Members of the University of Minnesota men’s hockey team played shinny on one of the ten pond hockey rinks set up adjacent to the NHL rink. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

“It’s such a wonderful atmosphere,” Wild coach Dean Evason said after the team’s fifth-consecutive loss. “Obviously, you want to leave with a good feeling but there are so many great things that have happened here the last couple of days.”

The coldest game in NHL history went on without a hitch, complete with multiple pond hockey games, a lumberjack demonstration, simulated ice fishing and a four-song first-intermission concert by country music star, Thomas Rhett. Nearly 40,000 people braved the frigid temps 

“I was looking over my shoulder for a polar bear, that’s how cold it was out there,” Wild assistant captain Marcus Foligno said.  “To see the fans stacked to the top, bracing the cold, that’s why we have the best fans, I believe. You could hear them and the cheer when we scored, too, was kind of an echo and it was a great feeling to play in this game.”

The Blues, who bussed to Target Field and entered the stadium adorned in beach wear, may have had a psychological edge early on in a game which saw the temp at -5.7 degrees Fahrenheit at puck drop and plummet from there. 

“You do suck a little wind out there,” Foligno said. “It’s tough to breathe that deep cold air but, I mean, you’re so caught up in the thrill of the game that it was a really fun atmosphere.”

St. Louis forward Jordan Kyrou watches his shot elude Wild goaltender Cam Talbot’s glove for his second goal of the game in the second period of Minnesota’s 6-4 Winter Classic loss to the Blues at Target Field. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

The game itself was primarily a 60-minute slog of a contest dominated by the Blues, a faster, more rugged squad for much of the night. Jordan Kyrou’s four-point (2-2–4) second period helped turn a 1-1 game into a 6-2 St. Louis lead after two periods and should have brought an end to Wild starting goaltender Cam Talbot’s rough night even if he hadn’t left the game due to a lower-body injury.

Wild coach Dean Evason doesn’t see it that way, however.

“We wouldn’t have taken him out of that game,” Evason said. “He’s a battler, he’s a competitive guy, we don’t take him out of that game because he’s still going to give us a chance to come back.”

Goals by Ryan Hartman and Kevin Fiala and some too-little-too-late inspired play in the final period, after Kaapo Kahkonen was pulled for an extra attacker with more than eight minutes remaining in regulation, made it semi-interesting. The question is, where was that effort for two lackluster periods in a game with so much riding on it in terms of both playoff positioning and national perception?

“It’s embarrassing, I think, the first two periods,” Wild forward Mats Zuccarello said. “You have 40,000 people coming, freezing their asses off and we’re playing like that. … There’s no excuses. It’s cold, it’s cold for both teams, the ice is bouncy for both teams, they just outplayed us for 40 minutes.

“It’s unfortunate it happened on a great night like this when a lot of people leave their house in this cold to support us and we give them a performance like that.”

Deer “roamed” Lake Winter Classic as people fished and made s’mores over a fire pit throughout the game. (MHM Photo / Rick Olson)

Kirill Kaprizov came to play, potting Minnesota’s first goal just 25 seconds after Blues forward David Perron opened the scoring and chipped in two assists. But that goal, redirected off the stick of Blues defenseman Niko Mikkola, and Rem Pitlick’s shot that ramped up a stick before bouncing off the back of a completely unaware Blues goalie Jordan Binnington, was all Minnesota could muster for 40 minutes. 

“They got to their game quicker than we got to ours and we didn’t get to ours, obviously, until the end,” Evason said. “We talked to the group about our sense of urgency has to be way quicker than the last 10 minutes of a hockey game when we’re pulling goalies. 

“They advanced and then they used their skill to score goals once they got in there.” 

That’s troubling, even with Joel Eriksson Ek, Jared Spurgeon and Jonas Brodin all sidelined. The same group somehow mustered 18 of its 33 total shots in the final period to finish with a flurry but it was still mostly a no-show performance. Opinions varied on the impact of the 11-day break between games leading up to the Winter Classic with Evason allowing for the fact his team was rusty.

