Dallas Stars Showing Ability to Take Western Conference by Storm

If you had looked at the placement of the Stars in the Western Conference a couple of weeks ago they would have likely been between eighth and 10th place, battling hard just to make the playoffs.

It's interesting what just a couple of a weeks and a quiet trade deadline can make.

The Stars hit a surge of energy right about the time of the trade deadline, and started really racking up valuable points.

A quiet trade deadline, which quieted rumors of top notch players such as Steve Ott, Brenden Morrow and others surely led to a renewed confidence that the Stars front office had faith in this team.

That faith has been well placed, as the Stars currently tied for points (75) with the Pacific Division leading Phoenix Coyotes. If the Stars can continue to do well, especially to the mid-month date that they meet the Coyotes the Stars not only have a solid chance to take the top seed of the Pacific Division.

More importantly now is the perfect time for the Stars to be getting hot, if they can find a groove now and carry it into the playoffs they could be a real threat to any team in their way. But knowing in Dallas, the first order of business is making the playoffs after such a long drought since a visit to the post season.

What has been the Stars trick to turning it around? Solid play in the middle of the ice, setting the tempo of the game and being willing to battle for the puck.

The little things that make a team capable of winning, all those intangible things that get ignored on stats sheets the Stars have started doing.

Of course success on the power play and penalty kill has helped secure some games. While there is still a long way to go the Stars deserve a pat on the back, but there is still a long road to go to playoff time.