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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Loui Eriksson Wins Gold With Sweden

2013-05-20T11:03:28Z

Team Sweden continued it's impressive play at the IIHF World Ice Hockey Championships, capping off the tournament with a 5-1 victory over the Swiss. Loui Eriksson, who has been playing on a line with Vancouver's Sedin twins, has been racking up the points for the Swedes, adding another goal in the gold medal game on Sunday.

Sweden became the first team in 27 years to win the gold medal on home ice in this tournament.

You can read more about their victory at [USA Today]'s site.

Stars prospect Matej Stransky also had a big day at the Memorial Cup tournament, where his Saskatoon Blades (with guest coach Glen Gulutzan), upset the heavily favored Halifax Mooseheads.

Stransky, a player we should see playing down in Austin next season, netted two goals for the hometown Blades in what ended up being a 5-2 victory over MacKinnon and Drouin's Mooseheads. [Winnipeg Free Press]

There seems to be some controversy surrounding next season's IIHF World Ice Hockey Championships, with many calling for a boycott, due to human rights violations in Belarus. The games are scheduled to take place in Minsk. [Charter97.org]

The Ottawa Senators are bent on making their second round matchup with the Pittsburgh Penguins into a series, winning game three in dramatic fashion. They pushed the game into a second overtime period before Colin Greening snuck a puck past Tomas Vokoun in front of an amped up Ottawa crowd. [TSN]

The Dallas Stars are now only two Boston Bruins wins away from an extra first round draft pick, after the black and gold dominated the New York Rangers on Sunday afternoon. The Bruins managed to put five pucks behind Henrik Lundqvist, proving that he is human afterall, and susceptible to bad games like everyone else. [Boston.com]

Puck Daddy has a bit more on Jonathan Quick's game misconduct that I touched on yesterday, including a video of what went down between him and the officials. [Puck Daddy]

NHL.com has a really cool video montage of various players mic'd up so far in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. This video is rated G, and I'm sure the cutting room floor would be much much more colorful. Ain't I right, Brian Bellows? [NHL.com]

Today's video of the day is a quick little recap of Sweden's gold medal victory, including Loui's goal, a midst a flurry of offense in the third period. Any chance the new Stars uniforms can borrow those fancy gold helmets the players were given at the end? That's...... fancy...

Switzerland - Sweden 1-5 (via icehockey)

2013 Dallas Stars Season In Review: Matt Fraser

2013-05-19T18:02:17Z

After his first extended tour of duty in Dallas, there are more questions than there are answers surrounding prospect left wing Matt Fraser.

Although Fraser made his NHL debut last season, suiting up for one contest and playing miniscule minutes, 2013 was the year that Stars fans were expecting to see big things out of the 22 year-old from Red Deer, Alberta.

For good reason, as Fraser's prior statistics showed many signs of promise. He notched 36 goals and 74 points in 66 games for the WHL's Kootenay Ice in 2010-2011, before adding 17 more goals and 10 more assists in 19 playoff games as the Ice won the WHL Championship.

He followed that performance up even more impressively the next season with the Texas Stars in the AHL, his first year in a professional league. Despite discombobulation and disappointment in the struggling roster around him, Fraser exploded for 37 goals on the season, good for 2nd overall in the AHL.

Continuing on a similar AHL pace halfway through 2013, he was rewarded with a call up to Dallas in late February after the lockout ended and continued his momentum there, scoring his first career NHL goal in his first game of the season, hammering a shot glove-side on Nashville's Pekka Rinne.

After feeling like he was at the top of the world following his first career goal, the good times would not last long for Fraser. He was sent back down to the AHL after two more games where he was held pointless. He kept stride in the AHL and came back to Dallas once more after the trade deadline, but unfortunately the goals didn't come with him.

Despite scoring in his 2013 debut, Fraser went goalless in his next 11 games.

Within that stat lies Fraser's season, in a nutshell.

There's no denying that the guy has one of the best shots out of all of Dallas' prospects, and possibly one of the best out of all 30 NHL team's prospects. He can beat goalies with a hard slapper or a quick wrister, and is absolutely lethal in tight around the crease.

The problem is that there isn't much beyond that.

