RING OF HONOR?

I guess in order to stay true to the “Stars” name it should be the ‘Ring of Honor, Orion's Belt’?

Anyway, all this debate, and Charles Haley hate, of late (Should have been a rapper) has me spitballing who might deserve to be included in the Stars version.

Jere Lehtinen

A friend of mine, and Stars SSH from day one, Keith Cummiskey furnished me with some dandy ‘Boys Ring of Honor info:
“Some facts: The Cowboys have played about 50 seasons and have 22 inductees (including a coach, a GM and the three players named last week). The Cowboys have won five titles and have five Super Bowl losses. Until Charles Haley was named last week, all inductees had spent all or the vast majority of their careers with the Cowboys. Haley and Chuck Howley are the only members who were not drafted by the Cowboys. Haley played only five of his 15 seasons with the Cowboys but he won three championships with the Cowboys and two more with the 49ers. Only two members of the Cowboys Ring never won a championship (Meredith and Perkins) and most won multiple championships.”

The Stars are always going to be awkward when it comes to discussions like this, due to the Minnesota/Dallas dichotomy. Do you make it just a Dallas thing? Is it a franchise honor? What?

What shouldn’t be as awkward is who deserves the honor. Or is it?

Lets pick the low hanging fruit: Mike Modano, in. No debate. No questions asked. No doubt. All but a half-season - trying to go home - spent in a Stars uniform. His annual excellence and career accomplishments, outstanding. Perhaps the Ring honor would precede a bronze likeness.

Now where do you turn?

Personally I like the ‘majority of career’ and ‘drafted by’ criteria the Cowboys have mostly upheld – until this year.

In that case my next nominee would be Jere Lehtinen. Drafted by the Stars, played his entire career with the Stars, and owned the distinction as the game’s best defensive forward during his time in uniform.

Next up would be big Derian Hatcher. He too was drafted by the club, spent a decade as a dominant Stars defenseman, and was the first (and still only) American born captain of a Stanley Cup winning team.

After those 3 the water from the zamboni gets a little murkier. Belfour? Nieuwendyk? Carbonneau? Hull?...Zubov? Zubov. Sergei Zubov. I’d probably be ok with the smokin’ Russian being included. He wasn’t drafted by the franchise, and he made stops in NY and Pitt prior to becoming the best defenseman this club has ever had, but, again, for 10 years he was the best defenseman to ever suit up in the colors – and there have been some real good ones.

A Manager? Bob Gainey was a cerebral master-architect and would be a shoe-in if he’d have had the desire to guide the franchise through the middle 2000s, but he didn’t. Phenomenal work done for the organization but …

A Coach? Hitch is a popular nominee but 5 years just ain’t enough. He packed a lot into his time here and like Gainey had/has an enduring impact on this franchise but probably not enough tenure and championships to be added to The Ring.

Les Jackson and Jim Lites are interesting names to discuss too.

What you say?