Not too early to forecast Dallas Stars season

By David Mullen

The Texas Rangers are playing meaningful baseball in October for the first time in seven years. Not since the 2016 Rangers, led by GM Jon Daniels, managed by Jeff Banister and still playing in the open air Globe Life Park have the Rangers qualified for the MLB playoffs.

Preparing for the most anticipated game of the early NFL season without Taylor Swift in attendance, the 3-1 Dallas Cowboys are heading to the Bay Area to play the 4-0 San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night, Oct. 8 before a national audience on NBC.    

Reveling in the University of Texas’ 5-0 start and No. 3 ranking in national college football polls, the Longhorns are concluding their final Big 12 season in style. UT fans will be squeezing into the Cotton Bowl or relaxing in their La-Z-Boy to watch their team face the No. 12 Oklahoma Sooners in the Red River Rivalry on Saturday, Oct. 7.

SMU is finishing their final American Athletic Conference football season before joining the prestigious and powerful ACC in 2024. High school football is underway. Essentially ending the 2023 golf season, Europe trounced the USA on October 1 to win the 2023 Ryder Cup. Good thing the stakes are low, or Americans would be wearing berets, eating herring, talking with their hands and having a spot of tea each afternoon at 4 p.m.  

October is a great month on the calendar. America’s favorite sports are in full swing. After a summer of excruciating heat, temperatures have begun to fall in time for fall and now are firmly entrenched in the high double digits for another few weeks. 

But enjoyable October weather, playoff baseball, successful starts for the area’s most watched and beloved pro and college football teams and the conclusion of the golf season be damned, it’s time for another professional sports team to grab the spotlight.

Believe it or not, it’s hockey time in Dallas. Time to lace up the skates and stock up on rubber gloves and sutures.

On Thursday, Oct. 12 at 7 p.m., the Dallas Stars open the regular season schedule against the St. Louis Blues at the newly appointed American Airlines Center. All of the seats in the AAC have been replaced and tailored for greater fan comfort. The old scoreboard at center ice has been replaced by a $10 million video entertainment system that appears to have some DNA sourced from Sphere in Las Vegas. The AAC ice is smooth and prepared for the 2023-24 NHL season to begin. In early October.

It’s still Central Daylight Time. But in the Central Division, where the Stars reside, the time is right, and the season is bright for the Dallas Stars.  

This season, head coach Peter DeBoer is entering his second year with a tweaked, but improved team. Last year’s playoff experience will make the young players better. The veteran leadership will keep the youngsters in check. 

DeBoer led the Stars to a 47-21-14 record, good enough for second place in the Central Division but not good enough to receive a better playoff seed. Not deterred, Dallas made it to the Western Conference Finals before losing to eventual Stanley Cup Champion Vegas Golden Knights 4 games to 2.

In his first season on the bench, DeBoer accomplished his main objective of enlightening the dimly lit Stars offensive attack to respectability. 

The Stars finished seventh among the 32 NHL teams in scoring, averaging 3.43 goals per game. That was the single biggest improvement over the Rick Boness-led 2021-22 Stars, which finished 21st in the league and was the lowest scoring team to make the playoffs. Part of last season’s success can be credited to a rising star, the rejuvenation of a longtime fan favorite and a seasoned veteran.

Twenty-three-year-old Jason Robertson had a Dallas Stars single season record 109 points (46 goals, 63 assists), good for sixth in the NHL. Robertson, now 24, is the franchise’s best player. 

Jamie Benn, beginning his 15th season with Dallas, displayed inspired hockey and finished with 78 points. Benn’s “joined at the hip” teammate of 10 years, Tyler Sequin, battled with injuries but also improved from the previous season. And veteran Joe Pavelski, in his fourth season as a Stars leader, played every game and registered 77 points. In the offseason, the Stars added 32-year-old center Matt Duchene for added support. 

Young Stars Robertson, Roope Hintz and promising Wyatt Johnston will only improve with more experience. Defensively, Dallas is skilled, and 24-year-old defenseman Miro Heiskanen is one of the NHL’s best. 

Goalie Jake Oettinger is coming off an impressive workhorse season with five shutouts, saving 92 percent of shots for a 2.37 goals-against average. His workload must be managed by solid backup Scott Wedgewood, who missed part of the 2022-23 season with an injury, forcing Oettinger to play too often.

With the offense fixed and netminding in place, DeBoer’s objective this season is to have his team finish games. The Stars lost a mind-numbing 14 overtime/shootout games in the regular season, and the troubles spilled over to the playoffs. The Stars lost four overtime playoff games, including the first two In the Western Conference Finals against Vegas. 

Good teams don’t lose 14 games in overtime, and the Stars are a good team. Each point counts in the regular season, especially when playing in the competitive Western Conference, home to the Stanley Cup Champion Golden Knights, the always explosive Colorado Avalanche and the high-flying Connor McDavid and his Edmonton Oilers. Winning in overtime is as much a mindset as anything, and DeBoer will have to play the role of therapist as much as tactician. 

The Stars have an excellent hockey team and are poised to make a run for the Stanley Cup in 2023-24. Local sports fans will start paying attention once the weather cools, the Rangers playoff run is done and the fate of the area pro and college football teams is decided. It’s early, but pay attention to the Stars. It’s not to soon to call the team a potential Stanley Cup Champion.