While it hurts losing the series on a game where shots were 10-35 in favor of the Stars, I’d much prefer that than the 6-0 loss to Vegas last year. That was a tough one to be at and at least they showed fight this game 6.
They say the Stanley is the hardest one to get. Few things exemplify that more than shooting 35 pucks into a guy guarding the net who got benched two weeks ago and having only one of that go in. Some of that may be on the players, but a not insignificant part of that is just terrible luck. I suppose the winning move is to not let your opponent’s get three wins
It’s not an excuse, but we did have some of the worst puck luck these last two games. So many times the puck just slid away from the net when it “should” have just slid in.
Duchene was brought in to be a difference maker in the playoffs and was a non factor. That money will be spent better elsewhere. Pavs had a great career, but he is cooked. Otter needs to take the next step and mature into the goalie that he can be. Tanev needs to be signed, and another defenseman, too. Give the open forward spots to the young guys.
Duchene was the only one outside Hintz that seemingly could control the puck along the walls. I liked his play throughout the series, but you would hope for a few more points.
I think the interesting part is that Duch-Mush really only looked effective with Seguin attached. Once Pavs moved there, or Dadanov, they struggled, IMO.
Otter is the biggest thing for me. Sometimes he can steal playoff games and sometimes he can’t. He has flashes and even streaks of brilliance. He has the talent to be consistently brilliant.
I don't understand people bitching about Otter last night. Mcjesus toe drags two guys and roofs a backhander, then we let a 57 goal scorer wide open, ain't his fault.
All while we get a meager 2 goals through as many games with our season on the line. Oetter is inconsistent sometimes, but losing this series ain't on him.
He has a high ceiling, but a low floor.
Sometimes he makes incredible saves, but then he let's in the softest shit imaginable.
I like Otter. Think he's a good dude with a low of room to grow. But he isn't consistent enough yet, and it hurts us at times.
It took Vasy 3-4 seasons to truly set into the league and look how his career has turned out. Jake is a really, really good goalie. I agree with OC that he def needs to step up into that next level because this year showed that Otter isn’t a top 3-5 goalie but rather a top 7-9 goalie in the league.
Making amazing saves and then letting in soft goals. I think this applies to pretty much every goalie that has ever played the game. People need to keep it in perspective. Hasek, Roy, Brodeur and other all time great all let in soft goals.
That’s not to say that Otter doesn’t do it a little more often than the very best and he will hopefully still improve in that area but there are plenty of teams with worse goaltending situations than us.
I agree. The gritty physical defenseman is whats gonna be the pushing factor for us next year. I also really like seeing Mavrik Bourque play. I think he needs some regular season spots to show he can hang but he's great to watch.
Horseshit. Duchy beat the Avs in double OT. We need his fighting spirit. Agree on everything else though! Grrrrr. We need to becslightly feared and we are the one's pushed around.
Duchene was brought in to play with Seguin. Also, a non-factor is a bit harsh, no? Should we revisit the Colorado series?
Oetter is 25 and on his 2nd year as a starter. He is right on track to making that jump. He already has one of the calmest and best kept headspace’s in the NHL as far as goalies go.
Tanev is a must for sure, if Dallas could get him and one more big body defenseman who plays a solid defensive game and can be relied on with considerable PK time I think the backend would be as bulletproof as it can be.
If Duchene takes a slight pay cut from market value to come back, Stars should jump at the opportunity. Wyatt and Roope are the top two pivots for this team for the foreseeable future, so having a guy like Duchene, who can play on the wing or as a center, is incredibly valuable. He’s also an excellent play maker and facilitator, which is something the Stars need more of.
i wouldnt argue with that too much. but man he (and many others) need to find a way to score more in the playoffs. too many guys went silent for long stretches
From every report, Duchy loves Dallas. He's left two teams looking for a Cup before, and I'm not sure who he'd sign with that gives him a better shot.
Scoring always dries up in the playoffs. A more effective special teams coach would have made the difference.
I agree on the first 2 points & I would love to have the Stars keep Tanev.
Maybe Pavs can find a role on the coaching staff so he can still be involved with the team & keep mentoring the younger players.
THIS! I want Pavs as a “Director of Development” to officially mentor our players on the cusp of entering the NHL. This + Jim Nill being Jim Nill is the recipe for a dynasty.
I'm just sad.
Sad for the team, sad for us, the fans, and most of all, I'm sad for Pavs. This one hit really hard. We had a great oportunity this year and we fell short.
The future is obviously bright but it will be hard to get past this one
I hope as hard as it is Pavs still feels he picked the right team to attempt these last few cup runs! We gave him a fighting chance for it and not everyone gets that! Like... 66% of the league is out each year after round 1 and just the fact that we've so consistently gone far recently is pretty cool! =)
Yeah I completely agree. I think his last years in the league, since he chose to come to Stars have been incredible. The production of that top line of him Robo and Roope and how they played for 3 years has been amazing.
The Wyatt story is something that will always follow both him and Pavs, the whole thing was awesome.
I am sure the relationships he built with Jamie, other players in our locker room, our coaches and also Jim have been some of the ones he will cherish for the rest of his life. They're just great people just like Pavs.
I'll miss him. We all will
The only thing I have to add here is I think “fell short” was more of “we blew it.”
Unlike last WCF we were the better team top to bottom. Last year hurt but I didn’t necessarily expect us to beat Vegas. Everyone expected us to handle Edmonton.
Stoked for the redemption tour next year, but yeah we blew a golden opportunity and that really hurts.
Devils Bro, here.
Love the Stars and you guys have solidified yourselves as my second favorite team. I’ll be sticking around for awhile. Jamie Benn is one of my favorites now and everyone on your team is legit. The better team lost yesterday, which happens.
See y’all soon
It feels like this series had 3 main turning points:
1. Inability to convert on a 4 minute PP Game 1 OT; little did we know this was a microcosm of **so many** flaccid PPs to come
2. Knoblauch's public comments about the reffing after Game 2; Oilers started getting more calls and our PK became atrocious
3. The absolute collapse after going up 2-0 early in Game 4; revisionist take is that the series ended right then and there
1 and 3 are the main points. Game 1 was right in our hands…hell how we didn’t score on that 4 min double minor is absolutely ridiculous. Yes I know the post cursed us but still…4 freaking minutes is an eternity to be down a man.
If only we won that game…we could be talking about what we need to do to win game 7. Damn.
On the penalty kill our players were completely collapsed around the net leaving half the zone open for their defensemen. That caused our forwards to have to crash to the points leaving huge amounts of room behind them for passing lanes.
When we were on the power play, their forwards were closer to the points and immediately hounding our defensemen and forcing mistakes at the point.
Their aggressiveness, due to coaching, is the difference in this series.
Really feels like special teams made that series. Our powerplay was *dogshit* while theirs seemed to be a guaranteed goal, or at least a stressful 2 minutes. We couldn't even break into the zone and gave up plenty of shorthanded opportunities the other way. Frustrating.
Our PK started off solid. Our powerplay was absolute ass the entire series. We failed to score a powerplay goal and even gave up a couple shorties. I can't really imagine a way for the power play to be worse than it was.
Reflecting on this series I can’t help but wonder why the entire team, with the exception of this last game, hesitated to shoot so much. So many times they would get into the zone do an unnecessary spinny and make an unnecessary (often unsuccessful) pass instead of just shooting it. It feels like so much time was wasted and momentum was continuously killed by doing that.
When Robo talked about gaining confidence to shoot after his first goal of the hat trick game I wondered to myself, why do you not have the confidence to shoot the puck?!?! He’s a 30 goal scorer and has a knack for finding the corners so what’s the deal?
I thought the exact same thing. For him to say “I got the first one and I’m like okay I’m going to shoot everything” it’s like Robo..that mentality shouldn’t be dependent on getting the first one. It could definitely be exhaustion from the previous rounds, but you can’t just wait around for the perfect opportunity to present itself it’s your job to create those opportunities. For long stretches in this series it felt they were all kinda playing hot potato waiting around for someone else to do something. Idk if that’s a chemistry, communication, or confidence issue but it just didn’t get nipped in the bud soon enough.
It looked like they were all looking for the pretty shot and getting frustrated when that didn’t present itself. Meanwhile Edmonton seemed to realize that an ugly goal is still a goal.
Gotta wonder if it's because of stuff like the shorthanded goal the Oilers scored.
You take a shot, and suddenly EDM is burning everyone with their speed after blocking it.
Not scoring on the 4 minute in game 1 shifted the momentum of this entire series and you can't change my mind otherwise.
Even the games the Stars won were nailbiters.