“Hockey players need to play hockey, not practice hockey. We practiced well, got our touches and all that kind of stuff but, you know, you’ve got that rhythm of a season … and, unfortunately, now we’ve got another four days before we get going again.

“The situation is exactly what it is and we’ve got to find a way to correct our game here real quickly.”

Zuccarello, on the other hand, refused to let himself and his teammates off the hook.

“It doesn’t matter, it’s a big game for us. We lost four in a row, we’ve got to come out with some push and urgency and we didn’t do it. I don’t care when we last played, that is not acceptable for us as a team. I think we all know it.”

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“The Blues were our first real rival,” former North Stars defenseman Tom Reid said.

Reid will be in the home radio booth on Saturday at Target Field to serve as analyst for the Wild-Blues game in the Minnesota Wild’s first-ever appearance in the Winter Classic. While there isn’t much animosity between the Wild and Blues, this matchup is a nod to the history that dates to Minnesota’s first NHL entrant.

Minnesota’s Joel Eriksson Ek and Jared Spurgeon tangle with Blues forwards Vladimir Tarasenko (91) and Ryan O’Reilly (90) in a Feb. 24, 2019 game at Xcel Energy Center won 2-1 by the Wild in on Ryan Donato’s overtime winner. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

The Wild already faced the Blackhawks in an outdoor game in February 2016 that was part of the Stadium Series at TCF Bank Stadium on the University of Minnesota campus. The NHL considered a few potential opponents for the Wild before deciding on the 2019 Stanley Cup champion Blues.

“I thought it was a no-brainer,” to pick the Blues for this game, former North Stars defenseman and general manager Lou Nanne said. “You have to remember, (the Wild) did play Chicago in an outdoor game and Chicago has played so many outdoor games. That nullified them. St. Louis hasn’t had as many, and the Blues have been our natural rival for so long. It’s building up now (with the Wild), and older fans still remember that rivalry with the North Stars.”

The Wild and Blues have been in the Central Division together every season but one since 2013, when the NHL realigned divisions. The exception came last season when Minnesota and St. Louis were both in the West Division as part of a one season shift caused by the pandemic. The Wild and Blues have met twice in the playoffs. The Wild won in six games in the first round in 2015 before being swept by the Blackhawks, and St. Louis knocked out the Wild in five games in the opening round in 2017.

While the Blues were well established by the time the Wild entered the NHL in 2000, St. Louis and the North Stars both came into the league in 1967 as part of the six-team expansion that doubled the number of teams in the league to 12. Both were in the West Division, which housed all the new clubs and provided a clear path to the Stanley Cup Finals for the first few years.

Long before Minnesota Wild forward Marcus ‘Moose’ Foligno arrived at Xcel Energy Center, Elmer ‘Moose’ Vasko played for the inaugural Minnesota North Stars. Vasko (No. 4) is shown here introducing St. Louis Blues RW Jimmy Roberts to his elbow in Minnesota’s second ever home game at Met Center, won 3-2 by the North Stars. The late Bill Masterton (19) and Minnesota goaltender Gary Bauman (1) are also shown. (Photo courtesy of Vintage Minnesota Hockey)

The Blues-North Stars rivalry was immediate as the teams met in the playoffs four of their first five seasons. Minnesota, which played to a 2-2 tie against the host Blues in its first-ever game on Oct. 11, 1967, lost to St. Louis in seven games in the 1968 semifinals (second round) after eliminating the Kings in the first round. Four of the games went into overtime, including the deciding one. Ron Schock’s goal 2:50 into the second overtime at St. Louis Arena gave the Blues a 2-1 victory.

After the North Stars missed the playoffs in their second season, they lost to the Blues in six games in the first round in 1970; beat the Blues in six games the following spring before losing to Montreal; and then lost to the Blues in seven in the opening round in 1972. That series featured five one-goal games and another 2-1 overtime loss in Game 7 at Met Center.

