Dallas Stars: 2017 Preseason Probably On Upward Trend

After a fun and encouraging (but not perfect) start to the Dallas Stars preseason, will they be able to keep trending upward?

We all like a good “Dallas Stars over St. Louis Blues” win. And when it’s the first real bit of hockey you’ve seen for months and the start of a highly anticipated season, it’s even better.

The Stars did impress last night in their preseason opener, but put on a performance that was not so perfect as to be unbelievable. In the at-times scrappy 5-3 victory, the Stars pulled out some lessons that are good to recognize and learn early on.

But overall, it was great to see (for some of us) for the first time some of these new lines and new, younger players in action. The Stars are proving to be never short on talent, and seem in the perfect place now to recognize, cultivate, and use it on the NHL stage.

The best kind of victory, though, is the one that keeps right on rolling over the opponents. And for the Stars, the need to win can never sleep. They’ll be facing the Avalanche tonight, a team that the Stars have had some curious, off and on struggles with over the last few seasons.

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However, the Avalanche began their own preseason very differently yesterday with a 4-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. In that contest, the Avalanche had a difficult time taking and managing penalties, a story similar to the one told by the Stars after their own preseason opener.

During the preseason, having well-practiced special teams and lines that immediately click can often be the stuff of fairytales. The Avalanche cited some lack of experience and know-how to their slow start, with many players seeing ice-time on a big stage for the first time.

The Stars seem, at least at first brush, to have come away luckier on this front. Young, newer players have dazzled for the Stars and flourished with them almost like clockwork, and it’s no surprise that the new guys are starting to show promise this preseason, too.

Is it maybe that the Stars feel they have something to prove? After all, they’ve made a lot of offseason moves that have been hailed as game-changers in the best way, and now it’s time to put weight to all the speculation.

But it’s more than that. From the best moments of last night’s game, it’s obvious that this is deeper and more personal for the players. Janmark, Radulov, Caamano, McKenna-they’re fighting to prove themselves and to be the best version of themselves as players.

While not all of these players will be at the NHL level for the regular season, if the Dallas Stars can foster this same attitude all year long, the burnout the Stars have experienced in the last will stay right in the past where it belongs.

Next: Three Questions Facing The Stars In 2017-2018 Season

Because even at the scrappy and ugly points in their preseason so far, these Stars aren’t giving up, and those are the Stars that will continue to elbow past the competition tonight, in the rest of the preseason, and beyond.

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