Stars' Spezza on challenge of turning season around: 'We're not idiots'

Nobody needs to remind the Dallas Stars they're in a tough spot after a disappointing start to the season.

Dallas dropped a 6-4 decision at home to the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday, leaving the team in last place in the Central Division - one point back of the Colorado Avalanche - with an overall record of 6-9-4.

It's a hard pill to swallow for a team that came into the season with high expectations following, among other moves, a trade for Jason Spezza. Despite spending all of his career up to that point in the Eastern Conference, the center acknowledged that climbing out of the basement of arguably the best division in hockey will not be an easy task.

“It’s not an easy league to play catch-up in, and we’re in a tough division. We’re not idiots, we know we've dug ourselves a bit of a hole here, but I also know there’s a lot of racetrack left, and we can get better,” Spezza told the Dallas News.

The Stars do, however, have 63 games remaining on the schedule, and nobody's throwing in the towel quite yet.

“It’s gut-check time," Spezza continued. "It’s tough when you lose this many games in this period of time. It’s mentally draining and it’s physically draining, and you’re always playing from behind, and as hard as it is, we have to get ourselves out of it, because there’s still tons of hockey left to play.”

The next five games - four of which will be played on home ice - will be crucial for the Stars, as they look to make positive steps before the calendar turns to December.