Fraser's size, at 6'2" and somewhere north of 200 pounds, is NHL-caliber, but he shies away from the physical side of the game. His foot speed and level of hustle are average, and his defensive game, although heavily improved from last season, is still full of holes.

Fraser's imbalanced skillset makes him a very specialized player. The big question is whether that specialization can be fittingly deployed in Dallas.

During his time in the NHL this season Fraser rarely played alongside a playmaking center. The best he saw was some time on the second line with Cody Eakin, but at this point in his career Eakin can't dissect opposing defenses in the NHL the way Fraser's longtime Texas linemate Travis Morin can do in the AHL. Without someone to set him up, Fraser wasn't able to generate much offensively on his own.

After uninspiring play on the 2nd line he then found himself playing on Dallas' 4th, but still without a skilled center to get him the puck and lacking the aforementioned skills of physicality, skating and defensive awareness, Fraser regularly looked lost and outmatched trying to play in a checking/energy role. By the end of the season he was a healthy scratch because he simply didn't fit anywhere on the roster.

It makes for an interesting conundrum for the Stars: what do you do with a scoring specialist that is having trouble scoring?

Fraser is seemingly ready to graduate from the AHL, but isn't skilled enough yet to play a Top 6 role, and is completely out of his element in the Bottom 6. It was a problem that Glen Gulutzan was unable to solve, and one that won't have any easy answers come next season when young forwards will likely once again be asked to make a consistent impact in Dallas.

In the end, it wasn't the rookie season that fans, management, or Fraser himself were hoping for, but because of his excellent work in the AHL the young left winger still remains one the organization's top forward prospects. Whether that piece fits into Dallas' future puzzle will be something worth keeping an eye on going forward.

Dallas Stars Daily Links: MacKinnon Putting On a Clinic at Memorial Cup

2013-05-19T11:06:01Z

For months now, it's seemed as though Seth Jones's status as the top prospect in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft was on solid footing, and with the Colorado Avalanche holding the pick, it's almost become a formality... but Halifax's Nathan MacKinnon is doing his best to remind everyone just how highly touted he is.

His hat trick in Saturday's game over Jones's Portland Winterhawks set the tone for a 7-4 drubbing that turned heads all over North America. It was enough to make Adrian Dater of the Denver Post wonder which blue chipper would be the better pick for his Colorado Avalanche.

MacKinnon is keeping his feet on the ground, however, and realizing that one solid outing on the biggest stage in junior hockey isn't going to supersede years of scouting and scrutiny. "The (NHL) teams here that are watching us have watched all of us play many times this year. I don't know how much this game is going to change anything," he said after the game. "Obviously it's nice to get a few (goals) but I just wanted to win and I'm glad we did."

The Mooseheads are favorites in this tournament, largely because of Nathan MacKinnon and fellow top-prospect Jonathan Drouin.

You can read a full recap of yesterday's Memorial Cup action right here. [Yahoo! Canada]

Further from home, but closer to our hearts, Loui Eriksson's contributions have pushed Sweden into the gold medal game of the World Hockey Championships. He scored two goals in their 3-0 victory over Finland, and will play against Switzerland in the gold medal game later today. [DallasStars.com]

In NHL action, the San Jose Sharks showed some signs of life, against the defending champs. Their overtime victory over the Los Angeles Kings turned what could have been a 0-3 hole into a 1-2 series. [NHL.com]

While the Sharks were in the process of beating the Kings, Jonathan Quick may have been beating an official. TSN is reporting that his game misconduct penalty at the end of the game was for abuse of official. No word yet on what further action could be taken. [TSN.ca]

In other action, the Detroit Red Wings evened the series against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Chicago Tribune credits the victory to beating Chicago at it's own game. [Chicago Tribune]

For those of us that can never get enough Jaromir Jagr, here's another article about how Jags is keeping things going well into his 40's. [Boston Globe]

Finally, today's video goes back to the Winterhawks/Mooseheads matchup in Saskatoon. Arguably the worst rendition of the Star Spangled Banner you'll ever hear. Thankfully, the crowd of Saskachewanians knew the words well enough to help her finish before puck drop. Got to love how stoic the players on the ice remain. The same can not be said for those on the bench.

