The Dallas Stars started their offseason off by hiring head coach Ken Hitchcock. But now that the offseason is over, it’s clear that he already has some high expectations set for him.
Being an NHL coach must be an interesting gig, regardless of whether the journey includes the Dallas Stars or not.
In today’s NHL, it’s not uncommon for a head coach to pass through six or even seven franchises during his career. The need to win is at an all-time high, and as a result, the coaching carousel is constantly spinning, dropping the same coaches off at different locations every few summers.
And though one coach may have been in the league for a long time (perhaps even decades), every time they arrive at a new destination, it’s like they’re a rookie coach all over again. That’s because they have to acquaint themselves with new players, a new community, and have to implement a completely new system on an unsuspecting team.
Do you think Ken Hitchcock feels like a rookie coach even though the 2017-18 season will kick off his second tour of duty with the Dallas Stars? Probably so, considering the team he was given is nowhere near what a Hitchcock-caliber team usually looks like.
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But he may feel that way after the massive load that is the Stars’ 2017 offseason was dropped on him.
When Ken Hitchcock was hired by GM Jim Nill as the newest head coach on April 13th, the Dallas Stars were in shambles. The team had just completed the second-worst season in franchise history, posting an abysmal 34-37-11 record with 79 points. They had missed the playoffs by a hearty 15 points and had officially taken a steep drop off from their place of prominence in the season before.
Giving Hitchcock the reins was the smart thing to do, so Nill acted accordingly. Hitch has been known around the league for his “tough love” style of coaching and his defensive prowess, which turns out to be exactly what this young lineup needs.
The Stars were one of the worst teams defensively last season and need to be a consistent threat on their own blue line, and Hitchcock can help with that. He can also help Dallas cut down on their shots against, beef up their penalty kill, and give them proper balance on the ice. In other words, he checked off a lot of boxes that Lindy Ruff left blank.
Up front, it looked as though Hitchcock’s job was going to be rather easy. Improving on the 2016-17 season was almost a given with Hitch’s systems and talents. Grabbing a playoff spot and maybe making it to the second round in his first year at the helm would have been considered a decent success.
But now the expectations set for Hitchcock are astronomically higher. That’s because Jim Nill went out and had an offseason for the ages.
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After the hiring of Hitchcock, Nill continued to swing for the fences. By the end of the ride, he had secured names such as goaltender Ben Bishop, defenseman Marc Methot, and forwards Alexander Radulov and Martins Hanzal. The trade market and free agency was very good to the Dallas Stars, and now they look ready to reap the benefits.
But that will only happen if Hitchcock can get his new troops in line and up to speed in time for the battle. Just remember that Hitch has not even had a practice with the team yet.
The expectations shifted overnight on the Stars’ newest bench boss. “This should be an easy fixer-upper” quickly changed to, “Wow, there’s a lot riding on this season’s turnout.”
Nill did his job in improving the structure of the team this offseason and adding not only depth, but also firepower to the lineup That’s great.
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But now all the pressure rests on the shoulders of head coach Ken Hitchcock. The majority of expectations seem to be that he will succeed greatly with little error. Regardless of what is set to happen, the 2017 offseason put Hitchcock in the spotlight and gave him a tiny margin for error. Will the “new guy” be able to answer the bell?