Patience and positivity: Where Stars can go after Game 1 loss to Avalanche

I’ve always been a pretty positive person.

And yes, I know how annoying that can be.

As I squint through my rose-colored readers, one of my favorite sayings is, “Somehow, someway, it always seems to work out.”

That drives my wife crazy.

Because as calming as that can be in a problem-solving format, it’s not always true. Kids fail tests, people lose jobs, things break and can’t be fixed. One of the reasons we stay so busy is that the world is an imperfect place. You fix one problem and another pops up in its place, and that can really make positivity difficult.

Many of my friends and family embrace reality. They feel safer when they understand the situation for what it truly is. They want to know the odds, they want to understand everything. They are more technically-minded than I am, so I think it serves their intellect. Plus, I think some of them just believe that a Pollyanna attitude is foolish.

My friend in Michigan gets very tired of people always wanting to be nice. He feels it’s the wrong way to parent, the wrong way to friend, the wrong way to live. He believes there are times when you have to be a “meanie” (what he thinks the soft people call the realists). There are times when anger is the right answer, when you should be mad at those who have let you down.

I get that.

I see it in sports all of the time. We ask fans to care about something passionately and then are surprised when that passion turns negative. Of course people get mad when their team loses. They get even madder when their team doesn’t get just as angry as they are. It’s a common cycle.

But calm and positivity are a big part of sports preparation because they work. The Stars wobbled at times this season. The power play wasn’t great to start the year and fans suggested maybe changing out assistant coach Steve Spott. That’s often the answer for those watching. The organization, however, stuck with the coaching staff as assembled and since Jan. 1 Dallas had one of the best man advantages in the league. In 2025 the Stars rank fourth on the power play at 28.0 percent. That helped them fuel a 28-13-5 record down the stretch, second best in the NHL. That’s not a small sample size at 46 games and it includes the terrible ending that still boils inside many of you right now.

Point being, the Stars had a problem, they patiently addressed the problem, and they found a solution. It’s what they do. That’s why they’re probably not as worried as some fans about losing Game 1 on Saturday. Clearly, they wanted to win. Clearly, this makes life harder. But they have overcome a Game 1 loss in four of their past six playoff series. Heck, they overcame an 0-2 deficit to Vegas just one year ago with the first two losses coming on home ice.

That gives you confidence.

And confidence gives you patience.

Now, I understand the feelings on the other side. Last year, they were patient against Edmonton and played some really good hockey at times. It wasn’t enough, as Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner stopped 33 shots in a 2-1 win where Dallas allowed just 10 shots on goal. That is sometimes what patience gets you. If you waste your wiggle room, your cushion, you can make things a lot harder than they need to be.

And then, when it’s over, the anger and regret seem to stick around a lot longer.

Pete DeBoer said recently that the loss to Edmonton stung, that the Stars felt they should have won that series. That emotion was supposed to help inspire this group. The guess is, it does. The guess is, there is a lot of that anger and frustration that you feel right now bubbling under the surface in preparation meetings and video sessions and in drives home in the car or sleepless nights getting ready for the rest of this series.

It can be both ways. You can have the fire burning and also have the control to use that fire in a positive manner.

Bottom line, the Stars know what they have to do. They did a lot of it in Game 1, raising their level of intensity and execution from the previous month of sloppy play. Now, the hockey gods kicked them a few times, and the Colorado Avalanche took advantage. The guys on the other side played a very good game and earned the victory. They made more good plays overall. Even someone wearing Victory Green bifocals can see that.

But the best way to respond is to fix the problems, to play better, to prepare in a manner that gives you a game that is near flawless. It’s what you have to do in the playoffs. It’s what this team has done on several occasions – as recently as last spring when they did it 10 times against Vegas, Colorado and Edmonton.

Now, there are times in there when the patient approach didn’t work, when it wasn’t enough – and those times can make you really mad.

I get it.

The challenge now is to find that balance in a zen/athletic sort of way that allows this season to keep going.

It’s annoying advice, but it’s all I’ve got right now.

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 X @MikeHeika.