Minnesota Wild

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Minnesota Wild
2012–13 Minnesota Wild season
Conference Western
Division Northwest
Founded 1997
History Minnesota Wild
2000–present
Home arena Xcel Energy Center
City St. Paul, Minnesota, United States
WCN-Uniform-MIN.png
Colors Forest Green, Iron Range Red, Harvest gold, Minnesota wheat, white

                        
Media FS Wild
KFAN (100.3 FM)
Owner(s) Minnesota Sports & Entertainment
(Craig Leipold, chairman)
General manager Chuck Fletcher
Head coach Mike Yeo
Captain Mikko Koivu
Minor league affiliates Houston Aeros (AHL)

Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL)
Stanley Cups 0
Conference championships 0
Presidents' Trophies 0
Division championships 1 (2007–08)
Official website wild.nhl.com

The Minnesota Wild are an ice hockey team based in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States.[1] They are members of the Northwest Division, of the Western Conference, of the National Hockey League (NHL).[2] Though the team plays in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area with the Minnesota Twins, Vikings, Lynx and Timberwolves, the Wild and the Swarm (also owned by the Wild ownership) are the only Major League sports franchises to play in St. Paul, as the aforementioned teams all play in Minneapolis.

The team was founded on June 25, 1997, but started playing in the 2000-01 NHL season. The Wild is also the first NHL franchise in Minnesota since the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas in 1993. They lost their first game, 3–1, to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and recorded their first win against the Tampa Bay Lightning five games later.[3] The Wild play at the Xcel Energy Center.[4] In the 2002–03 NHL season, the team made its first playoff appearance, and made a surprising run to the Western Conference Finals.[5]

Minnesota currently has two minor-league affiliates, the Houston Aeros of the AHL and the Orlando Solar Bears of the ECHL.[6] On April 18, 2013, it was announced that the Aeros would be moving to Des Moines, Iowa, beginning with the 2013–14 AHL season, where they will play at Wells Fargo Arena and be known as the Iowa Wild.[7][8]

The team's first minor-league affiliate was the Cleveland Lumberjacks of the IHL, who folded after the 2000-01 season.[9] As of 2013, the Wild have averaged a .526 points percentage since entering the league.[10]

Contents

History [edit]

Preparations of a new franchise [edit]

Following the departure of the Minnesota North Stars after the 1993 season,[11] the state of Minnesota was without an NHL team for seven seasons. Mayor Norm Coleman began a campaign to either recruit the relocation of an existing franchise to St. Paul or the award of an expansion franchise to a Minnesota-based ownership group. Bob Naegele, Jr. became the lead investor for an application to the NHL for an expansion franchise and ultimately the first majority owner. On June 25, 1997, the NHL announced that Minnesota had been awarded an expansion franchise, to begin play in the 2000–01 season. The six finalist team names for the new NHL franchise (Blue Ox, Freeze, Northern Lights, Voyageurs, White Bears, and Wild), were announced on November 20, 1997.[12] Jac Sperling was named Chief Executive Officer of the Minnesota team,[13] Doug Risebrough was named General Manager, Tod Leiweke was named President, and Martha Fuller was named Chief Financial Officer.

The team was officially named the Wild, with the unveiling occurring at Aldrich Arena in suburban Maplewood on January 22, 1998. The new name was introduced to everyone with the song "Born to be Wild" by Steppenwolf playing over the arena's speaker system. The Minnesota Wild announced its first major sponsorship agreement with Mastercard from First USA. It was the earliest that First USA had ever signed an agreement in advance of a team beginning play (31 months). The State of Minnesota adopted legislation in April, 1998 to loan $65 million to the City of St. Paul to fund 50% of the estimated $130 million project costs for the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The legislation also provided that only $48 million of the loan needed to be repaid if the team met the requirements to have an agreement in place during the term of the lease with the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission. The City of St. Paul issued an additional $65 million in bonds, with roughly 90% of the debt service on the bonds and the repayment of the state loan coming from scheduled rent and payment in lieu of taxes from the Minnesota Wild. The St. Paul Civic Center deconstruction began soon thereafter and the Xcel Energy Center design was announced. A groundbreaking ceremony for the Xcel Energy Center was hosted in St. Paul.

