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Minnesota Wild Threatening to Leave St. Paul? Mayor Concerned…
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- Minnesota Wild Threatening to Leave St. Paul? Mayor Concerned…
Brace Hemmelgarn-Imagn Images
The Minnesota Wild have a lot of decisions to make over the coming months and years. On the ice, with the Parise/Suter cap penalties mostly off the books, president of hockey operations Bill Guerin has no more excuses.
He must now build a Stanley Cup roster around superstar Kirill Kaprizov , assuming the Wild are able to ink him to a long-term contract this offseason. Beyond roster management, a peak behind the curtain will reveal much more concerning problems inside the MN Wild organization.
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Craig Leipold, who has owned the Wild since 2008, has spent the past year or two trying to convince local and state politicians to fund massive renovations of the newly renamed Grand Casino Arena (formerly Xcel Energy Center), which hasn't seen a lot of upgrades since it was built 25 years ago.
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Unfortunately, Leipold's pleading with public officials has fallen on deaf government ears. As of now, neither the City of St. Paul nor the State of Minnesota appear interested in stepping up to support Craig's arena renovation dreams.
Minnesota Wild "irate" over lack of support for Grand Casino Arena renovations
Publicly, the Minnesota Wild's owner has kept mostly to himself, regarding the lack of support he's received from his "friends" in local government. Behind the scenes, however, Leipold is not happy, writes .
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How mad is he? According to longtime Pioneer Press columnist, Charley Walters , Craig Leipold is "livid". In fact, the longer this drags out, the more likely it becomes that the Minnesota Wild move their home out of the capital city and out into a suburb, like Eagan or Bloomington.
Don't think the Wild aren't livid about the State Legislature's recent rejection to fund a renovation of its 25-year-old arena.
The NHL wouldn't allow owner Craig Leipold to move the Wild out of Minnesota, but probably wouldn't oppose a move to Bloomington — former home of the North Stars — or Eagan. Don't think a move isn't a possibility if St. Paul doesn't realize the value of the Wild enough to upgrade its arena.
Related: Schism Between MN Wild and Marco Rossi is Not Getting Better
I cannot blame Craig Leipold for holding a grudge against the current sports-hating bureaucracy calling shots for both metropolitan cities in Minnesota. We are talking about an arena that was built nearly three decades ago.
And for those saying Leipold should pay for his own renovations, it's important to note that while he may own the Minnesota Wild, he does not own Grand Casino Arena. That is owned and operated by the City of St. Paul.
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St. Paul Mayor worried the Wild could leave town
Looking for answers, Charley Walters dialed up the Mayor of St. Paul, Melvin Carter, and asked him if he is concerned about the Wild leaving. His answer summed up: 'Yup, I sure am…'
"We're definitely concerned about that possibility. We don't take them for granted. So far, we've been working really closely with the team. It's not something we see as an acute threat right now."
If the Minnesota Wild wind up leaving St. Paul, there are a number of Twin Cities suburbs that would love to build an NHL arena for Craig Leipold, even beyond Eagan and Bloomington. Unlike the capital city, most surrounding towns know exactly what hosting an NHL venue means for the local economy.
I'm not saying the Wild are a serious threat to leave St. Paul tomorrow, or anytime in the imminent future. But if local politicians do not get on board with funding the renovations Leipold is seeking… then it's very possible our capital won't have an NHL arena much longer.
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