Central Divison has been Central Problem for the Dallas Stars
The Dallas Stars (32-28-10) are arguably in the most competitive division in the NHL, making it the most competitive division in the world. With that said they were supposed to be better. In fact, the Stars were supposed to be a lot of things this season.
The Central Division is made up of the Dallas Stars, St Louis Blues, Minnesota Wild, Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators, Colorado Avalanche and Winnipeg Jets. It is such an elite group that if the playoffs were to start today only the Stars, Avalanche, and Jets wouldn’t be embarking on a seven game series. (The Jets only sit one point out after the Los Angeles Kings’ win over the Arizona Coyotes last night.)
“We have to be better in the Central Division, that’s for sure.” – Lindy Ruff on 12/29/14 two days after the Stars earned their first divisional win of the season.
A large reason the Stars aren’t in the playoff picture is because Dallas has lost thirteen of the twenty five (5-13-7) games against divisional teams they’ve played this season, including a 3-0 shutout loss Sunday night. That means they lost or gave away thirty-three points total including seven in overtime or a shootout. With that said, the good news is that Dallas only has to face off against divisional opponents four more times this season.
But why has Dallas been so bad against teams within their division?
Talent
Teams don’t make it to the top of the Western Conference on a whim and the fact that four of the top five teams in the conference belong to the Central Division shows testament to that. When you’re competing with players to the likes of Chicago’s Jonathan Toews, Minnesota’s Ryan Suter, Nashville’s Pekka Rinne, St Louis’ Vladimir Tarasenko, Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog and Winnipeg’s Ondrej Pavalec it’s a challenge every game.
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Puck Prose
It’s not that the Stars aren’t talented in their own respects though; they’ve got immense skill in Tyler Seguin, Jason Spezza, Jamie Benn, and a plethora of other young guns at the forward position. The defense has even beefed up over this season with new regulars John Klingberg, Jyrki Jokipakka, and Patrik Nemeth and Kari Lehtonen is still an extremely talented goalie despite his less than impressive season. Dallas just hasn’t had all of their talent come together to form a collective effort night in and night out. Consistency is a tricky thing and it is especially challenging with a roster as young as Dallas’ and it has proven to be a factor in Dallas losses to divisional foes.
Scheduling
The schedule-makers were less than considerate of the Stars when making this years’ schedule. Dallas found themselves playing the Chicago Blackhawks at the Madhouse on Madison three times on the second end of back-to-backs, a preexisting issue for the Dallas Stars against any opponent, but the Hawks are a whole different kind of beast. While excuses have no place in professional sports, it really is shocking how unfortunate some scheduling situations the Stars have had to deal with this year against other teams in the Central Division.
Young Defenders
Dallas has nearly replaced the entirety of their defensive core over the last few seasons with only Trevor Daley and Alex Goligoski having been on the team for more than three seasons. Other than them the Stars have rotated between a number of twenty-something defensemen including Klingberg, Jokipakka, Nemeth, and Jamie Oleksiak. They also added Jason Demers in a trade with the Sharks earlier this year to round out the defensive changes. Other than goaltending, young defensemen have the hardest time adjusting to the pace of the NHL level and the Stars have dealt with that this season against divisional opponents.
Puck Luck
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Lastly there’s the go-to answer when things go wrong in hockey: puck luck. The number of times pucks have gone in Lehtonen’s net off of a Stars defenseman, or Dallas has lost players to injury this season have far surpassed what teams deal with in a normal season. The Stars were without Seguin for ten games; Valeri Nichushkin has only played four games all year, not to mention that every single defenseman other than Goligoski has missed a game due to injury this season. Again, injuries and unlucky bounces don’t justify Dallas’ disastrous play within their division this year, but it has definitely been a factor.
There you have it. Those are the top four reasons, in my opinion, why the Stars have faired so poorly against the Central Division.
What do you think is the number-one reason Dallas has had such an awful record against the teams in their division? Leave your thoughts in the comments and, as always, thanks for reading!
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- Dallas Stars look to continue success today against the Maple Leafs