ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Time will be the ultimate test, but consider a budding NHL rivalry born in Minnesota.
Ever since it was announced on the first day the 2011 NHL Draft at the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota that Winnipeg's second chance at an NHL team was going to be re-take the Jets name, Winnipeg and its fans have had an affinity for Minnesota and the Xcel Center.
Jets' fans travel well to support their team on the road, but no arena is as close as the Wild's in St. Paul. The short trip -- 1 hour, 25 minutes by plane, about seven hours and 467 miles driving -- has allowed the team's boisterous fans to make their presence felt at the Xcel Center.
From the "True North" proud proclamation during the Canadian National Anthem to "Let's go Jets" chants during play, the Wild have even taken notice. Minnesota coach Mike Yeo doesn't believe the Wild fans will ever let Winnipeg feel like they have a home away from home in Minnesota.
"I don't think our fans will let that happen," Yeo said after a preseason game against the Jets two weeks ago. "They'll have a showing. They'll have fans here, but I don't think our fans will let that happen."
Rivalries haven't really been an active part of the Wild's recent history. The fiery attitude toward the Dallas Stars, because the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas robbing fans of their team, has waned in recent years. Wild fans have disliked the Vancouver Canucks, but the old hatred that was involved in some of the North Stars rivalries of the past were never reborn as Minnesota played within a conference with the closest geographic rival being the Colorado Avalanche.
The Wild hope those natural rivalries recover within the new Central Division of the Western Conference. Minnesota is perhaps the biggest beneficiary to the league's realignment, which starts this season.
Gone is the Northwest Division, where the Wild faced Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton and Vancouver. Now Minnesota will see Winnipeg, Chicago, Dallas, St. Louis, Nashville and Colorado in the Central Division.
The new division will allow more fan-friendly starts in the Central Time Zone, easier travel considerations and the hopeful rebirth of some old rivalries.
"I think from a fans perspective, it's fabulous," Wild owner Craig Leipold said, almost urging fans to dislike the new division foes. "Our fans have learned to hate the Blackhawks and they have learned to hate the Blues and they are learning to hate the Jets. It won't take long.
"And those are all good things. That's our goal, the fan experience and the passion that the fans have for the game. In the Northwest Division, we just never had that rival, that competition everyone just hated to play. It was still Chicago, it was still Detroit. Everybody is just so glad to be in this new division."
When the league followed through on realignment, Detroit moved to the East and Winnipeg was moved to the West. Instead of the six division format, there are now four divisions. At least for the Wild and Western Conference teams, the fight for playoff spots could be easier. There are 14 teams in the West, with 16 teams in the East with eight teams in each conference still making the playoffs.
Minnesota led the league in travel miles last year during the lockout-shortened season with 31,273 miles, according to the Wall Street Journal. This year, the Wild are 12th in travel miles with an estimated distance of 44,273 miles, according to the blog ontheforecheck.com, which calculates travel miles every season.
Travel this season is actually more for Minnesota than the 42,860 miles it traveled in the last full season in 2011-12, in part because it makes five separate trips to the West coast. However, the miles are considerably less than 2010-11 when the Wild were fourth with an estimated 50,805 miles traveled.
"We like it from a travel standpoint, for sure," Yeo told NHL Network last week. "From a competitive standpoint, it's going to be tough. At the same time, I don't mind that. I think that we want to be a team that gets better as the year goes on. We want to be a team that really progresses and in order for that to happen, I think it will be a real benefit going out playing against these teams knowing that you're going to have to be at your best every night."
Fans will have better access to the action this year too.
Previously, Minnesota changed time zones for every road game within the Northwest Division and had a two-hour time difference when playing in Vancouver. Fans who wanted to watch had to stay up late. Leipold said TV ratings would always drop off for the later starts on the West Coast.
This year, the Wild will only play 16 games that start later than 7 p.m. Central, the fewest in team history, and only one game later than a 7 p.m. Central start in the first two months. Last year, Minnesota had 19 such games in the shortened 48-game schedule.
"It's a tough division," Leipold said. "We all know that. We're playing tough teams, but every division has tough teams. I think for our fans and for our players, it's less travel and certainly all in the Central Time Zone makes it so great for our players, so great and for our fans even more so that they can now watch the beginning of the game and the end of the game."
And maybe watching more builds up a distaste for new rivals, like the Jets. Minnesota's already seen the home atmosphere is going to be spirited for matchups against Winnipeg.
"It's going to be that way, that's for sure," Yeo said. "We're going to have fun games. They had a good turnout of fans already there (for the preseason game two weeks ago) and they were loud, and it's going to be a good rivalry."
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