Defenseman Ryan Suter has played in 1,444 regular-season games, most among active players who have not won the Cup, and 133 playoff games. He is 39 years old and has one season left on his contract. Before the series, he sat next to Pavelski at a press conference and was asked about the Cup quest.
“I can’t speak for Joe, but for me, it’s the only reason I play,” said Suter, who has four children, ages 6 to 13. “My kids are at an age now where I want to spend more time with them and be a part of what they do, whether it’s hockey or other sports, school or whatever. But for me, that’s why I play.
“You hear so many good stories…”
His voice trailed off.
“And that’s not going to define your career,” he continued. “If you don’t (win the Cup), obviously, (it would suck), but I don’t think that defines you as a player. But that’s why I’m playing.”
Captain Jamie Benn has played 1,112 regular-season games and 102 playoff games, all with the Stars, without winning the Cup. He will turn 35 on July 18 and has one season left on his contract.
Forward Matt Duchene, 33, has played 1,056 regular-season games and 51 playoff games without winning the Cup. He signed a one-year contract with the Stars on July 1, mainly because he thought they gave him the best opportunity to gain.
“You want to win, but you really want to win for those older guys,” said Stars center Wyatt Johnston, a 21-year-old who lived in Pavelski’s house the past two seasons. “Yes, (it sucks). “You really want to win and you want those older guys to get their Cup.”
The Stars believed they could do it. They went 52-21-9 in the regular season, won the Western Conference and finished one point behind the New York Rangers for the Presidents’ Trophy. They defeated the last two Stanley Cup champions: the Vegas Golden Knights (2023) in seven games in the first round and the Colorado Avalanche (2022) in six in the second.
But in the conference finals they missed a couple of opportunities. In Game 1, they failed to capitalize on a double-minor in overtime (forward Jason Robertson hit the right post and then the left post) and lost 3-2 in double overtime. They took a 2-0 lead in the first period of Game 4 and had a chance to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series, but were outscored 10-2 the rest of the game.
Special teams were a big factor. The Stars went 0 for 14 on the power play. The Oilers were 4 for 11, including 2 for 3 in Game 5 and 2 for 2 in Game 6.
After the Oilers took a 2-0 lead in the first period of Game 6, they sat back and the Stars ran the play. Forward Mason Marchment cut the score to 2-1 at 9:18 of the third period. But despite a desperate effort until the final horn, despite outshooting the Oilers 35-10, the Stars couldn’t get the tying goal.
Gutted. As the teams lined up to shake hands, the Stars had to listen to the Edmonton fans cheer and chant, “We want the Cup!”
“Hockey is hard, you know?” forward Tyler Seguin said. “It takes a lot of things to do well. You need to have that opportunity. We had that opportunity. We went through a challenge, we beat some really good teams and we knew we had something special and we lost to a team we thought we could beat, and sometimes that’s what the playoffs are. Sometimes it’s that rebound, that goal, that save.
“That’s why we all love it. “That’s why this is the hardest trophy in the world to win.”
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