On Wednesday, Joe Nieuwendyk and Ralph Strangis were inducted into the Dallas Stars Hall of Fame.

The two are synonymous with this franchise, Nieuwendyk winning the Stanley Cup in 1999 and serving as a GM, and Strangis spending 25 years as the longest tenured play-by-play announcer in the team’s history. We talked a bunch about both on today’s DLLS show, including some stories from Craig Ludwig about his former teammate and good buddies, so check that out if you missed it.

But I also wanted to write a little story about Ralph Strangis, and more specifically, what he means to me and the Stars.

Growing up in New Jersey, I didn’t get to watch a lot of Stars games. Once I chose them as my favorite team around the millennium, I was mostly reading about their games or maybe seeing them in person once a year around the New York area.

Then, around the time I started middle school, came NHL radio. For multiple reasons, I was never able to get NHL Center Ice. It either wasn’t available yet, wasn’t available with our TV carrier, or was too expensive for my parents’ liking. Whatever the reason, I was left with NHL radio or nothing at all.

Let me set the scene for you a bit…

It’s 10:20 pm ET on a cold January Thursday night in Chatham, NJ, and I have just finished playing video games or doing homework (probably not). Maybe I am watching the end of the Rangers game or pretending to care about the Mets with my Dad. I go upstairs, put on my lucky Dallas Stars jersey — these ranged from Mike Modano, Mike Ribeiro, Marty Turco, and even Joel Lundqvist.

I walk downstairs into the kitchen, collect a few snacks and a big drink, and grab my Mom’s very comfortable reading chair. I drag that chair across the kitchen floor, no doubt leaving marks, and pull it up to my Mom’s computer just outside the living room. I log in to the NHL site, find the Stars vs San Jose Sharks game with a 10:38 puck drop (yes, Dallas was still in the Pacific Division), and click on the Dallas broadcast — this was NOT always available, by the way, so I often had to listen to home broadcasts and try to decipher when the Stars scored because of the nonchalant announcement.

For the next three plus hours, I sat in front of that computer, listening to Ralph Strangis and Daryl Reaugh break down the game. I would sometimes find NHL GameCenter, just so there would be something to look at, or other times I would scroll on Facebook or look up other scores and stories around the league. Just me and the voices of the Dallas Stars coming through some crappy old Logitech speakers.

It was simple, it was far from ideal. But guess what? I freakin’ loved it.

Sure, it would have been great to watch every game on a big screen TV. I absolutely would have enjoyed that more. But I made due. And because I was so limited, I both understood and followed the game even better.

I couldn’t see the play develop, so I had to listen closely to Ralph and Daryl, trying to visualize the way it happened in my head. It took my imagination to new heights, new places. I can’t imagine I am a writer today without that. It pushed me to ask more questions about the sport I loved and played every day. I began to draw up plays and tactics to use in my own game. I understood the strengths and weaknesses of the team because I wasn’t bombarded with ads and lights and colors all across my screen.

It was simple. And I loved it.

That was how I followed this team for years. When the playoffs came around, I got to watch a lot of the games on Versus or NBC. But in the dog days of the regular season, I was there, right in front of that computer listening to NHL radio.

The fact that I was up until 1:30 in the morning before an early hockey practice or school didn’t matter. I didn’t care that I was missing out on sleep. I didn’t care that I was not at the “parties” and hangouts with my friends on weekends. And somehow, my parents allowed me to do this.

And when NHL Center Ice finally became available, or I otherwise found ways to watch the games on TV, I was thankful and have always cherished those late nights with only the play-by-play, color, and my thoughts to keep me engaged.

So Ralph Strangis is important to me. Just like Daryl Reaugh and Mike Modano and Ed Belfour and Marty Turco. The list goes on. Just like all of the memories I have from these moments. And just like all of the people and moments since then will always be.

And I know I’m not alone. Stars fans around the world have their own stories. How they became a fan, the ways they took in games, and special moments with people around the organization. Many of these stories come back to people like Ralph.

I certainly never thought I’d have the chance to do a full interview with him like we did earlier this year at DLLS.

To the Dallas Stars, Ralph Strangis means the world. During that time of listening to games, the Stars had some wild and memorable moments.

From all of Modano’s milestones, to “Cinco de Morrow,” and many in between. I think of Turco putting on a show in the series loss to the Vancouver Canucks, Jamie Benn winning the Art Ross Trophy, or Rich Peverly’s horrific scare. All backed by the voice of Ralph Strangis.

So, a BIG-TIME congratulations to Ralph and Joe on this tremendous honor. It is well deserved, and I can’t wait to hear from them and many others at the Hall of Fame Gala on Nov. 16.