Dallas Stars Road To Playoffs Finally Boasts Experience
By Josh Clark
The NHL regular season is strongly based on trial and error with team rosters and finding a group that gels and succeeds. But once the playoffs come around, it all rests on experience.
March is in the rearview mirror, and April is on the horizon. While some people are worried about the rains April brings and others are focused on the fact that is another month closer to school getting out, hockey fans are on the edge of their seats. The Stanley Cup Playoffs start in less than two weeks.
The Dallas Stars will have a hand in the postseason pot this year. After an entertaining and exhilarating push throughout the regular season, the Stars are on track for what looks like a potential run at the Cup. They claimed a playoff spot last week, and are now fighting for seeding to see who their potential first round opponent will be.
The first round opponent can make or break any playoff-bound team, and the Dallas Stars are no different. When they qualified for the playoffs back during the 2013-2014 season, the Stars were plotted against the Anaheim Ducks in the first round. As the final wild card team, Dallas had little chance of facing a non-powerhouse team.
The Ducks ended up handling the Stars in six games. Dallas did put up a valiant fight though, fighting back from down two games to none to evening the score at 2-2.
People like to blame the series loss on a vast number of things: an average defensive core, the slumping performance of Kari Lehtonen, or even the specific fact that the Stars did not capitalize on some prime opportunities in games one and two, both games that the Stars lost by only one goal.
But what it all boils down to is the fact that the Dallas Stars lost in the first round of the 2013-2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs because of their lack of experience when put up against that of the Ducks.
Back in 2014, the Stars were in the midst of a short-term rebuild, which was all set in place by new general manager Jim Nill. In one short offseason, Nill brought in Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverley, and Sergei Gonchar. He also drafted 18-year old rookie forward Valeri Nichushkin.
After narrowly missing the postseason in the lockout season of 2012-2013, no one quite knew what to think about the Stars in the year ahead. They ended up defeating all the doubters and clenching the final wild card spot in game 81 of the regular season.
What happens when you take a team that was recently put together using primarily young prospects? Well, postseason inexperience.
Going into the first round against the playoff-tested Anaheim Ducks, there was an obvious disadvantage. Only eight of the 19 players that started for the Dallas Stars in that series had ever played in an NHL playoff game before, and only three had lifted a Stanley Cup.
It showed in their play. While some of the rookies thrived and treated it like any other exhibition match, there were clearly signs of struggle in others. As a result, the Stars did not make it past the quarterfinals.
But this year is shaping up to be a much different story. The Dallas Stars will be carrying a much more experienced, much more lethal group into the postseason. Since the playoff exit, the Stars have tacked on names such as Jason Spezza, Patrick Sharp, Johnny Oduya, and Antti Niemi. These players have helped upgrade the Stars to the best offense in the NHL and a respectable defensive core and goaltending duo.
This season, things should be different. The Dallas Stars will waltz their way into the postseason with quite the playoff resume built into their roster. 16 of the 19 probable starters in game one of the postseason for the Stars will have already played in at least one playoff series. The only rookies that Dallas will be sporting will be John Klingberg, Stephen Johns, and either Radek Faksa or Mattias Janmark.
That’s quite the difference from the inexperienced group of 2014. Not to mention that the Stars added a couple more Cup-hoisters to their roster. Patrick Sharp has three, Johnny Oduya has two, and Antti Niemi has one.
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It’s definitely an intriguing bunch, and certainly one that could turn some heads.
The Dallas Stars have just four games left in their 2016 campaign, and it could end in them winning the Central Division. Their first round opponent has yet to be determined, but one thing is sure: they should be ready for them.
Next: Stars Put Exclamation Point On Wickedly Awesome March
It’s officially April, folks. This is the month that every dedicated NHL fan dreams of his or her team making it to and past. The Stars have completed the first leg of that vision, but will they keep going? They very well could, but that has yet to be determined. Buckle up, Stars fans. The postseason is almost here.