Dallas Stars History.

Dallas Stars, professional ice hockey team and one of five teams in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Stars play at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas, and wear uniforms of black, gold, green, and white. The team was founded as the Minnesota North Stars in 1967. It moved to Dallas and was renamed the Stars in 1993.

The franchise reached the NHL’s Stanley Cup Finals twice during its 26 seasons in Minnesota. Center Bobby Smith led the team to the championship round in 1981, and centers Dave Gagner and Mike Modano powered the North Stars into the finals again in 1991. As the Dallas Stars, the franchise won its first Stanley Cup in 1999, defeating the Buffalo Sabres. The Stars reached the Stanley Cup Finals the following season but lost to the New Jersey Devils.

The Minnesota North Stars were formed as an expansion team in 1967. They had a solid first season in 1967-68, advancing to the second round of the NHL playoffs. In the 1968-69 season left wing Danny Grant scored a team-high 65 points and was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL’s rookie of the year.

From 1969-70 to 1979-80 the North Stars qualified for the playoffs five times, advancing as far as the conference finals in 1980. Notable early members of the team included center Bill Goldsworthy, who was the first player from any 1967 expansion team to register 250 career points; Bobby Smith, who won the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL rookie of the year in 1979; and goaltender Gump Worsley, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1980.

In 1981 Minnesota advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals under the direction of head coach Glen Sonmor. The North Stars, however, lost to the defending-champion New York Islanders. A year later Smith powered Minnesota to its first division crown, but the team was defeated in the first round of the playoffs by the Chicago Blackhawks. The North Stars collected another division title in 1984. Anchoring the lineup were center Neal Broten and wings Brian Bellows and Dino Ciccarelli.

After missing the postseason in both 1987 and 1988, Minnesota competed in the playoffs each year from 1989 to 1992. In 1990 the team was purchased by Norman Green, a real estate developer from Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In 1991 the North Stars upset the defending-champion Edmonton Oilers in the playoffs and advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals. They were led by Dave Gagner and Mike Modano. In the finals against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota won two of the first three games before losing three straight contests, culminating in an 8-0 loss in game six of the best-of-seven series.

In 1993 Green moved the team to Dallas. That year the club acquired goalie Andy Moog from the Boston Bruins. In 1994 he became the tenth goalie in NHL history to amass at least 300 career victories. In the 1998 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Stars advanced to the Western Conference Finals, where the Detroit Red Wings eliminated them, 4 games to 2. The following year, Modano, center Joe Nieuwendyk, goalie Ed Belfour, and right wing Brett Hull led the Stars to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 4 games to 2. Dallas returned to the Finals in 2000 but lost to the New Jersey Devils in six games.