By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Sports Writer
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — At some point during the long offseason for the Dallas Stars, captain Jamie Benn told his wife he felt as if it was time to get started on a new season.
There was still about a month to go.
“A lot of the guys felt the same way,” the 37-year-old Benn said. “But with that, we got some rest, more time to prepare for this year and get our bodies right. Three years before, had some good runs. Not good enough, so it was nice to get some rest and take advantage of that extra time.”
The season opener at home Friday night against St. Louis will end the Stars’ longest gap in five years between the end of one season and the start of the next. It comes 155 days after being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
Dallas reached the Western Conference Final three seasons in a row before that, playing 100 games combined each time until at least late May with no more than 136 days until the next season opener.
“I think you want to find the positive things you can, and I think this was a big break for the guys,” general manager Jim Nill said. “They’ve played a lot of hockey, a lot intense hockey, a lot wear and tear, and this (was) a break physically and a break mentally. … Look forward to seeing the results now on the ice.”
The Stars were ready to go when camp started
At the start of the condensed training camp two weeks ago, before an expanded 84-game regular season, Nill said some players had been skating and working out at the team’s facility since July.
When the Stars lost Game 6 at Minnesota on April 30, it was the first time since 2018 they were done playing before the start of May. They missed the playoffs then and had 180 days until the 2018-19 season opener.
“Everyone can use that extra time,” forward Jason Robertson said. “I’d rather have taken less time, obviously. But it was a different summer … Maybe more time to train, more time to reflect. I feel good. I’m sure everyone else feels good.”
The Stars had more time to rest, recover and train
The extra time was certainly good for Mikko Rantanen, top center Roope Hintz and 34-year-old Tyler Seguin.
Rantanen returned for the end of the regular season and playoffs after a torn MCL in the Olympics, but Hintz didn’t make it back after tearing his left hamstring on March 6. Seguin, at the end of his $78.8 million, eight-year contract, had right ACL surgery in December and was limited to 47 games the past two seasons because of injuries.
“The players that were banged up, they’re healthy now,” Nill said.
There were also benefits for Benn and 35-year-old Matt Duchene, both going into their 18th NHL seasons. And even 23-year-old center Wyatt Johnston after playing in all 390 Stars regular-season and playoff games since his NHL debut four years ago.
“For a summer of that length that he hasn’t had probably since he’s 19 … he looks bigger and stronger,” second-year coach Glen Gulutzan said.
Gulutzan said Benn, the only player he also had in his first stint as Stars coach from 2011-13, is probably the skinniest that he’s ever seen him.
“He trained like crazy this summer. He is actually really lean,” Gulutzan said. “He did some things differently than he normally did. He’s always trained hard and all that stuff, but just the way he went out and skated and practiced, I know he put an emphasis on different areas.”
Benn said the game is getting faster and that he’s “just trying to keep up.”
It was a long wait for the Stars even with early opening date
Dallas will be among the last seven teams that play season openers Friday night. The NHL season began Tuesday, and 10 teams will already be multiple games into their schedule by then.
Still, that Oct. 2 opening date is the earliest for the Stars since Oct. 1, 1999, when they raised the banner for the Stanley Cup championship they won 3 1/2 months earlier.
The Stars last made the Stanley Cup Final in the Canadian bubble that ended in late September 2020, after a nearly five-month pause because of the pandemic. There was a 116-day gap before a reduced 56-game regular season opened the following January. They then missed the postseason and had 157 days before a normal October opener, and the first of their current five consecutive playoff seasons.
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