The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. They are members of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Wild began play as an expansion franchise in the 2000–01 NHL season. As of April 27, 2009, the Wild have sold out every home game in franchise history [1] at their home arena, the Xcel Energy Center.

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Franchise history

Preparations of a new franchise

Following the departure of the Minnesota North Stars after the 1993 season, the Twin Cities were without an NHL team for seven seasons. 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 were: Blue Ox, Freeze, Northern Lights, Voyageurs, White Bears, and Wild. ^[2] Jac Sperling was named Chief Executive Officer of the Minnesota team ^[3] and Brian Skluzacek was named Chief Financial Officer.

The team was officially named the Wild, with the unveiling occurring at the Roseville Ice Arena (Roseville Outdoor Oval). The Minnesota Wild announced its first major sponsorship agreement with the Minnesota Wild Mastercard card 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 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 St. Paul, Minnesota.

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 ^[4] and the Xcel Energy Center was completed and ready for use.

First five seasons

2000-01: 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 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, who had formerly played in Minnesota as the Minnesota North Stars. The Wild rode an emotional record 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.

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.

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. Brunette scored the series clinching goal. 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.

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 who 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 died from a heart condition during a game in Europe. Zholtok died in the arms of Minnesotan and former Wild player Darby Hendrickson. ^[5]

Post-Lockout

Minnesota finished in last place in the 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.

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 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 [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.

The Wild made the playoffs in 2007 for the second time in team history 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.

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

During the offseason 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.

Despite winning the Northwest Division the previous season, the Wild fell to 9th place in the Western Conference in 2008-2009, missing the playoffs entirely. 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 2000-2001 season, resigned as coach at seasons end. General Manager Doug Risebrough was later fired, leading to a complete turnover in the Wild's coaching and management staff.

In the summer of 2009, owner Craig Leipold hired former Pittsburgh Penguins Assistant GM Chuck Fletcher to act as standing GM. Later that summer Fletcher selected Todd Richards as head coach

Team information

Jerseys

The 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. 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 a third jersey, which is almost the same design as the red home jersey. It says "Minnesota Wild" in script writing across the chest.

Logo

The multi-functional primary logo of the "Wild Animal" has been met with both praise and criticism. Applying an optical illusion that depicts both an environmental landscape and the silhouette of a wild animal, the Wild logo stands out from the rest of those in the NHL and most of North America's four major leagues.

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 sport according to The Good Point. ^[6] 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. The hidden components of the logo, the eye depicts the North Star which pays homage to the former Minnesota North Stars, the mouth resembles a river, the ear is the moon, and the pine trees add texture to the "wild animal."

In 2008, "Nordy" was introduced as the official mascot of the team of 18,001.

Ownership

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 ^[7]. 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. ^[8]

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. The partnership still owns the Minnesota Swarm of 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 is the former historic Minnesota Club.

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
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	82	48	26	—	8	104	235	191	850	2nd, Northwest	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 1-4 (Ducks)
2007–08	82	44	28	—	10	98	223	218	1086	1st, Northwest	Lost in Conference Quarterfinals, 2-4 (Avalanche)
2008–09	82	40	33	—	9	89	219	200	869	3rd, Northwest	Did not qualify

Notable players

Current roster

Updated December 6, 2008.


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