![\"Thomas](\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/athletic\/uploads\/wp\/2026\/04\/21122459\/IMG_3295-scaled.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\n Thomas Oettinger\u2019s birthday Wiffle ball game was an Oettinger family priority Saturday. (Courtesy of the Oettinger family)<\/p>\n
Similarly, you\u2019d think Kelly Oettinger, Jake\u2019s stepmom, would have been stressed over the hockey game she and her family planned to watch later that day. But she had to leave for Rochester to take Jake\u2019s 14-year-old sister, Kendall, to a dance competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlayoff hockey or no playoff hockey, all of the stuff that we would normally do still takes place,\u201d Chris told The Athletic as he, believe it or not, let an incoming call from Jake go to voicemail. \u201cWe do a little pregame hype session here, so that\u2019s what he\u2019s calling about. But I\u2019ll call him back. We\u2019ve got regular life stuff going on, too, and then, oh, by the way, a huge series with our hometown team with Jake as the rival\u2019s goalie.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I hate to say we\u2019ve gotten used to it to some extent, but this is just kind of the norm for us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chris ultimately called Jake back and conducted the hype session. But it didn\u2019t work. The Oettingers\u2019 hometown Wild sliced and diced the Stars during a 6-1 victory that night.<\/p>\n
The hype session heading into Game 2 must have had the desired effect, though. Jake was the best player on the ice<\/a> in a 4-2 win Monday night, stopping 28 shots, including robberies on Danila Yurov, Quinn Hughes and what felt like a half-dozen on Matt Boldy.<\/p>\n What do these hype sessions consist of?<\/p>\n \u201cI mean, there\u2019s a little bit of like, \u2018Let\u2019s f\u2014ing go!\u2019\u201d Chris said. \u201cHe\u2019s super excited to play. He loves this time of year. This is the best time. This is the best hockey. For hockey fans, this is as good as it gets. And for Jake, as he\u2019s gotten a little older and been so close, he really appreciates the opportunity to be able to play in these kinds of games. I mean, there are many of his friends that play hockey, like (the Anaheim Ducks\u2019) Ryan Poehling, this is his first year in the playoffs. And so Jake never takes it for granted.<\/p>\n \u201cIt sounds funny to say it, but in this particular area, he\u2019s kind of a vet. This is his sixth year. Going back to the bubble year when they played up at Edmonton and the Stanley Cup deal, he\u2019s been doing this. And I think we get excited for the playoff beards. We get excited for the schedule when the schedule comes out. And we\u2019ve already talked about when he\u2019s in Minnesota \u2014 \u2018When can we see you and hang out?\u2019 And so we\u2019re really excited, and I know he\u2019s incredibly excited. So the hype session is more about that.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd it always ends with a, \u2018Good luck. I love you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Jake, 27, is the middle of five. His oldest sister, Tori, is 31. His oldest brother, Jackson, is 28.<\/p>\n Then, there are the much younger Kendall and Thomas. They\u2019re the ones who take the brunt of being Minnesotans in school with a big brother playing for the Wild\u2019s bitter rival from the south \u2014 the once beloved yet relocated North Stars.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they love it,\u201d Jake said, laughing. \u201cPeople at school and stuff will tell them that I suck and stuff. Obviously, I think beating the Wild in the playoffs a couple years ago was probably, like, one of the highlights of my career. Being in your hometown, I mean, a lot of people that normally are rooting for me, are not rooting for me, so it\u2019s kind of a fun little thing.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd, yeah, my brother and sister get chirped a little bit at school, but it\u2019s all fun, and they think it\u2019s cool.\u201d<\/p>\n Thomas is Jake\u2019s little buddy. He was the best man at Jake and wife Kennedi\u2019s wedding. Jake and Thomas walked the red carpet together at the 2024 All-Star Game in Toronto. Two years ago, Thomas skated with the Stars at a morning skate at the then-named Xcel Energy Center and was captured on camera scoring a beautiful goal against Jake\u2019s backup, Casey DeSmith, then emulating his big bro with a gorgeous celly.<\/p>\n Jake and Thomas Oettinger with matching cellys may be the best thing you watch today \ud83e\udda6@PNCBank<\/a> | #TexasHockey<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/8SsUdJJb34<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 x \u2013 Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) November 16, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n Later that night, Jake made 22 saves in a 2-1 win over the Wild.<\/p>\n Two years earlier, Jake had his Stars teammates out to Phalen Park for some outdoor shinny on a wintry day, and Thomas, too, got to play.<\/p>\n Thomas, who loves baseball, too, will be a second-year peewee this fall. But he\u2019s not a goalie.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, God, no,\u201d Chris said. \u201cEven if he was, Jake would\u2019ve ended that real quick.