2013 Memorial Cup American National Anthem Screw Up - Halifax vs Portland - HD (via HockeySportsCast)

Dallas Stars 2013 Season Review: Richard Bachman

2013-05-18T18:37:40Z

Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen has put his major injury problems behind him since coming to Dallas, but he still has (and please try not to giggle) big groins to match his elongated, lanky frame. Two or three times a year they're going to need some treatment.

Enter the backup net-minder, and a crucial need to maintain a certain caliber of play in net, as evidenced by this lockout shortened season where Richard Bachman and Cristopher Nilstorp participated in 18 games of a 48 game season.

That duo was running the show in late February during a stretch that saw the team collectively surrender 28 goals in a 7 game span, including 5 pretty ugly losses. That included two losses to the hapless Calgary Flames - the 7-4 drubbing at the Saddledome and the 4-3 loss on a Sunday afternoon at home where Dallas led after two periods but pulled zero points from it.

Richard Bachman was on duty for both of those, and as you may recall, a point or three there would have come in handy down the stretch.

Unfairly, Bachman's play will probably get lumped in the minds of fans with Nilstorp's as the "Stars backups can't stop anything" memories from that February stretch pervert the facts. Even so, the statistical evidence says he was not great in 2013.

He ranked 72nd in the league out of 84 goaltenders that played this year with a save percentage of .885%. Out of 57 goaltenders who played at least 10 games this season he ranked 8th worst with 2.85 goals against per 60 minutes of ice time. All that while the Stars protected him relatively well, allowing just 24.9 shots on net per 60 minutes he was on the ice (not per game). [Link - Behind The Net]

Putting aside the quantifiable evidence for a moment, we must recall the team's overall defensive play, or lack thereof, and the number of rookie defensemen (and rookies altogether) that suited up in front of the Stars' net this season.

We must also consider his exploits in April, which were, for a time, as thrilling and dramatic as the rest of the young team's in front of him.

He was called upon early in a game against the Kings at home on April 9th when Kari Lehtonen pulled himself from the game and proceeded to play 45 scoreless minutes en route to continuing a run that would eventually amount to winning six of seven and giving the Stars control of their own destiny.

He beat the Kings, Predators and Sharks, surrendering just three total goals in those three contests before dropping one to the Blackhawks in Chicago, which was, perhaps, unavoidable. It was a fine job bridging a brief Kari Lehtonen injury and a fine recovery after early returns in his season were less than desirable.

Now he finds himself in need of a contract. He'll still be classified as an RFA coming off a one-year, one-way deal that saw him make $625,000. (Apparently league minimum this year was $525,000, if you're interested.)

29-year old Cristopher Nilstorp was the main man in his time with the Texas Stars this year, including their limited playoff run that ended last night in Oklahoma City, but he too has an expiring deal, though he'll be a UFA.

After a head coaching decision the strategy on how to handle his backup net minder position could be a big piece of Jim Nill's inaugural summer. The diminutive Bachman has shown a lot of determination in earning some big wins for this franchise over the last two seasons, but the results were inconsistent and the position as a whole cost the Stars too many valuable points during Lehtonen's February absence.

Jack Campbell, after not playing much down the stretch for Willie Desjardins, will not be thought of as ready unless the full rebuild/play the kids mentality really kicks into overdrive for the coming season. So the Stars' next backup will need to be signed to a new deal one way or the other.

Do you give Bachman consideration and tender an offer in June, or take your chances on the market? Interesting times.

Dallas Stars Daily Links: Brenden Morrow Scores Game Winner In Pittsburgh

2013-05-18T11:13:24Z

With the Dallas Stars currently golfing, recovering from their defeat in the Calder Cup Playoffs, playing Playstation, or doing other activities unrelated to playing meaningful NHL hockey games, Stars fans are looking around for something to cheer for. For many, that's either praying the Boston Bruins can make a lengthy run, and turn that Jaromir Jagr draft pick into a first rounder, or cheering for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who seem to be comprised almost entirely of generational talents and former Dallas Stars draft picks.

One of those former Dallas Stars draft picks is none other than the most recent captain of the franchise, Brenden Morrow, who just happened to have scored his first playoff goal since the Stars magical run to the Western Conference Finals in 2008. If Sidney Crosby's hat-trick was the meat and potatoes of the Penguins victory over the Ottawa Senators in game two, Brenden Morrow's game winner was the delicious Andes chocolate mint that all the kids fight over while daddy pays the bill.

