In case you hadn’t heard, this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Stars franchise arriving in Dallas and the team has a number of celebrations and commemorations planned. Perhaps the biggest of all is the unveiling of the official 20th Anniversary Team, picked by fan vote on the team’s website over the past month.
All of the players on the team will be honored in some way throughout the remainder of the season, including special appearances and promotions at home games. Marty Turco was honored on Thursday night, while Brenden Morrow will be honored tonight against San Jose.
Jere Lehtinen will be honored on Thursday, Feb. 28 against Edmonton, while Jamie Langenbrunner will be honored on Sunday, March 3 against St. Louis.
Here is the full team, as announced by the Stars on Friday:
Forwards
Stu Barnes: 2002-2008
Jamie Benn: 2009-present
Guy Carbonneau: 1995-2000
Loui Eriksson: 2006-present
Bill Guerin: 2002-2006
Brett Hull: 1998-2001
Jere Lehtinen: 1995-2010
Jamie Langenbrunner: 1994-2002; 2010-2011
Mike Modano: 1988-2010
Brenden Morrow: 1999-present
Joe Nieuwendyk: 1995-2002
Steve Ott: 2002-2012
Defensemen
Derian Hatcher: 1991-2003
Craig Ludwig: 1991-1999
Richard Matvichuk:1992-2004
Stephane Robidas: 2002-2004; 2005-present
Darryl Sydor: 1995-2003; 2006-2007; 2008-2009
Sergei Zubov: 1996-2009
Goaltenders
Ed Belfour: 1997-2002
Marty Turco: 2000-2010
It’s tough to really argue with any of these selections, although it’s clear that this team was certainly selected by a fan vote (what, no Shane Churla??). Most of the players on the Anniversary Team made up a big part of that 1999 Cup-winning team, although there is certainly a good mix between the past and the present.
Kari Lehtonen will be on this list, somehow, some day.
If you remember, DBD released our Top 20 Dallas Stars Players last summer and fall. You can find our full retrospective on the top games and players for the Stars over the past 20 years by going to our Dallas Stars Retrospective page.
The team has also put together highlight videos for every player selected to the Anniversary Team,which you can check out here.