Has there ever been a bigger free agency splash by a Minnesota pro sports team than the one that occurred yesterday?

That’s what Grand Forks Herald reporter Brad Schlossman asked in this column that he penned for today’s editions.

The Minnesota Wild signed arguably the top two free agents available in the NHL this offseason, adding forward Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter to 13-year, $98 million deals for each. Minnesota hasn’t made the playoffs for four straight years, but everyone including Moorhead’s own Matt Cullen acknowledges that the bar has now been raised. 

It’s a pretty crazy scenario, really. Besides money and an extremely loyal fan base, it just doesn’t seem to me like the Wild have a whole lot to sell to free agents. It didn’t hurt that Parise is a Minnesota native and Suter’s wife has family in the state. And the Wild have the money to allow both players to play alongside each other.

It’s been a pretty forgettable decade-plus of existence, with one incredible playoff run in 2002-03 surrounded by years of flops. And during that time, at least until now, there’s been very few marquee players developed or signed by the team.

But that all changed on Wednesday. Parise and Suter are two of the best American-born players in the game. Parise is a good-scoring winger who once finished third in the NHL in goals scored in a season. Suter is an outstanding all-around defenseman who frequently is among the league leaders in assists at his position.

A lot of credit needs to be given to the Wild front office. By many of the accounts I’ve come across today, Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher and Co. did a tremendous job selling the franchise’s future to Parise and Suter.

I heard one man call into a Twin Cities radio show and draw the inevitable comparison to LeBron James/Dwyane Wade/Chris Bosh. They took their talents to South Beach, and Parise/Suter are taking their talents to the south beach of Lake Minnetonka, he said.

It’s a funny line. But hockey is not basketball, and two players can’t on their own elevate a franchise to the sport’s elite on the ice the way it can on the court. Minnesota will need other players to develop.

But having said that, the Wild should be a playoff team next season. And as the Los Angeles Kings showed as the No. 8 seed last season, all you need is to get into the playoff field.

The Minnesota state hockey tournament doesn’t hit the Xcel Energy Center for another month. But last night’s bi-partisan crowd that took in the Winnipeg Jets at Minnesota Wild game sure gave the game a bit of a neutral-ice kind of feel.

I was among the more than 19,000 that took in last night’s game. And it did not disappoint, even though neither team is enjoying a strong season.

Great atmosphere. Great food. And a great game, one that saw the Jets control the action for the first two periods before the Wild finally woke up in the third. Neither team could break a 3-3 tie in overtime, with the Jets nabbing a shootout victory.

Estimates this morning are that about 5,000 to 6,000 Jets fans were in attendance in St. Paul. The ones sitting and standing near where I was said that it was simply easier and cheaper for them to get tickets to the game in St. Paul. So they hopped into cars - many more hopped into buses – and made the trek to the Twin Cities.

You could count on one hand the number of Wild games I’ve attended. But for the diehards in attendance, it had to be a little strange when their “Let’s go Wild!” chants were answered with “Go Jets go!” Throughout the third period, it was pretty constant. “Let’s go Wild! Go Jets go! Let’s go Wild! …”

It all just left me wondering this: How did these two markets ever lose NHL teams? Of course, we all know the obvious reasons. Lack of new arenas. Lack of corporate support.

And it’s important to remember too that this is the Jets’ first season back in Winnipeg after 15 years without the NHL. The shine will wear off to some degree as time passes. But last night’s Jets fan base – like the Wild’s base – was intense.

The atmosphere left plenty of hope for the possible development of a rivalry between the two. And that showed on the ice too, where there were words exchanged and a third-period fight too. If and when realignment does happen, this should continue to be a fun series of games to attend in the future.

Yes, these are tough times. The Twins are coming off of a 99-loss season. The Vikings just got smoked by the rival Packers to fall to 2-7. And the Wolves … they probably aren’t playing a game this season.

But across the Northland marched a team in skates. The Wild are here to rescue downtrodden fans in Minnesota.

I knew the Wild were playing well, but it was a little startling to see them atop the Northwest Division standings after a come-from-behind victory against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday. So it’s time to give the Wild some attention.

How are the Wild doing it?

• One trademark of previous successful Wild teams was good goaltending, and this year’s team is no different. Josh Harding and Niklas Backstrom have formed a formidable 1-2 combo in net for Minnesota. Only two teams – the Red Wings and Rangers – have given up fewer goals than the Wild’s 38 allowed this season.
• The Wild aren’t punishing opposing goalies too much, but there have been a couple of nice contributions. Dany Heatley – acquired in an offseason trade – leads the team with 11 points, and Moorhead’s own Matt Cullen has 10 points thanks to a team-high seven goals this season.

On name recognition alone, I was impressed by the Minnesota Wild’s latest trade. But a look at the numbers told a different story.

The Wild shipped forward Martin Havlat to the San Jose Sharks for forward Dany Heatley on Tuesday. It was the second trade the two teams have made this offseason.

In Havlat, the Sharks get a solid offensive guy, someone who seemingly flew under the radar in Minnesota. Havlat had 22 goals and 40 assists last season.

In Heatley, well, I’m not quite sure what the Wild got. Heatley had 26 goals and 38 assists last season for the Sharks, who were one of the NHL’s dominant teams during the regular season.

But not since the 2005-06 season has Heatley improved his goal total from the previous season. He had back-to-back 50-goal seasons in 2005-06 and 2006-07, only to drop to 41, 39, 39 and then 26 goals last season.

The Wild are gambling on the bounce-back. And considering how badly they need scorers, who can blame them?

I got to say – as a sometimes casual observor of the Minnesota Wild – that I didn’t expect to see the coach get fired one day after the season ended.

But that’s what happened today. The Minnesota Wild fired head coach Todd Richards, less than 24 hours after the Wild won their season finale 5-3 against Dallas to eliminate the Stars from playoff contention.

That was the only thing the Wild were playing for yesterday, having been eliminated from the playoff chase a while back.

Richards coached the team for only two seasons. And in all honesty, they were a pretty forgettable two years. He was given the task of turning the defensive-minded Jacques Lemaire clubs into more potent offensively driven teams. But the Wild finished 26th among 30 NHL teams in goals scored this season.

The Wild just wrapped up their 11th season. They have sold out the Xcel Energy Center in seemingly every game of their existence. Despite the lackluster on-ice results, fans love going to the “X”.

At work last week, I said, “It’s really amazing what’s going on with the Wild. When the Wolves stink, people just don’t go. The Wild have done nothing, yet fans around here love them. I don’t get it.”

Some of it has to do with the arena. Comparing the “X” to the Target Center is like comparing Target Field to the Metrodome, or comparing Joe Mauer to catchers of Twins past, like Marcus Jensen or Matt Walbeck. One is top-of-line, while the other is merely big league.

I just wonder if giving Richards only two years is a sign that Wild management might be wondering if the honeymoon with fans could end soon. Or will it ever end? Will fans eventually grow frustrated with having seen just three playoff appearances in 11 years despite generating huge amounts of revenue for the franchise and quit going to the “X” or turn off their TVs? I really don’t know.