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Dallas Stars’ Season: Breaking Down the Game Objectively

By Katelin Brekken

Mar 17, 2017; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames defenseman Mark Giordano (5) and Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen (32) collide during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 17, 2017; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Calgary Flames defenseman Mark Giordano (5) and Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen (32) collide during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Monday begins the countdown to the final countdown to the much-awaited end to Dallas’ 2016-2017 season.  The Dallas Stars will host the San José Sharks for the second meeting of three this season and will need to focus in to end their season gracefully.

The Dallas Stars return to the American Airlines Center after going 1-3-0 on a four-game road trip. After a rocky beginning to the trip -and that’s putting it nicely- it’s been hard to pour in the same amount if devotion to team that we would have about three weeks ago.

Hopefully, the trip spurred a bit of emotion from the Stars. With 11 games remaining in the season, the most we can hope for is a graceful sendoff to Dallas’ season. Unless the Stars decide to go ahead and go 11-0-0, that’d be fine too… 

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Good news: the Captain may be coming back to aid his team on the ice. Bad news: Jason Spezza will probably not be making an appearance against the Sharks on Monday, due to back spasms.

It’s hard to look at this season objectively.

Many, many things have gone wrong. Many, many fingers have been pointed and thrown around. Many, many people have been blamed. There are plenty of things to be frustrated at, this season has not made any of us proud to be fans of the Dallas Stars.

And that’s perfectly okay.

If there wasn’t adversity and every season was great, would that make watching the team special? I’m not going to argue that the plethora of injuries endured this year were good, but it makes looking forward to next year pretty exciting.

But, for now, make a little distance from your victory green and think about the game of hockey.

Yes, the sixty-minute game of hitting ice-cold pucks with sticks into a net. It’s kind of funny to think about, but compared to other sports, it doesn’t seem as funky. Across the NHL, ask any player about why they play and I bet you’d get an answer along these lines:

“It’s always been my dream.”

The players seem burly, but it’s nice to remember that they fought to reach where they are now. Each of the men that skate on the ice earned their right to do so. Imagine if they had the same contempt that we have for certain teams off of the ice.

For an NHL player, how would it be realistic for them to despise teams because of their success? They might very well be on that team the next game, depending on the will of their team’s GM.

Something that unifies the league is the love for the game of hockey. The sixty-minute game of hitting ice-cold pucks with sticks into a net.

Duh, there’s so much more to the game!  Yes, and you’d be right in thinking that. Think about this: when you watch the next game, look at all the people wearing the same jersey. At that moment, people choose to leave everything at the door and support a team together.

The American Airlines Center looks like a cross between a forest and a galaxy, depending on which way you choose to look at the jersey. A sell-out for a Dallas Stars’ home game is 18,532 fans. If every one of those ticket holders were to show up, think about how full the arena would be.

18,532 fans cheering on a team who wants to win as badly as they want to play the game they dreamed of playing.

Next: Stars Breaking Records That Shouldn't Be Broken

Here’s what I suggest: Let the players play their game.

We, as fans, cannot control what happens on the ice. We cannot stop bad luck from happening; we cannot reverse bad decisions.

Really, the only thing left to do for the Dallas Stars at this point would be to help them move on from the season.

Objectively: What’s past is past. Come next season, they will still be our Dallas Stars. They will still play hockey with great of enthusiasm as their dreams (or at least they should).

Bring on Monday night, bring on 2017-2018.

Be proud to wear your victory green, you’ve only got eleven games to do so left before the long haul until next season.

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