Hey all! I know I've said this time and time again but people often ask me why I don't root for a Canadian team just because I'm Canadian. As I pointed out in a previous post, the Wild are about as Canadian as a team can get in terms of players, but I'm not going that route again, you can just read that post if you want to know more. No, this time, I'm reflecting on the Wild's rivals.
Make the jump will ya?
The Minnesota Wild, as you know, are in the Northwest division along with Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver and Colorado.Notice anything? Yup, there's a rather Canadian flavor to the Division, with Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver all situated in Canada. You could almost stretch it out to Colorado as well, since they were originally the Quebec Nordiques and a lot of the Nordiques' fan base have stayed true to the franchise (that I know of), but that doesn't mean people from Quebec now automatically root for Colorado even if they never knew the Nordiques. I have many former Quebec fans who've morphed into Avs fans. Sure you could argue that the Flames were formally from Atlanta, but how many Atlanta Flames fans can there be left?For these reasons, to me, it almost feels like the Wild have 4 Canadian rivals in the division.
Here in New-Brunswick, it's common to see people sporting gear from the ''4'' Canadian teams, but you'll only see a number of people wearing Minnesota Wild gear (likely in single digits). I have at least one close friend who roots for each of the other teams in our division, which very likely contributed to my becoming a fan of the Wild. During Hockey Night in Canada on CBC, I would often see my friend's teams duke it out against the Wild so I could see them play a couple of times on the weekends when they would play their division rivals, and I grew to like the Wild a lot because I didn't like either team they would play against. I guess you could say that I have CBC to thank for helping my sprouting interest for the Wild blossom into undying love. To further "Canadianize" the rivalry, I also have a personal rivalry with the Habs (loved by almost everyone around me) and the Leafs, my cousin/best friend's team.
So go ahead and ask me "Why do you hate Canada?" and I'll tell you " I don't hate Canada, I just hate their hockey teams!". You may also ask me " Why do you like the Wild?" and I'll often answer " Because I make sense" but also because I can't get behind Vancouver's dirtyness, the Habs' lack of team harmony (a lot of the time), Ottawa's.... well I don't have any beef with the Sens... yet... And I've never liked the Flames and Oilers because they've always annoyed me. Toronto I'm starting to be fine with, but they could never replace the Wild in my heart because I bleed forest green and Iron Range red. I also have all the Wild's logos branded on my brain.
So GO WILD AND GOD BLESS CANADA.... and America... and Hong Kong :)