The Dallas Stars had health on their side last season and hope to have the same fortune next season.
Even with how much modern day hockey has evolved from the once gruesome sport that was centered around having the biggest, baddest goons on your team, injuries are still something players cannot easily avoid.
Hockey has always been a game of physicality, which still rings true in the modern, skill-heavy era. The amount of body contact throughout the season can in turn lead to injuries for even the strongest and fittest of players.
Every team has a narrative about their star players missing imperative games or even having season-ending injuries that shape how the team's season can play out. Dallas Stars fans can surely remember the team that was practically taped together by the time they made it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2020, eventually losing in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning. After the series was over, the list of injuries that came out was similar in length to a CVS receipt.
Sometimes, though rare, a team can have the opposite luck in regards to injuries. Whether it be the hockey gods, pure luck or perhaps some other change, the Stars were extremely fortunate last season to not have to deal with many major injuries whatsoever.
From the 2020 season until now, there is one big change that could point to the reason why their luck with injuries changed. Over the past two seasons, Dallas has re-shaped their identity under head coach Pete DeBoer, who replaced a more grinding, defensive minded coach in Rick Bowness.
Bowness' style of play was a defense-first attitude that required more physicality, bodies in front of pucks, hit-taking and puck battles off the boards, all while playing a dump-and-chase type offense that required more of a grinding forecheck. Even some players admitted that spending so much time and effort defending takes a toll on the body.
DeBoer's style of play is nearly the exact opposite of the Stars previous identity. He relies heavily on skill and speed, only using physicality when needed, or when a message needs to be sent. Throughout the playoffs, it was noticeable that Dallas played a far less physical style of playoff hockey that almost all the other teams, who ramped up the hitting and aggression significantly from their regular season game. Dallas made it to the Western Conference Final, and while they eventually lost out to the Edmonton Oilers, the Stars released a final injury list that was less like a CVS receipt and more like a one line memo.
Through the regular season, Dallas had almost no adversity on the injury front until the final push to the postseason, which was one of the main reasons that set them up to win the Western Conference and finish two points shy of the President's Trophy winning New York Rangers. Even with a couple injury hiccups in the playoffs, Dallas had strong depth, especially in the forward department.
With the addition of more depth on the defensive side, Dallas could be poised to make another deep run toward the Stanley Cup Final if they are able to similarly avoid major injuries in the upcoming season.
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