Former Dallas Stars Getting Chance To Raise First Cup

The Dallas Stars have dished a few players in trades over the past few years, and two of those players specifically have gone on to bigger and better things. They both now have a chance to lift the Stanley Cup in a matter of days.

The Stanley Cup Finals pose a seven-game series like none other. Unlike other sports where the higher seed has the best chance of going to the finals, in the NHL the last team to qualify seems to have as good a chance to make it to the last round as the top team in the league.

Over the past five seasons, there has only been two teams that have made it to the finals more than once (Chicago 2013/2015 and Los Angeles 2012/2014).

And this year, that tradition will stay the same. Two teams that have not been to the Stanley Cup Finals in this 2010’s era, being the San Jose Sharks and Pittsburgh Penguins, will duke it out to determine a final winner. If their previous rounds are proof of anything, it promises to be an outstanding series.

The Penguins last had a chance at the Cup in 2009 when they knocked off the Detroit Red Wings in the Finals. Being that it was seven years ago, the lineups for each Pittsburgh team are sizably different.

Meanwhile, the San Jose Sharks have never made punched their ticket to the Stanley Cup Finals, so this will be a first for them.

Two teams that have worked harder than anyone else all season now have a chance to etch their names in the world’s most historic trophy. Not to mention that a former Dallas Stars player will get to lift it one way or another.

On November 21, 2014, the Dallas Stars made a surprising trade out of nowhere, acquiring right-handed defenseman Jason Demers from the San Jose Sharks in exchange for left-handed defenseman Brenden Dillon.

The deal was simply made to help balance out each blue line in their handedness. The Stars were overstocked with left-handers, while the Sharks had a majority of righties.

Dillon moved on to San Jose and finished the 2014-2015 season on a rocky path. He scored two goals and notched nine points in 60 games with the Sharks, including an egregious -11 on-ice rating in 19:13 average ice time.

This season, however, Dillon seems to have returned to form. In 76 games, he had two goals and 11 points, along with 154 hits and a +8 on-ice rating in 16:41 average ice time.

His physicality was what initially stuck out to the Dallas Stars when they signed him as an undrafted free agent. Dillon would play two seasons with the Stars and be traded midway through his third term. Now at the excitingly young age of 25, he has a chance to do what every hockey player dreams of.

Meanwhile on the Eastern Conference side of things, the Pittsburgh Penguins have used the services of Trevor Daley for the majority of the season, and have benefitted greatly from his play.

After being traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in July of 2015 for Patrick Sharp and Stephen Johns, Daley found a new home for the first time in his career.

And that home did not last long. On December 14, the Hawks shipped him to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Rob Scuderi. In a mere 53 games in a Pens uniform, Daley scored six goals and tallied 22 points along with a +8 on-ice rating in 20:27 average ice time.

Throughout their playoff run, Daley once again proved to be an effective force during the postseason. In 15 games, he had one goal and five assists as well as a +1.

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But Daley’ aid session would be cut short during game four of the Eastern Conference Finals. While in the corner retrieving the puck, Daley was hit from behind and fell awkwardly on his left foot. He would be helped off the ice and diagnosed with a broken ankle, thus ending his season.

It’s difficult to watch a guy like Daley, who fought so hard for 11 seasons with the Dallas Stars after being drafted in the 2002 entry draft by them, fall like that. His leadership and character are one of a kind, and he never neglects to give it all he’s got when out on the ice.

But it’s okay, because even the injured players get to hoist the Cup. Daley was seen on crutches but with a smile on his face on Thursday night after the Penguins fended off the Tampa Bay Lightning in game seven.

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So two former Dallas Stars now have a chance to win the Stanley Cup for the first time in their careers. When will we stop talking about former Stars’ chances and start talking about the current Stars’ chances? Next year, right?