“He’s just an awesome player, so good on both ends of the ice. So yeah, you don’t want to be without a guy like that,” Dallas Stars’ Wyatt Johnston said, and you could hear the weight in his voice. A few days back, Roope Hintz took a painful slash to the left leg during the third period of Game 2, and just like that, the energy inside American Airlines Center shifted. The Stars were already struggling, but when Hintz got helped off the ice, barely putting weight on that leg, every fan in the building knew this wasn’t just a minor hiccup.
Coach Pete DeBoer didn’t sugarcoat things postgame or the next morning either. “Just getting tests this morning… We’re waiting on those test results,” he told reporters Saturday, offering no promises but plenty of worry tucked between the lines. The play? It was reviewed for a major, but officials ruled it a two-minute minor instead. The Stars were already down 3-0 when Hintz left, and while he’d already tallied three shots and won 7 of 14 face-offs in just over 12 minutes, it was clear the team missed his presence. And now, Coach Pete DeBoer finally breaks his silence on Roope Hintz’s injury after the Stars took another brutal blow from the Oilers.
In a clip from SportsNet, the press was digging for updates on Roope Hintz, and one reporter hit Pete DeBoer with a double-barreled question: “How close was Roope, and what was the adjustment to that, and how did the adjustments affect you guys? Was he in the game tonight?” Pete didn’t sugarcoat it. He laid it down straight, saying, “Well, I mean, he tried to warm up, but, no, he wasn’t close. Or if he was close, he probably would have played. Well, adjustments, you’re without your number one centre, so, you know. But I thought our guys, I give our guys credit. They didn’t mail it in, they showed up and worked.” Basically, the Dallas Stars had to roll without their top center, and even though the lineup took a gut punch, the squad still showed heart and hustle.
Then another reporter circled back for clarity, asking, “You said at the beginning, I apologize, but on Roope, you said he was game time. He doesn’t play, is this day to day, or?” And then Dallas Stars’ coach dropped the status update we were all waiting on: “Yeah, I would call him day to day, yeah.” So for now, it’s a wait-and-hope kind of vibe in Dallas, with everyone crossing fingers that Hintz can lace up again soon and bring that two-way fire back to the ice.
“He wasn’t close.”
Peter DeBoer on Roope Hintz not playing in Game 3 and how the Stars responded. pic.twitter.com/9c7PjYduaO
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 25, 2025
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