1990–91 Minnesota North Stars season

The 1990–91 Minnesota North Stars season was the North Stars' 24th season. The most striking aspect of the season was that despite qualifying for the playoffs with an under–.500 (or "losing") regular-season record, the team reached the Stanley Cup Final as the Clarence Campbell Conference Champions, eliminating Chicago and St. Louis teams that had finished nearly 40 points ahead of them in the regular season, as well as the defending Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers in five games — a classic "Cinderella" post-season. The North Stars saw their playoff run end in game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals when they lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins 8–0 in front of their home fans in the Met Center.

1990–91 Minnesota North Stars
Campbell Conference champions
Division	4th Norris
Conference	7th Campbell
1990–91 record	27–39–14
Home record	19–15–6
Road record	8–24–8
Goals for	256
Goals against	266
Team information
General manager	Bob Clarke
Coach	Bob Gainey
Captain	Curt Giles
Alternate captains	Neal Broten Dave Gagner Basil McRae
Arena	Met Center
Team leaders
Goals	Dave Gagner (40)
Assists	Neal Broten (56)
Points	Dave Gagner (82)
Penalty minutes	Shane Churla (286)
Plus/minus	Jim Johnson and Dave Gagner (+9)
Wins	Jon Casey (21)
Goals against average	Jon Casey (2.98)

Offseason

NHL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team
1	8	Derian Hatcher (D)	United States	North Bay Centennials (OHL)
3	50	Laurie Billeck (D)	Canada	Prince Albert Raiders (WHL)
4	70	Cal McGowan (C)	United States	Kamloops Blazers (WHL)
4	71	Frank Kovacs (LW)	Canada	Regina Pats (WHL)
5	92	Enrico Ciccone (D)	Canada	Trois-Rivieres Draveurs (QMJHL)
6	113	Roman Turek (G)	Czechoslovakia	Motor Ceske Budejovice (Czechoslovakia)
7	134	Jeff Levy (G)	United States	Rochester Mustangs (USHL)
8	155	Doug Barrault (RW)	Canada	Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
9	176	Joe Biondi (C)	United States	University of Minnesota Duluth (WCHA)
10	197	Troy Binnie (LW)	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
11	218	Ole Eskild Dahlstrom (C)	Norway	Furuset (Norway)
12	239	J. P. McKersie (G)	United States	Madison West High School (USHS-WI)
S	12	Rod Houk (G)	Canada	University of Regina (CWUAA)

Regular season

Final standings

Norris Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Chicago Blackhawks	80	49	23	8	284	211	106
St. Louis Blues	80	47	22	11	310	250	105
Detroit Red Wings	80	34	38	8	273	298	76
Minnesota North Stars	80	27	39	14	256	266	68
Toronto Maple Leafs	80	23	46	11	241	318	57

[1]Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against

Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Campbell Conference[2]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	p – Chicago Blackhawks	NRS	80	49	23	8	284	211	106
2	St. Louis Blues	NRS	80	47	22	11	310	250	105
3	Los Angeles Kings	SMY	80	46	24	10	340	254	102
4	Calgary Flames	SMY	80	46	26	8	344	263	100
5	Edmonton Oilers	SMY	80	37	37	6	272	272	80
6	Detroit Red Wings	NRS	80	34	38	8	273	298	76
7	Minnesota North Stars	NRS	80	27	39	14	256	266	68
8	Vancouver Canucks	SMY	80	28	43	9	243	315	65
9	Winnipeg Jets	SMY	80	26	43	11	260	288	63
10	Toronto Maple Leafs	NRS	80	23	46	11	241	318	57

