Vintage Minnesota Hockey - History

1935:  Hibbing Memorial Arena opened in the Minnesota iron range, becoming one of the the first rinks on the range with artificial vs. natural ice.

1941:  Boston's Frank Brimsek became the second goaltender in franchise history to record 100 victories.  The milestone came as the Bruins won 3-1 (in overtime) over the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs.

1955:  Former NHL right winger Paul Holmgren born in St. Paul, MN.  Holmgren played in the NHL 1975-76 through 1984-85 with Philadelphia and the Minnesota North Stars, and later became coach and general manager with Philadelphia and Hartford.

1964:  Former NHL left winger Don Barber born in Victoria, B.C.  Barber played in the NHL 1988-89 through 1991-92 with the Minnesota North Stars, Winnipeg, Quebec and San Jose.

1967:  Minnesota North Stars named Bob Woytowich as their first team captain in franchise history.

1970:  Jude Drouin had three assists to lead the Minnesota North Stars to a 3-2 win over the California Golden Seals, at the Met Center.

1972:  Dennis Hextall scored a goal and three assists as the Minnesota North Stars extended their team-record home undefeated streak to 9 straight games (8-0-1) with an 8-6 win over the Buffalo Sabres at Met Center.  Minnesota's Dean Prentice became the first player in NHL history to score goals in four straight games at age 40 (or older) when he scored for the North Stars and added an assist in the win.

1972:  Former NHL right winger Sergei Zholtok born in Riga, Soviet Union.  Zholtok played in the NHL 1992-93 through 2003-04 with Boston, Ottawa, the Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton, the Minnesota Wild and Nashville.

1978:  Gary Sargent scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Minnesota North Stars to a 5-3 win over the Atlanta Flames, at the Met Center.

1980:  NHL right wing Joel Ward born in Chapleau, Ont.  Ward has played in the NHL since 2006-07 with Minnesota Wild, Nashville, and Washington.

1982:  Willi Plett scored four goals (including his 4th career hat trick and his first with Minnesota) to lead the North Stars to a 6-3 win against the Blues, at St. Louis.  Jordy Douglas and Al McAdam each picked up four assists.

1986:  Minnesota's Kent Nilsson scored twice to give him 250 career NHL goals, and added two assists as the North Stars won 5-4 at Buffalo.

1993:  Toronto rookie Damian Rhodes improved to 5-0-0 at the start of his career when the Maple Leafs picked up a 4-2 win at St. Louis.

1995:  Minnesota Governor Arne Carlson endorses St. Paul Mayor Norm Colemans' offer to luring the Winnipeg Jets to St. Paul.  Two days later (December 4, 1995) Jets announce relocation to Phoenix and become the Phoenix Coyotes.

2000:  Sergei Krivokrasov scored his first goal as a member of the Wild when Minnesota lost 3-2 against the Kings at Los Angeles.

2001:  Lubomir Sekeras played in his 100th career NHL game as the Wild tied 4-4 with the visiting St. Louis Blues.

2006:  Brian Rolston took 9 shots on goal for the Wild, scoring once in a 4-3 shootout loss in Dallas.

2010:  The establishment of the new Minnesota Wild Foundation was announced so the team could dedicate unique resources to support educational initiatives, children's medical causes and advance youth hockey throughout the State of Hockey.

2013:  Minnesota goalie Josh Harding needed 21 saves for his 10th career shutout as the Wild beat the visiting Flyers 2-0.

2018:  St. Mary's Arena hosted it's 50th Year celebration (1968-2018).  Many local youth and alumni were present for the anniversary festivities filled with skating indoors and out.  Dignitaries John Mayasich, Minnesota Wild mascot Nordy, and Mr. Stanley Hubbard all present for the celebration.