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How the Timberwolves’ playoff run is fueling the Twin Cities: ‘I’m euphoric about this moment’

dane mizutani, pioneer press
·4 min read

Tom Reid has always fashioned his sports bar on West Seventh Street in downtown St. Paul as the place to watch hockey. The name speaks for itself. It’s literally called Tom Reid’s Hockey City Pub.

That said, Reid has seen a different fervor as of late, with many of his customers coming in with the sole purpose of watching the Timberwolves. The playoff run has consumed the state of Minnesota over the past few weeks with the Timberwolves looking the part of a legitimate NBA title contender.

“It’s been so exciting to watch,” said Reid, a former North Stars player and a current radio broadcaster for the Wild. “Everybody wants to be a part of it.”

That statement rings true throughout the Twin Cities as bars, restaurants and breweries alike have seen an uptick in business during Timberwolves playoff games. If a fan can’t watch the Timberwolves play in person, watching at a local establishment, and living and dying with every possession, has emerged as the next best thing in replicating the atmosphere.

That explains why the Timberwolves have partnered with nearly a dozen bars and restaurants in and around downtown Minneapolis ahead of Friday night’s Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinal matchup against the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets at Target Center. The Timberwolves lead the best-of-seven series 2-0, with Games 3 and 4 coming to their home court.

The official list of bars partnering with the Timberwolves includes Tom’s Watch Bar, Kieran’s​ Irish Pub, Lyons Pub​, The Loop​, 8th Street Grill​, The Local​, Sneaky Pete’s​, Jackson’s Hole​, The Loon​, Gluek’s, and The Corner Bar.

“You walk in there and every screen is on the Timberwolves,” said Tom Ryan, co founder of Tom’s Watch Bar, which is located a block away from Target Center. “It’s majestic in there.”

As this particular group of players continues to capture the collective consciousness locally, nationally and even internationally, Timberwolves Chief Operating Officer Ryan Tanke admitted he hasn’t seen anything quite like this during his decades with the organization.

He started as an intern in the late 1990s, left to work for the San Diego Chargers, then came back in the mid 2000s. He has been around for snapshot moments in time that felt big for the Timberwolves, like the rise of Ricky Rubio, the rebirth of Kevin Love, and the return of Kevin Garnett.

“Nothing remotely close to what we’re seeing and experiencing right now,” Tanke said. “We knew from really early on that this season was going to be special, and to see that build, then over these last couple of weeks and spill into the bars, restaurants and breweries around town, it’s been amazing.”

The scenes around the Twin Cities during Timberwolves playoff games have been pretty incredible.

“This is a really hungry fan base that hasn’t had a lot of success over the past 20 years,” Tanke said. “We’ve got sort of a pent-up interest that is bubbling over.”

There were more than 800 people outside of Falling Knife Brewing Company in Minneapolis last weekend to watch the Timberwolves beat the Nuggets in Denver.

“It gets insane in here,” said Falling Knife co founder Dan Herman, who opened the brewery with his good friends Andy Rutledge and Tom Berg, with hopes of carving out a niche as a Timberwolves bar. “I’m euphoric about this moment because this is literally what I wanted our place to be.”

It was a similar scene at Headflyer Brewing in Minneapolis last weekend with its taproom completely full of people cheering for the Timberwolves.

“Our anniversary party for the brewery happened to coincide with the Timberwolves playing the Nuggets,” said Headflyer marketing director Megan Russell, adding that the brewery recently created a new space aptly named the Wolves Den. “The stars definitely aligned for us. There’s no other way to describe it than electric. We haven’t had this in so long as Minnesotans, so I think everybody is hungry for it.”

The pergola at Park Tavern in St. Louis Park was packed for a watch party last weekend with people sticking around to mingle long after the Timberwolves secured the win.

“You can feel the momentum,” Park Tavern events coordinator Cheryl Gallagher Watson said. “We’ve seen it grow organically throughout this season. It’s been a lot of fun to see the excitement. It’s gotten way bigger than we would’ve anticipated.”

Needless to say the energy is palpable across the Twin Cities with more and more fans showing up each time the Timberwolves win. Why have so many people latched on?

“Because it doesn’t happen very often for us,” Herman said with a laugh. “It feels like with this team people are finally starting to let go of the curse of Minnesota sports. They are just enjoying it for what it is. It’s a really fun thing for everybody right now.”

  • The Wolves are back home to play Game 3 of the semifinals against the Denver Nuggets at 8:30 p.m. on Friday. Watch the game on ESPN or listen on 100.3 FM.

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