Most of the time, when children lose their teeth, it is an exciting thing. You marvel at their crooked smile and hear the air whistling through the gap when they speak. They are growing! The missing tooth is a badge of honor. But my children are not granted such graces. When they lose their front teeth, people say things like, “That doesn’t seem normal,” “Grown men shouldn’t lose their teeth,” and “Professional hockey players who are older than you are not your children.” But people say a lot of things.
I still remember the day my son, bottom-six Stars forward Ty Dellandrea, faced the loss of his tooth hard. It was Saturday and the 2022-23 NHL season had just begun. After playing only two games last season (one regular season and one playoff), it seemed like Delly had survived the preseason and was here to stay! Life was good and Twitter wasn’t called X yet. I opened the app and saw a new photo posted by the Dallas Stars account. It was Dellandrea! He was missing one of his central incisors, but he had a very refined look, if I may say so.
There are some people whose auras benefit from the loss of a tooth. For the most part, hockey players are part of this exclusive group, right next to school-aged children who have suddenly developed a lisp. In Dellandrea’s case, his dental destruction led to me adopting him as my special son. It also coincided with the start of his best season to date. That’s not saying much, because Dellandrea is still only 23 years old and has only played substantially three seasons in the NHL, usually on the fourth line. Still, he ended up playing in all 82 games that season, accumulating a total of 28 points, which is more than most mothers can say about his sons.
I even got to see one of his nine regular season goals in person when the Stars played in Newark. I dragged two of my friends, who were supporting the local team. After a scoreless first period, Dellandrea got Dallas on the board with a tip-in early in the second.
“My son scored a goal!” I told my friends. They buried his faces in their hands. Then the Devils announcer read the goal, completely butchering Dellandrea’s name. Important note: The Stars won that game, 4-1.
I’m telling all of this in an effort to remember the good times. Since the end of last year’s playoffs, when Dellandrea had a crucial, redeeming two-goal performance after being a healthy scratch, he hasn’t had much luck with the Stars. Despite his enormous presence off the ice (so much so that his teammates thought he might one day be captain), Dellandrea couldn’t break out of his role as a fringe guy on the line of control in Last season. He swung in and out of the lineup, playing in only 42 games during the regular season. With other young options like offseason acquisition Sam Steel and promising newcomer Mavrik Bourque knocking on the door, head coach Pete DeBoer didn’t need to trust Dellandrea.
Losing Dellandrea is something I’ve been preparing for for quite some time. When the Stars were trying to trade for Chris Tanev in February, I prepared for the worst. “Yeah, Chris Tanev is good,” I told the Void. “But have you considered that he might die?” To my great surprise, the Void heard my call. The Stars made it through the trade deadline without leaving a single duck behind. Jake Oettinger, Dellandrea’s best friend and former roommate, even had time to debut his new goalie mask, which featured an illustration of my vulnerable son in all his glory. But unfortunately, a mask is not a legally binding no-movement clause.
On Wednesday afternoon, my son was fired. That is, Dellandrea was finally transferred, his destiny being the sunny reconstruction of San José. This isn’t the first time I’ve lost one of my own in the Bay Area. Last year, I saw former Stars forward Jacob Peterson traded to the Sharks, and he has languished in the AHL ever since. I have a little more hope for Dellandrea. As a former first-round pick, he will receive more opportunities to prove himself, and the potential is certainly there. With the Stars’ bench deep, there weren’t enough minutes to go around and it seemed like he had lost some confidence in defensive mistakes. In the end, I want the best for my son, even if that means letting him move away.
In California, he’ll be joined by the likes of Barclay Goodrow, who like him will go from a Stanley Cup contender to a roster that could struggle to win a Calder Cup. On a young Sharks team desperate for scorers, and with the star potential of Macklin Celebrini, perhaps Dellandrea will have the opportunity to develop not only as a more offensive force, but also as a leader of men. Who can say? They grow so fast.
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