iStockphoto / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Minnesota Wild forward Michael McCarron next to a cup of beer
It’s hard to beat a seat directly next to the glass when you attend a hockey game in person. However, there are some potential downsides of being posted up rinkside, which one fan who recently attended a Minnesota Wild game learned before Michael McCarron went out of his way to atone for knocking his beer over.
The nature of hockey means spectators have the potential to get very close to the action when they head to a game. Courtside seats in basketball are really the only ones that rival those located right next to the boards in the first row of the rink, and you have the opportunity to watch players battle for the puck inches away from your face as the game unfolds.
Those seats also really make you appreciate just how physical hockey is, as nothing highlights how hard guys are hitting each other like hearing the sound of a player getting checked into the glass and watching it bounce back and forth for a few seconds after they collide with it.
You want to be wary of storing stuff on the boards due to the impact those hits can have, which was seemingly the case with one involving a Wild forward ahead of a game against the Flames.
Michael McCarron slipped a fan a $20 bill after knocking over his beer ahead of a Wild game
If you can afford to sit next to the glass at an NHL game, you probably don’t have to worry about the impact overpriced beer is going to have on your bank account. You may also be tempted to store that beverage on the boards, but as Tyler Seguin once went out of his way to highlight, there are risks that come with going that route.
One fan learned that the hard way when the Wild headed to Calgary to face off against the Flames on October 22nd, as Minnesota winger Michael McCarron was apparently responsible for toppling his beer during the pregame skatearound.
We were treated to a happy ending, as McCarron skated over to the slot designed to allow photographers to slip their camera lens in to hand the victim a $20 bill to buy another beer with.
McCarron isn’t the only guy who’s gone that route, as Dylan Larkin also had a staffer drop off the same sum to a Red Wings fan in 2021.
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