When the Wild’s original coaching staff visited St. Paul recently as part of the team’s 25th anniversary celebration, to a man they commented on TRIA Rink, the downtown St. Paul practice facility that now houses the Wild most of the time, save for when they make the journey of a few blocks to Grand Casino Arena for home games.

When the franchise was born in 2000, their home arena – then known as Xcel Energy Center – was brand new, but they were a bit nomadic when it came to practice rinks. Much of the team’s time away from St. Paul was spent without a permanent locker room at Parade Ice Arena in Minneapolis. And at least one Wild star of that era didn’t mind it.

While he admitted that the current facilities are amazing, Marian Gaborik – the team’s first-ever draft pick and the first Minn

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