Team History

The Minnesota North Stars were founded as an expansion team in 1967, playing their games adjacent to Metropolitan Stadium at the newly-constructed Metropolitan Sports Center (the "Met Center") in Bloomington, Minnesota. Initially successful both on the ice and at the gate, the North Stars fell victim to financial problems after several poor seasons in the mid-1970s.

In 1978, they were purchased by the owners of the also-struggling Cleveland Barons (formerly the California Golden Seals), the influential Gund brothers, George III and Gordon, and the NHL permitted the two franchises to merge. The merged team retained the name Minnesota North Stars, but assumed the Barons’ old place in the Adams Division. The merger brought with it a number of talented players, and the North Stars were revived, making the Stanley Cup Finals in 1981, but they lost in five games to the New York Islanders. However, by the early 1990s, declining attendance and the inability to secure a new downtown revenue-generating arena led ownership to request permission to move the team to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1990. The NHL rejected the request, and instead agreed to award an expansion franchise, the San Jose Sharks, to the Gund brothers. The North Stars were sold to a group of investors that were originally looking to place a team in San Jose, although one of the group's members, Norman Green, would eventually gain control of the team.

In the following season, Minnesota had lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals. Then, just two years later, amid further attendance woes and bitter personal controversy, Green obtained permission to move the team to the Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas, where they were renamed, 'specifically', the Stars. In the 1994 playoffs the Stars lost to the cinderella-story Vancouver Canucks. Green would later sell the team to Tom Hicks. In 1999 the Stars won the franchise's first Stanley Cup, vs. the Buffalo Sabres. Dallas returned to the Cup Finals in 2000, but would lose to the New Jersey Devils. For 2001-02, the team moved to a new arena, the American Airlines Center.

Despite initial reservations about the move to Texas, the Stars have enjoyed success both on and off the ice. On top of their 1999 Cup, they have won two Presidents' Trophies as the team with the best overall regular-season record. Dallas has also won seven division titles and two Western Conference titles in the past nine seasons.

Team Logos

North Stars

Dallas Stars

Team Captains

North Stars

• Bob Woytowich 1967-68
• Elmer Vasko 1968-69
• Claude Larose 1969-70
• Ted Harris 1970-74
• Bill Goldsworthy 1974-76
• Bill Hogaboam 1976-77
• Nick Beverley 1977-78
• J.P. Parise 1978-79
• Paul Shmyr 1979-81
• Tim Young 1981-82
• Craig Hartsburg 1982-89
• Brian Bellows 1984 (interim)
• Curt Giles 1989-91
• Mark Tinordi 1991-93

Dallas Stars

• Mark Tinordi, 1993-95
• Neal Broten, 1995
• Derian Hatcher, 1995-2003
• Mike Modano, 2003-06
• Brenden Morrow, 2006- present

Retired Numbers

• 7 Neal Broten, C, 1981-95 & 1997, number retired February 7, 1998
• 8 Bill Goldsworthy, RW, 1967-77, number retired February 15, 1992
• 19 Bill Masterton, C, 1967-68, number retired January 17, 1987
• 99 Wayne Gretzky, number retired league-wide February 6, 2000

Awards and Championships