It’s quite hard to believe that we have already kicked off the
2014
2015 (it will take some time) year, and that one day has almost already disappeared!
The Dallas Stars have experienced an emotional year, filled with tears, chuckles, exasperating sighs, and joyous cries. Throughout 2014, we have seen this team do many good along with a few not so good things.
One of those not so good things was the birth of the New Year from their perspective. January 2014 may very well have been one of the worst Dallas Stars month-by-month showings ever.
As the clock struck midnight on the year 2013, the Dallas Stars seemed to have it all figured out. After being passed over by almost every analyst, they had succeeded for the most part in the beginning of the 2013-2014 regular season campaign, and had recently strung together an impressive 8-3-4 record in December. They knocked off the Los Angeles Kings 3-2 on New Years Eve and prepared to celebrate a New Year filled with even greater things. But with January came the post-cockiness hangover.
The Dallas Stars started their 2014 New Year off with … not a bang … not a boom … but more like a fart. Their first test came January 2nd, when the Montreal Canadiens came to Big D for a first-of-2014 showdown. They did not play a bad game, necessarily, but the defense definitely did not do its part, as the Canadiens downed the Stars 6-4. No biggie, until the Stars were humiliated by the Detroit Red Wings two nights later by a tally of 5-1. After following losses to the New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, and New York Islanders for a second time, the Dallas Stars managed to scrap together a win against one of the league’s worst – the Edmonton Oilers. Everything seemed to be turning bright, until the Stars followed the win up with losses to the Boston Bruins, Minnesota Wild, and Nashville Predators. After this, Dallas Stars head coach Lindy Ruff cancelled practice and called a meeting for the team, which was followed by three straight wins against the Wild, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Pittsburgh Penguins. They continued to play strong to the end of the month, but only found two more losses against the Colorado Avalanche and the Devils. Though an impressive streak to end the month, the Dallas Stars pulled out an atrocious 4-9-2 record to start 2014, leaving them 12 points behind the final wild card spot when, thirty-one days earlier, they had held the position.
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These 2014-2015 Dallas Stars cannot help to have anywhere near that kind of performance to start off their new year. The Stars currently sit six points behind the eighth and final Stanley Cup Playoffs spot, with three games in hand. That means that three wins in those three games would put the Dallas Stars back into the playoff race.
So, it’s all up to them. After seeming to find their consistency towards the end of the month of December and ending up with a record of 7-1-0 in their last eight, we’ll see if the New Year grapples to them like last season, or if their determination will overpower it.
The Dallas Stars are off until the Saturday, January 3rd, when a key battle will take place in the Central Division between the Stars and Wild.
Leave your comments and questions below, and as always, thanks for reading! Hope you all had a safe and Happy New Year! Go Stars.