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.

*

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.

October 11, 1967: The NHL's Great Expansion

October 11, 1967: It is a huge day in the history of the National Hockey League, as five of its "Second Six" expansion teams play their 1st regular season games:

* At the St. Louis Arena, the St. Louis Blues and the Minnesota North Stars play to a 2-2 tie. Larry Keenan scores the 1st goal for St. Louis. Bill Masterton, a longtime minor-league star finally getting his chance with expansion, scores the 1st for Minnesota.

But Masterton played with no helmet, and his shaved head offered no protection. Later in the season, he will hit his head on the ice, and become the only player in the League's 105-year history (so far) to die as the direct result of an in-game injury. The NHL will dedicate an annual trophy for perseverance and courage in his memory.

* At the Oakland Coliseum Arena, the Oakland Seals defeat the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-1. Bill Sutherland scores the 1st Flyer goal, while Kent Douglas scores the 1st for the Seals.

This is a false dawn for the Seals: The team later known as the California Golden Seals will make the Playoffs just once before moving to become the Cleveland Browns in 1976, and in 1978 were merged with the also-bankrupt North Stars, the combined franchise staying in Minnesota. The Flyers will finish 1st in the NHL Western Division, be mostly competitive until the late 1980s, and win the 1974 and '75 Stanley Cups.

* At Pittsburgh's Civic Arena, former New York Rangers star Andy Bathgate scores the 1st goal in Pittsburgh Penguins history, but the Pens lose 2-1 to the Montreal Canadiens, whose Captain, Jean Béliveau, scores his 400th career NHL goal.

* The Los Angeles Kings will debut on October 14, at the Long Beach Convention Center, as The Forum in Inglewood is not yet ready. They beat the Flyers, 4-2. The 1st L.A. goal is scored by Brian Kilrea, a nephew of 3 NHL players. He goes on to be elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame for his work as a coach and executive in junior hockey in the family's native Ottawa.

Jack Kent Cooke, owner of the original Toronto Maple Leafs, the minor-league baseball team that gave its name to the city's NHL team, bought the rights to the Los Angeles franchise when he was told that there were 300,000 Canadian expatriates living within a 3-hour drive of Los Angeles. The team's early struggle for attendance led him to sell the Kings, the NBA's Lakers, and The Forum to Jerry Buss in 1979. Cooke said of those alleged 300,000 people, "Now I know why they left Canada: They hate hockey!"

As I said, the Flyers won their 1st Stanley Cup in 1974, and their 2nd in 1975. They have not won it since, going 0-6 in Finals. The Penguins won their 1st in 1991, and now have 5.

The North Stars never won it, and in 1993 they moved, becoming the Dallas Stars, winning the Cup in 1999. In the process, they, in a manner of speaking, won a Cup for the Seals/Barons franchise as well. A year later, the expansion Minnesota Wild took their place in the Twin Cities. They haven't won a Cup, either.

The Kings did not reach the Stanley Cup Finals until 1993, and didn't win a Cup until 2012. They won another in 2014. And the Blues finally won one in 2019, to complete the circuit.

*

October 11, 1967 was a Wednesday. So there was no football. And the NBA and the just-founded ABA were about to begin their seasons. These other games were played in the NHL that day:

* The New York Rangers beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 6-3 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The Boston Bruins and the Detroit Red Wings played to a tie, 4-4 at the Boston Garden.

* Along with the Kings, the Maple Leafs did not play.

And there was baseball played that day, Game 6 of the World Series at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski, Reggie Smith and Rico Petrocelli hit the only back-to-back-to-back home runs in Series history. Petrocelli adds another, and the Boston Red Sox defeat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-4, and send the Series to a deciding Game 7.

Cardinal manager Red Schoendienst, himself a World Series winner as a player with the Cardinals of 1946 and the Milwaukee Braves of 1957, announces his choice to pitch Game 7: Bob Gibson, on 3 days rest. Sox manager Dick Williams, knowing that his ace, Jim Lonborg, would have only 2 days rest, announces his starter to the Boston media: "Lonborg and champagne."

