Tag: Dallas Stars

Wisconsin men’s hockey legend officially announces retirement from the NHL

Wisconsin men’s hockey legend officially announces retirement from the NHL

Former Wisconsin men’s hockey legend Joe Pavelski has officially announced his retirement, according to the NHL’s recent post on X.

After 18 illustrious seasons representing both the San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars, Pavelski officially hung up his skates after 1,332 games in the NHL. The Plover, Wisconsin native orchestrated one of the more storied amateur and professional careers of any Badger in program history.

Before representing Wisconsin, an 18-year-old Pavelski earned United States Hockey League Rookie of the Year in 2002-03 with Waterloo on the junior ice hockey scene. The Sharks picked the Wisconsin product at No. 205 in the seventh round of the 2003 NHL draft before he starred in Madison.

During his 2004-05 freshman campaign at UW, Pavelski led NCAA first-years in points with 16 goals and 29 assists. He followed that up with an NCAA championship in 2006 and paced the team in both assists and points.

Pavelski made his professional debut with San Jose on Nov. 22, 2006 and registered his first 20-goal season in the NHL in 2008-09. He reached his peak during the 2013-14 season after recording career-bests in goals (41) and points (79). The output netted him NHL Second All-Star Team and Sharks Player of the Year nods.

As captain of the 2015-16 Sharks, Pavelski earned his first NHL All-Star Game bid and guided San Jose to its first Stanley Cup Final against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Sharks would ultimately lose the series in six games.

The former Badger’s quest for a Stanley Cup, however, would not end there.

A year after signing with the Dallas Stars in July 2019, Pavelski’s Stars reached the Stanley Cup Finals but fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. Still, the Plover product led Dallas and was second among all players with 13 playoff goals at age 36.

Pavelski played four more seasons with the Stars and scored his 1,000th NHL point on April 10, 2023.

The Badger legend finished his career with 476 goals and 592 assists for 1,068 points in over 1,330 regular-season games for Dallas and San Jose. After the conclusion of the 2023-24 slate, Pavelski also ranked fifth in goals and games among active players.

Pavelski will now turn a chapter on his ice hockey career after cementing his legacy as one of the Badgers’ all-time greats. It’s safe to say the NHL and Badger faithful throughout the nation will miss watching him skate past defenders on a professional stage.

All-time great Wisconsin hockey player announces retirement from NHL

All-time great Wisconsin hockey player announces retirement from NHL

Former Wisconsin Badgers men’s hockey player Joe Pavelski announced that he is retiring from hockey on Tuesday after 18 seasons in the NHL. The 39-year-old and the Dallas Stars were just eliminated in the league’s West Final against the Oilers, dropping the series 4-2.

Out of high school, the Plover, Wisconsin, native was selected in the seventh round of the 2003 NHL Draft by the San Jose Sharks before he ever ended up being a Badger.

Pavelski spent three seasons in Madison as a member of Wisconsin’s men’s hockey program from 2004-2006, leading the team in overall points in their 2006 National Championship winning season.

He spent the first 13 years of his professional career with San Jose, appearing in many playoff games, including the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2016, ultimately losing to the Penguins.

Pavelski went on to join the Dallas Stars, his final team, in 2019. While with the Stars, he was able to make his back to the Stanley Cup Final in 2020, falling to the Tampa Bay Lightning.

In total, the center recorded many impressive stats over his career, most notably his 475 goals and 1,068 career points over 1,332 career NHL contests. His 74 postseason goals are the most all-time by an American-born player.

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Jake Oettinger’s stick made the best save of the 2024 NHL playoffs

What a save (by the stick)!

Puck luck, as hockey fans know, is a thing.

But what about stick luck? That was a thing in the Dallas Stars’ Game 4 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

Stars netminder Jake Oettinger lost his stick while Edmonton was on a power play in the first period, but it was behind him … and when Connor McDavid tried to knock in a puck nearby, it was the discarded stick that made the save without Oettinger’s help.

Sadly, the Stars might have wished for more stick luck — they lost 5-2 on Wednesday night, and now the Western Conference Finals are tied up 2-2. Here’s that amazing moment, though:

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Local teams’ success makes it a tough time to be a Cowboys fan

The recent success of the Dallas Mavericks, Stars and Texas Rangers makes it a tough time to be a fan of the Dallas Cowboys. | From @BenGrimaldi

What a tough time it is to be a fan of the Dallas Cowboys. Unless, of course, you’re a fan of the other three major sports teams in the area.

It’s been an offseason where the club has basically remained dormant and failed to sign any of their prominent free agents. Dallas followed that up with a draft graded as the worst in the division. And now comes the success of the local major sports teams that surround them.

Both the Dallas Stars and Dallas Mavericks have advanced to the conference finals in their respective leagues, the NHL and the NBA, which comes on the heels of the Texas Rangers winning major league baseball’s World Series.

That leaves Jerry Jones’ team on the outside looking in when it comes to DFW success. The Cowboys are the only team in the four major sports who hasn’t made the final four recently, or in the last 28 years.

Worse, it’s a fact did not go unnoticed. It didn’t take long for the Cowboys to be mocked for their futility after the triumphs of the Stars and Mavs over the weekend.

The local FOX sports network noted the years…

While the FOX Sports NFL account noted the days.

Fans also began to chime in, at first mocking the team…

And then the GM and owner was caught in the crossfire.

For their part, Cowboys players aren’t showing any signs of jealousy as star defensive players Micah Parson and Trevon Diggs sat courtside for the Mavericks’ series-clinching win. And the social media team for the team is all for the success of their counterparts as the #OneForDallas hashtag has been embraced.

