There is still one more day before the Dallas Stars return to regular season action. While we wait, let’s take a look at the Stars’ most dominant area this season: the blue line.
Some things just never go well together. Peanut butter and tuna, Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries, and Olympic hockey without NHL players are a few things that fall into this category. The Dallas Stars and defense also fit this mold.
Over the past few seasons, the Stars have struggled greatly on the blue line. It’s been a long time since the days of Sergei Zubov and Derian Hatcher. That was the Stars’ heyday. But now, things are different.
When you think of the Dallas Stars over the past few years, your first thought probably has to do with offense. And rightly so. Ever since Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin were paired at the beginning of the 2013-14 season, the Stars offense has been budding.
From then to now, it’s been a gradual but entertaining process. Offensive powerhouse players like Jason Spezza, Patrick Sharp, Patrick Eaves, and Alexander Radulov are all names that have donned Victory Green over the years. Some have stuck around, some have departed via trade or free agency, but the offense still seems to keep their success consistent.
But it’s not just the forwards that are succeeding in the offensive zone. Defensemen like John Klingberg, Alex Goligoski, and Esa Lindell are a few players that have given the Stars an extra scoring edge from the blue line in recent seasons.
Dallas Stars
The success, however, didn’t translate any further through the lineup. Goaltending and defense were seen as weak or at best moderately stable points in the Dallas system. Dallas was in the bottom half of the league in goals against per game on a relatively consistent basis, gave little to no focus or attention in the defensive end, and couldn’t seem to keep up with the offenses of most NHL teams. As a result, they could never take the next step.
But this season, the Dallas Stars are undergoing a serious culture shock. And no, their offense isn’t reaching yet another incredibly new level. While the offense is still scoring and putting up impressive numbers, it’s the backend where the Stars are seeing new success.
As of Thursday afternoon, the Stars sit fifth in the NHL in goals against per games played with an average of 2.61. That’s quite a far cry from where they finished last year, rolling in at 29th in the league with a disastrous 3.17 GA/GP.
A casual hockey fan outside of the Dallas Stars organization would probably suspect that this great change came to some substantial movement in the offseason. But in all reality, it isn’t.
Sure, the Stars traded for defenseman Marc Methot and signed defensive forward Martin Hanzal during the summer, but look at the lineup. Methot has missed over two-thirds of the season with a knee injury and Hanzal has been an inconsistent member of the lineup with injuries of his own.
If you study the Stars’ defensive lineup, you’ll notice that there has been little change to it throughout this season. Head coach Ken Hitchcock has kept his defensive lineup consistent, and that has been a factor in their success.
Esa Lindell – John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis – Greg Pateryn
Stephen Johns – Julius Honka/Dillon Heatherington
For the past two months, Dallas has run with this lineup in all but one game. Two defensemen trading starts, but that’s it. Everything else has stayed the same.
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But let’s take a minute and realize just how this defense is comprised. While Stars fans know each defender and have a clear grasp on their skills and their relevance, that can’t be said for a majority of fans in the league.
Take a casual fan of a team like the New York Islanders or Anaheim Ducks for instance. Chances are they may be able to name two or three Dallas starters. Klingberg, Hamhuis, and maybe Lindell are probably the names that would surface.
That’s because the Dallas defense isn’t comprised of “superstar” defenders. The two teams sitting just above the Stars in GA/GP this season are the Blues and Predators (both of which Central Division rivals). Both of these teams are known for their defense and the players on their blue line.
For St. Louis, names like Alex Pietrangelo, Jay Bouwmeester, Joel Edmundson, Colton Parayko, and even Carl Gunnarsson are all relatively well-known defensemen around the league. With the Predators, P.K. Subban, Ryan Ellis, Roman Josi, and Mattias Ekholm highlight a talented and popular defensive crop.
But when it comes to the Stars, it’s almost shocking to see a defense work so well with so little “superstar” talent on it. Besides Norris hopeful John Klingberg, the rest of the lineup has a bit of an unknown status.
Lindell is only in his second year at the NHL level, Honka has played less than 100 games for Dallas and was drafted in 2014, Johns is just now turning into a consistent starter after a rough 2016-17 season, and Pateryn was slotted as the no. 9 defenseman on the roster coming out of training camp. And then you have the veteran Dan Hamhuis, who most people have counted out from being a solid defender considering he’s 35 years old and has played in over 1,000 games.
It’s a good thing that stipulations don’t carry any weight.
This Dallas Stars defense endured a horrific 2016-17 season, entered 2017-18 with the same relative group, and is now a top-five unit in the league. That really cannot be stated or made relevant enough. But it should probably be on a billboard.
Hitchcock brought a new commitment to defense when he took over the Stars in April. This new mindset applied not only to the blue line, but to the forwards and goaltenders as well. And now the Stars are reaping the rewards of a fully-functional, all-around team defense. It’s been a quick and painless process, and now the Dallas defense is clicking on a level they haven’t been at in almost a decade.
Next: Stars Cap Space Could Alter Trade Deadline Mindset
With the push to the Stanley Cup Playoffs getting into full swing, it’s good to see the group heating up. After all, defense wins championships.