Dallas Stars: Watch Out For Defense This Preseason
The Stars’ defense put on a show during the Training Camp scrimmage, signalling that Dallas may have nailed down one piece of the puzzle.
It’s no secret that the Dallas Stars have been working on assembling the perfect team- the A team, if you will. Slowly but surely, they’ve been chiseling away at the marble through trades, honing young talent, and new staff hires in order to reveal the Stanley Cup champions underneath.
Of all the components of the game that the Stars have had to worry about in the past, defense has been one of the ugliest. At best, they’ve been inconsistent and at worse, they’ve been reliably unreliable. However, this could be the season we see that change for good.
In previous season, the Dallas Stars have been caught between assembling an intimidating d-corps and a speedy one. The progress has been slow, but it could be that the Stars have struck the perfect balance.
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At the scrimmage which ended out the Training Camp week in Cedar Park, the Stars’ defense shined offensively. Six out of the eleven total goals scored in the scrimmage were courtesy of the defensemen.
Three went to Nick Ebert, who came to the Stars by way of the Jack Campbell to the Kings trade, and Julius Honka an Mattias Backman each notched a goal. Johnny Oduya and Remi Elie also teamed up to put the defense’s tally at six.
Clearly, Backman and Ebert outshone their White team teammate, John Klingberg, who has had the reputation of the offensive-defenseman in the past. Before you go wondering if Klingberg will have a second sophomore season decline, keep in mind that this is a good thing.
Instead of having one defensive player known for scoring goals, the Stars seem to be working on cultivating a group of guys who can do it all. With multiple scoring threats on the blue line, the Stars also boast the growing size and intimidation factor of their defense.
Dallas has been accumulating bigger-bodied defensemen who aren’t afraid of throwing some checks or blocking shots. Again, instead of just having one guy known for being the muscle of the defensive zone, the Stars are working to build a reputation through a defense balanced between speed and scoring ability, and physical fortitude.
And it could not have come at a better time. With an alarming majority of the team’s offensive cornerstones and depth out with injury, the defense is doing a great job (whether intentionally or not) of stepping up and assuring that Dallas will not go goal-less. The Stars are sending the message that nothing will keep one of the NHL’s repeatedly best offenses from putting the puck in the net, even if a majority of that offense is missing.
With the Stars and Blues preseason opener set for tonight, do you think the defense will show up like they did at Training Camp to keep the Stars’ scoring reputation alive and well, or was their performance at Cedar Park a fluke? Let us know what your predictions are!
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