It’s an ice time to be in Dallas

By David Mullen

While the Dallas Cowboys are having unexpected early season success, the pool parties are still awash at the Village, and the fryers remain bubbling at the State Fair of Texas, that unmistakable time of year has arrived for local sports fans.

Wipe off the Banana Boat SPF 30 and funnel cake crumbs from your chin and grab that Victory Green sweater. The NHL regular season is underway. It’s an ice time to be in Dallas.

The Stars offseason priorities were to find players to improve scoring and nab a quality head coach for the bench. It appears they accomplished some of their goals.

Under former coach Rick Bowness, the Stars were slow and methodical. While that style could be effective — the Stars took the favored Calgary Flames to seven games in the first round of the last year’s Stanley Cup playoffs — their play was painful to watch and put too much pressure on goaltending.

Save the primary line of Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski, there were no dependable scoring lines on the team. The Stars scored fewer goals than any of the 16 playoff teams in 2021-22 and 74 fewer than the Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche, yet still finished with 16 more wins than losses and 98 points. GM Jim Nill and the Stars brass didn’t want to take a chance on that futility leading to fertility.

The Stars hired Peter DeBoer as head coach. DeBoer, 54, comes with a reputation of being offensive minded. He has served as head coach of the Florida Panthers, the New Jersey Devils, the San Jose Sharks and, most recently, the Vegas Golden Knights. He has held more positions than a yoga instructor.

DeBoer has taken two teams (Devils and Sharks) to the Stanley Cup Finals, but never won. He will be asked to lead the Stars to their first title since 1999, but for 2022-23, the task is too much to ask.     

To help improve DeBoer’s chances, Dallas signed potential star Mason Marchment, added young defenseman Nils Lundkvist and resigned 40-goal scorer and face of the franchise Robertson. Throw in a new contract for returning playoff hero, goalie Jake Oettinger, and the Stars were fastidious if not flashy.

DeBoer will try to pick up the pace on the ice and infuse some young talent. The Stars are saddled with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin in decline, but at 32 and 30, they are not too old to find a second wind in a new offensive scheme. The highest paid player is 23-year-old defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who will hopefully be challenged by DeBoer to prove he’s worth his $7 million annual salary. 

Oettinger, who earned the lead role with an unheard-of .954 save percentage against Calgary in the playoffs, and Scott Wedgewood will be asked to guard the real estate between the pipes. 

The geography of the NHL has changed. Teams in Miami, Tampa Bay, Las Vegas and Raleigh are more likely to skate into the playoffs than squads from hockey hotbeds Chicago, Montreal, Ottawa or Buffalo.  

The Stars play in the loaded Central Division of the Western Conference. During their Stanley Cup run, the Avs lost just four games in four rounds. Colorado is young, fast and talented led by Norris Trophy and Conn Smythe winner Cale Makar. 

The Nashville Predators are the trendy pick in the Central, and goalie Juuse Saros is only getting better. The Minnesota Wild are a pain in the ice for the Stars, as if they are playing for redemption after the Stars moved from the Twin Cities to Dallas/Fort Worth. The Wild play with more passion than the Stars. Dallas’ playoff hopes may hinge on the success of the St. Louis Blues and whether they will improve or regress. Much like the Stars, the Blues are difficult to read from year to year.

The Pacific Division teams made moves designed to address weaknesses. Calgary, a 111-point team last season, overhauled their roster. The Edmonton Oilers have been built around Connor McDavid. Goalie Jack Campbell will have an entire season as netminder. LA Kings games have gone from the place to be seen to the place to watch quality hockey. 

Vegas suffered through injuries last season, but a healthy squad should put them back in the Stanley Cup playoff hunt. The Sharks are still in flux, the Anaheim Ducks are not yet mighty, and the Seattle Kraken introduced Buoy, a goofy looking blue-haired troll designed to scare small children and give Gritty a drinking buddy. 

In the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference, the Toronto Maple Leafs are poised to win the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1967, before Trudeau was prime minister. Pierre, not Justin. Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner are among the young superstars invading top NHL teams. The Panthers weathered internal strife and still had a league high 122 points thanks to a blistering start. New coach Paul Maurice has work to do in Florida to get them back to elite status. 

The Boston Bruins limp into the season with Brad Marchand having double hip surgery. Must have had a two for one deal at the doctor’s office. Boston is the type of team that can make a late playoff run thanks in part to a rabid fan base not highly anticipating the 2023 Red Sox. The Tampa Bay Lightning don’t care who they play in the playoffs, as long as they make the playoffs. Little doubt that they will. Plus, they have the most aptly named center in hockey: Brayden Point. His name sounds like a 1970s romance novel.

In the Metropolitan Division, it is a race between the Carolina Hurricanes, the Pittsburgh Penguins, the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals. Carolina has constantly stocked the roster with solid players, the Pens have been consistently good for a few years and can score, the New York Rangers are the team no team wants to play in their Garden home, and the Caps have the great Alex Ovechkin and new goalie Darcy Kuemper. The Devils and New York Islanders hope to improve enough to sneak into a final playoff spot.

I think Toronto will beat Colorado in the Stanley Cup Finals, welcoming the Maple Leafs into the 21st century. Dallas grabbed the final playoff spot last year, and I think that is the most to expect in 2022-23. The Stars feel like a mid- to high-90-point team, but fans probably won’t start to pay attention until the Fair ends, the seasons change, and the Cowboys season is over.