Dallas Stars Must Set Realistic Expectations For New Season, Coach
Over the last decade, the Dallas Stars have undergone a number of massive changes. They’ve seen numerous coaches, players and leaders join and leave the organization. While that hasn’t always worked out for the best in the past, there’s hope that it will in the future. However, being realistic is key.
The Dallas Stars have already made some significant changes since the doors closed on the 2017-18 season. They saw likely hall of fame coach Ken Hitchcock retire from coaching and Jim Montgomery take his place as the man behind the bench.
They’ve been preparing to host the 2018 NHL Entry Draft next month and have seen players excel at the World Championships. With all of that change coming in the last month, it’s no wonder more is coming before the puck drops for preseason activities in September.
But it’s vital that the Stars — and fans — are realistic about what next season will bring.
New Coach, New Style
Dallas Stars hockey has been written and rewritten over time. There have been coaches encouraging a focus solely on offense and others who value defense as supreme. Montgomery will prove to be another unique approach to the team’s style of play.
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And that can take time. Dallas is coming off of a season in which their play was completely flipped upside-down. It didn’t work, and now they’re back to the drawing board. That, however, doesn’t mean there will be a seamless transition.
The Stars locker room is full of players who adjusted their style of play to match Hitchcock’s system for a full season, which will make transitioning to a new one that much more difficult. The hope is that they’ll be able to take the good habits they learned last season and transfer them to a faster, more offensively powerful system under Montgomery; however, it’s hard to tell without them actually being on the ice.
Line Juggling
As with any new coach, the way day-to-day activities work will vary. Things won’t remain as-is regarding line combinations, and that can cause some confusion amidst players who have grown accustomed to their line mates.
Players who suited up for Lindy Ruff and Hitchcock will likely have an easier time adjusting because it was anyone’s guess who they’d play with on a nightly basis, but it will still create new challenges for next season.
And, a more offensive style of play on top of personnel changes that have yet to be announced — particularly the unrestricted free agents — will only further complicate the issue.
What is Realistic?
The first season under a new coach with a new style can go a number of different directions. Best case: the Dallas Stars make a return to the playoffs and have a deep run. Worst case: they fall short yet again and find themselves with yet another long offseason.
And anything in-between is possible. Although anything truly can happen in the NHL, it’s realistic to assume that the Stars will take a bit of time to get accustomed to Montgomery as a coach. They’ll need time to get used to new players. They’ll just need time overall.
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Hopefully, the adjustment period isn’t lengthy, though. The organization and its fans deserve better than another season ending in April.