The on-ice management and the team tend toward the mediocre, but the off-ice management – and consequently the arena and gameday experience – are second to none.

Thanks to the effort to incorporate all facets of Minnesota hockey into the arena, the Xcel Center feels like it’s home whether you’re at the state high school tournament, at the yearly WCHA tournament, or at a Wild playoff game. They all just feel right inside the Xcel Center, and that’s why even the most boring mid-January Wild game feels like a real event.

I think my feelings about the management of the on-ice product are clear, and likely not helpful in the rankings, so I will leave them out. As for the off-ice stuff, the Wild are amazing. The marketing is both funny and reverent. At every turn, the team and the organization are careful to respect the deep love of the game within the state. The ties to youth hockey all the way through the college programs has made the Wild more a part of the community than the North Stars ever dreamed of. This creates an environment where ven if the team is terrible, the fans will still love them and the organization.

As for the arena, the X is stunning. From the second you walk through the gates, the place just creams out to be enjoyed. The concourse begs or you to walk around and check out the hockey history contained in the walls. Pictures of hockey in Minnesota, the puck wall, the Hobey Baker award, it all shows the roots of and connections to hockey. Having walked through the bowels of the place, the Fish House uder the stands for “On the glass” ticket holders is a surprise every time, with decadence unparalleled at any arena or stadium I have ever been to. The hallways leading to the locker room and the locker room itself have got to give the players a boost every time they walk through them.

There is the restaurant on the Club level… forget the name. There is also the NHL alumni area, and area I have seen only on a tour, but is also highly impressive.

I have been in the new and old Englstad arenas, the old and new Marriucci, the Pepsi Center, and the Coyotes new arena (forget the name). While the newest buildings are impressive, the X still stands head and shoulders above, and still serves as a model for how to build an arena for hockey. The technology, the concourse, the fan interaction… all are unmatched anywhere I have visited.