Turco and Lehtinen approve of the hiring of Jim Montgomery, who was named Stars coach on May 4 after five seasons at the University of Denver.
"He's a good young coach, relatively speaking," Turco said of the 48-year-old Montgomery, who takes over a team that has missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs in eight of the past 10 seasons. "We've tempered our excitement around here because it's a tough league and we've had disappointment recently, but it just feels good."
Lehtinen, who traveled from his native Finland this week, noted the recent hirings of college coaches in the NHL. Dave Hakstol has coached the Philadelphia Flyers since the start of the 2015-16 season after working at the University of North Dakota, and the New York Rangers hired David Quinn from Boston University on May 23.
"If you look at how the game is going these days, you're going to get a coach who's played and has been at the university producing a lot of good players," Lehtinen said. "You get a little new view. I think it's a good thing."
Turco and Lehtinen knew little about Texas when their NHL careers brought them here. Dallas has been home to an NHL franchise since 1993, and Texas has since hosted multiple minor-league hockey teams since the turn of the century.
"Dallas, Texas to me seemed like Rio de Janeiro," said Turco, a Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario native who'd never been south of Detroit but has lived in the Dallas area since 2000 and is president of the Dallas Stars Foundation. "It's nice to play for the Dallas Stars, but it's pretty cool to live here too, and we're building that brotherhood."
That brotherhood expands with the establishment of an alumni center under the direction of Stars chief operating officer Jason Farris and alumni association director Bob Bassen. The grand opening was lined with the 2018 NHL Draft, which will be held at American Airlines Center on Friday and Saturday.
"Six years ago, we were afraid to ask for tickets," said Bassen, who called building the center, which includes a locker room, "monumental."
"We feel like we're part of the team again."
The alumni center and the Texas Hockey History Center are located in the Farmers Branch Stars Center, one of seven across Dallas-Fort Worth. The museum includes artifacts and memorabilia, such as game programs from the 1941-42 Dallas Texans and Fort Worth Rangers of the American Hockey Association.
Turco was among those stunned to learn that pro hockey in Texas predated pro football, which first appeared with the NFL's Dallas Texans in 1952.
