Stars owner Gaglardi on playoff appearance: 'It's just all coming together'

This year the Dallas Stars made the postseason for the first time since 2008, and for the first time since Vancouver-based businessman and would-be Canucks buyer Tom Gaglardi bought the club in 2011. 

As the club clinched a postseason berth the jumbotron flashed an image of Gaglardi who was serenaded with raucous applause by the fans at the American Airlines Center. "It was a special moment, because I know how important it is to make the playoffs, and the fans know that too," Gaglardi told Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News this weekend. 

"That’s the first step, and you want to take it as soon as possible, because everything gets accelerated after that," continued the Stars owner. "If you look on the ice, off the ice, it’s just all coming together. You go into something like this thinking you can change things and make a difference, but to see it happen is very satisfying. We have a long way to go, but we made some huge steps this year."

Competitively speaking the Stars improved by leaps and bounds this past season, and with an extraordinary talented young core - their top-line featured Tyler Seguin (22), Jamie Benn (24) and Valeri Nichushkin (18) - it certainly looks like the club can sustain that improvement.

The hope has to be that increased on-ice success can help fill the building in Dallas. While the Stars were among the league's most exciting young teams, only the Phoenix Coyotes had more trouble filling their building this past season per ESPN.com.