With 7 games left in the regular season, the Dallas Stars sit with 82 points, three points ahead of the Arizona Coyotes, who are currently out of the playoffs. It has been another decent, but not outstanding year for the men in victory green. After a major collapse to miss the playoffs in 2018, Dallas cannot afford brutal collapse to miss the playoffs.
Since 2008, which was Dallas legend Mike Modano's final playoff run with the team, the Stars have only made the playoffs twice: in 2014, where they were the 2nd wild card and lost in the first round, and in 2016, where they were top seed in the Central Division, but fell in the 2nd round, only winning one round. They've blown several chances to give their fans postseason hockey in the Lone Star State.
In 2009, the Stars went 5-8-3 in the month of March, taking them out of the playoff race, which they missed by eight points. In 2010, they missed by seven points, falling out of the race due to a 6-8-2 record in March. In 2011, all they had to do was beat Minnesota in game 82 to make it, but they lost, two points short of the playoffs. In 2012, Dallas lost nine of their last twelve games, leaving them out of the postseason by just six points. The lockout shortened 2013 season saw them go 1-5-1 in their last seven games, out of the playoffs by seven points.
As mentioned before, the 2018 season was excruciating for Stars fans, as the team lost eight straight games during a stretch in March in which they only picked up two points. By the time they recovered, it was too late, and Dallas missed the playoffs by three points. Collapses like these take a major toll on any fanbase in pro sports.
Even with all of these misses, paid home attendance has only dipped below 80% of capacity twice since 2008 (in 2012 and 2014). Since the Stars are in a major population market, they are able to do pretty well at the gate most of the time, at times buoyed by road teams' fans in the crowd. This is commonplace in many southern markets. If progress is not made, the Stars' support could take a larger hit, and fans could become more apathetic, which has been seen in Florida.
In order to avoid a colossal collapse late in March and in early April, Dallas forwards Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, Alexander Radulov, defenseman John Klingberg, and both goaltenders Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin will need to be at the top of their games to secure insurance wins. As long as the top players for the Stars play consistently, they will be fine.
Fans in any sport want to see their team playing meaningful games at the end of the year, which means being in the postseason with a chance to win a championship, which is the Stanley Cup in the NHL. With only two playoff appearances since 2008, Dallas fans have had little hope of seeing their team raise the Cup in June. Just making the playoffs is never the goal for any franchise in the NHL, but getting back to the postseason would be a huge positive for Stars fans, giving them some hope about the direction of the franchise.
