Vintage Minnesota Hockey - History

1949:  Former NHL defenseman Jim McElmury born in St. Paul, MN.  McElmury played in the NHL 1972-73 through 1977-78 with the Minnesota North Stars, Kansas City, and the Colorado Rockies.

1966:  Months after the naming of the team, ground was broken on this date for a new hockey arena in Bloomington, Minnesota.  The Metropolitan Sports Center, home of the Minnesota North Stars, was built in 12 months at a cost of $7 million.  The arena was ready for play for the start of the 1967–68 NHL season, but portions of the arena's construction had not been completed.  Spectator seats were in the process of being installed as fans arrived at the arena for the opening home game on October 21, 1967.

1967:  The expansion Minnesota North Stars record dropped to 7-3-1 in their first NHL preseason, after a 4-4 tie in their first game ever against the Philadelphia Flyers, in a game played at Kingston, Ontario.

1969:  Former NHL defenseman Jon Rohloff born in Mankato, MN.  Rohloff played in the NHL 1994-95 through 1996-97 with Boston.

1973:  Former NHL left winger Antti Laaksonen born in Tammela, Finland.  Laaksonen played in the NHL 1998-99 through 2006-07 with Boston, the Minnesota Wild and Colorado.

1983:  Los Angeles Kings traded defenseman Dave Lewis to the Minnesota North Stars, in exchange for Steve Christoff.

1983:  New Jersey Devils traded Brent Ashton to the Minnesota North Stars, in exchange for Dave Lewis.

1986:  Buffalo Sabres traded Brian Engblom to Calgary in exchange for Jim Korn.

1986:  Calgary Flames obtained Jim Korn from Toronto, in exchange for Terry Johnson.  The Flames immediately traded Korn to Buffalo, in exchange for Brian Engblom.

1988:  Minnesota North Stars claimed Stewart Gavin from Hartford in the NHL's annual Waiver Draft.

1993:  NHL WAIVER DRAFT: Dave McLLwain-Ottawa (Tor) Mike Hudson-NYR (Edm) Paul Broten-Dallas (NYR) John McIntyre-Vancouver (NYR) Rich Sutter-Chicago (STL).

1994:  L.A. Kings obtained Chris Snell and Eric Lacroix from Toronto, in exchange for Dixon Ward, Guy Leveque, Kelly Fairchild and Shayne Toporowski.

2006:  Steve Yzerman, Marcel Dionne, Reed Larson, Red Berenson and Glen Sonmor were named as the 2006 recipients of the Lester Patrick Award.

2013:  Blaine, MN native David Backes scored a goal and an assist in the first period to lead the Blues to a 4-2 opening night win over the visiting Nashville Predators.

2014: Minnesota Wild reduced its training camp roster to 27 players.  The team assigned the following players to Iowa Wild of the AHL: D Jonathon Blum, D Justin Falk, F Tyler Graovak, F Michael Keranen, F Zack Phillips, D Gustav Olofsson and F Joel Rechlicz.  Minnesota also placed forwards Curt Gogol and Brett Sutter on waivers.