Minnesota Wild Tickets

Minnesota has long been a hotbed of professional, amateur, collegiate and hockey. Professional hockey was a mainstay in Minneapolis beginning in 1967 when the expansion Minnesota North Stars were added to the NHL. The North Stars moved south to Dallas in 1993, leaving a large hockey void within the state. Four years later in 1997, the National Hockey League announced the return of hockey to the Minneapolis-St. Paul twin cities, along with three other expansion franchises. The team name "Wild" was announced in January 1998 following a local contest that ran for six months. Former Calgary Flame player and general manager Doug Risebrough was hired as GM of the Wild and former Montreal Canadiens great and New Jersey Devil coach Jacques Lemaire was handed the reins behind the bench.