Those words are put on the front page of the Boston Globe the next day, and it ticks the Cards off. And the last thing anyone wants to see in a World Series game is a ticked-off Bob Gibson. As it turned out, Lonborg had nothing, Gibson hit a home run off him, and Gibson went the distance. The Cards won, 7-2.

There is one other notable baseball story on October 11, 1967: Former Brooklyn Dodger star Gil Hodges, who married a Brooklyn woman, Joan Lombardi, and stayed in the Borough after the Dodgers moved, leaves the managerial post of the Washington Senators, to become the manager of the Queens-based Mets. The Mets do compensate the Senators. Hodges will only manage the Mets for 4 seasons before a heart attack claims his life, but one of those seasons will be the Miracle of '69.

Comedian Artie Lange was born that day. So was PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel.

May 25, 1991: Mario and Pittsburgh Win the Cup

May 25, 1991: The Pittsburgh Penguins win their 1st Stanley Cup, taking Game 6 of the Finals against the Minnesota North Stars by a whopping 8-0, at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington. Few teams have ever been so badly battered in their own house in a postseason game as the Stars were.

Mario Lemieux and Jaromír Jágr win their 1st Stanley Cup. So does longtime Hartford Whaler star Ron Francis. So does Korean-born, Toronto-raised Jim Paek, who scores in this game. He was the 1st person of Korean descent to play in the NHL, and the 1st native of Asia to win the Cup.

Joe Mullen wins his 2nd, having also won with the 1989 Calgary Flames. Paul Coffey, the former Edmonton Oilers star, wins his 4th. And Bryan Trottier, formerly of the New York Islanders, wins his 5th.

Their coach, Bob Johnson, was known as Badger Bob, having previously led the University of Wisconsin, whose teams are known as the Badgers, to 3 National Championships. He thus became the 1st coach to win an NCAA title and an NHL title. But over the Summer, he was diagnosed with cancer, and died the following November 26. Scotty Bowman was brought in, and he led the Penguins to win the 2nd of back-to-back Cups.

Technically, this game gave Pittsburgh titles in all 4 sports: The Pirates had won 5 World Series, the Steelers had won 4 Super Bowls, and the Pittsburgh Pipers had won the 1968 American Basketball Association Championship, led by Connie Hawkins. However, the Pipers were gone after 1972, and the city has only had an NBA team in the league's 1st season, 1946-47, the Pittsburgh Ironmen. Their best player was Press Maravich, later the father and coach of Pistol Pete.

As for the Stars, they will be moved to Dallas just 2 years later. By the time they finally win the Cup in 1999, only 1 player from this team will still be there: Mike Modano.

*

May 25, 1991 was a Saturday. Football was out of season. There was 1 game in the NBA Playoffs: The Chicago Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons, 113-107 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Michael Jordan scored 33 points. The Bulls were about to end the Pistons' 3-year reign as Eastern Conference Champions, and their 2-year reign as NBA Champions, and begin a run of 6 titles in 8 seasons.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 6-5 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. This was a back-and-forth game, including the Yankees scoring 2 runs in the 9th inning and the Orioles 1. Steve Farr was the winning pitcher, in relief of Pascual Pérez. Don Mattingly and Cal Ripken hit home runs.

* The New York Mets lost to the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-2 at Shea Stadium. Ken Hill outpitched Wally Whitehurst. Howard Johnson hit a home run.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-6 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Orlando Merced hit a home run in the bottom of the 11th inning. Barry Bonds went 1-for-4.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Boston Red Sox, 3-2 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Montreal Expos, 6-1 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-4 at Milwaukee County Stadium. The Tribe scored 2 runs in the 9th to come from behind. Robin Yount went 2-for-4. Paul Molitor went 0-for-4 with a walk.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 11-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. George Brett went 2-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 4-2 at the Astrodome in Houston. It was 1-1 after 9 innings. Scott Coolbaugh hit a home run in the top of the 10th inning, and scored 2 more runs. The Astros pulled one back in the bottom of the 10th, but got no closer. Tony Gwynn went 1-for-5 with an RBI.

