Dallas Stars Tuesday Roundup: A Quick Catch-Up with Former Dallas Star Brenden Dillon

Some players stick in your memory

The Stars play the New Jersey Devils tonight, and the big news is that Lian Bichsel is returning to the lineup after completing his return-to-play process as part of the team’s concussion protocol.

Drawing out of the lineup will be former Devils’ defenseman Brendan Smith. Colin Blackwell will also be a scratch for the third consecutive game.

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But while Smith is missing out on a chance to face his former team for the second time in two weeks, two former Stars players are getting a chance to face theirs.

One of those players is Justin Dowling, the 34-year-old undrafted forward who played in parts of four seasons with the Stars last decade, including 15 playoff games. Dowling has carved out a nice NHL career for himself with 141 games so far, but this season has seen him play the largest number of NHL games in a single season his career. Tonight will be his 42nd NHL game of the season for an injury-wracked Devils team that just lost Jack Hughes to a significant injury, too.

Dowling’s first goal came with a pretty funny story, if you remember it:

But the other former Stars players on the Devils—also undrafted—is 6’ 4”, 225-lb defenseman, Brenden Dillon.

I had a chance to chat with Dillon after morning skate today, and it was fascinating to hear how vividly Dillon remembers his time in Dallas—including one of the toughest moments of his career.