It is not a good time right now for Stars Nation. After two straight seasons of being a playoff team, Dallas will not be participating in the fight for Lord Stanley’s Cup. Quite a turnaround from the previous two seasons where they were bested by the last two champs in the St. Louis Blues, and the Tampa Bay Lightning. However, there is reason for optimism for the team.
Injuries were without question the biggest problem with the Stars this year. It was a bravely fought effort from the guys to try to clinch a playoff spot. The cold hard reality is that on most nights, the team wasn’t an NHL roster.
Photo credit: Charles Rex Arbogast/AP
The schedule was another big reason the Dallas Stars missed the playoffs. After February twenty seventh, the Stars had no back to back days off. Games were every other day, or back to back from then until their season finale on May tenth at the Chicago Blackhawks. Which was capped off with a W on the second game of the back to back. Thanks to rookie sensation; Jason Robertson.
There will be some kind of personnel changes this upcoming year. Same as with any NHL team. No team is going to be 100% the same as the season before. Especially with the upcoming expansion draft to introduce the NHL’s thirty second franchise; the Seattle Kraken.
Team play was not always perfect this season. Even with this past injury riddled season, the Stars want to clean up the turnovers. Regardless of who is on the ice. To be fair a more stable schedule will certainly help. But there’s always room for a team with playoff, and Stanley Cup aspirations to improve.
Stars’ head coach Rick Bowness chimed in on his 2021 team just before the last game of the season, and shows year after year that he’s a player’s coach. There certainly was alot to be proud of. The Stars played hard all year, and even finished an insane, and largely a forgettable year now with extra time to get back to full health.
Featured photo: Jeffrey McWhorter/AP
