Adam Raider's guest appearances

Adam Raider

Good Seats Still Available

Mike Carey

Bob Ross

Michael Lewis

Randy Hahn

Dave Coleman

Rob Brown

John Oreovicz

Bob Moore

Jim O'Brien

Matt Stone

Scott Morrison

Matthew Algeo

Rick Davis

Sean McIndoe

Paul Goldberger

OwlTail

In this week’s episode, we skate back to the National Hockey League’s 1967 “Great Expansion,” when the league ambitiously doubled in size from its “Original Six” to incorporate a half-dozen new franchises – including the seemingly most obvious and overdue market of all: the hockey-mad state of Minnesota and its cultural epicenter, Minneapolis-St.Paul.  With a skilled management team led by amateur hockey pioneer Walter Bush, the Minnesota North Stars fielded a team-minded and quickly respectable squad of NHL journeymen, castoffs and amateurs that immediately won the hearts of the hometown Met Center faithful.  By the mid-1970s, however, the North Stars had fallen on hard times, with perennially poor records and few playoff berths – until 1978, when, in an unprecedented arrangement, Cleveland Barons (née California Golden Seals) franchise owner-brothers Gordon and George Gund acquired the team and merged them.  Bolstered by an immediate influx of quality Barons like goaltender Gilles Meloche and forwards Al MacAdam and Mike Fidler – plus savvy acquisitions and draft picks like eventual Calder Cup-winning forward Bobby Smith, 1980 US Olympian (and Minnesota native) Neal Broten, and future Hall of Famer Dino Ciccarelli – the North Stars reeled off five straight winning seasons and reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1980-81. Author Adam Raider (Frozen in Time: A Minnesota North Stars History) joins the show to recount the club’s rise to championship contention, and subsequent relapse in the later 1980s/early 1990s – that ultimately saw: the Gunds trade for rights to a San Jose expansion franchise; Calgary Flames owner Norman Green opportunistically swap his interests for the North Stars; and, despite the addition of Mike Modano and a 1991 Stanley Cup Finals run, Green achieve villainy status (“Norm Sucks!”) by moving the team to Dallas in 1993. If you are a fan of today’s NHL Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars or even San Jose Sharks, the story of the North Stars is an important part of your hockey education! Please support the show by frequenting our friends at SportsHistoryCollectibles.com, Audible and Podfly!

In this week’s episode, we skate back to the National Hockey League’s 1967 “Great Expansion,” when the league ambitiously doubled in size from its “Original Six” to incorporate a half-dozen new franchises – including the seemingly most obvious and overdue market of all: the hockey-mad state of Minnesota and its cultural epicenter, Minneapolis-St.Paul.  With a skilled management team led by amateur hockey pioneer Walter Bush, the Minnesota North Stars fielded a team-minded and quickly respectable squad of NHL journeymen, castoffs and amateurs that immediately won the hearts of the hometown Met Center faithful.  By the mid-1970s, however, the North Stars had fallen on hard times, with perennially poor records and few playoff berths – until 1978, when, in an unprecedented arrangement, Cleveland Barons (née <a href="http://goodseatsstillavailable.com/blog/2017/3/10/episode-01-documentarian-mark-greczmiel-the-nhls-california-golden-seals" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">California</a> <a href="http://goodseatsstillavailable.com/blog/2017/11/17/episode-37-the-nhls-california-golden-seals-with-author-steve-currier" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Golden Seals</a>) franchise owner-brothers Gordon and George Gund acquired the team and merged them.  Bolstered by an immediate influx of quality Barons like goaltender Gilles Meloche and forwards Al MacAdam and Mike Fidler – plus savvy acquisitions and draft picks like eventual Calder Cup-winning forward Bobby Smith, 1980 US Olympian (and Minnesota native) Neal Broten, and future Hall of Famer Dino Ciccarelli – the North Stars reeled off five straight winning seasons and reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 1980-81. Author Adam Raider (<a href="http://amzn.to/2Ixltf2" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Frozen in Time: A Minnesota North Stars History</a>) joins the show to recount the club’s rise to championship contention, and subsequent relapse in the later 1980s/early 1990s – that ultimately saw: the Gunds trade for rights to a San Jose expansion franchise; Calgary Flames owner Norman Green opportunistically swap his interests for the North Stars; and, despite the addition of Mike Modano and a 1991 Stanley Cup Finals run, Green achieve villainy status (“Norm Sucks!”) by moving the team to Dallas in 1993. If you are a fan of today’s NHL Minnesota Wild, Dallas Stars or even San Jose Sharks, the story of the North Stars is an important part of your hockey education! Please support the show by frequenting our friends at <a href="http://bit.ly/Sportshistory" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">SportsHistoryCollectibles.com</a>, <a href="http://www.audible.com/?source_code=PDTGBPD060314004R" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Audible</a> and <a href="http://www.podfly.net/#about" rel="noopener nofollow" target="_blank">Podfly</a>!

053: NHL Hockey’s Minnesota North Stars with Author Adam Raider