It’s hard to grow a fan base when your team plays every divisional road game in a different time zone. That was less of an issue when the Dallas Stars were winning a Stanley Cup and making regular playoff appearances. But in these lean days, when the Stars are trying to end a playoff drought, a new division could make a big difference.
The Stars received the news late last week when the NHL Players Association approved a new alignment, starting with the 2013-14 season. The NHL Board of Governors must still approve it, but because the NHL is the one proposing the change, one assumes the Board of Governors will vote in the affirmative.
The Stars will move into the Midwest Division with Chicago, Colorado, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis and Winnipeg.
The Stars will move into the Midwest Division with Chicago, Colorado, Minnesota, Nashville, St. Louis and Winnipeg.
How big of a deal is this?
Well, right now Dallas is in the Pacific Division with Anaheim, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Jose. Plus there are the road trips to the other western teams, including Calgary, Edmonton, Colorado and Vancouver.
On the Stars’ original 2012-13 schedule — the one for an 82-game season — the Stars were to play 20 games in either the Mountain or Pacific time zones. The compressed 48-game schedule after the lockout brought 15 games in those time zones. That’s nearly one-third of all games.
In the new alignment, the Stars will play 29 Midwest Division games. It’s a quirky number, but it means that no more than three of the 14 or 15 divisional road games will be outside their time zone. Add in 21 games against the new Pacific Division, and you get at most 14 Mountain or Pacific time zone games in an 82-game season. That’s much better than 20.
Right now, the Stars’ shortest Pacific Division road trip is 865 miles to Phoenix. All but one of the Stars’ road trips in the new division will be closer than that. The only Midwest Division trip of more than 1,000 miles will be Winnipeg.
That’s less wear and tear on a team and on a fan base, and both should benefit from more games that start at 7:30 pm or earlier local time. You can’t grow a young fan base with start times as late as 9:30 pm, and most adults won’t even stay up late enough for those games.
The new Midwest Division also removes the staleness of the Pacific Division. Chicago is one of the NHL’s best teams and most historic hockey cities. Seeing Minnesota more often grows that rivalry.
There is still some kitsch factor attached to Winnipeg, playing just its second season after moving from Atlanta. This new division should give the Stars some marketing juice this offseason.
Plus, every Eastern Conference team will come to town next year, something that’s been a long time coming. That means annual visits from players like Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. That’s great for hockey fans.
Finally, there’s the unbalanced conference. The Western Conference will have just 14 teams. That makes the Stars’ ultimate goal — ending their playoff drought — a little easier. Eight of the 14 teams will make the postseason.
For a team looking for every break it can get, Dallas Stars president Jim Lites and owner Tom Gagliardi received just about everything they could have wanted in NHL realignment.
Dallas Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen and the Dallas Stars will most likely have a new division in 2013-14.
Jerry Jones has good reason to give a thumbs up. Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images