Divisions: NRS – Norris, SMY – Smythe

bold – Qualified for playoffs; p – Won Presidents' Trophy

Schedule and results

No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	L	October 4, 1990	2–3	St. Louis Blues (1990–91)	0–1–0
2	W	October 6, 1990	4–2	New York Islanders (1990–91)	1–1–0
4	L	October 9, 1990	2–5	@ New Jersey Devils (1990–91)	1–3–0
5	T	October 11, 1990	3–3 OT	Boston Bruins (1990–91)	1–3–1
6	L	October 13, 1990	1–4	Chicago Blackhawks (1990–91)	1–4–1
7	L	October 17, 1990	2–5	@ Los Angeles Kings (1990–91)	1–5–1
8	T	October 20, 1990	2–2 OT	@ St. Louis Blues (1990–91)	1–5–2
9	L	October 21, 1990	1–7	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1990–91)	1–6–2
10	W	October 24, 1990	3–0	Hartford Whalers (1990–91)	2–6–2
11	L	October 26, 1990	6–8	@ Detroit Red Wings (1990–91)	2–7–2
12	T	October 27, 1990	2–2 OT	Detroit Red Wings (1990–91)	2–7–3
13	L	October 30, 1990	4–5	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91)	2–8–3
14	L	November 1, 1990	3–6	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1990–91)	2–9–3
15	W	November 3, 1990	2–0	@ Quebec Nordiques (1990–91)	3–9–3
16	T	November 4, 1990	2–2 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	3–9–4
17	W	November 8, 1990	3–2	Quebec Nordiques (1990–91)	4–9–4
18	L	November 10, 1990	2–3 OT	Hartford Whalers (1990–91)	4–10–4
19	L	November 13, 1990	1–4	Pittsburgh Penguins (1990–91)	4–11–4
20	L	November 15, 1990	2–4	New York Rangers (1990–91)	4–12–4
21	L	November 17, 1990	2–3	St. Louis Blues (1990–91)	4–13–4
22	T	November 19, 1990	2–2 OT	@ New York Rangers (1990–91)	4–13–5
23	L	November 21, 1990	3–4	@ Detroit Red Wings (1990–91)	4–14–5
24	W	November 23, 1990	6–4	Vancouver Canucks (1990–91)	5–14–5
25	L	November 24, 1990	3–5	New Jersey Devils (1990–91)	5–15–5
26	T	November 27, 1990	1–1 OT	@ Vancouver Canucks (1990–91)	5–15–6
27	W	November 30, 1990	4–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1990–91)	6–15–6
28	W	December 1, 1990	6–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1990–91)	7–15–6
29	W	December 5, 1990	3–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91)	8–15–6
30	L	December 6, 1990	1–2 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91)	8–16–6
31	W	December 8, 1990	7–0	Philadelphia Flyers (1990–91)	9–16–6
32	L	December 11, 1990	4–5	Calgary Flames (1990–91)	9–17–6
33	L	December 13, 1990	2–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1990–91)	9–18–6
34	W	December 15, 1990	5–1	Chicago Blackhawks (1990–91)	10–18–6
35	L	December 16, 1990	2–5	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1990–91)	10–19–6
36	L	December 20, 1990	3–4	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1990–91)	10–20–6
37	L	December 22, 1990	2–6	@ Boston Bruins (1990–91)	10–21–6
38	W	December 23, 1990	5–2	@ Hartford Whalers (1990–91)	11–21–6
39	L	December 26, 1990	4–6	Winnipeg Jets (1990–91)	11–22–6
40	T	December 29, 1990	4–4 OT	Boston Bruins (1990–91)	11–22–7
41	L	December 31, 1990	2–4	Los Angeles Kings (1990–91)	11–23–7
42	L	January 2, 1991	2–6	@ Detroit Red Wings (1990–91)	11–24–7
43	T	January 3, 1991	3–3 OT	Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91)	11–24–8
44	L	January 5, 1991	5–6	Vancouver Canucks (1990–91)	11–25–8
45	W	January 8, 1991	3–0	@ New York Islanders (1990–91)	12–25–8
46	L	January 12, 1991	3–5	Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	12–26–8
47	L	January 13, 1991	3–5	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1990–91)	12–27–8
48	L	January 15, 1991	1–5	Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	12–28–8
49	W	January 17, 1991	5–2	Washington Capitals (1990–91)	13–28–8
50	L	January 21, 1991	0–2	@ Winnipeg Jets (1990–91)	13–29–8
51	W	January 22, 1991	7–3	St. Louis Blues (1990–91)	14–29–8
52	T	January 25, 1991	2–2 OT	@ Washington Capitals (1990–91)	14–29–9
53	W	January 26, 1991	3–1	@ New Jersey Devils (1990–91)	15–29–9
54	L	January 28, 1991	0–4	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91)	15–30–9
55	W	January 30, 1991	5–2	Detroit Red Wings (1990–91)	16–30–9
56	W	February 2, 1991	6–4	@ Quebec Nordiques (1990–91)	17–30–9
57	L	February 4, 1991	3–5	@ Montreal Canadiens (1990–91)	17–31–9
58	W	February 7, 1991	4–2	Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91)	18–31–9
59	W	February 9, 1991	6–5	Detroit Red Wings (1990–91)	19–31–9
60	L	February 12, 1991	4–5	@ New York Islanders (1990–91)	19–32–9
61	T	February 13, 1991	6–6 OT	@ Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	19–32–10
62	W	February 16, 1991	3–0	@ Detroit Red Wings (1990–91)	20–32–10
63	W	February 20, 1991	5–1	Edmonton Oilers (1990–91)	21–32–10
64	T	February 23, 1991	3–3 OT	Chicago Blackhawks (1990–91)	21–32–11
65	T	February 26, 1991	2–2 OT	Philadelphia Flyers (1990–91)	21–32–12
66	T	March 1, 1991	1–1 OT	@ Edmonton Oilers (1990–91)	21–32–13
67	L	March 2, 1991	1–5	@ Calgary Flames (1990–91)	21–33–13
68	W	March 6, 1991	5–1	Edmonton Oilers (1990–91)	22–33–13
69	W	March 9, 1991	6–2	Detroit Red Wings (1990–91)	23–33–13
70	W	March 10, 1991	7–3	Calgary Flames (1990–91)	24–33–13
71	W	March 12, 1991	5–2	Buffalo Sabres (1990–91)	25–33–13
72	T	March 14, 1991	2–2 OT	@ St. Louis Blues (1990–91)	25–33–14
73	L	March 16, 1991	3–4 OT	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91)	25–34–14
74	W	March 17, 1991	4–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1990–91)	26–34–14
75	L	March 22, 1991	1–3	@ Washington Capitals (1990–91)	26–35–14
76	L	March 24, 1991	4–5	@ Chicago Blackhawks (1990–91)	26–36–14
77	L	March 25, 1991	4–5	St. Louis Blues (1990–91)	26–37–14
78	L	March 28, 1991	5–6	@ Los Angeles Kings (1990–91)	26–38–14
79	W	March 30, 1991	2–1	Chicago Blackhawks (1990–91)	27–38–14
80	L	March 31, 1991	1–2	@ St. Louis Blues (1990–91)	27–39–14

