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Dallas Stars Embarrassed By National Broadcast Schedule

By Josh Clark

Feb 10, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; The mask of Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen (32) rests on the ice during the national anthem prior to a game against the Boston Bruins at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 10, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; The mask of Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen (32) rests on the ice during the national anthem prior to a game against the Boston Bruins at TD Banknorth Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports /
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NBC released its national broadcast schedule yesterday for the 2016-17 NHL regular season. The Dallas Stars once again find themselves on the short end of the stick.

It’s not fair being a professional hockey team in Texas.

Yesterday, NBC released it’s national broadcasting schedule for the 2016-17 NHL regular season, including both NBC and the NBC Sports Network’s schedules for the year.

Maybe it’s the location of the team. Maybe it has to do with the following the Dallas Stars amass. We know that it can no longer be blamed on the basis of the team’s performance from the year before. Whatever it is, the Stars continue to apparently come up short of the network’s standards.

The Dallas Stars will appear on NBC Sports Network just three times this coming season, as well as once on NBC. Here is their national broadcasting slate for the coming year:

NBC – Sunday, February 26 vs. Boston 11:30 a.m. CT

NBCSN – Monday, March 6 @ Washington 6:30 p.m. CT (originally scheduled for 6:00 p.m.)

NBCSN – Thursday, March 30 @ Boston 6:30 p.m. CT (originally scheduled for 6:00 p.m.)

NBCSN – Thursday, April 6 vs. Nashville 7:00 p.m. CT (originally scheduled for 7:30 p.m.)

This compares to last season when the Stars never made it to NBC and were featured on NBCSN three times. So only a one game difference between the two seasons.

From the standpoint of the Dallas Stars community, that’s absurd. We’re talking about the Central Division and regular season Western Conference champions here. It’s not like we’re talking about a team that has not made the Stanley Cup Playoffs in half a decade. We are talking about a team that accumulated 50 wins and 109 points last season.

Not only that, but we are talking about a team that drove to the second round of the postseason and fell in a hard-fought, seven game bout.

So why not give them a little time in the spotlight? After all, they have been deemed by not just fans, but also analysts and commentators as “the most exciting team in hockey.” Their offense is electric (and the best in the league), their defense can surprise on a regular basis, and their goaltending tandem knows how to make some dazzling saves.

Yet, the Dallas Stars will spend another season primarily sitting on the local broadcasting of Fox Sports Southwest. This is not the worst possible scenario, considering the Stars’ broadcasting team of Dave Strader and Daryl “Razor” Reaugh always put on a good show (and actually know the names of the Stars players).

But when you take a look at the other teams in the Central and their national broadcasting schedules, there is a SHARP (haha Patrick Sharp) disadvantage.

In terms of NBC and NBCSN, the Chicago Blackhawks lead the Central with 21 different appearances. That’s 21 out of 82 games that they will play on national television (25.6 percent of the regular season in the spotlight). This is for a team that finished third in the division and was a first-round exit in the playoffs last season.

Following Chicago is the St. Louis Blues with 12 features. The Minnesota Wild (who the Stars dropped like a bad habit in the first round) will also find themselves going national a dozen times in 2016-17.

The Colorado Avalanche will even be featured in the national spotlight nine times this coming season. This is the team that has finished seventh (14-15) and sixth (15-16) in the Central the past two years.

Dallas follows in fifth place of the seven teams in the division with their four appearances. Nashville logs in at sixth with just two, and Winnipeg rounds out the division with no national appearances this year.

That’s outrageous. It’s one thing to specifically pick and choose which teams you broadcast based on following. But when you have a team that literally draws eyeballs to the TV like a magnet because of their fast pace and exciting action, it’s amazing to see them passed up so consistently.

The Dallas Stars have done some wonderful things over the past few years, going from a team stuck in a multi-year playoff drought to a team championing over the toughest division in hockey. That’s not an easy thing to do, especially in three short years.

As Stars fans continue to quarrel and push NBC for some fair treatment, the Dallas Stars will just have to continue digging in and pushing forward. While it may not be fair, NBC is doing this because of the recent past. The Blackhawks have practically run the NHL for the past six years, so why not put them in the spotlight where plenty are bound to tune in?

must read: Dallas Stars' Team Breakdown: Position By Position

The Stars will need to continue their fight, getting their name in the headlines on a regular basis and continuing to raise banners into the rafters (maybe even some Stanley Cup ones) with each passing year. That’s the only way they will get consistent national attention.

Dallas is a growing hockey market, and one that could see significant growth over the next few years based on recent performance. That will lead to more following, and of course more exposure on the national level.

Next: Dog Days Of Summer Up Next For Stars

These Dallas Stars seem to be up for the task. It’s going to be a long fight, but the Stars could quickly move their way back into the national spotlight. All it takes is a little production, after all. That shouldn’t be too difficult, right?

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