10 games remain where do the Stars stand
This is it, we have made it to just 10 games left in the regular season, the Stars currently sit in the first wild card slot in the Western Conference. 2 points back of St Louis having played the same number of games, and a game in hand plus 2 points up on Arizona who hold the final wild card slot.
So all is looking good?
Keep reading to see what we think and feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments below. If you are new to the Dallas Stars Fan Site, be sure to like our page and check out our website – www.dallasstarsfansite.com for game reviews, video, news and all your Stars game tickets and official merchandise and the best prices.
Are the Dallas Stars under performing?
This is a tricky question to answer, in one big way, yes! That big way is offense, the Stars have a ton of offensive power, most of wich is the same scoring power that led the Stars to sitting at the top of the league in goals per game just a few seasons back. However, the Stars saw a big change under Hitchcock and managed to sort out for the most part their defensive issues, this year Montgomery has improved more on the defense and thanks to an awesome duo in net, Bishop & Khudobin, the Stars are looking good when it comes to keeping the puck out of the net.
The Stars missed the playoffs last year thanks to a dreadful end to the season, this year they look more in control and are playing good hockey, the last few games have been very close and despite a few losses, the Stars have looked like the better club, so should we be expecting the Stars to be higher than they currently are?
Trying not to be bias, I think yes, but just a little, we had a terrible start on the road this season and have still not fully fixed our road issues, but we have had many games especially lately that we should have won, but just not got the offense. It is easy to say and the same will go for any team, but just a couple of these games could have gone the other way and the Stars would be sitting in 3rd place and chasing down the number 2 spot in the central. And that is exactly where I think we should be, fighting for 3rd or 2nd place in the central, it is a tough division, but we deserve it.
What do we think about Montgomery?
I have enjoyed watching Monte behind the bench, it is nice to see a new style, I believe for the most part he has made the best decisions and given the team every chance of winning. It is easy to get frustrated when we are behind by a goal or two and we pull the goalie and give up yet another empty net goal, and even easier to then blame him for pulling the goalie, but if we didn’t take the chance and lost we will still be pointing the finger.
The biggest decision of late that was questionable was to bench Radulov, looking at it now, it was a perfect decision as he came back and picked up his first career hatty the next game, but again it is a ticky call. Part of me fully agree’s and thinks it was the right call, this is a crucial time of year and to set a big example and remind everyone who is boss and that there cannot be any slacking. The other part of me thinks, these games are damn important and we need all the help we can get, and with Rads on the ice we have a better chance of winning! So I am 50/50 and will happily look at his hatty the next game and say it had something to do with it, so good decision!
So from me, it is a well done to Monte, keep it up and Let’s get into the playoffs!
Oh Captain… Jamie Benn
I am going to keep this positive and short, Jamie Benn is still a beast, I think he has had another great year with some great performances, he may not have stood out every night, and this is a shame and he is great to watch and if he is on fire we usually win… but yes this year he seems to have been less noticeable in some games, does this mean he should no longer be captain, does this mean we should trade him… No, no, no and no! I think Jamie is a great leader for this team, the players respect him, he can do everything we need in a captain, I am sure we will see the Jamie Benn we need in the next 10 games and in the playoffs.
What should we expect?
I think there is a lot of excitement around the Dallas Stars, they are looking good to reach the playoffs again, with their great home record they could get an extra boost in the playoffs, we are still not a fully healthy team, but the likes of Zucarello will be back soon and he will be exciting to watch, Bishop returning and Khudobin remaining strong gives us something to cheer about. I think we can expect to get some more hockey again this year, and if the Stars can squeeze a little more offense out of their game without upsetting the solid defense, we will be unstoppable.
I think we can also expect a great finish to the season with Dallas playing Colorado, Chicago & Minnesota in the last 10 games, all teams that could be battling for a playoff spot, potentially with each other!
Who has stood out?
This is a good question, I have seen some great new faces this year and definitely looking forward to seeing more of them. I am not going to go into detail in this post, but of course Miro has to get the first mention, he has looked great, and been the best player on the ice some nights and that is pretty extraordinary! Of late Hintz has been great and gets the next mention, his speed and goal scoring talent is great to see. Jason Spezza, OK I can sense you all want to throw things at me now, but stick with me. Spezza had a terrible year last year, he pulled himself back this year and had a much better start, his points may have slowed back down again, but his role within the team is key when you look at replays of some of the Stars goals this year, including Miro’s first, you will notice it is Spezza setting them up. Benn, Seguin and Radulov may not have stood out as much as we would have liked, but they are sitting atop the Stars leader boards, so once again they are all doing there bit. Finally, we cannot move on without mentioning how fortunate we are to have both Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin, Bishop has been fantastic this year, injures have been frustrating, but he has looked and has been unstoppable in so many games this year, it is nice to have that reliability back in the net for the Stars, likewise, Khudobin has been a proper backup for the Stars this year and he just gets things done whenever it is needed in whatever situation, and sometimes with some class too!
Dallas Stars Summary!
Dallas have once again been an interesting team to watch this year, some games you watch them and think, wow – this team could go all the way, they control the entire game, any chances given up are stopped by Bishop or Khudobin and when we score we mix it up and show that we have several players that can hit the back of the net.
However, the next night you can watch the same team play and look so out of sync and wonder how we are doing as well as we are. It is frustrating, the good news is there is more good than bad. And as I said, we are under performing in my opinion and if we can find a way to be a little more consistent and when we do fall, find a way to grab at least a point or get that last minute goal and win a game we probably didn’t deserve to win, then we will be where we should be.
Now I don’t think this summarizes enough about how we have done so far this season, but I think this post has gone on a little too long so we shall end it there.
We will see you again after the Stars vs Panthers game.
Enjoy.
Luke Hames
#gostars