In his first season with the Stars, Ales Hemsky wasn’t scoring all that much. He ended the year with 11-21-32 in 76 games, and a lot of people were ready to be done with him. I personally expected Dallas to look to trade him.
Then came last year, and with it his chemistry with Faksa and Roussel. It might have been the Stars’ best line in a lot of their 13 playoff games, and after scoring a touch more (13-26-39), the Stars looked a lot more like a team that could use Hemsky well.
Then the World Cup happened, because the NHL knows that international tournaments are a great way to buoy their product in the eyes of the viewing public.