Dallas Stars: Off-Season Player Involvement and Expectations
By Summer LeBel
This off-season, Dallas Stars center Tyler Pitlick is participating in Da Beauty League. It’s one example of how players can stay involved in the sport and act as representatives for their team in the off-season, but how much should they be expected to do so?
Some Dallas Stars players spend the summer entirely off the grid while others document every moment of their travels through social media, but not all of them stay active in the hockey community or doing work for their team. It’s the same way throughout the NHL and all of professional sports.
If you look at the Washington Capitals this summer, or the Cup-winning team in any given year, their players spend a lot of time doing press, posing for pictures with the Cup, doing endorsements, and other things that keep them involved with the sport. That’s expected of them, but it shouldn’t be expected of everyone else at all times.
The off-season is a time for players to unwind from the disappointment of the season, assuming they aren’t spending it celebrating their championship. It also provides time for the players to recuperate from any lingering injuries so they can come in fresh for the new season.
More from Blackout Dallas
- Dallas Stars Traverse City Tournament: Who had great performances?
- Grushnikov and Stankoven lead Dallas Stars to 6-3 win over Columbus
- Dallas Stars prospects look to wrap up tournament with a win
- Burn the tapes: Dallas Stars prospects lose 5-1 to Toronto Maple Leafs
- Dallas Stars look to continue success today against the Maple Leafs
Doing interviews or other press work may not be physically draining, but it can be mentally taxing, especially after a hard season. Dissecting everything that went wrong is good right after the season ends and again right before the new season starts, but it isn’t good to dwell on it all summer long.
If their team is doing something special, like hosting the draft, players should be expected to be involved if asked, like Jamie Benn did this June. If they’re a free agent or in contract negotiations, they should be available for things related to that. Otherwise, it should be up to the players to make the choice during the summer of what’s best for them.
The same extends to what Pitlick is doing, where he’s actively playing hockey during the off-season. Players need to stay in shape over the summer and their social media accounts are often filled with shots of them exercising in various crazy ways. However, they shouldn’t be expected to play hockey specifically if they don’t want. It’s good to challenge themselves in new ways.
A concern that could come out of Pitlick or other athletes playing in the off-season is one of the same criticisms of the World Cup of Hockey. If a player gets injured playing in something like a beer league or a special tournament, it can have a serious impact on the upcoming season for the team that actually employs them. Most of the games in the summer may be low stakes and not highly aggressive, but sometimes players get injured simply in practice during the season.
On the flip side, guys like Pitlick are working to improve their game by doing things like this and getting in more playing time, even if it’s not the same as an NHL game. That drive to improve in the off-season can help push someone into having a breakout season.
Next: Would Artemi Panarin Be Worth the Cost?
Whether players choose to stay out of the limelight and off the ice entirely or do the opposite, it should be their call to make. Fans can and should cheer when players do something to support the game and the community, and when they are showing that they’re willing to put in the extra work needed to push their game to the next level. However, fans shouldn’t vilify players who choose to do the opposite as long as they’re coming into the next season ready to play.