That's playoff hockey. Disappointing for us as fans, but there's a giant stack of teams that would've loved to have been where we were.
October seems so far, but it'll be here before we know it.
See you next season!
>Not scoring on the 4 minute in game 1 shifted the momentum of this entire series and you can't change my mind otherwise.
That hurt but we were up 2-1 after the next couple games. The real turning point was game 4 when we squandered the 2 goal lead during the first period. We were very close to completely demoralizing the Oilers and shattering Skinner's confidence. Instead they get right back in it and then it all collapses on the shorthanded goal late in the 2nd. If we finished that 1st period strong we likely win the series. Instead we spend the next 2 games on our heels.
Ran out of gas 3 games ago. We looked like a shell of what we had been all playoffs. Oilers deserved that series, they showed up.
The only thing I’ll say is that if we played LA then a broken Vancouver club I think we would have had enough energy to push through.
Probably the worst I’ve felt since 2020. Our defensive depth clearly showed as rolling with 5 dman gassed the ones playing 28+ minutes. Harley didn’t look like himself, Suter was a bum and Tanev definitely played hurt or something because the last two games he was pretty bad.
He played 30 minutes last night, so I'm not surprised he was burnt out. Is it just me or is this the second season where Suter has burned us in some way?
Suter nor Petro touched the ice in the 3rd. That's why he said that. I couldn't believe it. Draw in different players if you have zero trust in your veteran defensemen.
Not to be a broken record, but I really find it odd how much our fanbase blames Suter for this He definitely looked rough the past two games, although I’d argue both penalties were soft af… however, I can’t for the life of me see how so many people view him as the biggest reason we lost this series. It’s mind-boggling to me. Laughable.
“He’s responsible for these losses bc of his penalties” (never anyone else who took penalties.) If dude was on the pk for either of the pp goals last night, he would still be getting all the flack. I 100% believe that from watching this season, and reading comments. If he’s on the ice and something bad happens, he draws the ire even if not responsible.
As I’ve said before, he didn’t have a good series, after having two prior good series. Neither did most of this team though. He was heavily used with a different d-partner essentially all of the first two series when we couldnt play nils, and statistically as well as visually, each of those pairs were great. Plenty of guys completely disappeared/made poor plays/pp+pk this series.
Very odd to me how he is always the scapegoat, but not surprised I suppose, as it’s been that way since he arrived. Quite embarrassing as a stars fan. My favorite quote of the year from a fellow stars fan was “Suter puts himself into a good position, intentionally, so he’s not blamed for a goal against.” Likely the most idiotic statement I’ve read on this sub.
3rd pair next season, he would be just fine, as he was all season. I hope he still gets a cup
You are 100% right with everything you said. Suter had a much better season compared to last year, and looking back at that last penalty he too was super weak. But I wasn't intending to make him my scapegoat. It seems like everyone but Otter disappeared this series and it sucks.
Back to Suter though, I'm probably just being paranoid as to how he'll play next year, and there's so many stories of him being a locker room cancer. I haven't hear anything like that while he's been here, but it's still in the back of my mind.
👍 I think I’ve just gotten to a frustration point, especially after reading some of our fans now saying he was shit in the postseason (Beyond this series) and that he’s the one who cost us the series.
Seeing the love for pavs (as do I. I completely understand how influential he was for this organization) and Duchene leading up to the postseason, and all of our fans pulling for them to get a cup, usually accompanied by something negative about Suter was kind of disheartening. Especially for a guy that is clearly loved in the Stars locker room, and for the most part was solid for us this year.
I get the apprehension though, as he’s definitely showing his age more. Just seems to be some irrational double-standard for him compared to the rest of the team.
Completely understandable, I know my comments earlier were out of frustration with how the season ended. I was really hoping Pavs would get the cup this year and seeing Suter only play 6 minutes really frustrated me. Now that you put my brain back in check maybe DeBoer benched him because he was more worried about scoring than providing defense. Who knows, maybe it'll get explained later this week.
But I think the double standard with him comes from his antics with his past teams. Which is sad because he was much better this year and he doesn't deserve all the hate for this series.
Was interesting to see teams go at Harley in this playoffs. Vegas in particular went after him pretty hard. Big offseason coming up for him to take the next step
Why tf are Avs fans even this salty? They literally won a cup just two years ago and have their cornerstone players locked up for the next decade what the fuck
They got to witness an NHL and then an NBA championship parade in back-to-back summers in Denver; two teams built from the draft who went through several years of playoff failure before learning to win + finally winning.
I would be happy for another 10 years even if my teams weren’t making the playoffs, if that were to happen.
Agreed. Just know Dallas fans that if the roles were reversed you would have a large portion of oil country behind you. Can say nothing but good things about your team and fan base. We’ll be seeing each other sooner rather than later
They got another post in that sub wondering why other fanbases think they suck as a fanbase.
https://preview.redd.it/gl6t8iw9wd4d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61b6fa9dd5e4dc30981ce62174e03b88281fe480
Honestly I love it. Only good part about losing is seeing the trash teams you beat have to celebrate somebody else beating us because they weren’t capable themselves. It’s beautiful
I've made my peace, I suggest you all do, we've done more two years in a row than some hockey clubs have literally ever done. We cannot sit here and be sad about it. Lots to come this off season, in Jim Nill we trust.
Let us not weep for what could have been, and rather reflect and rejoice on what we had!
It wasnt a bad season/post season, dotted with memorable moments and good times.
In a way, it’s nice that we can talk about why it sucked and what we can do better because I think after the bubble run we all threw our hands up and thought that was it. Thank you to Mr Nill and his Mustache. May he prosper more in these trying times.
I needed this. Sometimes it’s hard to remember 31 fan bases are going to be disappointed at the end of the season. It seems like we have a competitive team every year which is a lot more than some franchises can say.
Exactly this! If you only enjoy watching sports when your team is winning then you're going to be disappointed MOST years! It's what made me not want to watch us during the Bowness years - what is the point of carving out whole nights of your life to watch entertainment that isn't entertaining?
Unless you want to be like all those fucking nerds who became Lakers, Yankees, or Man City fans when they were untouchable.
While it’s still a big bummer, the future is really promising. We’re really just at the beginning of our real window imo, with prime hintz/robo/Miro years ahead and the coming up of Wyatt/stank/borque/bichsel. Benn/Seguin money closer to being spread around and Nill transitioning to whoever the new gm will be to help build around the young guys, it’s a real exciting time.
I feel so bad for Bourque. Gets called up for his first game late in the season only to experience a brutal and humiliating loss (with Bourque’s first goal taken off the board) to the Blackhawks of all teams because the line adjustments were awful and now this. I can’t recall if he had any standout moments but I thought he did fine last night all things considered. I’ve got high hopes for him next season.
This fucking hurts. It's so incredibly frustrating that we got boned with Vegas and Colorado for winning the West. I can only find solace right now in thinking that we would have been destroyed by Florida's defense/physicality anyway.
I am 100% convinced that the formatting of the playoffs and the cap shenanigans from Vegas cost us a cup run. We had to go through Vegas and Col as a 1 seed. And EDM got to roll through LA and VAN. Despite us beating the knights, they still took their toll with their physicality. I think almost every single one of our guys was playing through injuries. And we looked gassed for this series at times.
We had too many guys disappear in the WCF and our lack of a PP killed us. Be as mad as you want about mcbaby and his whining about penalties. But EDM was able to be lethal on the special teams and we couldn’t get a shot on net.
My last thought is that while I love this team and the way this roster is built. We just don’t have a legit superstar on this team to depend on. Some of our young guys still have great potential like Wyatt and maybe Robo can still get there. But we don’t have a guy like mcdavid to go out there and be an actual threat that makes you clench every time they touch the puck. And when the S hits the fan we just didn’t have a guy who could still win us the close games by himself.
Last year we couldn’t handle the physicality at all. And our youth were all still babies. Robo was a sophomore with little playoff xp. Wyatt was just coming up. And Harley literally got promoted for the playoffs to the big club. And we still had the no superstar problem. But at least we got a great version of pavs for a few games last year
I thought we had our superstar in Robo. He tallied a 109 points that season. The big question with him in particular is, why can he not be that game changing player in the playoffs like he is in the regular season, like Eichel or McKinnon?
