Each Minnesota Team’s Greatest Finish

Two professional chamionships in MN (lakers excluded). wow.

 Did I miss any along the way? 

 

Yes. The North Stars were in two Stanley Cup finals. I followed the 1991 team fairly closely but I don't remember a particular moment about the final series that year. I didn't follow 1981 as closely. Maybe someone else can chime in on those.

The Lynx and the Twins are the TC champions.  Love for the Vikings has still not seen them make the big one.  Lynx and Twins have the hardware, the Vikings have our hearts.  The winter teams have left me cold since the original Lakers - I am old enough to see Elgin Baylor playing for the Lakers in the old armory - and the original North Stars - both teams ripped away from us - the ultimate tragedy.  They made the finals twice!  And I remember the arena going crazy in 1991 when the Stars had a losing record, but then eliminated both Chicago and St Louis before reality came to town with Wayne Gretzky and the Oilers. 

Then again we had the Kicks (I went to many of their games at Met Stadium) who won all four of their division championships before moving indoors and then gone.  I know we have the United (too new) and the 

The Muskies and Pipers.  At least we had the ABA headquarters in Minneapolis and George Mikan was commissioner.  Mel Daniels was the Muskie star and the team did make it to the finals and lost to Connie Hawkins Pittsburgh Pipers.   

Or we can go back to the Duluth Eskimos of the old Leather helmet days (I wore one as a freshman!) with Ernie Nevers, born in Willow River, MN and in both college and professional hall of fames. We had the Minneapolis Marines?Red Jackets but their history is less colorful. 

The Minneapolis Millers had such a grand history - Hall Of Famers Roger Bresnahan, Jimmy Collins, Urban 'Red' Faber, Bill McKechnie, George Kelly, Billy Herman, Ted Williams, Ray 'Dandy' Dandridge, Willie Mays, Zack Wheat, Rube Waddell, Hoyt Wilhelm, Monte Irvin, Orlando Cepeda and Carl Yastrzemski? 

AND WHERE ARE THE SAINTS - the leaders in the Northland league and then the American Association.  Popular enough to get their own new stadium - ten miles from the Twins stadium.  

In their original minor league period we had Roy Campanella, Sandy Amoros (1951), Chuck Dressen (1921-1924), Leo Durocher (1927), Lefty Gomez (1930), Mark Koenig (1921-1922, 1924-1925), Clem Labine (1949-1952), Chief Meyers (1908), 
Duke Snider (1947), played for us and Charles Comiskey and Walter Alston manage!  And the 1920 team is considered the #6 alltime minor league team - http://www.milb.com/milb/history/top100.jsp?idx=6 

At all levels we have a rich professional sports history.    Thanks for triggering my sports history bug.  

The Vikings' runner-up was pretty awesome, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-qan3ZFKY4

AND WHERE ARE THE SAINTS - the leaders in the Northland league and then the American Association.  Popular enough to get their own new stadium - ten miles from the Twins stadium.  

 

I was asking the same question, but different Saints. The WHA Fighting Saints were pretty entertaining. The only great moments that come to mind were anytime they made payroll and the brawl with the Whalers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1z2Zwh9RC4

The Lynx and the Twins are the TC champions.  Love for the Vikings has still not seen them make the big one.  Lynx and Twins have the hardware, the Vikings have our hearts.  The winter teams have left me cold since the original Lakers - I am old enough to see Elgin Baylor playing for the Lakers in the old armory - and the original North Stars - both teams ripped away from us - the ultimate tragedy.  They made the finals twice!  And I remember the arena going crazy in 1991 when the Stars had a losing record, but then eliminated both Chicago and St Louis before reality came to town with Wayne Gretzky and the Oilers. 

 

Then again we had the Kicks (I went to many of their games at Met Stadium) who won all four of their division championships before moving indoors and then gone.  I know we have the United (too new) and the 

 

The Muskies and Pipers.  At least we had the ABA headquarters in Minneapolis and George Mikan was commissioner.  Mel Daniels was the Muskie star and the team did make it to the finals and lost to Connie Hawkins Pittsburgh Pipers.   

 

Or we can go back to the Duluth Eskimos of the old Leather helmet days (I wore one as a freshman!) with Ernie Nevers, born in Willow River, MN and in both college and professional hall of fames. We had the Minneapolis Marines?Red Jackets but their history is less colorful. 

 

 

The Minneapolis Millers had such a grand history - Hall Of Famers Roger Bresnahan, Jimmy Collins, Urban 'Red' Faber, Bill McKechnie, George Kelly, Billy Herman, Ted Williams, Ray 'Dandy' Dandridge, Willie Mays, Zack Wheat, Rube Waddell, Hoyt Wilhelm, Monte Irvin, Orlando Cepeda and Carl Yastrzemski? 

 

AND WHERE ARE THE SAINTS - the leaders in the Northland league and then the American Association.  Popular enough to get their own new stadium - ten miles from the Twins stadium.  

