From 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15, fans were invited to bring up to 3 ounces of meaningful water from local hockey ponds, lakes and rinks in portable containers to be placed in a Zamboni outside Gate 1, continuing the "
This Is Our Ice
" tradition established prior to the 2017-18 season.
Building on that tradition, in which the water collected at the event and at each home game throughout the season is filtered and frozen into the Xcel Energy Center ice sheet, the team issued the
10,000 Lakes Challenge
to its fans: Collect water from each of Minnesota's 10,000+ lakes.
John Hawkinson, a St. Paul resident who returned home to Minnesota after retiring from the Navy last year, answered the challenge.
"Hockey has been something that has been part of my life since I was a little kid," Hawkinson said. "So anything that I can do to give back to the local hockey community and support the Our Ice initiative is something I was going to do this morning."
Hawkinson's water came from Lotus Lake in Chanhassen where he says his mother grew up and where he learned to skate.
"So a lot of special memories out there learning first to play hockey and to skate and every time I go out there it brings back that sense of nostalgia."
The Wild encourages fans to capture photos of themselves collecting water and sharing them on social media using the hashtag #OurIce while explaining the story behind their chosen water source.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), however, reminds fans to be safe in their collection process and use containers with tight lids. The DNR requires a special permit to move water from lakes and has granted one for the 10,000 Lakes Challenge.
Wild fan and season-ticket holder, John DeAngelo dipped into Chaska's Lake Grace which has a special place in the heart of the Chaska resident.
"That's kind of the lake that is behind where my wife and I kind of started our life, started
dating, and where we lived," DeAngelo said.
Fans like DeAngelo and Hawkinson can then track their contributions and learn more about Minnesota bodies of water on the This Is Our Ice webpage on wild.com which features data from the Minnesota DNR's Lake Finder tool. Fans that complete the challenge will receive an honorary "Our Ice" jersey patch and be entered to win tickets to the Wild game on March 25 on the Bremer Bank suite level.
The "Flood the Rink" event was one of multiple activities celebrating the start of the new season on Saturday morning including the
Minnesota Wild Breakaway Run 5K and 10K
, a team practice that was open to the public and the launch of
single-game ticket sales
at the arena box office.
Andy Staut stopped by with his son Noah with water from Sunrise Lake near their home in Blaine, where a lifetime of memories were created.
"It's the first one he (Noah) skated pond hockey on," Staut said. "That's why I kind of wanted to bring it and let the big boys skate on it."
Related:
- Wild.com/ourice
- Single-game tickets go on sale Saturday, Sept. 15
- Wild announces 10,000 Lakes Challenge
