Dallas Stars Center Devin Shore Sees Wild Year Wind Down
The professional hockey career of Dallas Stars forward Devin Shore has been unusual to say the least, but like each opportunity he has gotten, he earned every bit of it.
On December 27th, 2015, the Dallas Stars announced that AHL center Devin Shore had been shut down for the remainder of the season due to a shoulder surgery he underwent before Christmas Day of that year.
The surgery was in response to an injury that occurred when the former University of Maine captain was upended by Charlotte Checkers defenseman Ryan Murphy while playing in Cedar Park on December 11th. The hit earned Murphy a three-game suspension, but knocked Shore out for the final 48.
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Oh, and one more thing, when he got hurt, he was the AHL-leader in goals with 15 in just 23 games – including a hat trick in October against Rockford – in addition to 11 helpers. “It’s unfortunate,” according to Scott White, the general manager of the Texas Stars, speaking for every Stars fan when he stated such. “It’s disappointing, but that is hockey sometimes.”
Watching the NHL club capture a memorable Central Division championship, and their farm team clinching a berth in the Calder Cup Playoffs, Devin Shore sat and waited until training camp for not only a chance to earn a spot on the Dallas Stars roster, but to simply step out on the ice once more.
Did he ever.
While being aided by several ailments on the Dallas Stars frontline, the Ajax, Ontario native carried an impressive training camp to the American Airlines Center as a true NHLer, solidifying a spot on the Dallas Stars for opening night.
The second-round selection in the 2012 Draft gained a primary assist on the second-period goal by Lauri Korpikoski, which became his first career NHL point, as the Stars downed the Anahiem Ducks 4-2 on October 13th.
Shore, at one point, had scored the past three Stars’ goals, highlighted by a two-goal performance on the road in Philadelphia, followed by a gritty, hard-working marker at Chicago. Shore’s line of himself in-between Curtis McKenzie and Adam Cracknell proved very effective in that particular stretch of contests.
With 13 points (five goals, eight assists) this season, one spent predominantly as Dallas’s fourth-line center, Devin Shore has done the best possible job at rebounding from a severe injury. In a year dominated by NHL newcomers like Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid, and Patrik Laine, Shore has stepped into the realm of rookies and made his name known with reliability and toughness.
