1998–99 Dallas Stars season

Offseason

Under a league-wide realignment from four to six divisions, the NHL moved the Stars from the Central to the Pacific Division. This resulted in the oddity of Dallas, a city near the longitudinal center of the contiguous United States and in the Central Time Zone, having none of its major professional sports teams in a "Central Division" despite the fact that all of the then-established major leagues at this time had divisions with some form of that name. This would temporarily change when the Dallas Burn of the then-new Major League Soccer were placed in a newly-formed Central Division in 2000, but MLS reverted to an Eastern and Western Conference format without additional divisions after only two seasons. The Stars would eventually return to the Central Division after the NHL returned to a four division alignment in 2013.

Regular season

The Stars finished the regular season with the NHL's best record and first overall in goals against, with just 168. They also tied the St. Louis Blues and San Jose Sharks for fewest short-handed goals allowed, with 4.

Season standings

Schedule and results

Regular season

|- |1||October 10, 1998||4–1 || style="text-align:left;"| Buffalo Sabres (1998–99) ||1–0–0 || |- |2||October 13, 1998||3–1 || style="text-align:left;"| Chicago Blackhawks (1998–99) ||2–0–0 || |- |3||October 15, 1998||2–2 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| @ Carolina Hurricanes (1998–99) ||2–0–1 || |- |4||October 17, 1998||3–4 || style="text-align:left;"| @ Chicago Blackhawks (1998–99) ||2–1–1 || |- |5||October 20, 1998||3–1 || style="text-align:left;"| Calgary Flames (1998–99) ||3–1–1 || |- |6||October 22, 1998||2–1 || style="text-align:left;"| Phoenix Coyotes (1998–99) ||4–1–1 || |- |7||October 24, 1998||2–1 || style="text-align:left;"| San Jose Sharks (1998–99) ||5–1–1 || |- |8||October 30, 1998||3–3 OT|| style="text-align:left;"| Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (1998–99) ||5–1–2 || |- |9||October 31, 1998||3–2 || style="text-align:left;"| Detroit Red Wings (1998–99) ||6–1–2 ||

| Legend:

Playoffs

|- | 1 || April 21, 1999 || 2–1 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers || Stars lead 1–0 || |- | 2 || April 23, 1999 || 3–2 || align="left"| Edmonton Oilers || Stars lead 2–0 || |- | 3 || April 25, 1999 || 3–2 || align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers || Stars lead 3–0 || |- | 4 || April 27, 1999 || 3–2 3OT|| align="left"| @ Edmonton Oilers || Stars win 4–0 ||

| Legend:

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• • = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Stars only.*
• • = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Stars only.*

Goaltending

Awards and records

Awards

Milestones

Transactions

• February 26, 1999 – Doug Lidster was signed as a free agent with the Dallas Stars.

Dallas Stars - 1999 Stanley Cup champions

• 3 Craig Ludwig (A. Capt.)
• 5 Darryl Sydor
• 24 Richard Matvichuk
• 56 Sergei Zubov (A. Capt.)
• 27 Shawn Chambers
• 6 Doug Lidster (D)†
• 37 Brad Lukowich (D)†
• 1 Roman Turek
• 10 Brian Skrudland
• 18 Derek Plante††
• 21 Guy Carbonneau
• 25 Joe Nieuwendyk (A. Capt.)
• 49 Jon Sim
• 12 Mike Keane
• 14 Dave Reid
• 15 Jamie Langenbrunner
• 16 Pat Verbeek
• 17 Brent Severyn††
• 22 Brett Hull
• 26 Jere Lehtinen
• 29 Grant Marshall
• 33 Benoit Hogue
• 41 Tony Hrkac |non-players=
• Thomas O. Hicks (Chairman/Owner/Governor), Jim Lites (President), Bob Gainey (Vice President/General Manager)
• Doug Armstrong (Ass't General Manager), Craig Button (Director of Player Personnel), Ken Hitchcock (Head Coach)
• Doug Jarvis, Rick Wilson (Ass't Coaches), Rick McLaughlin, Jeff Cogen (Vice Presidents)
• Bill Strong (Vice President), Tim Bernhardt (Director-Amateur Scouting), Doug Overton (Director-Pro Scouting)
• Bob Gernader (Chief Scout), Stu McGregor (Western Scout), Dave Suprenant (Medical Trainer), Dave Smith (Equipment Manager),
• Rick Matthews (Ass't Equipment Manager), Jean-Jacque McQueen (Strength-Conditioning Coach),
• Rick St. Croix (Goaltending Consultant), Dan Stuchal (Director of Team Services), Larry Kelly (Director of Public Relations),
• Leon Friedrich† (Video Coordinator), Craig Lowery† (Trainer Ass't), Dave Warner† (Equipment Ass't).

|engraving-notes=

• ††Brent Severyn played only 30 games, missing 22 regular season games due to injuries, and was a healthy scratch for the playoffs. Dallas included him on the Stanley Cup because he spent the whole season with Dallas. Derek Plante played 41 regular season games for Buffalo and 10 for Dallas. He also played 6 playoff games. His name was included on the cup because he spent the whole season in the NHL.
• † Members were included on the 1999 Stanley Cup Picture but were not engraved on the cup.
• In February, Dallas added Doug Lidster from the Canadian National Team and Brad Lukowich from the minor league Kalamazoo Wings. Lidster played 17 regular season and 4 playoff games. Lukowich played 14 regular season and 8 playoff games (2 games in the conference finals). They were left off the cup even though they played in the playoffs.

Draft picks

The Stars' picks at the 1998 NHL entry draft in Buffalo, New York.

Notes

References

References

1. "1998-99 NHL Attendance – National Hockey League – ESPN". ESPN.
2. "1998-99 NHL Summary".
3. "1998-99 Dallas Stars Schedule".
4. "Conn Smythe Trophy".
5. "Frank J. Selke Trophy".
6. "William M. Jennings Trophy".
7. "1999 NHL All-Star Game Rosters".
8. (December 28, 1998). "Stars' Modano is Player of the Week".
9. Dallas Stars 2014–15 Organizational Compendium, p.269
10. (October 31, 1998). "Ducks Rally To Tie Up Dallas - CBS News".
11. "Lot Detail - Ed Belfour's 1998-99 Dallas Stars "500th Game" Tag Heuer 18K Gold Presentational Watch with His Signed LOA".
12. (November 15, 1998). "Hull Joins His Father in Elite 1,000-Point Club".
13. "1998-99 NHL Debuts".
14. "1998 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com".