Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas, Texas. They play in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Facts

Founded: 1967

Arena: American Airlines Center

Former Home Arena: Reunion Arena (1993-2001)

Logo design: A green star outlined in gold

Main Rivals: Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, Detroit Red Wings, and San Jose Sharks

Division Championships: 7 - 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2000-01, 2002-03, 2005-06

Presidents' Trophies: 2 - 1997-98, 1998-99

Conference Championships 2 - 1998-99, 1999-00

Stanley Cup Finals appearances 4 - 1998-99 (defeated Buffalo, 4-2), 1999-00 (lost to New Jersey, 2-4),

1990-91 *(lost to Pittsburgh, 2-4), 1980-81 *(lost to NY Islanders, 1-4) * as the Minnesota North Stars

Stanley Cup Championships: 1 - 1998-99

Broadcasters: Ralph Strangis and Daryl "Razor" Reaugh

Franchise history

The Minnesota North Stars were founded as an expansion team in 1967, playing their games at the newly-constructed Metropolitan Sports Center (the "Met Center") in Bloomington, adjacent to Metropolitan Stadium. Initially successful both on the ice and at the gate, the North Stars fell victim to financial problems after several poor seasons in the mid 1970s. In 1978, they were purchased by the owners of the also struggling Cleveland Barons (formerly the California Golden Seals), and the NHL permitted the two franchises to merge. The merged team retained the Minnesota North Stars name, but assumed the Barons old place in the Adams Division. The merger brought with it a number of talented players, and the North Stars were revived, making the Stanley Cup finals in 1981. However, by the early nineties, declining attendance and the inability to secure a new downtown, revenue-generating arena led ownership to request permission to move the team to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1990. The NHL rejected the request, and instead agreed to award an expansion franchise for 1991-92 (the San Jose Sharks) to the Gund brothers, George and Gordon, in what was technically a dissolution of the Barons-North Stars merger. The new franchise was also allowed to select a number of North Stars players. However, just two years later amid further attendance woes and bitter personal controversy, new owner Norm Green obtained permission to move the team to Dallas's Reunion Arena. After moving to Dallas, the team was sold to Tom Hicks and won the franchise's first (and currently only) Stanley Cup in 1999. In 2001, the team moved to a new arena, the American Airlines Center.

Despite initial reservations about the move to Texas, the Stars have enjoyed success at the box office and on the ice. They have won two Presidents' Trophies as the team with the best overall regular-season record, and have won the Stanley Cup once. They also have won seven division titles in the past nine seasons.

A disappointing loss to the Colorado Avalanche during the first round of the 2006 playoffs will likely lead to a number of player decisions. On June 30th, 2006 the club announced they would be buying out the $6.5 million contract of seriously underachieving right winger Bill Guerin in order to clear room under the salary cap. The club also lost players due to free agency, notably Jason Arnott, Willie Mitchell and Johan Hedberg. However, owner Tom Hicks has announced that the majority of the Stars' personnel will stay intact, including head coach Dave Tippett.

For the 2005-2006 season, Sergei Zubov was nominated for the Norris Trophy as the NHL's Best Defenseman, his first nomination for the trophy. The trophy would end up going to Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom. Jere Lehtinen was nominated for the Selke Trophy as the NHL's Best Defensive Forward, an award he has been nominated for six times and won thrice. The trophy would go to Carolina's Rod Brind'Amour.

Season-by-season record

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, OTL = Overtime losses, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against, PIM = Penalties in minutes

Season	GP	W	L	T	OTL	Pts	GF	GA	PIM	Finish	Playoffs
1993-94	84	42	29	13	--	97	286	265	1919	3rd in Central	Lost Conference Semifinal (VAN)
1994-95¹	48	17	23	8	--	42	136	135	1117	5th in Central	Lost Conference Quarterfinal (DET)
1995-96	82	26	42	14	--	66	227	280	1652	6th in Central	Out of Playoffs
1996-97	82	48	26	8	--	104	252	198	1325	1st in Central	Lost Conference Quarterfinal (EDM)
1997-98	82	49	22	11	--	109	242	167	1301	1st in Central	Lost Conference Final (DET)
1998-99	82	51	19	12	--	114	236	168	1108	1st in Pacific	Won Stanley Cup (BUF)
1999-00	82	43	23	10	6	102	211	184	1029	1st in Pacific	Lost Stanley Cup Final (NJ)
2000-01	82	48	24	8	2	106	241	187	1041	1st in Pacific	Lost Conference Semifinal (STL)
2001-02	82	36	28	13	5	90	215	213	959	4th in Pacific	Out of Playoffs
2002-03	82	46	17	15	4	111	245	169	1166	1st in Pacific	Lost Conference Semifinal (ANA)
2003-04	82	41	26	13	2	97	194	175	1143	2nd in Pacific	Lost Conference Quarterfinal (COL)
2004-05²	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--	--
2005-06	82	53	23	--	6	112	265	218	1168	1st in Pacific	Lost Conference Quarterfinal (COL)
Grand Totals	952	500	302	125	25	1150	2750	2359	14928

