DALLAS — Right now, the Dallas Stars are the only game in town… literally.
In the past the team has shared the American Airlines Center with the Dallas Mavericks during the playoffs. Not this year.
“You don’t want to wish ill on any other teams but it’s nice to be the only show in town right now,” head coach Pete DeBoer said Thursday. “The building’s been absolutely electric so far in our three home games. It’s fantastic.”
The Stars have reported sellout crowds at the AAC for each of the team’s three home playoff games, including a 4-0 shutout win Tuesday.
“We feel our crowd for sure,” Stars center Tyler Seguin said. “They’ve been phenomenal. They’re always phenomenal in the playoffs but especially last game it was a lot of fun.”
“I’ve had amazing support since day one here in Dallas, and you feel that as a player,” Stars goalie Jake Oettinger said. “That’s why you play. You want to win for your fans.”
Oettinger is from Minnesota. During the first round playoff series, Wild fan accounts on Twitter have teased Dallas fans for not knowing or caring about hockey.
“I’d invite any Wild fan to come to a game down here and see what we’ve got going on down here,” Oettinger said. “They’d be lying if they said it wasn’t a hockey town.”
In a sports town, everyone is competing for attention, but right now all eyes and all support in North Texas are behind the Stars.
“A lot of Stars flags,“ DeBoer said. “You can feel the buzz.”
The team has a 3-2 series lead headed to Minnesota for Game 6 on Friday. A win would secure the series victory and more time in the spotlight.
“We want to grow our fan base even more than we already have,” Oettinger said. “We want to go on a heck of a run. It would be a great opportunity to get the whole city behind us.”