Changing the Game

by Stephen Laroche

  By the mid-1960s, fans in the Twin Cities had two options when it came to pro hockey, with the CHL’s Minneapolis Bruins and the St. Paul Rangers (later changed to the Minnesota Rangers in 1965–66). When the NHL was looking at expanding, a nine-man group that included Walter Bush Jr. put forth a bid to get a big-league club of their own, and they were granted a franchise on February 9, 1966. Less than four months later, the team was dubbed the North Stars, and the construction of the Metropolitan Sports Center began on October 3 that year.

  The North Stars brought in Wren Blair as coach and general manager. He had worked his way up in the game as coach of the Allan Cup-winning Whitby Dunlops teams and had a major role in discovering Bobby Orr for the Boston Bruins. Given the task of putting their first roster together on a limited budget, he grabbed several veteran players through the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, including a strong goaltending tandem of Cesare Maniago and Garry Bauman.

  Since the concept of a tandem was relatively new in NHL circles, Blair was not sure if he would let both goalies share the workload evenly.

  “Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “I’m not dead set against alternating in goal — but only if there happens to be two men of nearly equal ability. I think that was the case in Chicago last year … and in Toronto, too, where Punch Imlach was fortunate to have Johnny Bower and Terry Sawchuk complementing each other. Frankly, I’ve always been in favour of picking out the guy who I believe is the best and go as far as I can with him just as long as he does a reasonably good job.”

  After training camp, there was some speculation about which player would be named captain, and most felt the responsibility would be given to Jean-Guy Talbot. Blair had other plans, though, and ended up trading away the veteran defenceman early in the regular season. Later, he allowed Bob Woytowich to wear the “C.”

  Blair also showed early signs of being tight-fisted with the team’s finances. Most players were making no more than the league minimum, despite whatever experience they might have had at the time. Andre Pronovost and Pete Goegan were notable early holdouts, and during one pre-season game, the short-tempered coach told Goegan to take off his sweater and leave the bench. Before the NHLPA came to exist, it was not uncommon for a player to report to training camp without a contract in place and teams attempted to sign players as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, team management would often engage in various forms of psychological warfare to ensure that holdout players signed on for as little money as possible and often fined them if they had not agreed to their terms by a certain date.

  Minnesota looked upon defence as their prime strength heading into the 1967–68 campaign. While waiting for the Met Center to open, they debuted on the road against the St. Louis Blues.

  The October 11, 1967, contest started half an hour late as a result of extended pre-game ceremonies and Blair was less than impressed.

  “I hope we never make the mistake of having anything like that up in Minnesota,” he said. “It might not have been so bad had it started earlier, but I don’t believe starting a game at 9:15 helped either team. The idea as I see it is to sell hockey, not some band or singer.”

  The game ended in a 2–2 tie, and the North Stars’ early-season road swing did not produce a single victory. Their fortunes changed, though, once they had their home opener on October 21, and they got a big 3–1 win over the California Seals. As the fans filed into the new building, workers were still busy installing some seats.

  Because of limited early success, there were many rumours circulating that predicted Blair would leave the coaching duties to John Muckler, but they subsided once a winning streak began in early December.

  “Some day soon I will step out. But coaching is the only way I know to find the weakness of the club,” said Blair. “And when I step out and go on the road, I will find better men to replace some of those on the team now, so they should be so warned.”

  Around this time, Maniago had firmly grasped the number one netminder job and he put together a remarkable shutout streak that included three shutouts. It ran for more than 188 minutes and came to a close on December 21. Soon after, the team made a significant deal to get J.P. Parise from the Toronto Maple Leafs organization. That transaction proved one of the greatest in franchise history.

  At the halfway point of the season, the North Stars had 14 wins to their credit, and Blair was pleased by their progress as a team.

  “I’m pleased to be placed so high after half of the season. We built for the long haul, not for this first season. Maybe it would even be well [sic] if we won it all this year. Our fans are supporting us fine and maybe it would be wise to just do pretty good with the promise of doing better in the future.”

  That optimism quickly turned to sorrow as tragedy struck on January 13, 1968, when the now-Oakland Seals came to town. Early in the first period, the popular Bill Masterton completed a pass to teammate Wayne Connelly and was checked by Larry Cahan and Ron Harris shortly after. He fell backwards and hit his head on the ice, suffering a massive brain hemorrhage in the process.

  Because the injury was so severe, doctors were unable to operate and Masterton passed away two days later. Soon after, many NHL players began to wear helmets and they eventually became mandatory for all players. At the end of the year, a trophy was created in his honour, and his number, 19, was eventually retired in 1987 — even though no one had worn it since his death.

  With the team in shambles, the North Stars lost their next three outings before getting a big win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on January 21. After that, they won seven of their next nine, but they had a rough stretch approaching the playoffs and barely squeaked into fourth place. There was some hope in the form of Connelly’s scoring rampage, which saw him finish the year with 35 goals.

  In their first playoff series, they had their work cut out for them with the Los Angeles Kings. Terry Sawchuk was the opposing starter and Blair went into the series cautiously. He had just cause, since Sawchuk was a great money player and had helped Toronto to the Stanley Cup the year before.

