Wild, Red Cross, Anheuser-Busch aim to put Xcel Energy Center to good use

NOTE: This story originally ran last month ahead of a blood drive at Xcel Energy Center on April 15. The Wild, in conjunction with the Red Cross and Anheuser-Busch, will host a second blood drive on Friday, May 15. For more information on that event, click here.

All donors at the May 15th event will receive signed items from Wild players Ryan Suter and Devan Dubnyk. Other items given to donors are provided by Anheuser-Busch, Caribou Coffee, Jack Link's, Coca-Cola and Levy. Chic-fil-A is providing complimentary lunches for Red Cross staff and volunteers.

Wild General Manager Bill Guerin, his wife Kara and their four children have each volunteered to participate as donors.

ST. PAUL -- It wasn't supposed to be this way.

The Wild was supposed to finish up the 2019-20 NHL regular season last week, with a potential first-round playoff series set to kick off this week.

Instead, Xcel Energy Center along with the Red Cross, the Wild and Anheuser-Busch, will host a blood drive at the arena later this month.

While Minnesota has so far done an admirable job "flattening the curve" in its fight against COVID-19, the state isn't expected to reach its peak number of cases for another couple of weeks.

That makes blood drives like the one that will be hosted April 15 at Xcel Energy Center all the more important.

During "normal" times, the Red Cross would be hosting blood drives in the parking lots of office buildings and welcoming groups by the dozens to help keep area blood banks full.

But with many of its traditional means of hosting blood drives on hold, and a large portion of the population working from home, the Red Cross needed to find a unique way to host a blood drive that could bring in people by the hundreds.

And with an 18,000-seat hockey arena ready and empty with no hockey in the foreseeable future, what better time to put the facility to good use.

"We have a sufficient supply of blood for right now, but with schools closing down, office buildings and churches ... we're working remotely so we can't host blood drives," said Susan Thesenga of the Red Cross. "So when people like [the Wild] are offering a big, open space for us to be able to host a blood drive, that's great because it gives people the opportunity to come out and donate.

"Having a blood drive in a space like this is exactly what we need."

The Red Cross quickly hit its limit in looking for volunteers to come to downtown St. Paul to participate in the blood drive on April 15. The first priority will be the safety of both donors and workers:

The setting of an open hockey arena is in fact the perfect place to host an event like a blood drive, especially with social distancing measures in place. There is nothing but wide open space for people to spread out.

"And the good news now is, the arena is about as clean as it has been in 20 years," said Wayne Petersen, the Wild's Director of Community Relations and Hockey Partnerships. "Our operations staff has been busy doing things that have been piling up on the to-do list for years."

There will be free parking available at the RiverCentre Parking Ramp and all donors will enter the building through Gate 1. Donors will not be allowed to bring guests/kids with them.

They will also go home with some cool swag for their time and effort. Anheuser-Busch has donated special edition 16 oz. beer glasses with the Wild logo. Every person who signs up and donates will receive the glass.

But that's not all.

All donors will also leave Xcel Energy Center with a $20 gift card for use at The Hockey Lodge. The store is closed, so they won't be able to use it in person until regular store hours are re-established, but it can also be used to purchase Wild gear online.

Donors will also receive an autographed canvas of Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu, who have spent a bulk of the past week signing these special edition items as a way of thanking fans for their continued support of the team, and more importantly, for their willingness to come together during a time of great need for the Red Cross, our local community and the state of Minnesota.

"Our last three weeks have been extraordinary levels, like post-9/11 donation levels," said Bob Bruce of the Red Cross. "But we're concerned ultimately as we head into the summer when donations naturally go down."