Team Marketing releases a "Fan Cost Index" for the major sports leagues in the United States ever year, NHL included, and this year the Dallas Stars come in as the cheapest hockey experience in the league at #30.

The ranking is based on a "fan cost index" of their own invention that takes into account how much it would cost to bring a family of four to a hockey game, park, and stuff their faces full of hot dogs and beer and whatnot. However, glancing at the .PDF, you can see that the Dallas Stars would be the best value in the league based solely on the fact that they have the lowest average ticket price.

And people still belly-ache around here about it being too expensive. We don't know how good we've got it sometimes. Season ticket prices are well below this average cost for many seats (my seats) and I skip the hot dogs on most occasions so I'd say they're over-shooting it a little bit with this estimate.

They also factor in $20.00 for parking, which is too much. You can park for as little as $5.00 (if you want to walk) but most places for $10 or $15.

Either way it's a testament to how affordable going to a Stars game is, especially in comparison to the rest of the league. (Can someone explain why the Florida Panthers are so high on this list?)

The Stars were 24th last season and have lowered their average ticket price from last season's $35.66 to this season's $29.78. (And with the new buy one get one free promotion in November it's much cheaper than that.)

Here are the .PDF's from the last several years to compare:

2008-2009

2009-2010

2010-2011

Now if we could just get a few more goals at home... But we'll talk about that later. We all wish the Stars would have wildly successful seasons, but look what it does to ticket costs: The Capitals raised their prices 24%!

Puck Daddy did a Beer Cost Index from this PDF, calculating the cost per ounce. The Stars come out looking pretty good there as well.