It was the last one that Nanne best remembers. Kevin O’Shea’s 35-foot shot beat North Stars goalie Cesar Maniago at 10 minutes, 7 seconds of OT.

“That’s the one that stands out because we were a better team than them that year,” Nanne said. “We had more points (86 to 67) and they just grinded it out. … I’ll never forget it because the arena just went quiet and then it was over.

The Blues’ earlier playoff success enabled them to reach the Stanley Cup Finals in 1968, ’69 and ’70. They were swept by Montreal twice and Boston the final time. Reid was traded to the North Stars from the Blackhawks in February 1969, so he was around for three of the four series. He recalls how differently the rosters of the two teams were constructed.

“When expansion came about, the Blues went after more (veteran) players because they wanted to be in the playoffs right away,” Reid said. “They had guys like Glenn Hall (who was 36) and Al Arbour (who was 35) and all of these older guys, where Minnesota had a much younger team. It was not a situation where it was even on experience, but there was a great rivalry over the years.”

What’s interesting is that while North Stars fans hated the Blackhawks, and vice versa, they also saw plenty of the Blues in the playoffs during the ’80s and into the ’90s. All three were in the Norris Division in a time where the playoff matchups remained within the division until the conference finals. While Minnesota and Chicago met six times from 1981 through 1991, the Blues and North Stars met five times. The North Stars were 2-4 in the series against the Hawks and 3-2 against St. Louis. The North Stars ousted both teams during their surprising run to the 1991 Stanley Cup Finals.

“I think it was,” a really good rivalry, said former North Stars defenseman Brad Maxwell, who played for Minnesota from 1977 until December 1984 and then for 17 games in the 1986-87 season. “St. Louis had so many good players, and had a lot of players who had been in the Western Hockey League. I played against those guys in juniors. The games were intense. We didn’t have really big brawls  or one guy you hated like Secord. But it was really good hockey. Intense and physical.”

While the Minnesota/St. Louis hockey rivalry may not be remembered for the vitriol of others, there have been moments like this exchange between Blues forward, and Minnesota native, David Backes and the Wild’s Charlie Coyle in am April 20, 2015 playoff clash at Xcel Energy Center, won 3-0 by Minnesota. (MHM Photo / Jeff Wegge)

One of the most intense games came in Game 7 of the Norris Division Finals in 1984 at Met Center. This time the North Stars came out on top. Mark Reeds silenced the crowd when he scored with 5:54 left in the third period to give St. Louis the lead, but Willi Plett tied it 15 seconds later with a 75-foot blast that beat goalie Mike Liut and the North Stars won when Steve Payne scored six minutes into overtime.

“That was huge,” said Nanne, who was North Stars GM by that time. “It was a tough series and tough rivalry. We had come off of some pretty good years. … It took a long time to get that win back (against St. Louis). It seemed like the Chicago rivalry was taking over, but when we played St. Louis it was like old times getting back at one another.”

Maxwell said he would have embraced the opportunity to play in an outdoor game with the North Stars. Maxwell and many of his former teammates, along with some alumni from the Wild, faced the Blackhawks alumni back in 2016 in a game that was part of the lead up to the Stadium Series.

As much fun as that Stadium Series game might have been, the Winter Classic is much bigger. The idea for an NHL outdoor game began in 2008 with the New Year’s Day game between Pittsburgh and Buffalo at the Bills’ Ralph Wilson Stadium. Delayed a season by the pandemic, the Wild and Blues will start in the evening (in order to avoid issues with the sun) and will be the first televised as part of the new NHL TV package with TNT.

“I would have liked to have played in one,” Maxwell said. “Outdoor games fit into wherever you are having them. If you’re playing in Florida, there’s going to be palm trees. If you’re playing in Minnesota, there are going to be snow flurries and 30-degree weather. It’s great.”

