It was a special night at American Airlines Center on Friday as the Dallas Stars retired Jere Lehtinen's #26 jersey to the rafters. Many of Lehtinen's former teammates were on hand for the pregame ceremony including Brenden Morrow, Marty Turco, Brett Hull, Guy Carbonneau, and Craig Ludwig.
Other VIPs were in the building to honor Lehtinen including DFW rock royalty, the great Vinnie Paul Abbott, who along with his late brother Dimebag Darrell Abbott created the infamous song "Puck Off" that's been a staple at Stars games since the magical Stanley Cup Championship run in 1999. Vinnie stopped by the broadcast to reminisce about those incredible times.
As Vinnie mentions in the interview, Finland has an incredible metal scene, and Jere Lehtinen is a huge fan of heavy metal music. In fact, back in 2008 we profiled the time he met Slayer backstage at a Dallas show.
As for the game itself, it had a playoff intensity as the Dallas Stars and Calgary Flames battled it out for a combined TEN goals. When it was all said and done the Stars were victorious 6-4, propelled by a hat-trick (3 goals) from Tyler Seguin.
As the Public Address Announcer for the Stars there's no better feeling than announcing the final score after an exciting victory, followed by STARS WIN!!!