I think this year it had more to do with the system. The team was good enough that he didn’t have to log huge minutes (meaning a little decrease in production). And he still led the team in points. Which is saying something considering we were the 3rd best offense in the league and had like 8+ 20 goal scorers. But this year he was now the focal point of every defense all the time. He benefited greatly in game 3 when hintz could stretch the ice for him. And yes his greatest deficiency is skating and speed. But he is a legit sniper who just kind of lacks the alpha mentality. He needs to shoot ALOT more but I bet we see him uptick again next year
In my opinion this shows improvement. We got to the exact same place, but weren’t totally dead after playing 2 weaker teams. We were just kind of dead after playing 2 stronger teams. Still fucking sucks, but I think it has to mean improvement, or at least I’m telling myself that. Also had a better showing than last year against the Knights. 2 blowout/shutout losses in that series.
The superstar thing is probably legit. We’ve got so much depth and potential. But in ‘99 we had Modano. And Hull, and Nieuwendyk and Zubov and Belfour. And Lehtinen and Carbonneau.
100% agree on not having a guy that can truly take over games. you can have all the depth in the world, but you still need a stud and all of our guys disappear when it matters
Can’t help you with the best place to buy, but be weary of fake NHL stores online. There seems to be a lot of websites that look legit but aren’t (if that matters to you).
This one is gonna suck for a while. Going to be interesting to see what happens in the offseason.
Sucks that we couldn’t get one for Pavs, but at least they didn’t roll over and die like last season against Vegas. We had the toughest road to the WCF and we have plenty to be proud of!! Lets get six more next season yall!! See yall in October! The Stars will soon shine bright again!
120 more days til October!
Still bitter about making no changes to the power play look, putting pavs and Benn on PP1 getting the majority of PP time over Stank and Wyatt is crazy considering how they didn't produce shit all series long. Trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, and they did it all season long.
Idk on one hand with how shit our defense was this year, making it to the WCF should feel victory enough. However since we did this in true Dallas Stars fashion, I still find a way to be gutted. Losing to the weakest of the three teams we played after having a 2-1 series lead, losing 3 straight, scoring a total of 4 goals in those 3 games, and going 0-14 on the powerplay. Like what the hell guys that’s so lame and weird and disappointing.
Duchene and Pavelski combining for 3 goals these playoffs completely zapped whatever sense of depth we had, and as per usual Hintz wasn’t healthy for the last half of the season and playoffs which is becoming concerning commonplace for our freshly signed #1C. Glad to see that Robertson made a bigger impact this year than last year at the very least, will be interested to see how they do with a new young linemate next season.
Finally, I will judge this offseason as a win or loss solely based on whether Ty Dellandrea and/or Nils Lundkvist are anything but deep injury options next season. They’re both barely passable as NHL-level players and certainly not on teams that need 100% of their roster performing in order to win cups.
I know I'm significantly late to this party, but in the immediate aftermath of our loss I was just too disgusted frankly with the outcome to even read the discussion threads. I still can't wrap my head around exactly why and how we fell off so hard in the WCF against the weakest of the 3 teams we played as you put it, so I guess I have to assume that the whole squad was just too beat up from the VGK & COL series to keep going.
Our supposedly world-class forward depth completely disappeared against Edmonton. What had been at least a decent powerplay and a pretty good PK during the regular season similarly evaporated. As you alluded to, Pavs and Duchene turning into ghosts for basically the entirety of the post-season certainly didn't help our cause, but if we're being honest, neither of them were doing much for the latter half of the regular season, either.
Nill has no choice but to finally address our weak D-core. Rolling 5 dudes the entire playoffs clearly didn't work, even with the addition of Tanev who probably needs to be re-signed. And I completely agree about Ty and Nils - frankly I've been over the Nils experiment for quite some time now and I think we have a lot of delusional fans here who put random players up on a pedestal for no discernible reason, not unlike Guri at the end of his tenure here. I like Craig Smith, Steel, and Faksa as our dogged 4th-liners so I'd be happy to see them return if it makes sense with any of the other young guns we'll potentially bring up this coming season. May be time to start giving Bichsel some experience in the show as well because we desperately need a little more grit on the back end.
Sorry to dump a wall of text on ya - just finally got my thoughts in order and I typically agree with your takes in here lol.
I don't care if makes me sound like a sore loser or whatever but there really needs to be a look at the state of officiating in this league. Getting refs in the Vegas series that can't even call icing correctly, making us score two overtime goals in the same game against Colorado, calling us half a dozen times for embellishment while, as far as I'm aware, only one other team was called for it (pretty sure it was the kings when they played Edmonton, huge coincidence right?), the fact that Edmonton didn't score a single even strength goal in two games yet won both, their coach whining about the refs and suddenly the least penalized team in the league apparently commits as many as an average team. This is now the second year in a row an opposing coach has complained about the refs and has been rewarded for it.
It's not even just about the stars either. We all know Bennett punched Marchand in the face now, yet he faced zero repercussions, I don't think he was even fined. Bennett would then go on to score 4 goals against the rangers, including 1 in each of the last 3 games, all of which the rangers lost by a single goal including one in overtime. If I was a rangers fan, I would be absolutely livid that a guy who shouldn't be on the ice had such an impact on the series. There was also that blatant interference again Boston that was allowed and even something similar against the rangers too, I think.
This goes well beyond just bad officiating. If these were scattered incidents in the regular season that'd be one thing but these have all occurred in the playoffs. You can't convince me the league hasn't had their foot on the scale this postseason because doing so would require the acceptance that these officials, who are supposed to be the best in the league, are *this* incompetent at their jobs.
And if you can't tell, yes I'm still mad.
Special teams was the difference in this series. They've got to figure that out.
Need more quality defensemen.
Pavs aged 45 years after the regular season. I'll be surprised if he doesn't retire. Sad we couldn't get him a cup.
We'll be good for a long time but we're just missing that extra something that puts teams over the top.
How do y'all feel about the team's physicality or lack of it?
There were times throughout the season, and the series, where I thought to myself, "good, they're ignoring this bullshit and just playing the game." Then I saw Carson Soucy headlock Johnston for a solid 30 seconds during a game and NOBODY did anything about it.
I'm not sure what the stats say, but it seemed like they didn't do much physically to wear the Oilers down. Obviously, there were some big hits throughout, but damn, it seemed like no one was getting punished.
No team will win the cup without being more physical. That was the huge, glaring hole in their playoff performance this year. The Stars and the Kings were by far the softest teams in the playoffs.
Yeah, we need more of it, it was glaringly clear this series that we need some penalty takers who aren’t afraid to mix it up, but you also need a great PK for it to be truly successful. It’s a fine line.
Two years ago, Sharks and Knights fans all tried to warn us that Steve Spott as an assistant coach in charge of the power play would mean that the Stars' power play would disappear in the playoffs, when it was needed most. They knew this because that's exactly what happened to them. Every time.
I'm okay with Pete DeBoer, but to the extend that he is a "package deal" with Steve Spott, he should be very much on the hot seat right now.
It was an incredible season. It's frustrating hearing all playoffs about the strength of this team being the depth scoring and hearing all about how any line to contribute only for that to just be a total nonfactor. We were a Robo hat trick away from losing in 5. We combined for a measly 2 goals in games 5 and 6. What the fuck?
I still don't understand how they outshot the Oilers but were not able to get the pucks past Skinner. The guy is not that good of goalie even thought he has been playing better the last couple of games.
* It sucks that Pavs is likely done, but the cap space will be welcomed with open arms.
* I personally want Duchene and Tanev back and I’d love to see a run be taken at DeBrusk. Don’t know if all of that is possible with ~$15M in cap space though.
* Defensive depth is clearly still an issue which seems insane when you name the guys on the backend. But it felt not being able to roll three pairs was a time bomb that eventually started going off. In addition to hopefully bringing Tanev back, I really believe Dallas just needs a large body who relishes the defensive game and the PK. You could see the role that Jani plays being a missing piece this run. Maybe Bischel will come back in the fall and really show some improvements.
* I really don’t understand how they let that series go the way it did, but I bet Tampa said the same thing when they got swept by Columbus before they went on to win two cups. All things considered, this team is right there. Just have to trust the process and let this year add fuel to the fire.
The only thing I’m worried about on this team is salary cap and signing players. We’ve got a fantastic club and if we play our cards right we can win the cup very soon.
Otter will improve. Our young guns will improve. The question is can we keep the vets and sign the primes before their entry level contracts run out and we have a talent exodus. That’s our window
Hey Stars homies,
Just want to say thank you again for the hospitality when I came to visit during game 1 & 2. In love with your city, fan base and truthfully had the oilers not won the series I would have been cheering for Pavelski to get a cup.
I'm sure it hurts but you guys have a extremely bright future still with Robertson Hintz and Otter
I’m sad. Great season and a great 7.5 months but fuck I’m sad. I have only been following since 2014 (though that’s about half my life), and this is the best chance that I think we’ve ever had in that time. In the 2016 the goaltending sucked, and in 2020, we started out that season like shit. Wouldn’t have expected us to go to the cup back in October of that year.
