Even though the Stars haven’t had time to attend a Mavericks game or a Rangers game amid their busy playoff run, they can feel the support from those teams and the city is at an all-time high.
Mavericks forward Tim Hardaway Jr. sported a Tyler Seguin jersey Tuesday when he boarded the team’s plane to Minneapolis for his own Western Conference finals series.
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The crowd at Globe Life Field, where a banner hangs in the rafters from not-too-long ago, proudly shouts “Stars” each night when the national anthem is played — even louder than normal.
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“It’s a great time to be a sports fan here in Dallas,” Stars captain Jamie Benn said.
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Just six months after the Rangers brought home the first major professional sports title to the Dallas area in over a decade, the Stars and Mavericks are continuing the recent trend of success. For the first time in the franchises’ existence, they’ve reached their respective conference finals in the same year.
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“It’s awesome,” Benn said. “Both franchises probably got some motivation from the Rangers as well. They started this thing last October, and obviously the city is buzzing. We’re happy to watch the Mavs go on and do so well. We’re supporting them, as they’re supporting us.”
While the Stars’ and Mavs’ journeys to this point have differed, they started in a similar place.
Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen — who’s arguably been the team’s best player this playoff run with a team-high in points and minutes played — and Mavericks star Luka Doncic made their regular-season professional debuts less than two weeks apart in October 2018.
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They were both drafted third overall in their respective leagues just a year apart.
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FILE – Maverick guard/forward Luka Doncic and Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen pose for a photograph on Friday, Sept. 21, 2018, at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Both European players were drafted third overall in their respective leagues. (Shaban Athuman/The Dallas Morning News) (Shaban Athuman / Staff Photographer)
Over the last six years, they’ve led their teams to multiple conference finals with a chance to bring two more titles to the city.
The Stars, especially, have noticed an increase in excitement, as their fan base may be the smallest of the four major professional sports teams in the city. However, during the playoffs, their fans are often the most passionate.
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“There’s great fans here,” Stars veteran defenseman Ryan Suter said. “The noise in the arena has been second to none. The new guys that are here this year are like, ‘Man, we didn’t realize Dallas was this big of a hockey city.’ They show it in the regular season, too, but playoff games are a whole nother level. It’s definitely something that we build on.”
The playoff run for both teams has even caught the attention of the Cowboys — the one Dallas team that hasn’t reached the conference finals this year, let alone this century. Quarterback Dak Prescott said it can serve as fuel.
“I want it for them,” he said. “Trust me, I want it because it only raises the stakes and makes it tougher on me. And I’m for that.”
On X/Twitter: @Lassimak
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Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Dallas rallying around Stars, Mavs during conference finals runs: ‘The city is buzzing’
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