The excitement was apparent from the initial announcement this summer. Within minutes, the game was sold out as more than 15,000 hockey fans packed the arena.
"The building was great," said Dean Evason, former coach of the American Hockey League's Milwaukee Admirals from 2012-18 where he became the franchise's second winningest coach with 242 Ws. "The energy was fantastic. I know the Milwaukee fans first hand and they were great. Obviously we had a lot of Chicago fans and a lot of Wild fans here too and I'm sure there's a lot of Admiral fans. It was a lot of fun for sure."
Fans came in droves to catch a glimpse of some of their favorite players, including those the Admiral fans were familiar with, like Frederick Gaudreau, who played 280 games through parts of five seasons.
"I saw some familiar faces," said Gaudreau, who had 77 goals and 172 points in Milwaukee. "It's special to be here. Everything here was great. That's where it all started in the U.S. I've said it before, but I have a big place in my heart for this town, this organization, the Admirals, so it's fun to come back here and see that."
Propelled behind two shorthanded goals and a shutout by Marc-Andre Fleury, fans in attendance were able to catch a dominant game from the Wild, who peppered Blackhawks goalie Petr Mrazek with 33 shots.
Minnesota won the puck battles, went 6-for-6 on the penalty killing and improved to 4-0 in the preseason.
"What was nice tonight was that we had success in another area and that was defensively," said Evason. "We didn't give them much at all. We were patient. Yeah we scored three goals but it wasn't like we had a real good offensive night. We didn't cycle, we didn't have that offensive stuff or routes that we normally do but kept the puck out of our net and we defended real well. Flower had to make a few saves, but not too many, but it's nice to see progression in your game."
For Gaudreau, he's seeing progression in his game too, with the Milwaukee game feeling full circle in a sense.
"It's crazy. It's such a journey, pro hockey," said Gaudreau. "The send downs, the callups, the camps, everything but it's a beautiful one."
The Goals
1st Period:
None
2nd Period:
4:04 MIN 1, CHI 0 -- Connor Dewar scored on a shorthanded breakaway.
8:22 MIN 2, CHI 0 -- Ryan Hartman pressures on the forecheck to get the puck loose for a shot which popped out to Matt Boldy who added a second shorthanded tally for the night.
3rd Period:
10:34 MIN 3, CHI 0 -- Dewar found Brandon Duhaime to increase the lead.
Saves:
Marc-Andre Fleury 12, Petr Mrazek 30
