This Day in MN Hockey History: Jan. 7

1944:  Chicago Black Hawks obtained Eveleth, MN native goalie Mike Karakas from Providence (AHL) in trade for Heck Highton, Gord Buttrey and $10,000.

1945:  Chicago goalie Alex Karakas and Rangers’ Ken McAuley dueled to a 0-0 scoreless tie, in a game played at New York.  It was the 24th career shutout for Karakas and the only shutout of McAuley’s NHL career (96 games over two seasons).

1947:  Former NHL right winger Bill Fairbairn born in Brandon, Man.  Fairbairn played in the NHL 1968-69 through 1978-79 with the New York Rangers, the Minnesota North Stars and St. Louis.

1957:  Former NHL goalie Steve Janaszak born in St. Paul, MN.  Janaszak played in the NHL 1979-80 through 1981-82 with the Minnesota North Stars and the Colorado Rockies.

1973:  CBS aired its first live WHA game between the Fighting Saints and the Winnipeg Jets from the new St. Paul Civic Center with Ron Oakes, Gerry Cheevers and Dick Stockton announcing.

1975:  Minnesota North Stars traded veteran Jude Drouin to the NY Islanders, in exchange for Craig Cameron.

1980:  Minnesota North Stars beat Philadelphia 7-1 to end the Flyers’ NHL record 35 game unbeaten streak (25-0-10).  The game took place before 15,962 fans at Minnesota, the largest crowd in team history up to this date.

1984:  Goaltender Gilles Meloche recorded his 20th (and final) career shutout as the North Stars won 2-0 over Vancouver in Minnesota.

1993:  Ulf Dahlen scored his third career hat trick to lead the Minnesota North Stars to a 6-3 win against the Penguins, at Pittsburgh.

1998:  Damian Rhodes stopped 34 shots for his third shutout of the season (and the Senators’ first ever against the Stars) as the Senators ended the Stars’ 10-game unbeaten streak (7-0-3) with a 2-0 win at Dallas.

2004:  Eric Chouinard scored his first two goals with Minnesota as the Wild scored a franchise-record 7 goals, a 7-4 victory against the visiting Chicago Blackhawks.

2011:  Dallas Stars acquired Jamie Langenbrunner from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2011 or 2012.

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