48 Fun Facts About Minnesota Wild

Who joined the NHL alongside the Wild?

Columbus Blue Jackets and the Wild came in together as the league's 29th and 30th teams, filling their first rosters by taking turns in a two-team expansion draft in June 2000.

Which Minnesota politician campaigned in the 1990s to bring the NHL back to the state?

Norm Coleman, then mayor of Saint Paul, saw his campaign pay off in 1997, after a plan to move the Winnipeg Jets to the Twin Cities had collapsed and the Jets went to Phoenix instead.

Which Minnetonka native led the expansion bid and became the Wild's first majority owner?

Bob Naegele Jr., once a high-school goalie, made his fortune in billboards and by reviving Rollerblade during the in-line skating craze, then fronted the group that won the franchise in 1997.

Who was the Wild's first head coach?

Jacques Lemaire never named a permanent captain in Minnesota, passing the C around his players month by month until he resigned in 2009.

Who scored the first goal in Wild history, at Anaheim in October 2000?

Marian Gaborik, 18 and the club's first-ever draft pick, scored in a 3-1 loss; five days later Minnesota native Darby Hendrickson scored the first goal on home ice.

Why did the Wild retire the number 1 before their first home game?

To honour the fans, the Wild retired No. 1 in a ceremony before their first home game in October 2000, so no player has ever worn it for them.

Which team swept the Wild in the 2003 conference finals?

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere shut the Wild out in each of the first three games, and Minnesota's only goal of the series came in Game 4.

Whose 2003 Game 7 overtime goal beat Colorado, the last goal ever scored on Patrick Roy?

Andrew Brunette scored 3:25 into overtime after the Wild had twice come from a goal down, tying Game 7 with under five minutes left in regulation.

Which team did the 2003 Wild beat in seven games after trailing 3-1, days after doing the same to Colorado?

Vancouver Canucks led Game 7 2-0 on home ice before the Wild scored four unanswered goals, completing a second straight comeback from three games to one down.

Which Latvian former Wild forward died of a heart condition during a game in Europe in 2004?

Sergei Zholtok, playing for Riga 2000 during the NHL lockout, left a game in Minsk with about five minutes to play and collapsed in the locker room; he had been treated for an irregular heartbeat while with the Wild.

Which goalie was traded to Edmonton in 2006 for a first-round pick, ending a Wild goalie controversy?

Dwayne Roloson went on to carry Edmonton to the 2006 Stanley Cup Final, where a knee injury in Game 1 ended his run and the Oilers lost in seven.

Which Slovak veteran did the Wild acquire from Los Angeles on draft day 2006?

Pavol Demitra cost the Wild a first-round pick and prospect Patrick O'Sullivan, then repaid them with 64 points in his first season, tied for the team lead.

The Wild's only division title as of 2026 came in which division?

Northwest was the Wild's division until the NHL scrapped it in the 2013 realignment, so the banner they clinched by beating Calgary in April 2008 is one they can never add to.

Which team signed the Wild's first-ever draft pick in 2009, after he scored five goals against them in one 2007 game?

New York Rangers signed him after injuries held him to 17 games in his last Wild season, and he answered with 42 goals in his first year in New York.

Who became the Wild's first full-time captain in October 2009 after eight seasons of monthly rotation?

Mikko Koivu got the C for good when new coach Todd Richards ended the monthly rotation, and he wore it for 11 seasons until leaving the Wild in 2020.

Where did the Wild open the 2010-11 season with two games against Carolina?

Helsinki's Hartwall Areena hosted both games, and the Wild flew home without a win: a 4-3 loss, then a 2-1 defeat in a shootout.

Which star defenseman did the Wild trade to San Jose in 2011 for Setoguchi, Coyle and a first-round pick?

Brent Burns was drafted as a right wing and remade into a defenseman in Minnesota; six years after the trade he won the Norris Trophy with San Jose.

Zach Parise and which defenseman signed identical 13-year, $98 million Wild contracts in 2012?

Ryan Suter and Zach Parise never saw the end of those deals: the Wild bought out both players on the same day in July 2021, with four years still to run.

Whose 2014 Game 7 overtime goal knocked out the Central Division champion Avalanche?

Nino Niederreiter had already tied the game once in the third period; the Wild trailed four times in Game 7 and never led until his overtime winner.

Which goalie's January 2015 arrival sparked a 27-9-2 run to the playoffs?

Devan Dubnyk cost only a third-round pick from Arizona, less than a year after he had been sent to the minors, and won the Masterton Trophy for his turnaround.

Which Prince song did the Wild adopt as their goal song after his death in April 2016?

Let's Go Crazy was first played after goals at a playoff game days after Prince died; season-ticket holders then voted nearly 2-to-1 to keep it for the next season.

Which coach led the Wild to a then-record 106 points in 2016-17, his first season in charge?

Bruce Boudreau's first Wild team won 12 straight games in December, a run ended on New Year's Eve by a visiting side riding an even longer winning streak.

Which forward and prospect did the Wild lose to Vegas around the 2017 expansion draft?

Erik Haula and Alex Tuch went as a package: the Wild traded Tuch so that Vegas would draft Haula and leave defensemen Matt Dumba and Marco Scandella alone.

Which general manager was fired in July 2019 after just 14 months on the job?

Paul Fenton traded away three core forwards in under six weeks in early 2019, and the Wild then missed the playoffs for the first time in seven seasons.

