Stanley Cup Heroes, Part 13: A Wild Ride

The Dallas Stars are a franchise that has many incredible runs to choose from. Of course there is their 1999 run that ended with controversy, but also gave Dallas their only Stanley Cup. Back when they were the Minnesota North Stars, they had multiple miraculous runs. Most notably in 1991 when the North Stars made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final despite losing 53 of their 80 regular season games. However, I would argue that their most recent run was the most exciting. If you’ve been alive for more than 12 years, you remember when the Pandemic changed sports in 2020. The NHL was no different. After months of discussions, the NHL finally announced their plans for the pandemic playoffs in their own bubbles. Dallas entered the Edmonton bubble with some promise. Then they looked terrible in the round robin, going 1-2, and were faced with a ton of skepticism. Prior to 2020, the Stars were generally a good team. They had been known as a fast, skilled and high scoring team until they hired Rick Bowness in 2018. He turned them into an opportunistic, but defensive unit. That was still the case in 2020 before the pandemic happened. Thanks to their pre-bubble regular season, they would end up as the 3rd seed in the West facing the Calgary Flames in round 1. There was some chatter of Calgary potentially upsetting the Stars, especially if their goaltender Cam Talbot continued his brilliant run from Calgary’s qualifying round. The Flames gave the Stars a scare, including a 3-0 lead in game 6, which Dallas turned into a 7-3 win and series victory. In round 2, the Stars played a barn burner against the Avalanche. In 7 games, the Stars scored 5+ goals in 4, each of them wins. The Stars nearly blew a 3-1 series lead, but won 5-4 in game 7 overtime thanks to a goal from Joel Kiviranta that completed his hat trick. He had played 11 regular season games and 2 playoff games before that. In the conference finals, they faced the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas amazingly held the Stars in check, but the Stars also managed to hold Vegas in check. Dallas relied heavily on their goaltender, Anton Khudobin. Khudobin was a 33-year-old journeyman before 2020. In the conference finals, he put up a .950 save percentage that included a shutout in game 1. Dallas won the series in 5 and made it back to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2000. In the Cup Final, Dallas faced the Tampa Bay Lightning. Despite winning game 1 4-1 and a double OT classic in game 5, the Stars lost in 6. The run was over, but you can’t say it wasn’t fun. The 2020 Dallas Stars put up 77 goals in their playoff run, tied for 13th most in the last 30 years with the same Tampa team they lost to. It wasn’t for lack of trying as that Dallas team ranks 6th in shots on goal in the last 30 years. 2020 Tampa is 1st btw. More than half of Dallas’s wins came from them scoring 4 or more goals. They scored 3 or more goals 15 times and won 11 of those games. The 2020 Stars were all or nothing. Either they outgunned you and ran the score up or they got outgunned and lost. That team doesn’t work without some key performers. Most notably, a pair of defensemen. Miro Heiskanen was 20 years old and used the 2020 playoffs to establish himself as a superstar. He became just the 4th defenseman in NHL history to put up 20 assists in a playoff run. Cale Makar and Evan Bouchard have accomplished the feat since, but he remains 1 of just 6. Miro finished only behind Kucherov in assists and 3rd in points in the 2020 playoffs. Rarely on the same pair, but almost just as dangerous, John Klingberg put up 17 assists of his own, which less than 20 defensemen have ever done. Klingberg finished 6th in playoff points. 35-year-old Joe Pavelski put up 13 goals, 2nd in the NHL. 22-year-old Dennis Gurianov looked like a future star with his 9 goals and 8 assists. He is sadly no longer in the NHL. Dallas has remained a contender, even after they moved on from Rick Bowness. Many of the players from 2020 are still with the Stars. Miro, Roope Hintz, Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and more. It’s possible those guys could still win a Cup with the Stars. Until they do, the 2020 Stars will be the modern Stanley Cup Heroes for Dallas.