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Dallas Stars Watch as Fellow Teams Clinch Playoff Berths

By Allison Scott

Jan 14, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars left wing Jamie Benn (14) and his teammates leave the ice after the loss to the Minnesota Wild at the American Airlines Center. The Wild defeated the Stars 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 14, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars left wing Jamie Benn (14) and his teammates leave the ice after the loss to the Minnesota Wild at the American Airlines Center. The Wild defeated the Stars 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Stanley Cup Playoffs are just around the corner and the Dallas Stars are not going to be one of the 16 teams invited. Spoiler alert: it’s not going to be a fun time.

It is hard enough when the season does not go as planned. It becomes even more difficult, however, when opposing teams begin to clinch the highly coveted playoff berth status while the Dallas Stars sit on the sidelines.

Dallas had high expectations going into this season. They were expected to do a lot and be true competitors for the Stanley Cup. As we all know, things do not always go as planned and sometimes they go the exact opposite of the plan.

For that, and a few other reasons, the Stars sitting by as teams being to clinch postseason berths stings just a little more.

High Expectations

Dallas won the Western Conference in the regular season last year. They were Central Division Champions. They won a playoff series in the first round and fell to the St. Louis Blues in seven games in the second.

While their postseason in 2016 was not what they hoped, they made a statement that surely left its mark on the NHL. They also created a level of expectation in regards to how they would do this season and they, obviously, were exceptionally underwhelming in that regard.

Dallas Stars
Dallas Stars /

Dallas Stars

The Stars were supposed to be competitive for the Cup. Making the playoffs was not supposed to be a goal but an expectation. As the season progressed, though, it became a more and more distant thought.

Dallas kept waiting for the switch to flip and the Stars to get it together, it just never happened. Even now the team is disheveled and struggling with low confidence. They are frustrated that they underperformed severely and that they lost some quality players because of it.

This is a team that is confused and annoyed, but mostly disappointed. While there is very little they can do to improve this season in any sort of significant manner, their ability to look more like a team of late has been encouraging. Hopefully it can translate to motivation for the 2016-17 campaign.

Back to Reality

Up until mathematics eliminate teams from the postseason, there is still hope. However, for one team to clinch it means that another has to have zero mathematical chance to make it in. Even if they were to win every remaining game of their season and earn two points in each, they still would not have enough.

That is a pretty harsh way of looking at things, but it also goes to show how effective teams have been. The regular season is winding down and it is time for playoff teams to shift their focus to winning series in a few short weeks.

Next: Dallas Stars Never Rebounded from Game Seven Loss

For non-playoff teams, they have to diagnose what exactly went wrong. Dallas falls into the group of hopeful teams that just could not get the job done. They have yet to be mathematically eliminated, but that day will come in time.

And when it does, it will sting the Stars rather hard.

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