Seasons
SEASON: 37 | YEAR: 1985
HEAD COACH: JIM BLAKE
Game 322 | February 5, 1985 | Lou Nanne, Glen Sonmor, Tony McKegney
Coming off a trip to the Stanley Cup finals the year before, the North Stars had high expectations in the 1984-'85 season. The team slipped badly, posting a 25-43-12 record. McKegney, the first Canadian-born black player to make an impact in the NHL, scored 24 points in his first year with the North Stars. Sonmor; a close friend of General Manager Nanne, returned briefly to coach part of the 1984-'85 season.
Game 323 | April 25, 1985 | Roy Smalley, Mike Stenhouse
Smalley returned to the Twins in an off-season trade with the White Sox, and Stenhouse, an outfielder, came in a trade with Montreal. Smalley hit .258 with 45 RBIs. Stenhouse played in half of the team's games, but his just .223 and was gone after one year. The team finished in sixth place with a record of 77-85.
Game 324 | June 11, 1985 | John Anderson
In his fourth year as Gopher baseball coach, John Anderson, only 30 at the time, led the Gophers in the Big Ten championship. The Gophers that year were led by Mike Pehrson, Brian Hickerson and Jon Beckman
Game 325 | July 15, 1985 | Larry King
Many years before he became a staple of lat-night television, Larry King was one of the most successful radio talk show hosts in the country. Born Lawrence Harvey Ziegler, King's radio show went national in 1978 on the Mutual Radio Network. At various points in his career King was a color commentator for the Miami Dolphins and Shreveport Steamer professional football teams.
Game 326 | July 31, 1985 | Bud Grant
The Vikings were in desperate need of a coach following the unsuccessful Les Steckel experiment in 1984. Grant, who had coached the team to four Super Bowls between 1967 and 1983, agreed to return for the 1985 season. Under Grant's steady hand the team improved from 3-13 to 7-9, and Bud retired for good at the end of the season in favor of long-time friend and assistant Jerry Burns.
Game 327 | August 15, 1985 | Ray Miller
Although he never pitched in a major league game, Miller was one of the most respected pitching coaches in baseball in the 1980s. His success at Baltimore put him at the top of many managerial lists,_and when the Billy Gardner-led Twins got off to disappointing 27-35 start-in-1985; Miller was offered his first managerial job. The Twins improved to 50-50 the rest of the season, but he was fired near the end of the 1986 season when the Twins had a record of 59-80.
Game 328 | September 17, 1985 | Richie Garcia, Greg Kosc
Garcia and Kosc were two of the best American League umpires in the mid-1980s. Garcia was chosen to work four different World Series and was one of the umpires who was not rehired following a controversial umpire strike in 1999. Kosc, a 23-year veteran, worked the 1987 World Series won by the Twins. Like Garcia, he supported the strike and was not rehired after 1999.
Game 329 | October 31, 1985 | Lorne Henning, Lou Nanne
After spending nine years as a defenseman with the New York Islanders, Henning got a chance to be head coach of the Islanders and the Minnesota North Stars. He took over from Bill Mahoney, and his 1985 team, led by Neal Broten and Dino Ciccarelli, finished just one point behind Chicago in the Norris Division and lost to St. Louis in the first round of the playoffs.
Game 330 | November 30, 1985 | Doug Woog
A former Gopher out of South St. Paul, Woog was named to replace Brad Beutow for the 1985-'86 season. His first team, with Corey Millen, Pat Micheletti and Wally Chapman providing much of the scoring, finished second in the WCHA and ended the year with a 35-13-0 overall record, losing to Michigan State in the Frozen Four at Providence, R.I.