Stars on the brink

As the Dallas Stars are currently fighting for their playoff lives against the Minnesota Wild, they are fighting another battle back in DFW. The team that has the last major sports championship for the Dallas area in 1999, the team is now playing second and third fiddle to America's Team, the Cowboys, the perennially good Mavericks, and the upstart Rangers. Back in the late 90s and early 2000s, the Stars consistently drew sell out crowds game after game with big NHL stars such as Brett Hull, Mike Modano, and Ed Belfour. For a good five-year period, the Stars gave Dallas winning hockey that spurred the boom in North Texas Hockey starting in the early 2000s. The Stars had everything going for them. Between winning, and a hockey-crazed fan base, the Stars were set to be the in the position the Red Wings occupy now. Then came the end. In the 2001 post season, the Stars, who had gone to at least the Western Conference in every year since 1998, were swept by the St. Louis Blues in the second round of the playoffs. I watched as an 11-year-old fan Stars choke and lose the series to a Blues squad that was little more than average.

In the offseason the Stars chose to not resign Brett Hull, who took his patented slap shot to Detroit to win the Stanley Cup the next year. Since 2001, the Stars have suffered early playoff exits and missing the playoffs despite having talented teams. Aside from a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2008, the Stars have had relatively little playoff success compared to their first eight years in Dallas. The team now has missed the playoffs two straight seasons and on top of it, Tom Hicks, who also owned the Rangers before he sold them last summer, is looking for a new owner. The Stars are in a financially compromising position. The Stars are not in the financial position to be able to advertise, so what are their options? Public relations push.

Besides the cost of labor, PR is relatively free. And the Stars could use it. It is safe to say that most North Texans don't even realize the Stars are playing for a playoff spot right now. The team needs a big push in order to get the fans in seats. The last game I attended, I was shocked at how empty the American Airlines Center was. In fact, I was able to move from seats at the top all the way down to seats that were easily $150 each. It makes me wonder what exactly the PR people are doing for Stars. They need to make a communications plan and get fans at the game. Of course they might have adjust depending on how the team is playing, but some would be much better than the attempt I am seeing right now. The Stars are one of my favorite sports teams, ever since I was young, and I would give anything to see them win again. Maybe I'm the guy for the job.