The Penguins, behind timely contributions from former Stars James Neal, Matt Niskanen, Jarome Iginla, Jussi Jokinen (and the best player in the world, Sidney Crosby) currently lead the series with Ottawa two games to zero. Which team are you cheering for this post-season? Are the former Stars connections enough to turn you into a temporary Penguins fan?

You can see that familiar #10, in the oddly familiar black and gold colors, net his game winner right here. [NHL.com]

Speaking of nostalgia, it's been 5 whole years since the Dallas Stars won a playoff game of their own. That's a loooong time. [Dallas News]

Heika takes a look at the recent Allen Americans title, and discusses how the most successful generation of Dallas Stars made it happen down in the CeHL. [Dallas News]

The other big-name Star that was traded at the deadline is currently facing off against Brad Richards and the New York Rangers. Jaromir Jagr, now of the Boston Bruins, recently reflected on his time in New York. [Comcast New England]

A WHL franchise that has traditionally drawn inspiration from the Stars aesthetic when designing their uniforms has just unveiled some new sweaters of their own, returning to green and gold. Is this a sneak preview of what the new Stars sweaters will look like? I wouldn't bet on it. [Prince Albert Raiders]

Sports Illustrated gives their preview of the Memorial Cup tournament. [SI]

Local kid and top prospect, Seth Jones, thinks his Portland Winterhawks have what it takes to shutdown the bluechippers in Halifax. [Metro News]

Want to see the Boston Bruins amazing Game Seven overtime comeback, through the eyes of a Toronto Maple Leafs fan? It's heartbreaking. [Deadspin]

It seems as through Raffi Torres is finally in agreement with everyone else that he is a dirty player. He will not attempt to appeal his latest suspension. [TSN]

Finally, lets take a trip down memory lane, and relive Brenden Morrow's game winning heroics against the San Jose Sharks back in 2008, back when he made a habit of such feats.

Brenden Morrow's Goal in 4th OT Period (via Sam Hansen)

What Went Wrong: Texas Stars Season Ends With 4-1 Series Loss To Oklahoma City Barons

2013-05-17T15:26:06Z

It was the best regular season the Texas Stars had enjoyed in the franchise's four seasons in Cedar Park and expectations were high as the team entered the postseason. After the disaster that was the 2011-2012 season, just getting to the playoffs should have been considered a massive success but this was a team that was expected to once again make a run at the Calder Cup, with AHL Coach of the Year Willie Desjardins behind the bench an SEL champion goaltender in net.

The season ended unceremoniously on Thursday night with a 5-1 loss to the Oklahoma City Barons, a a 4-1 series loss. In the final three games of the series, all played in OKC, the Stars were outscored 16-4 and completely outplayed in nearly every aspect of the game in the third period in each contest.

On Wednesday, a 3-2 lead headed into the third period fell apart as the Barons scored five goals in a 7-3 rout. It could be said the season was the moment Fedun scored to give the Barons the lead, because after that goal the Stars were never the same. The wind left their sails and there was basically no fight left in what turned out to be a rather hapless Game 5 effort on the way to the loss.

Aside from the third period meltdowns of the past few games, the Stars can't be accused of not giving everything they had -- and that's the problem. Desjardins and the Stars threw everything they had at the Barons and were frustrated so much that it appeared the team actually regressed as the series wore on as all confidence and chemistry left the ice.

At the crux of the issue was the play in net by both goaltenders. Yann Danis was nothing short of brilliant, while Cristopher Nilstorp ultimately proved to be mortal. The Barons were a high-scoring team and the Stars needed to do anything possible to keep the score low; Texas allowed just three goals combined in the first two games yet had just one win, with the frustration around that fact showing through as the series progressed.

The Stars were all flash and no finish, with Alex Chiasson, Matt Fraser, Reilly Smith and Brett Ritchie all generating chance after chance against the Barons but were unable to put the puck in the net when it counted the most. On Thursday, the game began to fall apart when Chiasson just missed on a brilliant shot off the rush only to have the Barons skate the puck back down the ice and bury a well-placed shot to go ahead 2-0.

