Blackout Dallas » Minnesota North Stars http://blackoutdallas.com A Dallas Stars Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:57:45 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 History Of The Stars: Minnesota 1972-1980 http://blackoutdallas.com/2013/01/23/history-of-the-stars-minnesota-1972-1980/ http://blackoutdallas.com/2013/01/23/history-of-the-stars-minnesota-1972-1980/#comments Wed, 23 Jan 2013 22:27:09 +0000 Ashley March http://blackoutdallas.com/?p=3214 The 1972-73 and 1973-74 season were of continued struggles for the Minnesota North Stars. Despite this, they managed to churn out two stellar players in Bill Goldsworthy and Dennis Hextall. In 1972 Goldsworthy was apart of the legendary Summit Series where Team Canada faced the Soviet Union. Goldsworthy was benched for the tournament following a [...]

History Of The Stars: Minnesota 1972-1980 - Blackout Dallas - Blackout Dallas - A Dallas Stars Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

]]> The 1972-73 and 1973-74 season were of continued struggles for the Minnesota North Stars. Despite this, they managed to churn out two stellar players in Bill Goldsworthy and Dennis Hextall. In 1972 Goldsworthy was apart of the legendary Summit Series where Team Canada faced the Soviet Union. Goldsworthy was benched for the tournament following a series of bad penalties. In videos he is the one who skates off the ice, giving the finger to the Soviet faithful. Missing the playoffs for the first time in four years, famed goaltender Gump Worsley decided to retire.
By this point in 1974, the National Hockey League had expanded to 16 teams and added two more to the fold with the Washington Capitals and Kansas City Scouts. This marked the first year of four seperate divisions in two conferences. The Prince Of Wales Conference saw the Adams Division with Buffalo, Boston, Toronto and California and the Norris Division with Montreal, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Detroit and Washington. On the other side, the Clarence Campbell Conference saw the Patrick Division filled with Philadelphia, both New York teams and Atlanta. The Smythe Divisions hosted Vancouver, St. Louis, Chicago, Kansas City and of course Minnesota.
New opponents did not promote optimism as the North Stars missed the playoffs for the next two years. The 1976-77 seasons saw a return to the playoffs but marked short as they were sent packing in the first round to Buffalo.
The Stars finished dead last in 1977-78 with a league worst record of 18-53-9 record. They were immediately found in financial trouble as they struggled to keep fans in the seats at the Met Center. They weren’t alone however. The Cleveland Barons, (who were moved from California as the Golden Seals in 1976) were also facing financial hardship. The NHL made the decision to merge the two clubs, resulting in decreasing the number of teams in the league to 17. Keeping Minnesota’s name, arena and colours, they were placed into Cleveland’s spot in the Adams Division. New ownership and management would consists of Cleveland brass. Ohio wouldn’t see NHL hockey again until the formation of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Despite all these new changes in place for the 1978-79 season, the North Stars continued their losing ways finishing last and missing the playoffs once again. Bobby Smith soared with 30 goals and 44 assists and was awarded the Calder Trophy.
In the 1979-80 season, the North Stars put to rest one of the longest winning streaks in sports history. The Philadelphia Flyers went on a 35 game winning streak until Minnesota put the stop to that with a 7-1 win. Finally in 1980 the Stars finished third in the season and swept the Toronto Maple Leafs three straight in the first round of the playoffs. The second round brought the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Montreal Canadiens. Building off the momentum they had against Toronto, the Stars won the first two games in Montreal. However, you can never count out “Les Habitants” as they stormed back winning the next three games. Minnesota forced a seventh game and stunned the Canadiens with a 3-2 victory. The semi-finals brought on the Broad Street Bullies. Philadelphia decided enough was enough and ended the Stars playoff run winning 4 games to 1.
Minnesota’s glory years, the 80′s are up in the next installment.

 

In case you missed Part One: http://blackoutdallas.com/2013/01/16/history-of-the-stars-minnesota-1969-1972/

Follow me on Twitter: @MissAMarch

]]> http://blackoutdallas.com/2013/01/23/history-of-the-stars-minnesota-1972-1980/feed/ 0 FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Dino Ciccarelli http://blackoutdallas.com/2013/01/18/flashback-friday-dino-ciccarelli/ http://blackoutdallas.com/2013/01/18/flashback-friday-dino-ciccarelli/#comments Fri, 18 Jan 2013 23:05:53 +0000 Ashley March http://blackoutdallas.com/?p=3168 Dino Ciccarelli is not your average hockey player. Although some may remember him for his blindsided temper, and being one of the few bad boys of hockey in the 80′s, Ciccarelli has a lot more to be known for. Spending most of his NHL career with the Minnesota North Stars, he notched 1200 points in [...]

FLASHBACK FRIDAY: Dino Ciccarelli - Blackout Dallas - Blackout Dallas - A Dallas Stars Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

]]> Dino Ciccarelli is not your average hockey player. Although some may remember him for his blindsided temper, and being one of the few bad boys of hockey in the 80′s, Ciccarelli has a lot more to be known for. Spending most of his NHL career with the Minnesota North Stars, he notched 1200 points in his NHL career. Impressive for a guy who wasn’t even drafted.

 
Ciccarelli grew up in the Southern Ontario town of Sarnia. At 15 he made the Junior B squad and lead the team in scoring with 88 points in 40 games. The next year he graduated to the London Knights of the then Ontario Major Junior Hockey League. In his second season with the Knights, he lead the league in scoring with 142 point and evidently was awarded the Jim Mahon Memorial Trophy; handed out to the highest scoring right winger in the league.

 
His third season with the Knights was hampered by injuries and was cut short. After not being selected in the 1978-79 entry draft, he was nevertheless offered a spot with the Minnesota North Stars. Ciccarelli signed the the contract at the end of September. The North Stars kept Ciccarelli with the Knights for one more year, still keeping his high scoring possibilities at hand. Earning 103 points that season, he was ready for the show.

 
For the 1980-81 season, Ciccarelli was assigned to the Oklahoma City Stars of the CHL. Although spending most of the season with Oklahoma City, he did manage to get called up to Minnesota for 32 games. In the playoffs that year, Ciccarelli contributed 21 points in 19 games. It proved to not be enough however as the North Stars fell to the Islanders in the Stanley Cup Final.

 
Ciccarelli was selected to the All Star team 3 times during his tenure with Minnesota in 1982, 1983 and 1989. But by the end of 1989 his time with Minnesota was up. He was traded to the Washington Capitals in exchange for a player who would become another National Hockey League great, Mike Gartner.

 
Of course, we can’t sum up Ciccarelli’s career without mentioning some of his on ice controversy. In 1988, at a game against the Maple Leafs in the famed Maple Leaf Gardens, Ciccarelli attacked rookie Luke Richardson with his stick. Ciccarelli was evidently convicted of assault. He was ordered to pay $1,000 and spent a day in jail. The moment will forever be immortalized in song by Canadian hip hop group, Organized Rhyme. Organized Rhyme is best known for having an individual in it’s hands in a then unknown rapper, Tom Green. (Yes, that Tom Green. Tom “I humped a dead moose” Green.) Green spits his first verse about hockey and mentions some of the greats of yesterday. He then brilliantly rhymes Rocket Richard with “Ciccarelli went to far and got barred.”

 
Ciccarelli went on to star with the Washington Capitals, Detroit Red Wings and Tampa Bay Lightening where he made his first All Star Game appearance in over 8 years. Nobody can deny the impact he’s had on the world of hockey.  In fact, the London Knights have retired his number 8. More importantly, Ciccarelli’s career was honored as he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2010.

 

Follow me on twitter: @MissAMarch

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