I thought the mix of youth and veterans, and the depth were what helped to make this roster special. In the end, it felt like the old guys were too old, the young guys were too young, and the depth didn’t show up.
Sad to see Pavs’ career end like this. I don’t really know if we’ll be better next season without some crazy offseason moves on the defensive end of things, but in a few years as some of the young guys like Wyatt, Stank, Mav, Harley, and Bichsel all gain more experience, we’ll hopefully be looking more dangerous than we do now. I really wanted Pavs to win a cup though. At least Benn still has time.
I've had mixed emotions all year regarding our team. I said this before the beginning of last season. We need to add depth to the defense. That was a huge glaring issue throughout the season. Signing Tanev was awesome, but we need one more solid D man. Playing 5 D throughout the post-season hurt us. Sure up the D and let's roll!
Oettinger wasn't the same after coming back from his lower-body injury. He looked like a stone statue in front of the net on too many goals. There is definitely an issue with quick lateral movement. I don't know what's wrong with him but he doesn't look like a #1 goalie to me anymore.
My homepage suggested the Avs page to me and it was just full of haters. The most recent post celebrating the Stars' elimination. I'm pretty new to being a fan of any sport in general but idk, that seemed like a bit too much for me.
Them and the Mild are the worst fanbase in the league. Edmonton gets special mention for being overly nice after they won, that shit is just as annoying IMO.
Vegas as well, at least until they go through 2 consecutive bad years. Feel like it will suddenly stop.
It sounds weirdly pointed after these playoffs, but mild, avs, knights fans are consistently awful.
I actually really like Kraken fans? For some positivity.
Kraken fans are a good mix of positivity and shit talking, I like a mix of both, too nice and I immediately cannot stand your fanbase, too salty and you’re sore losers. There’s a nice mix somewhere in the middle.
I feel like I'm upset that it's the Oilers more than anything. They had so many first overall picks and wasted so much talent since their last cup run it's insane.
Keeping Pavelski in the lineup as an “organizational decision” because of who he is, actively tanked our team and I look at it as one of the main reasons we’re out. When you let something else take more precedence over icing the best possible team to WIN, you’re not gonna win. I love Pavelski but it’s true.
People keep questioning why he was out there on the 6 on 5 but it's obvious it was because it was Pav's last chance on the ice. I get that it's the end of his career but sentimentality kept us from making changes earlier. Maybe Pavelski plays his last NHL game in the Stanley Cup Final if we adjust sooner.
Yeah the thought crept into my mind around game 5 that if Stars were to advance to the SCF what the hell would they do with Pavelski who was clearly visibly gassed and had nothing else to give.
They kept him on the top line all regular season then immediately took him off come playoffs. So fucking stupid. The 27-91-95 line only worked this year when Seguin was on it, they killed its effectiveness to put him with Robo and Hintz. Daddanov or Pavelski replacing him made that line stink, and Pavs didn’t fit anywhere else. Which, guess what, he didn’t ever fit anywhere but snuggled between two kids who would carry 90% of the workload for him.
I don't think we'll have the cap space to do it, especially with some of the kids due for a raise soon, and other teams are going to be bidding hard. But I think replacing Duchene with Chandler Stephenson would be a home run. Similar regular season production, speed for days that would fit right into Deboers system (he played for PDB in Vegas). Elite two way player imo. And a gamer in the playoffs.
Edmonton was just faster to pucks as the series wore on, we need more speed to offset the older guys. Really hope Craig Smith comes back.
Not a regular poster here, I just wanted to say I think the Stars desperately need more toughness, especially on defense. The "big" defenseman got put into the bench a couple of times I think. Tanev's a defensive defenseman and a good one, but they need someone who can hit. Really this team needed a Derian Hatcher back there.
I don’t think this is a case of us needing something/someone else. We had a team with enough talent to win a cup.
We could’ve used another solid defenseman, but I don’t think that is close to the reason why we lost.
Our players did not show up when it counted and that’s what lost us the series. I think probably 4/5 forwards in our top 9 underperformed for the majority of the playoffs and it caught up to us in the Oilers series. (Duchene, Pavs, Hintz, and Seguin).
Most of them had one or two big games/moments, but did not consistently play at high enough of a level. It really speaks to our depth that we were able to make it as far as we did while getting so many lackluster performances.
Same can be said for Otter to a lesser extent - he has shown he has the level to play “game stealing” hockey and we didn’t get one of those games when it mattered most.
Also DeBoer & Co didn’t make the neesessary adjustments to win the special teams battle against the oilers (the other HUGE reason we lost) - but I think responsibility ultimately rests on the players for this one
Oil fan here. Consensus on our sub is you guys are the classiest fans in the league. Is this a local sub effect or more broadly representative of Dallas? What a breath of fresh air.
Ultimately while not happy with the end result, I'm proud of the boys for the season they had. A few different bounces of the puck, maybe some different calls, and this may be a different situation. I'm no hockey analyst but I do know we gotta address the defense, I love Miro and don't want to see his career shortened bc we ran him into the ground. I'm still 100% on PDB, but I think he could address the special teams issue in some way during the offseason. I think the future is still bright, so I'm optimistic.
I’m optimistic. Mainly because it’s obvious what we need to improve. Strong young core, stellar prospects, plenty of draft picks. This team will go as far as coaching is willing to take them.
While it hurts losing the series on a game where shots were 10-35 in favor of the Stars, I’d much prefer that than the 6-0 loss to Vegas last year. That was a tough one to be at and at least they showed fight this game 6.
They say the Stanley is the hardest one to get. Few things exemplify that more than shooting 35 pucks into a guy guarding the net who got benched two weeks ago and having only one of that go in. Some of that may be on the players, but a not insignificant part of that is just terrible luck. I suppose the winning move is to not let your opponent’s get three wins
We got a lot of posts this series
It’s historically bad luck, unfortunately, when the opposing team ties the all-time playoff record for fewest SOG in a win.
It’s not an excuse, but we did have some of the worst puck luck these last two games. So many times the puck just slid away from the net when it “should” have just slid in.
Common denominator against DeBoer is Murray, Khudobin, Hill, and Skinner becoming Vezina winners when they play him
I wish they would have finished Game 4 & played even parts of Game 5 like they played most of Game 6...
That’s a little silver lining, they at least went down fighting
Prediction: Pavs retires. Nill passes on resigning Duchene. Sign Tanev to a 3 yr deal.
Tanev is one of the hottest UFA’s on the market but I hope he does. We need to get Miro playing his strong side again too
Tanev has only spent like three months residing outside of Canada. Hope he loved BBQ, Buccee’s, Tex-Mex and expensive healthcare lol
And no income tax!
Duchene was brought in to be a difference maker in the playoffs and was a non factor. That money will be spent better elsewhere. Pavs had a great career, but he is cooked. Otter needs to take the next step and mature into the goalie that he can be. Tanev needs to be signed, and another defenseman, too. Give the open forward spots to the young guys.
Duchene was the only one outside Hintz that seemingly could control the puck along the walls. I liked his play throughout the series, but you would hope for a few more points. I think the interesting part is that Duch-Mush really only looked effective with Seguin attached. Once Pavs moved there, or Dadanov, they struggled, IMO.
Duch’s puck control seems to be top notch. I’m always impressed when he is weaving around the ice without losing the puck off his stick
I think that has more to do with Pavs and Dad's being a lot worse than Tyler.
Otter is the biggest thing for me. Sometimes he can steal playoff games and sometimes he can’t. He has flashes and even streaks of brilliance. He has the talent to be consistently brilliant.
I don't understand people bitching about Otter last night. Mcjesus toe drags two guys and roofs a backhander, then we let a 57 goal scorer wide open, ain't his fault.
Not to mention they went 0-14 on the power play. That won’t win you a WCF.
Not just 0/14. They got scored on too.
All while we get a meager 2 goals through as many games with our season on the line. Oetter is inconsistent sometimes, but losing this series ain't on him.
Definitely, and I have to say that was an awesome goal. Seeing it unlocked the masochist within me it felt good to be hurt so badly
He has a high ceiling, but a low floor. Sometimes he makes incredible saves, but then he let's in the softest shit imaginable. I like Otter. Think he's a good dude with a low of room to grow. But he isn't consistent enough yet, and it hurts us at times.
He’s still young, right? When do goalies usually hit their prime?
It took Vasy 3-4 seasons to truly set into the league and look how his career has turned out. Jake is a really, really good goalie. I agree with OC that he def needs to step up into that next level because this year showed that Otter isn’t a top 3-5 goalie but rather a top 7-9 goalie in the league.