Texas had a strong start on Thursday, outshooting the Barons 12-8 in the first period. Yet Hartikainen scored in the final minutes of the frame and all of the hard work was for naught, as Fedun's goal came less than two minutes into the second period and the Stars never recovered.

The body language on the ice and on the bench was tough to see. As the Stars skated off the ice for the second intermission heads were hanging low and you could see this was a defeated team. Perhaps it all boiled down to Danis outplaying Nilstorp and nothing more, but this was a hockey team that did not resemble the one that had been so successful for the majority of the season.

Back in October, with the Stars still trying to gain their footing in the AHL standings, here were the line combinations and defensive pairings:

R.Smith-Eakin-Vincour
Fraser-Morin-Hedden
Wathier-Petersen-Chiasson
Gazdic-Roussel-A. Smith

Barker-Fortunus
Dillon-Benn
Nemeth-Oleksiak

Here were the line combos and pairings last night:

Fraser-Petersen-Morin
Hedden-Chiasson-Dowling
R. Smith-Sceviour-Glennie
Wathier-Vause-Ritchie

Gaunce-Connauton
Oleksiak-Benn
Fortunus-Sloan(Morrow)

Morrow played most of the postseason next to Fortunus but was scratched for Thursday's game.

Now, every team experiences turnover throughout the season and the AHL is home for such changes more than any other. It's expected that the best teams are the ones that can deal with this change the best; the Barons are just as dangerous now as they were five months ago, yet don't have Taylor Hall and Justin Schultz leading the way.

Simply put, Willie Desjardins and the Texas Stars were unable to deal with this change -- for whatever reason -- and the right balance and chemistry needed for the postseason was never found.

Part of this issue hinges around the injury to Travis Morin that kept him out of Game 1; the Stars could never really find offensive balance after his return. The lack of depth at center was woefully apparent in this series, as Chiasson and Glennie were unable to provide the sort of boost that Cody Eakin and Antoine Roussel had enjoyed before the lockout.

It's also clear that Desjardin's attempts to spark some sort of offensive output actually had a negative effect, as whatever chemistry the team might have had before was now gone. Credit goes to the Barons and Danis for frustrating the hell out of the Stars, but the Stars were incredibly flat in two of the three games in OKC and especially in that third period on Wednesday.

What is clear is that, even with Gaunce and Connauton added at the end of the season* this is a very young and inexperienced team that was just handily dispatched by a veteran and skilled Barons squad. The Texas Stars have a fine crop of young forwards and defensemen that are just getting their feet wet in the pros but the entire organization must have better success and a better effort than what we witnessed against OKC.

*To go ahead address the question of "how could you have been so praiseworthy of the prospects yet the team fell apart against the Barons?": The answer is simple... I was scouting individuals and not the team. The Barons exposed the Stars all season long and that continued in this series. Desjardins was outcoached and frankly tried to do too much, especially moving Morin to the wing; in the end the individual skills on this team were not enough to overcome the lack of depth at center and an obvious lack of cohesive chemistry when it counted.

This has been an issue for a few years now, but the Stars need veteran leadership in that locker room and they need veterans that can also lead on the ice as well. Francis Wathier and Luke Gazdic are popular and hard working players, but they aren't what this team ultimately needs.

Stephen Meserve also chimes inwith his thoughts on why the Stars fell apart against the Barons:

Texas's best players were not their best players. Matt Fraser didn't have a point in the series and had the egregious turnover in OT of Game 1 to give the Barons the win. Alex Chiasson's only point came on the inconsequential lone goal last night. He struggled with the unexplained transition to center and was minus-8 in the series. The Stars' leading scorer in round 1, Kevin Connauton, had a single assist and was minus-8 in the series as well.

Line shuffling last night was very confusing. Travis Morin, all-time points leader for Texas and all-time assists leader, was moved to the wing to be centered by Toby Petersen. Colton Sceviour dropped to the third line to center Glennie and Reilly Smith. Glennie had been doing well in the defensive center role in the series. While he hadn't recorded any points, coming into last night's game he was one of Texas's few plus players in the series. Also, Sceviour hasn't played center in months. It's not like you forget, but it's not the best time to make a shift and play with new linemates.

