The Dallas Stars didn’t get the job done in the 2017-18 regular season. But even though they fell short, there was still a lot to like about the team’s performance. Not to mention there were a few players that exceeded expectations and took new strides.
42-32-8. That’s the record that the Dallas Stars turned in following the final game of their 2017-18 season. And, as you already know, it ended up not being enough to punch the Stars’ ticket to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The 2017-18 season was an entertaining journey that turned into a painful lesson for the Stars. It started out on a shaky note, turned into a powerful surge, and ended in an epic collapse. When it was all said and done, one bad losing streak in the month of March was enough to bury the team and knock them from contention. And with that, the Stars missed the playoffs for the eighth time in the past ten years.
But it wasn’t the epic collapse or rollercoaster-like style that the team followed that made them interesting. Instead, it was the way in which they played this past season. They did a lot of things differently than they had in the previous four seasons, and a lot of that had to do with the coach behind the bench.
Ken Hitchcock was hired to replace Lindy Ruff in April 2017. Though he didn’t get Dallas back to the playoffs, he helped the team take a big step forward from an even more disastrous 2016-17 season that was stale and depressing all around.
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Hitchcock implemented new systems and styles that stuck with the Dallas Stars like glue. By the end of the year, they were heavily improved on defense, possessed one of the better penalty kills in the league, and had a defined lineup that had taken large strides throughout the year. But they still didn’t make it to the postseason.
As a result, Hitchcock stepped down from his post by retiring on Friday morning. The retirement leaves Dallas once again searching for a head coach in their most important offseason in a long time. They have to make some significant changes and each change has to pay off. There’s no more time for delay.
But the players should be better prepared to take on this challenge. That’s largely due to the number of Stars that turned in a surprising year this past season. One of the most interesting points about this past season is the number of players that broke out of their shells and stepped into the spotlight for the Dallas Stars. These players gave Dallas an extra edge and proved that they can be even more useful than usual when they are reaching this new level.
Here are a few of the Stars that took their play the extra mile this season. It didn’t go unnoticed and will definitely follow the player into next year, regardless of where they play.