Dallas Stars is an ice hockey team based in Dallas, Texas. The team was originally founded as Minnesota North Stars for 1967 NHL expansion. The team was merged with Cleveland Barons in 1978 due to financial hardship. Finally, in 1993 the franchise was relocated to Dallas and the team was renamed as Dallas Stars. The team has qualified to Stanley Cup finals four times and it has won one Stanley Cup, in season 1998-99.

Basic information

Stars team colours are victory green, black, silver and white. The current General Manager is Jim Gill and the interim head coach is Rick Bowness. Stars has two minor league affiliate teams, which are Texas Stars in AHL league and Idaho Steelheads in ECHL league. The home arena of Dallas Stars is American Airlines Center – the arena is also used by basketball team Dallas Mavericks. The capacity for ice hockey matches is appr. 19 000 seats.

Minnesota North Stars era

Minnesota North Stars were a part of the 1967 expansion that included six teams. In mid-70’s, after very limited success over several seasons, North Stars were having serious financial troubles. As other franchise called Cleveland Barons were having similar problems, merging these two organisations were seen as a good idea. The merged franchise continued after Minnesota North Stars name.

Financial problems again

North Stars appeared in Stanley Cup finals twice, losing to New York Islanders in 1981 and to Pittsburgh Penguins in 1991. After that, the financial struggles were evident and on the top of that, the club owner Norm Green didn’t manage to make a deal to build a new arena for the team. Thus, the franchise was relocated to Dallas in 1993. Being located now in south, the team was renamed to Dallas Stars. The first years in Dallas were successful and ultimately, in season 1998-99 Dallas Stars grabbed the Stanley Cup, when they defeated Buffalo Sabres in the finals.

Mike Modano, super skater

Mike Modano served the team both in Minnesota and Dallas. Modano was a key player in Stars winning Stanley cup in 1999. Modano was really fast skater and he was effective with points as well: he is all-time leader in both goals and points among American-born players in NHL. Modano was the real star of the team in 1990’s after the team relocation.

Neal Broten – a miracle on ice

Neal Broten is mostly Minnesota-era legend. Nevertheless, he played two seasons in Dallas before moving to New Jersey Devils. Broten was in the team that won Olympic gold medal in 1980 Lake Placid Olympic Games. The skilled centre forward was fast and very good with the puck. Broten played 1099 NHL regular season games during his lengthy career.

Jere Lehtinen – a true gentleman

There are many good things to say about Jere Lehtinen, who is nowadays a General manager of Finnish national ice hockey team. He was always hard working and won three Selke Trophies for best defensive forward. The Finnish international was always a gentleman both on and off the ice: he only took 210 minutes of penalties in 875 NHL games. Dallas Stars was the only team, which Lehtinen played for in NHL.

Other legends

There would be so many players to take into Stars legend list. To name a few, we can take for example Sergei Zubov, Marty Turco, Brenden Morrow, Eddie (Ed) Belfour and Derian Hatcher. The list is endless.