Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League ( NHL ) from 1967 to 1993 . The team played its home games at the Met Center in Bloomington , Minnesota . The team ' s colors ( for most of their history ) were green , gold and white . In twenty - six seasons , the team played 2 , 062 regular season games and appeared in the playoffs fifteen times , including two Stanley Cup Finals appearances . In the fall of 1993 , the franchise moved to Dallas , Texas , where it is now known as the Dallas Stars . History . Then - NHL President Clarence Campbell announced on March 11 , 1965 that the league would expand from six teams , known as the " Original Six " . In response to Campbell ' s announcement , a partnership of nine men , led by Walter Bush Jr . and John Driscoll , was formed to land a franchise in Minnesota . Their efforts were successful as the NHL awarded one of six expansion franchises to Minnesota on February 9 , 1966 . In addition to Minnesota , the five other locations included California ( Oakland ) , Los Angeles , Philadelphia , Pittsburgh , and St . Louis . The identity of the team became the " North Stars " on May 25 , 1966 , following a public naming contest . The name is also derived from the state ' s motto " L ' Étoile du Nord " , which is French for " The Star of the North " . Months after the naming of the team , ground was broken on October 3 , 1966 for a new hockey arena in Bloomington , Minnesota . The home of the North Stars , Metropolitan Sports Center , was built in 12 months at a cost of $ 7 million . The arena was ready for play for the start of the 1967 - 68 NHL season , but portions of the arena ' s construction had not been completed . Spectator seats were in the process of being installed as fans arrived at the arena for the opening home game on October 21 , 1967 . Early years . On October 15 , 1967 , the North Stars played their first in franchise history on the road against the California Seals , another expansion team . The North Stars lost their first game , but would get a rematch against the Seals six days later at home , this time playing to a 3 - 3 tie . The team achieved success early as it was in first place in the Western Division halfway through the the 1967 - 68 season . Tragedy stuck the team during the first season on January 13 , 1968 , when forward Bill Masterton suffered a fatal hit during a game against the Seals at Met Center . Skating towards the Seals goal across the blue line , Masterton fell backwards , hitting the back of his head on the ice . He never regained consciousness and died on January 15 , 1968 , at the age of 29 , two days after the accident . Doctors described the cause of Masterton ' s death as a " massive brain injury " . To this date , this remains the first and only death as a result of an injury during a game in NHL history . The North Stars retired his jersey , and later that year , hockey writers established the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy which would be given annually to a player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance , sportsmanship and dedication to hockey . Following the news of Masterton ' s death , the North Stars lost the next six games . Behind a skilled management team , the North Stars had respectable success in the early years , prospering behind goaltending duo Lorne " Gump " Worsley and Cesare Maniago . Defenseman Ted Harris was the North Stars captain . The first Stars team also included high - scoring winger Bill Goldsworthy and other quality players such as Barry Gibbs , Jude Drouin , J . P . Parise , Danny Grant , Lou Nanne , Tom Reid , and Dennis Hextall . By the mid - 1970s , with Worsley and Harris retired , the North Stars had fallen on hard times , perennially attaining poor records and usually finishing out of the playoffs . However , in 1978 , the struggling team was bought by Gordon and George Gund , the owners of the Cleveland Barons franchise , who were permitted to merge the two teams in an unprecedented arrangement . A few skilled players – notably goaltender Gilles Meloche and forwards Al MacAdam and Mike Fidler – bolstered the Minnesota lineup . Furthermore , Minnesota had drafted Bobby Smith , who would go on to win the Calder Trophy that year , and Steve Payne , who himself would go on to record 42 goals in his second campaign in 1979 - 80 . 