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Dallas Stars 2017: A Humbling Yet Exciting Year In Review

By Josh Clark

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 11: The Dallas Stars celebrate Julius Honka's second period goal during the game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on December 11, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 11: The Dallas Stars celebrate Julius Honka's second period goal during the game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on December 11, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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DALLAS, TX – JANUARY 24: Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter (20) and Dallas Stars left wing Jamie Benn (14) get into a scuffle during the game between the Dallas Stars and the Minnesota Wild on January 24, 2017 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Minnesota defeats Dallas 3-2 in a shootout. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
DALLAS, TX – JANUARY 24: Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter (20) and Dallas Stars left wing Jamie Benn (14) get into a scuffle during the game between the Dallas Stars and the Minnesota Wild on January 24, 2017 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas. Minnesota defeats Dallas 3-2 in a shootout. (Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

January 2017 – April 2017

I went ahead and decided the year up into thirds for this slideshow. So we’ll cover the whole year in four-month pieces. So we will look at the end of 2016-17, the 2017 offseason, and the first half of this season.

First up, we have the train wreck that was the 2016-17 season. While the Stars struggled to stay afloat in the first half of the year, the second half was where the wheels came off the bus.

Dallas Stars
Dallas Stars /

Dallas Stars

January

This month was a pretty brutal one for the Dallas Stars. They always seem to suffer from a New Year’s hangover in the recent past, and the start of 2017 was no different. Dallas posted an average 5-5-3 record in the month, including an ugly 2-4-1 start. Jamie Benn missed the first four games of the new year with an ankle injury, and that really contributed to the overall downfall.

A good way to sum up the month (and season) would be the Stars’ game against the Minnesota Wild on January 14. The Stars gave up four goals in the first period while scoring none, and though they fought hard to come back and tie it up, they ended up losing in regulation. Just gross.

But hey, at least Tyler Seguin made the All-Star Game, right?

February

If you thought January was bad, just wait until you are reminded of what February brought. The Dallas Stars posted a horrific 4-8-0 record, including going a winless 0-5-0 on the road. They lost the first four games of the month, including one to Ottawa in which they allowed an own goal. Not the fondest 2017 moment.

I wrote an article about how it seemed as though the Stars were loathed entirely by the Hockey Gods after the ugly results.

The subpar play in the second month of the year led to the Dallas Stars all but knocking themselves out of the playoff race. And with dashed playoff hopes comes a lot of activity at the trade deadline.

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At the end of the month, the Stars sent Patrick Eaves, Jordie Benn, Johnny Oduya, and Lauri Korpikoski packing to new homes. The moves all but signaled the end of the Stars’ postseason aspirations and helped prepare them for a long offseason.

On the bright side, however, the late Dave Strader returned to the booth on February 18 for the first time in the 2016-17 season to commentate a Stars game. Strader had missed the first few months of the season while battling cholangiocarcinoma, a rare but aggressive form of bile duct cancer. If the 2016-17 season taught us anything, it was how to be #StraderStrong.

March

Sometimes, things get worse before they get better. The Dallas Stars put on another sub-.500 month in March, going 6-7-1. They tried to make a rally for the playoffs, but it ended up falling well short. But hey, they had a big win over the Washington Capitals, who were the NHL’s best team at the time. So that’s pretty cool, right?

Oh, and former Star Adam Cracknell notched his first career hat trick on March 24 against the San Jose Sharks. If there was a feel good moment for the month of March, this was it.

April

FINALLY, it ended.

After a brief five-game stretch over the first eight days, the Dallas Stars closed out their 2016-17 season on April 8.

And from there, they immediately started making moves. Just one day after the final game of the season, the Stars fired head coach Lindy Ruff after four seasons with the team. They wasted no time in finding his replacement, either.

Four days after they let go of Ruff, GM Jim Nill brought in head coach Ken Hitchcock. After a stint in the late 1990’s with the Stars that included a Stanley Cup title, Hitchcock returned for a second tour of duty.

The Stars sent a few players to the World Championships as well and received the third overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft through the draft lottery. All in all, it was a pretty good month after a season of disappointment.

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