Stars begin hoping to play at full strength

By David Mullen

The objective for the 2021-22 National Hockey League season might be summarized by a common hockey term. For the Dallas Stars and 31 other teams in the United States and Canada, pro hockey is ready to “return to full strength.”

The new season is not without some curiosities, but nothing that resembles the past two COVID-19 years. The league will return to a full slate of 82 games instead of game-shortened schedules. They will play against each team at least twice (home and road) instead of being divided into conferences by country and relegated to facing just regional foes in the regular season. And outside of the Tampa Bay area, home of the reigning two-time Stanley Cup champions, a few NHL teams will be looking to catch the Lightning in a battle.

 There are new broadcast networks, a new team and a three-week Winter Games break so pro players can faceoff in the 2022 Beijing Olympics in February. ESPN and Turner Sports are the new television homes of the NHL in America, with a few national games crossing over to ESPN’s big brother ABC to appease the “cut the cable” crowd.

In game, it will be Turner’s first foray into hockey, and they are serious about content. Broadcasters include Kenny Albert and Brandon Burke handling play-by-play assignments with Eddie Olczyk, Keith Jones, Jamal Meyers and the great Darren Pang providing analysis. 

Former NHL official Don Koharski, famous for his alleged love of donuts, will serve as the roving rules expert on broadcasts throughout the night.

Turner will construct a hockey version of their EMMY-award winning studio show “NBA on TBS” with “NHL on TNT,” featuring lead host Liam McHugh, hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, former players Anson Carter and Paul Bissonette and veteran player/coach Rick Tocchet behind the desk. Known for using humor to infuse their basketball version, Turner’s new hockey roundtable needs to avoid being a victim of “high schtick-ing.”

Because of past fan interest generated by games held outdoors, the NHL will have three outdoor games this season. All will be broadcast on TNT, and host venues will be Target Field in Minneapolis, Nissan Stadium in Nashville and Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ont. Koharski should feel right at home at Tim Hortons Field.

It has been 17 years since NHL games have been broadcast on ESPN. When in its infancy, live hockey games gave credibility to “The Worldwide Leader in Sports,” but hockey was sent to the penalty box, replaced by LeBron James dunks, Stephen A. Smith rants, all things WNBA and New York Yankees and unmitigated political commentary. 

ESPN’s October 12 broadcast between the Vegas Knights and the new Seattle Kraken, with John Buccigross, Brian Boucher and reporter AJ Mleczko, felt like too many men (and women) on the ice. Familiar faces like Linda Cohn, Steve Levy and Barry Melrose will also be part of ESPN’s presentation, which will include the NHL All-Star weekend from Las Vegas beginning on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022. 

The Kraken become the 32nd team in the NHL. Ownership paid a $650 million franchise fee to join the league and will play in a refurbished KeyArena now named Climate Pledge Arena. Interesting name for a venue that must keep hot dogs hot, beer cold, fans comfortable and ice frozen at the same time. 

As has been the recent legacy of pro hockey, the Kraken opened the season with five players — including former Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak — on the COVID-19 restricted list. Welcome to the NHL.

The league will take a hiatus in February to participate in the Winter Games. Players were adamant in representing their countries, while owners seem more concerned about making up lost revenue caused by empty arenas due to COVID-19.

The Stars play five of their first six regular season games on the road against Eastern Conference foes. Only the home opener on Friday, Oct. 22 against the Los Angeles Kings breaks up the quest for leading the league in frequent flyers miles.

After playing a game of salary cap slotting to field the final roster, the Stars assembled a team with a lot of familiar faces. They are solid, if not spectacular. Just two years removed from the fan-less Stanley Cup finals, Dallas missed the playoffs last season with a stretch of mediocre play at season’s end. Fans hope this squad doesn’t succumb to injuries that have crippled the team in the past.

The big news at Stars camp this offseason was the return of a healthy Tyler Seguin. His presence brings out the best in Captain Jamie Benn. Veteran Joe Pavelski, young Jason Robertson (a runner-up in Calder Trophy voting) and Roope Hintz should provide the Stars with much need scoring. Dallas was 18th in the league in goals last season.

General manager Jim Nill and head coach Rick Bowness remain defensive minded. They signed Miro Heiskanen to an eight-year, $67.6 million contract and brought in 36-year-old Ryan Suter to join him. Stars John Klingberg begins his seventh season with the big club.

Goaltending, once a Dallas strength, is a question mark entering 2021. The Stars added goaltender Braden Holtby to join Anton Khudobin and Jake Oettinger. Ben Bishop, the Stars $5 million mystery man, is still on the shelf. All four goalies are under contract and the Dallas looks like they will begin the season with Holtby, Khudobin and Oettinger on the active roster.

Their biggest obstacles in the Western Conference appear to be the Knights, the Edmonton Oilers with wunderkind Connor McDavid and the powerhouse Stanley Cup favorites Colorado Avalanche. The Stars opened with 36 to 1 odds of winning the Stanley Cup and currently sit at 22 to 1.

Tampa Bay has lost some key players and are not as deep as in the past two years. The regular season is a grind, and then 16 more wins are required to hoist the Cup. The storm caused by the Lightning this decade may be dissipating. In the Eastern Conference, they face challenges from the Boston Bruins, Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers, New York Islanders and the Toronto Maple Leafs featuring star Auston Matthews, who was raised in the hockey hotbed of Scottsdale, Ariz. 

In a country known for its biting winter weather, their best pro player is from the “Valley of the Sun.” 

This Dallas team has one last run at the Stanley Cup finals if they can avoid the bad luck that has followed them in the last two years. They will not score a lot, so stellar goaltending is critical for them join the elite teams in the Western Conference. For the Stars, winning isn’t a pipe dream. It’s a goal.