Welcome to LWOS’ Summer Hockey Series, Best of the Rest. Plenty of sites do a version of a 30 greats in 30 days series, but this year we are doing something a little bit different. We want to look at the best player from each team who is not in the Hockey Hall Of Fame. In order to do this there are some rules. First the player must have been a significant part of this franchise (franchises include their time in a previous city… see Winnipeg/Atlanta) and must be retired for at least 3 years, making them Hall of Fame eligible. To see all the articles in the series, check out the homepage here.
The Stars franchise, established in Dallas prior to the 1993-94 season, actually has a very rich history dating back to the first round of NHL expansion in 1967, when they entered the league as the Minnesota North Stars. However, despite two Stanley Cup final appearances, the franchise’s early days in Minnesota weren’t particularly fruitful with only two division titles, no championships, and 9 seasons without playoff hockey (in an era when the league had only 12-22 teams).
As such, the impact on the Hall of Fame by the Stars can be found after the move to Dallas, and the great team of the late 90’s that eventually brought the franchise it’s first Stanley Cup victory in 1999. Brett Hull, Joe Nieuwendyk, and Ed Belfour all had solid careers elsewhere, but played an important role on that Stars team and are members of the Hall. Then there is of course franchise icon Mike Modano, who played 20 seasons with the club stretching back to its days in Minnesota, and was inducted just this year. However, there is one player from that 1999 team who has been consistently overlooked by the Hall, despite the fact that he was one of the best in the world at what he did.
Dallas Stars – Sergei Zubov
When Zubov was originally drafted in the fifth round, 85th overall by the New York Rangers in 1990, he was a bit unheralded. Russian players such as Sergei Makarov, Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov, and Alexander Mogilny had just begun to make their impact in the NHL the previous season, and the true extent of what (at the time) Soviet-trained players could do in North America was just beginning to be realized. So it was a gamble for the Rangers to take this offensive defensemen from CSKA Moscow, but one that paid off big-time.
Zubov split his rookie season between the AHL and the NHL, but put up a solid 8-23-31 statline in 49 games with the Rangers. He followed that up with a monster sophomore season, netting 89 points (including 77 assists) to lead the Rangers in scoring, the first and only time a defenseman would lead a President’s Trophy winner in scoring. He then scored another 19 points in 22 playoff games on route to the 1994 Stanley Cup. He, along with his Russian teammates on the Rangers, became one of the first Russians to get his name engraved on the Cup. Any doubts about whether Zubov could adapt to the NHL were firmly wiped away, as he had established himself as a premier offensive defenseman in the league.
Despite his scoring prowess, Zubov found himself traded to the Penguins prior to the 1995-96 season, along with Peter Nedved, in exchange for Ulf Samuelsson and Luc Robitaille. For whatever reason (some have speculated it was a rift between him and Mario Lemieux on a dysfunctional power play), and despite another solid offensive campaign (66 points in 64 games), Zubov would play just one season in Pittsburgh before again being traded in the off-season, this time to Dallas in exchange for Kevin Hatcher. It would turn out to be an incredibly lop-sided trade in the Stars’ favor, and Pittsburgh’s loss would be Dallas’ gain.
The Stars, led by infamously defensive-minded coach Ken Hitchcock, didn’t seem like the ideal landing place for a player of Zubov’s stature. He would have to be more mindful of his defensive duties and, while he never again approached his massive 1993-94 campaign in terms of points, Zubov thrived in Dallas nonetheless.
Over 12 years in Dallas, Zubov would post 40+ points ten times (including six 50+ point seasons), and record double-digit goal totals nine times. On a defensive-minded team during the height of the dead-puck era, those numbers can actually be considered quite productive, and Zubov remained one of the best and most consistent offensive d-men in the NHL during his tenure with the Stars.
His two best seasons following his arrival in Dallas came in 1998-99, when he posted 51 points in the regular season and 13 points in the playoffs to help the Stars to their first (and his second) Stanley Cup, and the 2005-06 season following the lockout, which saw a league-wide offensive explosion and Zubov score 71 points as a 35-year-old (his best output in more than a decade) to earn a spot on the NHL’s Second All-Star team.
Unfortunately, age and nagging groin and hip injuries would begin to take over, and Zubov was forced out of the NHL after playing just 10 games during the 2008-09 season at the age of 38. His 111 goals, 438 assists, and 549 points with Dallas remain club records for a defenseman, while his assist and point totals are 3rd and 6th overall respectively in team history. His +103 is third and his games played (839) is fourth. He is, quite simply, the best defenseman the Dallas Stars have ever had.
It seems likely that Zubov will be called to the Hall eventually. In total, he played more than 1000 NHL games, and racked up 771 points (including 152 goals and 619 assists), lofty totals for a defenseman in any era, but especially great considering he was in his prime during one of the lowest scoring eras in modern NHL history.
Overall he sits 19th in NHL scoring by a defenseman, while his points per game total is actually higher than some players on the list ahead of him, including Hall of Famers Rob Blake, Scott Stevens, and Chris Chelios. Over his 12 years in Dallas, only three defensemen scored more points than Zubov in the NHL: Nicklas Lidstrom, Sergei Gonchar, and Scott Niedermayer. That’s some good company.
He’s certainly got the championships on his resume as well. Two Stanley Cups with two different teams, as well as a gold medal at the World Junior Championships in 1989 and gold at the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France. He’s especially beloved in Russia, not just for his Olympic gold, but also for being the second-highest scoring Russian defenseman in NHL history, just 25 points behind Gonchar.
One knock on Zubov could be his play in the defensive zone, where he didn’t have the same dominating impact as more physical players, however Zubov relied more on his speed, quick transition skills, and elite passing to make plays in his own end, attributes that are much less flashy than the huge hits by Stevens and Blake, but no less effective. He may also get hurt by his lack of individual hardware; he never garnered an individual NHL award (he was a finalist for the Norris only once), and has just one year-end NHL Second-All Star team to his credit, however he did play in three all-star games.
However, during a time when offense from the blueline was often overlooked, Zubov was a unique and sublime talent that quietly did his job brilliantly and brought the goods year after year. Not only was he one of the greats for the Stars, he was one of the greats anywhere in hockey, period. When considering the best of the rest for the Dallas franchise, nobody beats Zubov.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @LWOSpuckhead. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter –@LastWordOnSport – and @LWOSworld and “liking” our Facebook page.
Don’t forget to check out our friends at Sports Injury Alert for the latest in NHL injuries.
