The American state of Minnesota is well known for its love of ice hockey due to the frigid winters it endures. Fans have one NHL team in the state of Minnesota and that team is the Minnesota Wild, who are located in the city of Saint Paul, which sits next door to its twin city of Minneapolis.
When Did the Minnesota Wild Franchise Join the NHL?
The Minnesota Wild NHL franchise is based in the American city of Saint Paul, Minnesota and currently competes in the Central Division in the league’s Western Conference. The franchise was officially founded on June 25th, 1997, but didn’t make its NHL debut until the 2000-01 season.
The Wild isn’t the first NHL franchise to play out of Minnesota as the Minnesota North Stars joined the league in 1967/68 when the NHL expanded in from six to 12 teams. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in the City of Bloomington, but relocated to Texas in 1993 as the Dallas Stars.
The state came close to having its second NHL franchise in the mid 1990’s when a financial consortium negotiated to purchase the original Winnipeg Jets franchise. The plan was to relocate the team to Minnesota but arena negotiations fell through and the Jets eventually headed to Phoenix, Arizona and became the Arizona Coyotes.
Where Do the Minnesota Wild Play?
The Wild’s home rink is the Xcel Energy Center which opened on Sept. 29th, 2000. The arena is owned by the city of Saint Paul but is operated by the Wild’s parent company, Minnesota Sports & Entertainment. The capacity of the venue is approximately 18,000 for hockey and the building is located at 199 Kellogg Boulevard West.
Why Are they Called the Minnesota Wild?
After thousands of suggestion, the franchise narrowed the list down to six possible names for the team which were: Blue Ox, the Freeze, the Wild, Voyageurs, White Bears, and Northern Lights with the Wild winning out in January, 1998. The Wild was chosen as a tribute to the state of Minnesota’s abundance of wildlife and its reputation for being an outdoors paradise.
Does Minnesota Have an AHL Team?
The Wild is associated with the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League (AHL.) who play in the Central Division of the Western Conference. The franchise was originally located in Houston, Texas as the Houston Aeros, who were founded in 1994, but relocated to Des Moines, Iowa in 2013. Home games are held at the Wells Fargo Arena which has a capacity of 15,181 for hockey.
Does Minnesota Have an ECHL Team?
The Wild is also affiliated with the Iowa Heartlanders of the ECHL who are based in Coralville Iowa, which is a suburb of Iowa City. Their home games are played at the 5,100-seat Xtream Arena powered by Mediacom, which opened in 2020. The club plays in the Central Division in the league’s Western Conference and was founded in 2021.
Former Minnesota Wild Affiliates
The Wild has had several minor league affiliations over the years which were: the Alaska Aces (ECHL), Allen Americans (ECHL), Austin Ice Bats (CHL), Bakersfield Condors (ECHL), Cleveland Lumberjacks (IHL), Houston Aeros (IHL & AHL), Johnstown Chiefs (ECHL), Louisiana IceGators (ECHL), Mississippi Sea Wolves (FPHL), Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL), Quad City Mallards (ECHL), Rapid City Rush (ECHL) and the Texas Wildcatters (ECHL).
Does Minnesota Have NCAA Hockey?
Male and female college hockey can easily be found in Minnesota and there are six male NCAA Division I hockey programs. These are the: St. Cloud State University Huskies, University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, Minnesota State University Mankato Mavericks, Bemidji State University Beavers, University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and University of St. Thomas Tommies.
In addition, the University of Minnesota Women’s Hockey Team has won the several NCAA National Championships. There are also numerous other NCAA teams throughout the state in locations such as Winona, Moorhead, St. Cloud, and Crookston.
Is Hockey Popular in Minnesota?
Due to its northern location, cold winters and close proximity to Canada, hockey has always been popular in the state of Minnesota from children’s minor hockey, to high school and college hockey and of course the pros. The state hosts the annual Minnesota Boys State Hockey Tournament and in 2018 the Minnesota Whitecaps joined the National Women’s Hockey League.
