October 11, 2000: The NHL Is Restored to Minnesota

October 11, 2000: The expansion Minnesota Wild play their 1st home game, at the Xcel Energy Center, built on the site of the old St. Paul Civic Center. They retire the team's uniform Number 1 for their fans. They get goals from Marian Gaborik, Darby Hendrickson and Wes Walz, but that's not enough, as the Philadelphia Flyers play them to a 3-3 tie.

A native of Calgary, Wes Walz is not related to Tim Walz, a successful high school football coach in Mankato, Minnesota, who was elected to Congress in 2006, and Governor in 2018.

Minnesota likes to call itself "The State of Hockey." The University of Minnesota have won 5 National Championships: In 1974, 1976, 1979, 2002 and 2003. They've made the NCAA's "Frozen Four" 22 times. (UPDATE: They made it a 23rd time in 2023.) The University of Minnesota Duluth have won 3 National Championships: 2011, 2018 and 2019; and reached 8 Frozen Fours.

But the Minnesota North Stars played in the NHL for 26 seasons, 1967 to 1993, and only made the Stanley Cup Finals twice, losing to the New York Islanders in 1981 and the Pittsburgh Penguins 1991. In 1993, team owner Norm Green moved them to Texas, where he renamed them the Dallas Stars. He couldn't even do that right: The first thing he should have tried was staying in Minnesota, and the second thing he should have tried was naming them the Dallas Lone Stars.

The North Stars became hockey's version of the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Baltimore Colts: The beloved blue-collar team that was moved for no reason other than money. Green was nicknamed "Norm Greed."

The Metropolitan Sports Center, in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, which opened for the North Stars in 1967, was demolished in 1994. A plan was developed to tear down an arena on the other side of the Mississippi River, the St. Paul Civic Center, and replace it with a new arena with all the modern amenities.

In 1997, the NHL announced 4 new expansion teams: The Nashville Predators, to begin play in 1998; the Atlanta Thrashers, to begin play in 1999 (they moved in 2011, becoming the new Winnipeg Jets); and, to begin play in 2000, the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Minnesota Wild. The Xcel Energy Center opened on time for the Wild, and the NHL was restored to the State.

That name, though. "Wild"? Not "Wildcats," not "Wild Dogs," not even "Wild Things," but just "Wild"? Fans did embrace them, and the 1st uniform number the team retired was 1, in honor of their fans.

In their 1st 22 seasons, the Wild have made the Playoffs 12 times, reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2003.

UPDATE: The Wild's arena was renamed the Grand Casino Arena in 2025. They do not yet have a team hall of fame, but in addition to Number 1 for their fans, in 2022, they retired 9 for center Mikko Koivu.

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October 11, 2000 was a Wednesday. There were 6 other games played in the NHL that night:

* In an "Original Six" matchup, the New York Rangers beat the Montreal Canadiens, 3-1 at Madison Square Garden.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Washington Capitals and the Atlanta Thrashers played to a tie, 3-3 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 3-2 at the Arrowhead Pond (now the Honda Center) in Anaheim. Joe Thornton scored the winning goal with 2:57 left in overtime.

* And the St. Louis Blues and the Los Angeles Kings played to a tie, 4-4 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

Football was in midweek. The NBA season was 20 days away from starting. The New York Yankees won Game 2 of the American League Championship Series, beating the Seattle Mariners, 7-1 at Yankee Stadium. Orlando "El Duque" Hernández was the winning pitcher. Derek Jeter hit a home run.

And the New York Mets won Game 1 of the National League Championship Series, beating the St. Louis Cardinals, 6-2 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Mike Hampton was the winning pitcher. Todd Zeile and Jay Payton hit home runs. Mark McGwire did not play for the Cardinals in this game.