Vintage Minnesota Hockey - History

1937:  Last place Blackhawks owner Fred McLaughlin used a starting lineup of all American-born players (1st in NHL history), but lost to Boston, 6-2. G: Mike Karakas, D: Paul Schaefer, Ernest Klingbeil, F: Milton Brink, Al Suomi & Bun Laprairie.

1957:  Former NHL right winger Tom Gorence born in St. Paul, MN.  Gorence played in the NHL 1978-79 through 1983-84 with Philadelphia and Edmonton.

1965:  On this date, NHL President Clarence Campbell announced that the league would expand to twelve teams from six through the creation of a new six-team division for the 1967–68 season.  In response to Campbell's announcement, a partnership of nine men, led by Walter Bush, Jr. and John Driscoll, was formed to seek a franchise for the Twin Cities area of Minnesota.  Their efforts were successful, as the NHL awarded one of its six expansion franchises to Minnesota on February 9, 1966.  In addition to Minnesota, the five other franchises were awarded to California (Oakland), Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis.

1971:  The 27th annual MSHSL State Boys High School Hockey Tournament is held at the Metropolitan Sports Center from March 11-13th.

1973:  Danny Grant scored both goals to lead the Minnesota North Stars to a 2-1 win over the NY Islanders at the Met Center.

1978:  Defenseman Reed Larson scored twice in the last five minutes of regulation to lead the Red Wings to a 5-4 win over the Colorado Rockies, at the Olympia.

1980:  Edmonton traded goaltender Jim Corsi to the Minnesota North Stars in exchange for future considerations.

1982:  The 38th annual MSHSL State Boys High School Hockey Tournament is held at the St. Paul Civic Center from March 11-13th.

1986:  Don Beaupre got his second career shutout as the North Stars won 4-0 over the Edmonton Oilers in Minnesota.

1992:  The 48th annual MSHSL State Boys High School Hockey Tournament is held at the St. Paul Civic Center from March 11-14th.

1993:  Dave Gagner scored twice and added an assist to lead the Minnesota North Stars to a 4-3 win against the Canucks, at Vancouver.

1993:  At a press conference in Dallas, TX Minnesota North Stars owner Norman Green, and the Dallas City Council announced that the team would move to Dallas following the completion of the 1992-93 season after 26 years in Minnesota. (Fifteen games remained in team history at the time of the announcement, with only 7 home games at Met Center).

1993:  Calgary's Joel Otto played in his 587th NHL career game, moving him into third place on the franchise's all-time games played list in a Flames' 6-3 win vs Detroit.

1995:  Duluth East captures its first State High School Hockey Championship in the "Tourney" since 1960.

2000:  Tampa Bay traded defenseman Chris McAlpine to Atlanta for defenseman Mikko Kuparinen.

2001:  Jean-Sebastien Giguere recorded his third shutout in nine games, and defenseman Mike Crowley scored the winning goal at 3:40 of overtime to give the Mighty Ducks a 1-0 win against the visiting Nashville Predators.

2002:  Marian Gaborik became the first Wild player to be named NHL Player of the Week after scoring eight points (7-1=8), including a league-leading seven goals in four games.

2003:  New York Rangers traded goaltender Johan Holmqvist to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for defenseman Lawrence Nycholat.

2003:  Chicago Blackhawks traded defenseman Phil Housley to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a fourth-round pick and a ninth-round pick in 2003.

2006:  Mark Parrish scored his first goal as a King, and Luc Robitaille scored the lone goal in the shootout as Los Angeles won 2-1 against the Blues at St. Louis.

2007:  Defenseman Brent Burns scored the game-winning goal with 18.9 seconds left in overtime as Minnesota won 3-2 over the visiting Colorado Avalanche.  It was also the Wild's 200th all-time win.

2009:  The 65th annual MSHSL State Boys High School Hockey Tournament is held at the Xcel Energy Center and Mariucci Arena from March 11th-14th.

2015:  Washington Capitals Defenseman (Virginia, MN native) Matt Niskanen was named the #2 Star of the Night after playing 28:10 in the Captials 3-1 loss to the N.Y. Rangers.