This Day in MN Hockey History: Oct. 13

1971:  NHL defenseman Sean O’Donnell born in Ottawa, Ont.  O’Donnell has played in the NHL since 1994-95 with Los Angeles, the Minnesota Wild, New Jersey, Boston, Phoenix, Anaheim, Philadelphia and Chicago.

1972:  The Minnesota Fighting Saints of the newly formed World Hockey Association (WHA) played their first game, a 4-3 first team loss against the visiting Winnipeg Jets, at the St. Paul Auditorium.  In other team firsts that were made that night: First Team Goal was scored by Wayne Connelly at 13:04 in the 1st period, with the first team assists by John Arbour & Mel Pearson.  First Goal Against by Chris Bordeleau, Winnipeg, at 5:54 of 1st period.  First Team Penalty by Dick Paradise (elbowing).  First Power-Play Goal by Fred Speck.

1973:  Buffalo Sabres beat the Minnesota North Stars 4-3, scoring two third period goals against veteran Gump Worsley, who was wearing a goalie mask for the first time in his 21 year NHL career.

1979:  Bobby Smith scored twice and added an assist to lead the North Stars to a 5-1 win over the Black Hawks, in Minnesota.

1980:  NHL defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron born in St-Louis-de-France, Que. Bergeron has played in the NHL since 2002-03 with Edmonton, the New York Islanders, Anaheim, the Minnesota Wild, Montreal, and Tampa Bay.

1991:  Paul Holmgren won his 100th game as the Flyers’ head coach, a 4-2 win over New Jersey, at the Spectrum.

1992:  Calgary Flames edged the Minnesota North Stars 4-3 before a crowd of 8,783 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, in the first game of the NHL’s experiment with neutral site games during the 1992-93 season.

2008:  Philadelphia Flyers obtained Andrew Alberts from Boston in exchange for Ned Lukacevic and a 2009 4th round draft pick.

2011:  Minnesota Wild extended their home winning streak against Edmonton to 17 straight games (and Niklas Backstrom improved to 15-0-0 lifetime against Edmonton) with a 2-1 shootout victory over the visiting Oilers.

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