Cedar Park Preps to Host Weekend of Training Camp, First NHL Preseason Game

(Credit: Texas Stars)

After the long, dark and unanticipatedly long summer, it's here.

Welcome back, hockey.

The ice is down, the nets are laced and the medical testing is underway today. The Dallas Stars come to town and will start training camp tomorrow morning at 9:45am. It's a short camp with only two on-ice days of three sessions each. 

The bonus for Cedar Park fans is that the H-E-B Center will host the first NHL preseason game in Central Texas on Sunday. It's going to be an interesting contest as the Arizona Coyotes have a game in Australia on the same "day". Therefore, the Coyotes will be sending a bit of a split-squad roster to Austin. It remains to be seen who they send but it seems unlikely that the biggest names will play on Sunday for Arizona. Apologies to Clayton Keller and Logan Cooley fans.

Every on-ice session is open to the public and free to access, but they do require tickets, which you can get on the Texas Stars website.

Here's the schedule:

Thursday

9:45 a.m.-10:45 a.m. - On-Ice Session 1
11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. - On-Ice Session 2
1:45 p.m.-2:45 p.m. - On-Ice Session 3

Friday

9:45 a.m.-10:45 a.m. - On-Ice Session 1
11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m. - On-Ice Session 2
1:45 p.m.-2:45 p.m. - On-Ice Session 3

Sunday

5 p.m. - NHL preseason vs. Arizona

On the roster, Dallas does a good job of including everyone from the start. Players who aren't on NHL contracts but will be important to the AHL team's success are on the training camp roster to ensure that the team has a cohesive feel from the top down. Curtis McKenzie is one of the most notable names. AHL players like Keaton Mastrodonato, Ben Zloty and Bryan Thomson are also included. There are also PTO players who may not end up anywhere in the organization like Jordie Benn, Christopher Gibson or Brandon Halverson.