It’s never easy to see two teams fight it out for the Stanley Cup when one of them isn’t your favorite. While the pain of the 2017-18 season may be subsiding as the excitement grows for next year, Dallas Stars fans should be rooting for Vegas to win.
When looking around the NHL, it’s easy to spot former Dallas Stars players. In all honesty, you’d be hard pressed to find more than a handful of teams without someone who called Big D home at one point or another.
That doesn’t make the Stars’ most recent season any easier; however, it does make cheering for the Vegas Golden Knights logical.
Cody Eakin
Although both the Washington Capitals (Matt Niskanen, Alex Chiasson) and Golden Knights (Cody Eakin, Reilly Smith, James Neal, Maxime Legace) have former Stars franchise players, Eakin was arguably the most influential during his time in Dallas.
Flame for Thought
Nothing against the contributions of Niskanen and Chiasson, but Eakin in particular was a staple in the locker room and on the ice for the Dallas Stars. He only parted ways with the team because of the expansion draft last season, even though they probably should have protected him instead of Antoine Roussel or Brett Ritchie from the start (but that’s another story for another time).
Eakin was a complete player. His contributions in all three zones stood out on a nightly basis. And while he wasn’t always on the scoresheet every night, No. 20 was able to skate well and play in all situations. Take that in for a second. Every. Single. Situation.
Face-offs? Check. Power play? Suit him up. Penalty Kill? Done. Full strength? He’s ready. The Stars exposed him in the draft due to their overstocking of NHL-ready centers on offense, but it doesn’t diminish the skill he possesses. Eakin should have never left this club as early as he did, but now that he’s playing for Vegas, it only makes sense that Stars fans cheer him on in his pursuit of the Stanley Cup.
Back to the West
Another less Stars-focused reason for fans to cheer for Vegas is to bring the Cup back to the Western Conference. It’s difficult to argue that the West is the toughest, best conference if the most recent winning club wasn’t even in contention to make the postseason this year.
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Lord Stanley needs to return to the West, and the only way to do that is in the arms of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Bragging rights aside, it’s always fun to play the defending champions. Wouldn’t it be nice if they were around a little more often so an authentic rivalry could grow? That would, in turn, negate Stars fans cheering for Eakin. That would be completely okay though.
Fairytale Ending?
The Golden Knights have such a great story for the league. It’s like the Miracle on Ice but in the NHL. Who doesn’t love a good underdog, rags to riches story? No one.
This club has worked tirelessly and no doubt benefited from a lot of lucky breaks — they’re literally a team made up of essentially unwanted players throughout the league and they have a shot at winning it all.
Next: Todd Nelson as Assistant Coach?
It’s going to be a crazy final (per usual), and it will be interesting to see who comes out on top. Although anything can happen, our fingers are crossed for Eakin’s name to be etched into the Cup’s side soon.