* The California Angels beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 5-0 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Kirk McCaskill pitched 7 innings of 4-hit shutout ball, Mark Eichhorn allowed a hit in the 8th, and Bryan Harvey pitched a perfect 9th. Dave Winfield went 1-for-4.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-3 at the Oakland Coliseum. José Canseco hit a home run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* And the Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners, 8-6 at the Kingdome in Seattle. In the top of the 11th, Gary Pettis singled home 2 runs, and Juan González hit a 2-run homer. In the bottom of the 11th, Jay Buhner hit a 2-run homer, but the M's got no closer. Ken Griffey Jr. also homered for them.

April 13, 1993: The End of the Minnesota North Stars

Mike Modano

April 13, 1993: The Minnesota North Stars lose to the Chicago Blackhawks, 3-2 at the Metropolitan Sports Center, in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota. It is the Stars' last home game: Their owner, Norm Green, is moving them to Texas, to become the Dallas Stars.

Russ Courtnall scored the team's last goal, with 23 seconds left in the game. The 1st home game had been on October 21, 1967, also at the Met Center, a 3-1 win over the Oakland Seals, with Bill Goldsworthy scoring the 1st goal.

The North Stars reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1981, losing to the New York Islanders; and in 1991, losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins. They also got to the Playoffs' round of 4 in 1968, 1971, 1980 and 1984. They finished 1st in the Norris Division in the regular season in 1980 and 1982.

But the Met Center was built next-door to Metropolitan Stadium, in Bloomington, 9 miles south of downtown Minneapolis, and 11 miles southwest of downtown St. Paul. Transit links were not good at the time. The arena, which looked more like a giant 1960s bank than one of the 1920s arenas used by the NHL's "Original Six" teams, didn't have the kind of amenities that were being put into the new NHL and NBA arenas of the 1980s and '90s. And attendance was never all that good.

In contrast, Dallas was a fast-growing metropolitan area, had the new Reunion Arena, and was planning a larger, better arena, which became the American Airlines Center, opening in 2001.

What's more, Norm Green, who had previously moved the Atlanta Flames to his hometown of Calgary in 1980, and bought the North Stars in 1990, fell into a sex scandal, and decided that leaving Minnesota was the best thing for himself, but he didn't want to give up ownership of the team, not caring about the effect the move would have on the fans. 

The team played one more game under the Minnesota name, losing to the Detroit Red Wings, 5-3 at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit on April 15. (By a weird coincidence, the last game of the original Winnipeg Jets, in the 1996 Playoffs, would also be against the Red Wings, albeit as a home game for the departing team, who became the Phoenix, now Arizona, Coyotes.)

In 1995, for financial reasons, Green sold the Stars. They won the Stanley Cup in 1999, and reached the Finals again in 2000, without him. The year 2000 also saw the restoration of Minnesota to the NHL, as the Xcel Energy Center opened on the site of the St. Paul Civic Center, which had been home to the World Hockey Association's contradictorily-named Minnesota Fighting Saints. The new team's name was also odd: The Minnesota Wild. Not Wildcats, not Wild Dogs, not Wildmen, not Wild Things, just "Wild."

The Dallas Stars -- who should have been named the Dallas Lone Stars -- reached the Stanley Cup Finals again in 2020. The Wild reached the Western Conference Finals in 2003, only their 3rd season, but, despite usually making the Playoffs, as of the 2021-22 season, they have not reached the Stanley Cup Finals.

The North Stars retired 2 numbers: 8, for right wing Bill Goldsworthy; and 19, for center Bill Masterton, the only NHL player to die as the result of an in-game injury, on February 15, 1968. Since the move, the Stars have retired 2 more numbers for players who were with them in Minnesota, both centers: Neal Broten and Mike Modano.

