On October 27, 1991, Major League Baseball’s Minnesota Twins won its second World Series title in five seasons in a ten-inning thriller of a Game 7 against the Atlanta Braves. Led by outfielder Kirby Puckett, starting pitcher Jack Morris, and eventual American League (AL) Rookie of the Year Award winner Chuck Knoblauch, the Twins slugged all the way to the championship, leading the majors in hits during the regular season. This incredible run brought the already-high morale among Twin Cities sports fans even higher.
That May, the NHL’s North Stars reached the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in franchise history, falling to the Pittsburgh Penguins in six games. Additionally, Minneapolis had recently received a new NBA team in the Timberwolves—their first since the Lakers left for Los Angeles in 1960—and the NFL’s Vikings were looking to get going with Roger Headrick, the team’s new president and CEO. Things were looking up for sports fans in the Twin Cities, regardless of where their teams were at that point in time.
In just a few years, though, that optimism faded away.
Ever since the Twins’ 1991 World Series championship, the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area has endured a plethora of heartbreak in professional sports. Between a relocation, a near-second relocation a year later, a threat of contraction, and an abundance of playoff failures, sports fans in the North Star State have been through the wringer. Among metro areas with at least four active teams across MLB, the NBA, the NFL, and the NHL, the Twin Cities have the longest cumulative championship drought at nearly 33 years.
If you’re a Minnesota sports fan, avert your eyes.
The Twins did not repeat as World Series champions in 1992, ending its title defense run at 90-72, six games back of the AL West division champions, the Oakland Athletics. MLB would not implement the wild card berth for another two years, leaving the Twins out of the postseason. Unfortunately, the Twins would not come close again for a while, as 1992 was the team’s last winning season for nine years.
The North Stars were 32-42-6 in 1991-92, earning the fourth and final playoff spot in the NHL’s Norris Division. While fourth place was certainly not an ideal position, the North Stars went on a Cinderella run as a fourth-place team a season prior in 1990-91, finishing just two wins shy of the Stanley Cup. Could another miracle run be in the cards?
Not quite.
The 1992 playoffs were not kind to the North Stars, who rapidly lost steam en route to a first-round elimination. The team lost to the Detroit Red Wings, the Norris Division’s top seed, in seven games after leading the series three games to one. So close, yet still so far away.
Things only worsened off the ice, though. Shopping mall developer Norman “Norm” Green had purchased the North Stars from George and Gordon Gund in 1990, but due to low attendance and issues with finding a new arena in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, Green was looking to move the team elsewhere. A move to Anaheim looked promising for a little bit, but that fell through due to the NHL’s negotiations with The Walt Disney Company to bring a franchise to the city, which resulted in the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim beginning play in 1993-94.
After Green’s plans for the Los Angeles Stars failed, he set his sights on Dallas. Reunion Arena, which had only been around for a little over a decade by that point, hosted the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, but did not have a hockey team playing there.
Hmm, an intriguing proposition. Perhaps hockey could be a fruitful crowd draw?
Needless to say, Green became committed to Reunion Arena. 1992 would be the North Stars’ final playoff appearance in Minneapolis, as the team did not qualify in 1993 and moved to Dallas ahead of the 1993-94 season. The Twin Cities would not receive another NHL team until 2000, leaving hockey fans in Minnesota without a chance to see a team hoist the Stanley Cup for seven long years.
During the North Stars’ final years in Minnesota, its NBA counterparts, the Timberwolves, were struggling out of the gate. Through five seasons (1989-90 to 1993-94), the Timberwolves surpassed 20 wins just twice, and never reached 30 wins. It’s normal for expansion teams to start out poorly early on, but something had to change eventually, right?
The Timberwolves’ initial woes nearly led to a departure from Minneapolis altogether, as owners Harvey Ratner and Marv Wolfenson were struggling to pay off the mortgage on Target Center, the team’s home arena. Several suitors were in the running to acquire the team, including groups who were strongly considering moving the franchise to another city, such as Nashville or New Orleans.
On May 23, 1994, Top Rank, an ownership group helmed by former Houston mayor Fred Hofheinz, acquired the Timberwolves from Ratner and Wolfenson, planning to relocate the team to New Orleans for the 1994-95 season. By June 6, Top Rank were set to relocate the Timberwolves out of Minneapolis.
Until they weren’t.
A few weeks after the relocation paperwork was filed, the NBA’s franchise relocation committee unanimously rejected Top Rank’s proposal due to uncertainty surrounding the group’s plans to finance the team. Hofheinz was the group’s lone shareholder, further contributing to the league’s lack of confidence in the sale.
