Fort Worth family has next level love for hockey and Dallas Stars

The Ayala family of Fort Worth will be watching the Dallas Stars playoffs rinkside, from the comfort of their own home.

If the Ayala's Fort Worth home were ever to go up for sale, the listing would turn a few heads. That's because it includes an indoor hockey rink, just steps away from the formal dining room.

"Obviously, I'm a crazy fan," James Ayala said, laughing.

Ayala and his sons, Joshua and Jonathan, built the addition to their home in 2004, five years after the Dallas Stars' Stanley Cup win sparked their love for all things hockey and Dallas Stars. Ayala's wife, Tonie, had asked for a den to watch TV.

"James came to me and he said, 'OK, we're gonna do you a den but this is not gonna be a froo froo room; you cannot make it pretty,'" Tonie Ayala said. "I said OK, and he said 'And half of it is gonna be a hockey rink because we want a hockey rink.'"

"She claims she said TV room. I heard game room," Ayala said, laughing. "It changes into a dance floor. I've got better disco lights than most discos!"

The Dallas Stars are partially responsible for the renovation.

"That's what opened my eyes to what hockey was," Ayala's son, Jonathan Ayala, said. "I didn't know what hockey was until the Stars won the Cup."

The family has been waiting for the Stars to win it again ever since then.

"Oh God, well, we've been waiting 25 years," Ayala said. "That's a long time, so it would mean everything."

Everything for the Stars to win, because time feels different now for James Ayala.

"So we met with a surgeon. He sat us down and he said you have less than 6 months unless you find a donor," Ayala said, explaining the day he found out he had MDS, a type of bone marrow cancer. Ayala's son, Jonathan, was his bone marrow donor; their most important father/son project yet.

"Family needs help, you help your family," Jonathan Ayala said

"You only have one chance at this life," Ayala said. "Better make the best of it, 'cause you don't know if you're gonna make it the next day."

The Stars making the playoffs could not have come at a better time.

"It's given him focus and something to get excited about again," Tonie Ayala said of her husband.

"They are looking amazing! They have a real good chance this year," Ayala said of the Dallas Stars' chances. "It's still exciting to watch, but nothing beats going to a live game."

Nothing...except maybe playing a live game in your own hockey rink!