from Nicholas J. Cotsonika of NHL.com,

The State of Hockey has never won the Stanley Cup.

The Minnesota North Stars made the Final twice in their 26 seasons in the Twin Cities, in 1981 and 1991, but lost. The Minnesota Wild made it as far as the Western Conference Final once in their first 15 seasons, in 2003.

But the Wild rank first in the West and second in the NHL standings this season, and general manager Chuck Fletcher made it clear they were going for it when he acquired forwards Martin Hanzal and Ryan White from the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday.

When you have a chance to make a run, you don't let it go by.

"There's not going to be a called third strike here," Fletcher said. "We're taking a swing. Our players deserve that, our fans deserve that and we'll just see where it goes."

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