Texas Hockey youth spend a morning with the Stanley Cup

Imagine waking up and realizing that today is the day your dreams become possible.

That was the sentiment in the hearts of many Texas Hockey youth yesterday when the Stanley Cup paid them a special visit.

Texas native and Dallas Stars Elite alumni Seth Jones invited the families of his former youth team to take part in a one-of-a-kind experience on Thursday. The Florida Panthers defenseman, fresh off of winning the Cup last month, spent the day paying a visit to his roots.

Throngs of children and their parents crowded the upper room of Children’s Health StarCenter Valley Ranch where they had the opportunity to visit with Jones, take pictures with the Cup, get their shoes signed and create a new core memory in their hockey lives.

“It’s an unbelievable day for youth hockey here in town,” said Dallas Stars Elite Hockey Director and Coach Eric Silverman of what this experience means to the young athletes. “Years ago, we started to put banners on the wall of our alumni, and we see the young kids with their goal of ‘I want to have a banner on the wall one day.’ And when you see someone like Seth, who everyone in our program probably idolizes and knows, to see what he did this year, get a chance to win the Cup, and bring it into the building. A lot of kids left here today dreaming that one day they could have their moment in this building like he did.”

The Dallas Stars Elite Hockey Club was founded in 2009 as an opportunity for local youth to further develop their skills along their hockey journey and provide a potential springboard to playing hockey at the highest levels. While some start as a Dallas Stars Little Rookie and work their way up, the Jones brothers came across the program after moving back to the area in 2007.

“I spent a lot of time here playing for a lot of different coaches, a lot of different teams,” Jones said. “Without the development of Texas youth hockey and the growth that we’ve seen over the last ten, fifteen years, I know I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

From just one sheet of ice at Valley Ranch to eight StarCenters throughout the metroplex, the demand for ice time has never been greater in DFW.

“There was a time here in youth hockey when I was growing up where, if you were a good player or a great player and you had potential, everyone would tell you to go to Chicago, go up north to Minnesota, and Michigan and places like that,” the 30-year-old defenseman said. “In the last few years, there are actually kids coming down here to play. Now there’s a lot of great tournaments here, teams are coming here to play hockey, so that just shows the growth of the program. The Dallas Stars have put a lot of money and effort into that as well, and you really see that trickle down to the youth hockey programs.”

Silverman has also had a firsthand look at the growth, having now been part of the Texas youth hockey scene for over 20 years. But even though the development of new programs and arenas is remarkable, the coach says it’s the bird's eye view of a player’s development that means the most to so many.

“Every time we see former players, like what we’re celebrating today, watching this past draft and guys like Blake Fiddler . . . those are what make us most excited,” Silverman said. “There have been a lot of cool team memories over the years, but seeing the success of our former players who we have known forever is by far the most gratifying part of what we do.”

And of course, it’s incredibly special for the families, too. Amy Jones, mother of Seth and Caleb (who plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins), recalls the beauty in each moment of their careers. From watching her boys mature through the youth programs, to the nerves of draft day, to the excitement of their first NHL goal and watching Seth hoist the Cup, each little chapter is its own special piece of the journey.

“Every single thing they do, every accomplishment, whether it’s the assist, the goal or someone else’s that they get to be a part of, every single moment matters,” hockey mom Jones said.

And at the end of the day, isn’t that what it’s all about? Community, celebration, and riding the waves of this hockey journey together.

“Live in the moment,” Silverman says to young athletes. “A lot of times, young athletes get too concerned about the future, too concerned about the end and maybe skip some steps. Everyone has their own path. Here in Dallas, our two Stanley Cup winners are Seth Jones and Blake Coleman. Seth was a fast tracker, but Blake was the complete opposite. Blake didn’t leave Dallas until he was 18 years old and didn’t get drafted until he was 20 and still made a good path. Be where your feet are. Understand that everyone has a different path. Keep working, keep getting better.”

The path to our dreams isn’t always a straight line and is going to look different than those of the person sitting next to us, and that’s completely okay.

As Dallas Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan said in his introductory press conference, “Be where your boots are.” Stick to that, and keep reaching for the stars.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.