Man That Attends First Hockey Game Declares Hockey Is The Greatest Sport Ever After Watching One Period…
- York Plagge
- Feb 9, 2020
- 7 min read
Updated: Dec 22, 2025
The first period action at Wells Fargo Arena for the Iowa Wild/Stockton Heat game certainly left the crowd enthralled as the two teams combined for six goals and 38 minutes of penalties (including two fights), leading a first time hockey attendee sitting near us to exclaim repeatedly that hockey was the greatest sport ever... thanks man, but we like already knew that... and we also knew that we were Iowa Wild all the way.
W/W's Five-Hole Fanatics Hockey Tour
Game #1: AHL Regular Season Game (2/9/20)
Location: Des Moines (Wells Fargo Arena)
Score: Iowa Wild (7) Stockton Heat (4)
W/W Team: Iowa Wild
W/W Fan Record: 1-0
Player Of The Game: Gerald Mayhew (Wild)
Gerald Mayhew is in the midst of his best season as a professional hockey player and is the driving force behind the Iowa Wild's emergence as a legitimate Calder Cup contender. The 5'9 and 170 lbs. right winger has become a Wells Fargo Arena crowd favorite with his seemingly boundless energy and knack for putting the puck in the goal. With his dynamic play at the AHL level, Mayhew has been beckoned to the NHL club on multiple occasions thus far this season and has logged ten games for the Minnesota Wild.
Mayhew led the offensive charge in the Wild's 7-4 victory over the visiting Stockton Heat, scoring two goals and dishing out two assists. The winger also posted the only +3 on the team. Anyone who has had an opportunity to watch Mayhew take the ice for the Wild this season can easily see why he was included in the 2020 AHL All-Star Game.
Despite continuing to miss multiple AHL games as he is shuffled back and forth to and from the NHL, Mayhew still leads the Iowa Wild in goals scored and is legitimately in the hunt for the Willie Marshall Award (given to the AHL's regular-season leading goal scorer). As he has emerged as one of the most feared AHL offensive talents, Gerald is also in the mix for the prestigious Les Cunningham Award, bestowed upon the league's regular-season Most Valuable Player.
Favorite Player: J.T. Brown (Wild)
When a parent gets the opportunity to pass something down to their children, their hearts are happy. With J.T. Brown being one of my favorite hockey players of all time, I was beyond thrilled when my daughter caught on to my extreme excitement and joined me in excessive cheering for anything remotely positive J.T. did during the game. We both like the edge he plays with, but we love the pure enjoyment he shows while on the ice.
Growing up in the Twin Cities (his father Ted's NFL career with the Vikings had recently concluded), J.T. starred for the hockey team at Rosemount High School, setting the school record for career goals (75). Brown then spent two years in the USHL (Waterloo Black Hawks) and then attended the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Winning the 2011 Frozen Four in his first year of college hockey, J.T. was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament after the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs' dramatic 3-2 overtime victory over the Michigan Wolverines. Brown and the Bulldogs couldn't go two-for-two in championships, falling just short of another trip to the Frozen Four after losing in the regional finals. J.T. was selected 2nd Team All-American West and played his first NHL game one week after his college career ended as he took the ice for the Tampa Bay Lightning. He scored his first NHL point in his fifth game, a week after his professional career began,
After playing parts of six seasons for the Lightning, Brown found his way to the Anaheim Ducks during the middle of the 2017-18 campaign. In the offseason, J.T. Brown's hockey career came full circle as he signed a free-agent contract with the Minnesota Wild, playing the 2018-19 season in the forest green and iron range red. Unable to make the squad out of camp this season, he was sent down to the Iowa Wild and was made alternate captain. Spending the season in Des Moines is almost certainly not what J.T. was hoping for; he is filling a more sizable role at the AHL level and has become a fan favorite at Iowa Wild games.
We Came To See... Anna & Elsa (Arendelle)
I want to assure you... We will almost exclusively profile hockey players here going forward, but let's get real... The only reason we showed up for this game two hours early was so our four-year-old daughter could meet Arendalle's two most significant political figures... Anna and Elsa.