¹ Season was shortened due to the 1994-95 NHL lockout.

² Season was cancelled due to the 2004-05 NHL lockout.

Notable players

Current squad

As of July 16, 2006 ^*

Goaltenders
Number		Player	Catches	Acquired	Place of Birth
35		Marty Turco	L	1994	Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Defencemen
Number	Player	Shoots	Acquired	Place of Birth
-	Jaroslav Modry	L	2006	Ceske-Budejovice, Czechoslovakia
3	Stephane Robidas	R	2005	Sherbrooke, Quebec
4	Janne Niinimaa	L	2006	Raahe, Finland
5	Darryl Sydor	L	2006	Edmonton, Alberta
6	Trevor Daley	L	2002	Toronto, Ontario
42	Jon Klemm	R	2003	Calgary, Alberta
43	Philippe Boucher	R	2002	St. Apollinaire, Quebec
56	Sergei Zubov - A	R	1996	Moscow, U.S.S.R.

Forwards
Number	Player	Shoots	Position	Acquired	Place of Birth
-	Patrik Stefan	L	C	2006	Pribram, Czechoslovakia
9	Mike Modano - C	L	C	1988	Livonia, Michigan
10	Brenden Morrow - A	L	LW	1997	Carlyle, Saskatchewan
14	Stu Barnes	R	C	2003	Spruce Grove, Alberta
15	Niklas Hagman	R	LW	2005	Espoo, Finland
20	Antti Miettinen	R	RW	2000	Hämeenlinna, Finland
26	Jere Lehtinen	R	RW	1992	Espoo, Finland
29	Steve Ott	L	LW	2000	Summerside, Prince Edward Island
36	Jussi Jokinen	L	LW	2001	Kalajoki, Finland
88	Eric Lindros	R	C	2006	London, Ontario

Hall of Famers

none

Team captains

Note: This list does not include former captains of the Minnesota North Stars and Oakland Seals

Mark Tinordi (1993-95)
Neal Broten (1995)
Derian Hatcher (1995-2003)
Mike Modano (2003- present)

Retired numbers

7 Neal Broten, C, 1981-95 & 1997 (Minnesota 1981-93, Dallas 1993-95 & 1997)
8 Bill Goldsworthy, RW, 1967-77 (Minnesota)
19 Bill Masterton, C, 1967-68 (Minnesota)
99 Wayne Gretzky (retired league-wide by the NHL)

First round draft picks

Note: This list does not include selections as the Minnesota North Stars.

1993: Todd Harvey (9th overall)
1994: Jason Botterill (20th overall)
1995: Jarome Iginla (11th overall)
1996: Ric Jackman (5th overall)
1997: Brenden Morrow (25th overall)
1998: none
1999: none
2000: Steve Ott (25th overall)
2001: Jason Bacashihua (26th overall)
2002: Martin Vagner (26th overall)
2003: none
2004: Mark Fistric (28th overall)
2005: Matt Niskanen (28th overall)
2006: Ivan Vishnevskiy (27th overall)

Franchise scoring leaders

These are the top-ten point-scorers in the history of the Dallas Stars/Minnesota North Stars franchise. Figures are updated after each completed NHL regular season.

Note: GP = Games Played, G = Goals, A = Assists, Pts = Points

Player	POS	GP	G	A	Pts
*Mike Modano	C	1101	458	648	1106
Neal Broten	C	867	274	593	867
Brian Bellows	LW	753	342	380	722
Dino Ciccarelli	RW	602	332	319	651
Bobby Smith	C	572	185	369	554
Dave Gagner	C	609	247	287	534
Bill Goldsworthy	RW	670	267	239	506
Tim Young	C	564	178	316	494
Steve Payne	LW	613	228	238	466
Craig Hartsburg	D	570	98	315	413