5 famous players you forgot were on the Dallas Stars
By Kyle McKenna
Dallas Stars: Arturs Irbe
He may not have been an NHL All-Star but Arturs Irbe was a reliable and solid goaltender for over a decade.
His big-fluffy white pads and player-styled helmet with an obnoxious cage is what fans immediately recall about Irbe. The 1989 10th-round draft pick was a member of the San Jose Sharks for five seasons from 1991-92 until 1995-96 and helped the Teal upset the Red Wings during the 1993-94 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The shocking seven-game series win over Hockeytown went down as one of the biggest upsets in NHL history considering how stacked Detroit’s roster was.
Irbe was also remembered most for his tenure with the Carolina Hurricanes from 1998-99 until the 2003-04 campaign. Irbe backstopped numerous underdog squads in Carolina and helped the ‘Canes advance to their first-ever Stanley Cup Final appearance in 2001-02.
While Irbe strapped on the pads in both the Eastern and Western Conferences with the Vancouver Canucks, Sharks and Hurricanes, the Latvian native was also a member of the Dallas Stars. The 5-foot-8 netminder and the Stars united for the 1996-97 season when No. 32 recorded a 17-12-3 record.
However, his goals-against-average in the Lone Star state was impressive. Irbe posted a then-career-high 2.69 GAA, but his brief tenure in Dallas is definitely forgotten. Dallas finished with the second-best record in the NHL after collecting 48 wins, but the Stars were upset by the Edmonton Oilers in seven games during the first round of the playoffs.
The fashion icon only appeared in one contest during the series while he watched Andy Moog start every game.
Irbe wasn’t the same type of all-star caliber goaltender like Thomas, but the two were similar in the sense that they were overshadowed by other powerhouse netminders and their gear also made the two famous in their own respective ways.