This Day in MN Hockey History: Dec. 13

1933:  Former NHL defenseman Doug Mohns born in Capreol, Ont.  Mohns played in the NHL 1953-54 through 1974-75 with Boston, Chicago, the Minnesota North Stars, Atlanta and Washington.

1937:  Former NHL defenseman Don Johns born in Brantford, Ont.  Johns played in the NHL 1960-61 through 1967-68 with the New York Rangers, Montreal and the Minnesota North Stars.

1945:  Chicago’s Mike Karakas became the second goaltender in franchise history to record 100 wins as a member of the Black Hawks.  The milestone came in a 7-4 win against the Rangers, in New York.

1953:  Hall of Famer Bob Gainey born in Peterborough, Ont.  Gainey played in the NHL 1973-74 through 1988-89 with Montreal.  He later became coach and general manager with the Minnesota North Stars, Dallas and Montreal.

1967:  Minnesota goaltender Cesare Maniago recorded the first shutout in North Stars’ history, with a 4-0 win over the visiting Los Angeles Kings.  It was the first of three straight shutouts for Maniago.

1969:  Minnesota’s Leo Boivin played in his 1,100th NHL game as the North Stars lost 5-2 to the visiting New York Rangers.

1972:  Danny Grant had 2 goals and an assist, and Murray Oliver and Buster Harvey each had 3 assists to lead Minnesota to a 7-2 win over the visiting Flyers.  North Stars took a team-record 32 shots in the first period to win their 9th straight home game.

1980:  Bobby Smith had three assists to lead the North Stars to a 4-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets in Minnesota.

1988:  Kirk Muller set a Devils team record for the fastest goal from the start of a game, when he scored just eight seconds into a 4-3 win over the visiting St. Louis Blues.  Tom Kurvers picked up three assists for New Jersey.

1989:  Boston’s Bob Joyce was traded to Washington in exchange for Dave Christian.

1994:  After the North Stars moved to Dallas, Texas in 1993 and became the Dallas Stars, the Met Center was demolished on this day in 1994 in a series of three controlled implosions.  The Met Center was an indoor arena that stood in Bloomington, MN.  The arena, which was completed in 1967 just to the north of Metropolitan Stadium, seated 15,000. It was best known as the home of the Minnesota North Stars of the NHL from 1967-1993.  For its first 15 years, its official name was the Metropolitan Sports Center; the more familiar shorter name of Met Center was adopted in 1982.

1995:  Philadelphia obtained Trent Klatt from Dallas, in exchange for Brent Fedyk.

2003:  Jim Dowd scored the game-winning goal with :24 remaining in regulation to lead the Wild to a 3-2 win against the visiting Buffalo Sabres.

2008:  Minnesota’s Niklas Backstrom made 40 saves in a 3-1 loss in Los Angeles.

2010:  Dustin Byfuglien set an Atlanta team record for defensemen with his 11th goal of the season, and Bryan Little’s second goal of the game at 1:09 of overtime gave the Thrashers a 4-3 victory at Ottawa.

Courtesy of Vintage Minnesota Hockey.com,
your No. 1 source for Vintage Minnesota Hockey History and Hockey Apparel!