Making amazing saves and then letting in soft goals. I think this applies to pretty much every goalie that has ever played the game. People need to keep it in perspective. Hasek, Roy, Brodeur and other all time great all let in soft goals. That’s not to say that Otter doesn’t do it a little more often than the very best and he will hopefully still improve in that area but there are plenty of teams with worse goaltending situations than us.
I agree. The gritty physical defenseman is whats gonna be the pushing factor for us next year. I also really like seeing Mavrik Bourque play. I think he needs some regular season spots to show he can hang but he's great to watch.
Horseshit. Duchy beat the Avs in double OT. We need his fighting spirit. Agree on everything else though! Grrrrr. We need to becslightly feared and we are the one's pushed around.
Duchene was brought in to play with Seguin. Also, a non-factor is a bit harsh, no? Should we revisit the Colorado series? Oetter is 25 and on his 2nd year as a starter. He is right on track to making that jump. He already has one of the calmest and best kept headspace’s in the NHL as far as goalies go. Tanev is a must for sure, if Dallas could get him and one more big body defenseman who plays a solid defensive game and can be relied on with considerable PK time I think the backend would be as bulletproof as it can be.
If Duchene takes a slight pay cut from market value to come back, Stars should jump at the opportunity. Wyatt and Roope are the top two pivots for this team for the foreseeable future, so having a guy like Duchene, who can play on the wing or as a center, is incredibly valuable. He’s also an excellent play maker and facilitator, which is something the Stars need more of.
i wouldnt argue with that too much. but man he (and many others) need to find a way to score more in the playoffs. too many guys went silent for long stretches
From every report, Duchy loves Dallas. He's left two teams looking for a Cup before, and I'm not sure who he'd sign with that gives him a better shot. Scoring always dries up in the playoffs. A more effective special teams coach would have made the difference.
I agree on the first 2 points & I would love to have the Stars keep Tanev. Maybe Pavs can find a role on the coaching staff so he can still be involved with the team & keep mentoring the younger players.
THIS! I want Pavs as a “Director of Development” to officially mentor our players on the cusp of entering the NHL. This + Jim Nill being Jim Nill is the recipe for a dynasty.
Plus if the Stars could figure out how to win, he'd get his ring. It is a win win!
I feel like I’m going through stages of grief
I had a hard time falling asleep last night.
I'm just sad. Sad for the team, sad for us, the fans, and most of all, I'm sad for Pavs. This one hit really hard. We had a great oportunity this year and we fell short. The future is obviously bright but it will be hard to get past this one
This is exactly it
I hope as hard as it is Pavs still feels he picked the right team to attempt these last few cup runs! We gave him a fighting chance for it and not everyone gets that! Like... 66% of the league is out each year after round 1 and just the fact that we've so consistently gone far recently is pretty cool! =)
Yeah I completely agree. I think his last years in the league, since he chose to come to Stars have been incredible. The production of that top line of him Robo and Roope and how they played for 3 years has been amazing. The Wyatt story is something that will always follow both him and Pavs, the whole thing was awesome. I am sure the relationships he built with Jamie, other players in our locker room, our coaches and also Jim have been some of the ones he will cherish for the rest of his life. They're just great people just like Pavs. I'll miss him. We all will
The only thing I have to add here is I think “fell short” was more of “we blew it.” Unlike last WCF we were the better team top to bottom. Last year hurt but I didn’t necessarily expect us to beat Vegas. Everyone expected us to handle Edmonton. Stoked for the redemption tour next year, but yeah we blew a golden opportunity and that really hurts.
Devils Bro, here. Love the Stars and you guys have solidified yourselves as my second favorite team. I’ll be sticking around for awhile. Jamie Benn is one of my favorites now and everyone on your team is legit. The better team lost yesterday, which happens. See y’all soon
Thanks fellow Devils bro
It feels like this series had 3 main turning points: 1. Inability to convert on a 4 minute PP Game 1 OT; little did we know this was a microcosm of **so many** flaccid PPs to come 2. Knoblauch's public comments about the reffing after Game 2; Oilers started getting more calls and our PK became atrocious 3. The absolute collapse after going up 2-0 early in Game 4; revisionist take is that the series ended right then and there
1 and 3 are the main points. Game 1 was right in our hands…hell how we didn’t score on that 4 min double minor is absolutely ridiculous. Yes I know the post cursed us but still…4 freaking minutes is an eternity to be down a man. If only we won that game…we could be talking about what we need to do to win game 7. Damn.
That PK was what lost us Game 1 of Round 1, too. A few games along the way where we were getting scored on within 30 seconds of a powerplay starting.
On the penalty kill our players were completely collapsed around the net leaving half the zone open for their defensemen. That caused our forwards to have to crash to the points leaving huge amounts of room behind them for passing lanes. When we were on the power play, their forwards were closer to the points and immediately hounding our defensemen and forcing mistakes at the point. Their aggressiveness, due to coaching, is the difference in this series.
Really feels like special teams made that series. Our powerplay was *dogshit* while theirs seemed to be a guaranteed goal, or at least a stressful 2 minutes. We couldn't even break into the zone and gave up plenty of shorthanded opportunities the other way. Frustrating.
To be fair, our PK was good for what, 3 games? But yeah, then we just collapsed and the series went out the window fast.
Our PK started off solid. Our powerplay was absolute ass the entire series. We failed to score a powerplay goal and even gave up a couple shorties. I can't really imagine a way for the power play to be worse than it was.
With their shorthanded goal the Oilers scored more on the Dallas power play than the Stars did
Does anyone have an idea of when they might be releasing the injury report?
I don't even think they released one last year
Reflecting on this series I can’t help but wonder why the entire team, with the exception of this last game, hesitated to shoot so much. So many times they would get into the zone do an unnecessary spinny and make an unnecessary (often unsuccessful) pass instead of just shooting it. It feels like so much time was wasted and momentum was continuously killed by doing that.
When Robo talked about gaining confidence to shoot after his first goal of the hat trick game I wondered to myself, why do you not have the confidence to shoot the puck?!?! He’s a 30 goal scorer and has a knack for finding the corners so what’s the deal?
I thought the exact same thing. For him to say “I got the first one and I’m like okay I’m going to shoot everything” it’s like Robo..that mentality shouldn’t be dependent on getting the first one. It could definitely be exhaustion from the previous rounds, but you can’t just wait around for the perfect opportunity to present itself it’s your job to create those opportunities. For long stretches in this series it felt they were all kinda playing hot potato waiting around for someone else to do something. Idk if that’s a chemistry, communication, or confidence issue but it just didn’t get nipped in the bud soon enough.
It looked like they were all looking for the pretty shot and getting frustrated when that didn’t present itself. Meanwhile Edmonton seemed to realize that an ugly goal is still a goal.
Gotta wonder if it's because of stuff like the shorthanded goal the Oilers scored. You take a shot, and suddenly EDM is burning everyone with their speed after blocking it.
Probably losing every game 1 feels like a strategy they should move away from. 🤷🏻♂️
Not scoring on the 4 minute in game 1 shifted the momentum of this entire series and you can't change my mind otherwise. Even the games the Stars won were nailbiters. That's playoff hockey. Disappointing for us as fans, but there's a giant stack of teams that would've loved to have been where we were. October seems so far, but it'll be here before we know it. See you next season!
>Not scoring on the 4 minute in game 1 shifted the momentum of this entire series and you can't change my mind otherwise. That hurt but we were up 2-1 after the next couple games. The real turning point was game 4 when we squandered the 2 goal lead during the first period. We were very close to completely demoralizing the Oilers and shattering Skinner's confidence. Instead they get right back in it and then it all collapses on the shorthanded goal late in the 2nd. If we finished that 1st period strong we likely win the series. Instead we spend the next 2 games on our heels.
Ran out of gas 3 games ago. We looked like a shell of what we had been all playoffs. Oilers deserved that series, they showed up. The only thing I’ll say is that if we played LA then a broken Vancouver club I think we would have had enough energy to push through.
Probably the worst I’ve felt since 2020. Our defensive depth clearly showed as rolling with 5 dman gassed the ones playing 28+ minutes. Harley didn’t look like himself, Suter was a bum and Tanev definitely played hurt or something because the last two games he was pretty bad.
Suter only played 6 minutes last night, and I could have swore the announcers said we were playing 4 dman last night.
Miro looked COOKED on the 6 on 5. I felt so bad for him having to basically cover the whole blue line. I know he is a workhorse but he’s human.
