The Dallas Stars were the 2016 Western Conference regular season winners and earned the title in the Central Division. In 2017, those same titles were bestowed upon the Chicago Blackhawks.
While it is coincidental that both teams were underwhelming in their respective postseason performances, there are a few reasons why that happened in back-to-back seasons.
Regular Season
As easy as it is to say that the regular season is a different beast than the playoffs, the lines become blurred in the craziness that is the end of the season. Both the Stars and the Hawks went into the postseason with what looked to be momentum, but they ultimately met their fate.