{"id":494003,"date":"2026-07-28T08:03:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T12:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=494003"},"modified":"2026-07-28T08:03:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T12:03:07","slug":"dallas-stars-unlikely-heroes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2026\/07\/28\/dallas-stars-unlikely-heroes\/","title":{"rendered":"Summer Series: The Dallas Stars Unlikely Heroes"},"content":{"rendered":"

The game of hockey, like all sports, is filled with heroes. Most of the time, it is the superstars who have a reputation for coming up clutch. However, we are here to talk about the heroic performances that seem to come from nowhere. An unlikely hero can step up and chip in with a massive, Stanley Cup Playoff series-clinching goal, or maybe it is a season-long performance, the likes of which will never be seen again. These unlikely heroes become a part of hockey history. Today, we bring you our\u00a0<\/span>Last Word on Hockey<\/em>\u00a0<\/span>summer series<\/a>, as we look at the\u00a0<\/span>Dallas Stars\u00a0<\/span>Unlikely Heroes<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Dallas Stars Unlikely Heroes<\/h2>\n

The Criteria<\/h3>\n

Some wonder what makes an unlikely hero. It can be a player who comes with a massive improvement out of nowhere. An unlikely hero can step up and chip in with a massive goal or a goaltender shutout that wasn\u2019t expected. It can also be a player who steps up and has a season to remember. An unlikely hero can be a player who\u2019s a youngster who gives a breakthrough performance. It can also be a star player who gives one last flash of greatness.<\/p>\n

Joel Kiviranta<\/a><\/h3>\n

Background<\/h4>\n

For this instance, we’ll only be referring the Stars’ time in Dallas. There won’t be mentions<\/a> of Darcy Wakaluk and Dave Gagner<\/a>, who were both part of the Dallas Stars franchise. However, their moments took place in Minnesota when the team was the North Stars.<\/span><\/p>\n

We go back to the 2020 COVID-19 hockey bubble for the first of our Dallas Stars unlikely heroes. Bubble hockey was an odd era but provided a welcome distraction to the mess in the outside world. The bubble provided some unexpected upsets. Dallas made a shocking run to the Stanley Cup Final, and one player helped get the team into the Final on the offensive end.<\/p>\n

One could argue that the play of Anton Khudobin<\/a> was also a big factor on how the Stars got into the final. However, we’ll focus on Joel Kiviranta for the biggest of the Dallas Stars unlikely heroes. The young Finn made his way to North America His first season in the Stars system had him bouncing between Dallas and the AHL Texas Stars based out of Austiin. He only scored one goal in the regular season with the big club. However, the ingredients would make for the Kiviranta’s big moment.<\/p>\n

The Moment<\/h4>\n

In a traditional season, Kiviranta would likely still be in the AHL. However, the cancelation of the Calder Cup Playoffs allowed for him to practice as a “Black Ace” due to the expanded rosters. The young Finnish forward would find his way into the lineup after Andrew Cogliano<\/a> got injured. Many though Kiviranta was there as a depth piece in the lineup. However, he would step up in a major way.<\/p>\n

Kiviranta would make a great impression with a hat trick in the winner-take-all Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinal series against the Colorado Avalanche.<\/a> He would net a hat trick, including the game-tying and series-clinching goals. Dallas had plenty of offensive firepower, but it was Kiviranta that got them into the Western Final.<\/p>\n

The Aftermath<\/h4>\n

Kiviranta would get five goals in that postseason. However, Dallas would be defeated by the Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a> in the Stanley Cup Final. The Vantaa, Finland native would never repeat those numbers with the Stars in two more seasons with the team.<\/p>\n

He would eventually move over to the rival Avalanche in the 2023-24 season. Kiviranta would get 16 goals in the 2024-25 season, but he hasn’t cracked 10 goals in any other season. However, he may have a chance to reclaim his glory after signing a one-year deal to return to the Stars.<\/p>\n

Radek Faksa<\/a><\/h3>\n

Background<\/h4>\n

Dallas has been known for its deep Stanley Cup Playoff runs all decade long. The Stars had a run of making the Western Conference Final for three straight seasons before the 2025-26 season. During that run, there have been plenty of Dallas Stars unlikely heroes. One very unlikely name would come out of nowhere.<\/p>\n

Radek Faksa had filled his role as a fourth-line grinder that did all the little things. He wasn’t known as a goalscorer, but the Czech forward would get an important goal that would send the Stars past the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights<\/a> in the 2024 Stanley Cup first round.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

(Credit Image: \u00a9 Luis Santana\/Tampa Bay Times via ZUMA Wire)<\/em><\/p>\n

The Moment<\/h4>\n

Dallas and Vegas engaged in a war in the first round of the postseason. It all came down to a pivotal Game 7 at the American Airlines Arena. Most of these games were nip-and-tuck affairs and this game was no different. It would come down to a stereotypical “greasy” goal<\/a> you get in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Faksa fired a backhand shot that bounced of a leg in front of Adin Hill<\/a>‘s crease. The goal was the first one for Faksa in over a month and that was enough for the Stars to get the 2-1 victory in a hard-fought Game 7. It wasn’t the sexiest goal, but it was enough for the Stars to move onto the next round.<\/p>\n

Aftermath<\/h4>\n

Dallas would get to the Western Final but would fall to the Edmonton Oilers<\/a> in consecutive seasons. The veteran forward has been in and out of the lineup and hasn’t hit the heights of his 17-goal campaign in the 2017-18 season.<\/p>\n

However, Faksa has been a staple of the Dallas lineup since the 2016-17 season. He did have one season with the St Louis Blues<\/a> but made his return to the Lone Star State in 2025 after signing a three-year contract. The veteran forward fits the bill one of the Dallas Stars unlikely heroes.<\/p>\n

Honourable Mention<\/h3>\n

We do have a few more choices for Dallas Stars unlikely heroes. Colin Blackwell<\/a> registered a critical goal<\/a> in overtime of Game 2 of the first round against the Avalanche.<\/p>\n

We can also go back to the 1999 Stanley Cup run and the surprise performances of defencemen Shawn Chambers<\/a> and Brad Lukowich<\/a>. Both players played a key role in the Stars only Cup in franchise history.<\/p>\n

Main photo by: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The game of hockey, like all sports, is filled with heroes. Most of the time, it is the superstars who have a reputation for coming up clutch. However, we are here to talk about the heroic performances that seem to come from nowhere. An unlikely hero can step up and chip in with a massive, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":137913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,4096,2,8245,4547,4548],"tags":[5812,6105,4623,1915,4260],"class_list":["post-494003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stars","category-editorials","category-featured","category-history","category-hockey","category-nhl","tag-colin-blackwell","tag-dallas-stars-analysis","tag-joel-kiviranta","tag-radek-faksa","tag-summer-series"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494003"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":494024,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494003\/revisions\/494024"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}