The Minnesota Wild announced a 26-year partnership agreement with the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission (MASC). The Minnesota Wild-MASC partnership is the first partnership of its kind between a private professional sports team and a public amateur sports organization. Doug Risebrough was named executive vice president/general manager of Minnesota Wild[14] and the Xcel Energy Center was completed and ready for use.

First five seasons [edit]

Alternate logo since 2000.

2000-2001: First NHL season [edit]

The Minnesota Wild's first season officially started. The Wild named Jacques Lemaire their first-ever head coach and the team picked Marian Gaborik third overall in the first round of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. Gaborik would go on to score the first ever goal for the Wild in their franchise debut on October 6 at Anaheim.[15] The Wild played their first ever home game on October 11 against the Philadelphia Flyers and skated to a 3–3 tie.[16] Minnesota native Darby Hendrickson scored the first-ever home goal for the Wild. The team was not very successful on the ice, but showed promise for future seasons. The most notable game of the year, however, was the first visit of the Dallas Stars, who had formerly played in Minnesota as the Minnesota North Stars. The Wild rode an emotional sellout crowd of over 18,000 to a 6–0 shutout in Dallas' first regular season game in Minnesota since a neutral-site game in 1993.[17] The season ended with Scott Pellerin as the leading scorer with 39 points while Wes Walz, Darby Hendrickson, and Gaborik paced the team with 18 goals each.[18][19]

2001–2002 [edit]

The Wild would get off to a strong start by getting at least one point in their first seven games. However, the Wild would finish in last place again with a record of 26–35–12–9. Along the way, there were signs the Wild were improving, as second-year speedster Gaborik had a solid sophomore season with 30 goals, including an invite to the NHL YoungStars Game, and Andrew Brunette led the team in scoring with 69 points.[20]

2002–03: First playoff run [edit]

Gaborik spent much of the season vying for the league scoring crown before slumping in the second half, and the Wild, in their first ever playoff appearance, made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals before being swept 4–0 by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Previously, the Wild had beaten the favored and third-seeded Colorado Avalanche in the first round in seven games, coming back from a 3–1 series deficit and winning both Game Six and Seven in overtime. Brunette scored the series clinching goal, the last ever on Patrick Roy.[21] In the Western Conference semifinals, the Wild beat the fourth-seeded Vancouver Canucks, again in seven games, and again after being down 3–1 in a series. In the process, the Wild became the first team in playoff history to capture a seven-game series twice after facing elimination during Game 5.[22]

Alternate logo since 2003.

2003–04 [edit]

When the season started, the Wild were short-handed with both Pascal Dupuis and Gaborik holding out. After struggling in the first month, the Wild finally got their two young star left-wingers signed, but both struggled to get back into game shape as the Wild struggled through much of November. In a deep hole, the Wild could not climb back into the playoffs, despite finishing the season strong, with wins in five of their last six games as they finished last in the competitive Northwest Division with a record of 30–29–20–3.[23] Along the way, the Wild began to gear up for the future, trading away several of their older players who were a part of the franchise from the beginning, including Brad Bombardir and Jim Dowd.

2004–05 [edit]

The season was canceled due to a lockout. Former Wild player Sergei Zholtok died from a heart condition during a game in Europe. Zholtok died in the arms of Minnesotan and former Wild player Darby Hendrickson.[24]

Post-lockout [edit]

Minnesota finished in last place in the Northwest Division, eight points behind the Vancouver Canucks; along the way, Gaborik set a new franchise record for goals in a season (38), and Brian Rolston set a new highest point total by a Wild player in a season (79). The goaltender controversy between Manny Fernandez and Dwayne Roloson ended when Roloson was traded to the Edmonton Oilers for a first round pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.[25]

The Xcel Energy Center during a Wild game.

