Dallas Stars: Learning To Compete In Central Division

The Dallas Stars are going to struggle in the Central Division as it heats up this season, but more Jamie Benn-sized effort will pull them through.

The Stars’ loss to the Jets this Monday at home was arguably one of the most disappointing losses of the season. Coming off their first long roadtrip of the season, where they suffered the first of their stinging losses to the Jets, the Stars were looking to get some closure by tromping the Jets on their home turf.

But the exact opposite happened. The Jets showed up in Dallas just as they had back in Winnipeg, leaving the Stars still grasping and wondering where their chances went. Multiple players had a lackluster night, and the team looked corporately groggy.

The immediate excuse for this was that the Stars had just returned from such a long road trip and were simply tired.

But where was this tiredness when they trumped Buffalo 5-1 as a welcome-home present to themselves? They were more fresh off the roadtrip than they were the night after, and the Stars boasted great depth scoring and goaltending that night. So clearly fatigue in the common sense wasn’t wholly to blame.

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It seems a much more likely culprit is the caliber of the opponent. Although they’ve been in a boat similar to the Stars when it comes to playoffs in seasons past, the Jets are priming themselves to be real contenders. And it’s multiple variations of the same story for many teams around the league, but particularly in the Central Division.

It’s never been called the Powderpuff Division or Bed of Roses Division, but this year it seems to have morphed into something even more unforgiving than in seasons past. The Stars’ run-ins with the Jets so far this season seem to cement this observation.

The Stars have grown in many of the ways they needed to in order to compete at this raised-bar level, but it’s clear that they’re not quite there yet. It seems astounding that the same team that put that 5-1 smackdown on Buffalo could fall to the Jets two nights later in such a frustrating display.

But Hitchcock hightlighted something very important and very telling in his comments about the game. While many players were not up to snuff in the physical and mental nature of their play on Monday night, Jamie Benn seemed hell-bent on carrying the team to victory, solo.

Although on Monday specifically it wasn’t enough, we’ve heard that story of Benn multiple times over. It’s the same drive that won him an Art Ross trophy and has been making him a household name on the same terms as some of the best players in the league.

If Jamie Benn-sized play is needed to succeed in the Central Divison, the Dallas Stars are going to need others to step up and contribute in a similar way. There are several young players, such as Devin Shore, Radek Faksa, and Gemel Smith, who have demonstrated similar grit at times during the last 15 games and even beyond.

What the Stars need now is for everyone to get on the same page and coordinate their best efforts. When tiredness is cited as a reason for failure only 14 games into the season, you can be sure that it’s of a mental nature and that it’s an unresolved issue hailing from beyond this season.

Perhaps some of these players do need more time to get into the swing of playing in Dallas and what rhythm that will entail. But the isolated, shimmering performances so far this season tell me that it’s less of a chronic issue and indicates more of a need to simply put your head down and power through.

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Of course, if this mindset needs to be fostered in Dallas, they’ve picked the right coach to do it. So even though it’s 15 games in and things are already looking tough, don’t lose hope and don’t write these guys off just yet.