Dallas Stars have a distinct Buffalo Bills aura that they would love to shed ASAP
The Dallas Stars currently reside in the exclusive neighborhood with the Buffalo Bills.
Few teams in pro sports feel the burden of past successes, and painful near misses, like these two franchises. Since 2020, both the Bills and Stars have enjoyed wonderful regular seasons, been picked to win titles, only to barely miss.
Not “Wide Right” miss, but a miss nonetheless.
At least the Stars have a championship in their history, whereas the good people of Buffalo patiently wait for their beloved Bills to improve to 1-4 in the Super Bowl.
The unease surrounding the Stars is multi tiered, justified, preposterous, and unavoidable.
A trip to the bubble Stanley Cup Final in 2020 ended in a Game 6 loss. Appearances in the 2023 and 2024 Western Conference Finals both ended in Game 6. That’s a lot of winning, and painful losses.
Pete DeBoer has been the head coach for the last two West Finals appearances, and he understood the defeat to Vegas, in ‘23. He had no such thoughts last year, when the Stars were knocked out by Edmonton.
“We should have beat Edmonton. That was my feeling,” DeBoer said Tuesday morning at the American Airlines Center, hours before his team lost to Vancouver, 6-5, in overtime. “I thought we lost to a better team in Vegas the prior year and they proved it by winning the (Stanley) Cup. Last year I thought we should have beat Edmonton.”
According to some, not all, oddsmakers, “Next Year’s Champion” is a good favorite to soon win their first Stanley Cup since 1999. (BTW: It should always be noted that the best way to win money gambling is by never placing a bet.)
With four games remaining in the regular season, the Stars will likely settle for second seed in the Western Conference. You should expect the Stars to start their playoff schedule at home on Saturday, April 19, most likely against the Colorado Avalanche.
The Stars are a team loaded with players, most notably veteran captain Jamie Benn, who wear the scars of “Close.” Most of the players on this team know they are one of the few in the league with a realistic chance to win a Stanley Cup, and they desperately do not want to go so far only to lose late.
Since March 1, the Stars have won 12 of 19, traded for one of the best forwards in the league, Mikko Rantanen, and yet their head coach twice has called out his team after games.
They are winning, but there is a feeling they are under performing. That they are the high seed vulnerable to the first round upset. The last three games have been hell on ice. The team has led going into the third period in their last three games, and lost them all. The team has allowed a combined 13 goals after the second period in this stretch.
Against Vancouver on Tuesday night, the Stars led 5-2 with 1:01 remaining. They lost.
“The last month it’s been a combination of things. We brought in some new players. Probably read our press clippings a little too much,” DeBoer said. “We haven’t had that desperation of some of the other teams we’re playing. Those are the excuses.”
The Stars are a team playing with expectations not just from their loyal fan base, but from within their locker room, their front office, and the mirror.
“I don’t think anyone would trade having that pressure where we’re expected to win. We’re one of those handful of teams that we feel is built with a chance to win,” DeBoer said. “You need a lot things to go right. Peak at the right time. Need to stay healthy. Seed some saves. Need to win some overtime games. That pressure is there and we want that pressure.”
The Stars have the goaltending, and the forwards, to go to the Stanley Cup Finals.
What they are not sure is if they have the health of either their best, or second best, player. The status of All-Star defenseman Miro Heiskanen remains a question on top of a concern affixed to a worry. They don’t know.
They know he’s close to returning.
He suffered a knee injury on Jan. 28, and had surgery on Feb. 4. He has been month “month-to-month,” with the hope that he could return for the playoffs, potentially as early as the first round.
That is beginning to look more like the second round, but when he does return, what he is? Is he the All-Star who can play 28 minutes of regulation? Or is he an All-Star whose minutes and activity must be monitored, thus reducing the expectations for what he can provide?
Stars GM Jim Nill said Tuesday that Heiskanen could return for the first round, but not for Game 1.
Ownership has spent the money, the front office has drafted well, and the team is good enough to be in the same neighborhood as the Buffalo Bills.
Good enough to know they need to get out of that neighborhood now.
This story was originally published April 8, 2025 at 5:37 PM.
