DALLAS — Pete DeBoer met with his captain shortly after arriving in Texas. The message from the Dallas Stars head coach to Jamie Benn in June 2022 was clear. And the veteran forward was fully on board.
The message from the Dallas Stars head coach to Jamie Benn in June 2022 was clear."There's no agenda there," DeBoer recalled Wednesday."Other than wanting to win."
The Stars might not have 20 versions of Jamie Benn, but they have a committed, well-balanced attack heading into Thursday's Western Conference final opener against Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the high-flying Edmonton Oilers. The 34-year-old winger has played more than 1,100 regular-season games in the NHL, fellow forward Joe Pavelski's number sits at over 1,300 contests, and defenceman Ryan Suter is just shy of 1,450."It's the only reason I'm playing," the 39-year-old Suter said of the chance to hoist hockey's holy grail.
Dallas, which captured its only title in 1999 and most recently made the final in 2020, qualified for last season's third round before falling to the eventual Cup-winning Vegas Golden Knights. "Every experience is a little bit different," defenceman Darnell Nurse told reporters in Edmonton before the team flew south."The excitement's there, but probably a calmer group going into this one."
"They set the culture," he said."They set the culture for our work ethic, they set the culture for our messaging."
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