If the NHL is to miss any time for the '12-13 season, the Stars "can handle another work stoppage because the roots here are deep enough," according to Mike Heika of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. Stars Owner Tom Gaglardi said, "I'm confident in the marketplace for the long term. I wouldn't have bought the team if I wasn't." Stars President & CEO Jim Lites: "We have a great arena deal, we have a great demographic, we have a great marketplace. Look, there were some mistakes made, and we have had some down years, but we're in the process of fixing those mistakes, and we're in the process of coming back. The future is bright." Heika noted in the previous two seasons when the team "was run by lenders, much of the sales and management team left." Because of that, "the push to sell tickets fell flat." The Stars for the '11-12 season ranked 28th in average NHL attendance at 14,227. Even more "alarming was the fact the Stars announced four crowds of less than 10,000 early in the season -- including the smallest crowd to ever see the Stars play in Dallas, 6,306." But Gaglardi and Lites "have pushed sales back up and started distributing either complimentary tickets or good deals." The last nine games of the '11-12 season "all had announced attendance in excess of 16,600, and that included three sellouts." Gaglardi: "I have to give Jim Lites a lot of credit, because he's done a great job of stopping the negative momentum on the tickets and turning that around into some positive momentum. But even more important, he has really been in touch with the corporate community, and he has made huge strides there. I feel very good about that part of the organization" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 8/26).
