Some Thoughts on Vegas as the Stars' Opponent in the Stadium Series

There's a "there" there, for sure

One of my last photos from 2019

In case you haven’t seen it yet, the NHL announced today that the Stars’ opponent for their Stadium Series game in Arlington on February 20, 2027 will be the Vegas Golden Knights.

(Officially, it’s the 2027 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series™, but I am under no obligation to enhance Navy Federal Credit Union’s media presence, though I suppose I’ve done so by mentioning them twice already. I hereby command you all to forget about them.)

As for the hockey thing itself, my initial reaction when I first heard Vegas being whispered as the likely opponent was simple: It makes a lot of sense.

Colorado was already out as a possibility after already being announced as Utah’s opponent for next year’s Winter Classic. And while Minnesota is another divisional rival that would make for a raucous game, they’re the ones who pushed back against the NHL’s preference for Dallas as the Wild’s own Stadium Series opponent a decade ago, as Mike Russo and Bob McKenzie reported back in 2015. No favors need to be returned here.

As for the other four teams in the Central, no others are really in a competitive spot right now, as the standings have reflected all year. St. Louis just got their own Winter Classic two years ago, and Chicago is the last team anyone wants to see in another outdoor game at this point. Nashville? We did that already.

Edmonton would be a fun matchup after the last two playoff meetings between the teams, but Canadian opponents don’t tend to appeal to the NHL’s TV partners in the States, which also nixes Winnipeg. So really, if you’re Dallas, what other opponent with history and a decent roster is left in the Western Conference—I don’t imagine there was a ton of desire to make this a cross-conference game—besides Vegas?

So, yeah. Vegas makes sense. The teams’ have met in three playoff series over six years, in which the Stars have won 10 of the teams’ 18¹ playoff contests. The last two meetings were the more entertaining ones, with the seven-game first-round victory for Dallas in 2024 being one of the best examples of dramatic playoff hockey you’re likely to see. And my sense from Pete DeBoer and Steve Spott last year was that getting past Vegas was one of the pinnacles of their time in Texas, and possibly the pinnacle. That series really did have everything.

So on a competitive and historical level, Vegas is a fun opponent that should make for a hard-fought game. (More on that below.)