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What if the Stars could reboot and start fresh again a day after losing that 6th game to the Red Wings.

Interesting premise isn’t it.

Because twenty-five games into this season the franchise finds itself wallowing in controversy, losses and depth issues. But would different decisions in the summer have been able to pave a different path in the opening 2 months of this disappointing campaign?

Here are 5 that might have:

1. Keep Hagman/Spurn Avery…Nik Hagman had value in a lot of areas. He was a good teammate, an effective and deadly penalty killer (Stars PK is currently 27th), a workaholic, durable, and could be counted on for 25 goals. Sean Avery is none of these things, a lot of other things, and is/was on pace for 9 or 10 goals. $3.3 million for Haggy vs close to $4 million for Avery?
   
   
2. Keep Coach Ulf Dahlen in North America…The competitive and bright Swede had a prime focus on the Stars powerplay. Remember that powerplay? The one that dismissed Anaheim in the first round. It is currently 26th in the NHL. Dahlen was also another set of educated eyes in the overall scheme of coaching the team and would probably have been invaluable in helping tutor young rookie Swedish winger Fabian Brunnstrom. Unfortunately Ulf wanted to run a team himself and got a very good gig back in his native land.
   
   
3. A Better Backup Goalie…With Marty Turco’s struggles this is much more imperative than it looked 6 months ago. The club has almost always been blessed with talented, game winning backups. Roman Turek, Arturs Irbe, Manny Fernandez, Marty Turco, Johan Hedberg, Dan Ellis, Mike Smith, Johan Holmqvist. Tobias Stephane just hasn’t inspired that same trust and confidence, and maybe the stat that is most telling is the Stars 1-5 record in second games of back to backs. Those are often “backup” games.
   
   
4. Find Right-Handed Centermen…The importance of winning faceoffs ramped up this summer when the league augmented a rule making all powerplays start with an attacking zone faceoff. Stu Barnes was a master of winning the defensive zone draws on the right side dot, but his concussion in the Sharks series, subsequent retirement, and no replacement, has left the Stars with nothing but left shooting centers.
   
   
5. Ensure Veteran Stabilization on D…The three rookie defensemen (Fistric, Niskanen, and Grossman) were a revelation last season and in the playoffs but the odds of all three, or even two of the three playing as well as sophomores was remote. Matty Norstrom was a big toe stabilizing force for the youngsters and a tactile penalty killer. However, with his focus on providing the best care and environment for his two autistic children he moved his family back to Sweden mid season last year with a promise that dad would retire and join them in the summer. The other veteran rearguard, Sergei Zubov, has struggled to regain full health. Not having that veteran presence and depth has hurt mightily.