Should The NHL Give The North Stars Name And History Back To MN?
When the St. Cloud Rox started in 2012 I was hired as an intern to help out in the press box. When I saw the old River Bats jerseys in storage, I wondered if the owners had thought about a 'turn back the clock' night using the old uniforms.
The owner told me that they would prefer that a lot of time had passed before entertaining something like that because they wanted their brand to thrive on its own for some time and for it to not be associated with the old team and logo. Made perfect sense to me and it informed my rationale when it came to the Wild and North Stars franchises.
I think it was prudent for the Wild to follow the same path as the Rox, but it might be time now for the two worlds to collide.
It's been over 30 years since the North Stars stunned the hockey world - and the State of Hockey - by moving from Minnesota to Dallas. Now, a longtime Minnesota North Stars/Dallas Stars broadcaster is speaking out in favor of giving the team's logo and history back to Minnesota.
Ralph Strangis was a broadcaster with the team from 1990 to 2015 and called 2200 NHL games in his career. He says he was the 'first one on the ground' when the team arrived in Texas, which gives him the unique perspective of someone who knows both the Minnesota and Dallas sides of the history of the team.
His proposal? The Dallas Stars give Minnesota back the North Stars name and classic logo (note: the NHL is technically the owner of the North Stars stuff), along with the retired numbers and banners at the Stars' arena: Bill Masterton (19), Bill Goldsworthy (8) and Neal Broten (7).
In this scenario, the Dallas Stars would keep the team's record book to preserve continuity.
Strangis is understandably less committal when it comes to Mike Modano's #9 sweater. Modano was a star (pun intended) in both cities and won a Stanley Cup with the Dallas iteration of the club. Another issue, not raised by Strangis, is the fact that Minnesota has already retired the number 9 for former captain Mikko Koivu.
The whole article raises some excellent points but the biggest one to me was this quote:
Dallas has no attachment to these Minnesota numbers. The franchise doesn’t - the fanbase doesn’t. But Minnesota does. I don’t know this - but I would think the Wild would take them back and hang them in a millisecond.
As a person in their 40's I would welcome any inclusion of North Stars history into the Minnesota Wild's lore. As much as I enjoy watching and rooting for the Wild, I just don't feel the same connection to that team, or logo, as I did with the North Stars.
Heck, even the alternate jerseys they have worn with the old North Stars colors the last couple of years have made me feel very nostalgic.
More From AM 1240 WJON
