'They've been rock stars': Teamwork makes the dream work at IIHF U18s

The Dallas Stars organization has a history of making visions come true.
When President and CEO Brad Alberts sat in the middle of the Cotton Bowl and dreamed there could be a hockey game in a football stadium in Dallas, the organization teamed with the NHL and worked hard to create the 2020 Winter Classic.

When amateur sports and international hockey liaison Lucas Reid heard USA Hockey might want to move the 2021 IIHF Men's Under-18 Hockey Championship from Michigan because of COVID concerns, an intense amount of teamwork was again summoned.
As a result, the 10-team tournament finished up Thursday with Canada winning the gold medal at Comerica Center in Frisco. The fortnight of ice was split between Frisco and Plano, and more than 20,000 fans attended the tournament. It was a fantastic display of cooperation in fulfilling the vision that Reid proposed.

Click here for photos, highlights and results from the 2021 IIHF U18 World Championship
"It's been a ton of challenges, but to be successful, we have to have great teammates," said Pat Kelleher, executive director for USA Hockey. "The IIHF, USA Hockey and the Dallas Stars have been exceptional teammates to one another throughout this experience. Starting from January when we decided to move here, the Stars as our hosts on the ground have done an amazing job in the run-up. And during the event, they've been rock stars."
The calendar was a bit crammed. Plymouth and Ann Arbor were scheduled to host the tournament in April, but when the COVID restrictions became a concern in Michigan, USA Hockey had to look at other options. Reid, who works with USA Hockey for youth tournaments in the area, suggested a move to Texas, and all bodies got onboard when the move was announced Feb. 13.
The Stars have several top-of-the-line suburban rinks, including Comerica Center, which lists attendance at 3,500. That means they could handle all of the games and give a suitable stage for the big ones. The area also has plenty of hotels for teams, officials and scouts, and the travel into Dallas/Fort Worth is convenient. Within a few weeks, the wheels were turning.

Reid worked with Damon Boettcher, senior vice president in charge of StarCenter facilities, along with Keith Andresen and Dan Morris, who run the Frisco and Plano rinks, and preparations began in earnest. The fortunate thing for the crew was that preparations really began months earlier when the COVID shutdown began.
"What made it easy for us is we spent so much time when we were closed down trying to figure everything out," Boettcher said of the plan to reopen after the shutdown last March. "We tried to write protocols and understand what would be needed, and just prepare ourselves for when we could be open. We kept working the whole time, so I think that was the thing that helped put us ahead because we'd already started working as a team and putting our plan in place."
Dallas already had structured plans for fans at American Airlines Center - both for watch parties when the Stars were in the playoff bubble last season and for live NHL games this season. That made a huge difference when ticket plans were being drawn up for the Under-18s.

"We have a big building and our ticket sales staff has been through a few rehearsals with American Airlines Center, so we were able to keep the same pod setup, and it ran very smoothly," Boettcher said. "We were able to put together our plan pretty quickly, and I do think all of the experience helped."
Of course, that took a couple of things off the to-do list, but what about getting 10 teams in and out of the building, cleaning their dressing rooms, keeping the benches and the stands and the hallways all clean? A team of employees and volunteers worked tirelessly to make sure everything was safe, and officials didn't report one positive COVID test during the entire event.

"With the pandemic, you're bringing in testing, you're bring in mask-wearing, you're bringing in social distancing and you're not bringing in as many volunteers to help," Kelleher said of a normal IIHF tournament. "We're relying on fewer people to do the same amount of work because we couldn't introduce more volunteers into our controlled environment. This is a 10-team tournament and there are a ton of moving parts, but everything has worked very well."
The host country takes on a lot of weight when it agrees to hold these events, so there was some pressure on USA Hockey with the move. But Kelleher said there also is a lot of responsibility felt by the entire hockey community.
"We all compete like heck on the ice, we all want to win when we get out there," Kelleher said. "But everybody respects one another and the job that has to be done to put on an event like this."
Fact is, this is only the third time the United States has hosted the Under-18 Men's World Championship (Fargo and Moorehead in 2009 and Grand Forks in 2016) since it began in 1999. That means that USA Hockey is filling a very important role here.
"We want to be gracious hosts, because we send teams all over the world to events, and we know how important it is when we go to those events," Kelleher said. "We want everyone here to have a great experience. We're a hockey family, and we want every country to have a great time."
The Stars definitely helped make that happen. They left a tremendous impression on 250 players, hundreds of officials and scouts, and a lot of fans in North Texas. It was just one more chance to spread the good word of hockey throughout the area.

"We have to be big here, we do," Alberts said. "If we're going to accomplish the things we want here, we have to be big. We have to think big, we have to act big, we have to operate big. Everything we do has to be big. Ultimately, that's what will reap rewards. We can't just blend into the fabric of the Southwest or blend into the NHL or blend into the City of Dallas. We'll get lost that way, and we can't do that."
Hosting this event, the Stars were big again - just as they were in hosting the NHL Draft, just as they were in hosting the Winter Classic and just as they were in getting to the Stanley Cup Final last season. It was another great sign of helping make a vision come true.
Of course, as Team Canada players stood on the ice in Frisco and collected their gold medals Thursday night, it was clear the Stars organization, USA Hockey and the IIHF helped make some dreams come true, as well.
"We worked so hard to make sure we hosted this tournament, and the first reason was for the players," Kelleher said. "There's 250 players here and it's a once-in-a-lifetime chance for some of them. They've missed out on a lot this year. We didn't want them to miss out on this."
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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, and listen to his podcast.