September 25, 2026
September 25, 2026
2002-2003 Minnesota Wild: Returning North
The departure of the Minnesota North Stars to Dallas, Texas, was a tough pill to swallow for Minnesota hockey fans when it happened in 1993. During the 7 years without a National Hockey League team, Minnesota’s efforts to bring a team back up north proved difficult as negotiations for a relocating team fell through. The sale of the original Winnipeg Jets to a group in Minnesota was trumped by a bid from Phoenix, Arizona. However, the 2000 NHL season saw the debut of 2 new expansion franchises, and the Minnesota Wild was one of them.
In the 2002-2003 NHL season, the 2002-2003 Minnesota Wild went 42-29-10-1 with 95 points, finishing in 3rd place in the Northwest Division. The Wild finished 10 points behind the Colorado Avalanche for the division, though both teams had 42 wins. In head-to-head play, the Wild went 3-0-1 against the Chicago Blackhawks; 3-1 against the Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks; 2-0 against the Florida Panthers, Philadelphia Flyers and Washington Capitals; 2-1-1 against the Los Angeles Kings and Nashville Predators; 2-2-1 against the Calgary Flames and Vancouver Canucks; 2-2 against the Detroit Red Wings, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and Phoenix Coyotes; and 2-2-0-1 against the Edmonton Oilers.
Right winger Marian Gaborik had 30 goals and 35 assists for 65 points, with 5 power play goals, 16 power play assists and 8 game-winning goals on 280 shots. Right winger Pascal Dupuis had 20 goals and 28 assists for 48 points, with 6 power play goals, 7 power play assists and 4 game-winning goals on 183 shots. Left winger Andrew Brunette had 18 goals and 28 assists for 46 points, with 9 power play goals and 15 power play assists on 97 shots. The full team statistics are available on Hockey-Reference.
Left winger Cliff Ronning had 17 goals and 31 assists for 48 points, with 8 power play goals, 14 power play assists and 5 game-winning goals on 171 shots. Center Sergei Zholtok had 16 goals and 26 assists for 42 points, with 11 power play assists on 153 shots. Left winger Antti Laaksonen had 15 goals and 16 assists with 4 game-winning goals on 106 shots. Right winger Richard Park, one of the very few NHL players in history to call Seoul, South Korea, home, had 14 goals and 10 assists with 3 game-winning goals on 149 shots.
Center Wes Walz had 13 goals and 19 assists with 4 game-winning goals on 115 shots. Defenseman Filip Kuba had 8 goals and 21 assists, with 4 power play goals and 8 power play assists on 129 shots. Center Jim Dowd had 8 goals and 17 assists with 7 power play assists on 78 shots.
Goaltender Dwayne Roloson went 23-16-8 (ties and overtime losses combined), allowing 98 goals on 1,334 shots in 2,945 minutes. He recorded 1,236 saves, a .927 save percentage, a 2.00 goals against average and 4 shutouts. Manny Fernandez gave Roloson relief, going 19-13-2 and allowing 73 goals on 972 shots in 1,979 minutes. He recorded 898 saves, a .924 save percentage, a 2.24 goals against average and 2 shutouts.
The Wild burst out of the gate with an impressive 8-1-2-0 start to the regular season. The stretch began with a 5-1 victory over the Boston Bruins on October 11 and ended with a 2-1 overtime victory over the San Jose Sharks on October 31.
Over the course of the regular season, the Wild often rotated the captaincy among 3 of their most talented players. Defenseman Brad Bombardir served as captain from October to November. Center Matt Johnson was captain through December. Sergei Zholtok was captain through January, and Bombardir then took the title back for the rest of the season.
In the Western Conference Quarterfinals, the Minnesota Wild outlasted the Colorado Avalanche in a roller coaster of a 7-game series. In Game 1 on April 10 at the Pepsi Center, the Wild beat the Avalanche 4-2. Center Joe Sakic and right winger Milan Hejduk each scored for Colorado, while Andrew Brunette, Marian Gaborik, Filip Kuba and Wes Walz scored 1 goal apiece for Minnesota. Walz’s goal was the game-winner.
The Avalanche won Game 2 by a 3-2 score on April 12, and then they beat the Wild 3-0 on Minnesota’s home ice at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul in Game 3 on April 14. In Game 4 on April 16, the Avalanche put the Wild on the brink of elimination with a 3-1 win.
Down 3 games to 1, the Wild began their climb back by beating the Avalanche 3-2 in Game 5 on April 19 at the Pepsi Center. Defenseman Rob Blake and center Steve Reinprecht scored for Colorado, while Kuba, Dupuis and defenseman Willie Mitchell each scored for Minnesota. The game-winning goal belonged to Dupuis.
The Wild then won Game 6 at home, 3-2 in overtime, on April 21, finally giving St. Paul fans something to cheer about in the playoffs. Sakic and defenseman Greg de Vries scored for Colorado, while Gaborik had 1 goal and 2 assists for Minnesota. The star of the game was Richard Park, who came up big with 2 goals, including the game-winner.
The Wild completed their series comeback by winning Game 7 by a score of 3-2 in overtime at the Pepsi Center on April 22. Sakic and center Peter Forsberg scored for the Avalanche, while Dupuis and Gaborik scored for the Wild. Brunette had 2 assists along with the game-winning goal.
The Western Conference Semifinals pitted the Wild against the Vancouver Canucks, and once again it was a roller coaster of a 7-game series. The Canucks took Game 1 on April 25 at General Motors Place with a 4-3 overtime win. The Wild came back to win Game 2 by a score of 3-2 on April 27. Vancouver got goals from defensemen Ed Jovanovski and Mattias Ohlund. Minnesota got 1 goal and 1 assist from Gaborik and a goal each from Zholtok and Walz, with Walz’s goal standing as the game-winner.
The Wild lost Game 3 at home, 3-2, on April 29, and then dropped Game 4 by a 3-2 score on May 2. Down 3 games to 1 again, the 2002-2003 Minnesota Wild pulled off another series comeback, beginning with a dominant 7-2 victory in Game 5 on May 5 at General Motors Place. Centers Henrik Sedin and Brendan Morrison scored for Vancouver. The Wild had a big night on offense: Cliff Ronning scored 2 goals, Walz had 1 goal and 2 assists, Brunette and Gaborik each had 1 goal and 1 assist, and Park and defenseman Jason Marshall scored 1 goal each.
In Game 6 on May 7 at the Xcel Energy Center, the Wild pounded the Canucks 5-1. Jovanovski scored the only Vancouver goal. For Minnesota, Brunette scored 2 goals, Antti Laaksonen had 1 goal and 1 assist, and center Darby Hendrickson and defenseman Lubomir Sekeras each scored 1 goal.
The Wild took the series with an impressive 4-2 victory in Game 7 on May 8 at General Motors Place. Vancouver’s goals came from Ohlund and right winger Todd Bertuzzi, while Dupuis scored 2 goals for Minnesota and Hendrickson and Walz added 1 goal each. Series-by-series results from that postseason are collected on Hockey-Reference’s 2003 NHL Playoffs page.
The amazing playoff run of the 2002-2003 Minnesota Wild ended abruptly with a 4-games-to-none sweep at the hands of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the Western Conference Finals. However, the campaign served as a stamp of approval for the return of professional hockey in Minnesota, reaffirming that the NHL was here to stay up north.
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