I'm sure there are a lot of Dallas Sports fans still fuming after losing Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. I've gotten over it, but I understand those Mavericks fans are still stunned by the move in February. It was like out of the blue one night that he was sent to the Lakers. I even remember the protests outside the American Airlines Center. Nico Harrison became public enemy number one in the city of Dallas overnight.
We talked earlier this season about how Mikko Rantanen brought hockey back to life after Jim Nill traded Logan Stankoven to Carolina for him. It was like the excitement around the hockey team skyrocketed overnight. I remember seeing people on social media explain the trade to non-hockey fans, and even some other Dallas sports fans became intrigued by Nill's move. The American Airlines Center was dealing with sold-out hockey games after the trade.
With the Dallas Mavericks bowing out of the Play-In Tournament to the Memphis Grizzlies, there was only one playoff team remaining in Dallas. While the Texas Rangers were still being discussed, most of the attention was on the first-round match-up between the Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche and the Stars are long-time rivals dating back to the 90sdiscussed when Miko Modano and Joe Sakic were playing. However, with Rantanen going up against his former team in the playoffs, people were focused on the series.
The first round matchup between the Stars and the Avalanche lived up to the hype as the Stars won the series in seven games. Things got scary in the 3rd period of game 7 when Nathan MacKinnon scored that early third-period goal to give the Avalanche a 2-0 lead. It felt like the spirit was sucked out of the DFW Metroplex after that goal. However, fans across the metroplex were not expecting what would happen.
Rantanen would take over the game and help the Stars storm back and beat the Avalanche 4-2. Suddenly, the ice hockey "Luka Doncic" brought the city back to life. Everybody was celebrating winning that game on home ice. I'm sure if I looked up NHL jersey sales today, Mikko Rantanen would be in the top ten after his historic performance to keep the Stars' season alive. While Doncic's trade caused the Mavericks fanbase to decrease, Rantanen winning the game significantly raised the Stars' fanbase. It seems like Doncic was traded so Rantanen could be the new face of the American Airlines Center.