According to a report in The Charlottetown Guardian, the Dallas Stars might hold part of their 2010 training camp in Charlottetown, PEI. For the past few years, the Stars have held their training camp in the Dallas area; however, they used to hold their camp in Colorado.
Now I know a lot of Stars fans are very upset by this news and rightfully so. Training camp provides the chance for fans to see the team and prospects in a very intimate setting. The players are fairly accessible and training camp photos are plentiful as are autographs. Plus, there is a sense of excitement and anticipation in training camp for both players and fans as the team prepares for a brand new season. It’s disappointing to lose out on this opportunity.
However, I am a fan of moving training camp out of town. On the road, players simply don’t have the distractions that they do at home. They don’t have family or friends taking their time. They can focus completely on hockey. This is why in some playoff series’, a team will “sequester” the players in a hotel even for home games. Everyone takes their personal lives to work – hockey players are no different. If you’re having problems with your wife or your kids are sick, it affects your performance on the ice.
By removing the distractions, the team can devote their time and energy to preparing for the upcoming season. For a team that is learning a new way to play and looked very lost and confused on the ice last year, the more they can learn and adjust in training camp – the better they will be on the ice.
But this isn’t the only change the Stars will experience. The 2010-11 team will be a different team than in years past. The Marty Turco era has come to an end as will more than likely the Tom Hicks era. Will this also be the end of the Mike Modano and/or Jere Lehtinen eras?
This is a team in transition, leading scorers are now GMs and third and fourth liners or possible owners. Rookies are being moved to new positions and excelling. A team that was known for its solid defense is sorely lacking a true number one defenseman and is woefully soft and young. Moving your camp out of town won’t free up enough cap space for a Drew Doughty or Duncan Keith, but it could improve the chemistry.
By taking everyone out of their comfort zones, well except for PEI natives Brad Richards and Steve Ott, the team will be forced to depend on each other more. This can only help to build a sense of camaraderie that was not a factor last year. Hockey is a war, an 82 game war that if you win, you get to move on to an even harder war for the Stanley Cup. If you want to win the Stanley Cup, you have to be able to depend on your teammates. You have to trust your teammates. You have to be willing to sacrifice your body for the ultimate prize. It’s not the hardest trophy in all of sports for nothing. Teams that win Stanley Cups have remarkable chemistry – just as the Stars did in 1999. That chemistry was visible in 2007, when that team reunited for the All Star Game in Dallas. As they posed for photos, it was clear this was as group of men who genuinely loved each other.
So pack your bags, update your passports and bring on Avonlea and all of the potatoes PEI has to offer. The Dallas Stars could be coming to town and we’re hungry for another drink from Lord Stanley’s Cup.
HappyGirl25 blog 