Even as the Wild stumbles down the stretch of an inconsistent season, it is a near-certainty Minnesota will make the playoffs. And if that happens, there is a pretty decent chance the Wild's first-round opponent will be one that can energize even the most frustrated fan: the Dallas Stars.

If that happens, it would mark the first playoff meeting against the franchise that left Minnesota more than two decades ago — a move that ripped a hole in the hearts of many local hockey fans. It made me curious how often such playoff meetings have happened in the history of major U.S. pro sports. I came up with seven such clashes between teams throughout the history of the NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB, with at least one instance in each sport. Here are the seven I found:

NHL: The franchise once known as the Colorado Rockies moved to New Jersey and became the Devils in 1982. But Colorado regained a franchise when the Quebec Nordiques became the Avalanche in 1995. The Avs and Devils ended up meeting in the 2001 Stanley Cup Final — with Colorado getting revenge for the lost franchise when it defeated New Jersey in seven games to win the Cup.

NBA: The Lakers left Minneapolis in 1960 for Los Angeles, meaning you can put a little asterisk next to this one. Still, it fits the criteria: The Timberwolves, who came into existence in 1989, faced the Lakers in the 2003 and 2004 NBA playoffs. Those happen to be the last two seasons the Wolves have qualified for the postseason. In both cases, the Lakers prevailed — including 2004, when they knocked the Wolves out in the Western Conference finals.

The other NBA case is interesting as well: The Philadelphia Warriors relocated to Golden State before the 1962-63 season, and Philadelphia regained a franchise when Syracuse became the 76ers in 1963-64. The 76ers and Warriors met a few years later in the 1967 NBA Finals. The series featured six future Hall of Famers, including Wilt Chamberlain for the 76ers. Philadelphia won the series in six games.

NFL: How's this for revenge? The Rams moved from Cleveland to Los Angeles in 1946. In 1950, Cleveland gained the Browns. And in three of the Browns' first six seasons, they faced the Rams with the NFL championship on the line. Cleveland won twice, while Los Angeles won once.

The other case is another three-time meeting, this one more recent and perhaps with the most parallels to a possible Wild/Stars matchup in terms of bitterness. The Colts relocated from Baltimore to Indianapolis in 1984, leaving many Baltimore fans angry. Baltimore regained a franchise with the Ravens in 1996, and the teams have met in the playoffs three times. The Colts won the first two after the 2006 and 2009 season, but the Ravens won the third in 2012 on the way to winning a Super Bowl.

MLB: The A's left Kansas City for Oakland after the 1967 season. Two years later, in 1969, the Royals began play in Kansas City. The A's and Royals have met in the postseason twice since then: 1981, when the A's won, and 2014, when Kansas City beat Oakland in the one-game wild-card playoff.

And finally, the Giants left New York for San Francisco in 1958. Four years later, New York regained the Mets. Those teams met in the 2000 NLDS, with the Mets prevailing.