Transactions

Trades

October 26, 1990	To Minnesota North Stars Brian Glynn	To Calgary Flames Frank Musil

November 1990	To Minnesota North Stars Brian Hayward[3]	To Montreal Canadiens Jayson More

Player statistics

Skaters

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalties in minutes

			Regular season						Playoffs
Player	#		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Dave Gagner	15		73	40	42	82	114		23	12	15	27	28
Brian Bellows	23		80	35	40	75	43		23	10	19	29	30
Brian Propp	16		79	26	47	73	58		23	8	15	23	28
Neal Broten	7		79	13	56	69	26		23	9	13	22	6
Mike Modano	9		79	28	36	64	61		23	8	12	20	16
Bobby Smith	18		73	15	31	46	60		23	8	8	16	56
Ulf Dahlen	22		66	21	18	39	6		15	2	6	8	4
Mark Tinordi	24		69	5	27	32	189		23	5	6	11	78
Doug Smail	14		57	7	13	20	38		1	0	0	0	0
Brian Glynn	6		66	8	11	19	83		23	2	6	8	18
Gaetan Duchesne	10		68	9	9	18	18		23	2	3	5	34
Perry Berezan	21		52	11	6	17	30		1	0	0	0	0
Ilkka Sinisalo	-		46	5	12	17	24		-	-	-	-	-
Larry Murphy	-		31	4	11	15	38		-	-	-	-	-
Curt Giles	2		70	4	10	14	48		10	1	0	1	16
Mike Craig	20		39	8	4	12	32		10	1	1	2	20
Neil Wilkinson	5		50	2	9	11	117		22	3	3	6	12
Jim Johnson	8		44	1	9	10	100		14	0	1	1	52
Stewart Gavin	12		38	4	4	8	36		21	3	10	13	20
Chris Dahlquist	4		42	2	6	8	33		23	1	6	7	20
Marc Bureau	11		9	0	6	6	4		23	3	2	5	20
Rob Zettler	3		47	1	4	5	119		-	-	-	-	-
Shane Churla	27		40	2	2	4	286		22	2	1	3	90
Shawn Chambers	26		29	1	3	4	24		23	0	7	7	16
Basil McRae	17		40	1	3	4	224		22	1	1	2	94
Larry DePalma	31		14	3	0	3	26		-	-	-	-	-
Frank Musil	-		8	0	2	2	23		-	-	-	-	-
Warren Babe	29		1	0	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-
Pat MacLeod	32		1	0	1	1	0		-	-	-	-	-
Dan Keczmer	46		9	0	1	1	6		-	-	-	-	-
Peter Taglianetti	-		16	0	1	1	14		-	-	-	-	-
Steve Gotaas	34		1	0	0	0	2		-	-	-	-	-
Mitch Messier	37		2	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-
Kevin Evans	44		4	0	0	0	19		-	-	-	-	-
Dean Kolstad	40		5	0	0	0	15		-	-	-	-	-
Mike McHugh	45		6	0	0	0	0		-	-	-	-	-
Don Barber	-		7	0	0	0	4		-	-	-	-	-

Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; MIN = Minutes; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; SO = Shutouts; GAA = Goals against average

Player	GP	MIN	W	L	T	SO	GAA
Jon Casey	55	3185	21	20	11	3	2.98
Brian Hayward	26	1473	6	15	3	2	3.14
Jarmo Myllys	2	78	0	2	0	0	6.15
Kari Takko	2	119	0	2	0	0	6.05

Playoffs

Norris Division Semi-Finals

Chicago vs. Minnesota Date Away Home April 4 Minnesota 4 3 Chicago OT April 6 Minnesota 2 5 Chicago April 8 Chicago 6 5 Minnesota April 10 Chicago 1 3 Minnesota April 12 Minnesota 6 0 Chicago April 14 Chicago 1 3 Minnesota Minnesota wins series 4–2

Norris Division Finals

St. Louis vs. Minnesota
Date	Away	Home
April 18	Minnesota 2	1 St. Louis
April 20	Minnesota 2	5 St. Louis
April 22	St. Louis 1	5 Minnesota
April 24	St. Louis 4	8 Minnesota
April 26	Minnesota 2	4 St. Louis
April 28	St. Louis 2	3 Minnesota
Minnesota wins series 4–2

Campbell Conference Finals

Campbell Conference

Edmonton vs. Minnesota
Date	Away	Home
May 2	Minnesota 3	1 Edmonton
May 4	Minnesota 2	7 Edmonton
May 6	Edmonton 3	7 Minnesota
May 8	Edmonton 1	5 Minnesota
May 10	Minnesota 3	2 Edmonton
Minnesota wins series 4–1 and Clarence S. Campbell Bowl

Stanley Cup Finals

Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Minnesota North Stars

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
May 15	Minnesota North Stars	5	Pittsburgh Penguins	4
May 17	Minnesota North Stars	1	Pittsburgh Penguins	4
May 19	Pittsburgh Penguins	1	Minnesota North Stars	3
May 21	Pittsburgh Penguins	5	Minnesota North Stars	3
May 23	Minnesota North Stars	4	Pittsburgh Penguins	6
May 25	Pittsburgh Penguins	8	Minnesota North Stars	0

Pittsburgh wins best-of-seven series 4–2

Awards and records

• Clarence S. Campbell Bowl

Roster

1990–1991 Minnesota North Stars Roster
Goaltenders 1 – Brian Hayward  1 – Kari Takko  30 – Jon Casey  35 – Jarmo Myllys		Defencemen 2 – Curt Giles  - C 3 – Rob Zettler  4 – Chris Dahlquist  5 – Neil Wilkinson  6 – Brian Glynn  6 – Frantisek Musil  8 – Jim Johnson  8 – Larry Murphy  24 – Mark Tinordi  26 – Shawn Chambers  32 – Pat MacLeod  32 – Peter Taglianetti  40 – Dean Kolstad  46 – Dan Keczmer		Wingers 9 – Mike Modano  10 – Gaetan Duchesne  12 – Stew Gavin  14 – Doug Smail  16 – Brian Propp  17 – Basil McRae  20 – Mike Craig  22 – Ulf Dahlen  23 – Brian Bellows  25 – Ilkka Sinisalo  27 – Shane Churla  29 – Warren Babe  31 – Larry DePalma  37 – Don Barber  44 – Kevin Evans  45 – Mike McHugh		Centers 7 – Neal Broten  11 – Marc Bureau  15 – Dave Gagner  18 – Bobby Smith  21 – Perry Berezan  34 – Steve Gotaas  37 – Mitch Messier  47 – Mario Thyer  GM: Bob Gainey Coach: Bob Gainey

References

• North Stars on Hockey Database

1. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
2. "1990-1991 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
3. Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, p.278, by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2