The Wild signed veteran free agents Kim Johnsson, Mark Parrish, Branko Radivojevic, and Keith Carney. On the day of the NHL Entry Draft, they traded the 17th overall pick and prospect Patrick O'Sullivan to the Los Angeles Kings for veteran Slovak Pavol Demitra. Niklas Backstrom was the starting goalie for the Wild after previous starter Manny Fernandez sprained his knee on January 20. Fernandez played for the first time since the sprain on March 6 and was removed after allowing three goals in two periods in the Wild's 3–0 loss to the San Jose Sharks. Josh Harding was brought up from the Wild's AHL affiliate, the Houston Aeros, when Fernandez was hurt, and remained on Minnesota's roster for the rest of the season as the backup goalie. All-Star winger Marian Gaborik returned from a groin injury in January 2007 and made an immediate impact, bringing a new spark to a lacking offense.[26] The Wild would make the playoffs in 2007 for the second time in team history,[27] but were eliminated by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks in the opening round. Notably, the same Anaheim franchise eliminated the Wild in their first playoff year, in the Conference Finals, in 2003.[28]

2008: First division championship [edit]

The Wild would break numerous franchise records during the 2007–2008 season, including most goals and points (Marian Gaborik — 42 goals and 83 points).[19] Also, Jacques Lemaire recorded his 500th career coaching win[29] as the Wild clinched their first ever Northwest Division title in a 3–1 victory over the Calgary Flames on April 3, 2008.[30][31][32] They again faced the Colorado Avalanche in the first round as sixth and third seed (as in the 2003 playoffs), but this time the roles were reversed, and the Wild held home-ice advantage. However, Minnesota came up short, being ousted in six games by the Avalanche.

During the off-season of 2008, the Wild re-acquired Andrew Brunette from the Avalanche, as well as trading for defenseman Marek Zidlicky. The Wild also signed free agents Antti Miettinen and Owen Nolan to multi-year deals. There seemed to be a stigma about Jacques Lemaire's defensive system that caused a number of top free agents to avoid the Wild.[33]

2009: Departure of Gaborik and Jacques Lemaire [edit]

Despite winning the Northwest Division the previous season, the Wild fell to ninth place in the Western Conference in 2008–09, missing the playoffs.[34] Much of this was in part due to a lack of scoring and overall team offense, and the injuries to star forward Marian Gaborik, who played only 17 games. Jacques Lemaire, coach of the Wild since the team's inception in the 2000–01 season, resigned at seasons end. General Manager Doug Risebrough was later fired, leading to a nearly complete turnover in the Wild's coaching and hockey management staff.

In the 2009 offseason, Marian Gaborik signed with the New York Rangers during the summer as a free agent.[35] Owner Craig Leipold would hire former Pittsburgh Penguins Assistant General Manager Chuck Fletcher to act as standing GM. Later that summer, Fletcher selected Todd Richards as head coach.[36] Martin Havlat was brought over from the Chicago Blackhawks in order to lessen the blow of Gaborik's departure. During the first month of the 2009–10 season, the team announced their first ever full-time captain, Mikko Koivu.[37]

In 2009, owner Craig Leipold named Matt Majka as Chief Operating Officer of the team.[38]

2010–present [edit]

The 2009–10 and the 2010–11 seasons ended in disappointment for the Wild as they missed the playoffs both seasons. In the 2010 NHL Entry Draft the Wild held the 9th overall pick and used it to select Finnish forward Mikael Granlund. Following the 2010–11 season the team fired head coach Todd Richards due to the team failing to reach the playoffs in his two seasons as head coach with a 77–71–16 record. Mike Yeo, who coached the Wild's American Hockey League affiliate, the Houston Aeros, to a Western Conference title in 2011,[39] was named the new head coach.[40]

