Texas’ complete handcuffing by winter’s rare invasion into the state is a scary situation, and thousands not having power or heat in sub-freezing temperatures is a real problem. You know that. I know that. But apparently the Dallas Stars don’t seem to know it, and required the mayor of Dallas’ office to illustrate the point to them.
You remember the Stars from such episodes as trying to stand up for America and defend/fuck the flag when no one asked last week. This time around, right up until an hour or two until their scheduled game with the Nashville Predators, they were planning on playing in the American Airlines Center with all frozen hell breaking loose around them in the Metroplex. Residents with power were asked to conserve what they could for fear of overwhelming the grid.
Meanwhile, here were the Stars trying to fire up a whole arena for a game of hockey. This tweet from Stars beat writer for The Athletic Saad Yousuf was less than two hours before puck-drop was supposed to be:
Then this statement was released by the NHL less than an hour from game time:
G/O Media may get a commission
Apparently, the mayor of Dallas had to request that the Stars do the sensible thing and not use the power that it takes to keep an arena running for this game. The AAC is on the same grid as area hospitals, so you’d think it would be common sense with electricity scarce that you might not want to risk that. But that’s not the realm the Stars live in. After all, there’s an anthem to be played! That’ll show the snow!
Though you have to admit, there is something truly symbolic about the Stars running in to defend the honor of an inert flag and tradition that really serves no one, but have to be dragged and prodded over the line when it comes to actually helping people out in their time of need. Maybe the Stars are as American as they’ve told us.
Meanwhile, in places where teams could get on the ice without endangering their community, the Maple Leafs endangered the mental well-being of their always staid and reasonable fanbase by blowing a four-goal, 5-1 lead to the Senators and losing in OT, 6-5. The Leafs had won 8 of 10 before this to rocket up to first in the NHL’s RoughRider division. But their outing before this one saw them blow a third-period lead to the Canadiens, and now this loss will certainly have the boys on TSN wondering if they have to light Freddie Andersen on fire to appease the hockey gods or something.