Vintage Minnesota Hockey - History

1957:  Former NHL defenseman Bill Stewart born in Toronto, Ont.  Stewart played in the NHL 1977-78 through 1985-86 with Buffalo, St. Louis, Toronto and the Minnesota North Stars.  He also later coached the New York Islanders.

1971:  Minnesota North Stars purchased veteran Dean Prentice from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

1976:  Minnesota North Stars Tim Young scored two goals and two assists, and Stars rookie Roland Eriksson tied an NHL record with four assists in his first NHL game, a 6-5 loss to the Rangers at New York; he tied the mark set in 1953 by Detroit's Earl 'Dutch' Reibel.

1982:  Dino Ciccarelli scored two goals and added an assist to lead the Minnesota North Stars to a 5-4 win over the Jets, at Winnipeg.

1988:  Brian Sutter coached his first NHL game, an 8-3 St. Louis Blues' win over the North Stars at Minnesota.

1988:  Minnesota North Stars named Curt Fraser, Bob Rouse and Curt Giles as Co-Captains of the team.

1990:  Defenseman Phil Housley scored a goal and added two assists in the second period, in his first game as a member of the Winnipeg Jets, to lead the team to a 3-3 tie at Edmonton.

1992:  Minnesota North Stars opened their 26th, and final NHL season, with a 6-4 loss on the road vs. St. Louis Blues.

1994:  Prior to the IHL Minnesota Moose inaugural 1994-1995 season, the iconic clear boards were removed from St. Paul Civic Center before the teams first home game the following day (October 7, 1994).  The teams practice was scheduled for 10:00 a.m. but was delayed until 1:00 p.m. because the Zamboni end gates had not yet been installed. 

1999:  Florida Panthers set a team record for fastest three goals when Viktor Kozlov, Mark Parrish, and Pavel Bure scored in a span of 1:17 during the third period for a come-from-behind 4-2 win over the visiting L.A. Kings.  It was also their 100th home win.

2000:  The Minnesota Wild played there first regular season NHL game on the road vs. the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim where they lost 3-1.  The Wild's lone goal, and first goal in franchise history was scored by Marian Gaborik, with 1st franchise assists coming from Scott Pellerin and Jim Dowd.

2001:  Steve Shields stopped 41 shots to record his first victory as a member of the Mighty Ducks, Matt Cullen scored twice and added an assist and Jeff Friesen had three assists in Anaheim's 4-2 win at Pittsburgh.

2001:  Dwayne Roloson recorded his 3rd career shutout and Minnesota's first ever against the Sharks, in his debut with the Minnesota Wild, a 0-0 tie in the season opener at San Jose. Roloson earned the tie despite the Wild being outshot 36-19 by the Sharks.

2002:  Minnesota Wild played a neutral host pre-season game at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota vs. Atlanta Thrashers.

2007:  Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored the 50th goal of his career, making him the 7th player in Wild history to score 50 goals with the team as Minnesota won 3-2 over the visiting Columbus Blue Jackets.

2007:  St. Louis rookie Erik Johnson scored his first career NHL goal, and it was the game winner, and Andy Murray became the 4th coach in NHL history to face his son (Brady) in a game, as the Blues won 5-3 over the Kings at Los Angeles.

2009:  Andrew Brunette scored at 3:08 of overtime and Martin Havlat had three assists as the Minnesota Wild overcame a 3-0 third period deficit for the first time in franchise history to beat the visiting Anaheim Ducks 4-3.

2014:  Minnesota Wild agreed to terms with free agent, and White Bear Lake, MN native Ryan Carter on a one-year contract.

2014:  New York Rangers named St. Paul, MN native Ryan McDonagh as their new team Captain, the 27th in franchise history.

2018:  Minnesota Whitecaps (NWHL) first game in womens professional league, played before a sell-out crowd at newly opened Tria Rink in downtown St. Paul.  Whitecaps defeated the visiting 2017-2018 Isobel Cup Champions - Metro Riveters from N.J. 4-0.  Katie McGovern scored the 1st Whitecaps NWHL goal in franchise history in win.