Stars Cancel Watch Party for Game 3 vs. Kraken After Texas Mall Shooting

The Dallas Stars have canceled a watch party that was planned for Sunday night's Game 3 against the Seattle Kraken in the wake of Saturday's mass shooting at an outlet mall north of Dallas in which eight people were killed and at least seven others were injured.

According to ESPN, the Stars chose not to have the party outside the American Airlines Center "out of respect for the victims, families and community of Allen." Dallas had hosted watch parties for its previous road playoff games.

The plaza outside the team's home arena is less than 30 miles from Allen Premium Outlets, where the shooting occurred. The team's practice facility and offices in Frisco, Texas, are just 14 miles from the mall.

"It's really close to home, obviously, and just tragic," Stars head coach Pete DeBoer said after morning skate in Seattle. "Frankly, when you hear victims as young as five years old, you just, you get tired of hearing it. I think when you hear Sandy Hook and Parkland and Nashville, you know, unless it's in your backyard, you compartmentalize it and put it aside. And then when it happens in your backyard, you realize, you know, the horror of it."

DeBoer, who is in his first year as Dallas head coach, said his family shops at that mall, and some players do as well. He added that the team is "heartbroken" over the shooting and acknowledged that it was not easy to think about playing a game.

The Stars and Kraken are tied 1-1 in the second-round series heading into Sunday's Game 3.