Here for a good time: George Strait drops puck to kick off Stars season
The 'King of Country' opens the new era at American Airlines Center, taking in his first hockey game
by Staff Report @DallasStars / DallasStars.com
The Stars opened the 2018-19 regular season on Thursday a little Hockey Tonk Crazy with an assist from a king.
The "King of Country" that is.
Joined by former Stars captain Brenden Morrow and fellow co-founder of Código 1530 Tequila, Fredrico Vaughn, country music legend George Strait dropped the puck in a special pregame ceremony before the Stars battled the Arizona Coyotes at American Airlines Center.
Wearing a special No. 1 Stars jersey with his name emblazoned on the back, Strait dropped the puck at center ice alongside Dallas captain Jamie Benn and Arizona's Oliver Ekman-Larsson, receiving a raucous applause from the Texas faithful at his first-ever hockey game.
Before the game, Strait, who has a music career spanning more than 30 years with 60 chart-topping singles -- more than any other genre -- met with Stars players and new head coach Jim Montgomery inside the home dressing room, announcing the team's starters for the evening.
Strait boasts 33 platinum or multi-platinum-selling albums, more than any country artist, and third across all genres behind only The Beatles and Elvis Presley. He is also the only act in history to have a Top 10 hit every year for over three decades and has sold more than 70 million albums and earned more than 60 major entertainment industry awards.