Wild's woes make outdoor game more business than fun

MINNEAPOLIS – Last week, the Minnesota Wild were in the midst of an eight-game losing streak. They had won just three times since the turn of the New Year, a stretch that led to the firing of coach Mike Yeo.

They had an outdoor party coming up, a Stadium Series game on Sunday. On top of their on-ice struggles, rain was in the early forecast for their contest, one of the NHL’s showcase outdoor events

“Everything was going against us,” forward Zach Parise quipped, noting the weather for Sunday had settled and is supposed to be fine for outdoor hockey.

The game is a big deal to the Wild, and the state of Minnesota, which has the most USA Hockey registrants in the country at 55,450. Owner Craig Leipold has been dogged in his pursuit of an outdoor game in Minnesota, reportedly pushing for a Winter Classic and eventually settling on a Stadium Series contest.

But the way this season has played out for the Wild has put somewhat of a damper on the weekend, with Yeo being fired and the team teetering on the brink of missing the postseason despite having a payroll near the salary cap,

Both Leipold and general manager Chuck Fletcher declined interview requests made through the Wild for this weekend.

Though the team has played better since the coaching change – going 3-0-0 since John Torchetti took over – this hasn’t done enough to completely alter their mood going into the game, though it's made the team feel a little better overall.

“You can’t dwell on the past,” forward Charlie Coyle said. “It was not an ideal situation but things happen, and you have to move on from it and stay positive and I think we are."

Outdoor games often come with storylines beyond the actual festivities and venue aesthetics. Here they're mostly about the Wild, a group desperately in need of points, in danger of missing the postseason for the first time since the team signed All-Stars Ryan Suter and Parise in a big free agent spending binge three summers ago.

Their three straight wins came against the three worst teams in the Pacific Division – at the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks. They’re three points out of the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference, falling from a 20-10-6 record heading into 2016 to their current mark of 26-22-10. Sunday against the Central Division leading Blackhawks should provide a true test.

“I think, realistically this point in the year you have to assume the game was going to matter,” goaltender Devan Dubnyk said. “I don’t think anything has changed that way. We would have liked it to matter maybe fighting to be closer to Chicago than fighting for a Wild Card spot.”

The festivities around the game have made it feel like a more welcoming situation for the Wild as they came home from their road trip. The Friday before the game, the team held a family skate at TCF Bank Stadium. Players took the ice with their children and loved ones, which helped ease the personal pain of the losses. Saturday’s alumni game that saw an announced crowd of 37,922 showed the team's woes haven't lessened the enthusiasm for the game from the locals in the Twin Cities.

“We’ve always been looking forward to it,” Parise said. “We’ve always been having fun with it. It hasn’t been ideal for us the last little while leading up to the game, but like I was just saying, we’re past that and we can enjoy the game like we should and come out with the win.”

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper