Dallas Stars: Stars Are Shining, The Top 10 Reasons For The Stars' Resurgence
After two very disappointing seasons, the Dallas Stars have without a doubt been the most improved team to this point of the NHL season.
What makes the Stars' turnaround even more impressive is the fact that they play and lead in what could be the best division in the league—the Pacific.
The team currently sits in third place in the Western Conference, a very welcomed sight by the Stars' community.
Dallas seems to be back on a winning path and is primed to make a return to the postseason.
Here are the top 10 reasons why.
10. James Neal and Jamie Benn
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See that strapping young lad in the picture? That's the future of the Dallas Stars.
James Neal took large steps last season putting together a 55-point season. But this year, he's making leaps.
Neal has some of the best hands on the team and can pick a corner with the best of them. He's also not afraid to get physical with opposing player.
Neal is currently on pace for 60+ points and playing with both Loui Eriksson and Brad Richards has to be doing wonders for his confidence for years to come. And at age 23, he has plenty of confidence left.
Along with Neal, Jamie Benn is leading the youth charge and has the potential to become into a superstar in the NHL.
At 21, Benn is still young but that can easily be forgotten when watched.
He has the poise and confidence of a veteran, not to mention the skill (some of it can be seen here).
Barring any serious setback, Benn should have no issue clearing the 50-point mark.
Heck, he can beat up Jarome Iginla.
Both players still have kinks to work out, but the future is certainly shining bright for the Stars—pun intended.
9. The Defensemen
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For the last two seasons, the Stars' defense had been atrocious.
Defensive shutdowns were nonexistent, they were immature as a whole and rarely was there any offensive production from the back end. Time works wonders.
Stephane Robidas and Karlis Skrastins bring veteran leadership night in and night out, but what is most encouraging for Stars' fans is that the team's younger defensmen are forming into a solid defensive core.
Trevor Daley, Nicklas Grossman (pictured), Mark Fistric and even Jeff "Wildcat" Woywitka are providing speed, strength and stability on the back end and are an imposing physical force.
This season, the Stars are able to shut teams down, close out tight games and routinely chip in on the scoreboard.
8. Marc Crawford
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When Marc Crawford first arrived to Dallas, it was met with an extreme amount of indifference.
Both the fans and the media looked at the hiring, said, "meh," then changed the channel.
And after just his first season with the club, people were already clamoring for a change behind the bench.
But in reality, the disappointing 2009-10 season was plagued by unfamiliarity between Crawford, his new assistant coaches and the players.
Some veteran players simply refused to fall in line with Crawford's up-beat, hi-tempo, offensively-geared system.
After all, the Stars' game had been "defense first" since the Ken Hitchcock days.
But after a year of growing pains, the Stars have appeared to have finally bought into what Crawford is preaching.
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7. Brenden Morrow and Mike Ribeiro
4 of 10The 07-08 season saw the creation of one of the most dangerous one-two punches in Stars' history.
Brenden Morrow and Mike Ribeiro were nearly impossible to stop from connecting for goals as both players had career highs in points, 74 and 83, respectively.
Unfortunately for the Stars, in November of the 08-09 season, the Stars' captain tore his ACL and missed the rest of the year and didn't get back on the ice until July of 2009.
Ribeiro managed to put together a 78-point season despite constant line shifting.
In a reversal of sorts, in the 09-10 season, Ribeiro suffered a neck injury that kept him out almost 20 games.
Morrow struggled all season to recover his form and both players ended the season with disappointing point totals.
This season, it appears Morrow and Ribeiro have found the magic spark once again.
They may not put up the gaudy numbers like Richards and Eriksson, but they don't play on the first line either.
Morrow is one of the best captains in the NHL and isn't afraid to put his nose in other people's business, even if it's broken.
That kind of grit sets an example for the other 17 guys on the bench.
This Stars team follows its leader, and they are following him to success.
6. Loui Eriksson
5 of 10The '09-10 season saw the emergence of the now Loui Eriksson.
The soft-spoken Swede cleared 70 points (finished with 71) that season and is well on his way to clearing 80 in this one.
Of course playing with Brad Richards will help your point totals but you have to be able to finish when opportunity presents itself.
Eriksson has made a habit of doing just that and should be able to pull off 30 goals this season.
Eriksson's defensive play is worth noting too. He has the ability to get back on defense and reminds Stars' fans of a recently retired Dallas great, Jere Lehtinen.
At age 25, Eriksson still has plenty of time to grow his game to elite status in this league.
5. Joe Nieuwendyk
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Before the 09-10 season Joe Nieuwendyk took over the GM position from the rather interesting pairing of Brett Hull and Les Jackson.
Nieuwendyk went straight to work by firing current Phoenix Coyotes head coach, Dave Tippett and hired journeyman, Marc Crawford.