Kirill Kaprizov scored the overtime winner in his NHL debut in January 2021 against which team?

Los Angeles Kings led 3-1 going into the third period before the Wild rallied to force overtime, where Kaprizov scored 3:47 in.

Who was the Wild's 2015 first-rounder, drafted before Kaprizov?

Joel Eriksson Ek went 20th overall, 115 picks ahead of Kaprizov, yet it was the fifth-rounder who won the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie in 2021.

Kaprizov's overtime 'golden goal' at the 2018 Olympics beat which surprise finalist?

Germany, whose best Olympic finish had been bronze, lost the final 4-3 in overtime; the NHL kept its players home from those Games, leaving the stage to KHL players such as Kaprizov.

Which KHL club did Kaprizov win the 2019 Gagarin Cup with?

CSKA Moscow was where Kaprizov led the KHL in goals two seasons running; he stayed until 2020, signing with the Wild five years after they drafted him.

In 2021-22, Kaprizov became the first Wild player with what?

A 100-point season had eluded every Wild player until Kaprizov finished with 108, 25 more than the old club record; the Wild still went out in the first round.

Which veteran goalie did the Wild acquire before the 2022 playoffs, only to lose to St. Louis?

Marc-Andre Fleury, a three-time Stanley Cup winner acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline, then stayed three more seasons and retired with the Wild in 2025.

Whose draft rights did the Wild receive from Los Angeles in the 2022 Kevin Fiala trade?

Brock Faber grew up in Maple Grove, Minnesota, so the trade brought him home; in his first full season he finished second in Calder Trophy voting.

Kaprizov's September 2025 extension, then the richest contract in NHL history, was worth how much?

$136 million over eight years works out to $17 million a season, and the whole deal is about three times the five-year, $45 million contract Kaprizov signed with the Wild in 2021.

Which Norris Trophy defenseman did the Wild acquire in December 2025 for Rossi, Ohgren, Buium and a pick?

Quinn Hughes, the 2024 Norris winner, arrived in mid-season, and that spring the Wild won a playoff series for the first time in 11 years.

Whom did the Wild beat in 2026 for their first playoff series win since 2015?

Dallas Stars led the series 2-1 before the Wild won three straight, starting with an overtime win in Game 4; Colorado then ended the run in the second round.

What forms the eye of the animal in the Wild logo?

The North Star forms the animal's eye as a tribute to the Minnesota North Stars, the NHL team that left the state in 1993.

What is the name of the Wild mascot introduced in 2008?

Nordy wears number 18,001 because the Wild call their crowd the 'Team of 18,000'; the club leaves his species a mystery.

The 'This Is Our Ice' tradition invites fans to bring what to the arena?

Water from local lakes and ponds, three ounces at most per fan, is filtered and frozen into the arena ice under a tradition the Wild began in 2017.

Grand Casino Arena was known by what name from its 2000 opening?

Xcel Energy Center was the name for 25 years, until the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe's Grand Casino took over the naming rights in September 2025.

Which party held its 2008 national convention at the Wild's arena?

Republican delegates nominated John McCain and Sarah Palin there in September 2008, after Hurricane Gustav forced the party to scrap most of its opening-day program.

Which women's hockey team began sharing the Wild's arena in 2024?

Minnesota Frost, known only as PWHL Minnesota in that first season, won the league's first championship in 2024 and then won it again in 2025.

Which stadium hosted the Wild's 2022 Winter Classic, played at a then-record minus 5.7 degrees?

Target Field, the Minnesota Twins' ballpark, was the coldest setting the NHL had used for an outdoor game; St. Louis coped better, scoring five times in the second period to win 6-4.

Which guitarist's 'Crowd Chant' did the Wild adopt as a goal song in 2006?

Joe Satriani released the track in 2006 and the Wild picked it up soon after; when the team later moved on, season-ticket holders voted it back in as the goal song in 2018.

Which Wild goalie won the 2013 Masterton Trophy after playing through a multiple sclerosis diagnosis?

Josh Harding was diagnosed during the 2012 lockout, yet when the Wild's starter was hurt in the warm-up before the 2013 playoff opener, he stepped in and made 35 saves.

Where did the Wild relocate their AHL affiliate from in 2013 to create the Iowa Wild?

Houston had been the Wild's top farm club since 2001; its Aeros reached the 2011 Calder Cup Final under Mike Yeo, who was promoted to coach the Wild that summer.

Which goaltender holds the Wild record for career wins, with 194 as of 2026?

Niklas Backstrom came from Finland in 2006 as an undrafted 28-year-old, took over when the starter was injured that winter, and shared the Jennings Trophy in his first NHL season.

Which forward scored 42 goals for the Wild in 2017-18, then a share of the club record?

Eric Staal had managed only 13 goals in his last season before signing with the Wild in 2016; two years later, at 33, he scored 42.

Which Racine, Wisconsin resident and former Predators owner bought the Wild in 2008?

Craig Leipold had completed the sale of the Predators only a month before his deal for the Wild was announced in January 2008; the NHL approved it that April.

Whom did the Wild trade to Ottawa in July 2022 to acquire goaltender Filip Gustavsson?

Cam Talbot was an All-Star with 32 wins that season, yet the Wild swapped him for a 24-year-old backup who went on to post the NHL's second-best save percentage in 2022-23.