I hope that distance makes the heart grow fonder.
Needless to say, it’s been a while since I’ve posted here. There are a variety of factors behind the extended absence, the most glaring being my newfound commitment to being a college graduate who has to find ways to make the ever-elusive commodity that is money.
Despite that loss of time, I still watch my fair share of sports. If you ask my wife, she’ll tell you that’s all I do still, which I swear is not true. She’ll point out the constant blabbering about Jerry and Stephen Jones’ ineptitude, or how Wyatt Langford and Adolis García both had a mild oblique strain during the last couple weeks of Rangers’ Spring Training. She’d pinpoint how I can’t stop watching or talking about the Dallas Stars and my somewhat newfound love for hockey.
What she’d say I’ve ranted to her the most, however, is the despicable trading of Luka Doncic to the Lakers on February 1.
To say that the DFW Metroplex desperately needed a lifeline after The Trade would be the understatement of the millennium. Luka was the embodiment of DFW sports in so many ways, and to see him shipped off for what equated to a box of scraps, some stale candy, and a pat on the back was disheartening to say the least. I’d go as far as calling it heartbreaking, which is not a term I throw around lightly. I was heartbroken. Just ask my wife.
There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about how baffling that maneuver was by the Mavericks’ front office. If Mavericks’ GM Nico Harrison has his way, I’ll understand one day. Unfortunately for him and the organization he works for, I don’t think I ever will.
Fortunately for me and so many other residents of this wonderful metroplex, the Mavericks aren’t the only source of sports that we have the privilege to indulge in. Besides the Cowboys, who are a wreck in their own right at the moment (can we please spend some money in free agency Jerry?), the Rangers and the Stars are the shining beacons of DFW sports at the moment. The Stars in particular have been a ray of sunshine that has been much needed during this time of distress.
Just a handful of days ago, the Stars made the biggest splash of the trade deadline by acquiring Mikko Rantanen. Rantanen, a 28-year-old Finnish forward who had spent his entire career with the Colorado Avalanche before being unexpectedly traded to the Carolina Hurricanes just several weeks ago, joins an already loaded Stars roster that’s looking to win its first Stanley Cup since 1999. Dallas has gotten close recently but still hasn’t been able to fully summit the mountain. Will the acquisition of Rantanen push the Stars over the top? I sure hope so. This city needs it. It needs it bad.
I read an article by the great Bob Sturm and Ralph Strangis the other day about how the Stars have the opportunity to take possession of the DFW sports fan here in winter and spring given the recent turn of events for the professional basketball team. That article was written before the trade. I believe, and I’m sure Sturm and Strangis would agree with me, that that sentiment rings even more true now after gaining possession of a talent like Rantanen. The Stars have the opportunity to give this city what it so desperately wants and needs: another taste of the ultimate glory. If they can accomplish that, or at least get close to it again, I believe they’ll continue to win over a lot of hockey-skeptics that aren’t so sure about this whole puck-and-stick sport that we all adore.
Winning a Stanley Cup is extremely hard. It’s arguably the hardest championship to win in all North American sports, which is one of the reasons why the playoffs that lead up to it are so full of drama and excitement. There’s nothing like watching your team score the winning goal in overtime of a game seven. It’s pure euphoria and ecstasy. The equivalent heartbreak when your team is the one that loses in that situation is unimaginable.
Dallas’ path to the Stanley Cup will no doubt be difficult. The NHL’s Western Conference is loaded. The Winnipeg Jets have consistently been good all season long. The Colorado Avalanche are still loaded despite the mid-season loss of Rantanen. The Edmonton Oilers employ Connor McDavid, the greatest hockey player in the world. The Vegas Golden Knights are really good too, which is hard to admit given the fact that I loathe them with all of my being. Once they somehow get through all that, the matchup in the Stanley Cup Final will be a test as well. It’s a tough road, but if the Stars can do it, man oh man would that be sweet. Even just giving us fans a sniff of it would be fantastic as well.
Sports are ultimately about hope. Whether the Stars win the Stanley Cup or not is not of consequence to me right now, even with Rantanen’s addition and their recent stretch of good play. I’m just glad that they’re putting in the effort to give DFW sports fans hope for now and the future. Hope is what the Mavericks ripped away from us at 11:12 PM CT on February 1, 2025. I’m glad that the Stars have decided to provide it instead.