Minnesota Wild

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The Minnesota Wild are a professional ice hockey team based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. They play in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Facts

Founded: 2000-01

Arena: Xcel Energy Center

Uniform colors: Forest green, Iron Range red, wheat, and harvest gold.

Logo design: A stylized animal's profile, with a mural of green trees, red sky, a yellow moon, with a white star (North Star) as the eye and a river (Mississippi River) as the mouth.

Rivals: Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks, Edmonton Oilers

Franchise history

2001-2002 -- The Wild would get off to a strong start by getting at least 1 point in their first 7 games. However the Wild would come back to earth and would finish in last place again with a record of 26-35-12-9. However, along the way their were signs the Wild were improving as 2nd year speedster Marian Gaborik had a solid season with 30 goals as Andrew Brunette led the team in scoring with 69 points.

2002-2003 -- The Wild, in their first ever playoff appearance, make it all the way to the Western Conference Finals before being swept 4-0 by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. Previously, the Wild had beaten the heavily favored and third seeded Colorado Avalanche in the first round in seven games, coming down from a 3-1 series deficit and winning both Game 6 and 7 in overtime. Andrew Brunette scored the series clincher. In the Western Conference Semi-finals, the Wild beat the fourth seeded Vancouver Canucks, again in seven games, and again after being down 3-1 in the series. In the process, the Wild became the first team in playoff history to capture a seven game series twice after facing elimination during Game 5.

Minnesota's alternate logo; The team's name emblazoned across a disc of green, red, and gold.

2003-2004 -- Coming off a trip to the Western Conference Finals there was an air of optimism. However as the season started the Wild were short-handed with Pascal Dupuis and Marian Gaborik holding out. After struggling in the first month the Wild finally got their two young stars signed but both struggled to get back into game shape as the Wild struggled through much of November. In a deep hole the Wild could not climb back into the playoffs despite finishing the season strong with wins in 5 of their last 6 games as they finished last in the competitive Northwest Division with a record of 30-29-20-3. Along the way the Wild began to gear up for the future trading away several of their older players that were apart of the franchise from the beginning including Brad Bombardir, and Jim Dowd.

2004/2005 -- Season cancelled due to lockout.

Season-by-season record

¹ Season was cancelled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.