Dallas Stars Go From Zeroes To Heroes In Central Division

The Dallas Stars may have taken a few seasons to do it, but it seems they have finally figured the Central Division out. Now, they could be in the driver seat for years to come.

At the end of the 2013 lockout season, the NHL decided to make a couple of changes throughout the league. Among those were moving the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets to the Eastern Conference, moving the Winnipeg Jets to the West, and completely realigning the divisions.

The NHL went from six divisions to four, and they became known as the Central, Pacific, Metropolitan, and Atlantic. The Dallas Stars, longtime members of the old Pacific Division with coastal teams that required 9:00 p.m. start times more often than not, were relocated to the Central.

To say it was a bit of a culture shock would be an understatement. The Stars entered some considerably aggressive territory and it definitely took them a while to settle in.

Upon joining the Central, the Dallas Stars were met by the Chicago Blackhawks, Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues, Nashville Predators, Colorado Avalanche, and Nashville Predators. To put things into perspective, all seven of these teams have been to the Stanley Cup Playoffs at least once in the past three years, and the maximum amount of Central teams have made the postseason in all three seasons.

Each team in the division was slated to play five of their opponents five times and the other four times in a given season, with the four-game series rotating between opponents with each passing year.

The Stars definitely had to undergo a period of adjustment. In their first season, they managed a pretty respectable 13-11-5. Playing in the same division as the reigning Stanley Cup champions and an Avalanche team that came out of nowhere, this was pretty impressive. Dallas capped the 2013-2014 season off with a visit to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in six years.

After an offseason that was centered around adding top of the line talent (Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky, among others) and “rounding out” all of the team’s rough edges, the Dallas Stars were deemed preseason favorites to make a long run in the postseason, one that could very well end up with them as Stanley Cup champions.

Instead, the Stars fell hard from those lofty expectations. They were primarily forced to score their way out of games, and on most nights if they could not hit the four or five goal mark, they would end up on the losing side.

Perhaps the most blunt end of the disappointing season was the Stars’ performance within their division. Throughout the 2014-2015 season, Dallas turned in an ugly 8-14-7 record against the Central. This included being swept by the Avalanche and only putting up a max of two wins on any team in the division.

By the end of it, the Dallas Stars were seven points short of the Winnipeg Jets who clinched the final playoff spot. An early offseason preached the need for change, and general manger Jim Nill did just that. By adding Antti Niemi and recent Stanley Cup winners Johnny Oduya and Patrick Sharp, the Dallas Stars were viewed as a potentially dangerous opponent.

The Stars threw this presumption aside and burst out of the gate in the 2015-2016 season, running over the competition and taking names as they went along. Besides being the best team in the NHL at the end of the 2015 calendar year, the big surprise for Dallas was how they handled the Central Division.

This past year, the Dallas Stars turned around their divisional misfortunes, going 19-7-3 within the toughest division in hockey. This included going 4-1-0 against Chicago, Minnesota, Nashville, and Winnipeg. The only team they did not have an above .500 performance against would be the team that would eventually knock them out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the St. Louis Blues.

Even though they did not reach .500, they took the Blues to overtime or the shootout three of the five games and would end up with a 1-1-3 record against St. Louis.

So what was it that turned these Central Division zeroes into the Central kingpins? What happened that shifted the Stars from finishing sixth to first in the division in one measly year?

Well, the addition of two Blackhawks and one veteran goaltender over the offseason did not hurt. The Stars offense once again flourished, the defense was finally playing at a consistent rate, and the goaltending duo was more structured than it had been in the past five years. But honestly, it was more than likely the mindset.

The Dallas Stars consistently proposed a fast start to the season at exit interview day following the 2015 season, and that’s what they did. It didn’t matter this season what division the opponent was in, the Stars were mentally and physically prepared to take down any challenger.

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The thing is, that can change at any moment, and the Stars need to make sure that it does not. It was definitely an enjoyable and thrilling ride to the top of the league and division this year, but it’s not just given out. Dallas will need to note that this season was a good one, but it did not end as great as it could have. Next season, they have to find a way to come out even stronger and faster.

They have some great pieces in place to do that, and now that the group has gone through an entire year together, they have gelled and become a more functional unit.

But the fall from lofty expectations is entirely possible. Not just for the Stars, but for anyone. The Avalanche finished first place in the Central in 2014. The next season, they were dead last. This year, they were sixth. It’s too easy to slip in this league, considering how difficult it is to get to the top.

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The Dallas Stars crushed the Central Division competition this past regular season, but it was still a Central team that knocked them out. It’s not a consistent thing unless they make sure it is. At this point, it looks as though they may be ready to make that happen.