Patience was the virtue for playoff-bound Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars put themselves and their fans through an up-and-down roller coast ride this season. The reward is a deserved trip to the playoffs.

In retrospect, we probably should have seen this coming. On paper, the Dallas Stars possess the talent to be a playoff contender. But in the course of a hockey season, it’s easy to get caught up in the moment. Couple that with a fan base that carries around a lot emotional baggage over missing the playoffs eight times in the past ten seasons, and it’s easy to why tensions ran high.

Sure enough, just when things were looking pretty peachy, they stumbled a bit during a five-game home stand in mid-March. At the time, they held the Western Conference’s top wild card spot, but their grip on that perch was uneasy. And judging by their ongoing inconsistencies, no one knew if they’d be able to right the ship and rally towards a playoff berth.

Well, since that woebegone 1-3-1 home stand, the Stars posted a 5-1-1 mark and charged into playoffs in workmanlike fashion. In fact, if you take the larger picture in to account, Dallas managed to go 12-6-2 over their last 20 regular season games. Even more astounding, they’ve won the second most games in the Western Conference since the All Star break. Pretty heady stuff for a bunch that was having their collective manhood questioned a week after Christmas.

So while the regular season ended with a decisive 3-0 win over Minnesota on Saturday night, the real drama came to a head last Tuesday when the Flyers came to down. I was at that game and still in the process of buying my first beer and getting to my seat when the Stars scored two quick goals to take an early lead. Philadelphia rallied to tie it, but Dallas wrested control of the game again en route to a 6-2 thumping of the Flyers, thereby punching the Stars’ ticket to the playoffs for the first time in three years.

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I’d never been in a building on a night when any team of mine had clinched a playoff spot. I’m not going to sit here and tell you it was a life-changing experience, but I will say that the vibe was way more celebratory than your garden variety regular season win. For once, the arena was mostly green. Philadelphia fans are known for showing up to support their squad. Tuesday night was no exception. But the crowd at American Airlines Center was about eighty-five percent green, which was in stark contrast to the scene I’ve seen there in years past. There have been times where you’d swear it was fifty-fifty, in terms of orange to green, but Tuesday wasn’t one of those times.

Also, while we’re at it, it’s time to give first-year head coach Jim Montgomery a ton of credit. This is a team he inherited from two NHL coaching legends in Lindy Ruff and Ken Hitchcock. In Ruff’s last year and Hitchcock’s only year, the Stars failed to live up to their sizable potential. But Montgomery came in and spoke of his “Process“, and while some groaned and collectively rolled their eyes–present company included–the process ended up working. When it mattered most, the Stars gutted up and played their best hockey.

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It took some time and patience, and at times felt like pulling teeth, but the real fun now begins on Wednesday night in a veritable hornet’s nest in Nashville. Truth be told, I love the Stars’ chances. Sure, the Predators are a battle-tested bunch in these circumstances, but the Stars match up really well against them. If you’re not familiar with the intensity of playoff hockey, get ready. This one’s got all the potential of being an absolute classic.

Published on 04/08/2019 at 11:00 AM
Last updated at 04/08/2019 at 07:06 AM

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