NHL Team Guide: Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars franchise was founded in 1967 as the Minnesota North Stars as part of the NHL’s first major expansion effort. The North Stars were one of six new teams to join the NHL that year. In 1978, the franchise merged with the Cleveland Barons (formerly the California Golden Seals) but retained the North Stars name. The team moved to Dallas before the 1993-94 NHL season.
Stars fans can watch most of the Dallas NHL schedule on TV on FOX Sports Southwest. The network carries most of the Stars games as part of their regional sports broadcasts. Dallas can also be seen on NBC or NBCSN when the Stars are part of a national telecast. Fans can also watch Stars games on live streaming through the FOX Sports Go app or at foxsportsgo.com. By streaming games, Stars fans can watch their team live from anywhere.
NHL Standings
The Dallas Stars are one of seven teams in the Central Division of the Western Conference. Chicago, Colorado, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis, and Winnipeg are the others.
Championship History
After the merger of Minnesota and Cleveland, the North Stars inherited some talented players. In the 1980-81 season, the Stars made a surprise appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals but lost in five games to the New York Islanders.
The Stars have won eight division titles: 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2005-06, and 2015-16. Since the move to Dallas, the Stars have qualified for the postseason in 14 of 23 seasons.
Dallas won conference championships in 1998-99 and 1999-00. The franchise has just one Stanley Cup win. That came in 1998-99 when the Stars won their division, the conference, and also won the President’s Trophy with the most points of all NHL teams.
Home of the Stars
When the Stars moved to Dallas, they began playing in the Reunion Arena in Dallas but moved to their current location, the American Airlines Center, in 2001. The Stars home holds 18,532 fans with a standing room capacity of 19,323.
Best Stars
Two of the greatest American-born NHL players spent the bulk of their professional careers in the Stars organization. The franchise’s leading scorer, Mike Modano, also happens to be the all-time goal-scoring and points leader among American-born NHL players.
Modano scored 557 goals and totaled 1,359 points in 21 seasons with the Stars in both Minnesota and Dallas. He was the first overall pick of the 1988 NHL draft and was a member of the 1999 Stars team that won the Stanley Cup. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2014.
Neal Broten was born in Minnesota, played high school hockey in Minnesota, and played college hockey at the University of Minnesota. Before his NHL career started, he was part of the Miracle on Ice that won the United States a gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics. Broten is one of just two players that won an NCAA championship, an Olympic gold medal, and a Stanley Cup. He is second on the Stars all-time scoring list with 274 goals and 867 points.
Author: Dan Anderson