During the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, in which the team hosted, the Wild held the 10th overall pick, which was used to select Jonas Brodin. The club also created a stir when they traded star defenseman Brent Burns and a 2012 second round pick to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Devin Setoguchi, Charlie Coyle, and the 28th overall pick in the 2011 draft which they used to select Zack Phillips. Later in the offseason, the Wild traded Martin Havlat for Dany Heatley in another blockbuster trade with the Sharks.[41] In the month of November, the team set a franchise record for most wins in one month with 11.[42] Despite a hot start to the season, which saw them sitting atop the league standings in early December, multiple injuries to key players for extended periods essentially knocked the team out of playoff contention for the fourth consecutive year.[43]

During the 2012 offseason, the team was able to sign top prospect Mikael Granlund to a three year, entry level contract.[44][45][46] During the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, the team selected Mathew Dumba with the seventh overall pick.[47] In the same offseason, the Wild also signed unrestricted free-agent winger Zach Parise, a Twin Cities native, and defenceman Ryan Suter to identical 13-year, US$98 million contracts.[48][49][50] However, the team's busy offseason was overshadowed by the 2012 NHL lockout, until it was resolved in January 2013.

Prior to the 2013 trade deadline, the Wild acquired Jason Pominville from the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for prospects Johan Larsson and Matt Hackett, as well as draft picks.[51][52] The team reached the postseason for the fourth time in franchise history after a 3-1 win over the Avalanche on April 27, 2013. Finishing 8th place in the Western Conference, the Wild lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs in five games.

Team information [edit]

Jerseys [edit]

Stephane Veilleux in the red home jersey.

The current Wild home jersey has a small imprint of the team's primary logo inside a white circle, which is surrounded by the words "Minnesota Wild" in a larger ring against a green background. The rest of the jersey is predominantly red, with additional swatches of green on the sleeves. This jersey was originally unveiled as the Wild's alternate jersey in 2003.[53] The away jersey uses a larger version of the primary logo without the concentric circles on a predominantly white jersey. On August 30, 2009, the team unveiled another third/alternate jersey, which is predominantly green with wheat accents. It says "Minnesota Wild" in script writing across the chest.[54]

[edit]

The multi-functional primary logo of the "Wild Animal" has been met with both praise and criticism. The logo is an optical illusion that depicts both an environmental landscape and the silhouette of a wild animal. The "eye" of the "Wild Animal" is a star, in tribute to the departed Minnesota North Stars.

The questions surrounding the identity of the animal depicted has sparked debate amongst logo enthusiasts, earning it recognition as one of the best logos in sports according to The Good Point.[55] Some feel as though the form of the animal on the logo is that of a wild cat, while the majority view it to be a bear.

In 2008, "Nordy" was introduced as the official mascot of the team.[56]

Ownership [edit]

The Minnesota Wild is owned by Minnesota Sports & Entertainment, which is a limited partnership formed by former majority owner Bob Naegele Jr. of Naegele Sports, LLC in 1997. On January 10, 2008, it was announced that the franchise was being sold to former Nashville Predators owner Craig Leipold. The NHL’s Board of Governors officially approved Leipold’s purchase of Minnesota Sports & Entertainment (MSE) on April 10, 2008.[57] Leipold, a resident of Racine, Wisconsin, completed the sale of the Nashville Predators to a local ownership group on December 7, 2007, a team he owned since the expansion franchise was awarded to Nashville in 1997. Under Leipold’s ownership, the Predators were dedicated to building a long-term winning franchise, playing an important role in the community through service initiatives, providing a fun and entertaining game-night experience and building strong relationships with their fans and corporate partners.[58]

