Minnesota North Stars

Met Center, home ice
of the Minnesota North Stars.

On March 11, 1965, 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.[1] In response to Campbell's announcement, a partnership of nine men, led by Walter Bush, Jr., Robert Ridder, and John Driscoll, was formed to seek a franchise for the Twin Cities area of Minnesota.[2][3][4][5] Their efforts were successful, as the NHL awarded one of its six expansion franchises to Minnesota on February 9, 1966.[3] In addition to Minnesota, the five other franchises were awarded to Oakland, California, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis.[3] The expansion fee for all six new clubs was $2 million for each team ($15.8 million in 2019 dollars).[6] The "North Stars" name was announced on May 25, 1966, following a public contest.[3] The name is derived from the state's motto "L'Étoile du Nord", which is a French phrase meaning "The Star of the North".[7] Months after the naming of the team, ground was broken on October 3, 1966, for a new hockey arena in Bloomington, Minnesota.[3] The home of the North Stars, the Metropolitan Sports Center, was built in 12 months at a cost of US$7 million ($55.2 million in 2019 dollars).[2] The arena was ready for play for the start of the 1967–68 NHL season, but portions of the arena's construction had not been completed.[8] Spectator seats were in the process of being installed as fans arrived at the arena for the opening home game on October 21, 1967.[8]

On October 11, 1967, the North Stars played the first game in franchise history on the road against the St. Louis Blues, another expansion team.[7] The game ended in a 2–2 tie, with former US National Team forward Bill Masterton scoring the first goal in franchise history.[9] On October 21, 1967, the North Stars played their first home game against the California Seals. The North Stars won 3–1. The team achieved success early as it was in first place in the West Division halfway through the 1967–68 season.[7] Tragedy struck the team during the first season on January 13, 1968, when Masterton suffered a fatal hit during a game against the Seals at Met Center.[7] Skating towards the Seals goal across the blue line, Masterton fell backwards, hitting the back of his head on the ice, rendering him unconscious.[7][10] He never regained consciousness and died on January 15, 1968, at the age of 29, two days after the accident.[7] Doctors described the cause of Masterton's death as a "massive brain injury".[10] To this date, this remains the only death to a player as a result of an injury during a game in NHL history.[11] The North Stars retired his jersey, and later that year, hockey writers established the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy which would be given annually to a player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.[12] Following the news of Masterton's death, the North Stars lost the next six games.[7]

The North Stars would achieve success in their first year of existence by finishing in fourth place in the West Division with a record of 27–32–15, and advancing to the playoffs.[7] During the 1968 playoffs, the North Stars defeated the Los Angeles Kings in seven games after losing the first two in the series.[7] In the next round, the West finals, the North Stars faced the St. Louis Blues in a series which would also go to a seventh game.[7] Minnesota was one game away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Finals, but in the deciding game, they lost in double overtime.[7]

The team was led in the early years by the goaltending duo Lorne "Gump" Worsley and Cesare Maniago. Defenseman Ted Harris was the North Stars' captain. The first Stars team also included high-scoring winger Bill Goldsworthy and other quality players such as Barry Gibbs, Jude Drouin, J. P. Parise, Danny Grant, Lou Nanne, Tom Reid and Dennis Hextall.

The World Hockey Association (WHA) began play in 1972 with a franchise based in St. Paul, the Minnesota Fighting Saints. While a number of exhibition games were played between teams in the two leagues, the North Stars never played their cross-town rivals. However, the competition for the hockey dollar between these two clubs was fierce.[13] Despite making a good account of themselves on the ice, insurmountable financial difficulties forced the Fighting Saints to fold midway through their fourth season. A second incarnation of the Fighting Saints only lasted half of the following season before folding as well.