Following months of legal battles between the league and Top Rank, Taylor Corporation founder Glen Taylor and his group made an offer to purchase the franchise, with the NBA approving the acquisition in October 1994. Basketball in Minnesota had been saved.
While the Timberwolves’ relocation drama was unfolding, the Vikings embarked on a run of eight playoff appearances in nine seasons between 1992 and 2000. Under new head coach Dennis Green, the Vikings won the NFC Central division title four times during this stretch, advancing to the NFC Championship Game in 1998 and 2000. However, that was the furthest the team would go in the postseason during this time, as it lost in the first two rounds in all of its other playoff appearances.
The 1998 NFC Championship Game was particularly close, the closest the Vikings came to reaching the Super Bowl since qualifying for Super Bowl XI during the 1976 season.
Late in the fourth quarter, the Vikings led the Atlanta Falcons, 27-20, and got into position to put the game away with a successful field goal attempt. Alas, Vikings kicker Gary Anderson missed the field goal try, keeping the game within reach for the Falcons. Atlanta then marched down the field and tied the game with a touchdown reception by wide receiver Terance Mathis and an extra point from kicker Morten Andersen, sending the game to overtime.
Then, on the fourth overtime possession, Andersen kicked a 38-yard field goal, cementing the Falcons’ spot in Super Bowl XXXIII and eliminating the 15-1 Vikings from the playoffs.
The pain does not end there, though.
After leaving Minneapolis, the Dallas Stars rose to prominence as a formidable playoff team in the late-‘90s. In the early hours of June 20, 1999, the Stars won the Stanley Cup in triple overtime of Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Buffalo Sabres. North Stars fans could not help but feel robbed as franchise legend Mike Modano—who was drafted first overall by the North Stars in 1988—skated around Buffalo’s Marine Midland Arena with the Cup.
On a lighter note, the Timberwolves evolved into a playoff team in the first few years after Taylor took over as owner. In 1996-97, his first full season as head coach, Flip Saunders helped the team backdoor its way into the playoffs at 40-42. This began a streak of eight consecutive playoff appearances for the Timberwolves, a stark contrast to the basement-dwelling days from less than a decade earlier. Although the team was often a first-round exit for much of that span, the fans were delighted to see how far the Timberwolves had come in just a few years’ time.
The same could not be said about the Twins, however, who quietly floundered as the decade wore on.
By 1999, the Twins had slowly gotten worse with each passing season, ending its latest campaign at 63-97. Two years later, MLB selected two teams—the Twins and the Montreal Expos—to be contracted (eliminated) for 2002. Neither the Twins nor the Expos were doing well on the field, which, combined with the teams’ inability to secure funding for new stadiums to replace their aging domes, made them desirable candidates for contraction.
Hold that thought.
The contraction plans were halted when Hennepin County Judge Harry Crump ordered that the Twins were to serve out the remainder of its lease agreement with the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, which lasted through 2009 via several one-year renewals. Seeing that it would have been a logistical nightmare for MLB to assemble a 162-game schedule with an odd number of teams, the Expos remained active as well.
Invigorated with new life, the Twins claimed the AL Central division title in 2002, winning more than 90 games for the first time in over a decade. This wondrous season continued with an upset of the 103-win Athletics in the AL Division Series (ALDS), allowing the Twins to advance to the AL Championship Series (ALCS) for the first time since 1991.
However, its run ended with a loss to the eventual World Series champions, the Anaheim Angels, in the ALCS. As of early 2024, 2002 remains the Twins’ last appearance in the ALCS, and until 2023, it was also the last time that the Twins won a postseason series.
Just as the Twins were coming back from the brink of contraction, St. Paul had received a new NHL team. In the 2000-01 season, the Minnesota Wild began play as one of two new expansion teams, alongside the Columbus Blue Jackets. Two seasons later, the Wild reached the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time. The State of Hockey was back in business.
The 2003 playoffs were eventful for the Wild, treating Minnesotans to playoff hockey for the first time in 11 years. Round one saw the Wild down the Colorado Avalanche in seven games after falling behind three games to one. The second-round matchup against the Vancouver Canucks went similarly, as the Wild were once again down three games to one. The Wild responded by rallying to win in Game 7, advancing to the Western Conference Finals in but its third season of play.
The Western Conference Finals against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim ultimately did the Wild in. Anaheim goaltender Jean-Sébastien Giguère shut out the Wild for each of the first three games of the series, not allowing a goal until Andrew Brunette scored in the first period of Game 4. Two unanswered goals by the Mighty Ducks later in the game completed the sweep, eliminating the Wild from the playoffs. 2003 remains the only time the Wild have ever made it past the second round of the postseason.
