32 NHL Cities in 32 Days: Dallas Stars

Alexis Bazydola
May 10, 2020
7 min read

The Location: Dallas, Texas

Opening its doors in 2001, the American Airlines Center is home to the Dallas Stars and the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. Consistently ranking as one of the busiest arenas in the world, this venue has also welcomed stars like Garth Brooks, Beyoncé, Elton John and Billy Joel. It seats over 18,000 fans for a home hockey game. The Stars have not always called the American Airlines Center home. When they were relocated to Dallas in 1993, they played at the Reunion Arena along with the Mavericks until ultimately moving in 2001.

Team History

The Dallas Stars originally entered the league in 1967 as the Minnesota North Stars in Bloomington, Minnesota. While they were able to find some success on the ice, financially they faced hardships. In 1978 the league permitted the team to merge with the Cleveland Barons in the hops to alleviate both teams’ financial struggles. This merger revived the North Stars allowing them to reach the Stanley Cup Finals in 1981. They would end up losing in five games to the New York Islanders.

In the early 1990s, attendance was declining and the owners looked to move the team to the San Francisco Bay area. The league denied this request, but awarded the owners an expansion team in the San Jose Sharks. The North Stars were sold. The next season the team would return to the Stanley Cup Finals yet again, but would again fall this time to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team would continue to decline following their Finals appearance. In their final two years in Minnesota, they omitted the “North” from their name which caused speculation the team was looking to move south.

In 1993, the NHL finally permitted a move of the Stars to Dallas beginning in the 93-94 season. They began play at the Reunion Arena along with the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. Many were upset with the removal of an NHL franchise in the Twin Cities and the league promised an expansion team would be awarded eventually.

Dallas, along with the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers, was a test for the NHL in the southern markets. Success on the ice and Mike Modano’s greatest season in his career helped to boost the popularity of the Stars. They would qualify for the playoffs in their first season in Dallas and swept the St. Louis Blues in the first round. They would lose to the Vancouver Canucks in the second round, however. The team was once again sold to Tom Hicks in 1995.

The next season would be shortened due to a lockout and the Stars would post a losing record at 17-23-8. Despite this record, they would clinch a playoff spot yet again and face the Detroit Red Wings in the first round (which they would lose in five games). Beginning the 1995-96 season on a losing record, the Stars brought in Ken Hitchcock as head coach, his first NHL head coaching position. This season would be the first the Stars would miss the playoffs since moving to Texas.

After some offseason shuffling, the 96-97 season proved to be record setting as the Stars would hit the 100-point mark for the first time in their history. Although they saw regular season success, they could not translate this to the playoffs and were beat by the Edmonton Oilers in the first round after seven games. 1997-98 saw more success for the Stars as they would win their first Presidents’ Trophy. While they were able to make it to the Western Conference Finals, without their star player Joe Nieuwendyk (out due to an injured knee), they could not defeat the Detroit Red Wings who took the series in six games.

The Stars won the Presidents’ Trophy yet again in 1999 and would face the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the playoffs. After sweeping the Oilers and beating the St. Louis Blues in six games, they returned to the Western Conference Finals. They would beat the Colorado Avalanche in seven games and advance to the Stanley Cup Finals, their first appearance as the Dallas Stars. The Stars won in six games to hoist their first Stanley Cup.

The next season saw the return of the Stars to the Finals for the second consecutive year this time against the New Jersey Devils. Although they took it to six games, they were ultimately defeated by the Devils. While the 00-01 season they were able to still capture the division title, they ultimately were swept in the second round of the playoffs by the St. Louis Blues.

2001-02 was a slow start for the Stars and Hitchcock was fired as head coach being replaced by Rick Wilson. They would miss the playoffs and Wilson would step down as head coach. Dave Tippett was named his replacement. With the starting goaltender position going to Marty Turco in the 2002-03 season, the Stars were able to once again capture the Western Conference. They returned to the playoffs against the Edmonton Oilers besting them in six games. They would fall in six games in the second round to the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, however.

While the Stars returned to the playoffs yet again in 2004 behind a rocky regular season, they were not able to capitalize as they were knocked out in the first round by the Colorado Avalanche. Their regular season play following the lockout in 2004-05 was impeccable but they again could not translate this to the playoffs. They were again taken down by the Colorado Avalanche in five games.

The 2006 offseason brought many changes to the Stars’ roster. While they were able to make the playoffs again that season, they yet again fell in the first round against the Vancouver Canucks. This would be the third season in a row the Stars would not make it past the first round of the playoffs. 2007’s NHL Draft brought young Jamie Benn to the Stars. After struggling to clinch a playoff spot, the Stars faced the Anaheim Ducks in the first round of the 2008 playoffs and won in six games. This would be their first playoff series win since 2003. Matched up with the San Jose Sharks in the second round, the Stars took them out in six games advancing to their first Western Conference Finals since 2000. They were bested by the Detroit Red Wings in six games.

With much turmoil in the locker room and on the ice during the 2008-09 season, the Stars would miss the playoffs for the first time since 2002. 2009-10 did not prove to be much better as the Stars faced new management, coaches and financial troubles. The next season started off strong, but after the All Star break the Stars could not clinch a playoff spot. 2011 saw the team file for bankruptcy and be sold at auction. The team would also bring in their sixth coach since moving to Dallas: Glen Gulutzan.

New ownership at hand, the 2011-12 season looked much like the last and saw the Stars miss the playoffs for another season. Although much of their talent was dumped at the trade deadline for prospects and draft picks, the Stars were able to power through in 2013 and looked like they were going to clinch a playoff spot. This was not the case, however, and the Stars would yet again miss the playoffs that year.

New general manager Jim Nill would acquire new talents from the Boston Bruins including Tyler Seguin during the 2013 offseason. The new head coach, Lindy Ruff, also helped the team reclaim a playoff spot in 2014. They would lose, however, in the first round to the Anaheim Ducks in six games. The Stars made more roster moves in the 2014 offseason and would acquire Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky among others. Despite these moves, they would, yet again, miss the playoffs in 2015. Jamie Benn was awarded the Art Ross Trophy for the 2014-15 season.

2015-16 was a better season for the Stars as they won the Central Division for the first time since 1998. They took down the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the playoffs and faced the St. Louis Blues in the second round. The Stars ultimately lost the series in seven games. Injury struck the team in 16-17 causing them to miss the playoffs yet again. Head coach Lindy Ruff’s contract was not renewed and Ken Hitchcock was brought back. To no avail, the Stars missed the playoffs yet again in 2018 and Hitchcock was replaced by Jim Montgomery. The 2018-19 season saw the Stars return to the playoffs. They would beat the Nashville Predators in the first round in six games. They would be defeated by the St. Louis Blues in the second round in seven games. At the season’s pause, the Stars currently sit at 10th in the league with 82 points.

Fanbase & Traditions

The Dallas Stars are known to have many fan traditions. One of which is their national anthems which have been performed by Celena Rae since the 05-06 season. Fans yell out “stars” whenever it is sung in the anthem. The Stars’ fight song is “Puck Off” by Pantera which plays every game when the team enters the ice. This song also plays each time Dallas scores a goal with fans chanting “Dallas! Stars! Dallas! Stars!” Music is essential for the Stars as “Knights of Cydonia” is their powerplay song and “The House is a Rockin’” by Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble plays after the Stars win a game.

The team’s mascot is Victor E. Green, a green alien who comes from a galaxy far, far away. He is the first mascot of the franchise and was debuted in 2014.