By 1978 the North Stars had missed the playoffs in five of the previous six seasons, and had only tallied two winning seasons since joining the league. Attendance had tailed off so rapidly that the league feared that the franchise was on the verge of folding. At this point, Gordon and George Gund III, owners of the equally strapped Cleveland Barons, stepped in with an unprecedented solution—merging the North Stars with the Barons. The merged team retained the North Stars name, colors, and history, and remained in Minnesota. However, the wealthier Gunds became majority owners of the merged team, and the North Stars moved from the then-five team Smythe Division to assume the Barons' place in the Adams Division (which would otherwise have been left with only three teams) for the 1978–79 season. The recently retired Nanne was named general manager, and a number of the Barons players – notably goaltender Gilles Meloche and forwards Al MacAdam and Mike Fidler – bolstered the Minnesota lineup. Furthermore, Minnesota had drafted Bobby Smith, who would go on to win the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's top rookie that year, and Steve Payne, who himself would go on to record 42 goals in his second campaign in 1979–80.

In the middle of this transition, a historic night awaited the North Stars. On January 7, 1980, Minnesota was scheduled to play the Philadelphia Flyers, who came to Bloomington sporting the NHL’s and major league sports’ longest undefeated streak, a 35-game run which included 25 wins and 10 ties.[14] An all-time record Met Center crowd of 15,962 squeezed into the arena, which would remain the highest total in all 26 seasons of the North Stars franchise. Minnesota ended the Flyers' streak with a 7–1 win, with two North Stars posting hat tricks. In the quarter-final round 1980 Stanley Cup playoffs, the North Stars upset the four-time defending champion Montreal Canadiens in seven games before ultimately bowing out to Philadelphia in the following round.

With the addition of new players such as Minnesota native and ex-1980 Olympian Neal Broten and sniper Dino Ciccarelli, the North Stars had five straight winning seasons starting in 1979–80, which included back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup semifinals, first against the Flyers in 1980 and then against the Calgary Flames in 1981. By defeating the Flames in 1981, the North Stars reached their first Stanley Cup Final, only to lose in five games to the heavily favored New York Islanders.

Following the 1981 NHL realignment to a more geographically grouped configuration, the North Stars found themselves placed in the Norris Division. Dino Ciccarelli scored a franchise record 55 goals in just his second season in 1981–82, leading Minnesota to its first division title. The team, however, bowed out of the playoffs in the first round against the Chicago Black Hawks.

In the summer of 1982, general manager Lou Nanne orchestrated one of the franchise's biggest moves ever, landing a star in the making by drafting highly coveted Brian Bellows. It paid immediate dividends, as Bellows would score 35 goals in his rookie season of 1982–83 and help the team to finish with 40 wins and 96 regular season points – both the most ever recorded in the 26 years the franchise was based in Minnesota. Once again, though, the North Stars fell in the playoffs to the Black Hawks, this time in the second round.

Beginning in 1983–84, the team was determined to erase the failures of the previous two campaigns and came close to doing so. This was a season of change for the North Stars and their fans, as Bill Mahoney, a defensive-minded teacher of the game, took over as coach. Very early in the season, a major trade shook the organization, all of Minnesota, and the NHL. The popular Bobby Smith was shipped off to the Montreal Canadiens for a pair of defense-minded forwards, Keith Acton and Mark Napier. The team posted the second-highest victory total in its history with 39, and win its second Norris Division crown in three years. Luckily for the North Stars, the Norris Division was very weak that year; they were the only team in the division to have a winning record that season.

In the playoffs, the North Stars finally defeated their rival, the Chicago Black Hawks. Minnesota won the series 3–2, then eliminated the St. Louis Blues in seven games. Only one team remained between the North Stars’ second Stanley Cup Final appearance in four seasons: Wayne Gretzky's Edmonton Oilers. It was a tough, high-scoring series, but Edmonton's star-studded lineup proved too much for the North Stars, and the Oilers swept Minnesota in four games en route to their first Stanley Cup championship.

