Texas Back in Control of Playoff Destiny, Hughes Named to AHL All-Star Team

(Credit: Andy Nietupski/Texas Stars)

A few news and notes today as Texas prepares for the final homestand of the regular season, not knowing where they will play their next game or against whom as of this moment.

Manitoba's loss is Texas' gain

The Moose lost to Chicago on Wednesday, which is good for Texas' seeding. However, they lost in the shootout, giving a free point and making it just a touch harder to get to #3 for Texas.

That being said, the Moose now have a maximum point total of 79 while Texas sits at 80 max. That means if Texas wins both games this weekend in any fashion, they cannot be caught and will play the Wolves in Round 1.

Any faltering this weekend reintroduces scoreboard watching for the Cedar Park squad.

Cameron Hughes earns AHL Second All-Star Team honors

Cameron Hughes is arguably one of two players you could select as the Texas Stars' season MVP (along with Remi Poirier). His gaudy point totals, especially since Thanksgiving, put him in the league's top four in scoring as of this writing. He might have even potted enough to get into second or third if he hadn't earned the callup to Dallas and scored his first NHL goal, an unforgettable memory.

The Stars have had some solid offensive contributors in franchise history. Hughes' season, which isn't done yet for the record, already ranks among the best of the best. He is currently tied for fourth with some guy named Travis Morin. Hughes' 66 points were accumulated in 63 games while it took Morin 76 to get there in 2011-12. Only Matěj Blümel (72 pts in 2024-25), Mavrik Bourque (77 pts in 2023-24) and Morin again (88 pts in 2013-14) sit above him. Two of those three also earned the league's MVP trophy.

Based on the numbers of the thing, Hughes is unlikely to earn the league's MVP award. Usually that goes to the leading scorer in the league (Jakob Pelletier of Syracuse) or an out of this world goalie (Michael DiPietro of Providence comes to mind). But Hughes is an MVP in Central Texas.

Curtis McKenzie named Texas' Man of the Year nominee yet again

One press release that flew by this week in the "of course" category was the selection of Curtis McKenzie as the Stars' nominee for the AHL's Man of the Year award. It's the fourth time McKenzie has been nominated in his career across all of his teams. He was the ultimate winner league-wide last season. The award is named after Yanick Dupré, a Flyers prospect who died after a battle with leukemia in 1997.

McKenzie and his wife are active in the charitable efforts for the Stars but special mention always goes to the Captain's Kids initiative that McKenzie spearheaded after home games. As we wrote last year when he won: "Two players join McKenzie postgame to do a private meet and greet with a child facing adversity, whether medical or otherwise. It has long been known that players actually clamor to do this postgame event and playfully argue with each other about who gets to do it."

Other notes

• As we reported earlier on X this week, Texas Stars D Vlaidslav Kolyachonok is out day-to-day with an injury. He has not played since the end of March.
• Texas training camp invitee Brendan Hoffman and Idaho Steelheads MVP was named to the ECHL's Second All-Star Team. Hoffman still sits fourth in the ECHL for scoring despite being on a PTO with the San Jose Barracuda since February.