In a convincing start to their second playoff series in three years, the Dallas Stars shut out the Minnesota Wild 4-0 Thursday night in Dallas.
Jim Conrad grew up in Minnesota, moved here 30 years ago, and became a Stars fan after the team followed him here. He’s cautious about how far they’ll go in the playoff series.
“The first round is the toughest, it’s pretty brutal,” Conrad says. “I like to be optimistic but I’ve seen this since I was a little kid. I know how brutal it is. And all it takes is somebody to get hurt and it's game over or change of game completely.”
Thursday night’s game was the first playoff game ever between the old Minnesota team and the new one. The North Stars moved to Dallas in 1993 to become the Stars. The Wild played their first NHL season in 2000. Conrad wore an old North Stars jersey.
His wife Melissa says some of their early dates years ago were in bars, because that was the only place to see Minnesota play.
“The law firm I worked for had season tickets and they were very new to hockey and they appreciated he was from Minnesota and a Stars fan and he got to go to all of the games. Thanks to me,” Melissa said, smiling.
The Stars face the Wild again Saturday night in Dallas.
