#10A – DEFENSEMAN, DERIAN HATCHER
If you were to pack six feet, five inches, and 235 pounds of absolute terror in a Stars defenseman and Stanley Cup champion captain, you find yourself with Derian Hatcher.
Drafted by the Minnesota North Stars in 1990 with the 8th overall pick, Hatcher joined the efforts in Bloomington, MN with 100 games played for the North Stars, tallying 12 goals and 19 assists.
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Hatcher, the older brother of former Stars rearguard Kevin Hatcher, accompanied the move to Dallas with the North Stars in 1993, eventually becoming the Dallas franchise’s captain after trades of Mark Tinordi and Neal Broten.
Now a member of the USA Hockey Hall of Fame, Hatcher epitomized the image of the Dallas Stars to the rest of the League in the mid-to-late 1990s: strength, precision, silent brutality, and never giving an inch. As a Star during the Cup run and surrounding years, Hatcher alongside Richard Matvichuk form quite possibly the most effective lock-down defense pairing in pro hockey with those attributes in mind.
Hatcher was never the most talkative captain, but he’s a man who led by example, and by that I mean this: 59 goals, 204 assists, 727 games played with the Dallas Stars, coupled with his playoff stats: 107 as a Star, six goals, 19 assists and pure leadership however you may cut it.
The native of Sterling Heights, Michigan is sixth all-time in games played as a Dallas Star (717), third in plus/minus (+108), and third in penalty minutes (1,114). Hatcher is now the head coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Sarnia Sting.