'The Process' matters: Stars aim to learn lesson from loss to Maple Leafs

The Process matters.
Well, at least the thought of it.
New Stars coach Jim Montgomery was a big winner in college, in part, because of a system he called "The Process." It was seven tenets that he believed were important to winning, and he had his players focused on reaching each goal in every game.

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In moving to the NHL, Montgomery adapted his Process and took out check marks for 50 hits in a game and "committing to blocked shots," because 50 hits are hard to reach here and because blocked shots are areas of debate in today's NHL.
So the newly edited Process is this:
You can say some of the categories are nebulous or up for debate in defining a yes or no answer, but the thought behind the process is important. Bottom line, concrete goals create an identity for this team, an identity that can be broken down simply.

Win The Process, and you probably played hard, were the more competitive team, and also played smarter than other squad. Lose The Process, and you can easily see where things went wrong.
The Stars lost The Process Tuesday and lost to the Toronto Maple Leafs, 7-4. You've watched enough hockey to know where things went wrong, so maybe The Process seems redundant on a night like this.
But it isn't.
It's important, because it hammers home things that need to become instinctive. It's important, because it's an easily identifiable reminder of things that can be very difficult to do against a team like the Maple Leafs. It's important, because it provides a structure to use when you go to video sessions or three days of practice before meeting Anaheim on Saturday.
"This is going to be a good learning experience for us," Montgomery said. "I thought our effort and our emotion was very good. Our execution wasn't where it needed to be against a very good hockey club. I think their speed and creativity forced our mistakes. Our rush defense was poor tonight. We got beat for icings that should never happen.

"We've got to get better in certain areas."
The Stars on Tuesday were not good defensively. They gave the puck away, they failed to clear the front of the net, they read the neutral zone wrong. John Klingberg and Esa Lindell were front and center in those deficiencies, and Klingberg said he simply has to be better than that.
"They scored from being hungrier in front of the net than we were," Klingberg said. "That's on our D; myself and Esa were on the ice for too many goals…and forwards coming back, as well."
The top line of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov was explosive offensively. However, it also was on the ice in some form or fashion for five goals against.
That's a problem.

"Offensively yes," Montgomery said when asked if the top line was doing its job. "Defensively, they were out there for three goals, 5-on-5, so no, they've got to do a better job of shutting people down. Not only creating offense, but not giving up momentum."
Yes, Montgomery leaned on his leaders when he needed scoring, but that trio has to understand the delicate balance of risk-reward that this system requires. If they get sucked into hully-gully hockey, then the whole team will likely play that way.
In the season opener, Dallas played patient and took advantage of a 96-second scoring burst in a 3-0 win over Arizona. In the second game, the Stars won the details of the game and made Winnipeg take bad penalties and make mistakes in a 5-1 victory.
These are subtle things, but they result in wildly different outcomes. Play smart, and you control the game. Toss "The Process," and you can easily be chasing the game.
The Stars are quickly discovering that.

Look, The Process is not the be-all and end-all. There will be nights when they'll do everything they're supposed to and lose. There will be nights when they fumble their way to wins. Goalies and just plain ol' hockey luck will do that. But this team is trying to build something here, and it's important to have a plan.
Right now, the Stars seem to have that. When they follow the plan, good things happen. And that's a pretty good lesson to learn three games into the season.
"I prefer not to lose the games and learn anyways," center Jason Spezza said of the fact he believes matriculation in victory also is possible.
But he added that having Toronto's best players take over the game creates a lab for some specific dissection of The Process. By allowing the Maple Leafs to control play, by failing to recognize key moments, by chasing and not dictating, the Stars saw a blueprint of how not to play.
"We have to learn from it," Spezza said. "We're three games in and there's a lot of hockey -- so yeah, we want to learn from it. Too bad we have to wait a few days to get back to the next one. These ones kind of sting and we like to play right away, but we'll get back to practice and focus on some things and be ready to go for the next one."
Because that's the next step in the process -- the one with a lowercase "P."
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika,and listen to his podcast.