I bet Backstrom is glad he doesn’t have to face this coming at him (pictured above: Gaborik and Demitra attacking during pre-game warmup).

My daughter and I had a Girl Scout hockey outing today to see the Wild play the Oilers. I’m getting spoiled–this was the first time I’ve been on the upper level all season. There really aren’t any bad seats at the X and it was fun seeing the game from a new angle.

We took the camera down by the glass for the practice skate. I’m slowly learning some of the secrets to taking better action shots indoors, but I still have a lot to learn. I’ve uploaded a number of un-corrected images to the Wild photo album (the new ones start on page 11).

The game itself was a blast and they played a solid game. It was great to see Burns score the eventual game winner. The back-and-forth with Demitra and Gaborik was a thing of beauty and we think PMB scored that empty-netter for my daughter. We don’t have any more tickets for games this season, but I may try to pick up a few more. Fingers crossed for the playoffs too…

Some notes from my visit to the 2007 Minnesota Golf Show yesterday:

• Dee Forsberg-Voss (The Golf Institute at the University of Minnesota) was among several pros giving free 10 minute lessons on the range.
• I visited with the manager from The Summit in Cannon Falls. The land next door that was for sale sold for almost ten times the amount they originally paid for the golf course land. He also mentioned that the new deck is complete and they will continue to invest in the course and facility.
• As I mentioned on my personal website, there were some surprising names on the schedule at the KFAN Golf Academy Stage. Top-rated golf instructors Mike Barge from Hazeltine and Peter Krause from Windsong Farm were paired with local sports figures to talk golf. Too bad this wasn’t promoted better before the show.
• The Minnesota Section of the PGA and the Minnesota Golf Association were promoting a new “Play Golf Minnesota” week, scheduled for April 23-29. Various events are planned for the week, including golf discounts, clinics and charity events.
• Also at the Minnesota Section of the PGA, a $50 “Golf Privileges Program” that listed a number of interesting benefits, including the ability to be a “member for a day” at participating private clubs.
• Note sure how I missed this, but there are two new Titleist drivers out, the 907D1 and the 907D2. They had the D1 available to hit on the range.
• Favorite booth swag: The Wilderness at Fortune Bay handed out nice black notepad holders with their logo stamped on them. Too bad it included a fake “555″ phone number at the bottom. Love that whole operation, though, and can’t wait to get back up there again. UPDATE: that “555″ number really works!
• Chad Hartman from KFAN was there broadcasting live, while attendees got to chip balls through a cardboard Common Man’s heart to win a prize.
• Harmon Killebrew was on hand to promote his charity golf tournament and sign autographs. The event will be held July 15th and 16th at Mendakota Country Club in Mendota Heights. Proceeds benefit the Harmon Killebrew Foundation, which raises and distributes funds for various children, health, human services, education and medical organizations.
• The 2008 U.S. Women’s Open at Interlachen is looking for volunteers for the event, to be held June 23-29, 2008. I thought it was interesting that their website says that an Alabama-based sports marketing and event management company called Bruno Event Team is the “Championship Service Company.” Were Jim Lehman and SFX Sports busy that week?
• As I mentioned last year, Willinger’s Golf Club is under new management. Not sure if I like the new logo, but there will be some big changes this year at one of my favorite south metro courses. The new website by Treefort is beautiful, though, just like their work at Legends Club.
• 2007 MGA Associate Member Days are June 24 & 25 at Giants Ridge ($125 for both courses over 2 days), July 23 at Midland Hills ($100) and September 24 at Rochester Golf & Country Club ($70). Online registration starts April 2 at mngolf.org.
• Dacotah Ridge in Morton was promoting a number of 2007 stay and play packages, including an interesting “Golf & Poker Getaway” for you and at least 7 of your friends. That one includes two rounds of golf with cart, rooms at their hotel, breakfast and a private Texas Hold’em poker tournament with $40 per player buy-in starting at $244 per person. That would be really fun, if I had 7 friends…
• Looks like it started last year, but Giants Ridge now has a Golf Academy. Ryan Martin is listed as the head teaching professional, with various individual, group and playing lesson options available. An 18-hole playing lesson at Giants Ridge for $200 would be very interesting.
• Somerby Golf Club outside Rochester continues to promote a national membership option that I think is very appealing for Twin Cities residents who travel south on occasion. After a $7500 initiation fee, individuals pay $500 annual dues with no food and beverage minimum. Guests play for $75 ($55 for immediate family or pay an additional $500 annually for family dues) and there is a corporate national membership option as well.
• Arrowwood Resort’s newly renovated course, Atikwa Golf Club, is scheduled to open May 2007.
• StoneRidge Golf Club in Stillwater was promoting 2007 memberships starting at $315/month or $3300/year (if paid in full). Watch for their new print ads this season–not your typical golf course campaign.

The show continues through tomorrow (Sunday hours: 10am – 4pm, adult admission: $9).

Today we battled the freezing rain and snow to see if there really was a player appearance by the Wild’s Pierre-Marc Bouchard at a car dealership near our house. I heard about it during the last TV broadcast, but it wasn’t listed on wild.com and I wasn’t sure he’d be there.

We pulled into the dealership (after passing several cars in the ditch and one 3-car accident) and saw some green, gold and red balloons inside. There were about 30 people waiting, but the table was empty. About ten minutes after the scheduled starting time, PMB arrived in a nice Range Rover and started signing shortly after that.

Mr. Bouchard was extremely friendly to everyone and seemed like a truly nice guy. At a reported five foot nine, 162 pounds, a lot of people seemed surprised by his size. I’ve posted a few pictures in the private photos section of PMB and my daughter, who had her jersey signed. They were using different 5×7 photos today, so I elected to have him sign a “To DK” hockey card instead.

Tomorrow we will fight the snow for a home game against the Edmonton Oilers and Rollie the Goalie.

Yesterday I attended the first day of the 2007 Minnesota Golf Show at the Metrodome with Phil Callen from the Tapemark Charity Pro-Am. Minnesota Golden Links premiered at the 1999 show, but I haven’t attended very many since then.

The show hasn’t changed too much since then (although I missed seeing Blimp Guy). The floor layout was the same–two-thirds booths and one-third driving range. With the looming snowstorm forecast, crowds were very light. I picked up a lot of information and saw a few people I knew–more from my notebook soon…

Never thought I’d meet a Wild player at the golf show, but Wes Walz was doing a presentation with Mike Barge from Hazeltine. He was kind enough to pose for a picture afterwards.

More on the golf show coming soon on the Golfing in Minnesota site.

Last weekend I took the kids to the newest indoor water park in town, the Water Park of America, located next door to the Mall of America. I’m not a big swimmer (and had an earache that day), but it was part of a birthday promise and my wife needed to write a paper for school…

Aside from the pricing (same price for adults and kids, ranging from $20 to $44 per person, depending on the day of the week), I thought it was a well done attraction. It has a Minnesota theme, with a mock Split Rock Lighthouse in the middle and lots of references to various parts of the state. There is enough variety among the different sections to provide something for all ages. It was crowded, but people were dispersed enough to make it tolerable. We ate lunch at the passable greasy spoon cafe and beat the rush by a few minutes.

I would go back again sometime in the future, but I’ve heard that it’s actually a better deal for families to get a room in the attached hotel (which comes with free water park admission).