Dallas Stars

American Airlines Center holds about 18,532 for hockey and sits in Victory Park, which has developed into one of the better sports neighborhoods in Dallas over the last two decades. The Stars won the Stanley Cup in 1999 on Brett Hull's controversial overtime goal in Game 6 against the Buffalo Sabres - the goal stood despite Hull's skate being in the crease, a play that the league allowed under a rule that was quietly changed the following season. Dallas celebrates it. Buffalo still doesn't.

Victory Park along Olive Street has multiple restaurants and bars built for the game-night crowd. Uptown Dallas north of the arena along McKinney Avenue and Cedar Springs Road has a higher density of dining and nightlife options if you want to extend the evening or arrive early. The DART light rail Victory station is directly adjacent to the building, which matters in a city where driving in from the suburbs is otherwise the default. The Dallas Stars have remained competitive in the Central Division and playoff runs here generate genuine energy in a market that wasn't sure it would embrace NHL hockey when the franchise relocated from Minnesota in 1993.

Texas hockey culture exists now in a way it didn't 30 years ago. The Stars have had deep playoff runs in recent years and the building gets loud for big home games. It's worth experiencing.

Find Stars tickets through Evil Tickets and see what's on the American Airlines Center schedule this season.