Bruce LeVine, a radio host for the Dallas Stars, tweeted this afternoon that the team has added seven more Black Aces for the rest of their playoff run. The Stars already said this morning that they would be calling up Mavrik Bourque and Rhett Gardner from the Texas Stars. Now, they will be joined by seven more teammates. The Milwaukee Admirals beat the Texas Stars in the AHL playoffs on Sunday night, taking Texas out of the running.
Forwards Oskar Back, Matej Blumel, Marián Studeni, and Riley Tufte will be coming to the Stars from the AHL. Defensemen Alexander Petrovic and Ryan Shea, as well as goalie Matt Murray, will also join the fight. Most of the time, the Black Aces don’t dress up for games, but they are always ready to go. They will also practice with the team and take in the atmosphere of the NHL playoffs.
The addition of Petrovic is an interesting coincidence, since the Florida Panthers gave Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith to the Vegas Golden Nights in the 2017 expansion draft so they could protect Petrovic and three other defensemen. Marchessault has gone on to become the Golden Knights’ all-time leader in scoring, while Petrovic has had trouble staying in the NHL and has spent the last four seasons in the AHL. These Black Aces might not be around for long if Dallas loses game 4 to the Golden Knights. If that happens, they could be out of the playoffs as soon as tonight.