Many were not on board with his decision and as his inaugural season as GM concluded, Nieuwendyk had the collective finger pointed at him.
Tippett had brought the Coyotes a 100+ point season and a playoff birth while the Stars missed out on the playoffs for the second straight year.
But during that season, Nieuwendyk traded little seen prospect Ivan Vishnevskiy (known for this gaff) and a draft pick to Atlanta for Kari Lehtonen to be the goalie of the future.
In the off-season, Nieuwendyk made it clear that the Stars were heading in a new, youth-driven direction and looking within the organization for the future of the club.
The Stars were relatively quiet during the free-agency period bringing in the low-cost, high-reward Andrew Raycroft to be the back-up to Lehtonen and someone to accompany Steve Ott in the pest department, Adam Burish, from the 2010 Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks.
During this season, Nieuwendyk let his team know that they are going for it all this year by trading a conditional draft pick to New Jersey in return for a now two-time Star and locker room presence in Jamie Langenbrunner.
This past offseason also showed that Nieuwendyk will also make some very difficult decisions.
The Stars did not re-sign longtime starting goalie, Marty Turco, winger Jere Lehtinen, and the most beloved Star of all time...
4. Mike Modano
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Joe Nieuwenduk faced no tougher challenge than that of what to do with his the most respected and loved Star in franchise history: Mike Modano.
Many figured Modano was not only done with the Stars, but the NHL too.
Modano clearly wasn't ready to hang his skates up (see picture).
With that in mind, Nieuwendyk, in keeping with his proclamation of the new youth movement and Modano at age 40, made the decision not to re-sign his close, personal friend who happens to be the franchise leader in just about every category.
But at the same time, the departure of Modano was fantastic for the Stars, as odd as that may seem.
There were many hanger-oners to the 1999 Stanley Cup winning team and Modano was their last way to cling to it.
Nieuwendyk realized that it was time for the face of the franchise to be someone who didn't send people's thoughts back to the glory days of '99.
And with that monumental decision, the players, the organization as well as the fans, had finally taken the step toward a new era of Dallas Stars hockey.
3. Play on The Road
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The mathematical equation for the playoffs is as follows:
Win 2/3 (66 percent) of home games + Wins in 1/2 (50 percent) of road games = Playoffs
The Stars are 15-6-4 (≈60 percent) at home and 14-9-1 (≈58 percent) on the road.
At this pace, the Stars will make the playoffs.
Any player would tell you that playing on the road is hard. The only people you have on your side are the ones on the bench.
Dallas has been able to ignore this and have gone into other teams' arenas and walked away with a clean two points.
And when the Stars have to go play their Pacific division foes, taking two clean points is crucial.
2. Brad Richards
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When Brad Richards recorded five assists in his debut game with Dallas after being acquired from Tampa Bay, Stars fans were excited to say the least.
After an injury plagued '08-09 campaign, Richards almost broke the franchise record for points in a season (93) with 91 in 09-10.
It seems like he is always on the score sheet and anyone who watched the Stars play knows the insane skill level of this guy.
Whether he's setting up a goal or scoring one, Richards is always targeted by the opposing team.
There really isn't any doubt that he is the most talented player on the Dallas roster and you can forget about a trade this year. This team is going for broke this season and Richards is vital to post-season success.
Let's not forget he won the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2004 with the Lightning.
And assuming he continues his pace this year, Richards will break the franchise record as he is on pace for 95 points.
Now if this organization can get an owner and pay the man...
1. Goaltending, Goaltending, Goaltending
10 of 10The previous two seasons had seen Dallas goaltending fall flat on its face.
Some of that can be blamed on the quality of play by the goalies, some can be dished out to the defense that didn't give the goalies a whole lot of help and some can be due to the lack of a solid back-up (It was Tobias Stephan for crying out loud. If you can tell me about him, I'll give you a cookie).
When the Stars traded for Kari Lehtonen in the '09-10 season, it signaled the end of the Marty Turco era.
As hard (or not so for some) as it was to see Turco go, fans and players alike knew it was time for a change in net.
And what a change it's been.
What fans are getting from Lehtonen is nothing short of fantastic. His stats won't garner him a Vezina or Jennings trophy (21-11-5, 2.62 GAA and a .915 save percentage) but he's been able to carry the load, make the big save, steal a game here and there but most importantly, stay healthy.
Lehtonen struggled with injuries with Atlanta but has been good to go most nights, but when he's needed a break, Andrew Raycroft has filled in admirably, posting an 8-4 record with a 2.42 GAA, a .920 save percentage and two shutouts.
Needless to say, this year has seen a vast improvement in the crease and as a consequence, more "Ws" in the win column.
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