 

In their original minor league period we had Roy Campanella, Sandy Amoros (1951), Chuck Dressen (1921-1924), Leo Durocher (1927), Lefty Gomez (1930), Mark Koenig (1921-1922, 1924-1925), Clem Labine (1949-1952), Chief Meyers (1908), 
Duke Snider (1947), played for us and Charles Comiskey and Walter Alston manage!  And the 1920 team is considered the #6 alltime minor league team - http://www.milb.com/milb/history/top100.jsp?idx=6 

 

 

At all levels we have a rich professional sports history.    Thanks for triggering my sports history bug.  

The Rox had Lou Brock and Gaylord Perry playing for them also.

I think the catch Sunday maybe trumps Puckett because Puckett's homer didn't really surprise me.    We had better than a 50/50 chance of winning at the time he hit it.    Probably at least 70/30.      It was a bigger moment but not a better finish in my book.

The Vikings are still lacking a "great finish."

Let's see how they play against Philly. I think they can handle whoever the AFC team ends up being, esp. at home.

It would have been fun to see some "great finishes" from past MN teams when they were in MN.  The Lakers had 5 championships in MN. The North Stars never won a championship but they had a very interesting (and brutal) history. And of course the Kicks were dominant for that one year or two before the league split up the season in a weird way and caused the league's demise (rule #1, don't confuse your fans).......

I'd add two plays to the Wild's section. Both happened in Round 1 of the 2014 playoffs against Colorado with them being the number 1 seed and the Wild being the 8th. 

1. With the Wild down 2 - 0 in the series Granlund diving across the crease to score in overtime to give the Wild a 1 - 0 win.

2. With the series tied at 3 Niederreiter scoring on a 2 vs 1 in overtime to win the series.

AWA's Greatest Moment.  Greg Gagne puts Bobby Heenan to sleep, and Bobby Heenan wakes up in the infamous "weasel suit." 

My favorite unconventional Twins moments when I was in attendance - ranked #5 thru #1:

5.  On Teen Challenge Day at the Metrodome, the ceremonial first pitch was thrown out by two young people who were successfully in the process of overcoming significant chemical dependency issues.  After the pitch, the P.A., System blasted Roxy Music's "Love is the Drug".

4.  At Metrodome with my young kids, who were always taught never to leave a game early.   Down 9-1 in the bottom of the 9th, the Twins scored 7 runs to bring the score to 9-8, with a man on second and the winning run at the plate.  The few remaining fans rocked the joint right up till the last out which lost the game.

3.  At Spring Training, there was some bragging about the tough/rowdy crowds by Philly fans sitting next to me (even though Twins took on the Marlins that day).   I recited my story of the toughest crowd I ever saw, at the Chicago Stadium for a North Stars/Black Hawks Stanley Cup Game.   After the Stars went down 4-1, the rowdy crowd became conciliatory to me in my Minnesota Regalia.  Then it was 4-2, then 4-3 then 4-4 and ultimately our squad won 5-4.   I started singing "Go For A Goal North Stars" at the top of my lungs.   I am lucky to be alive.   After finishing the story, the Twins fan in the floppy hat in front of me turned around and said, "I was there, Lou Nanne". and we shook hands.

2.  Watching the Dave Kingman pop-up that got stuck in the Metrodome roof, and my friend obliviously shouting through the shocked crowd silence, "Somebody call for it.!"

1.   I was sitting four rows behind the plate at the Metrodome in a well-lubicated group of four friends, when the batter attempted a bunt.    The catcher ran forward to field the bunt as the batter ran to First.   But the bunt was fouled downward into the dirt and bounced directly up into the umpire's crotch.   The umpire dropped to the ground in obvious discomfort.  Others near us stared with great disapproval as the four of us laughed uncontrollably.  The more we tried to stop laughing, the more it made us laugh and made the concerned onlookers more disgusted with us.

Honorable mention: anything involving interaction with the beer vendor at the old Met who wore the umbrella hat!!!

Not franchise related but the Miracle on Ice in my opinion essentially counts as a great Minnesota sports moment. 

That comeback required two improbable plays both coming out the right way. If "greatest finish" isn't limited to the final play, I'm not even sure it's the runner-up.

I agree, unless this team does something big with the opportunity the miracle play gave them. The result of the 1980 play was a weak Vikings team won a weaker division for the right to be quickly eliminated from the playoffs (after losing the regular-season finale in Houston, as was expected.)  

This is a team that some of have thought could be the team. If they use this as a springboard into a home Super Bowl ... Ok, that's enough dreaming. A game like that might just be what it took, and I think some of the players are buying into the "team of destiny" concept. Maybe it is...

Tommy Kramer to Ahmad Rashad.  A real Hail Mary.

Larkin's walkoff single Game 7 1991 needs a mention here. Yeah it was setup by an intentional walk to load the bases but he went up there hurt and got the job done.

I'll just blame the concussion I had in December.