For life: Bob Gainey and Derian Hatcher's friendship stands test of time

Bob Gainey and Derian Hatcher have sort of been linked since they first came together with the Minnesota North Stars.
In his second season as head coach, Gainey decided the 19-year-old Hatcher was ready to start his NHL career. Then, after a move to Dallas, Gainey selected Hatcher to be team captain at age 23. That was part of the journey to the 1999 Stanley Cup and an interesting coincidence in the two being the
franchise's first two members
in the newly formed Hall of Fame.

"It's perfect, really," said Stars Chairman Jim Lites, who served as team president at the time. "I really think those two formed a lot of the personality of who we were back then, and they obviously are a great start for the Hall of Fame."
Hatcher said, he too feels the timing is good.
"I think it's great that I'm going in with Bob," Hatcher said. "He was my first coach, first GM, made me captain. I just think we agreed on a lot of things and got along really well."
Gainey won five Stanley Cups with Montreal and brough the Canadiens' way of hockey with him to Dallas, and Hatcher was the perfect player to help implement a strong defensive game that included physical play. He also was the strong, silent type like his mentor.
"I just felt he was ready for it," Gainey said of naming Hatcher captain in 1995. "He understood the personalities in the room, and he could talk to all of them, the physical players, the skilled players, the players who offered support. He definitely grew into the role."
Hatcher said he was surprised by the decision and the process. He said Gainey never told him he was captain, that he simply walked into the dressing room before a game and the "C" was on his jersey. He said he had to adjust to it all, but took things in stride.
"I really just wanted to play my best every game, and that's what I did there," he said. "You just focus on what you have to do, and the rest seems to take care of itself."
Hatcher would go on to have a stellar run with the Stars, providing physical play and big minutes and helping the team win six division championships before he was allowed to leave as a free agent in 2003. Along the way, Dallas won 11 rounds in the playoffs, got to the Stanley Cup Final twice and won the 1999 Cup.
"It's funny, I look back now, and I really wish we would've won more," said Hatcher, who is a co-owner and part of the management team with the OHL's Sarnia Sting. "I think we were that good. But you do your best, and you have to be happy with that. It's a process, and if you look at teams now, Colorado, Tampa Bay, you have to grow and learn. We won a lot of hockey games."
Gainey was a big reason for that. He was named coach of the Minnesota North Stars in 1990 and became GM in 1992. He played a huge role in helping the team move from Minnesota to Dallas in 1993, and then helped fashion the progress that included a new president in Jim Lites, and eventually, a new owner in Tom Hicks.
"I think when you look back, the people are what you remember the most," Gainey said. "We were all pulling the rope at the same time, and that helped create some great results."
Lites said Gainey made it easy to organize a line of authority.
"Bob was so good in that he'd been in Montreal and wanted to do things like Montreal, and that meant that he dealt with me and I communicated to the owner, and that really worked out well for us," Lites said. "I have so much respect for him, and it was simply keeping the lines of communication open to what he wanted to do. He created a great environment for everyone."
Gainey said the move helped bring people together and that the process of becoming a part of the Texas sports culture was refreshing.
"We got it from the community initially," he said. "They loved the game, and that was important. Over time, it became a nice exchange of them giving us energy and us in turn giving them a good product on the ice. There was a nice synergy there. It had a really big imprint on me, coming there and needing to put something together, something new."
Hatcher said he also enjoyed the process. By the time the team won the Stanley Cup, there was a bond that would never be broken. The Stars never went to sleep after winning in the wee hours in Buffalo. They flew back to Dallas and because Hatcher was the captain, he was able to bring the Cup home and celebrate with his kids.
It was Father's Day.
"I love Bob," Hatcher said. "I loved the way he coached, he was the best coach I ever had, I loved the way he ran the team. He was always calm, and I think that worked well with me. We both knew we had a job to do, and we just went out and did it."
The fact that they'll be honored on Oct. 29 as the inaugural inductees to Dallas Stars Hall of Fame makes it a pretty neat thing.
"It's a huge honor," Gainey said. "For both of us."
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.