Minnesota Wild really, really want to keep fans’ money during lockout

The Minnesota Wild had a rather eventful summer, committing $196 million to Zach Parise and Ryan Suter in what was arguably the most important moment for the franchise since the 2003 Western Conference Finals. Or the day Cal Clutterbuck decided to grow a duster. One of the two.

It's been a blockbuster summer for the Wild, adding over 4,000 full-season tickets to the base for the 2012-13 season. Excitement! Enthusiasm!

Oh, crap: a lockout …

Like other NHL teams, the Wild are doing whatever it takes to keep those season-ticket holders on the hook. According to Michael Russo of the Star Tribune, that means offering an astounding 10-percent APR interest if these season-ticket holders are willing to keep their money in an account with the team during the lockout.

From Russo:

That interest can be used as a credit in their account. When a game is at least postponed or cancelled, from that moment, if a season-ticket holder keeps their money in their account, the STH would receive 10% APR interest for each day it remains cancelled or postponed and last until the NHL announces a new schedule.

… To give you a sample, Anaheim and Los Angeles is offering 5%, Buffalo and Columbus are at 4, Winnipeg is at 3, Chicago is at 2. From Wild sources, I hear Nashville is the only team that's right up there with the Wild.

Well isn't that just a spoonful of irony: Ryan Suter's current and former teams are both offering massive incentives to make sure season-ticket holders don't bolt.

Can't blame the Wild here. They want their investment to pay off and bring the team back to profitably; which it currently doesn't have because of player salaries, according to its owner, who recently gave out two of the largest contracts to players in NHL history.

"Hey, look, it's my tail!" exclaimed the dog, as he scurried after it …