We are now passing over five years since everything turned upside down as the Coronavirus started sweeping the planet. The pandemic halting everyday life worldwide while the hockey season entered an unprecedented hiatus, postponing until August 2020. Few Dallas Stars fans predicted what came next. August hockey turned to September as the Stars completed a remarkable run to the Stanley Cup Final. We pass the 5-year mark of their incredible run to reminisce and see where the team is heading now.

The Lockdown

The Stars finished Game #69 of the 2019-2020 NHL season on March 10th, 2020, not knowing that their regular season concluded that night. The Rangers and Stars finished their regular season that night with the future of hockey uncertain as rumors swirled as Covid became serious. March 12th rolled around and life as we knew it came to an end on that morning with the announcement that all major sports ceased operations as the Coronavirus Pandemic swept through the world. That game ended their season with no future hockey in sight. Several months passed before the league decided to end the season with 24 teams having a chance to win the Stanley Cup.

Starting Back Up

Teams arrived at their isolation areas in late July in Edmonton and Toronto for exhibition games to ease their return into hockey before playing. The Stars finished 3rd/4th in the round-robin seeding tournament. Other teams competed in a best-of-5 qualifying round in front of empty arenas. The Calgary Flames ousted the Winnipeg Jets, claiming the 6th seed and a First Round matchup with the Stars.

Going on a Run

The Flames pounced on the Stars early, winning the first two of three games. Joe Pavelski ended the hopes of the Flames taking a 3-1 series lead with a hat-trick goal in the waning seconds of Game 4. The Stars won 3 straight as they ended the Flames’ season on August 20, 2020. 4 goals from Denis Gurianov sealed the victory in Game 6, turning a 3-0 deficit into a 7-3 victory. The Stars almost blew a 3-1 series lead to the Colorado Avalanche until late heroics saved the day. Joel Kiviranta scored the game-tying goal of Game 7 with 3:30 remaining after Vladislav Nemestnikov took the lead 10 seconds earlier. Kiviranta secured the series win and Game 7 hat-trick to send the Stars to the Western Conference Final.

Conference Final & Cup Final

The 2019-2020 Dallas Stars season is one for the ages. The Stars won their first and only Winter Classic to start the decade off with a win. Competing in their first Western Conference Final since 2008 brought a special feeling that this is potentially the year. Stars fans’ hearts pounded heading into overtime of Game 5 against the Vegas Golden Knights. A delay of game penalty loaded up the Stars’ power play when Denis Gurianov teed off on a one-timer from John Klingberg to send the Stars to their first Stanley Cup Final since 2000. A Game 1 victory in the Stanley Cup Final didn’t offer much momentum as the Lightning won three straight afterward. The season ended in a 2-0 Game 6 loss to send the Stars home.

Looking Back

The Stars spent over two months from late July-September in total isolation. This run is what Stars fans needed after many months in lockdown. Not returning to the Stanley Cup Final in five years is proving irksome after the recent defeats in their last three Western Conference Final appearances. Stars fans need another run like five years ago because back-to-back-to-back Western Conference Final losses dampens morale.

Where are they Now?

Some Stars players remain from that incredible run. Some retired while others moved on to different teams. Anton Khudobin recently hung up his skates in retirement. Alexander Radulov won the Gagarin Cup over the summer for the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl in the KHL. Denis Gurianov also left for other NHL teams before joining the KHL with CSKA Moscow. John Klingberg recently returned to the Stanley Cup Final playing for the Edmonton Oilers. This run started the “Corey Perry curse” as he lost five of the last six Stanley Cup Finals. Kiviranta went to Colorado while Mattias Janmark went to Chicago, Vegas, and Edmonton. Janmark scored the only Oilers goal in Game 7 of the 2024 Stanley Cup Final. Most of the guys are still here like Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, and Roope Hintz.

Falling in three straight Western Conference Final appearances has fans yearning for the Stanley Cup Final. The Stars will return but they’ll need another run like in 2020. The memories are still fresh from an incredible 2020 postseason as they look towards the future to secure that elusive Stanley Cup.

Photo Credit: Dallas Stars X

Tags: corey perry dallas stars Denis Gurianov Joe Pavelski Joel Kiviranta john klingberg Mattias Janmark

Categorized:Stars