Hating the Blackhawks didn't survive the move...

The North Stars fiercest rival is just another Dallas Stars opponent

North Stars-Blackhawks playoff series in the 80’s were barbaric (this is one of several eruptions in ONE PLAYOFF GAME (March 21, 1983)

I hate the Chicago Blackhawks. I always have, and it’s only intensified over the years.

Dallas Stars fans by and large are - meh.

Rivalries are born, made, and cemented in playoff series. Now take it a step further for the North Stars and Blackhawks and look at it through the violent lens of the NHL in the 1980’s.

They were geographic and divisional rivals. The old Norris wasn’t for the feint of heart. It was tough as hell. The brutality was a nightly occurrence, even in the regular season in those days.

The teams played each other in the playoffs 4 straight springs (1982, 1983, 1984, 1985) and met in 6 of 9 seasons in which the NStars made the playoffs (1990, 1991).

The Dallas Stars and the Chicago Blackhawks have never played a playoff series against each other.

The North Stars Willie Plett and Chicago’s Al Secord were pretty much a go to fight in almost every playoff game where the two were on the ice. (Yep they’re under there someplace)

Being there - Seeing it live

I was in my 20’s, and a devout Stars fan. I went to many of those playoff games at Met Center. The building was tremendous, and it held and reverberated the screams and cheers and chants and roars from the Minnesota faithful.

“SECORD SUCKS, SECORD SUCKS, SECORD SUCKS….” Chicago Blackhawk’s enforcer Al Secord and the North Stars Willie Plett were at each other’s throats. Had prop bets been available back then - they would have taken “Plett/Secord to Fight” off the board. You were gonna see it pretty much every night.

“DINO DINO DINO DINO…” The North Stars’ Dino Ciccarelli is all but forgotten in the Dallas Stars consciousness, but he shouldn’t be. He was a constant thorn in the Hawks side, an irritant, a player the opposition loved to hate. Oh - and he was an elite scorer.

The North Stars Dino Ciccarelli was a pain in the ass for opponents and a goal scoring machine.

Even as a marked man - Ciccarelli was too much to handle…

At Chicago Stadium fans brought and waved effigies of Ciccarelli with a noose around his neck. When he hit the ice they’d crank up the boos, scream profanities at him, and yes, every once in a while more than one full beer would be launched toward the ice in his direction.

Dino finished his career with 608 goals and 1200 points. The Hall of Famer had big production with the Stars. He posted 7 seasons of at least 30 goals, two of those were at least 40, and he stuck at least 50 twice, with a career hi 55 in 1981.

The mutual hatred toward the teams from the fan bases was off the charts.

The North Stars had competitive teams in the 80’s, but couldn’t get much done in the playoffs. Guys like Neal Broten, Craig Hartsburg (C), Bobby Smith, Steve Payne, Tommy McCarthy, Don Beaupre, Gille Meloche and so many others were stymied by the rough and tumble Hawks and their stable of talent and grit including the great Denis Savard, Steve Larmar, Doug Wilson, Darryl Sutter, and in those early series had Tony Esposito still on the roster.

The Stars gave em hell but wound up losing 4 of those first 5 series to Chicago; their only series win coming in 1984. The Stars were close in 1990, losing in 7 to a very good Chicago team.

And then the following summer, Norm Green bought the team. Hired Bob Gainey, and things immediately looked different.

Bob Gainey (hired in August, 1990) was the very first foundational piece for the Organization to move in a vastly different direction.