Adapt and adjust: Stars taking prep 'day to day' after COVID-19 shutdown

Maybe it was when Joe Pavelski scored with 32 seconds left and tied the St. Louis Blues in round-robin play, paving the way for a Denis Gurianov shootout winner.
Maybe it was when Pavelski scored with 12 seconds left to tie Calgary and prevent the Stars from going down 3-1 in their first-round playoff series.
Maybe it was when Joel Kiviranta came out of nowhere to register a hat trick in Game 7 against Colorado, including the overtime winner.

If you look at it, last season was all about responding to adversity -- from coach Jim Montgomery getting fired in December, to the season getting shut down in March, to the team coming back and finding a way to get to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2000. All combined, the moments of hardship forged a steely determination within the Stars -- they made tangible the desire to overcome frustration that had been building for almost a decade. Individually, the moments were tests that allowed players to dig deep and find a strength they might not have known they had.
Now, with the latest adversity, the past could be a huge player in creating a strong future.
The Stars were shut down Saturday after six players and two staff members tested positive for COVID-19. The NHL postponed the first three games of the season and Dallas is currently expected to start the season Jan. 19 in Tampa, Fla.
That said, they might delay and start Jan. 22 against Florida at home while many other teams played their first game Jan. 13.

But if they were looking for normalcy, a Tuesday practice at Comerica Center in Frisco with several players missing was actually a pretty good step. The league does not explain why a player might not be available for practice or a game, simply listing them as "unfit." Among the players who did not practice Tuesday were: forwards Nick Caamano, Jason Dickinson, Justin Dowling, Radek Faksa, Rhett Gardner, Joel Kiviranta and Jason Robertson, as well as defensemen Taylor Fedun, Joel Hanley, Thomas Harley, Miro Heiskanen, Julius Honka, Esa Lindell, Jamie Oleksiak and Mark Pysyk.
On the good side, Harley is expected to be ready to practice Wednesday after quarantining in his return from the World Junior Championship in Canada, and goalie Anton Khudobin returned after quarantining in his return from Russia. The Stars had enough players to practice and believe they will be ready when their season finally begins.

"We're going to be figuring this out on a daily basis," said Stars coach Rick Bowness. "When the puck drops, we will have done everything we can to get this team ready to go."
The NHL's schedule for the 2020-21 season is 56 games over 116 days. That's about a game every other day. The first three games of the Stars season have been postponed, which means they will have any even tighter schedule than their Central Division bunkmates.
And that can make the mind reel.
Ben Bishop had offseason knee injury and might be ready to return in March, so that means Dallas will be down to goalies No. 2 and 3 for the first half of the season or more. Will Khudobin and Jake Oettinger be able to handle that load in goal. Oettinger has never started an NHL game. That doesn't seem ideal.
But Bishop was hurt in the playoffs and Khudobin carried the mail. This is a different kind of challenge, but Khudobin is a different player after doing what he did in the bubble. Oettinger also is different. He went 15-16-4 in the AHL last season with a 2.57 goals against average and .917 save percentage.
Both appear ready to go, and if they can remain healthy, there is confidence both will meet the challenge.
Khudobin said Tuesday after his first practice in North America: "I felt really comfortable today. I talked to our goalie coach (Jeff Reese) and I asked his opinion, and he said that I looked good. I felt good, to be honest. Right now, we're just waiting for the games, so…right now….was good."
As for the rest of the team? Well, they are missing several key players right now, but Bowness said the team has no choice but to do everything it can to keep everyone healthy and happy. They will hope for the best and prepare for the worst.
Bowness said the team was surprised by the COVID outbreak because it has been following protocol in every way -- and that helped keep the Stars healthy before entering the bubble. Still, he said they will have to be even more diligent.

"We have to isolate into smaller groups. We're fortunate that we have a big space to hold team meetings, so we can keep them apart and they're not right on top of each other. We have to shorten up the meetings so they're not sitting there too long," Bowness said. "But listen, we did everything right last week and we still got hit with this thing, so to sit here and say there's a perfect way to do it…there's not."
But the team learned during the hardship of the playoffs that they have the ability to respond to adversity. Whether that is individual players stepping up or the team playing with chemistry and confidence, answers are out there.
"We just really have to reinforce our principles, our fundamentals with everybody," Bowness said. "A big part of chemistry is trust, and that's your trust between your defense and your goalie and between your defense and your forwards. The practices and the scrimmages, that's what we're focused on."
The Stars were good at this last season. They retain a very similar roster and the same coaching staff. They have hungry young players ready to grab an opportunity. They have skilled players who should be better for the experience they gained.
All of that said, they still have to be ready to adjust at any given moment.
"I've laid out this whole thing on a day to day basis, and it's in pencil so we can erase it and change it," Bowness said with a chuckle. "We'll adapt and just roll with what each day brings us."
Photo credit: Jeff Toates/Dallas Stars
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.