After 1984, the franchise only had one more winning season in Minnesota, in 1985–86. Seemingly, the franchise hit bottom in 1987–88, when it won only 19 games, still the second-fewest wins in franchise history. However, the Norris Division was so weak that year (only the Red Wings finished with a winning record) that the North Stars and Toronto Maple Leafs were fighting it out for the last playoff spot from the division on the last day of the season despite having the two worst records in the league. In those days, the four top teams in each division made the playoffs, regardless of record. A loss to the Calgary Flames not only kept the North Stars out of the playoffs, but also assured them of the worst record in the league. While the late 1980s saw the franchise draft what would turn out to be their greatest player – forward Mike Modano – chronic attendance problems spurred the owners to threaten to move the club to the San Francisco Bay Area, against the league’s wishes.

The NHL instituted a compromise for the 1990–91 season whereby the Gund brothers were awarded an expansion team in the Bay Area, the San Jose Sharks, that would receive players via a dispersal draft with the North Stars. A group previously petitioning for an NHL team in the Bay Area, led by Howard Baldwin and Morris Belzberg, bought the North Stars as part of the deal. Baldwin and Belzberg purchased the team from the Gund brothers for approximately $38.1 million (including $1 million in liabilities as well as giving the Gunds their share of the fees from the next three expansion teams, expected to be $7.14 million). Norman Green, a former part-owner of the Calgary Flames and a last-minute newcomer to Baldwin and Belzberg's group, purchased 51% controlling interest in the North Stars from them, with Baldwin and Belzberg sharing the remaining 49% stake in the team. Green agreed to purchase Baldwin's 24.5% share, giving him more than 75% control of the team shortly after a dispute with Baldwin arose. Belzberg maintained his share of the rest of the team's stock until October 1990, when Green became the team's sole owner by buying Belzberg's shares.

In that 1991 season, despite a losing record in the regular season, the North Stars embarked on a Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Finals. They knocked off the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues (the top two teams in the NHL during the regular season) in six games each and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Edmonton Oilers in five games, making it to the finals for the second time in franchise history. The team fought hard against the eventual champion Pittsburgh Penguins, led by Mario Lemieux. They won two out of the first three contests before being obliterated 8–0 in Game 6 of the best-of-seven series. It was the most one-sided defeat in a deciding game of the Stanley Cup Finals since the original Ottawa Senators defeated the Dawson City Nuggets 23–2 in 1905.

Following the 1991 Finals run, the North Stars adopted a new logo – the word "STARS" in italicized gold capitals over a green star with a gold outline; the gold now a more metallic shade than the previous yellowish shade. The team also adopted black as their primary color for their road uniforms, and eliminated gold from the uniform, except for the logo. Even before the logo change, it had been speculated that the North Stars would adopt a new logo following the 1990–91 season, as the future primary logo was first painted on the Met Center ice prior to the aforementioned season, albeit in a reverse color scheme than its upcoming incarnation.

To celebrate the team's 25th anniversary, the team wore a commemorative patch on the left shoulder of their uniforms. The patch depicted Bill Goldsworthy, wearing a green uniform, facing off against Mike Modano, wearing the new black uniform.

The North Stars made the 1992 playoffs with their new look, and took a 3–2 series lead into Game 6 at the Met Center against the Norris Division champion Detroit Red Wings. The Red Wings won, 1–0, in overtime after a video referee review confirmed that Sergei Fedorov had scored a goal. This was the first use of video replay in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Wings won the seventh game at home, 5–2.

The team had 17 playoff appearances, a 77–82 playoff record, 2 Norris Division championships, and 2 Campbell Conference championships.

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes[24]

Regular season

• Games played: Neal Broten, 876
• Goals: Brian Bellows, 342
• Assists: Neal Broten, 547
• Points: Neal Broten, 796
• Penalty minutes: Basil McRae, 1,567
• Games: Cesare Maniago, 420
• Wins: Cesare Maniago, 145
• Shutouts: Cesare Maniago, 26

Playoffs

• Games played: Neal Broten, 104
• Goals: Steve Payne, 35
• Assists: Bobby Smith, 50
• Points: Brian Bellows, 83
• Penalty minutes: Willi Plett, 201
• Games: Gilles Meloche, 45
• Wins: Gilles Meloche and Jon Casey, 21
• Shutouts: Cesare Maniago, 3

This is a listing of the top ten point scorers in franchise history.