The interaction between our daughter and the visitors did not disappoint. Ivy went from shock to bashfulness to giddiness to stalking, all in about 27 seconds. The initial photo opportunity went swimmingly... Ivy took the appropriate amount of the royalty's time and did not discuss delicate political issues during their connection. They exchanged pleasantries and took a picture together. All seemed well.
Ivy then made sure to cross paths with Anna and Elsa a few more times over the next minutes and pretty much followed them around the concourse in hopes of them recognizing her. Her persistence secured her an additional photo shoot with the sisters, and Ivy's parents were able to whisk her away before things got too weird and she begged them to take her along back to Arendalle with them. Tads showed general indifference throughout.
Dickhead Move Of The Night: Baby Races
Winning's winning... At least that is what Dom from Fast and the Furious once said, and to this day, I am nearly positive the baby race at Wells Fargo Arena was precisely what he was referencing. Nevertheless... the Four Nomadic Hippies had no idea that when we took our seats for Iowa Wild hockey action, we would be witnessing the cutthroat world of baby racing firsthand. I, for one, have not yet (and perhaps never will) gotten over the spectacle of this infant-laden contest.
As the race began to take shape, consistent nuclear-family groups of three strode onto the ice. One parent took the unwitting little racer to the starting line, while the other took their spot across from them at the finish line. Once all the tiny athletes were ready, the race began... and so many thoughts raced through my mind.
First... I quickly realized that baby racing had no place for single-parent families. Stay with me here... a single parent takes a baby to the starting line, and that baby has no intention of crawling to mommy's/daddy's friend at the other end. And if the single-parent goes to the finish line, the baby is going to be distraught and probably cry and never start the race because their mom/dad is walking away from them as a somewhat stranger holds them, and they are a bit freaked out because hundreds of people are watching them as they are out on this big sheet of ice. Second... these babies had to be confused... because as they learned to crawl, no parents ever urged them to crawl away from them. It is always "crawl to me, little wonder..." And now you are going to, on the turn of a dime, try to coax them away from you? Third... it would also be in the team's best interest to have the baby's favorite parent go to the finish line and motivate the little one to crawl fast for their daily dose of parental approval. Fourth... WTF... Did the area youth gymnastics group that planned a demonstration cancel, and this was the next best thing you could come up with? Fifth... I think I'm going to take the money I was going to wager on this race and just buy more beer... so I can drown out any last bit of my conscience telling me to stop telling the opposing goalie to "f**k off" when he makes a good save.
This May Be Of Interest...
As passionate Minnesota Wild fans, we were keenly aware that Darcy Kuemper was once part of our beloved organization. Now tending net for the Arizona Coyotes, Kuemper was originally drafted by the Wild in 2009 and made his way to Wells Fargo Arena due to the move of Minnesota’s AHL club from Houston to Des Moines. Despite only playing a total of 22 games for the Iowa Wild over two seasons, Kuemper most likely gets the nod as the best player to take ice for the Iowa Wild franchise at this point in the history of the franchise... at least at this point in history.
His 2013-14 Iowa Wild stats don’t look legendary on the surface, as Kuemper turned in a 7-10-0 record for the team. Iowa was atrocious that season (27-36-13; finished last in the AHL’s Midwest Division), so upon closer inspection, his 2.47 GAA and .929 SV% give a clearer picture of his quality as a goaltender. The Minnesota Wild saw this and promoted him to the NHL despite his under-.500 record in the AHL. In his 26 NHL games that year, Darcy was 12-8-4 with a 2.43 GAA and a .915 SV for a team that got through the first round of the playoffs.
The Minnesota Wild acquired Devan Dubnyk in the middle of the next season, and his stellar play made Kuemper expendable. He left as a free agent (going to the LA Kings) after the 2016-17 season before being traded to the Arizona Coyotes. He became the number one goalie there the next season, turning in his best season as a pro, posting 27 wins, a .925 SV%, and a 2.33 GAA, and finished 5th in the Vezina voting. This season, Kuemper is currently splitting time in goal for the Coyotes with Antti Raanta.
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