1980s . In the middle of this transition , a historic night awaited the North Stars , Met Center , and its loyal fans . On the night of January 6 , 1980 , Minnesota was scheduled to play the rough and tough Philadelphia Flyers . They had come to Bloomington sporting the NHL ' s ( and all major league sports ) longest undefeated streak ever , by coming in with a 35 - game string , which included 25 wins , and 10 ties . An all - time record Met Center crowd of 15 , 962 squeezed into every nook and cranny of the arena , which was the largest crowd to ever witness a hockey game in Minnesota to that time , and would remain the highest total in all 26 seasons of Minnesota North Star hockey . The crazy fans were ready , and so were the North Stars . In the end , Minnesota obliterated the Flyers and their streak , 7 - 1 , and two North Stars posted hat tricks in the drubbing . With the additions of fine new players such as Minnesota native and ex - 1980 Olympian Neal Broten and sniper Dino Ciccarelli , the North Stars had five straight winning seasons starting in 1979 - 80 and included back - to - back trips to the Stanley Cup Semi - Final , against the Philadelphia Flyers in 1980 , and then the Calgary Flames in 1981 , when the North Stars finally reached their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final , which put them up against the heavily stacked New York Islanders in 1980 - 81 , which Minnesota lost in 5 games . Dino Ciccarelli would score a franchise record 55 goals in just his second season in 1981 - 82 , leading Minnesota to its first division title , but the team bowed out of the play - offs in the first round against an upstart Chicago Blackhawks team . In the summer of 1982 , General Manager Lou Nanne orchestrated one of the franchise ' s biggest moves ever , and landed a star in the making , by drafting highly coveted Brian Bellows . It paid immediate dividends , as he would score 35 goals in his rookie campaign , and helped the team to finish with 40 wins and 96 regular season points - both the most ever recorded in the 26 years the franchise was based in Minnesota . Once again , though , the North Stars fell in the play - offs to the pesky Denis Savard and Al Secord - led Chicago Blackhawks in the second round of the playoffs . Beginning in 1983 - 84 , the team was determined to erase the failures of the previous two campaigns , and they came close to doing so . This was a season of change for the North Stars and their fans , as a new coach was behind the bench , Bill Mahoney , who was a defense - minded teacher of the game . Very early in the season , a major trade shook the organization , all of Minnesota , and the NHL . The popular Bobby Smith was shipped off to the Montreal Canadiens for a pair of defense - minded forwards , Keith Acton and Mark Napier . The team would go on to post the second - highest victory total in its history with 39 , and win its second Norris Division crown . In the playoffs , the North Stars finally vanquished the hated Chicago Blackhawks , deposing of them in a grueling 5 games series 3 games to 2 , then put away the St . Louis Blues in a hard - fought 7 game set , 4 - 3 . Only one team remained between the North Stars second Stanley Cup Final run in four seasons , Wayne Gretzky ' s Edmonton Oilers . It was a tough , high - scoring series but the Oilers proved too much with its star - studded line - up , and would coast past the North Stars in a four game sweep , en route to their first Stanley Cup . Thereafter , success dwindled away for the North Stars . After 1984 the franchise would only have one more winning season in Minnesota before the move to Dallas . While the late 1980s saw the franchise draft what would turn out to be their greatest player – forward Mike Modano – chronic attendance problems spurred the owners to threaten to move the club to the San Francisco Bay Area , against the league ' s wishes . 1990s . A compromise was implemented for the 1990 - 91 season whereby the Gund brothers were awarded an expansion team in the Bay Area , the San Jose Sharks , that would receive players via a dispersal draft with the North Stars . A group previously petitioning for an NHL team in the Bay Area led by Howard Baldwin and Morris Belzberg bought the North Stars as part of the deal . Baldwin and Belzberg purchased the team from the Gund brothers for approximately $ 38 . 1 million ( including $ 1 million in liabilities as well as giving the Gunds their share of the fees from the next three expansion teams , expected to be $ 7 . 14 million ) . Norman Green , a last - minute newcomer to Baldwin and Belzberg ' s group , purchased 51 % controlling interest in the North Stars from them , with Baldwin and Belzberg sharing the remaining 49 % stake in the team . Green agreed to purchase Baldwin ' s 24 . 