*

April 13, 1993 was a Tuesday. There were 8 games in the NHL that night:

* The New York Islanders and the Hartford Whalers played to a tie, 3-3 at the Nassau Coliseum.

* The Quebec Nordiques beat the Ottawa Senators, 6-2 at the Colisée de Québec.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the St. Louis Blues, 2-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Peter Zezel scored the winning goal with 3:14 left in overtime.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Buffalo Sabres, 3-2 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Brian Bellows -- the Number 1 overall pick in the 1982 NHL Draft, and recently let go by the North Stars after 10 seasons -- scored the winning goal, with 1:10 left in overtime.

* The Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-3 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Calgary Flames beat their arch-rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, 4-2 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.

* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Los Angeles Kings, 7-4 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.

There were 8 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Washington Bullets, 93-85 at Madison Square Garden.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Indiana Pacers, 96-90 at the Boston Garden.

* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 112-109 in double overtime at The Omni in Atlanta. The Cavs overcame 35 points and 25 rebounds by Kevin Willis.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 110-91 at the Orlando Arena. Dennis Scott scored 41.

* The Houston Rockets beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 126-107 at The Summit in Houston. (It's now the Central Campus of the Lakewood Church, Dr. Joel Osteen's "megachurch.)

* The San Antonio Spurs beat the Sacramento Kings, 110-100 at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento.

* The Portland Trail Blazers beat the Los Angeles Clippers, 101-99 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

* And the Seattle SuperSonics beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 129-95 at the Seattle Center Coliseum.

Football was out of season. These Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Mets beat the Colorado Rockies, 8-4 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The Houston Astros beat the Montreal Expos, 9-6 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-2 at Fenway Park in Boston.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-1 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 3-2 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Seattle Mariners, 6-5 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Ken Griffey Jr. went 1-for-4.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Oakland Athletics, 20-4 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. The Tigers were already up 8-2 in the bottom of the 4th inning, when they scored 8 runs. Rickey Henderson went 0-for-1, had an RBI on a bases-loaded walk, and then left the game.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-0 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago. Alex Fernandez pitched a 3-hit shutout.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 8-3 at Arlington Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Cal Ripken went 0-for-4.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Diego Padres, 6-4 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. Tony Gwynn went 2-for-4.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-7 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the Florida Marlins, 3-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Barry Bonds did not play.

* And the New York Yankees, the California Angels, the Kansas City Royals and the Milwaukee Brewers were not scheduled.

January 13, 1968: Bill Masterton is Killed

January 13, 1968: Bill Masterton of the Minnesota North Stars suffers a head injury in a game against the Oakland Seals. He dies 2 days later. He remains the only NHL player to die directly as a result of an injury suffered during a game.

William Masterton (I can find no reference to him having a middle name) was born on August 13, 1938 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. In 1955-56, his 1st season of junior hockey, he led the St. Boniface Canadiens to the Turnbull Cup, the championship of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

After one more season with them, he went to the University of Denver, which ended its football program in 1961, while he was there. But it has had a great hockey program, and has won more NCAA National Championships in skiing than any other school. It's also known for its engineering department, and that's where he got his degree.

He helped them win the National Championship in 1960 and 1961, and in '61 was named the NCAA Tournament's Most Valuable Player. He became the school's all-time leading scorer, and held that distinction of the next 25 years. For these achievements, he was elected to the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame in 1985, and to the NCAA's 50th Anniversary hockey team in 1997.

But this was the era of the inaccurately-named "Original Six." There were just 6 teams in the National Hockey League, and at 20 men on a roster, there were only 120 slots available for anyone who wanted to play in the League.

After graduation, Masterton signed with the Montreal Canadiens. At age 23, he should already have been ready for the NHL. But the Habs already had Jean Béliveau and Henri Richard, 2 future Hall-of-Famers, at center. So they assigned Masterton to their farm team, the Hull-Ottawa Canadiens of the Eastern Professional Hockey League. He scored 31 goals in 1961-62. He was assigned to the Cleveland Barons of the American Hockey League. He led the team in scoring in 1962-63. Still, the Canadiens wouldn't promote him for the 1963-64 season.