Be that as it may, Minnesota sports fans had hope again.
In 2004, a year after the Wild’s magical run, the Timberwolves reached the NBA’s Western Conference Finals. Led by power forward and eventual MVP Kevin Garnett, the Timberwolves finally got past the first round, beating the Denver Nuggets in five games. This was followed up with a seven-game victory over the Sacramento Kings in round two, putting the Timberwolves within four wins of an NBA Finals berth.
The Timberwolves had a chance to avenge Minneapolis in the Western Conference Finals, as it faced the city’s former team, the now-Los Angeles Lakers. That vengeance would not materialize, though, as the Lakers dominated the series from the start, winning three of the first four games. Although the Timberwolves staved off elimination with a close win in Game 5, the Lakers took the sixth game to advance to the NBA Finals for the fourth time in five years. After reaching the playoffs for eight consecutive years, the Timberwolves would not qualify again until 2018, an unpleasant follow-up to a fantastic season.
On October 5, 2004, the Twins won Game 1 of the ALDS against the New York Yankees. Unfortunately, this would be the team’s last playoff win for almost two decades. The Twins consistently reached the postseason through 2010, but were unable to proceed beyond the ALDS.
That being said, there were a few bright spots from this era: first baseman Justin Morneau won the AL MVP Award in 2006, catcher Joe Mauer won an MVP of his own in 2009, and starting pitcher Johan Santana won two Cy Young Awards, in 2004 and 2006. On top of these accomplishments, the Twins locked down plans to construct a new stadium, which resulted in Target Field (pictured above) opening in 2010.
Following first-round eliminations of the Twins, Vikings, and Wild, the next high point in Minnesota’s recent professional sports history came in the 2009 season.
That off-season, the Vikings signed long-time Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre. Favre then pushed the team to the NFC’s second seed, as well as its first NFC Championship appearance in nine years. Unlike in 2000, when the New York Giants blew out the Vikings 41-0, the Vikings competed with the New Orleans Saints until the very end in 2009.
Favre and Saints quarterback Drew Brees produced quite the duel, trading touchdowns throughout the first quarter. After two touchdown drives by Brees to put the Saints up 21-14, the Vikings tied the game at 21. Another exchange of touchdowns got the score to 28-28, which, off the back of an interception by Favre and two incompletions by Brees, would hold up at the end of regulation.
The Saints won the coin toss to begin overtime, putting the Vikings on defense. New Orleans then drove to the Vikings’ 22-yard line, winning the game 31-28 with a 40-yard field goal from kicker Garrett Hartley. This would be the Vikings’ last appearance in the NFC Championship Game for eight years.
On July 4, 2012, then-Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher made two big splashes in free agency, signing winger Zach Parise and defenseman Ryan Suter for 13 years, $98 million apiece. These moves sparked a string of six straight playoff appearances for the Wild, beginning in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season. Surely the Wild would become true contenders, right?
Well, not exactly.
The money spent on Parise and Suter hampered the Wild’s ability to make moves at the trade deadline or during free agency periods. This led to four first-round exits between 2013 and 2018, including three successive round-one losses from 2016-2018. The closest the Wild came to returning to the Conference Finals was in 2014, when it pushed the Chicago Blackhawks to six games in the second round. Nevertheless, Chicago eliminated the Wild in that series, which was the second of the Wild’s three consecutive postseason failures against the Blackhawks.
After an eight-year absence, the Vikings advanced to the NFC Championship Game in 2017. The team lost to the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, 38-7. The Vikings have not made it past the divisional round since then, with the franchise’s championship drought climbing to over five decades and counting.
Following 18 consecutive postseason losses between 2004 and 2020, the Twins finally won a playoff game in Game 1 of the 2023 AL Wild Card Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. This success continued with another win in Game 2, securing the Twins’ first series triumph since 2002. The team’s season ended with a four-game loss to the Houston Astros in the ALDS.
As of 2024, the Wild’s first-round victory over the St. Louis Blues in 2015 is its most recent playoff series win. Similarly, the Vikings have not won a playoff game since 2019, losing in that year’s divisional round and the 2022 wild-card round.
That said, the Timberwolves have just won a playoff series for the first time since 2004, sweeping the Phoenix Suns in four games in the opening round of this year’s playoffs. No matter how the rest of the playoffs go, the Timberwolves have had a great season, the best since the 2003-04 campaign.
In spite of everything, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Featured image by Klemens Köpfle.