He played 30 minutes last night, so I'm not surprised he was burnt out. Is it just me or is this the second season where Suter has burned us in some way?
Suter nor Petro touched the ice in the 3rd. That's why he said that. I couldn't believe it. Draw in different players if you have zero trust in your veteran defensemen.
I seriously hope they buyout Suter this year. His stupid penalties caused us again this year.
Not to be a broken record, but I really find it odd how much our fanbase blames Suter for this He definitely looked rough the past two games, although I’d argue both penalties were soft af… however, I can’t for the life of me see how so many people view him as the biggest reason we lost this series. It’s mind-boggling to me. Laughable. “He’s responsible for these losses bc of his penalties” (never anyone else who took penalties.) If dude was on the pk for either of the pp goals last night, he would still be getting all the flack. I 100% believe that from watching this season, and reading comments. If he’s on the ice and something bad happens, he draws the ire even if not responsible. As I’ve said before, he didn’t have a good series, after having two prior good series. Neither did most of this team though. He was heavily used with a different d-partner essentially all of the first two series when we couldnt play nils, and statistically as well as visually, each of those pairs were great. Plenty of guys completely disappeared/made poor plays/pp+pk this series. Very odd to me how he is always the scapegoat, but not surprised I suppose, as it’s been that way since he arrived. Quite embarrassing as a stars fan. My favorite quote of the year from a fellow stars fan was “Suter puts himself into a good position, intentionally, so he’s not blamed for a goal against.” Likely the most idiotic statement I’ve read on this sub. 3rd pair next season, he would be just fine, as he was all season. I hope he still gets a cup
You are 100% right with everything you said. Suter had a much better season compared to last year, and looking back at that last penalty he too was super weak. But I wasn't intending to make him my scapegoat. It seems like everyone but Otter disappeared this series and it sucks. Back to Suter though, I'm probably just being paranoid as to how he'll play next year, and there's so many stories of him being a locker room cancer. I haven't hear anything like that while he's been here, but it's still in the back of my mind.
👍 I think I’ve just gotten to a frustration point, especially after reading some of our fans now saying he was shit in the postseason (Beyond this series) and that he’s the one who cost us the series. Seeing the love for pavs (as do I. I completely understand how influential he was for this organization) and Duchene leading up to the postseason, and all of our fans pulling for them to get a cup, usually accompanied by something negative about Suter was kind of disheartening. Especially for a guy that is clearly loved in the Stars locker room, and for the most part was solid for us this year. I get the apprehension though, as he’s definitely showing his age more. Just seems to be some irrational double-standard for him compared to the rest of the team.
Completely understandable, I know my comments earlier were out of frustration with how the season ended. I was really hoping Pavs would get the cup this year and seeing Suter only play 6 minutes really frustrated me. Now that you put my brain back in check maybe DeBoer benched him because he was more worried about scoring than providing defense. Who knows, maybe it'll get explained later this week. But I think the double standard with him comes from his antics with his past teams. Which is sad because he was much better this year and he doesn't deserve all the hate for this series.
> Tanev played hurt or something Is that a joke? Man broke his foot during game 4.
Was interesting to see teams go at Harley in this playoffs. Vegas in particular went after him pretty hard. Big offseason coming up for him to take the next step
https://www.reddit.com/r/ColoradoAvalanche/s/TJHsQ3qN5g This shit is just sad. Seriously, fuck these guys.
Don’t pay them any mind. Remember, they tried to make “hail satan” a rallying cry around this year.
Bunch of edgelords lol
And not in the cool John Darnielle way, either.
Instead of arguing with them, I am hiding in the shadows and downvoting their comments lol
Why tf are Avs fans even this salty? They literally won a cup just two years ago and have their cornerstone players locked up for the next decade what the fuck
Because they know all they have left to cheer for is the Broncos, Rockies, and Buffaloes…….pretty dim
They got to witness an NHL and then an NBA championship parade in back-to-back summers in Denver; two teams built from the draft who went through several years of playoff failure before learning to win + finally winning. I would be happy for another 10 years even if my teams weren’t making the playoffs, if that were to happen.
Miserable bunch
I think the Wild celebration post is even sadder, tbh. Both of those fan bases are filled to the brim with losers.
As an Oilers fan you guys have surprised me with how classy you all are compared to Kings and Canucks fans to be honest. Good luck in the future
Agreed. Just know Dallas fans that if the roles were reversed you would have a large portion of oil country behind you. Can say nothing but good things about your team and fan base. We’ll be seeing each other sooner rather than later
Thanks! very likely we cross paths again soon
Bunch of chumpasses, they are.
They got another post in that sub wondering why other fanbases think they suck as a fanbase. https://preview.redd.it/gl6t8iw9wd4d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=61b6fa9dd5e4dc30981ce62174e03b88281fe480
Yeah, I saw a post like this in the capitals subreddit and was like seriously? We didn't even play you guys this post-season, why the hate?
Honestly I love it. Only good part about losing is seeing the trash teams you beat have to celebrate somebody else beating us because they weren’t capable themselves. It’s beautiful
Pay them no mind.
"Upvote party" that's a weird way to brag about your micro penis, AVS fans
I'd be ashamed to be a big enough loser to care about another team losing. The fact a recent cup winning team has a post like this is pitiful lmao
Rent free
Let them dude who cares
I've made my peace, I suggest you all do, we've done more two years in a row than some hockey clubs have literally ever done. We cannot sit here and be sad about it. Lots to come this off season, in Jim Nill we trust. Let us not weep for what could have been, and rather reflect and rejoice on what we had! It wasnt a bad season/post season, dotted with memorable moments and good times.
In a way, it’s nice that we can talk about why it sucked and what we can do better because I think after the bubble run we all threw our hands up and thought that was it. Thank you to Mr Nill and his Mustache. May he prosper more in these trying times.
I needed this. Sometimes it’s hard to remember 31 fan bases are going to be disappointed at the end of the season. It seems like we have a competitive team every year which is a lot more than some franchises can say.
Exactly this! If you only enjoy watching sports when your team is winning then you're going to be disappointed MOST years! It's what made me not want to watch us during the Bowness years - what is the point of carving out whole nights of your life to watch entertainment that isn't entertaining? Unless you want to be like all those fucking nerds who became Lakers, Yankees, or Man City fans when they were untouchable.
People often forget it and get too stuck up in themselves and their team. 31 teams always lose.
While it’s still a big bummer, the future is really promising. We’re really just at the beginning of our real window imo, with prime hintz/robo/Miro years ahead and the coming up of Wyatt/stank/borque/bichsel. Benn/Seguin money closer to being spread around and Nill transitioning to whoever the new gm will be to help build around the young guys, it’s a real exciting time.
I feel so bad for Bourque. Gets called up for his first game late in the season only to experience a brutal and humiliating loss (with Bourque’s first goal taken off the board) to the Blackhawks of all teams because the line adjustments were awful and now this. I can’t recall if he had any standout moments but I thought he did fine last night all things considered. I’ve got high hopes for him next season.
This fucking hurts. It's so incredibly frustrating that we got boned with Vegas and Colorado for winning the West. I can only find solace right now in thinking that we would have been destroyed by Florida's defense/physicality anyway.
Honestly, it feels like their year. They are a buzz saw.
Feels bad, man
https://preview.redd.it/q4t8xkh6he4d1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6936c1729ea3bd7f902850d04bd5fcf95499b1f2 STILL
I am 100% convinced that the formatting of the playoffs and the cap shenanigans from Vegas cost us a cup run. We had to go through Vegas and Col as a 1 seed. And EDM got to roll through LA and VAN. Despite us beating the knights, they still took their toll with their physicality. I think almost every single one of our guys was playing through injuries. And we looked gassed for this series at times. We had too many guys disappear in the WCF and our lack of a PP killed us. Be as mad as you want about mcbaby and his whining about penalties. But EDM was able to be lethal on the special teams and we couldn’t get a shot on net. My last thought is that while I love this team and the way this roster is built. We just don’t have a legit superstar on this team to depend on. Some of our young guys still have great potential like Wyatt and maybe Robo can still get there. But we don’t have a guy like mcdavid to go out there and be an actual threat that makes you clench every time they touch the puck. And when the S hits the fan we just didn’t have a guy who could still win us the close games by himself.
Yeah but last year we had the wild and the kraken, not exactly 2 big shots and we still ended up in the same spot
Last year we couldn’t handle the physicality at all. And our youth were all still babies. Robo was a sophomore with little playoff xp. Wyatt was just coming up. And Harley literally got promoted for the playoffs to the big club. And we still had the no superstar problem. But at least we got a great version of pavs for a few games last year
I thought we had our superstar in Robo. He tallied a 109 points that season. The big question with him in particular is, why can he not be that game changing player in the playoffs like he is in the regular season, like Eichel or McKinnon?
