Minnesota Wild Prospect Reveals He Was At The Team's Home Opener... While in Utero

It's not every day you hear something that you can confidently say is an NHL first, but I think we found one with Minnesota Wild prospect Graeme Clark.

The Wild kicked off the preseason slate with a win over the Winnipeg Jets, and will play their next one on Wednesday against the Dallas Stars, the team that used to call Minnesota home until 1993.

So, in the lead-up to their next preseason tilt, it appears that the team did some interviews with some of the prospects that fans will see in the lineup, especially in the first few games.

The Waconia, Minnesota native spent the last few seasons in the New Jersey Devils' organization, mostly with the AHL's Utica Comets. However, he did appear in three games last season for the Devils.

He was dealt to the Wild over the summer who in turn signed him to a one-year, two-way deal (he even scored in his Wild debut against the Jets), so it's a homecoming of sorts.

Now, remember we mentioned the North Stars moved to Dallas in ‘93? Well, the State of Hockey’s current NHL team started play in 2000, and it turns out that Clarke was at that game — or at least his mom was — and dropped that bit of trivia during a recent interview.

The one funny story, I guess, is the Minnesota Wild's home-opener at the Xcel (Energy Center), I was in my mom's stomach and she was there," he said. 

So, Ma Clarke was on hand to watch the Wild battle the Philadelphia Flyers to a 3-3 tie (ew, remember ties? Gross) on Oct. 11, 2000. The next April, future Wild forward Graeme was born.

I didn't consult the record books, but I'm fairly certain that no other player in league history has attended a franchise's inaugural home opener while in utero and then went on to play for that team.

Again, I did not consult the archives, but I'm confident in saying that Clarke is the NHL's all-time leader in this department.

Who knows whether Clarke will begin this season in St. Paul or if he'll start the year in Des Moines with the AHL's Iowa Wild, but it'll be pretty damn cool whenever he makes his regular season debut with the Minnesota Wild.