Vintage Minnesota Hockey - History

1943:  Former NHL defenseman Tom Polanic born in Toronto, Ont. Polanic played in the NHL 1969-70 through 1970-71 with the Minnesota North Stars.

1950:  Former NHL right winger Fred Harvey born in Fredericton, N.B. Harvey played in the NHL 1970-71 through 1976-77 with the Minnesota North Stars, Atlanta, Kansas City, and Detroit.

1980:  Winnipeg's Dave Christian scored a goal and added three assists as the Jets won 5-2, at Chicago.

1980:  Edmonton Oilers Wayne Gretzky scored a lone goal vs. the Minnesota North Stars in a 1-1 tie held at Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.  With the goal coming at 09:46 of the 2nd period, Gretzky became the youngest player in NHL history to score 50 goals in a season at 19 years and 2 months of age.

1982:  Steve Christoff scored twice and added an assist to lead the Minnesota North Stars to a 5-2 win against the Jets, at Winnipeg.

1986:  Kent Nilsson scored two goals and added two assists as the Minnesota North Stars won 7-5 against the Blackhawks, at Chicago.

1989:  Tom Kurvers became the first defenseman in New Jersey Devils franchise history to get 50 assists in one season; he reached the milestone (finishing the night with two assists) in a 7-4 win over the visiting Washington Capitals. Kirk Muller added 1+3.

1995:  The Minnesota Moose clinched a spot in the Turner Cup playoffs for the 1994-1995 season.

2000:  Shjon Podein scored a shorthanded goal with 47 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Colorado Avalanche a 3-2 win over the visiting Dallas Stars.

2001:  Rookie Pascal Dupuis scored his first career NHL goal on his first shot at 6:04 into his first NHL game, a 4-2 Minnesota Wild loss to the Sharks, in San Jose. Dupuis became just the second rookie in Wild history to score a goal in his NHL debut.

2001:  The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) Women's World Hockey Championship started on this date, and ran through April 8th.  The Tournament was held in six cities throughout Minnesota including: Recreation Center - Rochester, Mariucci Arena - Minneapolis, Schwan's Super Rink - Blaine, National Hockey Center - St. Cloud, Ice Center - Plymouth and Columbia Arena in Fridley, MN.  Team Canada won their seventh consecutive Gold medal defeating the United States.

2004:  Minnesota rookie Rickard Wallin tied a team record for points in a game by a rookie with 2 goals and an assist, and Manny Fernandez made 32 saves to beat his former team for the first time in 4 tries, a 4-2 Wild win against the visiting Dallas Stars.

2008:  New Jersey's Zach Parise scored his second game-winning goal in two days, the only goal in the shootout as the Devils won 3-2 over the visiting Boston Bruins.

2013:  Jacob Markstrom had 39 saves in regulation and overtime and stopped all 3 shootout attempts, and Bloomington, MN native Peter Mueller scored the only goal in the shootout to give the Panthers a 3-2 win at Tampa Bay.

2013:  Edina, MN native Anders Lee became the 19th player in NY Islanders history to score a goal in his NHL debut with the team, in a 5-2 win over the visiting Winnipeg Jets.

2015:  N.Y. Rangers Defenseman, and Arden Hill, MN native - Ryan McDonagh had 2 assists to earn the #2 Star of the Night in the Rangers' 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild.