Oettinger relaxed, approaching peak for Stars ahead of Western Conference Final

DALLAS -- Cool. Laid back. Calm. Chill.

If you ask anyone who knows Jake Oettinger, those are the words used to describe the Dallas Stars goalie. Come game time, he can be one serious guy even if it doesn't show.

"He has that aura to him, really, that calm Zen, and then when we go on the ice, it's that quiet competitiveness, that quiet confidence," said Connor LaCouvee, Oettinger's teammate at Boston University. "He's definitely still very intense, but being able to, I don't want to say mask that but being able to kind of present it with a calm demeanor if that makes sense, which is such a deadly combination in goaltending."

That combination has worked well for Oettinger, who for the third consecutive year helped the Stars advance to the Western Conference Final, where they'll play the Edmonton Oilers for the second straight year.

Game 1 is at American Airlines Center on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN+, ESPN, SN, TVAS, CBC).

"I think we've learned a lot the last two years," Oettinger said. "That's all we wanted after we lost last year is this opportunity. The fact that we get to play Edmonton again makes it even better.

"The young guys, like [Thomas Harley], Wyatt [Johnston], [Jason Robertson], myself, the guys that hadn't had any experience, we have all the experience in the world now. It's up to us as a group to take that next step and I think we should feel great about what we've done with the adversity we've faced. I think our best hockey is yet to come."

Oettinger, 26, is 8-5 with a 2.47 goals-against average and .919 save percentage through 13 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The No. 26 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft is 149-66-27 with a 2.52 GAA, .912 save percentage and 12 shutouts in 251 regular-season games (242 starts), and 31-27 with a 2.47 GAA, .917 save percentage and two shutouts in 60 postseason games (58 starts).

"For a goalie of his age, doing what he's doing right now, it's a great story and it just shows you how much more there is for him," Stars general manager Jim Nill said. "That's what excites us, is I think he's just touching his potential at his age.

"Usually goalies are 28, 29, 30 when they start to hit their most potential, and he's there right now. A great young man, one of the leaders of our team, which is rare, too, for a goalie. I think he's one of those guys, you'd probably put a letter on him if you wanted to. He's that mature and we're just very fortunate to have him."

Stars captain Jamie Benn has seen Oettinger's growth since their first playoff run together, in 2020 when Dallas advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. Oettinger played two games in the Edmonton bubble at Rogers Place due to COVID-19 restrictions.

"He's just a player, a goalie that steps up in big moments and (is) pretty composed," Benn said. "Nothing seems to faze him, really. I try to get under his skin even in practice, and he's calm as a cucumber. He takes his level to another game, and you've seen it the last couple of years and even this year, it's just going to another level."

Oettinger's on-ice determination is balanced with an off-ice affability that's evident to those who've been around him for years. Josh Tucker is a visual performance specialist who runs True Focus Vision and has worked with many NHL goalies over the past 20 years. He met Oettinger when he was 16, teaching the young goalie how to juggle, and has praised his empathy as much as his work ethic.

"We still break out a picture once in a while: I just had a camera going and there's a great still frame of him with his tongue sticking out, he's concentrating so hard," Tucker said. "When Jake first started working with me, we were going through an assessment. Especially with players of that caliber, I try to keep things moving out of respect for them and if they want to talk, then we talk. I mentioned to him I was working with a number of kids with autism at the time and he sat and asked questions for about a half hour about it. He was genuinely engaged, and I just thought it was great.

"He talked about how he loves coaching with little kids. He's just way up there on the pyramid in terms of goalies in the world."

Oettinger has accomplished a lot and there's still much more to go. Those around him hope this is the year.

"He's the type of guy you root for," LaCouvee said. "Some guys you play with and you're like, 'OK, this guy's going to go on and make millions, he's an awesome player,' but maybe not someone I'd spend time outside the rink with. That's the opposite with Jake. He's just super special. He's such a special guy, and I think so much of his success on the ice is predicated on him as an individual. Him being grounded, him being calm in the net. There are not a lot of things that faze 'Otter.'"