Lazerus: Stars' 'old guys' leading the charge from behind, living up to the team motto

Source: The New York Times
Author: Mark Lazerus

DALLAS -- Locker rooms in the NHL are littered with cheesy signs and motivational buzzwords that can make your eyes roll like a slot machine. Picture a TGI Friday's, only instead of license plates and surfboards on the wall, it's "DESIRE" and "PREPARATION" and some esoteric quote from an old-time coach that sounds really cool the first time you hear it but doesn't hold up to any real scrutiny. As if a multi-million dollar professional athlete is going to walk by a chintzy plastic sign that says "TEAMWORK" and think, "Ah, yes, I should pass the puck today. Thank you, sign."

But just to the left side of the primary exit of the Dallas Stars locker room at American Airlines Center -- the door the players use every time they walk out to the ice, right in their line of sight -- is a smallish green banner with the Stars' black and white jersey stripes across the bottom. It's hung loosely, almost haphazardly, with a couple of thumbtacks, like a sagging band poster in a teenager's room.

On the green background, in white letters, it says simply, "A little less for a lot more."

It was presented to the team by coach Pete DeBoer during a team-bonding trip to Palm Springs, Calif., in the first week of the season. The Stars had four days off between their season opener at home and their second game in Las Vegas, so DeBoer organized a team-only getaway. He unveiled the banner on that trip and had each player sign it.

The banner was something of a warning -- that roles were going to change, minutes were going to drop, egos would have to be checked; the individual subsumed in favor of the whole. The signatures were a promise that the players were on board, that they understood, that they recognized the need to maximize the team's vaunted depth, even if it came at their own statistical expense.

For erstwhile superstar Tyler Seguin, it meant fewer minutes. For captain and former scoring champion Jamie Benn, it meant a third-line role. For workhorse Ryan Suter, it meant being taken off the power play, and playing fewer than 20 minutes a night for the first time since his rookie season nearly two decades ago. It meant letting kids barely half their age take the reins, to play supporting cast for a new wave of stars like Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnston and Logan Stankoven.

Pro athletes have a lot of pride, particularly the ones who have been All-Stars, team leaders, drivers of the bus. But they've lived up to their promise that mid-October night in Palm Springs, and it's led to one of the best seasons in franchise history: 113 points, the top seed in the Western Conference, home ice in the conference final and a real chance at the Stanley Cup.

"There's a lot of character in here," Suter said after the Stars evened the Western Conference final at a game apiece with a 3-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game 2. "You've got a lot of young guys that are playing hard for us old guys, and a lot of old guys that are playing hard for the young guys. Just everyone bought in."

So the start of this Western Conference final, up and down as it's been, has been particularly gratifying to see for DeBoer and the Stars. It was Seguin, in his 11th season in Dallas, scoring a pair of goals in Game 1 and creating a couple of big early chances in Game 2. It was Benn, a franchise pillar for 15 seasons, keeping the puck on a two-on-one and beating Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner low on the blocker side to open the scoring in the first period. And it was Suter, the venerable 39-year-old perpetually fighting Father Time, intentionally shooting a seeing-eye wrister at Mason Marchment in the low slot early in the third period, making it possible for Marchment to deflect it in for the eventual game winner with a nifty bit of stickwork.

The production is a nice bonus, a reward for good players being good teammates. But it was more than the goals. It was Suter throwing himself in front of a shot. It was Seguin delivering big hits. It was Benn spearheading a bullrush of a shift to open the second period, leading the charge alongside youngsters Johnston and Stankoven, one minute in the offensive zone that changed the entire complexion of the game after the Oilers spent the first period pouring on the shots (16-4) and the chances (15-8).

And in typical Dallas fashion, it was the grunt work that most pleased the Stars and their coach, not the glory.

"Those guys are leading the way," DeBoer said. "We got huge blocks down the stretch from (Miro) Heiskanen, Suter, (Joe) Pavelski, (Christopher) Tanev. Big blocked shots at key times. Those guys are laying it on the line every night for us. They're not just producing, they're committed to do whatever they have to do to try and help us win."

"Whoever (scores), that doesn't really matter," Suter said. "At the end of the day, it's about the wins. No one really cares. No one really looks at the scoresheet after the game. I think guys are pumping each other up about blocked shots and things like that."

The Stars didn't have any forwards play more than Johnston's 19 minutes, 33 seconds. Meanwhile, the Oilers' big three of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman all played at least 23:33 -- McDavid had one shot on goal, Draisaitl and Hyman had two each. Aside from the track-meet first period, this was a quintessential Stars victory, their depth and their defensive structure -- along with a strong performance by Jake Oettinger in goal, particularly in that wild and woolly first period -- swallowing up the Oilers offense.

For the Stars, it doesn't matter who scores, because they always believe somebody -- anybody -- will score. They didn't have anyone score more than 32 goals this season, but they had eight players score at least 21. That's how they got to be the best team in the West, and perhaps the best team in the NHL. That's how they shut down the Oilers despite missing their best forward -- offensively and defensively -- in Hintz, their No. 1 center.

And don't look now, but Hintz has been skating the last couple of days, and handling the puck with that injured hand/wrist. He could be back as soon as Game 3 on Monday in Edmonton. So the Stars are about to get even deeper, even better. Of course, that means Seguin probably goes back to a slightly smaller role. It means fewer minutes to go around, another spot on the power play and on the penalty kill taken up.

For everyone else, it means a little less. For the Dallas Stars, though, it means a lot more.

"We're just trying to do our part for this team," Benn said with a shrug in his voice. "I feel we've got a good group."

A group that's loaded with talent and experience, youth and skill. Yet a group that still manages to be more than the sum of its parts.

"That's what this team's about, you know?" Pavelski said. "We've got a lot of good players, guys that get hot and deserve more ice time at times. And that's been the theme all year. The guys have done a great job supporting each other and taking care of business."

Hey, it's right there on the wall outside the locker room, plain for everyone to see, in green and black and white.