Dallas to Retire Sergei Zubov’s Number Tonight

Sergei Zubov will be the first defenseman in Dallas Stars history to have his number retired when the team lifts number 56 to the rafters tonight at the American Airlines Center. He joins a number of Stars greats in this honor: Mike Modano, Jere Lehtinen, Neal Broten, Bill Goldsworthy, and Bill Masterton.

This was an honor that was supposed to happen in 2020. But as with many things, COVID-19 had different ideas.

Zubov was a critical component of the Stars’ 1999 Stanley Cup winning team. Though he is considered one of the elite defensemen of his time, he never won a Norris Trophy for his efforts. His play and accomplishments represent the gold standard that all puck-moving defensemen that don the Stars sweater are held to. By the time he left in 2009, Zubov led the Stars franchise in games played, goals, assists, points, plus-minus, power-play goals, game-winning goals, shots on goal and time on ice among defensemen. He has since been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2019.

Many of the who’s who in Stars history will be in attendance tonight. Those expected to make an appearance include:

• Current Stars owner Tom Gaglardi;
• Former teammates Mike Modano, Derian Hatcher, Brett Hull, Ed Belfour, Darryl Sydor, Pat Verbeek, Brenden Morrow, Marty Turco, and others;
• Former GMs Bob Gainey and Doug Armstrong;
• Former coach Rick Wilson; and,
• Former play-by-play analyst Ralph Strangis, among others.

The night honoring Zubov will begin with a Victory Green Carpet starting at 5:15 PM. The ceremony begins at 6 PM, so you should plan to be in your seat then. Puck drop versus the Washington Capitals is set for a little after 8 PM.

It should be a fun night (so long as you can ignore the dissonance of celebrating a brilliant puck-moving defenseman while the fate of the most talented defenseman since Zubov’s time in Dallas in John Klingberg hangs over the franchise. But that’s a story for another day.)