Matt Dumba helped establish the Hockey Diversity Alliance to demolish racism and intolerance in hockey. The group has already received insight from Colin Kaepernick.
The group plans to promote diversity through community outreach and engagement with youth while attempting to make the sport more affordable and accessible.
The Minnesota Whitecaps have joined the National Women's Pro Hockey league for the 2018-19 season. Click here for a game schedule, player news, standings and more about the team and the league.
Teams will be able to open their practice facilities with no more than six players skating at a time without coaches in Phase 2 of the league's Return To Play protocol. Here are more details.
If the NHL resumes, the Wild will face Vancouver in a best-of-five qualifying round. "We're certainly looking at it as the first round of the playoffs," Wild coach Dean Evason said.
While speaking out a generation ago might have been deemed harmful to a brand, staying silent during a time of national crisis in 2020 can create an impression of being complacent at best and complicit at worst.
Although large gatherings still are prohibited by Gov. Tim Walz, restrictions could loosen by the time the NHL selects its cities, or the state could make an exception for the NHL..
Had the NHL stuck to the traditional 16-team bracket, the Wild would have been out. Instead, it will get to play a best-of-five series against Vancouver. Minnesota's players could have the edge.
Faced with a choice of getting creative or having no chance at starting (or re-starting) seasons, pro sports leagues are pretty much making up things as they go along.