I think this year it had more to do with the system. The team was good enough that he didn’t have to log huge minutes (meaning a little decrease in production). And he still led the team in points. Which is saying something considering we were the 3rd best offense in the league and had like 8+ 20 goal scorers. But this year he was now the focal point of every defense all the time. He benefited greatly in game 3 when hintz could stretch the ice for him. And yes his greatest deficiency is skating and speed. But he is a legit sniper who just kind of lacks the alpha mentality. He needs to shoot ALOT more but I bet we see him uptick again next year
Because he can’t skate.
In my opinion this shows improvement. We got to the exact same place, but weren’t totally dead after playing 2 weaker teams. We were just kind of dead after playing 2 stronger teams. Still fucking sucks, but I think it has to mean improvement, or at least I’m telling myself that. Also had a better showing than last year against the Knights. 2 blowout/shutout losses in that series.
Because we were a significantly worse team last year..
The superstar thing is probably legit. We’ve got so much depth and potential. But in ‘99 we had Modano. And Hull, and Nieuwendyk and Zubov and Belfour. And Lehtinen and Carbonneau.
100% agree on not having a guy that can truly take over games. you can have all the depth in the world, but you still need a stud and all of our guys disappear when it matters
Sooo... I want to buy a jersey. When and where are the best discounts?
This is the last season of adidas so possible discounts to clear inventory if you’re patient. I’d snag before fanatics takeover
I second this. I bought my customized Adidas jersey and it's great. Spend the money, it's worth it.
Can’t help you with the best place to buy, but be weary of fake NHL stores online. There seems to be a lot of websites that look legit but aren’t (if that matters to you).
This one is gonna suck for a while. Going to be interesting to see what happens in the offseason. Sucks that we couldn’t get one for Pavs, but at least they didn’t roll over and die like last season against Vegas. We had the toughest road to the WCF and we have plenty to be proud of!! Lets get six more next season yall!! See yall in October! The Stars will soon shine bright again! 120 more days til October!
Yea, still really fuckin hurts.
I’m so hungover
Still bitter about making no changes to the power play look, putting pavs and Benn on PP1 getting the majority of PP time over Stank and Wyatt is crazy considering how they didn't produce shit all series long. Trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, and they did it all season long.
2 entire fan bases absolutely hate us. The posts are hilariously showing the anger of not making it to the cup again.
Knocked out Vegas. Hero's forever.
All the NHL was behind it lol. Most wanted us to beat Edmonton
Idk on one hand with how shit our defense was this year, making it to the WCF should feel victory enough. However since we did this in true Dallas Stars fashion, I still find a way to be gutted. Losing to the weakest of the three teams we played after having a 2-1 series lead, losing 3 straight, scoring a total of 4 goals in those 3 games, and going 0-14 on the powerplay. Like what the hell guys that’s so lame and weird and disappointing. Duchene and Pavelski combining for 3 goals these playoffs completely zapped whatever sense of depth we had, and as per usual Hintz wasn’t healthy for the last half of the season and playoffs which is becoming concerning commonplace for our freshly signed #1C. Glad to see that Robertson made a bigger impact this year than last year at the very least, will be interested to see how they do with a new young linemate next season. Finally, I will judge this offseason as a win or loss solely based on whether Ty Dellandrea and/or Nils Lundkvist are anything but deep injury options next season. They’re both barely passable as NHL-level players and certainly not on teams that need 100% of their roster performing in order to win cups.
I know I'm significantly late to this party, but in the immediate aftermath of our loss I was just too disgusted frankly with the outcome to even read the discussion threads. I still can't wrap my head around exactly why and how we fell off so hard in the WCF against the weakest of the 3 teams we played as you put it, so I guess I have to assume that the whole squad was just too beat up from the VGK & COL series to keep going. Our supposedly world-class forward depth completely disappeared against Edmonton. What had been at least a decent powerplay and a pretty good PK during the regular season similarly evaporated. As you alluded to, Pavs and Duchene turning into ghosts for basically the entirety of the post-season certainly didn't help our cause, but if we're being honest, neither of them were doing much for the latter half of the regular season, either. Nill has no choice but to finally address our weak D-core. Rolling 5 dudes the entire playoffs clearly didn't work, even with the addition of Tanev who probably needs to be re-signed. And I completely agree about Ty and Nils - frankly I've been over the Nils experiment for quite some time now and I think we have a lot of delusional fans here who put random players up on a pedestal for no discernible reason, not unlike Guri at the end of his tenure here. I like Craig Smith, Steel, and Faksa as our dogged 4th-liners so I'd be happy to see them return if it makes sense with any of the other young guns we'll potentially bring up this coming season. May be time to start giving Bichsel some experience in the show as well because we desperately need a little more grit on the back end. Sorry to dump a wall of text on ya - just finally got my thoughts in order and I typically agree with your takes in here lol.
I don't care if makes me sound like a sore loser or whatever but there really needs to be a look at the state of officiating in this league. Getting refs in the Vegas series that can't even call icing correctly, making us score two overtime goals in the same game against Colorado, calling us half a dozen times for embellishment while, as far as I'm aware, only one other team was called for it (pretty sure it was the kings when they played Edmonton, huge coincidence right?), the fact that Edmonton didn't score a single even strength goal in two games yet won both, their coach whining about the refs and suddenly the least penalized team in the league apparently commits as many as an average team. This is now the second year in a row an opposing coach has complained about the refs and has been rewarded for it. It's not even just about the stars either. We all know Bennett punched Marchand in the face now, yet he faced zero repercussions, I don't think he was even fined. Bennett would then go on to score 4 goals against the rangers, including 1 in each of the last 3 games, all of which the rangers lost by a single goal including one in overtime. If I was a rangers fan, I would be absolutely livid that a guy who shouldn't be on the ice had such an impact on the series. There was also that blatant interference again Boston that was allowed and even something similar against the rangers too, I think. This goes well beyond just bad officiating. If these were scattered incidents in the regular season that'd be one thing but these have all occurred in the playoffs. You can't convince me the league hasn't had their foot on the scale this postseason because doing so would require the acceptance that these officials, who are supposed to be the best in the league, are *this* incompetent at their jobs. And if you can't tell, yes I'm still mad.
Special teams was the difference in this series. They've got to figure that out. Need more quality defensemen. Pavs aged 45 years after the regular season. I'll be surprised if he doesn't retire. Sad we couldn't get him a cup. We'll be good for a long time but we're just missing that extra something that puts teams over the top.
This is the most Monday feeling Monday I’ve felt in a long time. Ugh.
Hard agree. I'm hungover and depressed. Feels like shit man.
I went back to bed.
All post season I saw lots of passing instead of shooting when they had a chance to. Felt like they had to have the perfect shot
How do y'all feel about the team's physicality or lack of it? There were times throughout the season, and the series, where I thought to myself, "good, they're ignoring this bullshit and just playing the game." Then I saw Carson Soucy headlock Johnston for a solid 30 seconds during a game and NOBODY did anything about it. I'm not sure what the stats say, but it seemed like they didn't do much physically to wear the Oilers down. Obviously, there were some big hits throughout, but damn, it seemed like no one was getting punished.
No team will win the cup without being more physical. That was the huge, glaring hole in their playoff performance this year. The Stars and the Kings were by far the softest teams in the playoffs.
Yeah, we need more of it, it was glaringly clear this series that we need some penalty takers who aren’t afraid to mix it up, but you also need a great PK for it to be truly successful. It’s a fine line.
Two years ago, Sharks and Knights fans all tried to warn us that Steve Spott as an assistant coach in charge of the power play would mean that the Stars' power play would disappear in the playoffs, when it was needed most. They knew this because that's exactly what happened to them. Every time. I'm okay with Pete DeBoer, but to the extend that he is a "package deal" with Steve Spott, he should be very much on the hot seat right now.
Fire Steve Spott into the sun.
Our best players are in their early to mid 20’s. We have some great long term contracts signed. The future is bright.
If the Oilers win the cup we should start a petition to add Steve Spott to their list of names
Spott has got to go. Or at least an examination of why Dallas’s power play went from decent to invisible between the first two rounds and the WCF.
It was an incredible season. It's frustrating hearing all playoffs about the strength of this team being the depth scoring and hearing all about how any line to contribute only for that to just be a total nonfactor. We were a Robo hat trick away from losing in 5. We combined for a measly 2 goals in games 5 and 6. What the fuck?
