The SturmStack Official Stars Season Primer
Talking about the Dallas Stars with the great Sean Shapiro!
Absolutely hard to believe that the season is underway. Very rude of the Rangers not to get out of the way so that everyone can focus on hockey, but we will be understanding of rare title runs.
That said, I cannot possibly start a new season without even a word about a team that took us on their own post-season journey just a few months ago. This hockey team certainly looks like they have the pieces in place to enjoy another season (or several) of legitimate contending for that Cup.
So, in the interest of bringing in a great and wise hockey mind to usher us along – especially considering that I haven’t watched them play hockey since my son and I left the AAC all depressed from Game 6 against Las Vegas not so long ago – let’s talk to our guy Sean Shapiro.
Sean has an amazing hockey substack that you should be subscribed to if you love this sport and his expertise with the Stars is, of course, unmatched. He also has been very instrumental in editing my pieces here at #SturmStack because I need someone to make sure I don’t deal in non-stop run-on sentences, like I might on the radio. I am very thankful for his versatile skill set. But, back to hockey, it makes sense to collaborate a bit here on the team that we both think about plenty (but, Sean does more) let’s dive in here a bit.
Bob: Sean, let’s start at the start. Where are the Stars in the mix for the best in the Western Conference right now? Do we pick up where we left off and say Vegas and Dallas are the best of the bunch? I assume Colorado is always looming. How does this side of the league look right now in the heavyweight division?
Sean: It’s funny, there have been many times the Stars have been crowned “offseason champions,” during the Jim Nill era, and obviously, it’s yet to deliver an actual championship. So I understand when people may be weary or rightfully questioning of any Stars hype before Game 1.
But the hype and expectations are real this season. Not just by my view, but also many smart hockey minds I’ve spoken to and trust. Vegas is and will continue to be the machine everyone is chasing in the West, that’s the reality, after that the Stars and Edmonton Oilers enter this season as your best bets from the Western Conference to play deep into June.
The Stars forward group is arguably the deepest in the NHL right now. After all the years of one-line offense and an over reliance on defense, this team has a forward group that any coach or GM would want. Nill’s offseason was about adding smart, simple pieces that fit well into the Pete DeBoer system. Matt Duchene, Craig Smith, Sam Steel, etc… fit in well with the ideology that all four lines will have some offensive identity.
The defense may be slightly flawed, but it’s also hard to find another team in the Western Conference that has a better combination of No. 1 defender and No. 1 goalie in Miro Heiskanen and Jake Oettinger.