Behind the Banner - July 2022

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the future looks bright The Dallas Stars Keep their Eyes on the Stanley Cup

By Lainey Mandaville

With three months on the clock until the home opener, the Dallas Stars have made their prospective picks. Following the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal, Canada, the Stars have added six new names to the roster. Talent in these six picks ranges from four new defensemen, a goaltender, and a right-wing. The first-round pick, defenseman Lian Bichsel, comes to Dallas with experience from the Swedish Hockey League. Christian Kyrou, George Fegaras, and Gavin White, the first, second, and third-round picks for the Stars, have all been ranked within the top five defensemen between the Ontario Hockey League

or Ontario Junior Hockey League. Round five pick, goaltender Maxim Mayorov from the Supreme Hockey League in Russia, carries a 14-10-2 record.

Finally, Matthew Seminoff comes from the Western Hockey League in Canada as a right-wing with a 26goal career-high record.

Contracts continue to be signed this offseason as the NHL free agency time period is in full swing.

Following day one of free agency, the Dallas Stars signed defenseman Colin Miller from the Buffalo Sabres and forward Mason Marchment from the

contracts. Robertson pushed franchise history as a trio with Joe Pavelski and Roope Hintz with a combined 232 points, falling only short as the second most in Stars’ history. Oettinger finished the season with a 30-15-1 record, with a notable 64 saves in the final Game 7 against the Flames.

Carolina Hurricanes. On day two of free agency, the team filled another position after signing forward Riley Barber from the Detroit Red Wings. Contract extensions and agreements will continue, depending on the amount of salary cap left for their athletes.

Trades may also be on the table to increase the salary cap allowance to add more players to the roster.

Jake Oettinger and Jason Robertson currently sit on the hot seat, awaiting to be signed extension

Six new players from the NHL Draft are not the only news making the headlines. New to Dallas, Peter DeBoer has been named the new head coach for the Dallas Stars. DeBoer will be leading the team after the recent decision of former head coach Rick Bowness to step down. Dallas will be DeBoer’s fifth location as a head coach, following time spent with the Florida Panthers, New Jersey Devils, San Jose Sharks, and most recently, the Las Vegas Golden Knights. DeBoer has the experience of leading a team to the Stanley Cup Final, seen with the Devils in 2012 and the Sharks in 2016.

The Stars finished the 2021-2022 season with 98 points. After falling short to the Calgary Flames in

overtime in Game 7 of round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs this past season, the Stars remain persistent in bringing home a second Stanley Cup to Dallas. The team proudly claims the name of the Stanley Cup Champions of 1999. Future goals include building a championship-worthy team with continued development, new leadership, and additional player talent.

In complete preparation for skates to hit the ice in October, the Stars begin their regular season on the road against the Nashville Predators on Thursday, October 13th. The American Airlines Center hosts

the home opener in front of the eagerly waiting Stars fans on Saturday, October 15th. This season, the Dallas Stars will play 82 total games, with 26 against their competitors within the NHL’s Central Division of the Western Conference. Of the 82 games, the Stars will play 41 at home, and 41 on the road.

Check out the Stars’

22/23 schedule

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Dallas set to host the 45th Annual Gay Softball World Series Later this Month

By Will Schweizer

Later this month, an estimated 5,000 competitors, fans, and softball enthusiasts alike will descend on Dallas for the 45 th annual GSWS (Gay Softball World Series) organized jointly by NAGAAA (North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance) and Dallas GSWS, the all-volunteer host committee. The sixday event will run from Monday, August 29 th to Saturday, September 3 rd , and is expected to draw over 250 teams from NAGAAA’s 48 member cities across the United States and Canada.

