1. You call the players by their nicknames.
You relate to each player, so it’s needless to say that you should call them by more personal names. Either that, or you can’t remember how to pronounce their real names. Some qualifiers may be, Niederreiter as “El Nino”, Scandella as “Scandy/Scandeezy”, Granlund as “Granny”, Kuemper as “Kuemps” and Dubnyk is always “DUUUUBS.” It also shows how tight you are with the team.
2. You sport Wild apparel every game day.
Three sweatshirts, two t-shirts, and a hat may appear excessive to anyone else, but you know they're the basic necessities. It may have gotten to the point where others know if it’s game day just by looking at your outfit, but you work that jersey better than anyone else.
3. You celly harder than the player who just scored.
A classic celly from Parise or Dumba is hard to beat, but sometimes your inner hockey player comes out after a goal. This may result in jumping off the couch, yelling “GOOOOOAAAL” in an octave you’ve never hit before, getting down on one knee and upper cutting the air, high-fiving everyone around, or if the goal was in overtime, maybe a proud tear rolling down your cheek.
4. You silently (or not so silently) ridicule anyone wearing a Blackhawk's jersey.
There is that moment where you experience minor disgust whenever you see someone wearing the enemy’s sweater. It’s a bonus if you happen to be wearing a Wild sweater at the time. It’s a double bonus if their jersey happens to be Toews or Kane. Triple bonus if they happen to bring up Lord Stanley.
5. You have fond memories of the Excel Energy Center.
We have the Home Ice Advantage, but that title was not just handed to us. The title was granted to us because we are the best hockey fans in the world (according to completely unbiased judgement). The excitement you experience at a Wild game is something you can’t find anywhere else. If you’ve been to a game you know that feeling of unity with complete strangers all because of the men on the ice. For me, I always feel a sense of pride when my phone automatically connects to the Excel’s Wi-Fi.