Leipold is the majority owner and principal investor in MSE, a regional sports and entertainment leader that includes the NHL’s Minnesota Wild, its AHL affiliate the Houston Aeros of the American Hockey League, the National Lacrosse League’s Minnesota Swarm, Wildside Caterers, 317 on Rice Park and the facility management of Xcel Energy Center and the Saint Paul RiverCentre. He also serves as the team’s Governor at NHL Board of Governors’ meetings. After purchase of MSE, Mr. Leopold sold the Swarm to John Arlotta. Along with the Wild, the group has year-round management rights of the Xcel Energy Center, and currently has a management contract to manage the adjoining Saint Paul RiverCentre and Roy Wilkins Auditorium.[59] The partnership also owns and operates 317 on Rice Park, which is the former historic Minnesota club.[60]

Community involvement [edit]

The Minnesota Wild stay involved in the community through the philanthropic activities of the Minnesota Wild Foundation and its operations to support the game of hockey with events such as Hockey Day Minnesota. It has been celebrated every year since 2008.[61]

Season-by-season record [edit]

This is a partial list of the last five seasons completed by the Wild. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Minnesota Wild seasons

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime Losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Season GP W L OTL Pts GF GA Finish Playoffs
2008–09 82 40 33 9 89 219 200 3rd, Northwest Did not qualify
2009–10 82 38 36 8 84 219 246 4th, Northwest Did not qualify
2010–11 82 39 35 8 86 206 233 3rd, Northwest Did not qualify
2011–12 82 35 36 11 81 177 226 4th, Northwest Did not qualify
2012–13 48 26 19 3 55 122 127 2nd, Northwest Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1–4 (Blackhawks)

Players [edit]

Current roster [edit]

Updated April 26, 2013.[62]

# Nat Player Pos S/G Age Acquired Birthplace
32 Finland Backstrom, NiklasNiklas Backstrom G L 35 2006 Helsinki, Finland
96 Canada Bouchard, Pierre-MarcPierre-Marc Bouchard C L 29 2002 Sherbrooke, Quebec
25 Sweden Brodin, JonasJonas Brodin D L 19 2011 Karlstad, Sweden
21 Canada Brodziak, KyleKyle Brodziak C R 28 2009 St. Paul, Alberta
5 Canada Clark, BrettBrett Clark D L 36 2013 Wapella, Saskatchewan
22 Canada Clutterbuck, CalCal Clutterbuck RW R 25 2006 Welland, Ontario
63 United States Coyle, CharlieCharlie Coyle C R 21 2011 Weymouth, Massachusetts
7 United States Cullen, MattMatt Cullen C L 36 2010 Virginia, Minnesota
44 Canada Falk, JustinJustin Falk D L 24 2007 Snowflake, Manitoba
77 United States Gilbert, TomTom Gilbert D R 30 2012 Minneapolis, Minnesota
37 Canada Harding, JoshJosh Harding G R 28 2002 Regina, Saskatchewan
15 Canada Heatley, DanyDany Heatley Injured Reserve LW L 32 2011 Freiburg im Breisgau, West Germany
9 Finland Koivu, MikkoMikko Koivu (C) C L 30 2001 Turku, Finland
28 Canada Konopka, ZenonZenon Konopka C L 32 2012 Niagara Falls, Ontario
17 Canada Mitchell, TorreyTorrey Mitchell C/RW R 28 2012 Greenfield Park, Quebec
11 United States Parise, ZachZach Parise (A) LW L 28 2012 Minneapolis, Minnesota
29 United States Pominville, JasonJason Pominville Injured Reserve C R 30 2013 Repentigny, Quebec
39 United States Prosser, NateNate Prosser D R 28 2010 Elk River, Minnesota
27 United States Rupp, MichaelMichael Rupp LW/C L 33 2013 Cleveland, Ohio
6 Canada Scandella, MarcoMarco Scandella D L 23 2008 Montreal, Quebec
10 Canada Setoguchi, DevinDevin Setoguchi RW R 26 2011 Taber, Alberta
46 Canada Spurgeon, JaredJared Spurgeon D R 23 2010 Edmonton, Alberta
4 Canada Stoner, ClaytonClayton Stoner D L 28 2004 Port McNeill, British Columbia
20 United States Suter, RyanRyan Suter (A) D L 28 2012 Madison, Wisconsin
19 Canada Veilleux, StephaneStephane Veilleux LW L 31 2012 Saint-Georges, Quebec
16 United States Zucker, JasonJason Zucker LW L 21 2010 Newport Beach, California


