Minnesota North Stars

Some 30 years ago this month the Minnesota North Stars played their final home game. That game was played on April 13, 1993 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. The locals knew it as the Met Center. The Chicago Blackhawks were the opponents that night. It had been months since we North Star fans had known for certain that the team would be moving to Dallas following the end of the season. They dropped a 3-2 decision that night and then closed out the season with a loss in Detroit two nights later by a 5-3 score.

It is hard to believe that so many years have passed. I recall vividly that season, especially the second half of the year.  It was an incredibly sad time for North Stars fans to go to the arena knowing that our emotional investment was soon going to be equivalent of a bag of broken Koho hockey sticks and a pop-up toaster. it was on a Saturday night March 13th against the Montreal Canadiens, an original franchise in the National Hockey League, where, late in the game, the North Stars were trying to  tie the game against the powerful team from the Eastern Conference. Montreal would go on to win the Stanley Cup in a few months. It was a totally spontaneous moment and just before a face-off, coming-out of a tv timeout, at the far end from myself to the right of the opposing goalie the crowd rose as one and applauded for a good 2-3 solid minutes.  It was as though all of us had come to the true realization that the end of the 25-year old franchise was not only inevitable but only a few short weeks away.  As sad as it was, it gave me chills at the time.  I saw people standing and openly sobbing.  I didn't feel as though I deserved to shed a tear as I had only been in Minnesota for 5 years.  These are people who had been there since the NHL expanded in 1967 and the team ended up merging with the Cleveland Barons in 1979 order to save the franchise from going away altogether a few years earlier.

The first hockey jersey I ever owned was a Minnesota North Stars road green jersey. Hockey purists refer to jerseys as "sweaters". This was circa 1974.  My mother bought it for me at Bob's Sports in my hometown of Stamford, Connecticut.  Now, I know that my mom knew that I was a Ranger fan, so when I asked her why she'd purchased the jersey with the big gold N on the front, she said, "They were out of Ranger jerseys and I liked this one".  How did she know I was going to end up cheering for them some 15 years later?  My mom had ESP. I, on the other hand, have ESPN.

The team owner in 1993, a former shopping mall developer,  who's name I will not even mention in this blog because it does not bear repeating, had totally duped us in his carpetbagging behavior.  He came to town from Calgary where he was one of the original owners of the Flames, following THEIR move to Calgary from Atlanta. He quickly made friends by basically buying us off. He did things like offer season ticket holders, like myself, three tickets for the price of two. An amazing value for the locals in "The State of Hockey". He also brought us things like cheerleaders.  Yes, cheerleaders, known as the Electric Stars. I'm sure that his focus group (located between his ears and his pants as it turned out) thought that what we needed more of at Met Center was women in spandex shorts and pom poms.  Now don't get me wrong. I enjoy that stuff, in the element in which it was intended; NFL sidelines and my local Hooter's Restaurant. But, I said many times, that if we had to endure cheerleaders they needed to be able to skate between periods, like the Gopher cheerleaders at University of Minnesota hockey games. He even gave away two round-trip tickets to various destinations during each home game provided by locally-owned Sun Country Airlines.

He reported that the reason he needed to move the franchise was that the market was too saturated with the Twins, Vikings, Timberwolves and the University of Minnesota Gopher hockey program. This from a person who once said, "Only an idiot could lose money on hockey in Minnesota." I guess he was that idiot. 

But the bottom line was that while he wanted to make a deal locally, he was eventually forced to leave town with the team because his wife, one Kelly Green, (Kelly Green. How cute of a name is that?) found out that his other focus group (located in his pants) was a little too "touchy-feely" around the office. This wasn't going to fly with her and she basically told her husband to get out of the house or leave Minnesota altogether. Others will tell you that the local sports commission is to blame. I have to put some responsibility in the hands of commissioner Gary Bettman. Bettman gets booed here in the cities WHENEVER he shows up, like when he was here for the Winter Classic on New Years Day evening last January 1st. Either way, they are equally to blame, in my opinion.

The final North Stars home game was probably the saddest sporting event I have ever attended. There was a lot of security on duty that night, mostly to deter fans from unbolting seats and walking out with them. But fans here are far to docile for that kind of behavior. Heck, we had a celebration after the 1991 playoffs to show our gratitude for them reaching the finals against Pittsburgh, losing in six games.

I now totally understand how it feels when a team moves away. I feel for the fans of the Montreal Expos, Hartford Whalers, Seattle Supersonics, and other teams which have moved. The NHL tried to appease us by sending us "neutral site" games played at the Target Center in downtown Minneapolis as well as a minor league team known as the Minnesota Moose. Because the IHL figured that we would watch virtually ANYTHING on ice where there were sticks and a puck. On some nights at the St. Paul Civic Center and later the Target Center, "anything" was exactly what we saw.

I don't wish any populous the experience of losing a franchise but there always seem to be a few which are on the brink of just that. The Houston Aeros moved to Des Moines a few seasons ago. The owner was once again more interested in money than the fans who supported the team for many years. The Houston Rockets of the NBA wanted to raise the rent by an amazing 500%. So to them I say that "I feel your pain." The last NHL team to relocate was when the Thrashers, Atlanta's second failed attempt at hockey, moved to Winnipeg to become the second version of the Jets in 2011. The original Winnipeg Jets moved to Phoenix in 1996 after turning down an opportunity to move to, you guessed it, Minneapolis.

I rather enjoy wearing my North Stars jersey that I wore at Met Center, as well as the "copy" which has the same look but not the same feel as my original. The Wild even have a version of their jersey known as the Reverse Retro, which had a limited run two years ago and a reverse version of that was worn this season at select games. It has the Wild logo with the North Star colors. 

I've been a season-ticket holder since Day 1 of the Wild franchise, but I STILL don't like the name of the franchise. 

The playoffs start next week. Let's hope we can at least get out of the first round before the players get back on the golf course. 

Thanks, Norm. You colossal douchebag. 

....I'm just sayin'.

P.S. NORM. STILL. SUCKS!