At long last, the Dallas Stars are about to stop talking about the offseason and start playing real games again.
Friday night’s home opener against St. Louis closes the book on the franchise’s longest gap between seasons in five years, a 155-day wait that followed a first-round playoff exit. For a team that had been living in late-spring hockey for three straight years before that, the break came with a different kind of payoff: rest, recovery and time to reset.
Captain Jamie Benn felt the pause drag on enough that he told his wife it was time to get back to work. There was still about a month left before camp.
“A lot of the guys felt the same way,” the 37-year-old Benn said. “But with that, we got some rest, more time to prepare for this year and get our bodies right.
Three years before, had some good runs. Not good enough, so it was nice to get some rest and take advantage of that extra time.”
General manager Jim Nill said the organization chose to focus on the upside of the long layoff.
“I think you want to find the positive things you can, and I think this was a big break for the guys,” Nill said. “They’ve played a lot of hockey, a lot intense hockey, a lot wear and tear, and this (was) a break physically and a break mentally. ... Look forward to seeing the results now on the ice.”
That reset mattered for a roster that was dealing with real wear and tear. Mikko Rantanen came back late in the regular season and playoffs after a torn MCL in the Olympics.
Roope Hintz never made it back after tearing his left hamstring on March 6. Tyler Seguin, 34, had right ACL surgery in December and was limited to 47 games over the past two seasons because of injuries.
“The players that were banged up, they’re healthy now,” Nill said.
The extra time also helped Benn and Matt Duchene, both 35 and entering their 18th NHL seasons, as well as 23-year-old center Wyatt Johnston, who has played in all 390 Stars regular-season and playoff games since making his NHL debut four years ago.
“For a summer of that length that he hasn’t had probably since he’s 19 ... he looks bigger and stronger,” second-year coach Glen Gulutzan said.
Gulutzan said Benn has slimmed down more than he has at any point in his memory.
“He trained like crazy this summer. He is actually really lean,” Gulutzan said.
“He did some things differently than he normally did. He’s always trained hard and all that stuff, but just the way he went out and skated and practiced, I know he put an emphasis on different areas.”
Benn said the pace of the league keeps ratcheting up.
“The game is getting faster and that he’s “just trying to keep up.”
Even with the later-than-usual finish to the summer, Dallas is still one of the last seven teams to open its season Friday night. The NHL began play Tuesday, and 10 clubs will already be multiple games deep by then.
The opener is still notable for the Stars, though. Oct. 2 is their earliest season start since Oct. 1, 1999, when they celebrated the Stanley Cup title they had won three and a half months earlier.
Dallas also knows what a different kind of long wait looks like. The Stars last reached the Stanley Cup Final in the Canadian bubble that ended in late September 2020, after a nearly five-month shutdown because of the pandemic.
That led to a 116-day gap before a shortened 56-game season opened the following January. They then missed the postseason and waited 157 days for a normal October start, the first of their current five straight playoff seasons.
Jason Robertson said the extra time had value, even if he would have preferred a shorter one.
“Everyone can use that extra time,” Robertson said. “I’d rather have taken less time, obviously.
But it was a different summer ... Maybe more time to train, more time to reflect.
I feel good. I’m sure everyone else feels good.”
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