Dallas Stars Need A Serious Revamping Like Pittsburgh

The Dallas Stars are digging into their December slate and have yet to find their footing this season. What is it going to take to get them into shape before it’s too late?

One year ago today, the Dallas Stars were 19-5-2. That translates to 40 points.

That record was enough to solidify them as the best team in the Western Conference and hoist them to a mere one point behind the Montreal Canadiens for the title of best team in the NHL.

What has happened since then? The Dallas Stars are no longer the Dallas Stars that we used to know and love. This team is different. It’s got some positives to it and definitely has some negatives as well. Overall, it’s a whole new squad and there’s no trying to hide from it. It is what it is.

Currently, the Dallas Stars are 10-11-6 with 26 points. They are sixth place in the Central Division and eleventh in the Western Conference. They only rest two points out of the final wild card spot, but the three teams ahead of them all have multiple games in hand on Dallas.

To put things into perspective, the Stars are eleven points away from the top of the Central/West and only seven points from the bottom of the NHL.

It’s not looking pretty right now. Entering their home contest against the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night, the Stars were in a pretty motivating and encouraging spot, even though they were coming off of a four game road trip where they went 1/4. But the record wasn’t holding them down.

The Stars ended the road trip on a high note (literally) on Saturday night in the Mile High City by thumping the Colorado Avalanche 3-0. Their play was crisp, concise, and enthusiastic. There was a power play goal, depth scoring, shutdown defense, and solidity in the crease. Dare I say they looked like the old Dallas Stars?

And it wasn’t just that game. The Stars had played a phenomenal game in Detroit and, though to a lesser extent, against the Pittsburgh Penguins as well. They were simply outmatched in the two games by different factors, but it was clear that they gave it their all.

Three straight games of exciting and energetic play from the Stars led them to a two-game home stand starting with the Calgary Flames. So another win was in store, right?

Well, no. The Stars flopped on defense and went cold on offense. Though they still played a pretty determined game, the Flames grabbed the upper hand and would not budge. Dallas lost the game 2-1 and once again sank into the up-and-down routine of mediocrity that they’ve come to know so well this season.

So what to do now? It seems as though whenever Stars fans find a sliver of hope and capture it in their grasp, it’s immediately ripped from their clutches before they can even admire it. That isn’t a winning recipe. A winning recipe involves fans being able to not only admire the hope, but grow and nurture it until it’s overwhelmingly large.

The Stars’ current situation reminds me of a similar scenario that another NHL team faced last season. If you couldn’t tell from the title, I’m talking about the Pittsburgh Penguins.

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On December 19, 2015, the Penguins were in a horribly messy situation. They owned a record of 15-14-3 and were barely clutching onto a wild card spot in a loaded Metropolitan Division that was being overtaken by the Washington Capitals and the New York duo.

It was not looking good for a team that had seen so much prosperity in years past and added superstar Phil Kessel to the lineup during the 2015 offseason. Not to mention that they had just fired their head coach a week prior.

But then, it happened. What happened? Well that’s just it. There really was no specific thing that happened.

You could say it was the hiring of Mike Sullivan (though he started his coaching career off with a record of 0-4-0). You could say that the team simply turned a corner. You could even attribute it to the fact that the Penguins traded for Trevor Daley on December 14th (if you still have a weak spot for him).

But the Pens finished the year on a 33-12-5 streak. It was enough to lift them to second overall in their division and the Eastern Conference as a whole.

And then they went on to win 16 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Translation: Stanley Cup title. The Penguins somehow got it done and ended up running away with all the marbles.

The Dallas Stars could really use one of these revivals. And it can definitely happen. After all, the Penguins made it happen.

But that doesn’t mean that the Dallas Stars necessarily need to make coaching changes or add a big name defenseman (though the latter couldn’t hurt). But the Stars need some help in one form or another.

The rollercoaster continues to roll on and on, and the Stars have yet to find a way to keep things going up. If the Stars can hit their stride, get the offense back on track, continue seeing improvements on defense, and receive the same output from Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi, they should have no trouble finding this revamping.

Next: Stars Get Burned, Fall To Flames 2-1

The Penguins proved that it can happen and is possible, even this far into the season. So the Dallas Stars can do it. They just need to find the right assets and form the right chemistry. The only question is whether the Stars will ever reach this point. That remains to be seen.

Let’s see the Stars truly make this a December to Remember. Let’s see a revamp like Pittsburgh.