GLENDALE, Ariz. -- In August, a couple of months before the Stars' season began, Arlene Forbes told her son Kelly, Dallas' video coach, about three events she had circled on her calendar.

There was Opening Night in Dallas, when the Stars would host Arizona. There was a December visit to Vancouver, close to Forbes' hometown of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. And then there was the current two-game road trip through Nashville and Phoenix, when the Stars would hold the team's first moms trip.

Arlene had long lobbied for the moms trip to be added to the Stars' itinerary. The dads had their chances to travel with their sons, to live the NHL life and to again be a hockey parent at practices and games. It was time for the moms.

Arlene did not make the trip. She died of cancer in January, a few weeks shy of the trip she envisioned joining Kelly and the Stars on.

"We all wish she was here with us now, but she's here," Kelly said. "She's with us. I really do believe that."

To honor Arlene during the moms trip, the Stars are wearing decals on their helmets that featured a white "AF" on top of the Stars logo. Coaches, management, broadcasters and other staff members pinned white buttons on their suits that read "AEF" above a pink ribbon.

Everywhere the Stars went in Nashville, and everywhere they will go in Arizona, Arlene Elizabeth Forbes -- and tributes to her -- will follow.

"It means a lot," Kelly said. "This trip, she was looking forward to it. She had it circled on her calendar. It's special, she touched a lot of people over the years, and for the team, and the players and the organization to honor her, it means a lot to me and my family. I knew she was already here, [but] for them to put the stickers on, the buttons for us, it truly means a lot to us."

Arlene was a real estate agent in Nanaimo, part of the Forbes family profession in realty. Kelly's brother Scott and father Randy are also real estate agents, and Kelly joked that he was the "the only one who strayed" from the industry.

She made a few trips to Dallas a year, and forged a bond with Rebecca Nill, general manager Jim Nill's wife. Both women battled cancer, and "They got to know each other and had a relationship that way," Jim said. "She was a special person, a good person."

Kelly remembers his mother as an unfailingly positive person, and the most selfless person he ever met.

"She treated people the right way, not for any reason, just because that's the right thing to do," Kelly said. "It was genuine, her love of life, how she treated people, how she brought light to a room. Other people would come up to me, and say how much she brought light and happiness whenever she walked into a room. Just smiled, and said hi to everybody.

A Stars helmet is pictured with a decal honoring Arlene Forbes. (The Dallas Morning News / Matthew DeFranks)

"She lit up a room. She really did."

So when she pitched the idea of a moms trip to Nill, it was an easy sell.

"We'd have those [dads] trips," Nill said. "She'd be hearing about how much fun the dads had, so she'd come along and say, 'We'll get one of these mothers trips.' I said 'You're right, you do.' Unfortunately, she wasn't able to make this trip. She was really looking forward to this. Unfortunately, she couldn't do it. I know that she's there with us. She's been here the whole time."

In December, the Forbes family attended the Stars' game against the Canucks in Vancouver, painting a section green with Stars gear. The Stars trailed by a goal entering the third period, and coach Jim Montgomery asked the players to play for Arlene in the third period.

Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov scored to lift the Stars, and the team dedicated the victory to Arlene. After the game, the team awarded the postgame cowboy hat typically reserved for the player of the game to Kelly and Arlene.

"For her and the team to have that night in Vancouver," Kelly said, "I'll remember it forever because it was really special."

Nill said, "We had that big game in Vancouver, and the players wanted to make that a point that that was a game for her. Kelly is a big part of our team, and his mom, she was there fighting all the time. It's a special trip in her memory."

The trip includes 16 players' moms and five of other coaches and staff members. They went to dinner Wednesday night in Nashville, and watched morning skate and the game Thursday. Some arrived in America early to spend time with their son, before returning to Europe.

And they'll do it all in honor of Arlene.

"She showed me a lot," Kelly said. "She showed me you can have an impact just through love and kindness. I never heard a complaint from her. She touched so many people just through kindness."

Twitter: @MDeFranks