Nobody thinks NHL franchises just land on a city's doorstep like the morning paper, especially when the NHL subscription had been canceled a few years back for lack of payment -- not mention for not tipping the paperboy.

The stories of obtaining professional teams are usually boring and only involve a whole lot of money and a new arena. Now, not to slight any of the NHL's recent franchises, but speak to Bob Naegele, Jr., chairman of the Minnesota Wild, and you'll know right away that getting a team back in Minnesota is one Wild tale -- OK, too easy. But true.

	Naegele helped oversee the process that not only landed St. Paul a new arena but also got them an NHL hockey team.

Naegele, best known as the businessman behind the venture that created Rollerblade, Inc., was instrumental in helping St. Paul -- and the emphasis is on the 'other' Twin City -- get a team.

There are lots of details, but let's boil it down. Current Wild CEO Jac Sperling -- a lawyer who helped get the Coyotes to Phoenix and the MLB Rockies to Denver -- got together with St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman and got a bid organized. (Talk about summaries).

"The St. Paul mayor had a meeting with me and my son in 1996," Naegele said. "He thought the re-flowering of St. Paul would be centered around an NHL team. I thought he was a dreamer, but I said we should never dismiss a dreamer because great things come from dreams."

The original plan was to woo Peter Karmanos from Hartford, dress up the St. Paul Civic Center with a pledge of a $51 million refurbishing of the rink and let the chips fall where they may.

But then, the NHL decided to expand again, and the group reconsidered.

That's when they brought in Naegele.

"They said why not do a dual track: attract Karmanos and go after expansion," Naegele said. "But they needed a name on the application, and they asked me. I sat down with my family. It was a valiant effort but a longshot -- worth attaching our name to. We went to New York and made the presentation."

It all went well. The league placed St. Paul on a short list of candidates and decided to make a visit to St. Paul to judge the viability of three things: the market, the ownership group and the arena.

That, too, went smoothly ... except for one thing -- which wasn't so little. The old Civic Center just wasn't going to cut it.

"When we walked into the arena, they had just closed the circus. The fumes of elephant dung wafted up in the dark gray building. I knew the bid was in dire, dire shape," Naegele said. "They said ownership was fine; the market was fine but that there needed to be a new arena even with the $51 million. We got two 'A' grades and one C+."

A $51 million facelift wasn't enough. They needed a new arena. And in an area where the other professional teams couldn't get new facilities, the ownership group was faced with losing the bid.

But Naegele, Sperling and Coleman took the news the exact opposite way. Instead of mailing it in after getting one big-time bad grade, they were inspired by the two 'A' grades.

"The positives of the other two caused a groundswell of pride," said Naegele, who called Sperling a pro sports rainmaker.

Not to bore with political squabbles, lobbying and back-room deals, but what ensued was that the city of St. Paul put up more than $90 million and a new arena plan was under way. And the NHL granted the city the franchise in June of 1997.

A second chance was born.

Naegele, who now lives in Florida but sits on the NHL Board of Governors, takes a romantic view of the entire process. He uses the metaphor of marriage to explain it all, including the three-year process of getting fans excited about the Wild.

"We had a bad divorce in 1993. But a bad divorce doesn't mean you don't like marriage," he said. "Oct. 11 (the first regular-season home game) was the culmination of the three-year courtship, and it was like having a wedding and reception in one night."

Brian A. Shactman is the NHL Editor for ESPN.com.