The Minnesota Wild is a professional ice hockey team based in St. Paul, Minnesota. It is a group of members of the Central Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Wild is the only Minneapolis-St. Paul area major professional sports league franchises to play in St. Paul; the other three play in Minneapolis.
The new team was founded on June 25, 1997, but started playing in the 2000–01 NHL season.
The Wild were the first NHL franchise in Minnesota since the Minnesota North Stars moved to
Dallas in 1993. They lost their first game, 3–1, to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and recorded their
first win against the Tampa Bay Lightning five games later. The Wild play at the Xcel Energy Center.
In the 2002–03 season, the team made its first Stanley Cup playoff appearance, making a surprising
run to the Western Conference Finals. As of 2017, the Wild have averaged a .544 points percentage
since entering the league.