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Minnesota Wild

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Minnesota Wild
File:MinnesotaWild.png
ConferenceWestern
DivisionNorthwest
Founded2000
HistoryMinnesota Wild
2000-present
Home arenaXcel Energy Center
CitySt. Paul, Minnesota
Team colorsForest Green, Iron Range Red, Minnesota Wheat, Harvest Gold, and White
MediaFSN North
KSTC-TV
WCCO (830 AM) Versus
Owner(s)United States Craig Leipold
General managerCanada Doug Risebrough
Head coachCanada Jacques Lemaire
CaptainSlovakia Marian Gaborik (Rotating)
Minor league affiliatesHouston Aeros (AHL)
Texas Wildcatters (ECHL)
Stanley Cupsnone
Conference championshipsnone
Division championships2007–08

The Minnesota Wild is a professional men's ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Their symbol is a bear made to look like the wilderness. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The team's inaugural season was in 2000. As of February 2, 2008, the Wild have sold out every home game in franchise history.[1]

Franchise history

1997 — The National Hockey League announced that Minnesota had been awarded an expansion franchise to begin play in the 2000-2001 season. The six finalist team names for the new NHL franchise were: Minnesota Blue Ox, Minnesota Freeze, Minnesota Northern Lights, Minnesota Voyageurs, Minnesota White Bears and Minnesota Wild. Jac Sperling was named Chief Executive Officer of the Minnesota Wild and Brian Skluzacek was named Chief Financial Officer.

1998 — The new NHL team is officially named the Minnesota Wild. The unveiling occurred in front at Aldrich Arena. The Minnesota Wild announce its first major sponsorship agreement with the Minnesota Wild Mastercard card from First USA. It was the earliest that First USA has ever signed an agreement in advance of a team beginning play (31 months). The State of Minnesota agreed in legislation to fund $65 million of the $130 million project costs for Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. the Saint 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 Saint Paul, Minnesota.

1999 — The Minnesota Wild announce 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 and the Xcel Energy Center is completed and ready for use.

2000-01 — The Minnesota Wild's first season officially starts. The Wild name Jacques Lemaire the first-ever head coach and the team picks Marian Gaborik third overall in Round 1 of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. 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, formerly the Minnesota North Stars. The Wild rode an emotional record crowd of over 18,000 to a six to zero shutout in Dallas' first regular season game in Minnesota since 1993.

2001-02 — The Wild would get off to a strong start by getting at least 1 point in their first 7 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 season with 30 goals, no sophomore slump, and Andrew Brunette led the team in scoring with 69 points.

File:MinnesotaWildAlternate.png
Minnesota's alternate logo; The team's name emblazoned across a disc of forest green, Iron Range red, and harvest gold.

2002-03 — Gaborik spends much of the season vying for the league scoring crown, and the Wild, in their first ever playoff appearance, make 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 favoured and third-seeded Colorado Avalanche in the first round in seven games, coming back from a 3-1 series deficit and winning both Game 6 and 7 in overtime. Andrew Brunette scored the series clinching goal. In the Western Conference Semi-Finals, the Wild beat the fourth-seeded Vancouver Canucks, again in seven games, and again after being down 3-1 in the 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.

2003-04 — When this 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 5 of their last 6 games as they finished last in the competitive Northwest Division with a record of 30-29-20-3. Along the way the Wild began to gear up for the future trading away several of their older players that were a part of the franchise from the beginning including Brad Bombardir and Jim Dowd.

2004-05 — Season cancelled due to lockout. Former Wild player Sergei Zholtok dies from a heart condition during a game played in Europe. Zholtok died in the arms of Minnesotan and former Wild player Darby Hendrickson.

Xcel Energy Center during a Wild game

2005-06 — Finished in last place in Northwest Division, eight points behind Vancouver; 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 Edmonton for a first round pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

2006-07 — 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 Slovakian Pavol Demitra. Niklas Bäckström has been the Starting goalie for the Wild since starter Manny Fernandez initially sprained his knee on Jan. 20. Fernandez played for the first time since the sprain on Tuesday, March 6th and was removed after allowing three goals in two periods in the Wild's 3-0 loss to San Jose. Josh Harding, was brought up from the Wild's minor-league 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 of 2007 and made an immediate impact, bringing a new spark to a lacking offense.

The Wild made the playoffs in 2007 for the second time in team history but were eliminated by the Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim Ducks in the opening round. Coincidentally, the same Anaheim franchise eliminated the Wild in their first playoff year, in the conference finals, in 2003. The Anaheim Ducks also went on to the Stanley Cup Finals that year.

Team Information

File:Minnesota-wild-07-jerseys.jpg
Minnesota Wild current jerseys

Jerseys

The Wild home jersey uses the primary logo within a circle with the words 'Minnesota Wild' in the circle, on a jersey primarily of red. The away jersey uses the primary logo without the circle on a predominantly white jersey.

Ownership

The Minnesota Wild is owned by Minnesota Sports & Entertainment, which is a limited partnership formed by majority owner Bob Naegele Jr. of Naegele Sports, LLC in 1997. The partnership also owns the Minnesota Swarm in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). Along with the Wild and the Swarm, the group also operates the Xcel Energy Center, the Saint Paul RiverCentre and Roy Wilkins Auditorium. The group has recently extended its business through a majority stake in Wildside Caterers. The partnership also owns and operates 317 on Rice Park, which was the former historic Minnesota Club. On January 10, 2008, it was announced that the franchise is being sold to former Nashville Predators owner Craig Leipold.

