Jamie Benn – 2014 Finals Game 7 Overtime Winner

Lore & Background

Benn was drafted by the Dallas Stars 129th overall in the 2007 NHL entry draft. He played his junior hockey career with the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He represented Canada at the 2009 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships, where he helped capture a gold medal. With Team Canada, he won a gold medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. In the 2014–15 season, Benn was awarded the Art Ross Trophy as the league's leader in points while also being the runner-up for the award the following season. The Stars went to the 2020 Stanley Cup Final under his leadership.

In Their Own Story

The overtime horn had barely died when the ice went quiet. You could hear the Zamboni's engine still ticking down in the tunnel, the muffled roar of twenty-two thousand people holding their breath in the stands above. Benn had the puck at centre ice. He didn't look up. He didn't look at the boards. He just carried, stick tight, weight low, the crowd noise swelling into a single hum. Two players closed on his left. He shifted his hips, kept the puck on his right wing, and the lane opened—just enough. The one-timer was not a slap shot. It was a tap, hard and low, threading the space where the goaltender's glove should have been. The net cord vibrated. For one full second, nobody moved. Then the glass exploded with noise, and Benn was already skating back, head down, as if he had merely completed a routine shift. The confetti hadn't started yet. It was still in the canisters. But the roar was already a physical thing, pressing against the ice, and somewhere in the third row a woman in a Stars jersey was screaming his name like she had known him all her life.

Reader's Guide

Benn made his NHL debut on October 3, 2009. He scored his first NHL goal on October 11, 2009. He was named the sixth captain of the Dallas Stars on September 19, 2013. He played his 1,000th NHL game on February 6, 2023. He is the second player to play all 1,000 games with the Stars, after Mike Modano.

Did You Know?

• Benn was drafted 129th overall in the 2007 NHL entry draft.
• He won the Art Ross Trophy in the 2014–15 season.
• He led the Stars to the 2020 Stanley Cup Final.
• He scored his 500th NHL assist on December 11, 2023.