So he quit hockey. He got his master's degree at the University of Denver. He got a job with the Honeywell Corporation in Minneapolis. He married a woman named Carol, and they adopted a son named Scott and a daughter named Sally.

And then he applied for the restoration of his amateur status, and for U.S. citizenship, and got both. Still in the Twin Cities, he played the 1964-65 and 1965-66 seasons with the St. Paul Steers of the United States Hockey League. In 1966-67, he was named Captain of the U.S. national hockey team.

Finally, the NHL expanded. Wren Blair, hired as the 1st head coach and the 1st general manager of the Minnesota North Stars, playing in Bill's adopted metro area, bought his NHL rights from the Canadiens, making him the 1st player to sign with the North Stars. On October 11, 1967, 2 months past his 29th birthday, at the St. Louis Arena, he finally made his NHL debut, and scored the franchise's 1st regular season goal, in a 2-2 tie against the St. Louis Blues.

Blair said, "Because he had a habit of giving everything he had for every second he was on the ice, Bill was the type of player who didn't have to score a lot of goals to help a club." Well, in the team's 1st 38 games, he scored 4 goals and had 8 assists.

Then came the 39th game, against another expansion team, the Oakland Seals, at the Metropolitan Sports Center, built next-door to Metropolitan Stadium, home of MLB's Minnesota Twins and the NFL's Minnesota Vikings, in suburban Bloomington, equidistant from the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

During the 1st period, he carried the puck up the ice at full speed. Just as he passed it, 2 Seals players, Larry Cahan and Ron Harris, converged on him. One of their sticks tangled with his skates, and he pitched forward. The other defender knocked him backward, and he hit the back of his head on the ice. "It sounded like a baseball bat hitting a ball," his teammate André Boudrias recalled.

Like most players of the era, he wasn't wearing a helmet. Also like most players of the era, he had short hair, so he didn't have much protection for his head that way, either. He was bleeding from his nose, ears and mouth. Referee Wally Harris did not call a penalty on the play. He said, "He was checked hard, but I'm sure it wasn't a dirty play."

He was taken to Fairview-Southdale Hospital. Incredibly, the game went on. Ray Cullen scored for the Stars at the 17:39 mark of the 2nd period. Mike McMahon (not to be confused with the later Rutgers quarterback who washed out with the Philadelphia Eagles), scored a power-play goal at 3:41 in the 3rd, to make it 2-0 Stars. But the Seals then scored twice in quick succession, with John Brenneman and Wally Boyer. Over the last 13:16 of the game, both teams struggled to find a winner, and couldn't, and, like Masterton's 1st NHL game, his last NHL game ended 2-2.

Carol was in the stands, and went to the hospital. His parents were listening to the game on the radio in Winnipeg, and they came, too. His brother and the children were also brought. The doctors realized that his brain was too swollen to operate. Without ever regaining consciousness, he died shortly after midnight on January 15, 1968. He was 29 years old.

Carol said it was a fluke, that it could have happened to anyone. The Masterton family never blamed Cahan or Harris for what happened. But, in the one interview he's given on the subject, with the St. Paul Pioneer Press in 2003, Harris said, "It bothers you the rest of your life. It wasn't dirty, and it wasn't meant to happen that way. Still, it's very hard, because I made the play. It's always in the back of my mind."

Harris became an original Atlanta Flame in 1972, but was traded in mid-season to the New York Rangers, remaining with them through 1976. He went into coaching. He is still alive, age 78. Cahan, who had played with the Rangers before that season, hung on in the WHA until 1974, never publicly spoke about the incident, and died in 1992.

An autopsy showed that the injury wasn't Masterton's 1st brain injury. Two weeks earlier, against the Boston Bruins, he had been checked hard into the glass, and had complained to his wife and his teammates about headaches. But, in the era's macho culture, he didn't tell coach Blair. It's been suggested that the kind of brain swelling he sustained is rare as the result of one injury -- but not from two in quick succession.

