Minnesota North Stars

The Minnesota North Stars were a team in the National Hockey League between 1967 and 1993. In the fall of 1993, the franchise was moved to Dallas, Texas, where it is now known as the Dallas Stars. The team's colors (for most of their history) were green, gold and white.

History

Starting with the 1967-1968 season, the NHL expanded from its long-time base of six teams (the so-called Original Six) to twelve teams. As a well-known hockey hotbed, Minnesota was the natural site for a franchise. With the new Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington for a home arena and behind a skilled management team, the North Stars had respectable success in the early years, prospering behind goaltending duo Lorne "Gump" Worsley and Cesare Maniago, defenseman and captain Ted Harris, high-scoring winger Bill Goldsworthy and other quality players such as Barry Gibbs, Jude Drouin, J.P. Parise, Danny Grant, and Dennis Hextall

Related Topics:
1967-1968 season - Original Six - Minnesota - Metropolitan Sports Center - Lorne "Gump" Worsley - Cesare Maniago - Captain - Ted Harris - Bill Goldsworthy - Barry Gibbs - Jude Drouin - J.P. Parise - Danny Grant - Dennis Hextall

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Early in its first season, the North Stars suffered an team tragedy when, on January 13, 1968, forward Bill Masterton suffered a catastrophic injury during a game against the Oakland Seals. After contact with a defending player, Masterton (who was not wearing a helmet) slipped backwards on the ice, falling hard on the back of his head. Masterton never regained consciousness and died two days later, on January 15, 1968 at the age of 30. To date, this remains the first and only death in NHL history resulting from an on-ice injury. The North Stars retired his jersey, and hockey writers later that year established the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, given annually to a player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverence, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.

Related Topics:
Bill Masterton - Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy

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By the mid-Seventies, however, with Worsley and Harris retired, the North Stars had fallen on hard times, finishing with perennially poor records and usually out of the playoffs. However, in 1978, the struggling team was bought by the owners of the NHL Cleveland Barons, who merged the two teams in an unprecedented move. A few skilled players -- notably goaltender Gilles Meloche and forwards Al MacAdam and Mike Fidler -- bolstered the lineup; furthermore, Minnesota had drafted the eventual Calder Trophy winner as rookie of the year, Bobby Smith. With the subsequent additions of fine 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 1979-1980, even reaching the Stanley Cup finals in 1981.

Related Topics:
Cleveland Barons - Goaltender - Gilles Meloche - Al MacAdam - Mike Fidler - Calder Trophy - Bobby Smith - Neal Broten - Dino Ciccarelli - 1979-1980 - 1981

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Thereafter, though, success would elude the North Stars. After 1984, the franchise would only have one more winning season in Minnesota, although playing in the weak Norris Division meant that they made the playoffs more often than not. While the Nineties 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 San Jose, much against the league's wishes. A compromise was implemented for the 1990-1991 season where the North Stars would be split into two squads, the then-current owners receiving some players and an expansion franchise for the Bay Area (the San Jose Sharks) -- an irony considering the merger over a decade before with the NHL's previous Bay Area franchise. A new ownership team took over Minnesota, led by a man who would become notorious in the annals of Minnesota hockey, Norman Green.

Related Topics:
Norris Division - Mike Modano - 1990-1991 season - San Jose Sharks - Norman Green

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In that 1991 season, despite a losing record in the regular season, the Cinderella North Stars made it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals. The team fought hard against the eventual champion Pittsburgh Penguins before being obliterated 8-0 in the final game of the series; the most one-sided deciding game defeat in a Stanley Cup final since the Ottawa Silver Seven defeated the Dawson City Nuggets 23-2 in 1905.

Related Topics:
Stanley Cup - Pittsburgh Penguins - Ottawa Silver Seven - Dawson City Nuggets

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The shocking loss seemed to let the air out of the franchise for good. With mounting financial and legal problems, Green demanded concessions that the area and state were unwilling to give, and moved the team to Dallas in the fall of 1993.

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Subsequently, in the next wave of league expansion, the Twin Cities were granted a new franchise, the Minnesota Wild, which took the ice starting in 2000.

Related Topics:
Twin Cities - Minnesota Wild - 2000

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