Vintage Minnesota Hockey - History

1964:  Former NHL defenseman David Shaw born in St. Thomas, Ont. Shaw played in the NHL 1982-83 through 1997-98 with Quebec, the New York Rangers, Edmonton, the Minnesota North Stars, Boston and Tampa Bay.

1966:  A public contest is held, and the nickname North Stars was selected as Minnesota's first NHL hockey team name

1968:  Former NHL defenseman Dan Keczmer born in Mt. Clemens, Michigan. Keczmer played in the NHL 1990-91 through 1999-00 with the Minnesota North Stars, Hartford, Calgary, Dallas and Nashville.

1971:  Minnesota North Stars obtained Bob Nevin from the New York Rangers, in exchange for a player to be named later (Bobby Rousseau to the Rangers on 6/8/71).

1971:  Minnesota North Stars traded Marshall Johnston to the Montreal Canadiens for Bob Murdoch to complete transaction that sent Danny Grant and Claude Larose to the Minnesota North Stars (6/10/68).

1984:  NHL center Kyle Brodziak born in St. Paul, Alta. Brodziak has played in the NHL since 2005-06 with Edmonton and the Minnesota Wild.

1991:  Mario Lemieux scored a goal and 3 assists and Tom Barrasso had his 1st shutout (The 1st road shutout in Penguins franchise playoff history) as the Penguins beat the North Stars 8-0 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals at Met Center in Bloomington, MN.  The win gave the Penguins their 1st Stanley Cup Championship. (4 games to 2 series win). 

1991:  Pittsburgh's Jim Paek became the first player in NHL history to score his first career goal during the Stanley Cup Finals; it came in an 8-0 win over the North Stars in Minnesota, in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final.

1991:  Pittsburgh Penguins Head Coach, Bob Johnson - a native from Minneapolis, MN - became the second U.S. born coach in NHL history to lead his team to a Stanley Cup Championship, and was the 1st since the league switched to a best of seven format in 1939.  (Bill Stewart from Fitchburg, MA was the 1st U.S. native before Johnson leading the Blackhawks to the title in 1938).

2002:  Minnesota Wild acquired defenseman Chris Dyment from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a fifth round pick in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.

2004:  Minnesota Wild signed free agent defenseman Ryan Stokes, who had scored 4 goals and 20 assists in 66 games with the OHL's Mississauga Ice Dogs of the OHL.