Vintage Minnesota Hockey - History

1952:  Former NHL left winger Mike Polich born in Hibbing, MN.  Polich played in the NHL 1976-77 through 1980-81 with Montreal and the Minnesota North Stars.

1963:  Duluth Mayor George D. Johnson tossed the first shovel of dirt at the groundbreaking for the Duluth Arena-Auditorium with Arena board members, contractors and other city officials.

1968:  Wayne Connelly scored two goals and an assist, and Ray Cullen added three assists as the Minnesota North Stars tied 5-5, at Philadelphia.  Jean-Guy Gendron had a goal and two assists for the Flyers.

1971:  Gump Worsley recorded 29 saves and Murray Oliver scored the goal to lead the Minnesota North Stars to a 1-1 tie with the New York Rangers, at the Met Center.

1978:  Brad Maxwell had three assists to lead the Minnesota North Stars to a 5-3 win over Vancouver at the Met Center.

1979:  Al MacAdam scored a goal and added two assists to lead the Minnesota North Stars to a 5-2 win over Montreal at the Met Center.

1989:  Neil Sheehy picked up 26 penalty minutes for the Capitals in a 2-1 win at Philadelphia.

1992:  Philadelphia Flyers traded Mark Pederson to San Jose for Dave Snuggerud.

1995:  Calgary Flames traded Joe Nieuwendyk to the Dallas Stars in exchange for Corey Millen and the rights to 1995 first round draft pick Jarome Iginla.

1996:  Hartford Whalers owner - Peter Karmanos said "if he had to decide on this day, he would choose St. Paul as the new home for his franchise".

1997:  Jac Sperling was named Chief Executive Officer for the newly appointed Minnesota Hockey Ventures Group, LP NHL expansion team (Minnesota Wild).

2000: Eagan High School retires Natalie Darwitz's jersey before she even graduates from High School.

2002:  Bloomington, Minnesota native Mark Parrish scored twice for New York as the Islanders outshot the Wild 32-17 for a 4-2 win at Minnesota.

2005:  The 2006 U.S. Olympic Mens Hockey team was announced in St. Paul at the Xcel Energy Center prior to the start of the Minnesota Wild vs. Dallas Stars hockey game.  The '06 Olympic games were held in Turin, Italy with Sweden capturing the Gold Medal.

2006:  Islanders' Jason Blake scored three straight goals (his fourth career hat trick) to lead the Isles to a 4-3 win over the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

2008:  Patrik Elias extended his point scoring streak to nine straight games with two goals and two assists and Zach Parise added four assists in the Devils' 5-1 win over the visiting Ottawa Senators.

2008:  Minnesota rookie Colton Gillies (son of former NHL'er Clark) scored his first career NHL goal - a third-period game winner - to lead the Wild to a 4-1 win over the visiting New York Islanders.

2014:  Edina, MN native Anders Lee scored a goal and an assist as the Islanders beat the Red Wings 2-1 for their fifth straight victory in Detroit.

2015:  Hastings, MN Civic Arena original - East Arena was renamed after longtime arena Manager - Jim "Sliv" McGree.

2015:  Grand Rapids, MN native - Alex Goligoski made his 200th NHL assist in a Tyler Seguin 2nd period goal in the Dallas Stars 6-2 loss vs. Montreal Canadiens.