Dallas Stars Striking Balance Between Past, Present

Jan 21, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; The Dallas Stars take the ice to face the Washington Capitals at the American Airlines Center. The Capitals defeat the Stars 4-3 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 21, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; The Dallas Stars take the ice to face the Washington Capitals at the American Airlines Center. The Capitals defeat the Stars 4-3 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Stars’ recent fixation on fixing the goaltending situation shows how dedicated this team is to alleviating issues not just for now, but for good.

The Dallas Stars have always had a bit of an issue when it comes to balance. They existed either in the extreme positive or extreme negative, and didn’t do such a good job of figuring out how to maneuver the gray areas.

In the past, it came out in the lack of consistency in their play. Remember those good ol’ days, when the Stars could beat teams much better than they were but lose miserably to teams that were of a far lesser caliber? Well, perhaps those days are still with us to some extent.

But the lack of balance was also a big contributor to their downfall this season. The Dallas Stars knew they had some defensive issues to fix, but in trying to do so, went overboard and loaded up on the kind of players they were lacking while almost forgetting the value of tempering what they had before with a different approach in a balanced way.

The Stars tried to achieve some balance between the pipes with the tandem goalie approach that has been ruling the realm of Stars’ goaltending for some time. But this approach has not been without its drawbacks, to the point that I would argue that it is perhaps time to let it die and go with a fresh perspective.

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Not only have the Dallas Stars seemed to be opening up to this idea so far in the off season, but they are taking steps to make sure that they can achieve a more balanced approach to their trouble-spots in the future.

Although some fans thought the Stars moved too quickly in signing Ben Bishop, no one can deny that he has the background and therefore the potential to bring a greater amount of experience and consistency to the Stars than either of their last-season starters. The obvious approach would be to solidify Bishop as the Stars’ starter, then maybe let the Expansion Draft do its thing and regroup after that.

But the Stars are going for a deeper clean-up than one just on the NHL level. They recently (reportedly) added on Jim Bedard from the Red Wings to take Mike Valley’s goalie-coaching spot in the AHL. Adding on a goalie coach of that caliber in Texas would help ensure that the Dallas Stars’ goaltending problem isn’t just fixed on the surface, but mended from within and fixed indefinitely.

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Of course, we’re not projecting absolute perfection with no obstacles or hiccups from here on out. But the Stars are definitely showing an encouraging outlook about the future of the organization, both in the short and long term, that should make Dallas Stars fan excited to stick around with this team.