A little more than a year ago, it looked as if the Dallas Stars were giving up on the season and the short-term future.
Despite still being in a playoff hunt in a jammed Western Conference, they shipped captain Brenden Morrow to the Pittsburgh Penguins, and veterans Jaromir Jagr to the Boston Bruins and Derek Roy to the Vancouver Canucks.
They cleaned house in the front office too, with owner Tom Gaglardi sending former fan favorite Joe Nieuwendyk packing and bringing in longtime Detroit Red Wings executive Jim Nill as the new general manager. A couple of weeks later, coach Glen Gulutzan was let go.
The rebuild was on. Few could have predicted the moves made in the months to follow could lead the Stars back to the playoffs this year.
Yet that's where things stand now.
With a 3-0 win over one of the best teams in the Western Conference—the St. Louis Blues—Friday night, the Stars have snapped a five-year drought and claimed the final wild-card spot
It's happening because of a youth movement brought on by the blockbuster trade Nill pulled off with the Boston Br ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Steve Macfarlane
How Dallas Stars’ Youth Movement Paid off with a Surprise Playoff Berth
April 12th, 2014 by Steve Macfarlane Leave a reply »
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