Since its founding in 1977, NAGAAA has ballooned to 17,000 members while providing a safe space for LGBTQ+ athletes to compete. Per the NAGAAA website their purpose is, “To be a nonprofit organization dedicated to the promotion of amateur sports competition, particularly softball, for all persons regardless of age, sexual orientation or preference – with special emphasis on the participation of members of the Gay Community – and to otherwise foster national and international sports competition by planning, promoting and

carrying out amateur sports competition.” This purpose is reinforced by NAGAAA each year across North America as a different city hosts the GSWS each year. While Dallas has the honor of helping to reinforce that purpose this year, Columbus had the honor in 2021, the Twin Cities host in 2023, and Las Vegas in 2024!

Dallas is no stranger to hosting sporting events of all shapes and sizes. Having hosted Super Bowl XLV in 2011, multiple NCAA Championships in multiple sports, World Cup games, and countless amateur sports tournaments over the years, some consider Dallas to be the top sports destination in United States. Additionally, the city is familiar with hosting the GSWS. Dallas has previously hosted the event three different times in 1988, 2004, and 2014. This year’s event was originally supposed to be held in Dallas in 2021, but it was delayed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

All GSWS games will be held on fields among four different sports complexes within 15 to 40 minutes of Downtown Dallas. The complexes include The Parks at Texas Star in Euless, Kiest Park in South Dallas, Waxahachie Sports Complex in Waxahachie, and McInnish Park in Carrollton. These fields will provide the teams competing with the natural grass and dirt fields they are use to while incorporating some new turf fields into the mix. Over the years the structure of the GSWS has adapted to provide more opportunities for athletes at different competitive and skill levels. When the event was first held in 1977, there was only one team crowned the champion each year which came out of the Open division. In 1988, when the event was hosted in Dallas for the first time, that changed and NAGAAA added the Rec Division on top of the previously existing Open Division. Four years later, at the 1992 Los Angeles GSWS, NAGAAA changed the Rec and Open Divisions to the A, B, and C Divisions representing increasing competitiveness from the C Division to the A Division. NAGAAA would go on to add the D Division at the 2003 Washington D.C. GSWS, a

Masters Division for players 50 years or older at the 2011 Chicago GSWS (this later changed to Masters L and Masters C in Portland in 2017 then Masters C and Masters D in Kansas City in 2019), and the E Division at the 2019 Kansas City GSWS. This year in Dallas, NAGAAA will crown seven different champions among the A, B, C, D, E, Masters C, and Masters D divisions. The Phoenix Toros (A Division), Columbus Griz 2.0 (B Division), New Orleans Skittles (C Division), Columbus Capitals (D Division), Columbus Ban’d (E Division), Palm Springs Greyhounds(Masters C Division), and Orlando SWAG SPORTSWEAR(Masters D Division) will all be looking to return to glory as champions from their performances at the 2021 Columbus GSWS! Click Here for a list of past GSWS champions dating back to 1977.

This year’s GSWS will feature Jim Beam and Hornitos as the Presenting Partners while two DFW area professional teams, the Dallas Mavericks and Texas Rangers, will serve as the Silver Corporate Sponsor and the Platinum Corporate Sponsor respectively. Additionally, Dallas GSWS, a 501(c) (3) organization, hopes to pay out approximately $100,000 in profits from beer and alcohol sales during the GSWS, to several local LGBTQ+ organizations who have been selected as beneficiaries of the 2022 GSWS. These non-profit beneficiaries include the Coalition for Aging LBGT, Trans Kids and Families of Texas, the Resource Center, Legacy Cares, and Prism Health North Texas and the Wings Benevolence Fund.

For more information on the 2022 GSWS Click Here.

If you would like to volunteer to help with the 2022 GSWS Click Here.

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THE COMMISSION PLANNING BEGINS FOR the 2023 NCAA WOMEN’S FINAL FOUR The 2023 Women’s Final Four games will take place March 31 and April 2, with the Division II and III national championship games played April 1. All games will be at American Airlines Center in Dallas

2022 NAGAAA Gay Softball World Series Each year, NAGAAA partners with a Host Series (GSWS) - the largest annual, LGBTQ+ single-sport, week-long athletic competition in the world. Teams from the 48 Member Cities across North America compete to qualify and represent their city in one of seven Divisions.

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