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October 11th

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October 11th
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1963:  The Minneapolis Bruins of the newly formed C.P.H.L. played the franchises inaugural game on the road at St. Louis vs. the St. Louis Braves at the palatial St. Louis Arena that seated 14,500. [Ironically 4 years later to exact date and same arena - the Minnesota North Stars played the St. Louis Blues in 1st ever NHL game].

1965:  Former NHL assistant coach Matt Shaw born in Phoenix, Arizona.  Shaw served as assistant coach in the league with the Minnesota Wild and San Jose starting in 2008-09.

1966:  Former North Stars defenseman Shawn Chambers born in Royal Oaks, Mich.

1967:  MN North Stars and St. Louis Blues played their first NHL games, and tied 2-2 at the St. Louis Arena.  Larry Keenan scored the first Blues' goal, while Bill Masterton made history for the North Stars with the club's first tally coming at 15:20 of the second period.  Bill Plager of the North Stars fought the Stars' first fight in franchise history with his brother Bob Plager of the St. Louis Blues.  Minnesota North Stars starting line-up: C Len Lunde, LW Dave Balon, RW Bill Goldsworthy, D Mike McMahon & Don Johns, G Gary Bauman.

1968:  Defenseman Larry Hillman scored a goal and added two assists to lead the North Stars to a 5-1 win over the Seals at Oakland.

1969:  Tommy Williams became the first Minnesota-born player to score a point for the North Stars, with an assist just 1:08 into his first game with Minnesota, a 4-0 win over the visiting Flyers.  Cesare Maniago got the shutout, the 10th of his NHL career.

1972:  J.P. Parise scored a goal and three assists, and Dennis Hextall added three assists to lead the North Stars to a 5-2 win over the California Seals at the Met Center.

1973:  The Midwest Junior Hockey League began play in a St. Cloud Blues vs. Minnesota Junior Stars game held at Met Center.  League President Ken Austin, along with then Director of US Hockey Hall of Fame Roger Godin dropped the ceremonial puck between Blues Billy McKenzie and Stars Mike Wong, as a symbol of the start of high level junior hockey in the U.S. St. Cloud defeated Minnesota 5-4.

1979:  Minnesota rookie defenseman Craig Hartsburg had two assists in the first game of his NHL career, a 4-1 North Stars' win over the visiting Hartford Whalers (the first inaugural NHL game in Whalers franchise history).

1980:  For just the second time in NHL history a 40-or-older player scored against a teenage goaltender, when 40-year-old Dave Keon scored against 19-year-old goalie Don Beaupre in a 9-3 Whalers' loss to the North Stars, in MN.  Ron Zanussi scored two goals and an assist, and Mike Eaves and Glenn Sharpley each had a goal and two assists to lead the North Stars to victory.

1985: Former Wild left wing Peter Olvecky born in Trencin, Czech.

1986:  Minnesota's Kent Nilsson set an NHL record for fastest opening goal from the start of a a season -- just ten seconds into a 4-4 North Stars tie against the Nordiques in Quebec City.

1986:  Jim Johnson picked up three assists, and Doug Bodger scored the winning goal at :50 of OT as the Penguins were credited with the 350th home victory in franchise history, 6-5 over the Rangers.

1988:  MN North Stars acquired defenseman Mark Tinordi from the NY Rangers, in exchange for Brian Lawton.

1988:  NHL defenseman Justin Falk born in Snowflake, Man. Falk has played in the NHL since 2009-10 with Minnesota and New York Rangers.

1990:  Minnesota's Mike Modano scored a goal and two assists as the North Stars came back from a 3-0 deficit to tie Boston 3-3 at the Met Center.

1996:  Toronto obtained Darby Hendrickson from the New York Islanders, in exchange for a conditional pick in the 1998 Entry Draft.

2000:  The Minnesota Wild played its first home game before a standing-room-only crowd in the new Xcel Energy Center, in St. Paul Minnesota.  The Wild played the Philadelphia Flyers and skated to a 3-3 tie.  Darby Hendrickson and Wes Walz each scored as the Wild picked up a tie in their first regular-season home game. (Hendricksons 1st goal at Xcel was the #2 'moment' in the Wild's top ten of the decade 2000-2010).

2000: At the Wild home opener, the Minnesota Wild retired jersey #1 in honor of the fans who helped bring back the NHL to the "State of Hockey".

2000: Flag Bearer, Ashley Duffey, becomes the first girl to skate at the Xcel Energy Center while leading the Wild onto the ice for the very first time.

2001:  Peter Laviolette became the first coach in NHL history to start his career with four straight road victories, when the Islanders picked up a 6-4 win over the Devils at New Jersey. Mark Parrish scored his second career hat trick (first with Isles).

2002:  Bill Muckalt picked up an assist in his first game with Minnesota, which won for the first time on opening night in the team's three year history, a 5-1 victory against the visiting Boston Bruins.

2008:  Devils outshot the Penguins 49-15, and trailed 1-0 with less than five minutes in the game, but Zach Parise scored with 37.6 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Devils a 2-1 win at Pittsburgh.

2008:  Eric Belanger scored twice as the Minnesota Wild were credited with their 150th home victory in franchise history, when they beat the visiting Bruins 4-3.

2008:  In the Wild's top ten of the decade (2000-2010), 'moment' #10 was the Wild raised the 2007-2008 Northwest Division Banner for the club's 1st Division Title.

2010:  David Backes and Andy McDonald broke a 42-year-old franchise record by scoring just six seconds apart early in the first period, and the Blues outshot Anaheim 53-14 for a 5-1 win over the visiting Ducks.

2014:  Minnesota Wild Zach Parise tied a career-high shots on goal with 10 shots in a 3-0 Wild win vs. Colorado Avalanche on the road.

2014:  Per Elias Sports Bureau - Minnesota Wild and San Jose Sharks are the first teams with back-to-back shutouts to open their seasons since the Florida Panthers in 2005.

2014:  Goaltender Darcy Kuemper became first NHL goaltender to open season with two straight shutouts since Roberto Luongo with Florida Panthers in 2005.  With the shutouts Kuemper was the youngest goaltender - at age 24 - in NHL history with shutouts in first 2 regular season games in a Wild win over the Avalanche 3-0 in Colorado.

2014:  San Jose Sharks became the first team in NHL history to start a season with consecutive shutouts from different goalies, when South St. Paul native Alex Stalock recorded his 3rd career shutout, a 3-0 win over the visiting Winnipeg Jets turning away 30 shots/saves in the Sharks shutout of the Jets to earn the teams #1 Star of the Night.

Tag(s): This Day In MN History