5 % share , giving him more than 75 % control of the team , shortly after a dispute with Baldwin arose . Belzberg maintained his share of the rest of the team ' s stock until October 1990 , when Green became the sole owner by buying Belzberg ' s shares . In that 1991 season , despite a losing record in the regular season , the North Stars made it to the Stanley Cup Finals for the second time in franchise history . They knocked off the Chicago Blackhawks and St . Louis Blues ( the top two teams in the NHL during the regular season ) in six games each and the defending Stanley Cup Champion Edmonton Oilers in five games . The team fought hard against the eventual champion Pittsburgh Penguins , led by Mario Lemieux . They won two out of the first three contests before being obliterated 8 - 0 in Game 6 of the best - of - seven series . It was the most one - sided defeat in a deciding game of the Stanley Cup Finals since the Ottawa Senators defeated the Dawson City Nuggets 23 - 2 in 1905 . The shocking loss seemed to let the air out of the franchise for good . Green ' s mercurial personality and mounting financial and legal problems also began to grate on the area ' s fan base , and local support for the franchise rapidly dwindled . Finally , with his northern mall empire threatening to fall into receivership and a sexual harassment lawsuit against him working its way through the Minnesota court system , Green demanded concessions for his team that the area and state were unwilling to give , so he moved the team to Dallas , Texas , in the fall of 1993 . Departure to Dallas . When the Dallas Stars won the 1999 Stanley Cup , their official video " Nothing Else Matters " not only included their past seasons ' disappointments , but also paid tribute to the North Stars ' 1991 run to the final , of which star Mike Modano and general manager Bob Gainey had been part . In the next wave of NHL expansion the Minneapolis - St . Paul ( Twin Cities ) were granted a new franchise , the Minnesota Wild , which began play in the 2000 - 01 season . As of the 2006 - 07 season , Modano , Hatcher , and Richard Matvichuk are the last former North Stars still active in the NHL . Modano is the only remaining North Star still with the franchise in Dallas , and currently serves as an assistant captain . Jere Lehtinen , though drafted by the North Stars in 1992 and still active with the team , would not play an NHL game until the 1995 - 96 season , by which time the franchise had relocated to Dallas . Other former North Stars continue to play overseas or in the minor leagues . Mike Craig and Todd Elik both play in the Austrian Hockey League , Craig for the Vienna Capitals and Elik for Innsbruck EV . Tommy Sjödin is with Brynas IF in the Swedish Elitserien . Finally , Kip Miller plays for the Grand Rapids Griffins , the American Hockey League affiliate of the Detroit Red Wings . Return of Hockey to Minnesota . Professional hockey returned to Minnesota in 1997 when the National Hockey League announced that the state had been awarded an expansion franchise to begin play in the 2000 - 01 NHL season . The next year , the team name for the new franchise became the Minnesota Wild . Seasons and records . Season - by - season record . The team had 15 playoff appearances , a 77 - 82 playoff record , 2 Norris Division championships , and 2 Campbell Conference championships . " Note : GP = Games played , W = Wins , L = Losses , T = Ties , Pts = Points , GF = Goals for , GA = Goals against , PIM = Penalties in minutes " Team scoring leaders . This is a listing of the top - ten point - scorers in franchise history . " Note : Pos = Position ; GP = Games Played ; G = Goals ; A = Assists ; Pts = Points NHL awards and trophies . Clarence S . Campbell Bowl Calder Memorial Trophy Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy Leaders . Team captains . " Note : This list does not include Dallas Stars , California Golden Seals and Cleveland Barons captains " . < br clear = " all " > Head coaches . < br clear = " all " > Notable players . Hall of Famers . This is a listing of players in the Hockey Hall of Fame : Retired Numbers ( in Minnesota ) . After the move , the Dallas Stars retired the number 7 of Minnesota native , University of Minnesota graduate and 1980 Olympic hero Neal Broten , C , 1981 - 93 . Broadcasting . North Stars hockey games were radio broadcast on WCCO ( AM ) from 1967 to 1978 , then moved to their new home at KSTP ( AM ) , where they stayed until the team moved to Dallas in 1993 . Al Shaver was the play - by - play announcer of the team throughout its stay in Minnesota . Known as the " Voice of Hockey " to listeners in Minnesota , Shaver is a ten - time Minnesota Sportscaster of the Year and he is also a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame . Following the team ' s departure to Dallas , he called Minnesota Golden Gophers hockey games until his retirement in 1996 . Shaver ' s final call for the North Stars : " It ' s Ludwig , giving it to Dahlen . . . 4 , 3 , 2 , 1 . . . and it ' s all over . The Stars lose it here , 5 - 3 , and now it ' s pack - ' em up time and on to Dallas . We wish them good luck . And to all the North Stars over the past 26 years , we say thank you , all of you , for so much fine entertainment . It ' s been a pleasure knowing you , Minnesota ' s loss is definitely a gain for Dallas - and a big one . We thank you , though , from the bottoms of our hearts , for all the wonderful nights at Met Center , when you ' ve given us so much entertainment and you ' ve been such a credit to the community in which you played . We will still remember you as the Minnesota North Stars . Good night , everybody . And goodbye . "