The Dallas Stars didn't have the ending to the season that they wanted. There is a little bit of relief for the franchise, though. The general manager of the Stars has won a big honor for the third consecutive year. Jim Nill has won the Jim Gregory Award for NHL General Manager of the Year.

Nill has guided the Stars to one of the best seasons in hockey this past year. Dallas made the Western Conference Final, before losing to the Edmonton Oilers.

“This might have my name on it, but it's got every one of your names on it,” Nill said to his staff in a speech after winning the honor, per NHL.com. “To be able to share this with you guys, it's special. I'm humbled by it. There's so many great people in our business that are deserving of this also and to have the staff here, to have my family here, that is super special.”

Nill was surprised with the honor while attending an event at the NHL Draft. He is now the first person to win the award three times.

“You can tell by Jim's face how surprised he was, emotional,” Stars assistant general manager Mark Janko said. “He's excited he won it for three years in a row, [but] he's more excited that he gets to see his wife and three children in that environment and share with them. I think that was really cool.”

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The Stars general manager also nearly won the award in 2016, and 2020. He finished third in voting during those years.

The Stars are close to making a Stanley Cup Final

Nill has made some moves to get Dallas as close as you can get to the Stanley Cup Final. This season, the general manager brought in Mikko Rantanen, Cody Ceci and Mikael Granlund.

All three of those players made significant contributions to the club in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year. Stars fans hope that Nill can continue to build the roster this offseason, to help the team win that championship.

The Stars have one Stanley Cup title, won in 1999.