From football country to hockey heaven: how the Dallas Stars changed Texas forever

The Dallas Stars, once doubted in a football-first state, now stand as the driving force behind hockey's southern surge, reshaping the NHL from Texas to Florida.

The Dallas Stars are no longer just a team in a "non-traditional" market.

They have become the very symbol of why hockey thrives in the South, inspiring generations of players, fans, and communities across Texas.

From their Stanley Cup win in 1999 to three straight Western Conference Final appearances in recent years, the Stars continue to show that the NHL's southern experiment was no gamble at all.

The Stars' arrival in Dallas back in 1993 was seen by many as a risky move.

At the time, football ruled the region, and hockey was a foreign concept for most.

Yet one moment changed everything: their 1999 Stanley Cup.

That championship not only cemented the team in Texas sports history but also sparked a wave of rink construction and youth hockey participation that still carries momentum today.

Dallas Stars at the center of southern hockey's booming rise Former Stars coach Pete DeBoer explained it best before his departure this offseason: "Dallas for me is a perfect example of coming into a place and getting a foothold at the grassroots level.

The amount of rinks and kids playing hockey here is way bigger than I ever anticipated." The numbers back him up.

In 2005-06, there were just over 7,000 registered hockey players in Texas.

By 2025, that number skyrocketed to more than 17,000, with nearly 7,200 under the age of 18.

That's a growth of 147 percent, a staggering climb that places Texas among the hottest hockey markets in the country.

The Stars also became pioneers in youth outreach.

Their participation in the NHL's "Learn to Play" program introduced thousands of children to the sport.

The impact? Every young player who steps on the ice usually brings an entire family of fans to games.

"If you can create a hockey player, you're creating three or four new fans," said Carolina's Shane Willis, a sentiment that Dallas has proven correct for decades.

Of course, the broader southern surge includes Tampa Bay's Cup runs and Florida's rise, but Dallas remains the blueprint.

Even Seth Jones, born in Texas before becoming an NHL star, credited Stars-affiliated youth programs with shaping his path.

Personally, I think this proves the Stars are the foundation of southern hockey's success story, and every Sun Belt market has followed their example.

As the Stars aim to finally capture another Cup, their legacy already shines: they didn't just survive in Texas, they built a hockey culture powerful enough to last generations..

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