  After they lost the first two games, Minnesota had a small breather when the third game was postponed following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. They got the next two wins at home to tie the series, and Blair could not have been happier.

  “That victory really meant a lot to me, because after we lost those first two games to L.A., I heard some grumbling about a sweep. I consider this season to be an unqualified success regardless what happens from here on out.”

  The North Stars lost Game 5, but their overtime triumph three nights later set the tone for the deciding contest. They shocked the Kings by a 9–4 margin and headed into a second-round clash with St. Louis. The Blues had just added Doug Harvey to their already-impressive lineup, but Minnesota jumped to an early 2–1 lead in the series. After losing their next two contests, they had a big 5–1 triumph in Game 6. In the next game, they fought tooth and nail to get into the Stanley Cup Final, but the contest went into double overtime before Ron Schock scored to end their year.

  The 1968–69 season was a disappointment for the North Stars, and they finished last in the West Division. They bounced back soon after and were playoff contenders for the next four years while Goldsworthy, Parise and Maniago emerged as local legends.

  By the mid-1970s, however, the situation for the club looked grim thanks to direct competition from the WHA’s Minnesota Fighting Saints. Over a six-season span, the North Stars made the playoffs only once, and as a result of their financial woes, they merged with the even more troubled Cleveland Barons in the summer of 1978.

  With this merger, the North Stars returned to playoff form and made a run to the Stanley Cup Final in 1980–81. After that, they won a pair of Norris Division titles but stumbled late in the decade. That low point allowed them to select Mike Modano with the first overall pick in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft. Poor attendance was of great concern at this time, and there were threats that they would be moved to San Francisco Bay Area. A c
ompromise was eventually made that saw the Gund brothers get an expansion club in San Jose and a new ownership group controlled by Norman Green kept the team around for a few more years.

  In 1990–91, Minnesota had another surprising run to the Stanley Cup Final, but it was not enough to ensure they avoided relocation. Seemingly in preparation for a potential move, the North Stars changed their jerseys and the logo had just the word “STARS” on it. The team was moved to Dallas after the 1992–93 season because of a combination of factors, including low attendance and the failure to make a deal for a new arena.

  The move to Dallas broke the hearts of Minnesota’s fans, but the sport continued to thrive in the state at the minor league, college and high school levels. By 1997, the demand for NHL hockey was too strong for the league to ignore and a new expansion team, the Minnesota Wild, began play in 2000–01. As for the original franchise, they went on to great success in Texas and won a Stanley Cup in 1998–99. In recent years, however, the club has missed the playoffs in five straight seasons and had filed for bankruptcy in 2011 before being purchased by Tom Gaglardi.

  Wayne Connelly

  Perhaps one of the biggest surprises in the NHL in the 1967–68 season, Connelly was first a prospect in the Montreal Canadiens organization before he was traded to the Boston Bruins. He spent most of the 1960s trying to crack Boston’s lineup and in 1966–67 made a good impression with 30 points in 64 games with the club. Since he was still on the fringe with the team, he was made available in the expansion draft. Wren Blair chose him, likely because of their time together in the minors.

  “It was great because it was the first time they kept playing me. My game was scoring goals and since Minnesota was a new team, even if I had a slump, I could still play,” Connelly said.

  As the 1967–68 season progressed, he emerged as one of the West Division’s breakout stars. He had a pair of goals against St. Louis on December 2, 1967, and scored the winner against Chicago the next night. The Philadelphia Flyers were the victim of his first hat trick of the season on January 10, 1968, and on March 2, he scored all three of Minnesota’s goals in a win over the Montreal Canadiens. Even more amazing than that were his three straight winning-goals against Oakland, Detroit and Los Angeles in late January.

  Connelly’s phenomenal season should have given him long-term stability with the North Stars, but he had continual battles with coach Wren Blair, and they argued in contract negotiations the following year.

  “It was the best place to play, and I should have been able to continue,” he recalled. “To tell you the truth, he wasn’t a good coach at all. He didn’t teach us anything. We never had a blackboard and never went over plays. I had the impression he was going to be happy with just fourth place.”

  Andre Boudrias

  Boudrias was once a promising prospect for the Montreal Canadiens. Although he got into a handful of games with the club in the years leading up to expansion, he was used primarily in the minors with the Houston Apollos and averaged around a point per game over two seasons there. The Habs were building for the future by getting first-round picks from other clubs, so they packaged him off to Minnesota in a deal that eventually allowed them to select Chuck Arnason in 1971.

  Boudrias was not particularly enthused about his time in Houston and looked forward to playing in a more hockey-friendly climate.

  “I walked into that rink on many a day when it was in the high 80s or low 90s outside,” he said. “I lived in an apartment complex, which had a swimming pool … and climbing out of one of those to head for a hockey rink just didn’t seem right… . I’m really looking forward to our morning practices. I think a cold, brisk walk in cold weather does a hockey player a lot of good.

  “I’m tickled pink to have been picked up by a club this far north in the United States. It gets cold in Minnesota and I think that’s great for guys like me who were born and raised in Canada.”