Retired Numbers [edit]

Minnesota Wild retired numbers
No. Player Position Career No. retirement
1 Wild Fans - - October 10, 2000
99 Wayne Gretzky - - February 6, 2000 (Retired league-wide)
24 Derek Boogaard (Unofficially) Left Wing - September 27, 2011

Team captains [edit]

Note: The Wild rotated the captaincy for their first 9 seasons on a monthly basis among several of its players each season, with some players serving multiple times under Jacques Lemaire. After Todd Richards became head coach for the start of the 2009–2010 season, Mikko Koivu, who was the last rotating captain and had had the captaincy three different times in the 2008–2009 season, became the franchise's first permanent captain on October 20, 2009.[63]

Rotating 2000–2009

  • 2005–06
  • 2006–07
    • Brian Rolston — October and November 2006
    • Keith Carney — December 2006
    • Brian Rolston — January 2007
    • Mark Parrish — February, March, April, and Playoffs 2007
  • 2007–08
  • 2008–09
    • Mikko Koivu — October and November 2008
    • Kim Johnsson — December 2008
    • Mikko Koivu — January 2009
    • Andrew Brunette — February 2009
    • Mikko Koivu — March & April 2009
  • Mikko Koivu, 2009–present [63]
The Wild playing the Calgary Flames on Dec 12, 2006.

Honored members [edit]

Hall of Famers: The Wild's former Head Coach Jacques Lemaire was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame (in the players category) in 1985. On April 3, 2008, he became only the 11th coach in NHL history to have 500 wins.[64]

First-round draft picks [edit]


Franchise scoring leaders [edit]

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history.[65]

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games Played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; P/G = Points per game; * = current Wild player

Player Pos GP G A Pts P/G
Marian Gaborik RW 502 219 218 437 0.87
Mikko Koivu* C 520 117 274 391 0.75
Pierre-Marc Bouchard* RW 522 98 229 327 0.63
Andrew Brunette LW 489 119 202 321 0.66
Brian Rolston LW 241 96 106 202 0.84
Brent Burns D 453 55 128 183 0.40
Wes Walz C 438 82 100 182 0.42
Pascal Dupuis LW 334 67 74 141 0.42
Filip Kuba D 357 33 99 132 0.37
Nick Schultz D 743 26 102 128 0.17

NHL awards and trophies [edit]

Jack Adams Award

Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award

William M. Jennings Trophy


Franchise individual records [edit]

  • Most time on ice per game in a season: 27:16, Ryan Suter, (2012–13)[66]

See also [edit]

References [edit]

