This Day in MN Hockey History: Dec. 22

1944:  Former North Stars center Sandy Fitzpatrick born in Paisley, Scotland.  Fitzpatrick played in the NHL 1964-65 through 1967-68.

1950:  Former North Stars left winger Norm Gratton born in La Salle, Que.  Gratton played in the NHL 1971-72 through 1975-76.

1981:  Dino Ciccarelli scored two goals and added an assist as the Minnesota North Stars tied 4-4 with the Canucks, at Vancouver.

1982:  Just minutes after Wayne Gretzky was awarded the Sports Illustrated ‘Sportsman of the Year’ award in Edmonton vs. the visting Minnesota North Stars,  Neal Broten & Gretzky became involved in a fight in the 1st period.  The fight, now a “YouTube sensation”, was one of Gretzkys’ only career fights.

1984:  Keith Acton scored two goals and an assist, and Tony McKegney had three assists to lead the Minnesota North Stars to a 5-4 win against the Red Wings, at Detroit.

1985:  Minnesota’s Dino Ciccarelli scored two goals and added three assists and Scott Bjugstad collected his second career hat trick in the North Stars’ 8-3 win at New Jersey.

1987:  Neil Sheehy scored a goal and added two assists as the Calgary Flames picked up the 550th victory in franchise history, a 6-5 overtime win over the visiting Hartford Whalers.

1990:  Dave Christian scored a goal and added two assists to lead the Bruins to a 6-2 win over the Minnesota North Stars.

1990:  Chicago rookie Mike Peluso picked up 19 penalty minutes in a 5-0 loss at St. Louis.

2000:  Scott Pellerin picked up two assists in the third period to lead the Wild to a 4-3 win over the visiting Los Angeles Kings.

2001:  Minnesota defenseman Jason Marshall picked up 15 penalty minutes in a 2-1 win at Vancouver.

2007:  Minnesota’s Niklas Backstrom made 47 saves in a 4-1 loss to visiting Detroit.

2008:  Rookie defenseman Alex Goligoski had two goals and an assist and Sidney Crosby scored at 43 seconds of overtime to give the Penguins a 4-3 win at Buffalo.

2011:  Blake Wheeler had two goals and an assist as the Jets beat the visiting Canadiens 4-0.

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