Dallas Stars: When Their Total Makeover Occurred

The Dallas Stars are continuing their reign of terror on the NHL, picking up wins in 21 of 28 games this season. This is a big change from last year’s disappointments. So where did the big change occur?

It’s been just a little over two months since the NHL kicked off its 2015-2016 season. Since then, one thing has been made very clear: the Dallas Stars are really good.

Since starting off the season with a 3-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Stars have hardly looked back and continue to press forward. As a result, they are currently sitting on a record of 21-5-2, which is good enough for first place in the Western Conference and the NHL as a whole.

This star-studded performance by Dallas rides the coattails of a 2014-2015 season filled with pain and overall confusion. The Stars entered the 14-15 year fresh off of a surprising playoff run and strong offseason filled with top-notch acquisitions like Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky. With all of the hype carrying over from the season prior and the veteran additions, the Stars were expected to make a big push.

But somewhere along the way, something was lost. It is still unsure what the main problem was to this day, but the Dallas Stars did not perform anywhere near the level they were expected to. With a young defensive core and inconsistent goaltending, the Stars finished seven points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

The hype was completely destroyed, and after an even more successful offseason this past year, there were still concerns and caution.

But the Stars have delivered this season, and everything is turning out much better than expected.

On April 13th, 2015, the Stars hosted their annual exit interview day. This was the final day that the media could speak to the players before their break started. In the interviews, all of the players preached about the need for a fast start in 2015-2016. It looks like they accomplished their goal.

But the Dallas Stars did not just magically go from playing uneventful and degrading hockey to being the league’s best.

Backtrack to the 2014-2015 season and look through the schedule. There were plenty of pitfalls that contributed to the Stars ultimate demise. Separate six-and-seven game losing streaks, Tyler Seguin missing three weeks of the playoff push, multiple back-to-backs facing Chicago in the second leg.

The Stars had a decent showing from December 6th on. In fact, they were one of the best teams in the NHL after that date, going 32-19-5. But the slow start plagued them up until their final game against Nashville.

Where did this leap and turnaround really occur at though?

After breaking it all down and examining all the factors, it looks like March 1, 2015 was the day that the Dallas Stars officially became the team they’ve been striving so long to be.

On the first, the Stars were in the middle of a rut with a five-game losing streak. They were still minus the services of Tyler Seguin and sat seven points out of a playoff spot. It was two days before the trade deadline, and many were wondering if Nill would be making a move.

He did just that. Just moments before puck drop against the Anaheim Ducks that night, the Stars announced that they had officially traded F Erik Cole to the Detroit Red Wings in exchange for F Mattias Janmark and D Mattias Backman. With the trade, the Stars would play their game with a different look to the offense.

Considering that setback, the Stars lost 3-1, even though they outplayed Anaheim in most categories. Playoff hopes continued to slip from their grasp and they needed to do something quick.

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Boy did they. It is still unknown what truly happened, but the fact of the matter is that the Dallas Stars righted the ship in some way that worked. They welcomed the New York Islanders to Dallas two days later and somehow managed to pull off a thrilling 3-2 victory in overtime. The Stars ended up closing the year out on a 14-5-0 run.

Sadly, none of the other teams in the playoff race lost so the Stars never gained any ground.

But the Stars truly did something after that game on March 1st that transformed them into the team they’ve needed to be for years now.

The offseason only contributed to the level of success the Stars hit. On exit interview day, Kari Lehtonen expressed how he wished the season could have lasted two weeks longer considering how well the Stars were playing (Dallas ended the season on a four-game winning streak).

So, should March 1 officially be a Dallas Stars holiday? Who knows. All we know is that looks to be the day that the Stars righted the ship and began the path to glory that they are currently trekking.