  1. ^ http://wild.nhl.com/
  2. ^ http://wild.nhl.com/index.html
  3. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/MIN/2001.html
  4. ^ http://wild.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=51214
  5. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/playoffs/NHL_2003.html
  6. ^ http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_20594975/minnesota-wild-signs-affiliation-deal-orlando-solar-bears
  7. ^ "Wild AHL Affiliate Moving To Iowa". Minnesota Wild. 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2013-04-18. 
  8. ^ Birch, Tommy & Leistikow, Chad (2013-04-18). "Is Des Moines ready to try pro hockey again?". Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2013-04-18. 
  9. ^ http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=CL2
  10. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/MIN/
  11. ^ http://www.vintageminnesotahockey.com/northstars.html
  12. ^ "Origins of the 30 NHL Teams". NHL.com. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-04-26. 
  13. ^ "Jack Sperling Bio". NHL.com. 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-26. 
  14. ^ "Risebrough's Bio". NHL.com. 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-26. 
  15. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200010060MDA.html
  16. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200010110MIN.html
  17. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200012170MIN.html
  18. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/h/hendrda01.html
  19. ^ a b http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/g/gaborma01.html
  20. ^ http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0023312002.html
  21. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs2003/series?series=mincol
  22. ^ http://www.hockeynut.com/0203/playoffs2003/index.html
  23. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/MIN/2004.html
  24. ^ "NHL mourns passing of Zholtok". 
  25. ^ http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/nhl2006e.html
  26. ^ http://wild.nhl.com/club/player.htm?id=8468483
  27. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/MIN/2007.html
  28. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/playoffs/NHL_2007.html
  29. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/coaches/lemaija01c.html
  30. ^ http://wild.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=485908
  31. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/MIN/2008.html
  32. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/boxscores/200804030MIN.html
  33. ^ http://www.arcticicehockey.com/2009/08/defensive-systems-and-their-impact-on.html
  34. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/MIN/2009.html
  35. ^ http://articles.nydailynews.com/2009-07-02/sports/17928230_1_rangers-hope-scott-gomez-marian-gaborik
  36. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=6363681
  37. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/players/k/koivumi01.html
  38. ^ http://wild.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=51503
  39. ^ http://wild.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=68951
  40. ^ http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=5823
  41. ^ http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=585627#&navid=nhl-search
  42. ^ http://www.nhl.com/ice/recap.htm?id=2011020356&navid=DL%7CNHL%7Chome
  43. ^ http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/135560473.html
  44. ^ http://wild.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=632428
  45. ^ http://www.startribune.com/sports/blogs/152273445.html
  46. ^ http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Young+hockey+prospect+Mikael+Granlund+signs+3-year-contract+with+NHLs+Minnesota+Wild+/1329104204914
  47. ^ http://www.twincities.com/ci_20920383/nhl-draft-wild-select-defenseman-mathew-dumba-at
  48. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/zach-parise-ryan-suter-signings-wild-huge-marketing-164312935--nhl.html
  49. ^ http://www.startribune.com/opinion/commentaries/161468285.html
  50. ^ http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2012/07/Live-NHL-blog-Ryan-Suter-to-announce-today-796679/1
  51. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/jason-pominville-wild-club-continues-add-star-power-191339965--nhl.html
  52. ^ http://kstp.com/news/stories/S2985589.shtml?cat=1
  53. ^ http://www.aeros.com/news/news/index.html?article_id=151
  54. ^ http://wild.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=497454
  55. ^ "Minnesota Nature Bear named one of best logos in sports". 
  56. ^ http://wild.nhl.com/club/page.htm?id=51567
  57. ^ "wild.nhl.com/team/app?articleid=360027&page=NewsPage&service=page". 
  58. ^ "wild.nhl.com/team/leipold.htm". 
  59. ^ http://www.theroy.org/
  60. ^ http://317ricepark.bellagala.com/
  61. ^ http://wild.nhl.com/club/microhome.htm?location=/hockeyday
  62. ^ "Wild Roster". Minnesota Wild. Retrieved April 26, 2013. 
  63. ^ a b http://wild.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=502812
  64. ^ http://www.nhl.com/ice/player.htm?id=8448756
  65. ^ http://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/MIN/leaders_career.html
  66. ^ https://twitter.com/mnwildPR/status/328369245991886849

External links [edit]

Minnesota Wild
Franchise
History
Personnel
Owners
Minnesota Sports & Entertainment (Craig Leipold, chairman)
General manager
Chuck Fletcher
Head coach
Mike Yeo
Team captain
Mikko Koivu
Current roster
Arena
Affiliates
General managers
Head coaches
Retired numbers
  • 1 (Wild Fans)
  • 99
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