When the Wild-Avalanche NHL hockey playoff series begins tonight, it will be a preview, of sorts, of the upcoming national political conventions.

The first two games are at the Wild’s home arena, the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, which will host the Republican National Convention Sept. 1-4.

Then the series moves to the Pepsi Center in Denver, home of the Avs, and site of the Aug. 25-28 Democratic National Convention.

In the spirit of sport, organizers of the two conventions have a bet on the hockey series.

The two groups announced Wednesday morning: If the Avalanche win, the Republican team will send the Democrats an assortment of walleye from the lakes of Minnesota. If the Wild win, the Democrats will send the Republican Convention staff a selection of delectable Colorado-raised beef steaks.

The stakes will be even bigger, I guess, for that other upcoming competition, the one in early November.