Despite racking up the second-most total points in the league, the Dallas Stars enter the 2024 NHL Playoffs as a dark horse.
The Stars finished atop the Western Conference, were two points from a President’s Trophy (most points in the NHL), and ended the regular season on a heater. They start their playoff run against defending champion and burgeoning rival, the Vegas Golden Knights.
After last year’s bitterly contested Western Conference Finals with Jamie Benn going full Wrestlemania on Vegas Captain Mark Stone, you might expect fans to clamor for tickets to the rematch. That doesn’t appear to be the case.
The Stars are one of the cheapest tickets in the NHL Playoffs and, as of this writing, there are a lot of tickets to go around. That may change if this series renews the fire of last postseason’s matchup, but, as is often the case here in North Texas, the Dallas Stars are the best team in town that no one’s talking about.
Dallas Stars’ record year not reflected at the ticket office
With 213 points, the Stars had their second-best year on record, quietly surging to the top of the Western Conference in the process.
They return to the Playoffs after losing a bruising battle against the Golden Knights in last year’s Western Conference Finals. Going back three more years, the core of this year’s team lost in the Stanley Cup Finals to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
For those who’ve been watching, The 2023-2024 Dallas Stars are finally making good on promises of more explosive offense to complement a solid defensive core. The problem is–and it could be a good thing in the end–not many people have been watching.
That’s why you can get a ticket to games one and two of the Stars/Golden Knights series for $54. Of all the teams in the NHL Playoffs, only the Florida Panthers have a cheaper ticket for a round one home game at $48.
Here’s a list of the cheapest ticket prices we could find for all the teams in this year’s NHL Playoffs. To source prices, we used each team’s preferred ticket vendor. In most cases, that was Ticketmaster. When it’s not, the vendor’s name appears in parentheses beside the price.
What’s in the numbers?
Dallas is the third largest region with a team in the NHL Playoffs, behind New York and Los Angeles. Yet population doesn’t closely correlate with ticket prices for the Stars.
The Rangers, on the other hand, won the President’s Trophy, play in the largest region, and command the highest ticket prices. New York City prices and the tradition of Rangers hockey clearly create a potent ticket market. However, the Hurricanes, who finished three points behind the Rangers and have arguably the most intense fanbase in the league, are one of the cheapest tickets in round one.
Then there’s the Nashville Predators. They play in a mid-sized market, consistently sell out their building, and, despite backing into the Playoffs, they’re the second-highest American ticket behind the Rangers.
All four Canadian teams more than double the price of a Dallas Stars ticket, which speaks to the primacy of hockey north of the border.
The L.A. Kings present a situation similar to Dallas: a large market, solid team with consistent success, but lots of competition for live sports and entertainment in the L.A. metro area.
Dallas hockey fans can look at these playoff ticket prices a couple of ways. One, they go Rodney Dangerfield and claim their team doesn’t get the respect it deserves. Or two, they keep quiet, let their team fly under the radar, and happily snatch up cheap playoff tickets.
Sportsbooks are sleeping on the Stars
It’s not just ticket vendors; most major US sportsbooks are sleeping on the Dallas Stars too.
While online sports betting in Texas isn’t legal yet, hockey fans might be surprised to learn that the Stars, despite winning the Western Conference, aren’t among the top three teams favored to win the Stanley Cup at major US sportsbooks.
BetMGM Sportsbook currently gives the Stars the fifth-best odds of hoisting the Cup, behind the Hurricanes, Panthers, Rangers, and Oilers, in that order.
DraftKings also gives the Stars the fifth-best odds, behind the Hurricanes, Oilers, Panthers, and Rangers.
At FanDuel, the Stars are tied with Edmonton for fourth-best odds, behind the Hurricanes, Panthers, and Rangers.
Surviving the first round
They call the NHL Playoffs the “second season” for a reason. It takes victories in four seven-game series to win the Stanley Cup. That rounds out to nearly two full months of playoff hockey before the dust settles around the winner.
In this grueling tournament, surviving the first round is no small feat. Momentum seems to start from scratch when the Playoff puck drops, and if a low-seed catches fire, a goalie gets hot, or a top team drops game one at home, all bets are off.
Should Dallas get through Vegas, the defending Stanley Cup Champions, tickets for round two will disappear quickly, and sportsbooks may decide this could be the year for the Stars.
Image Credit: Tony Gutierrez / AP Images
