October 11, 2000, 25 years ago: The expansion Minnesota Wild play their 1st home game, at the Xcel Energy Center, built on the site of the old St. Paul Civic Center. They retire the team's uniform Number 1 for their fans. They get goals from Marian Gaborik, Darby Hendrickson and Wes Walz, but that's not enough, as the Philadelphia Flyers play them to a 3-3 tie.
A native of Calgary, Wes Walz is not related to Tim Walz, a successful high school football coach in Mankato, Minnesota, who was elected to Congress in 2006, elected Governor in 2018, and was nominated for Vice President by the Democratic Party in 2024.
Minnesota likes to call itself "The State of Hockey." The University of Minnesota have won 5 National Championships: In 1974, 1976, 1979, 2002 and 2003. They've made the NCAA's "Frozen Four" 23 times, most recently in 2023.) The University of Minnesota Duluth have won 3 National Championships: 2011, 2018 and 2019; and reached 8 Frozen Fours.
But the Minnesota North Stars played in the NHL for 26 seasons, 1967 to 1993, and only made the Stanley Cup Finals twice, losing to the New York Islanders in 1981 and the Pittsburgh Penguins 1991. In 1993, team owner Norm Green moved them to Texas, where he renamed them the Dallas Stars. He couldn't even do that right: The first thing he should have tried was staying in Minnesota, and the second thing he should have tried was naming them the Dallas Lone Stars.
The North Stars became hockey's version of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Baltimore Colts: The beloved blue-collar team that was moved for no reason other than money. Green was nicknamed "Norm Greed."
The Metropolitan Sports Center, in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, which opened for the North Stars in 1967, was demolished in 1994. A plan was developed to tear down an arena on the other side of the Mississippi River, the St. Paul Civic Center, and replace it with a new arena with all the modern amenities.
In 1997, the NHL announced 4 new expansion teams: The Nashville Predators, to begin play in 1998; the Atlanta Thrashers, to begin play in 1999 (they moved in 2011, becoming the new Winnipeg Jets); and, to begin play in 2000, the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild. The Xcel Energy Center opened on time for the Wild, and the NHL was restored to the State.
That name, though. "Wild"? Not "Wildcats," not "Wild Dogs," not even "Wild Things," but just "Wild"? Fans did embrace them, and the 1st uniform number the team retired was 1, in honor of their fans.
In their 1st 25 seasons, the Wild have made the Playoffs 14 times, reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2003.
Shortly before this anniversary, their arena was renamed the Grand Casino Arena.
No comments:
Post a Comment