Since 2007 the state has also held an annual Hockey Day event which takes place in a different city each year. Hockey fans gather to enjoy a day full of high school hockey which is followed by NHL alumni games and then a Minnesota Wild game.
The United States Hockey Hall of Fame is located in the city of Eveleth, Minnesota with the World’s Largest Hockey Stick being located nearby. Hockey players travel from across the world each year to participate in the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships in Lake Nokomis. There are also pond hockey tournaments held in locations such as McKinney Lake, he Brainerd Lakes Area, North Mankato, and Fairmont.
Who are Some Famous NHL Players from Minnesota?
Some of the most famous Wild players in the club’s history have been: Devan Dubnyk, Niklas Backstrom, Marian Gaborik, Ryan Suter, Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise Jonas Brodin, Dwayne Roloson, Eric Staal, Jason Zucker, Mikael Granlund, Charlie Coyle, Nino Niederreiter, Mats Zuccarello, Jared Spurgeon, Matt Dumba, Marc-Andre Fleury, Kirill Kaprizov, Filip Kuba, Wes Walz, Andrew Brunette, Pavol Demeitra, Brian Rolston, Brent Burns, Pierre-Marc Bouchard, Charlie Coyle, Alex Goligoski, Manny Fernandez and Josh Harding.
There have been a few hundred NHL players who were born in the state of Minnesota with the most famous of these being: Blake Wheeler, Zach Parise, Kyle Okposo, Derek Stepan, Alex Goligoski, Jake Gardiner, Brock Nelson, Anders Lee, Nick Leddy, Justin Faulk, Ryan McDonagh, Erik Johnson, Brock Boeser, Nick Bjugstad, Justin Braun, Nate Schmidt, Charlie Lindgren, Kieffer Bellows, Justin Holl, Jake Oettinger, Brady Skjei, Nick Jensen Darby Hendrickson, Aaron Broten, Neal Broten, Dustin Byfuglien, Henry Boucha, Jason Blake, Frank Brimsek, Dave Christian, Jim Korn, Tom Kurvers, Tom Gilbert, Paul Holmgren, Phil Housley, Mark Johnson, Reed Larson, Tom Williams, Mike Ramsey, Gary Sargent, Joel Otto, Mark Pavelich, Joe Micheletti, and Casey Mittelstadt.
The only former member of the Wild to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as of January 1st, 2023 has been Jacques Lemaire. The club’s former head coach was inducted as a player in 1984 after playing his entire NHL career with the Montreal Canadiens and winning Stanley Cups. Lemaire coached the Wild from 2000 to 2009 and won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year for the 2002/03 season.
Quick List of Minnesota Hockey Teams:
- Minnesota Wild
- Iowa Wild (AHL affiliate of Minnesota Wild, located in Des Moines, Iowa)
- Iowa Heartlanders (Affiliate with Minnesota Wild and Iowa Wild)
- 6 NCAA Division I Teams
Final Thoughts
The Minnesota Wild are still without a Stanley Cup, Conference Championship and Presidents’ Trophy but it definitely isn’t due to a lack of effort. The team made it to the Western Conference Finals in its third year of play in 2002-03 and were crowned Northwest Division Champions in 2007/08.
The Wild made the playoffs six straight seasons between 2013 and 2018 and posted three 100-point campaigns during that span. The franchise is here to stay and with a fine mixture of veteran leadership and youth should soon be able to contend for the Stanley Cup.
Check out my related articles:
- What Hockey Team Is in Ohio?
- What Hockey Teams are in Alberta? (Battle of Alberta)
- How Many NHL Hockey Teams are in Florida?
- How Many NHL Teams are in Canada? (Every Team Listed)
- What Hockey Team Is In New York?
Jamie is the founder of Hockey Response and he is the chief writer/ lead editor. Jamie has been playing hockey for over 20 years. He was the defenseman of the year in NL and has played Jr A level hockey. Jamie has coached several kids hockey camps and he was the assistant coach of the Western Kings.
