The Minnesota Wild made an interesting addition to their team this week, adding a mascot.  While most teams would find adding a mascot to be “normal”, it’s a twist for the Wild who have built their in-game presentation around the old-school traditions of Minnesota hockey and have been adverse to having a mascot since they launched their team.  You can read more about the Wild’s game presentation in this Gameops.com Interview with John Maher.

SAINT PAUL/MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. — The National Hockey League’s (NHL) Minnesota Wild today unveiled the team’s new mascot, Nordy, this afternoon at a public event on the Xcel Energy Center ice. Nordy, the newest member of the Team of 18,000, hails from way up yonder and is a lifelong resident of The State of Hockey. Born in Eveleth, Minn. he was raised with a stick and a pair of blades and cut his teeth on the ponds and lakes throughout the Iron Range. He now resides at Xcel Energy Center and calls the Capital City home.

Actually it sounds like the mascot came about as much for community relations as for game entertainment.  “There are many community events and appearances that we would like to have a presence at, but because of the demands of the NHL schedule and the sheer number of appearance requests we receive during the season, we haven’t been able to participate,” said Director of Community Partnerships Brad Bombardir.

I usually catch a Wild game once a year, so I will be looking forward to seeing Nordy in action and seeing how the Wild integrate him into their presentation at the best venue in sports (Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul).

–Cudo

PS:  I love that the Wild have their goal horn on their site as an .mp3….and thanks to Swanny for keeping me abreast of the mascot count in MN.