The Dallas Stars have been abysmal to start the 2019 - 2020 National Hockey League regular season, so terrible in fact that you could make a strong argument that they are currently the very worst team in the entire league. The Stars currently sit just a single point out of last place in the league standings and the only team with fewer points, the Minnesota Wild, have played in 2 fewer games to start the regular season.
This comes off the heels of some rather controversial comments made by Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill last season in which he called out some of the organization's top stars last season for the lackluster efforts out on the ice. Those comments from Nill did lead to a turnaround in performance last season, but there is already a growing sense that there may be some major changes coming to the Dallas Stars if things continue to trend in their current direction. However just because some players may be underperforming, or simply appear not to care enough, that does not mean that very member of the team is happy racking up loss after loss to start the season.
On Friday, after putting up 29 saves in a loss, Stars goaltender Anton Khudobin made his feelings on the current situation know and it was quite clear that the veteran backup goaltender was not pleased with the way his team has been performing.
"What else can you say? We just got another L, f***ing, I don’t know. We just have to keep going and do something," said an irate Khudobin as per the Dallas Morning News.
Khudobin's anger was no facade either, the veteran goaltender made it crystal clear that he felt a lack of emotion was a key factor in the Stars 1-7-1 start to the season, the worst in the history of that organization. Specifically Khudobin stated that he felt his team needed to get angrier, and when asked how they could do that his answer was a simple one.
"Just getting tired of losing," Khudobin said. “That’s how."
Khudobin is not alone in his analysis of his teammates, head coach Jim Montgomery also called out his players for their lack of emotion in yet another loss. The Stars bench boss did not name any names but it was very clear that he was calling out certain members of his locker room for their lack of effort.
"You can’t drive passion into people," coach Jim Montgomery said. "You can try everything. You can try motivational tactics. You can try everything. But it’s got to come from within. Ultimately, if there’s a puck between you and I, I’d bite your leg off to get it. That’s the attitude you’ve got to have. Anton had that competitive spirit tonight that we need to permeate throughout our lineup."
It is still relatively early in the season and for that reason the Dallas Stars do still have time to turn things around for their team. However I strongly suspect that should things continue to go the way they have been there will be heads that will roll, both in the front office and on the Dallas Stars roster, before very long.