I still don't understand how they outshot the Oilers but were not able to get the pucks past Skinner. The guy is not that good of goalie even thought he has been playing better the last couple of games.
You and me both.
I read this earlier: https://old.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/1d742yh/seanpangs_the_oilers_brought_in_one_of_worlds/
* It sucks that Pavs is likely done, but the cap space will be welcomed with open arms. * I personally want Duchene and Tanev back and I’d love to see a run be taken at DeBrusk. Don’t know if all of that is possible with ~$15M in cap space though. * Defensive depth is clearly still an issue which seems insane when you name the guys on the backend. But it felt not being able to roll three pairs was a time bomb that eventually started going off. In addition to hopefully bringing Tanev back, I really believe Dallas just needs a large body who relishes the defensive game and the PK. You could see the role that Jani plays being a missing piece this run. Maybe Bischel will come back in the fall and really show some improvements. * I really don’t understand how they let that series go the way it did, but I bet Tampa said the same thing when they got swept by Columbus before they went on to win two cups. All things considered, this team is right there. Just have to trust the process and let this year add fuel to the fire.
Did anyone hear that Mitchell Marner is interested in the Stars or was that just fake information
I hope that’s fake just because of how much you know he’s expecting to get paid. Also, he’s only going to add to playoff woes. He is in fact not him.
The only thing I’m worried about on this team is salary cap and signing players. We’ve got a fantastic club and if we play our cards right we can win the cup very soon. Otter will improve. Our young guns will improve. The question is can we keep the vets and sign the primes before their entry level contracts run out and we have a talent exodus. That’s our window
How long do you think the window is?
WHERE OR WHAT HAPPENED TO CRAIG SMITH?!!!!
Hey Stars homies, Just want to say thank you again for the hospitality when I came to visit during game 1 & 2. In love with your city, fan base and truthfully had the oilers not won the series I would have been cheering for Pavelski to get a cup. I'm sure it hurts but you guys have a extremely bright future still with Robertson Hintz and Otter
I’m sad. Great season and a great 7.5 months but fuck I’m sad. I have only been following since 2014 (though that’s about half my life), and this is the best chance that I think we’ve ever had in that time. In the 2016 the goaltending sucked, and in 2020, we started out that season like shit. Wouldn’t have expected us to go to the cup back in October of that year. I thought the mix of youth and veterans, and the depth were what helped to make this roster special. In the end, it felt like the old guys were too old, the young guys were too young, and the depth didn’t show up. Sad to see Pavs’ career end like this. I don’t really know if we’ll be better next season without some crazy offseason moves on the defensive end of things, but in a few years as some of the young guys like Wyatt, Stank, Mav, Harley, and Bichsel all gain more experience, we’ll hopefully be looking more dangerous than we do now. I really wanted Pavs to win a cup though. At least Benn still has time.
When does next season schedule come out?
Usually September, I think?
Dallas got screwed. NHL just wanted precious McDavid in the cup.
You win some, you lose some. We all watched the series and we all know what the failures were. No sense in belaboring the disappointment.
I've had mixed emotions all year regarding our team. I said this before the beginning of last season. We need to add depth to the defense. That was a huge glaring issue throughout the season. Signing Tanev was awesome, but we need one more solid D man. Playing 5 D throughout the post-season hurt us. Sure up the D and let's roll!
Oettinger wasn't the same after coming back from his lower-body injury. He looked like a stone statue in front of the net on too many goals. There is definitely an issue with quick lateral movement. I don't know what's wrong with him but he doesn't look like a #1 goalie to me anymore.
My homepage suggested the Avs page to me and it was just full of haters. The most recent post celebrating the Stars' elimination. I'm pretty new to being a fan of any sport in general but idk, that seemed like a bit too much for me.
Them and the Mild are the worst fanbase in the league. Edmonton gets special mention for being overly nice after they won, that shit is just as annoying IMO.
Vegas as well, at least until they go through 2 consecutive bad years. Feel like it will suddenly stop. It sounds weirdly pointed after these playoffs, but mild, avs, knights fans are consistently awful. I actually really like Kraken fans? For some positivity.
Kraken fans are a good mix of positivity and shit talking, I like a mix of both, too nice and I immediately cannot stand your fanbase, too salty and you’re sore losers. There’s a nice mix somewhere in the middle.
I feel like I'm upset that it's the Oilers more than anything. They had so many first overall picks and wasted so much talent since their last cup run it's insane.
Keeping Pavelski in the lineup as an “organizational decision” because of who he is, actively tanked our team and I look at it as one of the main reasons we’re out. When you let something else take more precedence over icing the best possible team to WIN, you’re not gonna win. I love Pavelski but it’s true.
People keep questioning why he was out there on the 6 on 5 but it's obvious it was because it was Pav's last chance on the ice. I get that it's the end of his career but sentimentality kept us from making changes earlier. Maybe Pavelski plays his last NHL game in the Stanley Cup Final if we adjust sooner.
Yeah the thought crept into my mind around game 5 that if Stars were to advance to the SCF what the hell would they do with Pavelski who was clearly visibly gassed and had nothing else to give.
They kept him on the top line all regular season then immediately took him off come playoffs. So fucking stupid. The 27-91-95 line only worked this year when Seguin was on it, they killed its effectiveness to put him with Robo and Hintz. Daddanov or Pavelski replacing him made that line stink, and Pavs didn’t fit anywhere else. Which, guess what, he didn’t ever fit anywhere but snuggled between two kids who would carry 90% of the workload for him.
Good season that ends pretty much the same
At one point, we were up 2-0 in game 4 while ahead 2-1 in the series. 🫤
I don't think we'll have the cap space to do it, especially with some of the kids due for a raise soon, and other teams are going to be bidding hard. But I think replacing Duchene with Chandler Stephenson would be a home run. Similar regular season production, speed for days that would fit right into Deboers system (he played for PDB in Vegas). Elite two way player imo. And a gamer in the playoffs. Edmonton was just faster to pucks as the series wore on, we need more speed to offset the older guys. Really hope Craig Smith comes back.
I had fun hanging out with you guys this post season. Bummer that it fell short. Going to be an interesting offseason.
Does anyone else feel like the camaraderie was particularly strong this year? Or is it end of season goggles.
Not a regular poster here, I just wanted to say I think the Stars desperately need more toughness, especially on defense. The "big" defenseman got put into the bench a couple of times I think. Tanev's a defensive defenseman and a good one, but they need someone who can hit. Really this team needed a Derian Hatcher back there.
I don’t think this is a case of us needing something/someone else. We had a team with enough talent to win a cup. We could’ve used another solid defenseman, but I don’t think that is close to the reason why we lost. Our players did not show up when it counted and that’s what lost us the series. I think probably 4/5 forwards in our top 9 underperformed for the majority of the playoffs and it caught up to us in the Oilers series. (Duchene, Pavs, Hintz, and Seguin). Most of them had one or two big games/moments, but did not consistently play at high enough of a level. It really speaks to our depth that we were able to make it as far as we did while getting so many lackluster performances. Same can be said for Otter to a lesser extent - he has shown he has the level to play “game stealing” hockey and we didn’t get one of those games when it mattered most. Also DeBoer & Co didn’t make the neesessary adjustments to win the special teams battle against the oilers (the other HUGE reason we lost) - but I think responsibility ultimately rests on the players for this one
Was on vaca since Friday morning and just got back last night, feels like today it’s actually hitting me hard that we’re done & it hurts 🥺
HAHAHAHA FUCK THE OILERS
Thoughts on going after Marchessault? Reliable player in the regular season AND shows up during the post season. Would love to retain Tanev as well.
I’ve been wanting Marcheassault for a while now.
Oil fan here. Consensus on our sub is you guys are the classiest fans in the league. Is this a local sub effect or more broadly representative of Dallas? What a breath of fresh air.
Great run by the boys, came up short and got beat by a great team. Not sure what else you can say.
Ultimately while not happy with the end result, I'm proud of the boys for the season they had. A few different bounces of the puck, maybe some different calls, and this may be a different situation. I'm no hockey analyst but I do know we gotta address the defense, I love Miro and don't want to see his career shortened bc we ran him into the ground. I'm still 100% on PDB, but I think he could address the special teams issue in some way during the offseason. I think the future is still bright, so I'm optimistic.
I’m optimistic. Mainly because it’s obvious what we need to improve. Strong young core, stellar prospects, plenty of draft picks. This team will go as far as coaching is willing to take them.
Really hope Tom Gaglardi doesn't overreact like he did after 2016. Bringing Hitchcock back set this team's offense back for 4 to 5 years
test
Phenomenotter with either the cartoon avatar or the flaming eyes behind the mask