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Cullen's Return Extra Meaningful for Moorhead

08/20/2017, 8:15am CDT
By Peter Odney
Credit: Courtesy Wild.com.

Credit: Courtesy Wild.com.

One of Moorhead’s favorite and most professionally decorated sons is coming home.

Fresh off another Stanley Cup championship run with the Pittsburgh Penguins, 40-year old center Matt Cullen will rejoin the Minnesota Wild for his 20th season in the National Hockey League. It will mark Cullen's second stint with the Wild. Cullen previously called the Xcel Energy Center home from 2010-2013, totaling 33 goals and 101 points in 193 games.

While the Wild play their home games in St. Paul, Moorhead is where Cullen played his high school hockey. It's a town still beaming with pride at the resume Cullen has built since graduating from Moorhead High School.

Before playing two years for St. Cloud State, Cullen, son of longtime Moorhead coach Terry Cullen, helped lead the Spuds to three consecutive MSHSL state tournament appearances and a pair of runner-up finishes. He scored 47 goals as a senior Spud. Cullen's legendary status in Moorhead (and in Virginia, Minn., where he was born) has continued to grow, by giving back to the community and bringing the Stanley Cup back to Moorhead Youth Hockey Arena.

Arena Manager Dennis Bushy had a front-row seat for Cullen’s prep career, and said that he believes the emotional pull of Minnesota hockey eventually called him home.

“Matt's signing proves why his passion toward our great game is so powerful,” Bushy said, adding that he doesn’t feel Cullen’s age will slow him down.

“I'm not surprised at all that he wants to continue with playing and hope when he finally retires his passion is satisfied and (that) he's ready for his new life,” Bushy said.

Career-wise, Cullen currently sits at 1,366 games and 689 points for eight different teams since the 1997-1998 season. He has won three Stanley Cups, with two coming as a member of the Penguins and one with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Fittingly, Bushy has the most appropriate summation of how Moorhead feels about Cullen’s body of work.

“Moorhead hockey is so damn proud of Matt's life in hockey,” he said.

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