“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

The post A Fitting Foe appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

For alumni game, forget the stands, give me a seat behind the bench

Recently, for my day job at KARE 11, I had a chance to sit down and chat with a few former Minnesota North Stars. We did a fun bit about how well the former teammates know each other and I gave them a little quiz — I know, real hard hitting journalism!

After talking with the four players (Tom Younghans, Reed Larson, Jack Carlson and Brad Maxwell), I was left with cramps from laughing so hard and the stark realization that, as excited as I am about the Stadium Series game between the Wild and the Blackhawks, I might be even more excited about the North Stars playing the Blackhawks.

But it’s not really the hockey that I am looking forward to most. It’s the hope that I can get close enough to the bench to hear some of the conversations. In fact, I am not sure of the Wild’s ticket strategy but I would pay triple the ticket price if I could just have a seat behind the benches of the old timers. One that has an obstructed view of the ice but that provides me unobstructed audio from the bench. I am telling you folks, that is where the real entertainment is going to be.

I want to hear stories. Forget the hockey, I can see guys hack around and smile ear to ear and my old weekly pick-up game. I want the memories — and you will too.

I want to hear from Lou Nanne and Brad Maxwell about the trade that brought him from New York in 1987 — about how Nanne was able to win him back in a card game (according to Maxwell). A story which made me openly skeptical when I heard about it.

“No foolin!”, Maxwell told me that afternoon.

I know it’s been nearly 30 years, but I’d give anything to hear Nanne recount how that went with then New York Genera Manager Phil Esposito. How did it come about? What was the game? What were the stakes? And maybe most importantly, what was that moment like when he won his prize?

I also want to hear the off-season stories. It’s hard to imagine but as late as the 1980’s some professional hockey players still had to get off-season jobs. Jack Carlson told me that one year he dug graves just to keep a salary coming in. Now, Carlson admits he didn’t get the big bucks of an early top round pick but he couldn’t have been the only one having to make ends meet outside of the season.

Forget dryland training and morning skates, when the season was over guys had to pay the bills. Then when they went back they had an even larger fanbase of people they just spent months working with. I mean honestly, just imagine a scene where Zach Parise is bagging groceries or Nate Prosser is caddying at a golf course so that they can keep a steady income. It just goes to show just how much salaries have gone up in such a short period of time.

But there might not be any stories that I am looking forward to more than the ones of camaraderie between teammates. Just like today, these guys spent their lives together. They were friends and family, they knew each other’s family. They played seasons and, sometimes if there were lucky, post seasons together.

“Nothing binds you together quite like a Stanley Cup run,” Jack Carlson told me with a huge ear to ear grin, that seems to be permanently affixed to his hulking frame.

His team made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1981 before losing to the New York Islanders who won their second of 4 straight. Still Carlson wears a big championship ring on his hand that he and his teammates bought for themselves for winning the Western Conference that year because, as he told me, you don’t get rings if you didn’t win the title.

I want to hear the stories of the road trips, the ups and downs, the team chemistry, the rivalries and the pranks (some of which I heard from Reed Larson and Tom Younghans, but cannot recount for obvious reasons).

I asked all the players if the rivalry with the Blackhawks was still there and they emphatically answered, “Yes.” But don’t expect there to be any fights, cause the guys are over doing that now and admit that they’ll have enough trouble skating around the ice and getting their wind without trying to drop the gloves.  Plus, most of us just want to watch the game — although I’ll admit I wouldn’t mind seeing Big Jack Carlson throw his weight around a bit.

Sure the game may have changed over the years but the guys who play it haven’t. It’s still a game of deep feelings, camaraderie and love for the sport.

But the one game that might be most exciting Stadium Series weekend, might just be the one that’s a repeat of a game played 30 years earlier.

The post Schwartz: It’s the stories that matter appeared first on Minnesota Hockey Magazine.

Ex-Blackhawks to face North Star/Wild alums outside

Since the moment the Minnesota Wild was granted its first outdoor game, a Sun. Feb 21, 2016 NHL Stadium Series clash with the Chicago Blackhawks, the inclusion of an alumni event among the weekend’s festivities has been the subject of speculation.

In fact, immediately after the official announcement, Minnesota Wild Chief Executive Officer Matt Majka opened the door to the possibility when he said, “I think our fans might want to see Secord and Ciccarelli back on the ice for a day or two.”

As of today, that wish has been granted.

Former Minnesota North Stars defenseman Brad Maxwell revealed this morning that a team featuring a mix of North Star and Wild alumni will square off against a squad of former Chicago Blackhawks greats on Sat. Feb. 20, 2016 at TCF Bank Stadium on the campus of the University of Minnesota.

Maxwell’s announcement came as a guest on 1500 ESPN radio’s Mackey and Judd program which was broadcast live from Prestwick Golf Club in Woodbury, the site of today’s Minnesota NHL Alumni Golf Classic.

The physical blueliner, famous for his southpaw fighting style, told hosts by Phil Mackey and Judd Zulgad the home roster will include prominent names such as Neal Broten, Dino Ciccarelli, Mike Modano, Craig Hartsburg, Jack Carlson, Curt Giles, Bobby Smith, Basil McRae, Willi Plett, Gilles Meloche and Don Beaupre. Maxwell added that a Blackhawks contingent consisting of Denis Savard, Ed Belfour and fan favorite, Al Secord, is expected.

Although not formally announced, former Wild players could potentially include Brian Rolston, Mark Parrish, Wes Walz and Andrew Brunette.

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