How Many Stanley Cups Have The Dallas Stars Won?

How Many Stanley Cups Have The Dallas Stars Won?

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The history of the Dallas Stars goes back to 1967/68 when the NHL expanded to 12 teams from 6 and the Minnesota North Stars were admitted to the league. If we follow the timeline we see that the North Stars were based in Bloomington, Minnesota but began to suffer financially in the late 1970’s.

The franchise merged with the Cleveland Barons in 1978, who originally entered the league as the Oakland Seals in the 1967 expansion as well. The merger was allowed as both clubs appeared to be on the verge of folding and the two combined franchises continued to compete as the Minnesota North Stars while the Barons ceased to operate.

The merger was successful at the beginning as the team reached the 1980/81 Stanley Cup Final but were beaten in 5 games by the New York Islanders. They reached the Final again in 1990/91 and were downed by the Pittsburgh Penguins, this time in 6 games.

After more financial problems and relocation rumours, the Minnesota franchise was allowed to move to Dallas, Texas for the 1993/94 season and was renamed the Dallas Stars. Minnesota was then awarded with another NHL franchise in 2000 when the Minnesota Wild arrived.

The Dallas Stars have one Stanley Cup victory to their name as they downed the Buffalo Sabres in 6 games in the 1998/99 postseason. They have also won a pair of Presidents’ Trophies as the NHL’s top regular-season team in 1997/98 and 1998/99.   

The team currently competes in the Central Division in the league’s Western Conference and have iced some excellent players since moving to Texas such as Jamie Benn, Jamie Robertson, Joe Pavelski, Mark Tinordi, Tyler Seguin, Derian Hatcher, John Klingberg, Jere Lehtinen, Brenden Morrow, Kirk Muller, and Mike Ribeiro along with Hall of Famer’s Ed Belfour, Guy Carbonneau, Brett Hull, Joe Nieuwendyk and Sergei Zubov.

Stanley Cup Finals 1999: Dallas Stars vs Buffalo Sabres

Dallas entered the 1998/99 playoffs as the league’s best team and were the top seed overall with a record of 51-19-12 for 114 points and topped the league’s Pacific Division. The Sabres, who were seeded 7th in the Eastern Conference, racked up 91 points from a mark of 38-27-17 and finished 3rd in the Northeast Division.

Buffalo made it to the Final by beating the East’s 2nd -seeded Ottawa Senators in 4 games, the 6th-seeded Boston Bruins in 6 and the 4th-seeded Toronto Maple Leafs in 5 contests. Dallas, who were coached by Ken Hitchcock, downed the 8th-seeded Edmonton Oilers in 4 games, the 5th-seeded St. Louis Blues in 6 and the 2nd-seeded Colorado Avalanche in 7 outings to advance to the Final.

The franchises were meeting in postseason action for the 3rd time with each squad winning one previous series. The first 2 clashes came when the Stars were based in Minnesota however. The team was making it’s 3rd overall appearance in a Final series but the first as the Dallas Stars. For the Sabres, it was their 2nd Final showdown after losing in 6 games to the Philadelphia Flyers in 1974/75. Dallas and Buffalo split their regular-season series with a win each and the Stars had home-ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Final.

The opening contest went to the Sabres as they won 3-2 in overtime. Jere Lehtinen scored in the final minute of regulation time to tie the game for Dallas but Jason Woolley won it at the 15:30 mark of the first overtime period. Dallas rebounded in game 2 as they doubled the visitors 4-2 and sealed the win with an empty-net goal by Derian Hatcher.

However, star forward Mike Modano suffered a fractured wrist in the game for Dallas but continued to play in the series. Dallas edged the Sabres 2-1 on the road in game 3 with Joe Nieuwendyk scoring both goals, including his 6th game-winner of the postseason.

Buffalo returned the favour in game 4 with a 2-1 victory with Dixon Ward scoring the winner in the 2nd period. Ed Belfour then stopped 23 shots in game 5 for a 2-0 shutout with Darryl Sydor notching the winner early in the second period. Game 6 was filled with controversy as Brett Hull netted the winner in a 2-1 result when he scored at the 14:51 mark of the 3rd overtime period. It was the longest-ever Stanley-Cup winning game in history and the 2nd-longest overall in a Final. It was also the first Final since 1993/94 which didn’t end in a 4-game sweep.

As mentioned the series-winning game, specifically Hull’s game-winning goal, was quite controversial.

Jere Lehtinen’s shot was saved by Sabres’ netminder Dominik Hasek and the rebound came out to Hull, who kicked the puck with his skate to his stick while standing just outside the crease. However, his left skate appeared to be in the crease as the puck crossed the goal line.

At the time, the NHL had a rule which dealt with the scenario. It stated that a player’s skate could be in the crease if he was was in control of the puck and the puck was outside of the crease. Bryan Lewis, the Director of Officiating for the NHL stated that the goal was reviewed and allowed to stand as it was ruled that Hull had possession of the puck on the play.

Take a look at the controversial game-winning goal and the NHL’s explanation why it counted in this video:

Who led the Dallas Stars to the 1998/99 Stanley Cup?

Four of the league’s top-10 playoff scorers were members of the Stars as Mike Modano finished 2nd with 5 goals and 18 assists for 23 points in 23 games. Joe Nieuwendyk finished 3rd with 11 goals and          10 helpers for 21 points in 23 contests while Jamie Langenbrunner placed 5th with 10 goals and 7 assists for 17 points in 23 outings and

Brett Hull finished 8th with 8 goals and 7 helpers for 15 points in 22 games. In addition, Nieuwendyk won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP.  As far as goaltending was concerned Ed Belfour went 16-7 and was tops in goals-against average and shutouts at 1.67 and 3 and placed 2nd in save percentage at 93.0.

Check out every goal of the 1998/99 Stanley Cup win by the Stars in this video:

How Many Times Have the Dallas Stars Appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals?

Since relocating to Dallas in 1993, the franchise has appeared in 3 Stanley Cup Finals. They were victorious in 1998/99 with their 6-game win over Buffalo and returned to the Final the next season in 1999/2000 but were downed by the New Jersey Devils in 6 games after beating the Edmonton Oilers and San Jose Sharks in 5 games and the Colorado Avalanche in 7 to reach the Final.

They also played in the 2019/20 Final after advancing past the Calgary Flames in 6 games, Colorado in 7 and the Vegas Golden Knights in 5 games, but were eventually beaten by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 6 contests. When the franchise was located in Minnesota the team lost the 1980/81 Final in 5 games to the New York Islanders and the 1990/91 Final to the Pittsburgh Penguins in 6 outings.

Check out the 1999/2000 series-clincher in this video:

For every goal of the the 2019/20 Stanley Cup Final watch this video:

See how many Stanley Cups each team has won below:

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