Dallas Stars: Five Reasons They Make The 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs

1. New Coaching Staff Will Spark Stars

The Dallas Stars had a lot of weaknesses in the 2016-17 season. But amongst all of their deficiencies, the majority of their problems rested from their blue line to the crease.

The defense and goaltending were atrocious this past year. The Stars finished 29th overall in goals against per game at an ugly 3.17. The only team they beat out was the Colorado Avalanche, who had one of the worst seasons in NHL history and finished 31 points below Dallas in the standings. The sad thing is that the two teams had a mere .20 goals separating them in GA/GP.

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It was a young defense with little veteran leadership mixed with an aging and inconsistent goaltending tandem of Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi. In other words, the Stars could not seem to get out of most games without sacrificing 3-4 goals.

But should all the fault be put on these two areas? Absolutely not. In fact, the coaching staff deserves a good amount of the blame.

With Lindy Ruff as head coach, the Stars primarily focused on offense and a “high risk, high reward” system from 2013-17. Shutdown defense and stellar goaltending were never priorities. Instead, the mindset revolved around “do everything you must in order to score before the other team does.” As a result, the Dallas defense and goaltending never reached its full potential.

With Ken Hitchcock as the new head coach, that will be different. Hitchcock has been known for his defensive supremacy throughout the NHL for a long time, and has a way of getting results on his blue line.

Mix in new assistant coach Rick Wilson who is a former NHL defender and has already spent 17 years with the Stars and it seems as though the Stars have a match made in heaven.

Dallas doesn’t have a bad makeup on their blue line by any means. In fact, they could quickly jump into the top half of the league with the right coaching. That coaching should be Hitchcock and his new crew.

In terms of goaltending, the Dallas Stars have given themselves a new element with the addition of Ben Bishop. And when there is a competent defensive group in front of the goaltending, the crease becomes decisively stronger. Hitchcock should only make Lehtonen and Bishop that much stronger as a veteran tandem.

Though Hitchcock’s methods can be considered aggressive and trying, he gets results. And if players buy in and submit, the results are plentiful. With Hitch at the helm for a second tour of duty, the Stars should have no trouble with leaving their 2016-17 defensive inefficiencies in the past and making a run at the Central Division title.