  As soon as Boudrias hit the ice with the North Stars, he stood out from the pack by wearing a helmet, and he was one of the team’s top penalty killers. On December 10, 1967, he scored the winning goal and earned an assist while playing the Pittsburgh Penguins. He had a three-point night as Minnesota shut out the Los Angeles Kings a little over three weeks later. By the end of the regular season, he was first in the club in assists and had the best plus-minus ranking among regular skaters.

  During the playoffs, Boudrias had a decent showing, with nine points over two rounds, including a goal and two assists against the Kings on April 18. He also helped force a seventh game in the second round with the Blues when he scored the winning goal at 10:54 of the first period.

  Ray Cullen

  Cullen made his NHL debut with the New York Rangers in 1965–66, but the Detroit Red Wings grabbed his rights during the 1966 intra-league draft, and he split the following season between the club and its AHL affiliate in Pittsburgh. Realizing his potential as a goal scorer, the North Stars picked him up for their initial roster, and he became one of their key performers in their first year.

  “I thought it was going to be awful cold,” he said. “As it turned out, I bought a house there. My wife and I just loved it.”

  After making the team, Cullen scored to earn their first victory during their fifth game on October 21, 1967. The even-strength tally came against Charlie Hodge of the California Seals just 2:23 into the third period. Four days later, he scored his second goal of the year and gave Minnesota its second victory in a row, this time against St. Louis.

  The winning goals kept on coming in the early part of the 1967–68 season, and he had two more in battles with the Blues. He also recorded several three-point games, which helped him remain near the top of the team’s scoring parade even though he missed ice time because of a hairline fracture in his ankle.

  Despite his success during his first full season in the league, Cullen did not exactly have a high opinion of Wren Blair as coach.

  “He was very different… . He never played hockey, and in those days, all of the coaches were ex-players and he didn’t earn our confidence. Alfred Hitchcock was one of the greatest directors, but he was never an actor!”

  By season’s end, he finished fourth among all NHL players with 11 power-play goals and placed sixth with seven game-winners. During the playoffs, he had a goal and three assists on April 9, 1968, in Game 3 of the first-round battle with the Los Angeles Kings, and notched a total of eight points over 14 postseason contests.

  Dave Balon

  Balon started out with the New York Rangers, but when he went to the Montreal Canadiens through a blockbuster trade before the 1963–64 season, he was given a chance to play for a contender and won a pair of Stanley Cup championships. Since the Habs had a load of talent on the roster, Balon was made available in the expansion draft and the North Stars got a decent offensive talent for their first foray into NHL action.

  A skilled penalty killer, Balon had a good start to the year and scored twice when Minnesota defeated the St. Louis Blues on November 8, 1967. Unbelievably, his first goal of the night came while the team was shorthanded, and that was the only shorthanded goal the club would score in 1967–68. It truly made a statement about the team’s weaknesses while down a man as they gave up 216 power plays to opponents that year.

  Balon was the only member of the North Stars selected to play in the 1968 NHL All-Star Game; it was his third appearance in the annual event. He had game-winning goals against Philadelphia and Detroit in the second half of the season and earned three assists in the March 17, 1968, game with the Red Wings.

  Primed for the playoffs, he evened the opening-round series with Los Angeles with a winning tally in Game 4 and had another four-point night in Game 7 when the Kings were trounced by a score of 9–4. After the season ended, Balon was puzzlingly traded away for three players.

  Mike McMahon

  The son of a former Stanley Cup champion, McMahon followed his father in the ice wars as a New York Ranger and was claimed by Montreal before the 1966–6
7 season. He spent that year in the minors with the Houston Apollos and ended up sold to the North Stars not long after the expansion draft.

  McMahon was regarded as the main offensive cog on Minnesota’s blue line and was twice voted the Most Valuable Player in the Central League. He instantly earned the respect of teammates for his play.

  “Mike could really move,” said Parker MacDonald. “At the time, he was one of the few defencemen who could lug the puck like Bobby Orr could.”

  Putting up points like crazy, McMahon ranked among the top-scoring defenders in the NHL in 1967–68 and had three-point games against Boston and Los Angeles. As a result, he warranted serious consideration for the 1968 NHL All-Star Team but was not chosen in favour of Dave Balon.

  Goaltender Cesare Maniago felt that part of McMahon’s later on-ice issues came from the way he was treated by Wren Blair while in a scoring drought in the team’s second season.

  “It’s a sad situation. I think he could have gone on and played another 10 or 15 years. By far, he was our best defenceman during our first year. Wren just jumped all over him and Mike would back off and just sulk. It was tough for him to let go and I think he lost his confidence. To see the talent that he had and to just lose it was an eye-opener for me. Everyone was hoping that Wren would just lay off him.”

  Bill Goldsworthy

  A product of the Boston Bruins organization, Goldsworthy appeared in 33 regular-season games with the club before the NHL expanded. He showed signs of his potential during minor league stints with the Oklahoma City Blazers and Buffalo Bisons, and Wren Blair’s decision to draft him likely came from seeing his work at the junior level. Fans in Minnesota had no idea they were in for a treat over the next few seasons.