Cochranite Justin Dowling had an eventful and exciting 20-17-18 American Hockey League (AHL) campaign with the Texas Stars. The 27-year-old Dowling played in 65 regular season games for Texas, posting 13 goals and 28 assists for 41 points on the season. Dowling also played in 22 Calder Cup playoff games for the Stars, almost averaging a point-per-game by scoring four goals and chipping in with 13 assists for 17 points while helping his team upend the Ontario Reign, the Tuscon Roadrunners and Rockford Ice Hogs before falling 6-1 in Game 7 of the Calder Cup finals to the Toronto Marlies on June 14. Dowling's 17 points put him second on the team and fifth in the league scoring. The former Cochrane Minor Hockey alumni who also suited up for the Airdrie AAA Bantam Xtreme, the UFA Midget AAA Bisons and the Western Hockey League's (WHL) Swift Current Broncos before moving onto the pro ranks said that losing in the Calder Cup finals was a tough pill to swallow, but he enjoyed the long playoff run with his team. "It was a good experience. We were the underdogs all throughout the playoffs so it was a pretty good opportunity for everyone on our team to be able to showcase what they had on the biggest stage in our league ... we went up against a really good team in Toronto, they're extremely skilled and fast and they played the game the right way," Dowling said. "Younger teams sometimes try to do it all by themselves but these guys obviously had a great coach in Sheldon Keefe who kept everything under wraps and had a good game plan, so it obviously worked really well and they took it to us there in Game 7." "As the for (playoff) run itself, I think it was a build up of the entire season. I don't think we had a team in our division that was below .500 so, I mean, in that way we became a really close team just by playing in so many close games. When we got to the playoffs, everything tightened up a lot more, you go to overtime it seems like every second night - it's just easier because you know you've been there before and you have confidence in the guys in the dressing room to know what to do." Dowling has been away from hockey for just over two weeks now, but the Game 7 loss has fueled him to get back into the gym in order to prepare for next season. "I think when you play nine-and-a-half months and it comes down to one game that you aren't able to win, to finish it off, there's definitely going to be a bitter taste in your mouth," Dowling said. "I think everybody is going to go home with a little bit more of a chip on their shoulder and excited to try and get back to the finals again. Obviously, it's a really hard thing to do, there's a lot of good teams out there but you want to put yourself in the best situation and opportunity in order to get back to that point." The local product also had the chance to play in nine games with the Stars National Hockey League (NHL) club in Dallas during the 2016-17 season where he had two assists in those games. Dowling said he's also using that experience as off-season motivation. "The goal is always to get back to the NHL and obviously getting the opportunity to play at the world's highest level is something I won't take for granted. The thing I strive for in the summer is to become a better player. A better player in the gym and when I get on the ice I want to make sure nothing is done lightly," Dowling said. "Working hard on and off the ice on the things I need to and take what (Dallas Stars General Manager) Jim Nills said and make sure I set the right goals for the summer in order to improve on those areas." Dowling now has his sights set on making it with the big club in Dallas when training camp rolls around in September. "The goal is to make the NHL team out of camp. We have a lot of turn over this year with Dallas, a ton of Unrestricted Free Agents and you never know what's going to happen. Obviously, there's always going to be signings that are going to take up spots but your goal is always to go in there and put your best foot forward in order to try to make the team out of camp," said Dowling. "If you don't have a goal to make the team, it seems kind of like a waste of time. You spend a month there doing on ice and off ice training. If you don't have a reasonable goal there, I don't even think it's worth your time in going. Right now, my goal is to make Dallas out of camp and if that doesn't happen then I'm going to go back to Austin and help the Texas Stars back to the playoffs and hopefully another run at the Calder Cup.
