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Dallas Stars Daily Links: The Stars And St. Philip’s School Celebrate NHL Legacy Project

Posted on by Kathleen Tibbetts

The Dallas Stars have a special relationship with St. Philip’s School. The small private school in the inner-city area near Fair Park serves about 240 students in Pre-K2 through 6th grade, and many more through its Community Center.

St. Philip’s has played a vital role in the steady revitalization of South Dallas. And now the Stars will support their efforts through the NHL Legacy Project. As part of a long-term commitment that came with their Winter Classic hosting privileges, the team has dedicated $2 million over the next five years to build a multi-sport athletic complex and to help fund after-school and summer programs for area kids.

The team celebrated with the kids of St. Philip’s at a pre-Winter Classic gathering with Stars players and administrators. As president of the Dallas Stars Foundation, Marty Turco played a key role in identifying St. Philip’s as the perfect partner. And he would love to see the collaboration continue well beyond the Legacy Project’s five-year plan, Stars senior staff writer Mike Heika reports:

…[He] thinks the team could eventually expand its impact in South Dallas. The combination is an odd one when hockey is introduced to youngsters who might not be familiar with the game, but the correlation is more about the bigger picture of what sports can offer.

”We do know hockey and we do want to share that with them, but I think it really can be any sport,” Turco said. “I think if you look at hockey, you have to have teamwork and you have to have hard work, and I think those are good lessons for life. So that’s how I look at this.”

The school headmaster, Dr. Terry Flowers, has been with St. Philip’s since 1983. He’s seen plenty of positive changes in the neighborhood since then, and he thinks the Stars’ ongoing presence could drive even more of them:

“At St. Philip’s, we say a child can’t be what a child can’t see, and so getting kids exposure to the sport and the athletes has been great,” he said with Stars players Jamie Oleksiak, Anton Khudobin, Denis Gurianov and Jason Dickinson on board for activities Monday.

”The Stars have players from all over the world, and that’s a great thing for us. Just that interaction helps a child see things differently in life….

“This is unbelievable to reflect back on what this neighborhood used to look like and the challenges we have faced. What it can be going forward is even more impressive,” he said. “At one point, this community had kind of given up, but now there is a sense of hope and pride and a feeling of promise.”

There’s more at Mike’s place – including more photos like this, from yesterday’s groundbreaking for one of St. Philip’s new facilities. [Dallas Stars]

Stars Stuff

Here’s how the NHL discovered what Dallasites have known for a long time: that anything is possible in Texas.

“Stars Live” host Brien Rea shares a few thoughts on a rollercoaster year for the Victory Green gang.

Remember the 2014 video that gave birth to the Donut Goal Counter? In honor of the Winter Classic, Dude Perfect is back with another Stars trick-shot fiesta, and once again Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn are their gleeful partners in prestidigitation.

Sean Shapiro devotes a big chunk of today’s mailbag to even more quality Winter Classic content.

Watch out for those swingin’ doors…!

Around The League(s)

It was oh so quiet in the Dirty Central last night, so let’s get to the other headlines:

The league announced the rosters for All-Star Weekend yesterday, and this is how NBC Sports previewed it.

The NHL Insiders have a more comprehensive list of snubs here. [ESPN]

Meanwhile, the World Juniors continue, showing there really is hockey happening somewhere other than at Fair Park on Thursday.

Finally

I believe you know the drill. Happy New Year’s Eve, and enjoy.

Talking Points