In an alternate timeline of Minnesota sports history, the NHL’s North Stars might have moved from Bloomington to downtown Minneapolis and shared Target Center with the NBA’s Timberwolves. Instead, Minnesota’s first pro hockey team moved to Texas in 1993, and became Thursday night’s foe – the Dallas Stars – for the Minnesota Wild’s preseason home opener.
And with discussion about the venues for NBA and NHL teams in the Twin Cities heating up again, 30-plus years later, the Wild’s owner made it clear that discussion of a shared facility for the hockey and basketball teams is a non-starter.
“We are gonna stay in St. Paul, and they’re gonna stay in Minneapolis,” said Wild owner Craig Leipold, talking to reporters in his Grand Casino Arena suite between periods on Thursday. “It’s pretty hard