FRISCO, Texas — Changing head coaches is going to have some obvious impacts on the Dallas Stars this season.
Ken Hitchcock, who replaced Lindy Ruff, is going to bring in a more disciplined system. There will be more attention to detail and offensive and defensive approaches will be tweaked by assistant coaches Stu Barnes and Rick Wilson.
It also signals a fresh start, especially for those less-established players that aren’t known commodities and locks for the NHL roster.
“It’s a clean slate and clean sheet for everyone, especially being on the bubble and the guys trying to work their way on to the team,” Justin Dowling said. “It’s always nice when you can start fresh with someone. Maybe some guys got off on the wrong foot with Lindy, it’s a way to change things around and change your fortunes a bit.”
Dowling is amongst the group of players that will be trying to impress Hitchcock in training camp. Dowling is on the list of players competing for one of the final NHL roster spots alongside the likes of Jason Dickinson, Denis Gurianov, Gemel Smith, and Remi Elie for a bottom-six role on opening night.
Even if all of those players are on the AHL roster, which is a real possibility, the competition will also set the stage for who gets the first call up from Cedar Park when an injury impacts the NHL roster.
“You have to look at it that way, because there might not be a spot, the numbers might not work out,” Dowling said. “But teams are going to need call-ups and if you want to be the first guy up you need to impress the coaches over the next couple weeks.”
In most cases a fresh start is a good thing. For others who had gained Ruff’s favor, they’ll have to re-do everything and hope they gain Hitchcock’s confidence early on.
Smith in particular has an interesting re-set with Hitchcock. While he impressed the Stars management at times last season with his strong skating and speed, Ruff was one of his biggest fans and there were a couple call-ups were Smith had the edge over another AHL player because of the head coach’s preference.
In theory Adam Cracknell should have a solidified his spot on the NHL roster, especially after being one of the few players that actually succeeded throughout the 2016-17 season. But Cracknell reiterated that nothing is set in stone for role players like himself.
“I think there is a lot of changes and adjustments with the coaching staff,” Cracknell said. “We’re all going to be challenging a lot more in training camp, both practices and games. I think everything is important to make sure you keep your spot, otherwise someone else will take it.”
The same message goes on the defense, where a new coaching staff will have a chance to add some stability to what was a broken system last season.
Under Ruff the Stars young defenders struggled. They struggled to find consistency and when they made mistakes they paid for it with lengthy scratches or getting benched during the game. It created an atmosphere where players were playing to avoid mistakes and not focussing on their overall game.
That won’t be the case with Hitchcock and Wilson. Wilson has a history, and Hitchcock even confirmed this recently, that he wants a group of six defenders and he’s going to stick with them. There will be a battle in training camp, but when the regular season starts the defender that is scratched better get used to the press box.
Sounds harsh, but it’s actually a good thing. While some defenders are obvious roster locks, Jamie Oleksiak, Patrik Nemeth, Greg Pateryn, Stephen Johns, and Julius Honka know what’s at stake heading into training camp. If you aren’t one of the top-six defenders you’re going to be on the outside looking in (and potentially traded or waived).
So impress the coaches right away, win the job in camp, and then you don’t have to worry about picking between ranch and BBQ sauce when eating chicken fingers in the press box during the first intermission.
“Just mentally thinking about it like a fresh start is a good thing,” Oleksiak said. “On a personal level coming in an being ready to work. Kind of a fresh start and it’s a healthy mentality to have.”
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