Perhaps this is all just part of the growth. We can't look at last season and use that as a barometer for this year's outcome; there was just too much change for such a comparison to be made. Instead, this should be seen a starting point and a place to move forward but the same challenges lie ahead, especially if the Stars are unable to find some suitable AHL veteran help moving forward.

What is very important, however, is that the same culture of success that Jim Nill is charged with instilling in Dallas is also instilled in Cedar Park. The players hanging their heads at the end of last night's game are expected to form the core of the Dallas team in the very near future. While getting to the second round of the postseason is no small feat and should be commended, the expectations in this organization are certainly rising.

Once again, time to look ahead to next year.

Dallas Stars Daily Links: World Championship Favorites Upset As Sweden, US Advance

2013-05-17T10:46:23Z

With the Quarter-Finals under way in the World Championships, two of the games were of major note for Stars fans as well as the rest of North America.

The first was Canada vs. Sweden, with Brenden Dillon and Stephane Robidas squaring off against Loui Eriksson and the rest of team Sweden. The other was team USA facing off against team Russia.

USA absolutely stunned Russia by a final score of 8-3. It is safe to say that the United States is no longer the under dog that it was once thought to be. While this may not be an upset in the traditional sense, the general perception of US hockey is that it is still weak compared to a number of other countries. However, combined with their recent success in the Olympics and the World Juniors, the rest of the world is being forced to take US hockey seriously.

Meanwhile, Canada vs. Sweden turned out to be quite an exciting game, even if it ended in a rather...disappointing... fashion for an elimination game.

As always, Mark Stepneski has all of the details on what exactly happened:

Loui Eriksson scored in regulation and then scored in the shootout as Sweden defeated Canada, 3-2 in the quarterfinals at the World Championship on Thursday.

Eriksson scored on the power play in the third period to give Sweden a 2-1 lead when a Nicklas Danielsson shot from the point deflected off his skate and into the net.

After Canada's Claude Giroux scored to tie the game a short time later, the contest stay tied through the rest of regulation and a ten minute overtime.

Eriksson, who shot first for Sweden in the shootout, slipped the puck between Team Canada goalie Mike Smith's legs with a forehand shot.

Fredrik Pettersson scored the shootout winner for the Swedes, beating Smith with a slap shot.

The semi-finals will commence on Saturday morning, with the age old rivalry of Finland vs. Sweden, followed by the United States vs. Switzerland. Since Loui is now the last remaining Dallas Star in the trounament, I feel safe in saying "Go Sweden, and go USA."

Coming up in today's links: Playoff failure excuses, Glen Gulutzan is already busy coaching again, and Raffi Torres gets one of the more unique suspensions to date.

Everyone point at the San Jose Sharks and laugh. [NHL.com]
Glen Gulutzan will be a "guest coach" for the Saskatoon Blades during the Memorial Cup tournament. With Matej Stransky there, it's just another reason Stars fans can take an interest in the tournament. [Stars Inside Edge]
The Lady Bing finalists have been announced. Among the players not listed? Dustin Brown and Raffi Torres. [Stars Inside Edge]
Alex Ovechkin reached the World Championships just in time to lose to the US 8-3. He's really had some bad breaks lately. (This joke is extra funny if you click the link to see why.) [Puck Daddy]
Down Goes Brown supplies us with the excuses for the playoff failures of every team no longer playing this season. In case you were wondering, Dallas' is extra snarky. I love it. [Down Goes Brown]
This piece is a few days old, but still worth the share. It's an incredible story about Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill and his wife. [Dallas News]
The NHL Beardwatch is on. [Puck Daddy]
Rumors are starting to swirl about Tippet. Apparently he's on watch for both the Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche. [Puck Daddy]
The Bruins defeated the NY Rangers in overtime. Three more wins, and the Stars get that first round pick. [NHL]
The Sharks and Kings also faced off last night. Looks like the Shakrs are back to their old playoff ways this round. They now trail in the series 0-2. [NHL]
Megalodon breaks down how the Sharks can beat Jonathon Quick. The answers are....correct. [Battle Of Cali]
And, for your video of the day, Raffi Torres was suspended for the entire second round, which is unique in that I don't think a player has ever been suspended for an entire series before. It is usually a set number of games, which can then be reduced if necessary (Like Torres' 25 game suspension being reduced to 21.) Here's the Shanahan video explaining why he came to such a decision.

