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

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KANSAS CITY, MO – OCTOBER 05: Head coach Ken Hitchcock of the St. Louis Blues watches from the bench during the preseason game against Washington Capitals at Sprint Center on October 5, 2016 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /

1. Players Don’t Buy In To Ken Hitchcock

The hiring of Ken Hitchcock will likely prove to be the Dallas Stars’ biggest gain or mistake this season, and there really isn’t much middle ground on the subject.

When the Stars parted ways with Lindy Ruff the day after the 2016-17 regular season finale, GM Jim Nill made it clear that Dallas wanted to be quick in their hunt for a replacement. That replaced came just four days later when they announced the hiring of Ken Hitchcock.

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With the hiring, Hitchcock will start his second tour of duty with the Dallas Stars organization, and it may be tough for him to top the successes that he saw in his first term.

He served as head coach for Dallas from the middle of the 1995-96 season to the middle of the 2001-02 season and enjoyed a plethora of success. In every full season that he coached Dallas, the team finished first in their division. They made the playoffs every year and won the Stanley Cup in 1999, just two seasons after Hitchcock began his term. They went back to the Final in 2000, but fell to the New Jersey Devils.

In this go around, Hitchcock has plenty of talent to work with, similar to his situation in the late 1990’s. But the real question is whether or not the talent will want to work with him.

A standout feature in Hitchcock’s coaching style is his aggressive desire for results. He gets them more often than not, but his style can be seen as a tad overreaching.

For example, Stars legend Mike Modano told 1310 The Ticket about Hitchcock’s coaching strategy just after Hitchcock’s hiring in April. He mentioned how intense Hitch can be and about how Hitchcock would call him each night before a game to ask him how he was planning on contributing the next night.

Luckily, the team in the 1990’s bought into the style for long enough to win a Cup. But his style burnt out in 2001 and the players became disinterested, signaling Hitchcock’s exit.

This is a similar team to the one in 1996 in terms of makeup and skill. But it will be interesting to see whether all of the roster buys in.

Hitchcock has never been a long-term fix in his tenure in the NHL because of his style. If the current Stars don’t buy in and give him all of their attention and effort, this season could be just as disastrous as last year.

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