Dallas Stars Got What Was Expected From Ben Bishop In First Year

A little over a year ago, the Dallas Stars traded for and signed goaltender Ben Bishop. But how did he do in Victory Green in the first year of a long-term contract?

The Dallas Stars definitely aren’t living up to the consistency of last year’s offseason hype, that’s for sure. But that’s okay.

Sure, they hired a new head coach in the first month of both the 2017 summer and 2018 summer. But in the 2017 summer, a lot more was happening for the team.

On May 9, 2017, the Stars made a surprise move by trading for the rights to pending free agent goaltender Ben Bishop. Three days later, they signed him to a six-year contract that locked him down as the Dallas starter long-term.

While Stars fans were certain that the team would be in the hunt for a new goaltender over the summer, there were no lingering reports on Bishop. Dallas had tried to secure a deal for him at the 2016 draft but it fell through. But finally, GM Jim Nill seemed to have found his starting netminder, and the offseason had only just begun.

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But let’s bounce back to the present now. Here we are 372 days past Bishop signing his first contract. A year has passed. The Dallas Stars became older and maybe a bit wiser, at least in terms of player development and coaching. And yet, they still missed the postseason for a second straight year.

There’s a lot to be said about this failure, especially in regards to the expectations that were set for the team. Dallas was arguably the most improved team of the 2017 offseason and looked set up to put on a huge bounce back season. They had a new head coach with a winning culture, a confident and proven starting goaltender, a first line right winger, and veteran help on defense.

But it all came apart. After months of building on success, the Stars frayed in the month of March with a record of 4-8-4. They quickly descended from third place in the Central Division to well outside the playoff picture. And by the time they tried to turn it around, it was already too late. Why did they fall victim to this historic collapse?

There are a lot of reasons that can be pointed out. But one undeniable reason was the loss of Ben Bishop to a lower-body injury.

The month of March started out on an iffy note for the Dallas Stars. They had lost in overtime to the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 1 but rallied back and defeated the St. Louis Blues two days later. The win helped give them an even more comfortable lead on the third place spot.

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But on March 5, it happened. In an awkward play during a game against the struggling Ottawa Senators, Dan Hamhuis fell on top of Bishop, who doubled over backwards. Bishop played the remainder of the first period but exited the game after first intermission. The Dallas Stars went on to lose that game in overtime and thus began their descent into darkness.

Bishop missed the next 11 days before returning to the lineup against Ottawa yet again on the 16th. He lasted just a little over one game before falling victim to another injury in the first period against the Winnipeg Jets. Following that injury, Bishop was shut down for the rest of the regular season.

So how is one supposed to grade Big Ben’s first year in Dallas? Well, let’s look at the numbers.

During his exit interview, Bishop talked about how his goal was to start in 60 games this past season. He almost hit that mark, starting in 51 and playing in 53. If he had not missed March with the injury, he may have even surpassed that number.

In his 53 games played, he posted a record of 26-17-5. That’s good. He posted a .916 save percentage, which is the same percentage that he posted the year he backstopped the Tampa Bay Lightning to the Stanley Cup Final. So that’s respectable, too. His goals against average was a 2.49, which is his second-worst GAA since the 2013-14 season. But even still, it’s a decent average.

His numbers check out, but how do you grade him? How do you grade an elite goalie in his first year with a team when the team didn’t make the playoffs? Or when an untimely injury catches him at the worst possible time and the backup isn’t prepared to take over?