2013 Dallas Stars Season in Review: Antoine Roussel

2013-05-16T20:56:33Z

The signing of Antoine Roussel this summer coincided with the signing of Toby Petersen, with both forwards receiving two year, two-way deals. At the time, not much was made of the moves. Our very own Brad Gardner said of Roussel in July:

Roussel, 22, spent last year with the Chicago Wolves of the AHL and racked up 177 penalty minutes in just 61 games, adding just 9 points and a -13 rating. He's a tough guy and a depth signing for the AHL club. This might be a good point to remember that the Stars bought out Eric Goddard last week. Roussel, born in France, went undrafted. He had a tryout with the Bruins a couple of seasons ago but has had little to do with the NHL from what I can see otherwise.

His presence will allow Francis Wathier and Luke Gazdic to focus their attentions elsewhere, rather than on the pugilistic arts.

"Pugilistic arts" is a nice way of saying ‘fighter.' Roussel certainly did not disappoint on that front when he started the season off with the Dallas Stars' affiliate, the Texas Stars, down in Austin. He racked up over 100 penalty minutes in just 43 games played, the most of anyone on the roster during the regular season.

The first time I saw Roussel in action was in Oklahoma City in December, where he managed to draw Taylor Hall into just his second ever pro career fight. The way that he drew Hall in wasn't by asking him to go - all Roussel had to do was play a physical game, with plenty of verbal chirping between plays and find a way under the skin of the opposing players. This kind of play was expected from an AHL depth player. His notching points was seen as more of pleasant bonus for a guy most expected to be a fourth line grinder/fighter type. After spending two seasons at the AHL level averaging only about eight points a year, Roussel scored eight of his eventual 19 points in Texas during the month of January alone.

Roussel was called up to Dallas just eight games into the big club's season at the same time as Jamie Oleksiak. While many talked about the much anticipated debut of Oleksiak at the NHL level, only minor pause was really given to Roussel being the forward the Stars recalled. Other forwards in Texas were perceived to be more NHL ready, so calling him up in front of those guys turned a few heads. Comments about his hard work ethic and willingness to do anything to help the team floated around as a reason he was given a shot. There was also the fact that the NHL roster at the time didn't really have that "pest" type player, and in the midst of a losing streak, it's not unheard of to try to find that spark plug to shake things up a little.

On just his third NHL shift of his career, Roussel would take a Garbutt pass and beat Mike Smith for his first NHL goal. It was a beauty:

Roussel played the game with an edge - not only would he battle hard for the puck, he wasn't afraid to drop the gloves for his team either. His fight card at the NHL level may not be long, but it is impressive already: Jarome Iginla, Zack Kassian, Chris Stewart, Shea Weber, Brent Seabrook. While Roussel didn't always win these fights in the eyes of public opinion, the fact that he wasn't afraid to go in as a rookie and take on guys that had several inches and quite a few pounds on him made Roussel an instant fan favorite.

His game is a little bit more than just goals and fights, however. Roussel showed that he is a versatile forward - he played center and wing both in Dallas at times, played on the penalty kill, can scale up the lineup and not look completely out of place, is actually effective on the dot (~56% faceoff win percentage) and plays hard every shift. Comparisons have been made that cast Roussel as a younger Steve Ott-type player. After watching him this season, it is a fair comparison to make and there are definitely a lot of parallels with what Roussel brought to the table and what Ott brought to the Stars the last few seasons he was here. He may not have the advanced possession stats showing he pushes the play, but there is no denying that he found a role in Dallas this season.

The real question now is: is it enough to keep him on the roster moving into next season? An argument could be made that Roussel and Ryan Garbutt present as two players with similar skill sets, providing a redundancy that may not allow for both to stay on the roster in Dallas. Garbutt is on a one-way deal signed through next season, while Roussel's two-way deal also sees him signed through next year. Will Roussel's versatile play and hard work ethic this season be enough, or will he become a victim of contract status and redundancy and spend time in Austin again next season? We won't know until after training camp next season. One thing is for sure, though - Roussel's play this year was a very nice surprise and another example of Dallas' ability to find some hidden gems in the undrafted ranks. And any time you have this going for you, it makes for a fun time: