Dallas Stars’ 2014-2015 Regular Season Schedule Analysis
By Josh Clark
Happy Monday (if they even can be considered “happy”)!
I hope you all spent your Sunday well like me, looking through the recently released Dallas Stars’ 2014-2015 regular season schedule, marking down which games you are looking forward to the most and which games you will be buying tickets to as soon as they are released. But I also spent the night thinking about key topics and facts as well as dates that I could share with y’all to help keep you in the loo. Here is a link to the Stars schedule and a list of what you will definitely want to know before October 9th shows up.
So, now that you’ve seen the schedule, here are a few key things you’ll want to know:
Josh’s Keys To The Season:
First off, the Dallas Stars begin their season on October 9th at the American Airlines Center in Dallas against one of their division rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks, which is followed by a 3 game road trip in which the Stars will meet up with another division rival the Nashville Predators, as well as the Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins.
Second, you should know that out of the Stars’ 82 regular season games, they play a division opponent 29 times. Considering this is an odd number, the Stars drew the short straw and will only play 14 home games in addition to 15 away games against division rivals. The Stars will face a 2 home/3 away series against the Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, and Colorado Avalanche. They will also pull off a 3 home/2 away series against the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild, along with a 2 home/2 away with the Winnipeg Jets.
The Stars will visit every NHL team’s arena at least once this season, with the same going for every other team in regards to the AAC. They will play 32 games against the 16 Eastern Conference teams, being 1 home/1 away for each team. The Stars will play 21 games against non-division Western Conference teams, being 3 games a piece for each of the 7 teams, with a mix of 2 home/1 away and 1 home/2 away depending on which team.
The Stars longest road trip will take place from March 5th to March 13th, including a 5 game streak away from the AAC. They will take on the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes, and Washington Capitals. Sadly for the younger ones, this will be Spring Break week, so no Stars’ games during the holiday.
The Stars longest homestand will take place from November 18th to November 28th, including a 5 game streak at the AAC. They will take on the Carolina Hurricanes, the then Arizona Coyotes, the Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings, the Edmonton Oilers, and the Minnesota Wild. Good news for younger ones, this will for the most part take place during Thanksgiving break!
The Stars date counts for home games are as follows: Monday – 3, Tuesday – 12, Wednesday – 1, Thursday – 7, Friday – 5, Saturday – 11, Sunday – 2.
The Dallas Stars schedule will concludes at the AAC against division rival the Nashville Predators on April 11th.
Now here are some key games you might want to make sure you get tickets to or at least watch:
Josh’s Key Games:
October 9th: Of course this is a key game. The Stars home and season opener to start off their potential Cup run year. This will be a difficult opponent that the Stars have recently ignited a rivalry with in the new division alignment. This will be the game that proves whether the Stars are ready to run with the big dogs or not in the upcoming season. And Chicago has made it a tradition to pack the AAC and outnumber the Stars fans drastically. Let’s change that, please. Our boys are opening at home, not on the road, and we don’t want them to feel like they are in any way.
October 31st: Halloween night, and I’m gonna have to skip trick or treating to see this game. The Stars will meet up with the Anaheim Ducks at the AAC for the first time since April 27th, when the Ducks so nonchalantly kicked the Stars Cup hopes into the gutter. It will be a night filled with fright and violence, along with a side dish of hopeful revenge. This will be a key game to watch and hopefully a joyous one to end the month with it.
November 4th: The Stanley Cuppers are waltzing into the AAC, and we want to drown them out. The Stars won the series against LA last season, going 2-1-0 against the Kings. This will be a big game, especially to see former Pacific division rivals go at it, hopefully settling with the Stars knocking off the defending champs. Looking for a packed house, even though it’s a Tuesday night.
Thanksgiving break:This is irrelevant. There are a total of 3 games at home during this break, so grab the family and make an evening out of it.
February 10th: This will be one you have to watch from your TV’s, unless you live in MA. The Stars will return to TD Garden for the first time since their heart-clenching victory in front of an unhappy Boston crowd watching two of their former players pick apart their Vezina-caliber goalie. Expect Bruins’ fans to pack the arena and have their voices warmed up to welcome home Tyler Seguin and Rich Peverley, assuming they are both still a part of the Stars’ organization.
February 21st: Detroit. One of the Stars top rivalries since the franchise started, and they will meet at the AAC once this season, being February 21st. This game is always heated and Red Wings fans tend to pack the house (I wonder why so many live in Texas and not Michigan? Oh, right). But Stars fans need to turn the tables and crush the Wings in front of their home crowd for the first time in over 3 seasons.
March 19th: Come on, people. It’s Pittsburgh. Last season, this game sold out and the Stars’ put on an electric performance and shut out Crosby and his misfits, 3-0. Expect a similar turnout and hopefully similar result this coming season. Make sure you look for these tickets and snatch yours before the prices skyrocket.
Those are just a few of the major dates you need to mark in your calendar, there are plenty more, trust me. Just take a look at the schedule and figure it out yourself.
As you can see now that the schedule is out, I’m VERY excited for next season, as I’m sure you are too. It will be a great season and I cannot wait to see what happens!
Comments below and a big old, Texas-sized GO STARS!