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Stars president: Zubov, Lehtinen jersey retirements ‘absolutely’ being considered

Dallas Stars v Philadelphia Flyers

Sergei Zubov

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The Dallas Stars hope their future is bright after adding Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky to a core of forwards that already included Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn. Stars President Jim Lites also wants to honor the past though and his efforts to do so might lead to the team retiring former defenseman Sergei Zubov and forward Jere Lehtinen’s jerseys.

“Nobody appreciates really the hard work that Sergei Zubov and Jere Lehtinen have done for this franchise,” Lites said, per the Dallas Morning News. “My own feeling is that we’re absolutely going to consider it.

“There’s always a commercial aspect to it. Franchises get accused of exploiting their players and that kind of thing. However it’s done it’s going to be done right. Those two guys were career Dallas Stars … They are the two most significant players that haven’t been put in the Hall of Fame yet, so I think we’re absolutely open to the possibility. But when I get asked the question I always say this: The two I hope to retire for sure are 91 and 14, because if we retire (Seguin’s) 91 and (Benn’s) 14 sometime in the future it’ll mean we’ve won Cups here.”

Lehtinen, who wore the No. 26, spent his full 875-game NHL career with the Stars and finished with 243 goals and 514 points. He won the Selke Trophy three times and was a member of the Stars during their 1999 championship run.

Zubov also won the Stanley Cup with the Stars in 1999 after winning his first championship with the Rangers in 1994. The former blueliner participated in 1,068 career games and wore No. 56 with the Stars in 839 of them. He finished his career with 152 goals and 771 points.

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