Hockey Day Minnesota kicks off on Matt Cullen's outdoor rink; Zucker stars in front of Wild GM; Long Island mayhem

Good Saturday morning to you. It's Hockey Day in Minnesota.

The fifth annual celebration opens with a pair of outdoor games in Moorhead on the outdoor rink paid for by Wild center Matt Cullen and concludes with a Wild game at Xcel Energy Center. Here are Saturday's key games, all televised on FSN:

10 a.m.: Wayzata vs. Roseau, at Moorhead

1:30 p.m.: Moorhead vs. Hill-Murray, at Moorhead

5 p.m.: Gophers vs. Denver, Mariucci Arena

8 p.m.: Wild vs. St. Louis, Xcel Energy Center

Here is the Matt Cullen feature I did from Moorhead before the season

The Cullen Children's Foundation awarded $135,050 in grants to seven local nonprofit organizations that support children's healthcare needs with an emphasis on cancer. Recipients include:

· Kamp KACE; HOPE Inc.; Lend-A-Hand;Make-A-Wish Foundation; Riding on Angels' Wings;TNT Fitness;Outdoor Adventure Program

The Cully's Kids Weekend, held in Fargo on July 16 and 17, 2010, raised just over $395,000 for local kids. The remainder of the Foundation's 2010 fundraising efforts has been directed toward an endowment fund. 2011 Cully's Kids Weekend events will be held July 15 and 16.

Also, check out the Pond Hockey Book and Movie store here. Through this weekend,100% of the proceeds from sales in their online store benefit Cully's Kids in the fight against childhood cancer.

Last night, the Wild rallied four times to force a shootout and beat the Blues in St. Louis. John Madden scored in the ninth round. Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Mikko Koivu and Brent Burns also scored in the shootout, Jose Theodore recovered from a rough start to the shootout, Martin Havlat tied the game in the final minute and Cal Clutterbuck scored twice and Andrew Brunette once.

Here is Kent Youngblood's very good game story

Tonight is Part 2 at the X. Late 8 p.m. faceoff. Niklas Backstrom in net. If there's news from the Wild's optional morning skate, I will update.

Remember, the AHL Western Conference-leading Houston Aeros, who as usual won last night, play a rare game at Xcel Energy Center tomorrow (Sunday) at 1 p.m. vs. the Peoria Rivermen. Tickets are $15 in advance (Ticketmaster/Xcel box office) and $20 at the door. Wild players will all be signing at $10 autograph tables to benefit the Wild Foundation before the game. Aeros players will sign for free after the game.

The doors open at 11:30 a.m.

Last night, I took in the Gophers-Pioneers game at Mariucci. It was a good night to be the Minnesota Wild GM.

In a 2-1 DU win, Zucker only assisted on the first goal and scored the winning goal by literally making something out of nothing with incredible acceleration. He got the puck on a 2-on-2 and absolutely stunned Aaron Ness. Zucker wheeled around a flatfooted Ness to basically crease a short breakaway and finish the goal in tight. He also had seven shots and four blocked shots.

Zucker now has 18 goals. I still think the Wild will want him to return to school next season.

Lastly, the Wild have had a few isolated situations at the Xcel Energy Center Box office over the past month with ticket buyers purchasing fraudulent tickets from external resale agents and unauthorized sources.

From the Wild:

Make sure your tickets are official by purchasing from authorized sales and resale agents. Don't risk purchasing tickets, which may turn out to be fraudulent, from unauthorized sources.

The ONLY authorized ticket resale service for Minnesota Wild tickets is Ticketmaster's TicketExchange. TicketExchange is the go-to buying and selling option for Wild fans because there are no surprises—payment and delivery are automatic and 100% guaranteed.

Customers with invalid tickets are welcome to purchase replacement tickets, but seating locations and pricing is based on availability.

Double lastly, let's hope the NHL throws the book at guys like Trevor Gillies and Matt Martin at least. After watching the video, I do feel Brent Johnson egged Micheal Haley on and basically called him down there for a goalie fight. Eric Godard definitely gone for 10 games for fighting after leaving the bench.