Eric Staal

There's always an intriguing sub plot whenever the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars clash. From 1967-93, the Stars performed as the Minnesota North Stars, reaching the Stanley Cup final in 1981 and 1991, until abandoning the State of Hockey for the Big D, where they won the Stanley Cup in 1999. But there's a lingering bitterness among Minnesotans that they were forsaken for a non-traditional hockey market.