Pete DeBoer and the Dallas Stars have been here before; since DeBoer has been the Stars' bench boss the team has played all the way into the Western Conference Finals for three straight seasons, including this year in 2025. This is the team's fourth appearance to the final four in five years, only reaching the Cup Final in 2020 after beating out the Vegas Golden Knights who were coached by, guess who, Pete DeBoer. DeBoer has reached this third round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs eight times in his career (including the past six straight seasons with three different teams), which is incredibly hard to do, yet he has no Stanley Cup win to show for it.
This may be his year.
This Stars team might be Pete DeBoer's best chance to finally win Stanley Cup
One thing is clear; there's the utmost respect from both the coaches and the players in this organization, and that seems to be a reason that this team could persevere through the doubters in Round 1 and the best team in the league in Round 2. According the NHL.com, DeBoer sets his foundations back as early as training camp, preparing his guys for tough moments in the post-season. There's a cohesive group down there in Dallas, from the coaching staff to the locker room leaders to the fourth line, everyone is on the same page. That is the recipe of a championship team - the time is now for DeBoer to claim his first Cup.
Dallas takes on an eager and talented Edmonton Oilers team for the second year in a row in the upcoming Western Conference Finals, but this year feels a bit different. Round 1 it seemed like the Stars were looked at as an "easier target" because of injuries to key players; but they beat the Colorado Avalanche in seven games (with help from a revenge tour from Mikko Rantanen down the stretch). Round 2 it was the battle between the pipes in the NHL right now (and for Team USA later) between Dallas' Jake Oettinger and Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck, complete with an OT winner in Game 6 from Stars defenseman Thomas Harley, which closed out the series against the President's Trophy-winning Jets.
Can the Stars get to the next level this time and compete in the Stanley Cup Finals? Can they win the Finals and give DeBoer the Cup he deserves on his resume? The way this post-season has gone so far, yes, 100% they're ready. They've got their injured players back. They're getting contributions from the whole lineup - scoring is running deep down that roster. Their special teams have been working effectively - their power play percentage is at 30.8, which ranks the highest of the four remaining teams. Combine all that with the deep desire to finally make it past this difficult check point they've found themselves stuck in over the last two seasons, you'll have your Campbell Bowl champions.
Just an ending note for the Oilers though; don't let this series get to seven games if you're looking to reappear in the Cup Final. DeBoer is 9-0 in Game 7s, which is an NHL record. I wouldn't test your luck there.