Vintage Minnesota Hockey - History

1962:  The (International Hockey League) IHL held the leagues first official All-Star Game in St. Paul at the Saint Paul Auditorium.  The host Saints defeated a league all-star team 6-5.

1968:  Duluth, MN native Tom Williams had a goal and two assists to lead the Bruins to a 3-2 win against the Flyers at Philadelphia.

1974:  Atlanta Flames traded Chuck Arnason and St. Paul, MN native Bob Paradise to Pittsburgh, in exchange for Al McDonough.

1975:  Former North Stars center Henry Boucha of Warroad, Minnesota, was viciously slashed in the face by Boston Bruins player David Forbes on this day at Met Center.  This act led to his permanent eye injury that eventually curtailed Henrys' career in the NHL.  Forbes was later charged and tried in court with aggravated assault.  The jury was unable to reach a decision, and thus the charges were dropped against Forbes.

1980:  Minnesota North Stars traded Kris Manery to Vancouver for Canucks' 2nd round pick in 1982 Entry Draft.

1982:  Los Angeles Kings signed free agent and Warroad, MN native Alan Hangsleben.

1983:  Minnesota North Stars faced off in an exhibition with the Soviet World Team at Met Center as part of the USSR 1983 'NHL Super Series'.  USSR defeated the North Stars 6-3 with a 5-goal Soviet outburst in the 2nd period. The game was #5/6 of their NHL 1983 tour in which USSR went 4-0-2 vs. NHL teams.

1984:  Edmonton Oilers beat the Minnesota North Stars, 12-8 at Northlands Coliseum in Alberta Canada to set an NHL record for most goals by two teams in a single game. (The 20 combined goals scored in a game had been the most total goals scored in a game since January 10,1920 when the Montreal Canadiens beat the Toronto St. Pats 14-7).  Wayne Gretzky led the scoring with four goals and four assists, Jarri Kurri with 3 goals, and Mark Messier added six assists.  Minnesota started the 1st with Don Beaupre between the pipes (7 saves on 12 shots) and Edmonton countered with Grant Fuhr (28 saves on 36 shots). Gilles Meloche started the 2nd period in net for the North Stars (17 saves on 24 shots). North Stars 8 goals were scored by: Dennis Maruk, Dino Ciccarelli (2), Brad Maxwell, Steve Payne, Brian Bellows, Keith Acton & Craig Hartsburg. 

1985:  While in Czechoslovakia, the St. Paul Vulcans won five straight games, in 3 days to win the Liberation Cup, the Championship trophy awarded to the winner of a 16-team holiday tournament held in Brno, Czechoslovakia. 

1986:  Warroad, MN native Dave Christian had five points (two goals and three assists) to lead the Capitals to a 9-3 win against the New Jersey Devils. 

1988:  Chicago Blackhawks obtained Dirk Graham from the Minnesota North Stars in exchange for Curt Fraser.

1990:  Brian Bellows scored his 4th career hat trick to lead the Minnesota North Stars to an 8-2 win against the NY Rangers.

1992:  Bobby Smith became the 73rd player in NHL history to appear in a 1,000 career games and the Minnesota North Stars were credited with the 450th home victory in franchise history, 4-3 over the Vancouver Canucks at Met Center.  Mike Modano scored the go-ahead goal with 3:51 remaining in the game.  The win ended the Canucks 10 game streak (6-0-3) - the second longest winning streak in team history when Vancouver went 10 games without a loss in March of 1977.

2002:  Minnesota Wild acquired defenseman David Cullen from the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for center Sebastien Bordeleau.

2002:  Andrew Brunette and Lubomir Sekeras scored power-play goals during a five-minute span in the first period as the Wild won 2-1 against the visiting Nashville Predators.

2009:  Owen Nolan scored twice in the 1st period and Niklas Backstrom made 33 saves for his 13th career shutout as the Wild beat the Avs 2-0 in Denver.  It was the first time in 61 regular season and playoff games that Minnesota held the Avalanche scoreless.

2011:  Cal Clutterbuck scored the first goal of the game and picked up six hits as the Wild picked up their first road victory in New Jersey, winning 2-1.

2011:  Minnesota Wild signed free agent Jed Ortmeyer.

2014:  Ryan Suter becomes the Minnesota Wild first Defenseman to notch a hat-trick with 3 goals in just 3 shots in a win over the visiting Washington Capitals in St. Paul.  His 2nd and 3rd goal came .10 seconds apart and per Elias Sports Recording; This was the fastest 2 goals scored in franchise history by one single player.  Ryan Suter also became the first defenseman in team history to score a hat trick as the Wild beat the visiting Capitals 5-3 despite being outshot 30-11.

2014:  Minnesota scored its first five goals on just 11 shots, marking the first time a team had scored five goals on fewer than 13 shots since shots on goal became a recorded statistic in 1973-1974, according the the Elias Sports Bureau. Minnesota scored three of the goals on three power plays tying a franchise record for most PPG in a single period on home ice, occuring only three other times. (Most recently on November 5th, 2007 vs. Edmonton)

2015: Florida Panthers Forward and Blaine, MN native - Nick Bjugstad had 1 goal and 1 assist in the Panthers 4-3 loss to Washington to earn the #3 Star of the Night.

2017:  Minnesota Wild Foundation named; Crystal Boudreau (wife of Wild Head Coach Bruce Boudreau), and Christopher Leipold (son of Wild Owner Craig Leipold) to the Foundations Board of Directors.

2017:  Arizona Coyotes defenseman Alex Goligoski (Grand Rapids, MN native) appeared in his 600th NHL game, in Coyotes 3-0 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.