Season-by-season record

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

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

Season GP W L T OTL Pts GF GA PIM Finish Playoffs
2001-02 82 26 35 12 9 73 195 238 1209 5th, Northwest Did not qualify
2002-03 82 42 29 10 1 95 198 178 1063 3rd, Northwest Lost in Conference Finals, 0-4 (Mighty Ducks)
2003-04 82 30 29 20 3 83 188 183 1035 5th, Northwest Did not qualify
2004-05 Season cancelled due to 2004–05 NHL lockout
2005-061 82 38 36 — 8 84 231 215 1211 5th, Northwest Did not qualify
2006-07 [SA] 82 48 26 — 8 104 235 191 850 2nd, Northwest Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1-4 (Ducks)
2007-08 [SA] 81 44 28 — 9 97 220 214 1135 1st, Northwest To be determined
1 As of the 2005-06 NHL season, all games will have a winner; the OTL column includes SOL (Shootout losses).

Notable players

Current roster

As of February 2, 2008. [1]

Goaltenders
# Player Catches Acquired Place of Birth
29 Canada Josh Harding R 2002 Regina, Saskatchewan
32 Finland Niklas Backstrom L 2006 Helsinki, Finland
Defensemen
# Player Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
3 United States Keith Carney L 2006 Providence, Rhode Island
5 Sweden Kim Johnsson L 2006 Malmö, Sweden
6 United States Sean Hill R 2007 Duluth, Minnesota
8 Canada Brent Burns R 2003 Ajax, Ontario
26 Canada Kurtis Foster L 2005 Carp, Ontario
33 Finland Petteri Nummelin L 2006 Turku, Finland
41 Czech Republic Martin Skoula L 2006 Litomerice, Czechoslovakia
55 Canada Nick Schultz L 2000 Strasbourg, Saskatchewan
Forwards
# Player Position Shoots Acquired Place of Birth
9 Finland Mikko Koivu – A C L 2001 Turku, Finland
10 Slovakia Marian Gaborik – C RW L 2000 Trencin, Czechoslovakia
11 Canada Chris Simon LW L 2008 Wawa, Ontario
12 United States Brian Rolston – A RW L 2004 Flint, Michigan
15 Canada James Sheppard C L 2006 Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia
16 Canada Steve Kelly C L 2007 Vancouver, British Columbia
17 Canada Todd Fedoruk LW L 2007 Redwater, Alberta
19 Canada Stephane Veilleux LW L 2001 Beauceville, Quebec
21 United States Mark Parrish RW R 2006 Bloomington, Minnesota
24 Canada Derek Boogaard LW L 2001 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
25 Canada Eric Belanger C L 2007 Sherbrooke, Quebec
34 Canada Aaron Voros LW L 2007 Vancouver, British Columbia
38 Slovakia Pavol Demitra LW L 2006 Dubnica, Czechoslovakia
67 Canada Benoît Pouliot C L 2005 Alfred, Ontario
83 Canada Matt Foy RW R 2002 Oakville, Ontario
92 Slovakia Branko Radivojevic LW R 2006 Piestany, Czechoslovakia
96 Canada Pierre-Marc Bouchard LW L 2002 Sherbrooke, Quebec

Team captains

Note: Since joining the NHL in 2000, the Wild have never named a permanent captain. Instead, the team captaincy is rotated on a monthly basis among several of its players each season, with some players serving multiple times.

  • Andrew Brunette, March & April 2004
  • No Captain (Lockout) October 2004 - April 2005
  • Alex Henry, October 2005
  • Filip Kuba, November 2005
  • Willie Mitchell, December 2005 & January 2006
  • Brian Rolston, February 2006
  • Wes Walz, March & April 2006
  • Brian Rolston, October & November 2006
  • Keith Carney, December 2006
  • Brian Rolston, January 2007
  • Mark Parrish, February, March, April & Playoffs 2007
  • Pavol Demitra, October 2007
  • Brian Rolston, November 2007
  • Mark Parrish, December 2007
  • Nick Schultz, January & February 2008
  • Marian Gaborik, March & April 2008


Wild at Calgary Flames on Dec 12, 2006

Honored Members

Hall of Famers: The Wild's Head Coach Jacques Lemaire was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame (in the players category) in 1984.

Retired Numbers: The Wild retired number 1, as a tribute to Wild Fans, on October 11, 2000. The number 99 was retired league-wide for Wayne Gretzky on February 6, 2000.

First-round draft picks

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in franchise history. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

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 484 206 208 414 .81
Pierre-Marc Bouchard* RW 353 61 159 220 .58
Brian Rolston* LW 240 95 106 201 .89
Wes Walz C 427 81 97 178 .42
Andrew Brunette LW 245 54 110 164 .67
Pascal Dupuis LW 334 67 74 141 .42
Filip Kuba D 357 33 99 132 .37
Jim Dowd C 283 32 89 121 .43
Antti Laaksonen RW 323 55 63 118 .37
Sergei Zholtok LW 210 42 68 110 .52

NHL awards and trophies

Jack Adams Award

Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award

William M. Jennings Trophy


Franchise individual records

See also

References

  1. ^ Perfect attendance: Minnesota Wild sellout streak to reach 300 - Topix
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