If nothing else, the NHL's newly mandated bye week is proving that hockey players are finely tuned athletes.
Collective bargaining between the league and the players' association has created a midseason vacation for players in which they get almost five full days off away from the team. The Stars returned from their break with a 4 p.m. Thursday practice and were greeted with a strenuous workout. That's because teams are 4-12-4 in their first game back from the break with a combined goal differential of minus-30.
That's a bit alarming.
"The one thing that I worry about is teams with time off, the hands, the passing and the execution part, suffers," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said.