Dallas Stars: Seth Jones And Other Texans In The NHL

There’s eleven US States that have never had any players in the NHL. Texas has had only nine. Of the nine, only six Texans have made an impact on their teams. Unfortunately, none of those teams have been the Dallas Stars.

It will never surprise anyone that Arkansas, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wyoming, and West Virginia have never produced a NHL player. It’s actually more shocking that states like Mississippi and Alabama have.

Luckily, Texas has produced these 6 notable players

Current Texas Born Players

Blake Coleman – C, Plano. Coleman, 25, is the newest Texan in the NHL who debuted in 2017. He played 23 games with the New Jersey Devils alongside fellow Texan, Stefan Noesen. He drafted in third round, 75th overall, in 2011 by the New Jersey Devils.

Stefan Noesen -RW, Plano. Noesen, 24, has been in the NHL since 2015. Well, he played 2 game in 2015 in 2 seasons but this past season he’s played 44. Hey, slow progress is still progress. Noesen was drafted 21st overall in 2011 by the Ottawa Senators. He started out 2016-2017 season playing for the Anaheim Ducks but ended with the New Jersey Devils.

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Tyler Meyers– D, Houston. “Big Tex”, 27, has been in the NHL since 2010. Meyers was drafted 12th overall in 2008 by the Buffalo Sabres. Plays internationally for Canada instead of the US (boo) because he has duel citizenship and he’s lived in Canada growing up starting when he was 10. He’s quoted saying that he’d “be playing a different sport had I stayed in Texas.”

Seth Jones– D, Arlington. Jones, 22, has been in the NHL since 2014. Seth Jones, son of former Dallas Maverick Ronald “Popeye” Jones, was the drafted 4th overall pick in the 2013 by the Nashville Predators. Jones grew up in Denver, CO when his father played for the Denver Nuggets. There he fell in love with hockey. Eventually he moved back to Texas when he was 12 and actually played for the Dallas Stars Bantam Major team which is an amateur team for players under the age of 15. He was a NHL All-Star for the first time in 2017. Currently, Jones plays for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Former Notable Texas Player

Mike Christie- D, Big Spring. Christie, the first Texans players in the NHL, played from 1975-1981. He was also raised in Canada most of his life. Christie played a total of 412 NHL games for 4 teams, 3 of which don’t exist anymore. He’s the only Texan to get a pass for not playing for the Dallas Stars since it didn’t exist when he was in the league.

Brian Leetch– D, Corpus Christi. Leetch, by far the most famous Texan player, played from 1988-2006. He’s one of the best defenseman to play the game. Sounds like the Stars could really use him in his prime right about now. Bad Timing. His jersey number, 2, is actually retired by the New York Rangers. He has way to many awards to list here but, most notable, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009. Brief stats: 18 seasons, 1205 games, 1028 points. Unfortunately, he left Texas when he was 3 months old… still counts, he’s Texan.

When It Happens

When the Dallas Stars get their first Texan, I think he’ll instantly become a fan favorite. Seth Jones should totally pull a Lebron James and come home to help the Stars win a championship. Is it likely? No, especially since he signed a 6 year extension last offseason with the Columbus Blue Jackets but it should be noted that he’s the only Texas born player with a connection with the Dallas Stars.

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Right now, it looks like the Stars are going to have to wait awhile for their Texan player on their roster. The Stars got so close when they drafted Dallas’ own Austin Smith in 2007. He even played for the AHL’s Texas Stars from 2011-2014 but never for the Dallas Stars.

One day it’ll happen. Not today though.