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game

Note: This list does not include Dallas Stars, California Golden Seals and Cleveland Barons captains.[7]

These numbers remain retired with the Dallas Stars today. In addition to Goldsworthy and Masterton, the Stars have retired the number 7 of Neal Broten, who played with the North Stars from 1981 to 1993, and the number 9 of Mike Modano who played from 1988 to 1993.

• 1967: Wayne Cheesman (fourth overall)
• 1968: Jim Benzelock (fifth overall)
• 1969: Dick Redmond (fifth overall)
• 1970: none
• 1971: none
• 1972: Jerry Byers (12th overall)
• 1973: none
• 1974: Doug Hicks (sixth overall)
• 1975: Bryan Maxwell (fourth overall)
• 1976: Glen Sharpley (third overall)
• 1977: Brad Maxwell (seventh overall)
• 1978: Bobby Smith (first overall)
• 1979: Craig Hartsburg (sixth overall) and Tom McCarthy (10th overall)
• 1980: Brad Palmer (16th overall)
• 1981: Ron Meighan (13th overall)
• 1982: Brian Bellows (second overall)
• 1983: Brian Lawton (first overall)
• 1984: David Quinn (13th overall)
• 1985: none
• 1986: Warren Babe (12th overall)
• 1987: Dave Archibald (sixth overall)
• 1988: Mike Modano (first overall)
• 1989: Doug Zmolek (seventh overall)
• 1990: Derian Hatcher (eighth overall)
• 1991: Richard Matvichuk (eighth overall)
• 1992: none

Al Shaver did all radio play-by-play except in 1992–93, when he did radio play-by-play on non televised games. He also missed some games when he did the high school hockey tournament in a number of years. Shaver's replacements were Bob Kurtz (1979–80), Ted Robinson (1980–81 and 1981–82), Frank Mazzocco (1986–87), Ralph Strangis (1990–91). In 1992–93, Doug McLeod did radio play-by-play on televised games with various analysts including Doug Woog, Tom Vannelli, and Wally Shaver.

Shaver did not follow the North Stars when they moved to Dallas in 1993, opting to stay in the Twin Cities. He called University of Minnesota men's hockey for several seasons, then retired in 1996. Shaver came out of retirement for one season in 2000, when the NHL returned to Minnesota with the debut of the Minnesota Wild, calling their games during their inaugural season in 2000-01.

After retiring as a player, Reid spent 12 years as color commentator for the North Stars. After the team's move to Dallas, Reid continued as an analyst for NCAA hockey. He and Bob Kurtz have been part of the radio broadcast team for the Minnesota Wild since the team's inaugural season in 2000.

Although Strangis had a great deal of broadcast experience, his tryout as color commentator on the Minnesota North Stars radio network was a longshot; other better-known sportscasters received more air time during the auditioning process. The five potential candidates split up a game as guest commentators alongside Al Shaver, then voice of the Minnesota North Stars. The two better-known talents each took a period and then the three longshots split up the third, with Strangis going last. When Al Shaver was asked who he liked the best, he chose Strangis. Ralph shone in his audition, with the perfect ability to complement Shaver's play-by-play with insights from the players and his own intimate knowledge of the game. When the Stars moved to Dallas in 1993, Shaver decided to not to migrate south with the franchise and retired. After three more seasons as color commentator (teaming with Mike Fornes), Strangis migrated to the play-by-play mic, effectively cementing his status as the "Voice of the Stars."

In 1979, Kurtz joined KMSP-TV, where he called Minnesota Twins games from 1979–1986 and Minnesota North Stars games from 1979–1984. He was also the North Stars play by play announcer on KXLI-TV during the 1987–88 NHL season. From 1988–1989, he was the sports director at KSTP radio, where he also called University of Minnesota hockey, football and basketball.[27] Kurtz returned to Minnesota in 2000 when he was hired to become the first radio play by play announcer for the Minnesota Wild. He was reunited with Tom Reid, who he previously worked with while calling games for the North Stars as well as University of Minnesota and Michigan State hockey broadcasts.[27]