Only four teams remain in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoff race. But each one can serve as encouragement to the Dallas Stars in some form or fashion. It’s important that the Stars use them as motivation for next season.
The Dallas Stars didn’t qualify for the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. But then again, the Stars didn’t necessarily deserve a spot in the postseason, either.
The 2017-18 Stars were a curious case of a team that Stars fans haven’t seen in a long time. Their season, as you probably are already well aware of, can be broken up into three separate sections.
From games 1-20, the Dallas Stars were a team struggling to find their identity. They did enough to get by but were by no means proving themselves in a significant way. But then games 21-60 came along and the Stars looked like one of the best teams in the NHL. They were competitive, energetic, and dominant. All in all, they outdid almost every opponent that they came across and looked to be a playoff lock.
And then the final 22 games settled in, and all of that promise vanished. The Stars lost their starting goaltender, stalled entirely on offensive production, and couldn’t string together wins when it mattered most down the stretch. Dallas hit a eight-game skid (0-6-2) in the middle of March and singlehandedly removed themselves from the playoff picture.
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By April 1, the Stars were mathematically eliminated from the playoff race and were left to wallow in confusion and figure out what happened. And while they cleaned out their lockers early and headed for a second consecutive early summer, 16 teams took the next step in competing for the Cup.
That doesn’t seem like too long ago (just about five weeks), and yet the playoff field has already shrunken considerably. The conference finals got underway on Friday night with only four teams remaining in the fold. The Winnipeg Jets and Vegas Golden Knights are battling it out for the final spot in the Western Conference while the Washington Capitals and Tampa Bay Lightning are jousting to see who represents the East.
And while three of these four teams won their respective divisions this season and the other finished in second place overall in the NHL, this isn’t your typical conference finals bout. Each one of these teams brings a unique scenario with them to the postseason, and it’s something that the Dallas Stars can learn from starting next season.
The impressive thing is that the Jets, Golden Knights (obviously), and Lightning all missed the playoffs last year. Whether you chop any of those up to being a fluke or not, the truth is the truth. Winnipeg missed out by seven points, Tampa Bay fell one point short, and Vegas wasn’t even around yet. That’s a quick one-year turnaround for all three franchises.
Meanwhile, Washington has qualified for the playoffs in each of the past four seasons, but this is their first time getting past the second round. In addition, they knocked off the back-to-back champions in round two in order to get where they are now with a comfortable 2-0 series lead over the Bolts.
Pucks and Pitchforks
And to top it all off, three of these teams have never won a Stanley Cup before (Washington, Vegas, Winnipeg). The only team still in the postseason with a Cup is Tampa Bay, though they won 14 years ago.
This is where the Stars can find encouragement and motivation when going into next year. There’s a 50 percent chance that a team will go from non-playoff team last year to Stanley Cup winner this year (assuming Vegas or Winnipeg win it all). But on top of that, it shows that teams who missed the playoffs by a handful of points last year can easily bounce back. After all, the Dallas Stars missed the postseason by just three points this year.
The NHL is known for its unpredictability. But in the past few years, the Penguins, Blackhawks, and Kings have been the only ones walking away with the prize when it’s all said and done. This year, things are changing. And that just goes to show that any team really can commit a quick turnaround if things go according to plan.
This year’s playoff teams are proving that anything is possible if you have enough determination and the right setup. The Stars proved for a majority of this season that they have the right setup going and may only need a few tweaks before being considered a contender once again.
Next: Jets And Stars: A Tale Of Two Central Franchises
But if they learn anything from this season’s teams, it’s that the past truly is the past if you want it to be. The Dallas Stars have to put this past season behind them and look towards their bright and new tomorrow. That may be easier said than done, but it’s possible. After all, did you ever think that Vegas or Winnipeg would be within reach of a Stanley Cup this season?