And the opponent can make it even better.

“St. Louis has been a Cup winner in the last few years and has marquee names that are attractive,” Nanne said. “Kirill Kaprizov (of the Wild) and Vladimir Tarasenko (of the Blues) are two big names. When they announced the Wild was getting this game, I didn’t think there was any other team they would play. It’s a very good matchup and an attractive one for fans. I think the NHL was very wise in picking them.”

Program gallery courtesy of Vintage Minnesota Hockey

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As Minnesota Wild Owner & Governor Craig Leipold acknowledged, however, the climate will be vastly different when they all reconvene in The State of Hockey on Jan. 1 to watch the Wild host the St Louis Blues  in the 13th NHL Winter Classic. 

“What we’re going to remember on Jan. 1 is that we sat out here in the hot sun with sunglasses on and now it’s probably going to be zero degrees,” Leipold said. “It’ll be surreal.”

The game will be the 33rd NHL regular-season outdoor game, and the first of three NHL regular-season outdoor games scheduled for the 2021-22 season, which will all be televised on TNT, Sportsnet and TVA Sports. The game’s 6:00 p.m. scheduled start time guarantees the sun will not be a factor as it has often been in previous outdoor games.

Leipold was joined on Target Field’s playing surface by newly-anointed Wild alternate captains Matt Dumba and Marcus Foligno, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Wild President & Alternate Governor Matt Majka, Wild General Manager Bill Guerin, St. Louis Blues Owner & Governor Tom Stillman, St. Louis President & Alternate Governor Chris Zimmerman, Minnesota Twins Owner and Executive Chair Jim Pohlad, Twins President & CEO Dave St. Peter, Discover Chief Marketing Officer Kate Manfred, NHLPA Special Assistant to the Executive Director Mathieu Schneider, and TNT play-by-play announcer Kenny Albert.

Bettman opened his remarks referring to Target Field as “magnificent.”

“When I think ahead three months to New Year’s Day, I have no doubt that we will transform this magnificent stadium into something that will not be recognizable for baseball, but certainly will be for hockey,” Bettman said.

By the end of this season, Bettman said, the league will have played outdoor games in 20 states or provinces and the District of Columbia but added, “No place will have and has a more passionate connection to outdoor hockey than the state of Minnesota.”

The Winter Classic will be Minnesota’s second outdoor game, and second at home. The Wild hosted Chicago in a Feb. 2016 NHL Stadium Series game at what was then known as TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium). The Blues will be making their second outdoor game appearance, and second as a Winter Classic participant, having hosted the 2017 contest at Busch Stadium. St. Louis also bested the Blackhawks in its inaugural outdoor game with a 4-1 win over Chicago.

Despite the success of the Stadium Series, Bettman said Leipold always wanted to bring the Winter Classic to Target Field, a pursuit by Leiopold termed relentless by the commissioner, in the best possible way.

“I thought maybe we’d placate him for a few years with the Stadium Series game,” Bettman said. “But I remember, at that game, he said to me, ‘Okay, this is great, I love it, we’re having a great time. When am I getting the Winter Classic?’”

Dumba, who scored the game’s first goal to launch the Wild to a 6-1 win over the Blackhawks that day, said what he drew from his outdoor game experience is the need for a healthy balance of enjoying it all but also staying dialed in and focused.

“Get those two points that night and then you can, you know, have some fun with the family and friends, everyone who’s town, especially on New Year’s,” Dumba said. “I think that’s going to be the kind of thing we’re preaching, is that if we put in the work and stay dialed in then you’re going to reap the rewards from it and just be able to have that whole experience.

“I know when you win that game it’s a lot better than when you lose it. I’ve only won so I want to keep that streak going.”

Tickets to the 2022 Discover NHL Winter Classic go on sale Wednesday, Sept. 29 at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. CT via Ticketmaster and are available on a first-come, first-served basis, while supplies last.

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