Roughly, say, around the George Bush administration was the last time the Blackhawks played a game in Minnesota against a team that was also among the class of their conference.
That’s the George H.W. Bush presidency, not the most recent Bush to occupy the White House.
Throughout the 1980s and into the ’90s, the Hawks battled the Minnesota North Stars for supremacy of the Norris Division in a bitter rivalry that matched no other in the history of either franchise. The teams met six times in contentious postseason series during a span from 1982 to 1991. When the Stars left for Dallas after the 1993 season, the rivalry disappeared as Minnesota was without an NHL team until 2000 when the Wild were born. With just four appearances in the playoffs — none against the Hawks — since then, the Wild haven’t exactly been a force and games between the teams mostly have been limited to mostly meaningless regular-season contests.
That changes Wednesday night when the Hawks and Wild will hit the ice at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., for a showdown between the top two teams in the Western Conference. It could be a precursor of a rivalry for years to come as the teams will be situated in the same eight-team conference starting next season courtesy of NHL realignment.
“As far as my memory goes back this is probably as big a game (between the teams) as there has been this early in the season,” said veteran winger Andrew Brunette, who played six seasons with the Wild — including the last three before signing with the Hawks. “I absolutely remember the old Norris Division. I grew up in Ontario so we had all the Norris Division games (on TV). Playing there for as long as I did, I know the fans will be excited (when) they’re back in the same division because it’s a natural rivalry.”
The Wild have been the surprise of the league this season, accumulating the most points in the NHL with 43 entering its game Tuesday night against the Jets. The Hawks are right on their tail in the West with 40 points.
“Seeing them ahead of us and getting a chance to go at it in their building it definitely will be a game that’s easy to get up for,” said goaltender Ray Emery, who will make his third consecutive start for the Hawks.
The Wild rely on a stingy defense that allowed 2.10 goals per game before Tuesday and have no players in the Top 25 in scoring. The Hawks, meanwhile, have posted big offensive numbers with an average of 3.20 goals per game and have Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa and Patrick Kane all among the top 15 scorers.
“They’re an unbelievable team this year,” Kane said. ‘One of the things about them is you can’t really put your finger on what makes them so good. It’s just a collective team effort. (It’s) a lot of defense, a lot of checking (and) not giving up too many goals.
“This is a big game for us. We definitely want to make up some ground on them and try to catch them in the West. Hopefully you can win a game and show them how good we are and show them we’re for real too. I’m sure they’re probably thinking the same thing, especially with the (down) years they’ve had in the past. We’re not going to take them lightly.”
Twitter @ChrisKuc