Boudrias was one of the few players to wear a helmet at the time. He became an original Vancouver Canuck in 1970, and in his 6 seasons with them, he became known as "Superpest" for his hard checking. He later served as a scout with the New Jersey Devils, helping to build their 3 Stanley Cup winners. Before his death in 2019, he told an interviewer that, if Masterton had been wearing one, he would have survived: "There's no doubt in my mind about that."

The North Stars, not even halfway through their 1st season of play, immediately retired Masterton's Number 19. That season, the NHL created the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to "the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to ice hockey."

The 1st winner was Claude Provost of the Canadiens. It tends to be awarded to players who overcame terrible injuries or illnesses, including Rod Gilbert of the Rangers, who survived a nearly-paralyzing back injury; Bryan Berard, who nearly saw his career end with an eye injury while with the Islanders; and Brian Boyle, a former Ranger who overcame leukemia to star with the Devils. 

On June 1, 1979, the NHL made helmets mandatory for new players, but allowed those who signed professional contracts before that date to not wear them. In 1997, with the Blues, Craig MacTavish became the last player to enter a game without a helmet.

*

January 13, 1968 was a Saturday. It was the off-season for Major League Baseball. The next day, Super Bowl II would be played, and the NFL Champion Green Bay Packers would beat the AFL Champion Oakland Raiders, 33-14 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

In addition to the game in which Masterton was killed, there were 4 other NHL games:

* The New York Rangers beat the St. Louis Blues, 3-1 at the St. Louis Arena. Phil Goyette, Don Marshall and Rod Gilbert scored for the Broadway Blueshirts.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Boston Bruins, 5-1 at the Montreal Forum. John Ferguson had 2 goals for Les Habitantes. Also scoring was a rookie who would go on to help them win 8 Stanley Cups, starting with this season, and then coach the New Jersey Devils to their 1st Cup: Jacques Lemaire.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 7-0 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. Bob Pulford scored a hat trick for the Cup holders -- which the Leafs haven't been since.

* And the Chicago Black Hawks and the Detroit Red Wings, arch-rivals, played to a 4-4 tie at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit. (Up until 1986, when the team's original charter was found, showing "Blackhawks" written as one word, the name was listed as 2 words: "Black Hawks.")

There were 3 games played in the NBA that day:

* The Cincinnati Royals beat the San Diego Rockets, 122-116 at the Cincinnati Gardens. Oscar Robertson scored 32 and Jerry Lucas 28 for the Royals, who became the Kansas City Kings in 1972 and the Sacramento Kings in 1985. John Block scored 30 for the Rockets, who moved to Houston in 1971.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Detroit Pistons, 115-106 at Cobo Hall in Detroit. Wilt Chamberlain scored 27 points, but he did not lead all scorers. Dave Bing scored 29 in defeat.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Baltimore Bullets, 110-106 at the Chicago Stadium. Bob Boozer scored 32 points.

And 2 games were played in the ABA, which was in its 1st season:

* The New Jersey Americans beat the Oakland Oaks, 118-110 at the Teaneck Armory. Tony Jackson led all pro basketball players that day, with 34 points. The Oaks won the 1969 ABA title, and still had to move, becoming the Washington Caps the next season, and the Virginia Squires the season after that, folding with the ABA in 1976.

The Americans moved to Long Island for 1968-69, becoming the New York Nets. They joined the NBA in 1976, became the New Jersey Nets in 1977, and became the Brooklyn Nets in 2012.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Pittsburgh Pipers, 113-99 at the Indiana Fairgrounds Coliseum (now the Corteva Coliseum) in Indianapolis. The Pipers went on to win the title that season, anyway. On the other hand, they folded well before the ABA did. The Pacers won 3 ABA titles, and joined the NBA in 1976.

Also, Arsenal drew with Sheffield United, 1-1 at Highbury in North London.