The 2024 Dallas Stars are using their past shortcomings as motivation as they believe they have what it takes to win a Stanley Cup. The team has lost in the Western Conference Final each of the last two seasons. That has only driven them to strive to get even better, although they were already one of the NHL’s best teams.
“It’s about getting everybody better,” general manager Jim Nill told the media as the team opened training camp on Thursday. “We’re not sitting here saying, ‘Boy, we’ve been a great team for two years.’ There’s disappointment, and we have another level we have to go to.”
Past Disappointments
The last two seasons in Dallas have ended in Game 6 of the Western Conference Final. The first appearance was a pleasant surprise, and a Stars lineup that wasn’t quite ready met a buzzsaw in a deeper Vegas team. The Golden Knights eventually won the Stanley Cup.
Last year, the Stars had one of the deeper offensive teams in the NHL but faced challenges defensively. Their depth was particularly challenged by injuries in the playoffs. The Edmonton Oilers were able to exploit that with their vast assortment of skilled forwards and an outstanding couple of games from goaltender Stuart Skinner.
Still, Dallas was in a great position to obtain its goals and faltered at a crucial point, coughing up a 2-1 series lead.
“That’s all part of being a pro,” Stars head coach Pete DeBoer said. “You’ve got to use that as fuel for this season. There’s no better example than the Florida Panthers. They lost to Vegas in the [Stanley Cup] Final the year before, and they used that as fuel to drive them this year, and that’s our challenge.”
Drawing from Recent Champions
The Florida Panthers won their first Stanley Cup after losing in the 2023 Stanley Cup Final. Vegas broke through after not making the playoffs, and Colorado won the 2022 Stanley Cup after three consecutive second-round exits. It also took Tampa Bay five years to win a title after making it to at least the Conference Final three times in five seasons.
Sixteen Stanley Cup champions since the mid-1990s appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals within five years of winning it. Eleven reached the Conference Finals during the same span. Six teams went on to win the Stanley Cup a year after being eliminated in the Conference Finals.
That group even includes the 1998-99 Stars who beat Buffalo for the Stanley Cup after losing to Detroit in the 1998 Western Conference Final.
The current Stars team is right on par with past champions. Dallas has reached the Western Conference Final thrice since 2020 and made the Stanley Cup Final in 2020. The 2020 team, coincidentally, lost to Tampa Bay.
2024 Dallas Stars Expectations
The 2023 Dallas Stars won the Western Conference in the regular season after making adjustments in the offseason. It led to the Western Conference Final despite having the league’s most difficult playoff path. The 2024 Dallas Stars believe they are even deeper, especially on defence. The team’s goals remain unchanged: return to the Stanley Cup Final.
But other teams have gotten better, and it won’t be easy. In the Central Division alone, Dallas will have to continue to battle good Winnipeg and Colorado teams. Plus, Chicago has added more offensive skill, and Nashville is now loaded with goal-scorers like Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault.
“For me to sit here and say, ‘It’s Stanley Cup or bust,’ that’s not fair to the players in the dressing room or to the game,” Nill added. “Yes, we want to win the Stanley Cup. Yes, we’ve got to get in the playoffs to do that… This is going to be a challenging year, but you start from Day 1 and we have the foundation set. We have a good team, we have a good core, and away we go.”
Main Photo: Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images