For the Dallas area fans who like all the professional teams, it’s a great time to be a fan. However, for those who only support the Cowboys or for out of state fans, seeing the achievements of the other franchises stings. The futility of the Cowboys has hit a new low, regardless of the success from the Mavericks, Rangers, or Stars, but the accomplishments from these three local teams exposes just how bad it’s gotten for America’s Team on the field.

Cowboys backers have long been chided for being bandwagon fans, but that’s a claim that no one would admit to these days. It’s great to see the playoff success of the surrounding teams, something Dallas’ football team hasn’t experienced in a long time. But being reminded of that futility so close to home makes it a tough time to be a Cowboys fan if you don’t root for the Mavericks or Stars.

You can chat with or follow Ben on twitter @BenGrimaldi

1 brutal graph shows just how far behind the Cowboys are to other Dallas-area teams in recent playoff success

The Cowboys are down bad compared to other Dallas-area teams.

While ESPN’s SportsCenter was just presenting a factual graph about Dallas-area sports teams, the Dallas Cowboys caught some hysterical grief for how they’ve done in the playoffs lately compared to their fellow city franchises.

The graph showed the last time that all Dallas-area teams have reached their respective conference finals, which is within the last season for the Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers.

For the Cowboys, well, it’s been a whopping 28 seasons since reaching the NFC championship game. That is absolutely brutal.

As much as the Cowboys are one of the most talked-about teams in professional sports, it sure looks like we should be paying much more attention to the Mavericks, Stars and Rangers until the Cowboys can end this 28-season conference drought.

If you’re a Dallas sports fan, you’ve had a pretty great run lately… outside of the Cowboys, of course. Until they can find more success in the playoffs, they’ll have to cede the spotlight to the other Dallas-area teams.

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NHL’s Dallas Stars deliver tremendous DeBoer tweet

The Dallas Stars’ social media folks win Twitter on Friday

The Dallas Stars’ social media team was on target Friday.

After Alabama hired Washington coach Kalen DeBoer to replace Nick Saban, the Stars’ social team sensed an opportunity and nailed the one-timer.

The Stars’ coach is a DeBoer, however, Peter DeBoer. Someone with a brilliant touch found the perfect tweet.

Jakob Chychrun had a bloody good reason for skating to the Stars locker room for intermission

The defenseman explained why he switched locker rooms at intermission

A weird moment happened right as the first period concluded when the Dallas Stars hosted the Ottawa Senators on Friday night.

Just as the TV broadcast was heading to commercial to kick off intermission, cameras caught Senators defenseman Jakob Chychrun sauntering along with the Stars as they left their bench to head back to the home locker room.

This would’ve felt like a silly mistake, except the tunnel to the visiting locker room at American Airlines Center is much further down the ice near the goal line. And Chychrun sure didn’t look confused about why he wasn’t joining his teammates.

@sportsnet

Wait a minute šŸ¤” #nhl #nhlonsn #ottawasenators #dallasstars #jakobchychrun #hockeytiktoks

ā™¬ Switching sides – Mr. America

Was the d-man the Senators acquired last March already fed up with his team? Did he get traded to the Stars mid-game? Was he trying to secure the game puck for Giannis Antetokounmpo?

As the theories ran wild online, Chychrun provided a completely acceptable answer that any hockey fan using Occam’s razor likely figured out right away: His face was totally gashed and required more serious medical attention.

Chychrun provided the evidence to prove it, too, and you may want to look away if you’re squeamish at all.

NSFW: Graphic imageĀ 

via @jakobchychrun on Instagram

Yep! That’ll do it. That right there is a good reason for leaving your teammates mid-game.

But, listen, Chychrun did have three assists in the first period of the Senators’ eventual 5-4 loss, so who’s to say he didn’t also want the puck after his repairs?

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Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill made an incredible one-handed save against the Stars in Game 5

Goalie Adin Hill made the save of a lifetime for the Golden Knights on Saturday night.

Vegas Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill made one of the most beautiful saves you’re likely to see in the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs… or in any Stanley Cup playoffs for that matter.

As Dallas Stars winger Joel Kiviranta looked well-positioned to give his team the 3-2 advantage over Vegas in the third quarter, a falling Hill reached out his hand and blocked the shot right before it went into the goal.

It was a true last-second save for Hill, one that kept the game tied as the Golden Knights were trying to wrap up Game 5 of the Western Conference finals on Saturday night.

The level of difficulty on this save highlighted why elite goaltending is crucial in the playoffs. Hill showed why he’s a force to be reckoned with on the ice with this incredible stop.

The zoom-in just shows you how stunning Hill’s save really was.

It’s the kind of move that makes a season highlight reel now matter how the playoff series ends.

NHL fans couldnā€™t believe Jamie Bennā€™s explanation for a dirty crosscheck was the best he could do

NHL fans are NOT buying this.

Look, I get it: Jamie Benn has to give the angle on a dirty play he committed that will get him to avoid a suspension.

But these quotes? NHL fans aren’t buying them.

Let’s rewind: The Dallas Stars captain received a game misconduct and a five-minute major in the Game 3 loss against the Vegas Golden Knights for a cross-check to Mark Stone while the latter was laying on the ice.

It appeared from the video that Benn forcefully hit Stone in the head with a cross check, but what did Benn say about it? That he “would’ve liked not to fall on him and I guess use my stick as the landing point.”

People aren’t buying that as Benn faces a hearing with NHL Player Safety. Check out the reaction below: