Sometimes it’s hard to choose between holding on or letting go, but it’s often only in the letting go that we can more accurately evaluate the positives surrounded by an otherwise overwhelming amount of negatives.
In other words, this season has been hell for the Dallas Stars. Partly of their own making, partly for reasons outside their control. But either way, I think it’s safe to say that it is high time to stop hoping for the magical turnaround. I don’t say this because I’m cynical or a bandwagon fan or because I’m going to hate the Stars after this season. Quite the opposite.
"“When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.”"
Alexander Graham Bell said that. I’m pretty sure he didn’t care too much about hockey, but his words seem to suggest that if he had, he’d have been a pretty good Stars fan. At this point in the season, all signs point to a short stop and a sudden drop- that is, in the hockey world, a passed-up postseason.
However, this may be the best thing for Stars fans to hold onto right now. You know how it is when you keep hoping for something that’s actually a longshot. You end up frustrated, upset, disappointed, and burnt out. In letting go, you are able to preserve your hope for better ends and appreciate all the positives in a new light.
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What the Stars need is a bit of a reset- something they won’t get for the duration of this season. Spend your time, instead, thinking about the good things this season has given us.
First of all, there are problems that have cropped up far too often this season to just be flukes. In past seasons, issues that popped up here and there were deemed just a coincidence, or just because the Stars were tired, or just because . Now, after seeing the same things plague this team game in and game out this season, it will be hard for anyone to ignore these issues anymore.
Of those problems, I think the issues concerning the defense and goaltending are the highest priority. Until the defense is diversified, the goaltending solidified, and the offense therefore freed up to pursue more traditionally offensive ventures than handing back to play two-way hockey all night, the Stars won’t win games consistently. And that has been consistently proven.
But more importantly, I think this season has been an invaluable time of growing the next generation of the Dallas Stars. Jim Nill has put a lot of focus in the past into prospects and making sure that the younger players are developing; so much so that it has seemed at times that more effort is put into securing the Stars’ future than into taking hold of their present. But we’re looking at positives, here, so I digress.
The countless injuries the Stars have faced this season primed them for a lot of rookie involvement, at which said rookies really excelled. Young players stepped up to the plate in many ways, and at certain points of the season, were the ones offensively carrying the team. This bodes well for the ever-important future of Nill’s Stars, but also for their present.
After spending such a tough season with the Stars, the young guys have grown immensely from the pressure- a started from the bottom, now we’re here kind of scenario. But think with me about a couple of key guys.
Esa Lindell, Devin Shore, and more recently Remi Elie have found themselves very much afloat amidst what could be seen as a slowly sinking ship.
Lindell has pushed into the ranks of one of the most reliable defensemen the Stars currently have, coming in among the top rookie defensemen in the league in time spent on the ice each game, scoring, and even plus/minus ratings.
Shore has played in each of the Dallas Stars’ 68 contests so far this season and his consistent place on the ice is no accident. He’s sitting at 28 points so far, which is nothing to sneeze at for a rookie. Ruff praises the youngster’s ability to keep a level head in the game, learn from his mistakes, and maintain a good attitude regardless of the game’s outcome, which is a trait that has been admired by and imitated by other Stars throughout the season. If Shore keeps it up, we could see him in a leadership role for the team in years to come.
And then you have Elie, who had his NHL debut with the Stars this season and has been a consistent and reliable player in the short number of games since. Although the Stars went on to lose rather horrifically, Elie scored his first NHL goal against the Sharks and has found a place with some much more experienced players on the ice.
If you think about it, some of the Stars’ other players have followed this path. Brett Ritchie and Curtis McKenzie were rookies together during the 14-15 season, which had a rough start and an exhilarating, but too little too late, end. The rough process of that season helped polish them more quickly than participation in an easy season ever could. Because of that hard work and effort, McKenzie recently signed a one year contract extension.
So don’t think about this season as a loss. We did, of course, lose something in the loss of our hopes at the post season or the wild comeback that we all hold in a very special, secret place in our hearts.
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But simply accepting that this wasn’t the Stars’ season will free you up to appreciate some of the good things that this season has given us. And in time, those good things will hopefully add up into even greater things. Here’s one more applicable and (kind of sappy) motivational quote for you:
"“It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things.”"
Good ol’ Theodore Roosevelt. Who better to trust, right? I think that what we’ve dealt with so far this season qualifies as the labor and painful effort part. The rest of the season that lies ahead falls under the grim energy and resolute courage part. And what awaits for us after we put this season to bed and begin a new one? Hopefully that is where the moving on to better things part comes into play.