\u201d<\/p>\n Jake became a goalie at 9 or 10 years old. He was playing in a tournament in River Falls, Wis., as a squirt. A team with older players needed a goalie, and Jake said he\u2019d play.<\/p>\n And then won the tournament.<\/p>\n \u201cJake made some funny saves because they\u2019re just little kids at that time,\u201d Chris recalled. \u201cBut from that point on, it was kind of like, \u2018That\u2019s what I want to do.\u2019 And then there was no turning back after that. No second-guessing.\u201d<\/p>\n Jake was playing hockey in Farmington at that time, and every team had only one goalie. So there were seasons when he played 40 or 50 games, plus summer hockey. He got tons of reps, ultimately playing at Lakeville North High School, the U.S. National Team Development Program in Michigan and Boston University.<\/p>\n The Stars drafted him in the first round in 2017. He\u2019s in his sixth season and has led Dallas to three consecutive trips to the Western Conference final.<\/p>\n His goal is to win a Stanley Cup, and standing in his way for the second time in the first round is his home-state Wild.<\/p>\n \u201c(In Dallas), it feels like another game,\u201d Jake said. \u201cBut when I go back home, it feels bigger than that, obviously. Whenever I get to go home, like, if I could pick two (regular-season) games a year to win, it would be those two in Minnesota.\u201d<\/p>\n The Wild killer has a good track record. Besides eliminating the Wild in 2023 in Minnesota with a 4-2 record, 2.01 goals-against average and .929 save percentage, Jake is 4-1-3 all-time in Minnesota in the regular season with a 2.07 GAA and a .929 save percentage. Overall in the regular season against Minnesota, he\u2019s 9-1-4 with a 2.35 GAA and .920 save percentage.<\/p>\n Talk about awkward for the family.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re in the State of Hockey,\u201d Chris said. \u201cAnd if everybody tells you that they love the Dallas Stars or whatever, they love Minnesota hockey more. So there\u2019s a lot of ribbing and a little bit of crap that we all take for Jake being with the Stars. But generally what we get is, \u2018We love Jake, but we love the Minnesota Wild more.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n When Thomas is playing hockey, it doesn\u2019t take long for other kids to realize he\u2019s Jake\u2019s brother. That OETTINGER nameplate sticks out. And when Jake plays in Minnesota, \u201cIt just feels like it\u2019s amped up another notch versus other games,\u201d Kelly said. \u201cI\u2019m not conflicted. I always laugh because people used to ask us, \u2018Oh, is that hard to choose between cheering for Jake or cheering for the Wild?\u2019 There\u2019s never been a moment.\u201d<\/p>\n Chris, laughing, added, \u201cI\u2019m not wearing Dallas Stars overalls at Wild games, but we\u2019re definitely representing Jake, the Stars, and the family is, too.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Left: Jake Oettinger poses with his gold medal with his father, Chris, older brother, Jackson, and younger brother, Thomas. Right: Oettinger with Chris and Thomas. (Courtesy of the Oettinger family)<\/p>\n During Dallas\u2019 last visit to Minnesota, Jake had 50 family members and friends in the stands at Grand Casino Arena, which is already a special place to Jake\u2019s dad and stepmom. That\u2019s because they first met at a concession stand next to the Hockey Lodge on New Year\u2019s Eve 2008.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I met Kelly, she had just bought a hot dog and was loading it up with condiments,\u201d Chris said, laughing.<\/p>\n Kelly said her husband of almost 15 years is misremembering the story: \u201cI was with a friend who knew his friend, and he was housing the hot dog!\u201d<\/p>\n The way the Western Conference standings went this season, the Oettingers have known for months that Jake would likely be facing off with the Wild once again in the postseason. That gave them time to get mentally prepared.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is hard,\u201d Chris admitted. \u201cJake, it\u2019s hockey. But for us, we take it probably a little more personally just based on friends, family. I mean, you want him to play well. There\u2019s the local radio and TV aspects, and he gets called out probably a little more because he\u2019s from here. So it just adds that extra layer of stress and tension as parents to what it is. We\u2019re just trying to watch hockey and hope they do well and win.\u201d<\/p>\n Chris and Kelly still remember the 2023 series and how elated they were to watch Jake eliminate the Wild in St. Paul.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen that series was done, it was like, \u2018I don\u2019t really care what happens from here,\u2019\u201d Chris said. \u201cIt was just a sense of relief that now there\u2019s not the Minnesota angle anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n Chris, a former high school basketball player at Rosemount who still plays lunchtime basketball weekly in Lakeville, is in sales. Kelly is in marketing.<\/p>\n He always wanted a basketball player. Jake\u2019s oldest brother, Jackson, is 6-foot-7. Jake is 6-6.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought maybe shooting guard, small forward type thing, but hockey turned out fine for Jake,\u201d Chris joked.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n