Motivated Stars open training camp with 'something to prove'

The Stars know a thing or two about adversity -- they overcame quite a bit to get to the Stanley Cup Final last season.
So when they started training camp Monday with Tyler Seguin, Ben Bishop and Stephen Johns sidelined by injury, and Anton Khudobin (immigration issues) and Joe Pavelski (day-to-day with medical issues) also out, the general feeling was that they could step up and handle it.

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"We've got a pretty hardened group and a good mix of players," said Stars general manager Jim Nill. "We're pretty hearty and pretty used to going with the flow."
If the playoffs taught the Stars anything, it's that they are pretty good together as a group. Rick Bowness and the coaching staff stepped up and came together to create both passion and calm. Captain Jamie Benn and the veterans helped pull the younger players into the fray. And younger players like Miro Heiskanen and Denis Gurianov took a huge step forward in their development.
In finding a way to win Game 7 against Colorado or beat the Vegas Golden Knights in five games, the Stars tested themselves and liked what they found out.

"We learned a lot about each other," Benn said. "We definitely got closer as a group. You go through a long playoff run like that and you see the hard work and sacrifice guys make, I've got a lot of respect for my teammates and what we went through."
Benn said he felt the team looked good on the first day of practice in Frisco. Players learned from the Return to Play in July that they needed to be physically ready, and accomplished that by training hard on their own. Benn said the players did that again in December and January. Camp is just 10 days long before the season starts on Jan. 14 at Florida, so there's a lot of work to do.
"These next 10 days are very important for our group and we need to be sharp right from the get-go, and I thought we were today for Day 1," Benn said.
Bowness and his coaching staff juggled some lines because of injuries, and had Benn playing left wing with Roope Hintz and Gurianov. He had Justin Dowling centering Joel Kiviranta and Alexander Radulov, and he had the checking line of Radek Faksa with Andrew Cogliano and Blake Comeau back together. The fourth line had Jason Dickinson with Jason Robertson and Nick Caamano.
Bowness said he would like Hintz and Gurianov playing together, that he would like Pavelski (when he returns) to play with Radulov, and that he likes the "FCC" line. Otherwise, he said the team would adjust to injuries and who is playing well.

Pavelski has an undisclosed medical issue, but could be on the ice Tuesday. Khudobin is in Texas now, Nill said, but he has to finish his quarantine period and go through testing before he can return to practice.
Both should be ready by opening night.
In the meantime, younger players like Robertson, Caamano and goalie Jake Oettinger will get extra practice time. That's important, because the team is going to need them this year. All three were in the bubble in Edmonton, and while they didn't play much, they were there every day with the veteran players.
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"Going into that bubble, it was great to have those young kids around," Benn said. "If I was 19, 20 years old, I would have loved to have been around all of the big guys and hang out with them for two months. So as far as bringing them in, they're already a part of our team. They've been around for a while, I think now it's just trying to get them to feel comfortable in their game."
Bowness said the fact the team lost only a few players (Corey Perry and Mattias Janmark left as free agents) and that so many of the depth players were in Edmonton should be an advantage with such a quick ramp-up to the 56-game regular season.

"It helps, and it helps that they know each other," Bowness said. "There haven't been a lot of changes, and we're hoping that some kids step in and give us some youthful energy. We know them, and just as important, they know our expectations of them. We told them we're going to push them hard."
Bowness said a lot of training camp will be focused on skating and conditioning, because the team wants to play a fast game and believes that skating will put players in a position to succeed both offensively and defensively. He also said they want to continue to get the defensemen involved in the offensive game and that they will work hard to be even better on special teams.
The Stars are hoping to build on their experiences in the playoffs and also to use the fact they came two wins short of taking the Stanley Cup as serious motivation.
"Obviously as a group, we came together," said Dickinson. "You saw a bunch of guys who wanted to win and we kept finding ways. That kind of growth for us is huge. We can go into this season with that confidence and that swagger."
"There is an air in the locker room right now. Guys are eager to get going. We've got something to prove. There's that fire, and that's the carryover we're getting."
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.