So says Bob Gainey, the first general manager of the Dallas Stars, in an article on NHL.com. In moving the North Stars down south, Gainey decided on the best tactic to take with Cowboys-loving fans who didn’t know what icing was: play up the violence.
“We had a few comparisons (to football) and what we tried to utilize in any comparisons towards our sport and football was the physical contact. The Texans seem to be a very liberal and opened-minded people and they enjoyed the physical contract of ice hockey and they also seemed to warm up to the fact of the fighting in the sport and it was a selling point for us where it had been a detraction in Minnesota.”
